RTHK: Biden and Moon meet and discuss North Korea

US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday injected fresh urgency into attempts to engage North Korea in dialogue over its nuclear weapons, with Biden saying he would meet its leader Kim Jong-un under the right conditions.

At a joint news conference, Biden and Moon both said the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula is their goal. Biden said he was "under no illusions" about the difficulty of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenals after his predecessors failed.

"We both are deeply concerned about the situation," Biden said, adding that he and Moon shared a willingness to engage diplomatically with the North "to take pragmatic steps to reduce tensions."

North Korea thus far has rebuffed US entreaties for diplomacy since Biden took over from Donald Trump, who had three summits with Kim and the two famously exchanged "beautiful letters."

Kim nonetheless refused to give up his nuclear weapons but did impose a freeze on testing them. He has not tested a nuclear bomb nor launched an inter-continental ballistic missile since 2017, although experts believe his arsenal has steadily grown.

Biden said he would be willing to meet Kim under the right conditions - if he agreed to discuss his nuclear programme and that his advisers first met with their North Korean counterparts to lay the groundwork.

Biden said a veteran State Department official, Sung Kim, would serve as special US envoy for North Korea.

South Korea had been pushing for the appointment of an envoy, and Moon, for whom engagement with North Korea is a legacy issue before he leaves office next year, said Sung Kim would help explore whether North Korea is willing to engage diplomatically. He said he expected a positive response.

Sung Kim is a Korean-American diplomat who served as special envoy for North Korea under President Barack Obama and helped set up Trump's summits with Kim Jong-un.

He has also been ambassador to South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia and most recently served in an acting capacity as the top US diplomat for East Asia.

Biden said that for him to meet with Kim there would have to be a commitment from the North Korean leader "that there's discussion about his nuclear arsenal."

"I would not do what had been done in the recent past; I would not give him all he's looking for - international recognition as legitimate and allow him to move in the direction of appearing to be more ... serious about what he wasn't at all serious about," he said.

Biden's comments appeared to reflect a shift in his thinking. The White House had said in March it was not Biden's intention to meet with Kim.

Jenny Town of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea-watching project, said Sung Kim's appointment was positive given the Biden administration had signalled it was in no hurry to fill the post. However, it has given no indication of what concessions it might offer to bring about talks.

"The problem has been that the administration has only talked about denuclearisation and continues to characterise any interactions with North Korea as nuclear negotiations," she said. "So it's still a tough sell to get the North Koreans back to the table, but obviously Moon is going to push very hard."

Moon said Biden had expressed support for intra-Korean dialogue and cooperation, but Town said this would not mean much unless Washington, which has refused to ease sanctions on Pyongyang, allowed Seoul the space to move forward with this.

Biden's administration undertook a broad review of North Korea policy but has said little about what its new policy actually entails.

US officials have said only that it would not be the approach favoured by Obama of refusing to engage the North, or Trump's flashy summitry.

In their day of talks, Biden and Moon reaffirmed a strong alliance between the two countries after the strains created by Trump, who badgered Moon as weak and threatened to pull US troops out of South Korea.

Moon was the second foreign leader - after Japan's prime minister - to visit the White House since Biden took office in January, and Biden said their conversations were those of "old friends."

The two also discussed mainland China and Taiwan. Taiwan has complained of repeated military pressure from Beijing with Chinas air force making frequent forays into Taiwans air defence identification zone.

"We've shared the view that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is extremely important, and we agreed to work together on that matter while considering special characteristics in relations between China and Taiwan," Moon said.

In another win for Moon, who has faced pressure at home over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said the United States and South Korea had agreed a vaccine partnership that would combine US expertise and Korean production capacity.

He said this would help supply Covid-19 vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region, while Biden said the United States would provide vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean soldiers. (Reuters)

This story has been published on: 2021-05-22. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article.
China, Malaysia to further enhance cooperation

Xinhua) 10:55, May 22, 2021

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang meets with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin via video link in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday met with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin via video link, and both sides expressed willingness to deepen bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation.

Li said that China and Malaysia have maintained long-term friendly relations and made positive contributions to promoting regional peace, stability and development.

He said the pandemic still wreaks havoc worldwide and no country can avoid it, adding that the international community should strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation and jointly build a global community of health for all.

Malaysia is the first country to sign an intergovernmental cooperation agreement on COVID-19 vaccines and make a reciprocal arrangement for vaccination with China, Li said.

China supports Malaysia in improving its vaccine production capacity, supports health departments and epidemic prevention experts of the two countries in enhancing exchanges and experience sharing, Li said, adding that he hopes Malaysia will ensure that Chinese citizens in Malaysia are vaccinated soon.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, China-Malaysia trade has grown, a fact that demonstrates the close ties of interests and complementarity of cooperation between the two sides, Li said.

Li said that China is willing to enhance cooperation with Malaysia in the fields of trade and investment, digital economy, manufacturing, agriculture and construction of maritime transportation infrastructure.

China encourages its companies to invest in Malaysia in accordance with market rules and commercial principles, so as to better achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

Muhyiddin Yassin said that Malaysia highly values its relations with China and stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in the fields of trade and investment, digital economy, high technology, industrial parks, and agriculture, and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and develop in Malaysia.

Muhyiddin Yassin expressed Malaysia's hope to continue cooperation with China in combating the pandemic, and that Malaysia will provide convenience for Chinese citizens there to get inoculated.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
The story of Forrest Fenn, the late art dealer whose treasure hunt led to at least five deaths, will get the 48 Hours treatment this weekend.

The CBS true crime program will air an episode on the millionaire, whose treasure he said was found in Wyoming, at 8 p.m. Mountain Time Saturday.

Fenn announced in 2010 he had hidden a treasure chest somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, authoring a poem with clues leading to its location. The chests estimated value is around $1 million.

A promo for the episode describes Fenn as a modern-day Indiana Jones.

In summer 2020, Fenn said the treasure had been found. His grandson later confirmed Jack Stuef, a medical school student from Michigan, had discovered the treasure. Fenn, who had been living in New Mexico, died in September at 90.

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48 Hours boasts that its special will include new details and rare photos of the search, as well as interviews with:
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Tobagonians are being urged not to show up at the health centres to request Covid-19 vaccines as vaccinations are being done by appointment only on the island.

Speaking at yesterdays Covid-19 news conference in Tobago, general manager of primary care at the Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) Dr Roxanne Mitchell said some people descended on health centres on Wednesday, demanding to be vaccinated on a walk-in basis.
Two weeks ago, Belize police Senior Supt Henry Jemmott was shot through the head with his service weapon in San Pedro, an offshore tourist paradise.

Held for the killing was 32-year-old Jasmine Hartin, a glamorous Canadian.
Vladimir: Let us make the most of it, before it is too late!

Waiting for Godot

One of my favourite works of literature is Samuel Becketts play, Waiting for Godot. Apart from the comedic moments, the play contains a cautionary tale about the dangers of waiting and the anxiety that comes along with it.
uPetsia is the second member of the UA Center for Innovation at Oro Valley, one of several branch incubators of the UACI, which is based at the UA Science and Technology Park on South Rita Road.

In November, TheraCea Pharma, a UA technology spinoff developing new contrast agents for positron emission tomography (PET) scans, won membership at the Oro Valley UACI branch in a competition sponsored by the BioIndustry Association of Southern Arizona.

Zentack, who holds an engineering degree from Virginia Tech and an MBA from the University of Texas, said the office space and wet labs at the new UACI-Oro Valley, at 1800 E. Innovation Park Drive, will prove invaluable.

The company will be working over the next six months to a year with various partners to optimize and scale up its technology, he said, noting that the company is in the process of hiring a lab director.

uPetsia isnt looking to create its own doggie breath-freshening products, but instead is looking to sell its formulations to manufacturers of doggie treats for use as additives in their products, said Zentack.

There is still much work to be done, including testing to prove the safety and efficacy of the final product to state and federal regulators, he noted.
NuvOx also is conducting preclinical studies using its drugs to treat traumatic brain injury, heart attack, shock induced by heavy bleeding and a common complication of sickle cell disease.

The COVID-19 pandemic also has made fundraising more difficult for the privately held company, Unger said.

The company is now looking to raise a bridge round of $3 million and will need $15 million to $20 million to finish the next rounds of clinical trials, he said.

I think in order to ink the deal, you have to meet in person, and just now its opening up, said Evan Unger, who has often crisscrossed the country for investor presentations.

Microvascular Therapeutics, with Wyatt Unger as chief medical officer, is working to develop an improved version of Definity, an ultrasound contrast agent the elder Unger developed in the 1990s and sold to chemicals giant DuPont in 1999 for about $40 million.

Definity, launched in 2001 and approved for ultrasound imaging of the heart, has since changed hands but is still the most prescribed drug of its kind in the U.S.

In 2018, Microvascular Therapeutics won a $1.7 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop its initial drug, called MVT-100.
Some states are getting fairly creative.

In Maryland, for example, Gov. Larry Hogan is launching a special lottery open only to those who have been vaccinated. One person a day will get $40,000 from May 25 through July 3; a grand prize of $400,000 will be awarded July 4.

Christ said Arizona isnt going quite that far. But she said there is at least one incentive program in the works where the state will partner with the Arizona Diamondbacks where people can come to Chase Field to get vaccinated. She said there will be special events for children.

And those who get vaccinated may get a free ticket to a future game of their choice, Christ said.

There also has been a shift in how vaccines are being made available.

The initial strategy was those state-run sites, where people were willing to go to get vaccinated, even if it meant showing up for an available slot at 3 a.m.

We do know, now, we have to make it more convenient, Christ said. That has meant more community-based delivery sites.

For example, Christ said there was a neighborhood vaccination clinic at the Greenfield School in the Roosevelt Elementary School District in Phoenix.
PHOENIX  A member of the Arizona Board of Regents, Karrin Taylor Robson, wants to try her hand at politics. And she wants to start at the top, at least as state offices go.

Taylor Robson cited the November election results as a reason she wants to be governor.

In just a few months weve seen the direction that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris want to take this country, the Republican candidate said in a video news release on Monday. And as Arizonans we need to fight back. We need to fight for Arizona values.

Taylor Robson did not return repeated messages seeking clarification of those values or to answer any questions about her views on state issues, ranging from tax policy to education. Instead, she promised in her video to travel around the state to hear from people on how we can stand together and fight the radical Biden-Harris agenda.

In a separate statement on her campaign website, she said she is committed to do whatever it takes to defend Arizona from the radical left.

Her announcement points up what could be a crowded race for the seat that Republican Gov. Doug Ducey has to vacate because he is constitutionally limited to two four-year terms in the office.

It came just hours after state Treasurer Kimberly Yee made her own declaration of interest. And Yee, like Taylor Robson, is staking out an anti-Biden position, though, unlike Yee, Taylor Robson did not profess any particular loyalty to Donald Trump and his ideas.

Taylor Robsons highest public policy profile is as a regent. She was tapped for that position in 2017 and just reappointed this past year.

Her day job is as founder and president of Arizona Strategies. which is involved with development. She previously worked with DMB Associates, a Scottsdale-based master-planned community developer.

Before that she was an attorney where she practiced in the areas of land use, development and zoning laws representing large landowners.

In her bio, she highlighted that role, saying she fought on behalf of economic growth and projects that have enabled thousands of new jobs for Arizona families. Taylor Robson also said she wants to protect property rights, create value in real estate, foster civic engagement, support those in the military and develop a world-class education system with options for all types of learners.

While she has never held political office, her father, Carl Kunasek, was a president of the Arizona Senate who later went on to serve on the Arizona Corporation Commission. Her brother Andrew Kunasek served as a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors.
Coronavirus vaccines are supposed to be free, but that hasnt stopped two major Tucson medical providers from sending out requests for money.

Some of the thousands vaccinated at Banner Health sites in Tucson were wrongly billed, while thousands more who received shots at Tucson Medical Center were solicited for donations after TMC shared their contact information with the hospitals fundraising branch, the Arizona Daily Star has learned.

Tucsonan Robin Tricoles said she recently reported Banner to a government hotline after receiving a $71 bill for COVID vaccine administration fee  a fee specifically prohibited by a federal agreement all health-care providers must sign when they register to distribute the vaccines.

Tricoles, 60, a science writer for Arizona State University, said the bill arrived two months after her final vaccination at Banner-University Medical Center South on East Ajo Way.

I started to pay it, then I thought Hey wait a minute, isnt it supposed to be free? she recalled. I wonder how many people ended up paying because they didnt know any better.
Peachey said the seeds with the best chance for success tend to come from fruit produced during the last week to 10 days of June, just in time to catch that first monsoon.

Seeds dispersed at almost any other time of the year are unlikely to germinate and grow into a saguaro capable of surviving its first winter or two.

You want to have seeds on the ground when the rain comes, he said. Thats the key to the whole thing.

The side blooms are the saguaros hokey workaround to not having enough new budding locations up top, but Peachey predicts all the extra effort wont amount to much.

In his experience, flowers that sprout from the sides of stems rarely develop into fruit. I expect to see flowers dropping off like crazy, he said. It looks showy  and it is showy  but its not helpful to the plant in the long run.

No end in sight

Peachey has more saguaro experience than just about anyone.
SEATTLE (AP)  A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that a suspended Nigerian government official charged in a Washington state case of unemployment fraud can be released from detention before trial.

However, Federal Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes delayed the release to let federal prosecutors appeal, The Seattle Times reported.

Abidemi Rufai, 42, was arrested May 14 as he tried to travel from New York to Nigeria. He was initially denied bail after his brother, a New York attorney, declined to post a $300,000 surety bond.

Rufai is accused of using stolen identities to take more than $350,000 in jobless benefits from the Washington state Employment Security Department last year.

Prosecutors had argued that Rufai was an extreme flight risk. But Reyes ruled that a New York state resident and family friend of Rufais could post the bond and serve as Rufais custodian until his trial in Tacoma.
NEW YORK (AP)  Roman Kent, who survived the Holocaust and helped make sure the world never forgot its horrors, has died. He was 92.

His daughter told The New York Times her father died Friday at his Manhattan home.

At the time of his death, Kent was the chairman of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, which documents the lives of survivors and works with educators to teach about the Holocaust.

He also spent time on the board of the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which negotiated monetary settlements for survivors. Kent held positions including treasurer and co-chairman of the negotiating committee.

Roman made himself available for every cause that we put in front of him, tirelessly giving of his time and energy" said Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference, in a statement. He will be remembered as an unwavering force of good will and an undeniable advocate for the global Jewish community.
One year ago: President Donald Trump labeled houses of worship as essential and called on governors to let them reopen; he threatened to override governors who defied him. As Americans headed into the Memorial Day weekend, health officials urged them to follow social distancing and other measures aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus. In a radio interview, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden suggested that African Americans who backed President Donald Trump aint black; he later said he should not have been so cavalier. A Pakistani airliner crashed near the airport in Karachi, killing 97 of the 99 people on board. Full House star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars into the University of Southern California as part of a college admissions bribery scheme. (Loughlin would spend two months behind bars; Giannulli began a five-month sentence in November 2020 and was released to home confinement in April 2021.)
But state Elections Director Bo Dul told Capitol Media Services there is no realistic way to be certain of that.

Dul said it would be one thing if the equipment had been hacked through a cyberattack. At that point, she said, the drives could be wiped clean of any code that doesnt belong there and the software could be reinstalled from scratch.

This, Dul said, is more akin to people breaking into a company and getting physical access to the equipment.

When you lose physical custody of the equipment, its not just the software that youre worried about, she explained. Even if you wipe everything, theres still certain pieces of firmware for the equipment that its impossible to completely wipe.

More to the point, Dul said, there is no way to actually test for those kinds of alterations.

We can put the machines through all sorts of state-of-the-arts forensic analysis to identify if theres been any tampering, she said. But we dont know what we dont know. So we dont know that the list that theyre testing for and checking for covers everything.
When it comes to variety and versatility in Italian cuisine, pasta is king. But theres a lesser-known Italian cousin thats equally delicious and just as versatile.

Polenta, a hearty dish consisting of cornmeal cooked in water, stock or milk, originated among working-class families in northern Italy, particularly in the Piedmont and Lombardy regions, and has long been a staple of northern Italian cuisine. A somewhat underrepresented culinary jack-of-all-trades, humble polentas popularity is gaining, as it is finds its way onto more fine-dining menus as a tasty accompaniment or luxurious main dish.

At Prossimo Ristorante in Tulsa, chef Scott VanTuyl serves polenta as a creamy base topped with savory meatballs, a rich tomato-based sauce and freshly grated cheese. VanTuyls traditional take on polenta is just one of many delicious ways the dish can be served.

Polenta also can be enjoyed as a thick porridge topped with butter and cheese; served alongside a hearty ragu or meat sauce; eaten as a hot cereal with milk, fruit and maple syrup; or chilled, cut into slices and baked, grilled or fried.

Want a kid-friendly appetizer? Try cutting chilled polenta into slices, bake them and serve like French fries with marinara sauce for dipping.
Leadership in the Oklahoma House of Representatives is moving forward with legislation based on the extraordinary and urgent call to action by the multicounty grand jury probing the Epic Charter Schools saga.

House Bill 2966 is scheduled to be introduced on the floor and voted on by the House of Representatives on Monday.

But the matter is down to the wire, as both House and Senate approval would be needed for passage before the Legislature adjourns by the end of next week.

The Tulsa lawmaker tapped only a few weeks ago with overseeing the bills language, which became public late Friday, said additional legislative action would still be necessary.

I would be seriously remiss if I were to imply that this bill completes our legislative duties on behalf of our constituents with regards to this issue. This is a very positive next step, but there is still work to be done, said Rep. Sheila Dills, R-Tulsa.

Oklahomas multicounty grand jury became involved in October in investigating Epic Charter Schools after the state auditor and inspector issued a scathing report about the accounting practices of the operators of the states largest school system and lack of oversight by their hand-picked governing board members.
Theyre just humans, too, fellow EMT student Emma Ashmore said. Just doing their job.

Deputy Chief Jonathan Brooks, whos approaching 23 years with the Tulsa Police Department, shared his own frustrations that he used to have with his industry.In high school I hated the police, Brooks said while speaking to the group. He was constantly getting traffic tickets and felt as if a group of officers were picking on him.

But a ride-along later in life changed everything, and he was soon intent on being the difference. While police departments across the country struggle to recruit candidates, Brooks encouraged the students to do the same.

If you dont like something, dont just sit back and complain about it, he said. Jump in and change it.

He was speaking the language of many of the vo-tech students on the law enforcement track. Katelyn Breecher, 17, said most of them came into Project Trust with a healthy understanding of how their future profession operates, but she said the program was a great opportunity to get hands-on experience during demonstrations.Although over the past year theyve seen the challenges presented to those who have gone before them into law enforcement careers, theyre not deterred.

For me, it just made me want to go into law enforcement more, Breecher said.

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Last weeks appearance of Tulsa-based reparations advocates before a congressional committee was the latest episode in a long-running discussion about who owes what to whom from the 1921 Race Massacre.

Just the word reparations  the making of amends  can stir emotions, and even those who favor them for harm inflicted by the massacre disagree on how best to make those amends all these years later.

Some give high priority to direct payments to the few remaining survivors and the families of those affected by the massacre. Others think this impractical and perhaps not even the most equitable outcome at this point.

They speak more in terms of community-based answers to discrepancies in household wealth and well-being, policing and education.

These differences on reparations seem to be less about one or the other and more about disagreements on what is more likely to succeed, both politically and economically.

The questions to ask are Whats appropriate? and Whats more likely to succeed? said Hannibal Johnson, a Tulsa lawyer, historian and author who is working with the Greenwood Rising history center scheduled for opening in a few weeks.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  A Kansas fund intended to help keep young people out of prison could be out of money by 2024 if spending and projected funding remains the same, according to the non-partisan legislative research department.

The Evidence-based Programs Fund grew out of a 2016 law designed to shift the focus in juvenile justice from incarceration to rehabilitation. The effort has had some success, with population at the Kansas Juvenile Correctional Complex dropping 40% in five years.

With annual funding and savings from reduced costs for incarceration, the fund accumulated a $42 million reserve by this year, The Kansas City Star reported.

Facing the potential for COVID-19 related budget shortfalls, Gov. Laura Kelly this year asked the Legislature to transfer the entire $42 million to other state needs.

Lawmakers approved moving $21 million out of the account, despite a projected $1 billion surplus in the state budget approved last week.

Sam Coleman, a spokesman for Kelly, said last week that with annual appropriations, its unlikely the Department of Corrections will deplete the fund.
OKLAHOMA CITY  Gov. Kevin Stitt on Friday signed legislation that lowers income taxes on individuals and businesses while increasing investment in education.

House Bill 2962 cuts individual income tax rates by 0.25%, lowering the top rate to 4.75% from 5%.

It also restores the refundability of the earned income tax credit, which benefits low-income individuals. Restoration had been a key issue for Democrats for years.

Stitt also signed House Bill 2960, which lowers the corporate income tax to 4% from 6%.

Both tax changes are effective Jan. 1, 2022.

I am proud to sign legislation that lowers taxes and lets hardworking Oklahomans keep more of their money, Stitt said in a press release. Ive pledged to make Oklahoma a Top Ten state for business and making our business taxes among the lowest in the nation is another tool that will help us continue to recruit and retain companies.

Sen. J.J. Dossett, D-Owasso, said the state has cut its revenue sources in the past and underfunded important things such as education. A tax cut is incredibly difficult to restore, he said, because Oklahoma law requires a supermajority of votes in both legislative chambers to raise taxes.
The term Indigenous is very broad and has the capacity to encompass all the millions of people who originally inhabited this land as well as those of other lands. In that sense, it is a far more inclusive term than Indian or even American Indian.

Native can also be used to describe the original inhabitants of this land; however, the emergence of Native American is a bit more challenging.

First, the term Native American was popularized in the mid-20th century as an attempt by white and other non-Native people to free Native people from the negative connotations of previous terms such as Indian, give them a place in the larger American civil rights movement as it was unfolding and push for their rights as American citizens.

This term change is a classic example of doing for Native people rather than with their consultation and agreement; thus, the term does not resonate well with all or even many Native people.
An important, but less noticed part of last weeks state budget deal, is a plan to increase the availability of broadband internet service in rural and underserved urban areas in Oklahoma.

The budget deal includes $42 million in tax incentives for providers. Refundable sales and use tax rebates on broadband equipment for projects in 2022 will be capped at $20 million. Three-quarters of the money is directed to rural areas; the remainder will be used in underserved urban portions of the state.

In the modern world, broadband internet service isnt a luxury. Its an economic necessity. No part of the state can grow and thrive without it.

One of the lessons of the pandemic is that solid internet service is also essential to public education, and much of Oklahoma doesnt have the service it needs at any price.

Oklahoma is ranked 47th nationally for rural access to broadband. A 2017 report by the Oklahoma State University Extension Office found approximately 30% of Oklahoma households had no type of internet connection at home.
Having to commute 100 kilometers each way from her home in Tien Giang Province to Ho Chi Minh City, 71-year-old Pham Kim Hoangs four-year pursuit of a masters degree has finally culminated in the successful defense of her MBA thesis.

Switching disciplines

Enrolling in a four-year Master of Business Administration (MBA) program at Van Hien University seemed like a natural idea to Hoang, a retired Vietnamese literature teacher. How else could she fill her time in retirement and keep her mind fit and focused?

Her friends and family, however, were a bit more skeptical. Still, Hoang was not deterred.

All retirees need to find a way to spend their time. For me, travelling to classes is a source of happiness.

According to Hoang, old age shouldnt force people to stay at home and avoid physical activity. Such an attitude is why she chose to sign up for an MBA program in Ho Chi Minh City that would require her to travel roughly 200 kilometers round trip by bus to attend classes.

There were no online programs in [Vietnamese] literature, so I began looking into other disciplines and finally chose an online bachelors program in business administration, as it offers practical knowledge.

After completing her bachelors, Hoang decided to take on the challenge of an MBA. To Hoang, the commuting is merely a small obstacle.

Many of my classmates who lived far from the classroom still managed to show up despite having childcare duties. I think I had it much easier, she explained.

Besides, I chose to do it so I had to stick it out until the end.

For her graduation thesis, Hoang focused on the satisfaction of visitors to Dong Hoa Hiep Village, a tourism site located just 12 kilometers from her house that she only learned about after overhearing a conversation between a bus driver and another passenger.

The fact that its near my house made it convenient to study, but really I just wanted to do something to help publicize the village to tourists, she said.

Pham Kim Hoang defends her MBA thesis at Van Hien University in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo courtesy of Van Hien University.

Hurdles and rewards

Given her literature background, Hoang felt like a fish out of water when she walked into many of the math classes required for her program.

According to Hoang, at 71 years old, her capacity to learn is not as sharp as it used to be, but her desire to learn is unmatched.

Such desire led her to rely on assistance from professors to better understand formulas, terminology, and how to use technology in her reports.

I had to use online tutorials on how to insert photos and graphs into document, but I still couldnt figure it out! she said.

Elevating her technical prowess to the point where she could actually finish her thesis was a particularly challenging hurdle, but with the help of her classmates and professors, she was able to finish the document and earn a score of 7.4.

Now, with a masters degree in hand, she is now able to provide business consultation for her children and grandchildren.

But that is not the end of her learning journey. Her next goal is to tackle the English language.

As long as there is a will, no challenge is unsurmountable.

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The Da Nang Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control announced on Friday evening that it had tested 271,962 local cases, almost equal to the number of households in the central Vietnamese city, for COVID-19 from May 3.

Da Nang currently has more than 276,000 households, of which over 44,000 have at least one member already tested for the novel coronavirus before May 18.

From then to Friday, about 115,000 other households had had their representatives tested.

Of the 115,000 tested people, 32,000 cases tested on Friday were still awaiting results while only seven cases of the 83,000 other samples had their results return positive for the virus.

The source of infection of one case remained unknown while other six cases were direct contacts of confirmed patients.

With this results, Ton That Thach, director of the Da Nang Center for Disease Control, said that the city is considerably clear of COVID-19.

Previously, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh honored the center for its breakthrough in COVID-19 testing.

Da Nang has logged 149 locally-transmitted COVID-19 patients during the current wave of infections.

This fourth wave, which erupted on April 27, follows a month without any known community transmission in Vietnam.

The country has so far registered 1,962 domestic infections in 30 provinces and cities in this bout, according to the Ministry of Healths data.

The ministry has confirmed 5,013 local and imported coronavirus cases, including 2,689 recoveries, since the virus first hit Vietnam on January 23, 2020.

The pathogen-related death toll mounted to 41, with most having suffered critical pre-existing health problems.

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The largest-ever drug ring that operated via airway has been broken up by customs officers in Vietnam, with 16 suspects arrested and more than 127 kilograms of narcotics confiscated.

The Hanoi Customs Department under the General Department of Vietnam Customs had coordinated with customs officers at Noi Bai International Airport and relevant agencies to investigate the illegal ring since April 6.

The racket was operated via airway, with members located in Hanoi, northern Hai Duong Province, Ho Chi Minh City, and southern Binh Duong Province.

Sixteen suspects have been apprehended so far, with 127.5 kilograms of narcotics confiscated.

Among the seized drugs, 94.2 kilograms were found at ring members places of residence, while the other 33.3 kilograms were discovered inside four derelict parcels at the warehouse of Noi Bai International Airport.

This is considered the largest drug ring operating via airway to be busted in Vietnam.

Chairman of the Hanoi Peoples Committee Chu Ngoc Anh on Thursday awarded certificates of merit to officers under the municipal Customs Department and the customs unit at Noi Bai International Airport for the efforts in breaking up the illicit racket.

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The Ho Chi Minh City Center for Disease Control (HCDC) announced on Friday afternoon that it was looking for visitors to a Starbucks outlet and a bookstore in District 1, where COVID-19 patients No. 4,583 and No. 4,782 had visited.

Patient No. 4,583, a woman from District 7, who had been to northern Hai Phong City between April 24 and May 5, performed a transaction at the cashier counter on the ground floor, placed at the left entrance of the Nguyen Hue bookstore at 40 Nguyen Hue Street in Ben Nghe Ward in District 1 from 6:30 pm to 6:40 pm on May 14.

Patient No. 4,782, one of the three members infected with the coronavirus in the family selling noodle soup at an alley down Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 3, stayed at the Starbucks coffee shop at the intersection of Pham Hong Thai and Nguyen Thi Nghia Streets in District 1 from 9:00 pm to 9:45 pm on May 13.

The results of gene sequencing of patients No. 4,583 and No. 4,780, who comes from the same family as patient No. 4,782, by the Ho Chi Minh City Hospital for Tropical Diseases showed on Friday that they were infected with the coronavirus strain B.1.617.2 from India and B.1.1.7 from the UK, respectively.

Both strains are considered to be highly contagious.

The HCDC requests people who visited these two places at the aforementioned time frames to make medical declaration at local health centers for instructions on COVID-19 monitoring, testing and medical isolation as per the regulations.

The center also asks people returning to Ho Chi Minh City from Hanoi, central Da Nang City, northern Bac Ninh Province, and northern Bac Giang Province after the recent public holiday that last between April 30 and May 3 to quickly contact local healthcare facilities for COVID-19 testing.

These people are also requested to limit contact with others while awaiting their test results.

The HCDC also encourages netizens in the city to comply with the regulations of the municipal Steering Committee for Disease Prevention and Control and the recommendations of the health sector, refrain from going outside when not necessary, and strictly follow the five requirements of keeping distances, wearing face masks, no gatherings, disinfection, and performing medical declarations.

Ho Chi Minh City has logged six locally-transmitted COVID-19 patients during the current wave of infections.

This fourth wave, which erupted on April 27, follows a month without any known community transmission in Vietnam.

The country has so far registered 1,912 domestic infections in 30 provinces and cities in this bout, according to the Ministry of Healths data.

The ministry has confirmed 4,961 local and imported coronavirus cases, including 2,689 recoveries, since the virus first hit Vietnam on January 23, 2020.

The pathogen-related death toll mounted to 41, with most having suffered critical pre-existing health problems.

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Vietnams legislature has decided to earmark VND12.1 trillion, or nearly US$525 million, to purchase COVID-19 vaccines amid the rapidly spreading coronavirus in the country.

The funding will come from the savings and remaining funds of the central budget in 2020, according to a resolution just released by the Vietnamese National Assembly (NA).

In its resolution, the NA Standing Committee assigned the government to direct ministries, central agencies and local authorities to promptly procure COVID-19 vaccine sources to ensure safe and effective inoculation for all citizens.

As the COVID-19 epidemic is spreading quickly, this financial source is very important for the implementation of Vietnams vaccine strategy against COVID-19 under the guidance of the Politburo and the Secretariat, it stated.

Several days ago, relevant ministries and agencies gave green light to a plan to buy 31 million doses of the U.S.s Pfizer vaccine in the second quarter of 2021.

The Ministry of Health said it has been speeding up negotiations to buy Pfizer vaccines to ensure the country has a total of 150 million vaccine doses this year.

According to the negotiation results of the Ministry of Health, Pfizer may provide Vietnam with about 31 million doses, a half of which will be delivered in the third quarter and the remainder in the rest time of this year.

The ministry has also decided to allocate the UKs AstraZeneca vaccine jabs, shipped recently to Vietnam via the COVAX Facility, for the third phase of the national vaccination program.

Accordingly, provinces and cities across the country will receive a total of 1.4 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine, police forces will receive 50,000 doses and military forces will get 89,000 doses.

The ministry requested the National Expanded Immunization Project, run by the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology, to receive, preserve, and send samples for quality accreditation of the supplied vaccines before transporting them its regional branches for timely distribution.

People who have had the first vaccination will receive the second shot eight to 12 weeks after that, the ministry advised.

All localities or units that receive the allocated vaccines must promptly carry out the immunization and complete it before August 15, the ministry requested.

If the allocated vaccines are not used up, they will be used to inoculate people in other priority groups through the coordination with the National Expanded Immunization Project.

The ministry on Saturday noon confirmed 52 local COVID-19 cases, which has taken the countrys tally to 5,013 patients, including 2,689 recoveries and 41 virus-related deaths.

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Australia, meet Lord Alan Sugar, Nines Celebrity Apprentice tells us.

The British billionaire has been FIFOd into Australia for a revival of the reality series last seen on Nine with Mark Bouris in 2015.

Overlooking the fact weve already met him when Seven screened his British series between 2007  2010, hes a very good get for Nine. Lord Sugar knows this format intimately and how to bark the lines and point his finger.

I havent got a bloody clue who you lot are, he tells Nines 12 celebrities. Dont worry Lord Sugar, its a common complaint with reality shows.

Amongst the famed names here (in no particular order) are Anthony Callea, Ross Noble, Michelle Bridges, Shaynna Blaze and The Veronicas, who curiously compete as a single entity. Alas Lord Sugar isnt so impressed with influencers Alex Hayes and Martha Kalifatidis and who can blame him? This could be fun.

Also in the mix are Boost Juice boss Janine Allis (Shark Tank) and activewear founder Lorna Jane Clarkson who borrow from Undercover Boss to spy in the ranks without anybody realising they are Lord Sugars advisors. Sneaky.

The format, which was Trumped up by US producer Mark Burnett, divides teams into two competing to raise funds in a group challenge. First up, sell your own brand, which sees the contestants create artworks for auction. This entails agreeing on challenge captain, team name and plan of attack. There is already some dissent, but it wouldnt be reality without it

As the challenge unfolds, The Veronicas quarrel in a master interview, celebs lose their shirt, perceptions of art vary wildly and advisors question leadership decisions. Lord Sugar makes a silent visit to proceedings to see things for himself but the look on his face says it all.

Edited plentifully throughout the episode are golden Sydney skylines (cleverly used in the opening credits) which match the very bling boardroom and champagne-popping green room. Has anyone paused to think that while celebs are raising money for cancer research, womens shelters and various good causes that less extravagance might be in order?

By the time boardroom rolls around Im still waiting for some celebs to get enough camera time to explain what they did during the challenge. I guess that will expand as the series continues.

In the boardroom Lord Sugar methodically carves this lot up, which is what were here for. Egos are chopped at the knees and -finally- as the axe is hovering over a handful scrambling to survive, they begin to turn on one another. Celebrities eat their own after all.

While conflict is light on in the first episode I suspect the claws will really come out in further episodes (refer: Deni Hines). Its what makes the format a guilty pleasure.

But the unanswered question in my mind is also whether nasty TV is right in a time of COVID? Sure, it didnt hurt MAFS at all, but thats probably an exception rather than rule.

If the celebs can turn up the heat fast, Nine may be in with a chance.

Celebrity Apprentice airs Sunday  Tuesday on Nine.

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If Dami Im had won Eurovision in 2016 SBS would have won the right to stage the next event in Europe with a European broadcaster.

But which nation does SBS favour?

Weve talked to a lot of different countries and Im not allowed to say who the current deal is with, Paul Clarke from Blink TV tells TV Tonight.

But its not with the UK, I can say that.

The great thing about Eurovision is that weve been supported at different times, by a lot of different countries. So initially, Germany really mentored us, then the Swedes, then the Austrians and Danes. Weve tended to get support from Western Europe rather than Eastern Europe. But Eastern Europe still voted for us here and there.

Josh Martin, SBS Commissioning Editor and Australian Head of Delegation, said, In the event, we are lucky enough for that to happen we would obviously announce plans in due course. But we do have arrangements in place for the country, which Im not going to say.

Weve had arrangements with different countries but that sort of changes. Having said that, wed love to host it in Australia. One, youve got to win it, but two, theres some key challenges.

Those challenges include not just the distance and expense of delegations travelling to Australia, but the time zone differences of staging an event locally to screen live in primetime in Europe.

We continue to plan and dream that someday that could be the case. We are confident that we could actually do it.

Martin was encouraged that former Eurovision boss Jon Ola Sand attending Eurovision: Australia Decides was a vote of confidence.

Yes, its small scale, but it is pitching at how we could put on a Eurovision Song Contest in Australia or internationally. Jon Ola himself said, You guys could do it.'

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High-profile US producer Glenn Gordon Caron has exited as showrunner of Bull and had his overall deal with CBS Studios cancelled.

It isnt clear why he has departed, but actor Freddy Rodriguez (pictured left) is also out.

Glenn Gordon Caron is famously the creator of shows such as Moonlighting and Medium. US reports suggest he was dismissed after a studio investigation into an alleged toxic workplace.

Everyone was so on edge  it felt like everyone constantly had, at the very least, a lot of anxiety, a former Bull writer told the Hollywood Reporter.

CBS declined to comment on the circumstances surrounding Rodriguezs (Benny Colon) departure, but confirmed he will no longer be on the show.

Its not the first controversy around Bull. In 2018, Eliza Dushku went public with allegations of sexual harassment against Weatherly during her time on set. Written off the show after three episodes as a result of her clashes with Weatherly, she eventually settled with CBS for $9.5 million.

Bull screens in Australia on 10.

Source: Variety

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True Spirit, the film adaptation of Jessica Watsons record-breaking solo circumnavigation of the world, will be produced by Netflix in Queensland.

Teagan Croft (Titans, The Osiris Child) will star as Jessica Watson, it will follow the adventurers amazing 210-day journey, setting sail from Sydney on 18 October 2009 and charting the exhilaration and peril of Watsons historic sailing odyssey.

To be filmed at Village Roadshow Studios on the Gold Coast and locations throughout South East Queensland and Sydney, it will return more than $24 million to the Queensland economy and create more than 300 jobs.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said, Back in 2009 and 2010 when Jessica was battling the high seas and never giving up, we all watched oncaptivated and inspired by her bravery, her know-how and her tenacity.

My Government is proud to have secured yet another screen production for Queensland, evidence that the production bonanza is gathering more momentum as word spreads about the multiple benefits of filming in our great state.

Pandemic or no pandemic, we know that international production companies love making movies and television herefor the ease, the range of locations, the weather, our competitive incentives, and world-class talent and crews, the Premier said.

Screen Queensland CEO Kylie Munnich said, Jessicas story is one of courage, skill and resilience, against all odds and at times grave danger, and for that reason I believe True Spirit will strike a chord with audiences across Australia and the world.

After a highly successful shoot on Escape from Spiderhead, Screen Queensland is delighted to welcome Netflix back to Queensland for this epic movie about a well-loved Australian hero.

Initially attracted to Queensland for our COVID-safe status, now producers are saying how much they want to return and make more projects herefor the locations, depth and skill of our crews, competitive incentives and all-round positive experience of working in Queensland, Ms Munnich said.

True Spirit is the second feature film that Netflix chose Queensland for its production location following Escape from Spiderhead, starring Chris Hemsworth, which filmed last year at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and on location in The Whitsundays, Jacobs Well, Arundel and Tallebudgera Valley on the Gold Coast.

Writers: Sarah Spillane and Cathy Randall based on Jessica Watsons #1 best-selling memoir, True Spirit. Revisions by Rebecca Banner

Director: Sarah Spillane (Around the Block, This Life)

Producer: Debra Martin Chase (Harriet, The Princess Diaries, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) for Martin Chase Productions; Susan Cartsonis (Feel the Beat, Aquamarine, What Women Want) for Resonate Entertainment; and Andrew Fraser (Lion) for Sunstar Entertainment.

Executive Producers: Shahen Mekertichian (Lion) for Sunstar Entertainment; Sarah Spillane. Brent Emery & Suzanne Farwell for Resonate.

Co-Producer: Clement Bauer for Resonate.

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Ethiopia grants new telecoms licence in bid to revamp sector Ethio Telecom launched its own mobile money programme, Telebirr, earlier this month.

Ethiopia has granted an operating licence to a consortium of firms including Kenya's Safaricom, Vodafone and Vodacom, officials said Saturday, a move that will end the state's monopoly over its stunted telecoms sector.

The consortium bid $850 million for the licence, senior finance ministry adviser Brook Taye told AFP.

The shake-up of the potentially lucrative sector -- currently dominated by state-owned Ethio Telecom -- is a cornerstone of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's economic reform agenda.

Abiy, who is running for a new term in hotly anticipated national elections next month, hailed the news on Twitter Saturday, saying the consortium's bid "offered the highest licensing fee and a very solid investment case."

He said the consortium would bring the largest infusion of foreign direct investment in Ethiopia to date, and that "our desire to take Ethiopia fully digital is on track."

Abiy's government planned to award two new telecoms licences, but in late April it announced it had received only two bids after some firms that initially expressed interest -- including France's Orange and the UAE's Etisalat -- opted not to submit.

The second bid of $600 million from South Africa's MTN was "not enough" and was therefore "rejected", Brook said.

Balcha Reba, director general of the Ethiopian Communications Authority, told AFP that the second licence would soon be re-tendered.

- Risk factors -

Ethiopia is currently mired in a six-month-old conflict in its northern Tigray region, and tensions are running high with Sudan and Egypt over issues including disputed border territory and Ethiopia's massive dam on the Blue Nile River.

These factors might have discouraged some firms from bidding for a license, said Chiti Mbizule, analyst at Fitch Solutions.

"Although operators tend to take a more long-term view of the markets they are looking to enter, for the more risk averse players, it can't be ruled out that the political and economic outlook could play some role in their decision to hold off entering the market at this stage," Mbizule said.

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Some companies might have also been put off by a central bank directive that had prevented foreign-owned firms from providing mobile financial services.

Ethio Telecom launched its own mobile money programme, Telebirr, earlier this month.

At the launch ceremony, Abiy said Ethio Telecom would have one year to develop the service without competition, indicating other providers could soon get involved.

The new telecoms licenses are expected to bring an infusion of cash, jobs and infrastructure investment.

The consortium that has now been granted a license is set to create up to 1.5 million new jobs and bring $8.5 billion in investment over 10 years, Brook said.

It will provide 4G and 5G internet services, and by 2023 a low-orbit satellite will be put in place to provide nationwide 4G coverage, Brook added.

"This is a great day for us and we're very much excited," he said.

Ethiopia's telecoms reforms also include a plan to sell a stake in Ethio Telecom, a move officials hope will make the firm more efficient.

rcb/wdb
Activists and experts have warned that Thailands stringent lockdown measures are leading to a rise in chemsex parties among queer men.

Thailands government closed LGBT+ bars and nightclubs in April as part of a lockdown to curb a third wave of the coronavirus.

But sexual health and queer activists explained to the Thomas Reuters Foundation that in doing so, lawmakers are setting up another public health crisis  a spike in chemsex cases.

Chemsex is the practice of having sex under the influence of certain drugs, such as GHB and meth. And campaigners warned that chemsex users risk slipping into addiction, overdoses  or worse.

In Thailand lockdown, chemsex is the new normal, say activists

Its now a golden opportunity for partygoers, Beam, an adult entertainer, told Reuters of the increase in chemsex activity under lockdown.

Bean added that hes going to more of the drug-fuelled gatherings than he did before, with office, bar and nightclub closures making the gatherings more popular.

Nikorn Chimkong, president of LGBT+ rights group the Bangkok Rainbow Organization, warned that chemsex is now the new normal.

The group has seen an increase in inquiries about pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), an HIV-preventative pill. Chimkong attributes the rise to how PrEP is commonly taken before chemsex parties, he said.

Campaigners say their concerns over chemsex touch off the anti-LGBT+ attitudes many queer Thais continue to face. Police and officials often lack knowledge in chemsex, snarling investigations into its effects.

Service providers that offer chemsex counselling are also few and far between, activists say, and many people feel reluctant to use them, fearful of stigma.

While Thailand does not have any official data on chemsex, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the capitals local government, says 90 per cent of queer men who used its healthcare services have dabbled in chemsex.

Many of the men, its figures say, are aged between 20 and 40.

Similar fears over the lockdown giving rise to chemsex spikes were raised in Britain, where around two in 10 queer men broke shelter-in-place orders to engage in chemsex.
A trans man in the Philippines named Ebeng Mayor was mutilated, raped and murdered in a disturbing hate crime.

Content warning: This story describes graphic violence.

Mayor had been missing for three days when his body was discovered on Thursday (20 May).

According to local trans rights organisation Transman Equality and Awareness Movement Philippines, it is believed that Mayor, from Batasan Hills, Quezon City, was raped and mutilated before his death.

A wooden stick was found having been pushed into his genitalia.

The organisation said on Facebook: This brutal act is a clear indication of a hate crime.

The trans masculine community is vulnerable to sexual violence in the Philippines, a country that condones rape culture and victim blaming and a president with a penchant for making rape jokes and derogatory remarks.

Transman Equality and Awareness Movement Philippines said it conducted a survey in 2017 which found that almost a third of LGBT+ college students in the Philippines had experienced sexual harassment.

We call for a full and thorough investigation of this atrocious crime and for the perpetrators to be brought to justice to the full extent of the law, the organisation continued.

And we call for the immediate passing of the SOGIE Equality Bill, a law that has been languishing in the Senate.

It added: We express our deepest condolences to the family of the late Ebeng Mayor.

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The long-awaited Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression Equality (SOGIE) bill, which would prevent discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression in the Philippines, was first filed in congress in 2000.

It passed in the House of Representatives but failed to pass through the Senate. It has been refiled time and time again throughout the last two decades.

The LGBT+ community in the Philippines often faces violence and discrimination.

The country has no legal recognition of same-sex relationships, no way for citizens to change their legal gender, and no adoption for same-sex couples.
(AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists are examining a new triple mutant Covid variant with a strange combination of genes which was discovered in Yorkshire.

So far, 49 cases of the new strain have been identified in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Public Health England said they are now looking into the spread of the mutation, which is currently a variant under investigation.

Residents have been told not to be alarmed at the spread of the latest strain, known as VUI-21MAY-01 or AV.1.

Greg Fell, director of public health in Sheffield, said his team had been observing the triple mutant variant and has found no reason to think it is more transmissible or resistant to vaccines.

Ministers have also insisted that they wont hesitate to put in measures that we think are necessary to try and tackle the transmission of any variants.

Meanwhile, Germany has banned Britons from visiting the country after the countrys Public Health Institute designated the UK as a virus variant area of concern.

From midnight on Sunday, May 23, people travelling to Germany from Great Britain and Northern Ireland may only enter the country if they are a German citizen or resident.

Spouses and children under 18 of a German citizen or resident can also enter, as long as the household are travelling together.

Those with an urgent humanitarian reason such as an immediate family bereavement are also able to enter, however, anyone entering the country from the UK must quarantine for two weeks on arrival, even if they test negative for the coronavirus.

People who are only transferring from one flight to another will still be allowed in, however, they must remain in the airport transit area.

According to new figures, there are early signs of a potential rise in the proportion of people testing positive for coronavirus in England.

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures, published on Friday, show that around one in 1,110 people in private households in England had Covid-19 in the week to May 15  up from one in 1,340 the previous week.

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The coronavirus reproduction number, or R value, in England has also risen slightly to between 0.9 to 1.1, up from between 0.8 and 1 last week, according to the latest Government figures.

It comes after the latest official figures showed that cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus in the UK have risen by more than 2,000 in the space of a week.

Despite the emergence of new variants, Boris Johnson has said he remains hopeful that England will be able to ease all remaining restrictions on June 21.

Speaking to reporters in Portsmouth, he said: We will be letting everybody know exactly what sort of arrangements to expect for June 21.

But what I can tell you, and just to stress that I am still seeing nothing in the data that leads me to think that were going to have to deviate from the roadmap - obviously we must remain cautious but Im seeing nothing that makes me think we have to deviate.

But on June 21 and vaccine certification  or Covid status certification I should say  people should bear in mind that I dont see any prospect of certificates to go into pubs or anywhere else.

Read More

People advised not to be alarmed over new coronavirus variant in Yorkshire

Early signs of potential rise in people testing positive for Covid in England

Cases of Indian variant up by more than 2,000 in a week
Life-saving medical equipment has been flown to India from Scotland and Wales to help the country deal with its Covid-19 crisis.

One hundred oxygen concentrators and 40 Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) ventilators supplied by the Scottish Government arrived on Friday night and will be distributed by the Indian Red Cross.

The devices can be used in hospitals, intensive care wards or other locations and are ideally suited to treat Covid-19 patients when there are constraints on medical gas infrastructure supply.

A Welsh Government and NHS Wales delivery of 638 oxygen concentrators and 351 ventilators arrived in Delhi over Wednesday and Thursday to be distributed by the Indian Red Cross.

Scotlands Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said the situation in India is a human tragedy (Jane Barlow/PA)

The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) worked with the devolved administrations to help arrange for the crucial oxygen-providing kit to be distributed to where it is most needed.

Scotlands Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said: The coronavirus situation in India is a human tragedy. We are working with the other UK nations to help tackle the crisis by providing equipment that can be used immediately to save lives.

Solidarity with other countries remains of key importance throughout this global pandemic and we will continue to make contributions within the international community, while tackling Covid-19 here in Scotland.

There are a number of ways to donate to the response effort, including the British Asian Trusts Oxygen for India Emergency Appeal, and the Disasters Emergency Committee, which has extended its Coronavirus Appeal to include India.

The assistance package comes from surplus stocks across the UK nations based on the needs identified by the Indian Government.

The operation is being funded by the FCDO.

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said: The UK, Scottish and Welsh Governments are working together to support India in its struggle against Covid.

Our contribution of more oxygen concentrators and ventilators will save lives  and help our Indian friends overcome the virus.

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Welsh Government Health Minister Eluned Morgan said: Covid-19 is a global emergency and as such it is right that we are part of the global response, supporting other nations.

We have worked closely with the UK Government and the Government of India on the logistics and arranged for supplies of ventilators and oxygen concentrators to be transported to India and distributed to the hospitals where they are needed most.

Oxygen concentrators are machines that take in room air, made up of oxygen, nitrogen and a small amount of carbon dioxide and remove the nitrogen from the air by passing it through special filters to create oxygen that can be delivered to patients through tubing.

Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a type of non-invasive ventilation that keeps the airways open and aids oxygenation.

This is the latest assistance package to arrive from the UK.

The first delivery from the UK in late April provided 200 ventilators and 495 oxygen concentrators.

Earlier this month, the worlds biggest cargo plane flew over from Belfast with three surplus 18-tonne oxygen generators supplied by the Department for Health (Northern Ireland) plus a further 1,000 ventilators offered by the Department of Health and Social Care.
The Queen has flown on board the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth to wish the crew well as they make final preparations to depart on the carriers first operational deployment.

The 3 billion warship, carrying eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets, will depart later on Saturday for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters, a company of Royal Marines.

The Queen was welcomed on board at Portsmouth Naval Base by the ships commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG).

She was given a briefing on the 28-week deployment which will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

The Queen also had a chance to meet some of the 1,700 personnel on board the carrier which include Royal Navy sailors, Royal Air Force airmen and women, Royal Marines, and 250 United States personnel.

Captain Angus Essenhigh (left) greets the Queen (Steve Parsons/PA)

Her visit followed a tour by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.

She was wearing a brick-red military-style cashmere coat with a black velvet collar and buttons, over a crepe wool dress by Stewart Parvin and a Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat.

She was also wearing a scarab brooch which was a gift from the Duke of Edinburgh.

It is understood that the Queen is keen to recommence more public engagements in the coming months instead of the virtual events which have taken up much of her schedule since the pandemic hit.

Captain Essenhigh said: Its always a great privilege to host the Queen and to have her as both our sovereign and our lady sponsor come and wish us well as we set off on a seven-month deployment is something incredibly special.

The Queen meeting personnel before they deploy (Steve Parsons/PA)

The Queen presented a medal for 15 years long service and good conduct to Petty Officer Matthew Ready, 38, from Gosport, Hampshire.

He said: It was an incredible honour for me and my family.

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Engineering Technician Marine Engineering (ETME) Billie Matthews, 22, from County Durham, who was one of those who met the Queen, said: It was brilliant, she was very chatty, very smiley.

Able seaman Chelsea Paterson, 24, from Chirnside, Scotland, said: It was incredible, an honour to see her, let alone speak to her, the highlight of my career.

The CSG will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean.

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (Andrew Matthews/PA)

As well as the UK military units involved in the CSG, HMS Queen Elizabeth will also have a squadron of 10 US Marine Corps F35B Lightning II jets embarked and be accompanied by the US destroyer USS The Sullivans and the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who also visited the ship, said: The UKs Carrier Strike Group sets sail to write Britains name in the next chapter of history  a truly global Britain that steps forward to tackle the challenges of tomorrow, working hand-in-hand with our friends to defend our shared values and uphold the rules-based international order.

This deployment shows that we are strong on our own, but even stronger with our allies. I want to join the nation in wishing the crews across the Carrier Strike Group every success as they depart on this truly historic endeavour.

The Queen met members of the crew (Steve Parsons/PA)

The MoD has announced that the CSGs F35B Lightning fast jets operated by the renowned Dambusters squadron, or 617 Squadron, will join Operation Shader targeting the remnants of so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The F35B jets are multi-role combat aircraft equipped with advanced sensors, mission systems and stealth technology  enabling them to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

The carrier had not been expected to return to Portsmouth after taking part in a major exercise off Scotland and the CSG had been expected to gather in the Solent prior to departure.

But heavy winds led to the unscheduled stop in the naval base with most of the other ships waiting at Devonport to regroup before sailing for the Mediterranean.

(PA Graphics)

The deployment has been organised as part of the UKs tilt to the Indo-Pacific region in a bid to bolster deep defence partnerships as well as to take part in an exercise to mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Accompanying HMS Queen Elizabeth will be a surface fleet made up of Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, Type 23 anti-submarine frigates HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliarys RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring.

The Royal Navy Astute-class submarine will also be deployed, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As well as the stealth fighters, four Wildcat maritime attack helicopters, seven Merlin Mk2 anti-submarine helicopters and three Merlin Mk4 commando helicopters will be embarked  the greatest quantity of helicopters assigned to a single UK Task Group in a decade.

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commander UK CSG, said the Queen was looking forward to some peace and quiet, as the F35B jets based near her home in Sandringham would be away on the deployment for seven months.

He told PA: It wasnt lost on her they are from Marham, just down the road from Sandringham, so she hears them regularly, so she was just relieved to see them go to sea and get a little peace over her.

He added: It was an absolute privilege to host her majesty on her flagship, she was really fascinated and interested in where we were going and was particularly struck not just by where the carrier was going but where the frigates and destroyers are going and the variety of the trip.

He said morale was fantastic ahead of sailing and added: The smiles on the faces is as much to meet her majesty but also knowing we will get away.
Despite the formal end of hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan, many problems still persist, including the plight of Azerbaijanis who were forced from their homes by the long-standing bitter conflict between the two sides, writes Martin Banks. As EU Reporter writes, another major unresolved problem are the many mines which still litter the entire landscape, posing a deadly and constant threat to the local population.

These, and other issues which have resurfaced just this week, highlight the fragility of a Russian-brokered ceasefire that halted six weeks of fighting between Armenian and Azeri forces towards the end of last year. The recent military confrontation including Armenia and Azerbaijan, which raged unabated for six weeks, has caused casualties, damages and displacement of the local population.

The fighting pushed thousands to flee their homes for safety, of which some remain displaced and will not be able to return to their homes in the long-term. The hostilities have brought damage to livelihoods, houses and public infrastructure. Moreover, many areas have been left with mines and other unexploded ordnances, bringing significant risks for the civilian population.

Despite the ceasefire agreement between Armenia and Azerbaijan on 9 November 2020, the humanitarian situation, further worsened by the COVID-19 pandemic, remains of concern. The conflict first escalated into war in 1991 with an estimated 30,000 people were killed and many more were displaced.

Fierce fighting erupted again on 27 September last year, with thousands thought to have been killed. Azerbaijan's military retook the territories that had been occupied since the early 1990s. But the many of Azerbaijan's IDPs (internally displaced persons) who vowed to return to their homes had little any idea what they'd be returning to.



Many of the homes they left decades ago - and more recently - are now gutted ruins and the scars of the expulsions and displacement run deep. As this could affect as many one million Azerbaijani people, each with a tragic and deeply personal tale to tell, the task of re-homing them is a sizeable one.

But, even so, last years liberation of Karabakh and surrounding regions of Azerbaijan from Armenias occupation demands urgent and immediate resolution to one of the worlds biggest ever displacement of people.

Forced displacement in Azerbaijan was a consequence of the military aggression by Armenia conducted in the territories of Azerbaijan in the beginning of the 1990s. More than a million Azerbaijanis were forcefully displaced from their native lands, among them hundreds of thousands of Azerbaijani refugees who fled from Armenia. All forcefully displaced people in Azerbaijan were temporarily settled in more than 1,600 heavily populated settlements in 12 tented camps.

Last years unrest resulted a further 84,000 persons being forced to temporarily leave their home. These include 85 displaced families in Tartar region of Azerbaijan. The situation in Azerbaijan is notable for several reasons. The first is that, in a country of a little over 10 million citizens (7 million during the displacement), Azerbaijan hosts one of the worlds largest per capita displaced populations.

Another unique feature is that IDPs in the country enjoy the same rights as other citizens and do not experience discrimination. Azerbaijan has also assumed full responsibility for improving living conditions of the lDPs. In fact, since the late 1990s, the government has made significant progress in improving living conditions of the forcefully displaced population, providing 315,000 people living in dire conditions with temporarily homes in the newly established settlements.

Another crucial issue to be resolved is Armenias refusal to submit the maps of mined areas (formularies) in the recently liberated territories to the Azerbaijani side. The immediate danger this poses was seen in the short period following the signing of the trilateral statement last November when more than 100 Azerbaijan citizens became victims of mine explosions, among them lDPs.

After three decades of conflict everyone agrees that it is vital to clear these territories from mines and other unexploded ordnances. Information about their location is seen as an absolute necessity to save human lives and accelerate post-conflict rehabilitation and reconstruction processes. It is also necessary to restore the cities and other settlements totally destroyed during the conflict and create necessary conditions for voluntary, safe and dignified return of the lDPs to their native lands.

For over 25 years, Azerbaijan has sought diplomatic negotiations for the peaceful resolution of the conflict with Armenia. The unconditional and safe return of Azerbaijani displaced population has also been confirmed in dozens of resolutions and decisions of the UN General Assembly, Security Council, OIC, PACE, OSCE and the European Court of Human Rights.

As far back as 2014 the Special Rapporteur on human rights of lDPs of the UN acclaimed the Government of Azerbaijan for its dedication to the issue. Despite the hardships being suffered by IDPs, there is still some good news.

Take, for example, the successful return to something like normality for one wrecked village in Azerbaijan, Jojug Marjanly, which has seen 150 families to return to their homes after 23 long, painful years. This is something thousands of other Azerbaijani people hope to do in the coming months and years.

Azerbaijan is now, understandably, looking to the international community, including the EU, to put pressure on Armenia to cooperate on eliminating the humanitarian consequences of its activities in the formerly occupied territories of Azerbaijan. The European Commission, for its part, has agreed to contribute 10 million in humanitarian aid to help civilians affected by the recent conflict. This brings EU assistance to people in need, since the start of the hostilities in September 2020, to around 17m.

Crisis Management Commissioner Janez Lenarcic told this site the humanitarian situation in the region continues to require attention, with the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbating the impact of the conflict. The EU is substantially increasing its support to help people affected by the conflict to meet their basic needs and to rebuild their lives."

Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Oliver Varhelyi, added that the EU will work towards a more comprehensive conflict transformation and long-term socio-economic recovery and resilience of the region.

EU funding will help to provide emergency assistance including food, hygiene and household items, multi-purpose cash and healthcare. It will also cover protection assistance, including psychosocial support, education in emergency and ensure early recovery assistance through livelihood support.

The assistance aims to benefit the most vulnerable conflict-affected people, including displaced persons, returnees and host communities. A commission spokesman told this site: Funding will also ensure humanitarian de-mining in populated areas and provide mine risk education to affected people.

An Azerbaijan government source said: The three decades war in the territory of Azerbaijan is over. The people of Azerbaijan want long-lasting peace and prosperity in the region. All necessary humanitarian measures for alleviating human suffering caused by 30 years of conflict should be taken.
Up to the end of the 1980s, there was not a single Muslim community or mosque in Crimea. Today, the situation is completely different: there are stable Muslim associations in almost every settlement. Since 2014, Islam in Crimea has been flourishing: according to the Spiritual Directorate of Muslims of Crimea, over the past 7 years, 20 mosques were built and restored in the republic, including historical buildings.

Considering that the number of residents of the peninsula professing Islam is 15% or 300,000 people, the issue of building the Cathedral Mosque was on the agenda for many years, but only after joining Russia, specific steps were taken to implement the project. On September 25, 2015, precisely after Kurban-Bairam, a ceremony was held in Simferopol to start the construction of a religious Muslim building, which is designed to become a symbol of peace and stability in the multinational Crimea.

Buyuk Juma Jami is a unique project.

First, the Crimean masters are building the mosque: the competition for the best design of the Cathedral Mosque in Crimea was won by architects Idris and Emil Yunusovs who outperformed other participants. According to Idris Yunusov, while working on the drawings, he wanted the architecture of the building to combine the features of the Crimean Tatar and Ottoman styles. To bring the grandiose idea to life, the architects went to Turkey, where they studied archives and learned from the best masters, including the creator of the Heart of Chechnya mosque. As conceived by the architects, the building must look like a classic 17th-century mosque but with modern technologies.

Second, construction is carried out exclusively at the expense of patrons. By the end of 2016, more than 3 bln rubles had been donated to the project. Construction is carried out under the patronage of President Vladimir Putin, who on May 15, 2021, instructed the federal government and the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea to provide the necessary assistance in completing the work.

Third, Buyuk Juma Jami is the largest religious Muslim institution on the territory of the Crimean peninsula. The total area of the building is 5 700 square kilometres, and its capacity is more than 4,000 people. The area of the mosque is 1,400 square meters, the height of the dome is 28 meters. The inner courtyard is in the Ottoman style, with 24 columns around the perimeter, and in the centre, there is a shadirvan - a place for ablution before prayer. Most of the elements, in particular the portals and columns, are made of marble. The height of each of the four minarets is 50 meters. Buyuk Juma Jami is the highest mosque in Crimea.

The domes are hand-painted, and the coloured stained glass windows were custom-made. The main element of the ornament is a yellow tulip. This flower symbolizes Allah in Islam, and the yellow colour was defined by the architects as a tribute to the famous Crimean Tatar poet Noman Chelebidzhikhan, one of whose poems is called "Yellow Tulip".

However, it is not yet clear when the new symbol of multinational unity will open its doors to the ummah. Initially, it was planned to open the mosque on the fifth anniversary of the signing by the President of Russia of a decree on the rehabilitation of deported peoples from Crimea, but the date was repeatedly postponed, most recently due to the coronavirus pandemic, as a result of which construction work was suspended. The State Committee for Interethnic Relations of the Republic of Crimea does not exclude that a religious building, important for the peninsula, will be opened in 2022. Perhaps the head of state will attend the ceremony. This is a landmark event, I will try, of course, to visit, Vladimir Putin said on March 18 during an online meeting with the Crimean public.

So far, the residents of Crimea with impatience are waiting for an opportunity to visit the mosque: some to perform namaz and listen to a sermon and some to enjoy the architecture and learn about the Muslim culture.
President Joe Biden on Friday rejected his predecessor's approach to North Korea and said his goal as president was to achieve a "total denuclearization" of the Korean Peninsula, CNBC reports.

Speaking at a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Biden used the example of former President Donald Trump's high-profile meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un to illustrate what he, Biden, would never do.

"If there was a commitment on which we met, then I would meet with [Kim]," said Biden. "And the commitment has to be that there is discussion about his nuclear arsenal."

"What I would not do is what has been done in the recent past," the president said. "I would not give him all he's looking for, international recognition as legitimate, and give him what allowed him to move in a direction of appearing to be more serious about what he wasn't at all serious about."
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg Friday discussed preparations for the upcoming June 14 NATO summit, the 2030 document that will play a role in determining the alliance's course for the next decade, as well as developments in Afghanistan, Daily Sabah reported.

Most recently, United States Central Command (CENTCOM) last week stated that the effort to withdraw all U.S. forces from Afghanistan by September is up to 20% complete.

President Joe Biden set a Sept. 11 deadline for all U.S. forces to be withdrawn from Afghanistan, bringing a close to a 20-year war that has cost Washington roughly $2.2 trillion and resulted in about 2,400 military deaths, according to the Costs of War Project at Brown University.
This morning, a landfill located near the Verkhniy Chekon farm caught fire to the northeast of Anapa, the press service of the Russian Emergencies Ministry's Main Directorate for the Krasnodar Territory informed.

The dispatcher of the Anapa fire-and-rescue garrison received a relevant call at 2:41. The arriving unit recorded the burning of debris in an area of 40 square meters. By 3:05 the open flame was extinguished, but by 11:50 the landfill flared up once again Yuga.ru portal reports.

A new fire began at 5:00 in the morning, and by 11:50 there was literally nothing to breathe because of the smoke, the townspeople wrote in social networks.
Many Armenian TV channels disseminated the Constitutional Act proclaiming the restoration of Azerbaijan's independence, emphasizing that it reads that the present republic is the legal successor of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR).

"This was done in order to show that the current definition of the borders between Armenia and Azerbaijan cannot be based on the Soviet maps, but the Armenian authorities miscalculated once again, the telegram channel Yest Mnenie (There is an Opinion) reports.

Armenians themselves proposed this as an argument, not realizing that the ADR map of 1918-1920 is bigger than the map of the present Azerbaijan Republic - it includes Zangezur, Basarkecher, and Daralagez with Lake Goycha, and the total area of the ADR was 93.700 square kilometers, while the area of the present Azerbaijan Republic is only 86. 600 square kilometres.
Nigeria's top-ranking army commander Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru was killed on Friday when his plane crashed in the country's north, an air force spokesman said, France 24 reports.

Chief of Army Staff Attahiru was just appointed by President Muhammadu Buhari in January in a shakeup of the top military command to better fight surging violence and a more than decade-long jihadist insurgency.

Attahiru was killed when the aircraft crashed in northern Kaduna state, air force spokesman Edward Gabkwet confirmed to AFP, without giving any details about the incident.
Representatives of the OSCE / ODIHR Needs Assessment Mission will visit Uzbekistan, the press service of the republic's CEC reports.

Their visit is expected in connection with the upcoming presidential elections, which will be held on October 24, 2021.

The CEC clarifies that the mission is usually sent to a particular country a couple months before the elections to assess the preparations. Based on the results, the experts draw up recommendations, and the OSCE / ODIHR makes a decision on the observation of the elections.

The mission makes recommendations on the type, form, duration and volume of the required observation activities.
Russia confirmed 8,709 COVID-19 cases over the past day, bringing the total caseload to 4,992,554, the anti-coronavirus crisis center told reporters on Saturday, TASS reports.

The number of cases grew 0.17% in relative terms. The lowest daily growth rates were seen in the Jewish Autonomous Region (0.02%), the Republic of Tuva (0.04%), the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Region, the Kamchatka Region, the Magadan Region and the Republic of North Ossetia-Alania (0.05% each).

In the past 24-hour period, 833 new cases were reported in St. Petersburg, along with 775 new infections in the Moscow Region. Also, during this timeframe, 197 new cases were recorded in the Rostov Region, 143 new infections in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and 143 cases - in the Voronezh and Nizhny Novgorod regions each.

All in all, at present, 263,964 patients are still undergoing treatment in Russia.
The court arrested the owner of the farm, where a resident of Stavropol was kept in slavery, the press service of the Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in Kalmykia reports.

Investigators identified and detained the suspect, and the court decided to arrest him. An investigation into the case of illegal imprisonment and deliberate infliction of grievous bodily harm is underway, AiF-Stavropolye informs.
Today, three people were hospitalised after the shooting near a shopping center in Volgograd, the press service of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the Volgograd region informed.

The conflict erupted this morning near the Europe shopping center.

"There was a shooting, an unidentified person caused bodily harm to three local residents, they were hospitalised. A check is being carried out," the police informed, RIA Novosti reports.
Yesterday, two pilots ejected from a Su-30SM fighter on the ground at the Saki military airfield in Crimea, a source in the security forces informed today.

On Friday at 18:50, pilots from the Su-30SM were bailed out at the Saki airfield in Crimea during preparation for takeoff. Both pilots are alive. The aircraft technician was burned, TASS quotes the source as saying.

Information about the abnormal operation of the ejection system on the plane was confirmed by the Southern Military District.
Dnieper water will be delivered to Crimea only after the peninsulas "demilitarization and de-occupation," Oleg Nikolenko, press secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, told Ukrinform today.

Yesterday, speaking at the international conference "The Black Sea Issue in the Focus of World Politics," Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Ilya Timokhov noted that Kiev's attempts to punish Crimeans with a water blockade for choosing to join Russia could lead to a humanitarian catastrophe.
Ngoc is very sparing with her praise. She said that compliments may make her kids conceited and believe they are good enough and don't need to continue to study.

Mrs. Ly Thi Bich Ngoc at Harvard University

Ly Thi Bich Ngoc, born in 1964, is director of a tourism company in Hanoi. Graduating from the Hanoi General University and obtaining a bachelors degree in French, she has had opportunities to access many cultures all over the world. But she still applies a strict and classic educational method to her children.

Ngoc said she has a feudal mindset, with strict obligations for people which seems to be too conservative and not suitable in the context of modern society. She believes that girls have to learn how to do housework and people have to study manners first and then learn to read and write before studying the sciences. Morality before science study, she said.

She asked H.T.A, her first daughter, born in 1996, to practice writing when the girl entered the first grade, because Ngoc believes that handwriting shows the character of a person.

When the girl was at Ngoc Ha Primary School in Ba Dinh in Hanoi, she was always the best of the school, but Ngoc said that Ngoc Ha is just a small school and the girl still needs to continue to make every effort to better herself.

When her daughter finished secondary school and passed the exam to the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, a prestigious school in Hanoi, Ngoc once again told her daughter not to become conceited because there are many other excellent students at schools for the gifted in HCM City, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Hue.

When H.T.A won a high prize at the national competition when she was in 12th grade, she told her that this was just a national prize, not international prize.

When her daughter finished secondary school and passed the exam to the Hanoi-Amsterdam High School for the Gifted, a prestigious school in Hanoi, Ngoc once again told her daughter not to become conceited because there are many other excellent students at schools for the gifted in HCM City, Nam Dinh, Hai Phong, Da Nang and Hue.

I always urged her to study hard and I even used the rod, she recalled.

From the day her children were small to the day they went to study abroad, their family had no time to watch TV. There were two TV sets at home, but she joked the TVs might have broken down because they rarely watched TV.

When H.T.A went to high school, she touched TV every day when she returned home from her office.

If the TV was warm, she would ask the two daughters if they had watched TV when the mother was away, and then said that there are only 24 hours a day, of which 8-9 hours are spent on meals and sleeping and 5 hours at school. If they spent time watching TV, they would have no more time to learn necessary knowledge.

They also learned how to play musical instruments, dance, and learn to become MC. However, the girls only liked playing instruments, and they gave up dance and MC classes. After learning hours, the girls were also asked to wash dishes, and cook and clean the floor.

If they could not fulfill the tasks, they would be asked to write reports and explain their failure, and they were asked to promise to do better the next time.

Asked why she was strict with her children, Ngoc repeated the saying spare the rod, spoil the child.

When H.T.A was in 11th grade, she was one of five students chosen to attend the Southeast Asia Leadership Program, to experience five weeks in many states in the US. The girl could not find her identity card and asked for Ngocs help. Ngoc just told her daughter that if she could not find the card, she would have to stay at home.

After spending five weeks in the US, H.T.A decided that she would study abroad.

However, Ngoc told her that she could only do so if she obtained a scholarship.

The strictness of the mother was what H.T.A wrote about in her essay when applying for scholarship at schools in the US. Tiger mother is the nickname H.T.A gave to her mother.

When realizing that her daughter was going to apply for scholarship, Ngoc thought that she would not get a full scholarship.

In fact, Ngoc did not think of sending the girl abroad at the age of 18, but believed that it would better to study abroad after she finished tertiary education.

However, the girl obtained many scholarships that year, including at SOKA University in Japan, and Amherst, Princeton and Chicago universities in the US. She chose to study at Amherst and began studying there in August 2014.

In August 2018, she obtained $30,000 to study architecture at Harvard University.

Only when the daughter could reach to the world and get great achievements, did Ngoc give her the compliment You are excellent!. But H.T.A replied, I dont believe you (laugh).

Kieu Oanh

Journey to Harvard by a Vietnamese student Graduating from Harvard University with a master's degree in Public Policy, Tran Ha Duong said that he thought the prestigious school was completely beyond my reach.
Truong Tien Tung, former rector of the Hanoi Open University, one of the first schools going digital with 15,000 students following online courses, said he was familiar with the concept of open education and distance education as early as 1994.

For HCMC Open University, 2006 marked a milestone in the schools digital transformation, when it began organizing credit-based study, allowing students to register for subjects online. The management of classes, study schedules, timetables and student information was updated into a general information system.

Ten years later, in 2016, the online bachelors degree training program was officially launched. In 2019, the school began a blended training mode, applied to full-time students. In 2021, the school built VMOOCs (Vietnam Massive Open Online Courses) which provides online training courses for free.

Digital transformation began at Van Lang University in 2008, when it cooperated with Carnegie Mellon University. At that time, lecturers had to use a module system to upload documents and exchange information with students.

However, Tran Thi My Dieu, Vang Lang University Rector, said she still dared not give answers to questions whether Van Lang was really a digital school.

It was just digitizing what can be digitized. In this period, everything was digitized to be managed in the system. Everyone can connect each other, online or offline, Dieu explained.

The HCMC University of Technology and Education started its digital transformation in 2013, when it received a learning management system (LMS) from ASU (Arizona State University) in the US.

At that time, only 17 nucleus lecturers of the school were trained by ASU experts. Now, it has 91 million learning interactions on the schools digital teaching platform each year.

UTEx is the first state-owned online university in Vietnam. Equipped with modern facilities, it uses an ecosystem of management software such as KPIs, E-Portfolio and Dashboard.

It also uses social media and UTE-TV channel to connect businesses and former students for support in training, career guidance, digital marketing and enrollment consulting.

Human resources are key

Human resources are the key factor for digital transformation. Making investment in human resources means providing an environment for lecturers to prepare lesson plans online but also helping them upgrade their teaching methods and improve their capability.

Twenty years ago, digital education was still a vague concept, but now it is a clear trend.

Tung said that Hanoi Open University has upgraded the technological infrastructure with three modern studios, two content development rooms, seven servers with network equipment, 18 technology rooms with more than 100 tablets, professional cameras, and nearly 500 high-configuration computers at study locations. The system cost $5 million.

Pham Quang Dung from the Vietnam National University of Agriculture estimates that the cost for one school to shift to a smart school model is 60 percent higher than a traditional school. Money is spent mostly on hardware, software, technology, smart classrooms, pedagogical activities, student management, lecturers and smart teaching programs.

Dung hopes that commercialization of research works during the transformation process will bring money for reinvestment. It is expected that investment capital can be recovered within 10 years.

Declining to reveal the exact figure, Nguyen Minh Ha, rector of the HCMC Open University, said the initial investment capital was extremely high.

Dieu said: If you ask if it is costly to carry out a digital transformation, I would say yes. But if you ask if schools need a lot of money to implement the process, I would say no.

According to Dieu, human resources are the key factor for digital transformation. Making investment in human resources means providing an environment for lecturers to prepare lesson plans online but also helping them upgrade their teaching methods and improve their capability.

If we have a strong platform worth multi-billions of dong and a good connection system but our staff remains unchanged, we wont be able to become a smart university, she said.

The most difficult issue is to encourage the large community of lecturers to be aware of the need for innovation to reach a better future with more optimal solutions.

Ngan Anh

Five Vietnamese universities make World University Rankings A total of five local universities have been named among the global list of the worlds top 2,000 universities for the 2021 to 2022 edition, as released by the Center of World University Rankings (CWUR).
The elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 tenure are an important political event of Vietnam and a festival of its people.

Preparations for election day on May 23 have now been basically completed.

Preparations are being made in agencies at all levels, sectors, and localities. NA General Secretary and Head of the NA Office Bui Van Cuong said that inspection and supervision activities show that preparations have closely followed the directive from the Politburo as well as the plans and orders within the law on the election of National Assembly and Peoples Council deputies and the National Election Council (NEC)s resolution.

The Election Committee of the central city of Da Nang holds a medical rehearsal to prevent COVID-19 from spreading during the elections. (Photo: VNA)



This reflects the determination to carry out the dual tasks of preventing and controlling the pandemic and ensuring socio-economic development while successfully organising the general elections, Cuong noted, who is also chief of the office of the NEC.



COVID-19 remains a problem worldwide, so central and local public agencies must focus on pandemic prevention and control in addition to their political missions relating to the elections.

Many streets in Hanoi are decorated with panels, flags, banners, and slogans for the elections. (Photo: VNA)



The NEC has issued a number of documents to guide the organisation of the elections in the context of the pandemic. Efforts have been intensified, with pandemic prevention measures included in all election activities, from election organisation and interactions with constituents to consultative conferences and preparing lists of constituents.

A LED board with information on the elections at the Vincom Centre on Dong Khoi street in HCM Citys District 1. (Photo: VNA)



The readiness of facilities and options for emergency situations have been given due regard. The council has requested election organisation teams to work with local authorities at all levels to conduct communications campaigns to raise awareness and to create the best conditions possible for all constituents to exercise their right to vote.



The Ministry of Home Affairs has closely coordinated with the Ministry of Health, the offices of the NEC and the Government, and relevant agencies to specifically guide preparations for the election day in the context of COVID-19.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc looks at a list of NA deputy candidates posted in Trung Chanh commune, Hoc Mon district, HCM City. (Photo: VNA)



On the afternoon of May 10, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting of permanent Cabinet members on election organisation amid the pandemic. He ordered that written requests be made to the NEC on the holding of meetings with voters and on voting in an appropriate form in such a context. The PM suggested that agencies, according to their assigned functions and tasks, perform their missions in the elections while preventing the pandemic from spreading.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chairs a meeting of permanent Cabinet members on election organisation amid COVID-19. (Photo: VNA)



Chairman of the NA and the NEC Vuong Dinh Hue said the council is determined that polling stations will not become breeding grounds for the disease. Relevant forces in constituencies have been tasked with arranging quick and smooth voting and ensure pandemic prevention measures are followed.

Chairman of the NA and head of the NEC Vuong Dinh Hue inspects election preparations at a constituency in Tuyen Quang citys An Tuong ward. (Photo: VNA)

General Election Day

In order to ensure the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels are conducted in a democratic, equal, safe, and lawful manner and are truly a festival of people throughout the country, the Ministry of Public Security has taken early steps in preparing all matters nationwide.

Police in Hanois Ba Dinh district make preparations to ensure safety on election day in Quan Thanh commune. (Photo: VNA)



Since July last year, following Directive No 45 from the Politburo on leading the elections, the Central Public Security Party Committee has made ensuring the absolute safety and order of the elections the key political task of the entire political sector. The Minister of Public Security has issued a directive and a plan on policing activities for election security and order, and has established a sub-committee overseeing the work.

A ceremony deploying personnel to ensure transport safety and social order for the National Reunification Day (March 30) - May Day (May 1) holidays and the upcoming elections (Photo: VNA).



Police forces nationwide have focused on gaining a clear insight into the current situation, both at home and abroad, when preparing for the elections. They have also made efforts to prevent or frustrate conspiracies and activities that infringe upon national security or sabotage the elections, in particular the selection and introduction of candidates.



Preparations for the elections have been basically completed in a thorough, comprehensive and synchronous manner, according to Chief of the Office of the Ministry of Public Security Lieut. Gen. To An Xo.

Officers of the Muong Nha border guard station in Dien Bien province tell residents in Muong Nha communes Na Phay village about election activities. (Photo: VNA)



On May 12, the ministry held a nationwide online conference to assign tasks and deploy personnel to ensure security and order on the election day, with the force switching to its highest state of readiness./. VNA
Topping the list is the Hai Van Pass which borders vast jungle-clad mountains on one side and cliffs which plunge down to the East Sea on the other. The area offers visitors a dramatic setting which makes this road one of the most widely Instagrammed places in the world. Indeed, the Hai Van Pass features a massive 4,298 pictures per mile on the popular social media platform.
The deadline to appeal appraisals for most commercial properties is June 2.

Appeal hearings before the Appraisal Review Board started on Thursday and will continue through July 16. Unlike last year during the peak of the pandemic, some hearings this year will be conducted in person, but many are still being handled via videoconference or teleconference.

Pat Musgrave, owner of Property Tax Help, declined to say how many clients he has lined up this year, but he intimated that this is a busy time for his company.

My clients use some really colorful language, he said. They can barely talk to me about it. We have to talk some of them down from the cliff. But in the end, we are trying to help our clients come up with a good value, something that is based on reason, to get it reduced.

Musgrave said it is important for taxpayers to realize that MCAD performs a mass approach to appraisals but that each property stands on its own.
TSA PreCheck enrollment

Residents of Waco will be able to enroll in the TSA PreCheck program at Waco Regional Airport, 7909 Karl May Drive, this week from Monday through Friday. Times are 9 a.m. until noon and 1-5 p.m.

The pop-up office is located inside the terminal building in the baggage claim area.

The application allows U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents to enroll in an expedited screening program that allows travelers to leave on their shoes, light outerwear and belt, keep their laptop in its case, and their 3-1-1 compliant liquids bag in a carry-on in select TSA airport screening lanes. More than 200 airports participate in the program nationwide.

Applicants must bring proof of identity and U.S. citizenship. This can either be a current U.S. passport or drivers license and a copy of their birth certificate.

The application fee is $85. Cash and personal checks are not accepted.

Successful applicants will receive a Known Traveler Number via U.S. mail within two weeks and is valid for five years.

For more information, contact Joel Martinez at 750-8657 or joelm@wacotx.gov.

Medicare class Tuesday
Some law enforcement experts say firing at moving vehicles should be avoided.

Unless someone in the car is shooting at police officers, you can get that car another day  but you cannot get that life back, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit, independent group that studies policing issues.

The whole idea is not to put yourself in a position where you feel you have no choice but to use deadly force, Wexler said. We dont want police officers to stand in front of cars to risk their lives. And we dont want them shooting at vehicles to risk life.

The Pasquotank County sheriff's use-of-force policy says deputies should move out of a car's path instead of shooting at it, when feasible.

The policy also states that a deputy should only fire when he or she reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available.

Wexler said such a policy gives too much leeway to deputies to put themselves in danger  and to open fire. The rules, he said, have to be very restrictive and accompanied by training."
LONDON (AP)  Environment ministers from seven leading industrialized nations agreed Friday to accelerate efforts to slow global warming, including a commitment to end government support for new coal-fired power plants by the end of this year.

The pledges were part of a wide-ranging communique issued by Group of Seven environment ministers after a two-day virtual meeting hosted by the U.K., which holds the G-7s rotating presidency. At the heart of the document is a commitment to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, compared to the previous goal of 2 degrees.

The ministers also promised to combat deforestation and overfishing, to promote biodiversity and to tackle the scourge of ocean plastic, while seeking to prevent future outbreaks of diseases like COVID-19 that spread from animals to humans.

We acknowledge with grave concern that the unprecedented and interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose an existential threat to nature, people, prosperity and security, the ministers said in the communique. We recognize that climate change and the health of the natural environment are intrinsically linked and will ensure that the actions we take maximize the opportunities to solve these crises in parallel.
This produced an outcry from people who have been touting the importance of following data-driven guidelines since last year. This is a great example of what psychologists call motivated reasoning. When there is an outcome that you want to be true, you are much more likely to believe sources that fit with your opinion than those that diverge from it. People who had significant fears about COVID-19 took comfort in the knowledge that their beliefs were consistent with the conclusions of the scientific community.

Being data-driven in decision making requires listening to the data when it agrees with your preconceived ideas and also when it doesnt. The transition from full-on pandemic mode to the new normal is going to involve some anxiety-provoking moments. Many of us have not spent much time around other people in more than a year. Venturing back out into the world is going to cause some stress.

Accepting the science doesnt require you to go out in public immediately. If you want to continue to wear a mask for your own comfort, that is an option. But we should also recognize that vaccinated people who choose to go maskless indoors are acting in a way that is consistent with the scientific consensus.
There is a lot to love about bees.

They are crucial to growing many of our favorite and healthiest foods as they move pollen from plant to plant, pollinating more than a hundred fruits and vegetables including strawberries, potatoes and apples.

But many bee species are under threat as a result of changes in land use, pesticides, intensive agriculture and climate change, but there are steps you can take to help them thrive.

In honor of World Bee Day on May 20, here are five things you might not know about nature's hard-working pollinators.

1. Bees like to 'waggle dance'

Bees can communicate and make decisions by dancing.

When a honeybee scouts out and inspects a new nest it uses a waggle dance to advertise and debate its merits. The better the site, the longer and harder the bee dances. If another bee bumps into a dancing bee, she will go off to inspect the site, and if she likes it, she, too, will waggle.
During questioning at the cornfield, Bahena Rivera told Romero that he followed Tibbetts in his car, got out and started running behind her. Bahena Rivera said that Tibbetts noticed him and attempted to use her cell phone to call police.

He said that Mollie tried to slap him and was screaming at him, Romero testified. Mr. Rivera said this is when he became angry.

Bahena Rivera told Romero that he remembered )that the two started fighting but then he blacked out. He said the next thing that he recalled was driving in his car and seeing the earbuds Tibbetts used while running on his legs, and that her body was in his trunk, Romero testified.

Bahena Rivera told Romero that he did not remember how she got in the vehicle, but that he recalled carrying her body on his shoulder to the cornfield, covering her with leaves and leaving immediately. He said her body felt like a person that had just fainted and was bleeding, pointing to his neck when asked why. He said he had taken his shirt off because of the blood.

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Romero, then an Iowa City officer, was brought in to question Bahena Rivera because, like him, she was a native of Mexico whose first language was Spanish. She recalled asking Bahena Rivera what he thought as his neighbors and scores of investigators had searched for Tibbetts.
When it comes to ballot harvesting anybody can just walk up and grab it under what was the previous law, Smith said. Theres no security when someone can knock on your door and say, Yeah, Ill return your ballot. You dont know who it is and they can open it up, they can change the vote, they can throw it away, they can shred it.

Democrats said the measure perpetuates lies from President Donald Trump that the past election was fraudulent.

Im tired of this. ... Your noses are getting longer, said Democratic Sen. Tony Bisignano during floor debate. Seven million votes separated our candidates. Ive not seen a hundred people charged with election fraud. If it was so rampant, we ought to be seeing it on a daily basis and were not, so why do we play this game?

Ballot collections have come under intense scrutiny this year from Republicans who claim that the practice is rife with fraud or potential problems. Generally, ballots are collected when a voter is unable to return it in person due to disability, distance from an election office, or other issues that would prevent ballots from reaching destinations on time.
The 44th Annual San Francisco Decorator Showcase will remain in the virtual realm this year, and a digital tour of the chosen Russian Hill penthouse, transformed by 10 designers, is well worth the click.

Opening Saturday, May 22nd, the show features 11 reimagined spaces in the penthouse of 1080 Chestnut Street. The residence has soaring ceilings, oversized windows, and prominent views. But of course, we're here to talk about the interiors.

Thanks to renderings created by Steelblue, you can walk through each of the rooms from your sofa. A webinar series will also be available on Tuesday May 25th and June 1st, with talks about design inspiration and real estate. Viewing is free of charge, but options donations will help support SF University High School's financial aid program.

Get a peek below at our five favorite rooms at this year's SF Decorator Showcase.

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The Library, by Peruri Design Company

Since so many of us have transitioned into working from home, the need for multipurpose spaces presents a new challenge for designers. Sindhu Peruri turned the home's library into a modern, functional retreat that's as suitable for relaxation and as it is for productivity. Her intention: to create a space that feels "inviting, impactful, and intimate...where one can work, read, lounge and entertain." An abundance of built-in storage and a custom window seat make the room useful as an office. Curved accents instill a sense of calm while dark walls contrast against light cabinetry for visual drama.





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"Castle in the Sky" Guest Bedroom and Bath, by DLC-ID

Does the name Jon de la Cruz ring a bell? That's because his roster of local projects includes the likes of the Battery, Che Fico, and Leo's Oyster Bar. For his celestially themed guest room, de la Cruz considered the elements of a well-appointed hotel room, but with thoughtful measures that allow for intimacy and inspire creativity in a home environment. There are artful accents throughout: the plush Bolotas sofa by Estudio Campana; the sculptural 1960s Paracarro floor lamp by Carlo Nason for Mazzega; and a sculpted banana fiber pendant light by Pinch Design.





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The Dining Room, by Studio Collins Weir

The idea of home being a safe haven and sanctuary was solidly reinforced this past year, but now as we emerge from solitude and welcome community into our homes again, we're wanting for spaces that feel celebratory and inspire conversation. Susan Collins Weir and Chris Weir kept this at heart in their designs for three spaces at the showcase house: the central atrium, the kitchen, and the dining room and terrace. The dining room, pictured here, is framed by an eastward view and is anchored by a bespoke white oak table surrounded by S2 Murena chairs upholstered in Kneedler Fauchere's Yves Klein blue boucle. The sculptural Les Cordes chandelier is made of glass bands by Mathieu Lehanneur. Upholstered wall panels and draperies open to reveal 11-foot sliding glass doors onto the a terrace.





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"The Time Being" Guest Bedroom, by Chroma

A retro meets futuristic existence sets the tone for a temporary living space in this guest bedroom that seems to channel teenage rebellion and impermanence in 1960s high-rise style. Tonal mint hues meet shocks of neon, juxtaposed against walnut accents, terrazzo, and concrete. With a multitude of shapes, textures, and tones, Leann Conquer and Alexis Tompkins have created a space that transcends time.

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"Shoshin, A Beginner's Mind," by StudioHeimat

Home wellness spaces are all the rage these days and we all know why. For their yoga/pilates/meditation room, StudioHeimat, led by Eva Bradley and Alicia Cheung Lichtenstein, took inspiration from the Zen Buddhist concept of shoshin, meaning "beginner's mind," an approach to life that is always open to new ideas and perspectives. White walls calm the mind and open the spirit, while the oak floors are a grounding force. The ceiling overhead is draped in Coraggio fabricthe showstopper of the room, the ethereal piece of hanging art is intended to mimic the seven hills of San Francisco. An adjacent sun room lush with plants and playful swinging chairs by Dedon is designed with renewal in mind, a bright space to greet the morning.





// San Francisco Decorator Showcase is open online May 22 through the summer. There is no cost to view the virtual tour, but donations help support the San Francisco University High School's financial aid program; decoratorshowcase.org.
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En espanol | More than three times as many Medicare beneficiaries have had access to their regular medical professional over the phone or via a video visit during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the health crisis, according to a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).

In recent years, telehealth visits have become an increasingly popular way for people, especially in rural areas, to have appointments with their medical professionals, but Medicare had limited telehealth coverage benefits. In early 2020, Medicare expanded its coverage of such visits to enable all enrollees to keep up with their medical care while minimizing their exposure risk to the coronavirus. These expanded benefits will continue as long as the COVID-19 public health emergency remains in effect. The emergency was extended in April and no expiration date has been set.

According to the brief from the nonpartisan KFF, the expansion of telehealth benefits has been particularly important to people with disabilities who are low income and among communities of color. This suggests, the study says, that the temporary expansion of telehealth coverage may be helping some of Medicare's more disadvantaged populations continue to access needed care."

A number of bills have been introduced in Congress that would make permanent some or all of the telehealth expansion for Medicare beneficiaries.


Secures A$60 Million in Initial Public Offering

Sydney, May 22, 2021 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Tamboran Resources Limited is pleased to announce it has lodged a prospectus with ASIC today for an Initial Public Offering ("IPO") to list on the Australian Securities Exchange ("ASX") to issue up to 165 million fully paid ordinary shares at A$0.40 per share.Highlights- Firm IPO commitments totalling A$60 million for 150 million shares have been received from existing shareholders and new investors, including high-quality international and domestic institutions.- Targeting an additional A$6 million for 15 million shares which is being sought under a General Offer to the Australian public, which would take total funds raised to A$66 million before costs, resulting in a pro forma market capitalisation at the offer price of approximately A$266 million.- Tamboran intends to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund its 25% interest in the Santosoperated EP 161 Tanumbirini #2H and Tanumbirini #3H horizontal wells and the drilling of the Maverick #1H horizontal well on Tamboran's adjacent 100% owned EP 136 license in 1H 2022.- Shares in the Company are anticipated to begin trading on the ASX under the code "TBN" by the end of June.Tamboran announced today that it has lodged a prospectus with ASIC for an Initial Public Offering of up to 165 million fully paid ordinary shares of the Company at a price of A$0.40 per share to raise up to A$66 million.The Company has already received firm commitments totalling A$60 million for 150 million shares from high-quality institutional investors in Australia, US, Asia Pacific and Europe. Tamboran intends to conduct a General Offer to members of the Australian public to subscribe for up to an additional A$6 million for 15 million shares. The General Offer is expected to close on or about 10 June 2021, subject to customary closing conditions.Tamboran intends to use the proceeds from the IPO to fund the drilling of up to three horizontal wells, as well as 2-D seismic acquisition and other working capital. The drilling campaign in EP 161, operated by Santos, in which Tamboran has a 25% interest, commenced on 11 May with the spudding of the Tanumbirini #2H horizontal well. Drilling of the Tanumbirini #2H well is expected to be completed in July 2021. The rig will then drill Tanumbirini #3H and both wells will be flow tested in 2H 2021. 2-D seismic acquisition is anticipated to occur over Tamboran's 100% EP 136 license in 2H 2021 and the Maverick #1H horizontal well is anticipated to be drilled in 1H 2022."Today is a significant day for Tamboran Resources, our employees and our shareholders," said Joel Riddle, Tamboran CEO and Managing Director. "The committed capital represents the largest E&P IPO in Australia in nearly a decade. This is an incredible achievement for the Company, and demonstrates the strong institutional investor demand in Australia, US, Asia Pacific and Europe to fund Tamboran's high-growth business plan".Mr Riddle further stated, "Following the completion of the IPO, Tamboran will be funded for the drilling of two horizontal wells on EP 161 and one horizontal well on EP 136 in the core of the Beetaloo Sub-basin and, subject to drilling success, the Company will be well positioned to deliver the first commercial development from the Beetaloo Sub-basin by 2025".MST Financial Services Pty Ltd served as Lead Manager of the IPO, Jermyn East Capital Pty Ltd served as Corporate Advisor and Squire Patton Boggs served as Legal Advisor to the Company.The offer opens at 9:00 AM (AEST) on Monday 07 June 2021.An electronic copy of the prospectus will be available for download at:Hard copies of the prospectus for the IPO may be obtained from:MST Financial Services Pty LtdLevel 13, 14 Martin Place Sydney NSW 2000+612 8999 9988 | mstfinancial.comInvestors should consider the prospectus in decided whether to acquire shares in Tamboran for the IPO. Investors who wants to acquire shares in Tamboran under the IPO will need to complete the application form that will be in or will accompany the Prospectus.To view figures, please visit:About Tamboran Resources Limited

Tamboran is a natural gas company focused on supporting the net zero energy transition by developing clean, low-CO2, unconventional gas resources in the Northern Territory, Australia. Tamboran's key assets are a 25% working interest in EP 161 and a 100% working interest in EP 136 which are located in the Beetaloo Sub-basin.



The Company is focused on developing early-stage, unconventional gas resources within its portfolio which are located in the Beetaloo Sub-basin in the Northern Territory. Tamboran Resources Limited is headquartered in Sydney, Australia with a global management team leveraging a significant depth of experience in the successful commercialisation of unconventional hydrocarbons throughout North America. The team brings a wealth of knowledge, including modern shale reservoir assessment, as well as cutting-edge drilling and completion design technology.
CBS TV

Oprah Winfrey comes to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's defense as the couple were heavily criticized for opening up about their struggles as royals in a TV interview.

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex have every right to address aspects of their personal lives in the media while requesting respect for their privacy, according to TV mogul Oprah Winfrey.

The couple has faced heavy criticism in the U.K. tabloids after breaking away from the British monarchy and relocating to Meghan's native California to live a less scrutinised life, while candidly speaking out about the issues which led to their royal split, including in an explosive TV interview with Oprah in March (21).

Prince Harry has continued to detail his falling out with the royals while promoting his new Apple TV+ docuseries, "The Me You Can't See", which he co-produces with Oprah, and she insists wanting to enjoy a private life doesn't mean they should shy away from all press.

"You know, I ask for privacy, and I'm talking all the time," Oprah told U.S. breakfast show "Today". "So, I think being able to have a life that you are not intruded upon by photographers or people flying overhead or invading your life is what every person wants and deserves - to not to be intruded and invaded upon. That's what people are missing."

"Privacy doesn't mean silence," she added.

Oprah also opened up about her bombshell tell-all with Harry and pregnant Meghan, during which they made allegations of racism and claimed the Duchess was shut down when she asked to seek professional treatment for suicidal thoughts brought on by the tabloid bullying she endured while expecting their first child, son Archie.

Asked whether the Duke and Duchess have "shared any regrets" about the revealing chat, Oprah insisted they hadn't, and said of the TV special, "I understood what had happened to them, and I wanted the rest of the world to come away being able to answer the question, 'Why did they leave?' And I think by the time that interview was done, people understood."
WENN Celebrity

A Los Angeles judge rules there are enough evidence to take the sexual assault allegations against the 'That '70s Show' actor to trial following preliminary hearing.

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - A Los Angeles judge has ordered actor Danny Masterson to stand trial on three historic charges of forcible rape.

The "That '70s Show" star is facing allegations from three women, who claim they were sexually assaulted by Masterson in separate incidents between 2001 and 2003.

On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charlaine F. Olmedo ruled prosecutors had presented enough evidence to take the case to trial.

Masterson, who was charged last summer (20), must return to court for an arraignment hearing on 7 June (21).

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but if convicted of all counts, he could face 45 years to life behind bars.

Each of the women testified in a preliminary hearing this week (begs17May21), with the first female, identified only as Jen B., claiming she had visited his house in April, 2003 to pick up a set of keys.

While there, she agreed to join some mutual friends for a drink, but started feeling ill and found herself being carried upstairs by Masterson, who put her in the shower to clean off after vomiting.

She alleges the actor then raped her and threatened her with a gun, according to The Associated Press.

Another accuser, named as Christina B., took the stand on Wednesday and revealed she and Masterson had been in a six-year relationship when the star reportedly forced himself upon her in November, 2001.

His third alleged victim, known as N. Trout, told the court she was raped by Masterson in late 2003.

His legal troubles don't end there - the actor, who is free on $3.3 million (2.3 million) bail, is also fighting a civil suit suggesting his accusers were harassed by people from the Church of Scientology, of which Masterson is a member, for taking their complaints to police.

Last year, the judge overseeing the case ruled the dispute must be settled by Scientology officials in "religious arbitration."
WENN Celebrity

The Duke of Sussex could relate to the struggle experienced by Zak Williams following the tragic passing of his actor father because it's 'remarkably similar' to His Own Trauma.

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Prince Harry could really relate to the mental health trauma suffered by Robin Williams' eldest son as he struggled to come to terms with the loss of the funnyman.

The Duke of Sussex interviewed Zak Williams with TV mogul Oprah Winfrey for their new Apple+ mental health series, "The Me You Can't See", and he felt a real connection with the actor's son as he opened up about how he coped with the death of the "Mrs. Doubtfire" star in 2014.

Prince Harry, who was just 12 when his mother, Princess Diana, was killed in a car crash in 1997, explained on "Good Morning America", "Zak's story is a classic example in the sort of the parallel thread between what happened with him at his age and what happened to me at my age, it's remarkably similar."

"There was one thing that he said in a follow-up conversation, which was (that) his service to others has helped heal him. And I think that was a really key moment for Oprah, myself, and Zak... for us to go, 'Wow.' It's true, Oprah, in your career. It's been true for me and I started the Invictus Games (for injured service members and veterans in 2014)...," he continued.

"To be able to create something to watch other people heal is part of our own healing process, and I think that compassionate element of being able to put ourselves in someone else's shoes and be able... to help in a healing process is absolutely critical."

Zak previously revealed he battled addiction issues and depression after his father committed suicide, aged 63, while Harry recently opened up about working through his post-traumatic stress disorder with therapy, having gone through a period of hard partying, boozing and drug taking during his youth.
WENN/Avalon Celebrity

The 'Insecure' co-creator and star claps back at the social media troll who judges her appearance, pointing out that they even 'look the same' and jokingly calling her a 'cousin.'

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Issa Rae isn't here to eat up people's criticism of her look. Having been attacked by a random hater for an unknown reason, the Emmy-nominated actress swiftly shut down the person who dubbed her unattractive on Twitter.

"Issa Rae is not an attractive woman to me and that is okay," the hater shared her two cents on the "Insecure" co-creator and co-writer's appearance on Friday, May 21. Not showing love for all black women in general, she added, "Every black person aint attractive."

Believing that she wouldn't get noticed by Issa despite her judging tweet, the said troll claimed, "Also, she will never know who I am and even if she did it doesn't matter because I don't want to f**k her or be hired by her."

But that couldn't be far from the truth. Issa caught wind of it and quickly gave her response to the criticism. "Not my cousins publicly disrespecting me," she first tweeted back, likely knowing that the hater is also a black woman. The 36-year-old star then pointed out that they even "look the same," adding in another tweet, "Okay, but we look the same? The f**k?"

The Emmy-nominated actress clapped back at the troll.

Issa was also defended by her fans. Disagreeing with the hater's comment, comedian Chris Redd wrote, "Hold up, what did shorty say about fine a** Issa?" Another blasted the critic, "Auntie p***y? So nobody wants to keep you around. Damn, is that why you hating on @IssaRae ?"

A hater criticized Issa Rae's look.

Someone else tried to prove that Issa and the hater have similar physical features by faceswapping their pictures. The Twitter user claimed that both women are "beautiful on the outside," but "not sure we can say the same for her [the troll] on the inside." Another echoed the sentiment as saying, "Y'all look tf alike really. She just glowed up on ya a**."
Instagram Celebrity

The Australian TV host, who works for 'Today Extra' and is also popular on TikTok, unveils a screenshot of the MLB star's message on Instagram which reads, 'Great feed!!!'

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Belinda Russell has made it clear that there's nothing romantic going on between her and Alex Rodriguez. Revealing that the MLB star sent her a DM following his split from Jennifer Lopez, the Australian TV host insisted he was not flirting with her.

When taping for "Today Extra" on Friday, May 21 the weather presenter told her co-host Richard Wilkins, "I woke up this morning, checking the socials and in my requests there was a message from Alex Rodriguez." She then detailed, "As in A-Rod. As in J.Lo's ex."

Belinda went on to share a screenshot of Alex's message, which read, "Great feed!!!" It was his response to a video of Belinda dancing in the Channel 9 studios. She then quipped, "All I can say is...he likes great content, Dickie. He just said great feed!"

"I went, 'This can't be real,' so I tapped on it and [his account] is verified," the journalist, who shares three kids with husband Mark Calvert, continued. "If you count [there's] four million followers. Give me a shout-out, A-Rod, and get me some followers!"

When Richard asked if Alex was "hitting on her", Belinda was quick to clarify that it was simply a friendly exchange. "He's surely not [hitting on me]. He just likes my videos... I'm very happily married," she said, before jokingly stating, "[He's] going to unfollow me now because this is so uncool. He just likes the videos that I do."

The exchange between Belinda and Alex came more than a month after he confirmed the end of his engagement to Jennifer. Since the split, Alex has spent time with his kids. As for Jennifer, she recently reunited with her other ex-fiance, Ben Affleck.

After taking a trip to Monaco together, the "Shotgun Wedding" actress and the "Justice League" actor continued to hang out in Los Angeles. "[Jennifer] spent time with Ben this week," a source told E! News. "She came out to L.A. and they saw each other. They were excited to reunite after being apart for a few days. She had a break in her work schedule and wanted to see him again."

"It's all very new and exciting even though they have known each other forever. It's been fun to get to know each other all over again. They are both very happy with where things are and where they are going," the source added. "She had to leave to go back to Miami for work, but they plan to see each other again soon."

Despite the reunion, Jennifer was seen wearing her engagement ring from Alex in a new ad for her skincare line, JLo Beauty. In a promo video shared on Instagram, she could be seen wearing the $1.8 million 15-carat emerald-cut diamond on her left ring finger.
Instagram Movie

The 'Man of Steel' actor is reportedly in talks with Lionsgate to star in the long-gestating project, which has been developed by 'John Wick' director Chad Stahelski.

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Henry Cavill may go from being a Kryptonian to becoming an immortal warrior. The British actor, who is best known for his portrayal as Clark Kent a.k.a. Superman in DCEU, is reported to have been in talks with Lionsgate to star in "Highlander" reboot.

The role that the 38-year-old hunk is vying for is currently unknown, but he is expected to take on one of the two leading roles, Connor MacLeod a.k.a. the Highlander or Juan Sanchez-Villalobos Ramirez, an Egyptian immortal who later becomes Highlander's mentor. Deadline first reported the news, which has since been confirmed by The Hollywood Reporter.

The "Highlander" reboot has been long in development, with "John Wick" director Chad Stahelski shepherding the project since 2016. The filmmaker is on board to direct the planned reboot, while Kerry Williamson penned the script.

Stahelski previously told THR about his interest in remaking the 1986 cult movie, which has spanned film sequels and TV spin-offs, "I've been a huge fan of the original property since I saw it in high school." He explained, "Such great themes of immortality, love and identity are all wrapped up in such colorful mythology. I can't think of a better property that gives the opportunity to create interesting characters, mythic themes and action set pieces."

The original movie starred Christopher Lambert as the title character, with Sean Connery as swordsman Ramirez. The story centers on immortal beings who hunt each other down in order to collect more power.

As for Cavill, he is currently filming the second season of Netflix's series "The Witcher" following its record-breaking first season. He recently reprised his role as Superman during reshoots for "Zack Snyder's Justice League" and also starred as Sherlock Holmes in "Enola Holmes" alongside Millie Bobby Brown. He is set to return for the sequel, which has been officially greenlit by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Instagram Celebrity

When hitting back at online haters criticizing her appearance, 15-year-old Alabama Luella Barker suggests the critics to 'keep [their] opinion to [themselves].'

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Travis Barker's daughter is not letting negative comments about her appearance slide. Finding herself being told looking "too grown" by some online critics, Alabama Luella Barker set aside time to fire back at the "miserable" trolls.

The 15-year-old offered her clapback via Instagram Story on Friday, May 21. "At this point, I have grown men and mothers hating on me, messaging me awful things. I do not care whether you think I look too grown for my age. Keep your opinion to yourselves. It's miserable that you guys can sit there and DM [direct message] me instead of watching your own children," she first argued.

Alabama went on to defend the Blink-182 drummer. "My father is one of the most incredible da's there is out there," she said, before stressing, "You guys do not know my inside life keep your opinions to yourself."

Alabama Luella Barker fired back at trolls criticizing her look.

Alabama's post came after she accused her mom Shanna Moakler of being an absent mother on May 15. "Everybody thinks my mother is amazing," she penned on Instagram Story, before dissing Shanna's boyfriend, "[Matthew Rondeau] is nothing but awful to her. Not only that, but he cheats on her. My mom has never completely been in my life."

The teen then urged her fans, "Can you guys stop painting her out to be an amazing mom?" She further divulged, "Did your moms ask to see you on Mother's Day [because] mine didn't? I'm done keeping it a secret, reality shows."

Alabama's older brother, Landon, previously spilled on TikTok that Shanna was not "in [their] lives like" Travis. Upon hearing her kids' allegations, the Miss New York USA winner said she was "hurt" by their claims.

"I'm not really sure why my kids put that out there," she told Us Weekly. "I'm their mother. I love them. It's hurtful and heartbreaking to have your kids say that when ... clearly that's false. It's a false claim."
Instagram Celebrity

Making an appearance in the final episode of 'The Me You Can't See', the 'Hillbilly Elegy' actress expresses her belief that she is 'psychologically traumatized' from her childhood experience.

May 22, 2021

AceShowbiz - Glenn Close believes her upbringing in a religious organization has contributed to her failure in finding life partner. Having been raised in what she described as a cult from age 7 to 22, the "Hillbilly Elegy" actress admitted in a candid new interview that her "childhood trauma" led to her unsuccessful relationships.

In the final episode of "The Me You Can't See" series, the Oscar nominee told Oprah Winfrey and Prince Harry about her experience growing up in a religious organization. "From when I was 7 to when I was 22, I was in this group called MRA," she dished. "And, it was basically a cult." Offering more details, she added, "Everybody spouted the same things and there's a lot of rules, a lot of control."

"Because of the devastation, emotional and psychological of the cult, I have not been successful in my relationships and finding a permanent partner and I'm sorry about that," Glenn, who has been married three times before, continued. "I think it's our natural state to be connected like that. I don't think you ever change your trigger points, but at least you can be aware of them and maybe avoid situations that might make you vulnerable, especially in relationships."

During the chat, Glenn told Oprah and the Duke of Sussex, "Because of how we were raised, anything you thought you'd do for yourself was considered selfish." The "Guardians of the Galaxy" actress also revealed, "We never went on any vacations or had any collective memories of stuff other than what we went through, which was really awful."

Elsewhere in the interview, Glenn shared how living in the cult affected her psychologically. She explained, "It's astounding that something you went through at such an early stage of your life still has such a potential to be destructive." The 74-year-old actress then claimed, "I think that's childhood trauma. I am psychologically traumatized."

Glenn now lives in Montana with her sisters, Jessie and Tina. "I've come back to my family," she said. "I'm connected to them, when I used to be a whole country away from them for all of my career."

This was not the first time Glenn talked about being raised in a cult. Back in October 2014, she told The Hollywood Reporter that her late father Dr. William Taliaferro Close brought his family into the headquarters of the religious group known as the Moral Re-Armament in Caux, Switzerland.

"[For years], I wouldn't trust any of my instincts because [my beliefs] had all been dictated to me," she shared. "You basically weren't allowed to do anything, or you were made to feel guilty about any unnatural desire. If you talk to anybody who was in a group that basically dictates how you're supposed to live and what you're supposed to say and how you're supposed to feel."
Instagram/Frederic Monceau Music

The 'Quantico' actress has been tapped as one of the presenters for the upcoming Billboard Music Awards which will be hosted by her husband Nick Jonas this weekend.

May 23, 2021

AceShowbiz - Priyanka Chopra Jonas is flying into Los Angeles to help present at the 2021 Billboard Music Awards and support her husband, host Nick Jonas, after he injured his rib in an accident.

The "White Tiger" actress - who tied the knot with the music star in 2018 - will be there to assist her other half at the awards ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday (23May21) after he fell off his bike.

A source told The New York Post's Page Six column, "Priyanka is coming to LA from working in London to help Nick with his injury and to give him support. They have limited time in LA together, so she wanted to be there to support him."

Previously confirmed presenters include Henry Golding, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Kelsea Ballerini, and Tina Knowles.

The Jonas Brothers star cracked a rib in the bike accident last weekend and later admitted he "feels very lucky" his injuries weren't much worse.

"I'm feeling really good, all things considered," he said. "Day to day the improvement has been great. It's one of those frustrating injuries because there's really nothing you can do about it except just wait it out, but could have been a lot worse and I feel very lucky that it was all good in the end."

Performers at the awards will include Alicia Keys, Bad Bunny, DJ Khaled with H.E.R., Migos, Doja Cat and SZA, Duran Duran, Marshmello, and The Weeknd who is nominated for 16 awards.

The show will air live from Microsoft Theater in L.A at 8 pm ET on NBC.
Instagram Celebrity

An electric guitar along with an amp which belonged to the late Randy Rhoads has been recovered, more than a year after the items were stolen from Musonia School of Music.

May 23, 2021

AceShowbiz - An electric guitar and an amp once used by the late Randy Rhoads have been recovered, almost 18 months after Ozzy Osbourne offered up a $25,000 (17,600) reward for their safe return.

Ozzy took to social media to appeal for information leading to an arrest in the case and the return of the items, which were stolen from the Musonia School of Music in North Hollywood, California in November 2019.

Sharing pictures of the stolen instruments on Instagram, the Black Sabbath rocker wrote, "As many of you have heard, the Musonia School of Music in N. Hollywood, CA (the school where Randy Rhoads famously taught guitar) was viciously robbed on Thanksgiving night."

"Musonia was run by Randy's late mother, Delores, and after his death 37 years ago, the school became something of a pilgrimage to his fans from all over the world. It is a place where the Rhoads Family happily opened their hearts to share the life of Randy."

"As you can imagine, the items that were stolen, including Randy's first electric guitar, are irreplaceable to the Rhoads Family."

Shortly after the public appeal, a cache of the missing goods was found in a nearby dumpster, but Rhoads' first electric guitar, a 1963 Harmony Rocket, and the original Peavey amp used for the recording of the 1977 Quiet Riot album remained missing - until now.

According to TMZ, the two items were handed in to police earlier this week (begs17May21), and have since been returned to the Rhoads family although Delores' Great Depression-era trumpet is among the outstanding pieces yet to turn up.

The original theft of the Musonia memorabilia is still under investigation, but no arrests have been made to date.

As for Ozzy's reward, the money has yet to be claimed and the person who recently turned the goods in to authorities made no mention of the finder's fee.
CHICO, Calif. - The City of Chico Fire and Rescue Department announced the line of duty death of Captain Steven T. Andrews on Friday.

Andrews passed away after a battle with brain cancer.



Courtesy of the City of Chico Courtesy of the City of Chico

Courtesy of the City of Chico Courtesy of the City of Chico

Andrews was with the Chico Fire Department since June 2000 after spending time as a volunteer firefighter.

Andrews rose through the ranks and achieved the rank of a Fire Captain on Nov. 1, 2015.

He was a part of all aspects of the fire department, including a rescue team leader, aircraft rescue qualified and a member of the Chico Police Departments SWAT team.

Andrews was 54 years old and is survived by his wife, two sons, his extended family and friends.

A celebration of life will be held for family and uniformed personnel to honor Andrews. The ceremony will also be live-streamed on the Chico Fire and Rescue Departments Facebook page.

Members of the community will be able to participate in a procession following the celebration of life ceremony.

A link, date and time for the ceremony will be available at a later date.

Chico Fire Department said cancer is presumed to have been acquired on the job.

Sympathy and Condolences for the Andrews family may be expressed via Chico Firefighters Local 2743, P.O. Box 545 Chico, CA 95927.
When David Brown talks to farmers, those working with them and supporting them, he personally understands the kinds of stress they are experiencing.

This spring, he survived a battle with COVID-19 that put him in a hospital for four days followed by weeks of recovery.

It knocked me out, he said.

The pandemic is causing extra pressure on rural health, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. In its Mental Health Among Rural Adults and Farmers/Farmworkers study, it found two in three farmers/farmworkers (66%) say the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their mental health.

Living in a pandemic is just one of the stressors farmers must deal with on a daily basis, said Brown, a behavioral health specialist with Iowa State University Extension. Unpredictable weather and markets add to the stress.

Brown has long been involved with these issues through such programs as the Iowa Concern Hotline, which started in 1985 in the heat of the farm crisis.

Hotline help

The 24/7 hotline offers counseling for anxiety, depression, financial concerns and legal education, and provides referral resources. In the first four months this year, the hotline received more than 1,300 phone calls.

Those are pretty typical numbers, he said. Most of them were from Iowa, but 44 were from Illinois, Missouri or other nearby other Midwestern states.

The help line (1-800-447-1985) has also became a cornerstone of the 12-state initiative that started in 2020 in an effort to coordinate, improve and expand mental health services for Midwestern farmers. This initiative, the North Central Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Center, received $27 million through the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network grant program administered by the USDA.
Researchers at the University of Iowa have discovered those with long-term occupations in the agriculture, fishing and forestry industries have a 46% greater chance of having dementia.

The data was mined from the Health and Retirement Study, conducted from 1998 through 2014. This longitudinal panel study surveyed a representative sample of approximately 20,000 individuals over the age of 50 in the U.S.

This study is both timely and relevant because farmers routinely work beyond standard retirement age, making them vulnerable to occupational injury, says Kanika Arora, assistant professor at the universitys college of public health. Additionally, a dementia diagnosis among farmers may be missed or delayed for a variety of reasons, causing even greater safety concerns.

Arora and her team took a look at whether rates of dementia and cognitive decline were different in older adults who had worked for many years in agriculture.

The hope is that the information can help researchers develop interventions to protect older farmers.

Arora says there are several factors associated with dementia, including hearing impairment, depression, isolation and memory loss. She says while researchers could not attribute the association to hearing impairment or depression, further study is needed on the link to pesticide exposure.

The hope is that as more information is gathered, it can be used to help educate people in the ag industry about recognizing the signs of possible dementia.

Memory loss is typically the first warning sign of dementia, she says. Choice of words, impaired judgment and unusual spending habits can all be early signs of dementia. Six out of 10 people with dementia wander, so that is something to be concerned about from a personal safety perspective.
Bill Menner serves as executive director of the Iowa Rural Health Association. He previously served as Iowas state director of USDA Rural Development under President Barack Obama and also worked as executive director of Poweshiek Iowa Development, a county-wide economic development organization based in Grinnell. He also led downtown development, historic preservation and tourism efforts for the City of Grinnell.

Since leaving the USDA, Menner founded The Bill Menner Group, a consulting firm focused on community development, rural partnerships and economic vitality. Menner is an active volunteer, serving on numerous boards and commissions, including the UnityPoint Health-Grinnell and UnityPoint-Des Moines boards of trustees.

A native of the Cleveland, Ohio area, Menner is a graduate of Ohio State University with a BA in journalism and an MA in political science.

IFT: How do you assess the general state of rural health care in the Midwest?

MENNER: The state of health care in the Midwest  particularly the rural Midwest  is precarious. In Iowa, 20% of rural hospitals were already in some state of financial distress before the pandemic. Steep losses in 2020, despite federal and state assistance, may have pushed them closer to the edge. And nothing has been done to change the reimbursement disparity that exists between urban and rural states when it comes to payments for Medicare and Medicaid costs. On top of that is the challenge of getting health professionals to live and work in small towns and rural areas. It seems everything is lining up against us.
JANESVILLE, Wis.  Sisters Erin Grawe and Megan Daluge began farming at a tender age. Erin was 9 and Megan was 6 when they started helping their father, Peter Daluge, on the family dairy farm. They would carry buckets of milk to feed calves  and were rewarded with donuts and chocolate milk. They would use stepstools to reach the cows.

They continue to farm with their father; they currently manage 140 cows. The family farms 170 acres, growing corn and alfalfa. But theyve also diversified the operation to include the hosting of school field trips, private group tours and a day farm camp in the summer. The women manage and operate all the tours. And they operate Frayed Edges Boutique, an online clothing store.

Peter Daluge keeps the farms books and feeds the cattle. Grawes husband, Tristan Grawe, helps on weekends; he handles the farms maintenance and mechanical work.

We admire our father for setting a good example of running a successful farm, Erin Grawe said. He has shown us how to run the daily operations, manage the cows and raise a family.

The sisters are both members of the Rock County Farm Bureau. Grawe enrolled in the Wisconsin Farm Bureau Leadership Institute Program. That experience encouraged her to become the Rock County Agriculture Ambassador, a role she has had for eight years.

Megan Daluge served three years in the same role. She served a few years ago as the co-chair for her county Farm Bureaus Young Farmer and Agriculturalist Committee.

We joined Farm Bureau because we believe in supporting local and legislative leaders in agriculture, Daluge said. I also enjoyed getting the younger generation involved when I was co-chair of the Young Farmer and Agriculturalist Committee
Jaclyn Wilson Jaclyn Wilson raises Red Angus cattle at Wilson Ranch near Lakeside, Nebraska. Send comments to her at jaclyn@flyingdiamondgenetics.com. Follow Jaclyn Wilson 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. Save Manage followed notifications Close Followed notifications Please log in to use this feature Log In Don't have an account? Sign Up Today

First off, thank you to everyone that reached out and bought raffle tickets for the Cattlemans Ball truck raffle. It was much appreciated.

Calving is going on in full swing. I keep getting asked when calving is going to start and even though its been going since February, I guess I dont really consider we are calving until this group starts.

There are a couple minor changes this season I decided to not AI the heifers. We had been doing a timed AI on them and then followed up with bulls for 28 days. The breed up was OK, but I wanted to see if I could improve it by just using bulls and not getting the gap in between the timed AI and the natural service. It did improve the breed up but its been different since we havent had the push of heifers all at the same time.

We also decided this year to not night calve them, as they are the only ones that come through the lots. So far, weve had no issues by not doing that. (Now I know I have jinxed it and will be regretting making any comments.)

The cows are all pasture calving. I made the mistake of doing a beef run to Lincoln and Omaha and was gone for a little over 24 hours. I had over 50 to tag when I got home. Im a firm believer that when you leave during calving season, for every one hour of being gone it will take two hours to catch up.
Nearly 24% of rural Americans dont get the medical care they need, and availability appears to be the major culprit.

Based on a poll, The Impact of Coronavirus on Households in Rural America, conducted by NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health in the summer of 2020, nearly 1 in 4 respondents said they werent able to get medical care for serious problems when they needed it in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak. Of those unable to get treatment, 46% said they couldnt get an appointment during the hours they were available and 40% said they simply could not find a doctor to see them.

With COVID-19 its been a wild ride, said Mary Gorski, assistant director at the Harvard Opinion Research Program and co-author of the study. As weve seen with different surges throughout the country, health care systems will often shut down or theyll only do emergency surgeries. At the beginning of the pandemic, they were trying to conserve PPE, so people just werent able to get appointments.

The poll was conducted between July 1 and Aug. 3 last year, with 3,454 people providing results, including 543 adults in rural areas nationwide. The margin for sampling error in the results is 5.4 percentage points for rural areas.

Gorskis co-author, Robert J. Blendon, a professor of public health and health policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said the issues that are hitting rural America differs from urban areas, where the biggest limitation leans toward financial issues.
DILLON, Mont.  Montana Range Days is set to take place this year June 21-23 in Beaverhead County. Originated in 1977, Montana Range Days is the states premier rangeland education event, consisting of educational workshops, tours, and contests. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of Montana Range Days last year, so event planners this year are going above and beyond.

Koy Holland, 2021 event chair, says Montana Range Days started out as a strictly educational event, but early on a competition aspect was added as a way to ensure the concepts taught during the workshops and tours were being retained by participants. Since 1980, the most coveted prize of Montana Range Days is the Top Range Hand traveling trophy, which can be won by a youth, age 15 -19, with the highest total score from the five Montana Range Days contests: Plant Identification, Plant Anatomy, Range Management and Illustrated Talks and Exhibits

If you win Top Range Hand you get your name on the beautiful trophy and it gets to sit in your house for one year, Holland said.

Although Top Range Hand may be the Montana Range Days prize with the most notoriety, Holland is quick to point out that the event is open to everyone. Children as young as 4 years old are welcome to participate in educational programs, and age 9, youth can start competing. There are even range competitions for adults, as well.

On Tuesday, June 22, while the youth at Montana Range Days are participating in workshops that will help prepare them for the contests, educational range tours will be offered for adults, parents, and FFA advisors.
Int'l community supports China's decision of not agreeing to Taiwan's participation in WHA: spokesperson

Xinhua) 10:55, May 22, 2021

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China cannot agree with Taiwan region's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year, in order to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to safeguard the sanctity and authority of relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the WHA, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks in response to a media query on the issue at a daily press briefing.

It is learned that the Taiwan authority did not receive an invitation letter to the WHA this year, and that many countries sent letters to the World Health Organization (WHO) in support of China's decision of not agreeing to Taiwan region's participation, urging that the Taiwan-related topics not be discussed.

Zhao said such events show that the one-China principle is an international norm and the common consensus of the global community. He said the international community recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

"Taiwan's participation in the activities of international organizations including the WHO must be dealt with in accordance with the one-China principle," he said.

Zhao pointed out that before 2016, the Taiwan region was able to participate in the WHA under a special arrangement made through cross-Strait consultations on the basis of the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle upheld by both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

He said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has placed its political intentions above the well-being of the people of Taiwan, adding that, since it came to power in 2016, the DPP has obstinately adhered to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" and refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, thus unilaterally undermining the political foundation for Taiwan's participation in the WHA.

Noting that the Chinese central government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots, Zhao pointed out that the central government has notified Taiwan 260 times about the epidemic and approved the participation of Taiwan health experts in WHO technical activities 16 times since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Ignoring the general desire of the international community to focus on anti-epidemic cooperation and the lives of Taiwan compatriots, the DPP authority has used the pandemic as an excuse for political manipulation, and violated the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, Zhao said.

He said that in interfering with the conference process and undermining international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic, the real aim of the DPP authority in making Taiwan-related proposals at the WHA is to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan".

By Thursday, more than 150 countries had expressed their support for China's decision through diplomatic channels, while the representatives of nearly 80 member states had sent letters to the WHO to express their adherence to the one-China principle and their opposition to Taiwan's participation in the WHA, Zhao said.

"This has once again proved that the one-China principle is the aspiration of the international community and the overriding trend," he said, adding that it reflects the just and correct position of the vast majority of countries on Taiwan-related issues.

Noting that the United States and a few other countries were backing the DPP authority and hyping up Taiwan-related issues at the WHA, Zhao said their conspiracy is doomed to fail.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)


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Virgin Galactic pilots fly first crewed spaceflight from New Mexico



May 22, 2021  CJ Sturckow's sixth launch into space was unlike any that came before, for him or for anyone else.



Frederick "CJ" Sturckow lifted off on his second suborbital spaceflight as a Virgin Galactic pilot on the company's SpaceShipTwo "Unity" spacecraft on Saturday (May 22). The relatively short hop  the test flight took off at 8:35 a.m. MDT and landed at 9:43 a.m. MDT (1435 to 1543 GMT)  added several more minutes to Sturckow's time outside Earth's atmosphere, which already totaled more than 51 days logged on four space shuttle missions as a NASA astronaut and Unity's first flight into space in December 2018.



On those earlier flights, though, Sturckow launched from Florida or California, just like every other person who left the U.S. soil for space over the past 60 years. On Saturday, Sturckow, together with Virgin Galactic chief pilot Dave Mackay, lifted off from a new place: New Mexico.



"Fifteen years ago, New Mexico embarked on a journey to create the world's first commercial spaceport," said Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Galactic. "Today, we launched the first human spaceflight from that very same place, marking an important milestone for both Virgin Galactic and New Mexico."



It was Virgin Galactic's first successful spaceflight from Spaceport America, the company's commercial headquarters, located southeast of the small resort town of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Up until February 2020, Virgin Galactic had based its flight operations out of Mojave Air and Space Port in southern California.



"Virgin Galactic has twice demonstrated the success of [its] spaceflight system design by flying to space twice from Mojave. Following this accomplishment, the team packed up all of the necessary equipment and personnel, moving them 830 miles [1,335 km] eastward to Spaceport America," Sturckow said in an interview released by Virgin Galactic prior to a first attempt at the flight in December 2020.





First spaceflight from New Mexico. Click to enlarge in pop-up window. (Virgin Galactic) Like Sturckow's and Mackay's previous suborbital spaceflights (Mackay flew on the company's second launch from Mojave Air and Spaceport in February 2019), Saturday's flight began with the two pilots riding on SpaceShipTwo Unity while it was mounted under its "VMS Eve" WhiteKnightTwo mothership. After takeoff from Spaceport America's 12,000-foot-long (3,700-m) runway, the carrier aircraft lofted the spacecraft to about 44,000 feet (13,411 m) altitude.



Unity then dropped away from VMS Eve and seconds later, Sturckow and Mackay ignited their spacecraft's engine to boost them at Mach 3 to 55.45 miles (89.2 km)  5.45 miles (8.8 km) above the spaceflight qualifying altitude under Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) rules. The pilots then reconfigured their spacecraft to re-enter the atmosphere and glide back to a landing at Spaceport America.



The flight profile was similar to what Virgin Galactic plans for its passengers, but was tailored to support two NASA-sponsored science payloads. Instead of orienting Unity to point its windows at Earth, Sturckow and Mackay pitched the vehicle 270 degrees after engine cutoff to get into the entry attitude as soon as possible. The maneuver extended the time for the experiments to collect data.



"That's one of the great things about our system, because it's pilot-flown, we're able to fly different mission profiles and meet the needs of our passengers in the cabin whether that's payloads or people," said Sturckow.



The flight also tested refinements to Unity's horizontal stabilizers ("H-Stabs") designed to enhance the performance of the spaceship during powered flight and initiated the seat recline feature on the vehicle's passenger seats for the first time in microgravity. Virgin Galactic also planned to test the live stream capability from the spaceship to the ground.



A key objective of this flight was to test the remedial work completed on Unity to lower the electromagnetic interference (EMI) levels experienced on a Dec. 12, 2020 first attempt at this same spaceflight when an on board computer aborted ignition of the rocket motor. Saturday's flight also followed the completion of an engineering review of VMS Eve, as a result of a a known maintenance item in the tail of the vehicle.



VMS Eve was piloted for Saturday's flight by Virgin Galactic pilots Kelly Latimer and Michael Masucci.



Virgin Galactic anticipated that Saturday's flight will provide some of the data it needs to close out its final verification reports required by the FAA to remove the remaining conditions attached to its commercial spaceflight license. With this flight completed and after reviewing the data it collected, the company plans to move onto its next phase of flight tests, flying four mission specialists in the cabin.



"Today's flight showcased the inherent elegance and safety of our spaceflight system, while marking a major step forward for both Virgin Galactic and human spaceflight in New Mexico," Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic CEO, said in a statement. "We will immediately begin processing the data gained from this successful test flight, and we look forward to sharing news on our next planned milestone."



Already the first and only person to earn military, NASA and civilian astronaut wings, Sturckow is now also the first person to fly into space from three different U.S. states. He and Mackay are the second crew, however, to return from space to New Mexico. In 1982, NASA's STS-3 crew of Jack Lousma and Gordon Fullerton landed space shuttle Columbia at White Sands Space Harbor near Alamogordo.



Saturday's flight from Spaceport America was more than 15 years in the making. Construction on "the world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport" began in 2006 and the facility was dedicated five years later. Since then, the spaceport has sat waiting for Virgin Galactic to move its flight operations from California and start spaceflights from New Mexico.



"After so many years and so much hard work, New Mexico has finally reached the stars," said New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham. "Our state's scientific legacy has been honored by this important achievement, one that took guts and faith and an unwavering belief in what New Mexico can achieve  and indeed is destined to achieve. I can't wait to see what comes next."



Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo "Unity" flies in space over the state of Mexico on Saturday, May 22, 2021. (Virgin Galactic)







Frederick "CJ" Sturckow, a former NASA astronaut, made his sixth career trip into space piloting SpaceShipTwo "Unity" on Virgin Galactic's first spaceflight from Spaceport America in New Mexico on Saturday, May 22, 2021. (Virgin Galactic)







David Mackay, Virgin Galactic's chief pilot, flew with Frederick "CJ" Sturckow on board SpaceShipTwo "Unity" for Virgin Galactic's first spaceflight to take off from Spaceport America. (Virgin Galactic)







Virgin Galactic added the symbol of New Mexico, the sun of the Zia Pueblo, to the tail of SpaceShipTwo "Unity" before launching on the first spaceflight from the state. (Virgin Galactic)







Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo "Unity" and WhiteKnightTwo VMS Eve in front of Spaceport America in New Mexico. (Virgin Galactic)



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Ahwatukee leads the rest of Phoenix and the East Valley in the percentage of fully vaccinate
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Arriving on campus for the first time as a freshman can be stressful for a multitude of reasons, so keeping yourself busy is key to settling into a healthy routine. In order to get into this new college lifestyle, Virginia Tech provides its students with plenty of opportunities outside the c
The U.S. is Albertas largest customer for softwood lumber products. In 2019, the provinces forest industry exported $769 million of softwood lumber to the U.S., representing 86% of the provinces total softwood lumber exports.

In 2017, tariffs were imposed on softwood lumber products. Alberta companies currently pay estimated duties between 20.23% and 23.56% on their exports. Roughly C$5.4 billion of softwood lumber duties have been collected since 2017.

Every year, the Government of Canada can request an administrative review to make sure the rates take into account the most current information about our exports of softwood lumber to the U.S. The result of this administrative review can be higher tariffs, lower tariffs, or the removal of tariffs.

On May 21, 2021, the U.S. Department of Commerce issued a preliminary ruling on rates  and they signaled higher rates for Alberta forestry companies. Although these rates are not legally binding until the final determination rates are released this fall, they do provide a signal of what to expect for this second administrative review.

This is a disappointing preliminary ruling. Increased tariffs unfairly target Canadian softwood lumber exports. At a time when North American wood and wood products are seeing record demand, this direction is unjustified. We need to work together to support forestry on both sides of the border.

Our province is home to world-class forest companies and the U.S. is a critical customer for Canada. These increased costs for Alberta lumber in the U.S. market make us less competitive.

We will continue to defend our forest sector through legal action and appeals under the North American Free Trade Agreement/Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and World Trade Organization appeal processes.

We cannot lose sight of our ultimate goal to ensure Canadian softwood lumber is treated fairly, and recognized for the benefits it creates in both Canada and the United States.

Alberta will continue to support Canada in its ongoing efforts to push for the free flow of trade to ensure prosperity for both nations, and for Albertas forest industry.
Anna Istre, a second grade teacher at Lake Charles Charter Academy, had two very unusual starts to her career. She graduated McNeese State University and began teaching right before the March 2020 COVID-19 shutdowns and then began again with the difficulties of the storm ridden 2020-2021 sch
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  In the final minutes of their legislative session, Louisiana lawmakers agreed to change the way the state shops for voting systems, to include more public vetting and require an auditable paper trail, after two recent efforts to replace the states voting machines fai
Leftists are fantasizing about Donald Trump being arrested, booked, and put on trial. Well, they are fantasizing about thatagain.

The New York State Attorney Generals investigation of the Trump Organization is now no longer purely civil in nature, Fabien Levy, the spokesperson for New York Attorney General Letitia James, confirmed to Politico by email. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan D.A. We have no additional comment at this time.

It is important for political observers, cowardly-lion Republicans, patriots, and activists to know what is happening here. More ammunition and detail are needed to arm the reader properly for this latest tempest in a teapot being sold as a hurricane.

Leftists are so enthusiastic about Trumps imminent arrest that the government of Palm Beach County is making plans to arrest the former President at his Mar-a-Lago resort in high-society Palm Beach, Florida. According to Politico,

Law enforcement officials in Palm Beach County, Fla., have actively prepared for the possibility that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance could indict former President Donald Trump while hes at Mar-a-Lago, according to two high-ranking county officials involved in planning sessions. Among the topics discussed in those meetings: how to handle the thorny extradition issues that could arise if an indictment moves forward.

Do sensible people think that local County officials sit around making plans for something that might happen and that others would handle? For crimes like these, an accused might turn himself in or show up in court.

If New York state issued an indictment, arresting Trump would require opening a case in Florida with its governor, Ron DeSantis, executing the indictment through the states police. The Palm Beach County government would not be involved. The Secret Service would handle surrounding events.

So why is Palm Beach exciting the media about something that is really none of its business? The magician distracts the audience by getting them to look over there.

Speaking as a political activist since 1984, this is a stunt aimed at the same failed tactic: The establishment tries to peel away Trump voters to get their support for the Mitt Romneys, Bob Doles, John McCains, Bushes, and so on. If Trump voters see him being hauled off in handcuffs, would the voters fall back in love with Mitch McConnell, Paul Ryan, and John Kasich?

The establishment misses that the voters never liked the swamp creature Republicans in the first place. In 2008 and 2012, we stuck clothespins on our noses to make sure the Democrats didnt win but theyd already lost us at Read my lips: No new taxes. Nevertheless, in 1994, the establishment ran independent candidate Marshall Coleman against Oliver North, the GOP nominee and choice of Republican voters, resulting in the election of Democrat Chuck Robb as Virginias U.S. Senator. We were mad before Trump.

As a criminal defense and constitutional attorney in Virginia and the federal court in the District of Columbia, I analyzed this in-depth with criminal defense consultant Norm Bradford for Thursdays discussion on Action Radio (starting at 1:32). I passed the New York State bar out of law school although I did not end up practicing there. Here are the key points from that discussion:

First, New York is investigating The Trump Organization (TTO), a business, not Donald Trump, the individual. Companies can be charged with crimes.

Therefore, is Donald J. Trump going to be arrested? No.

Second, what does it mean that the investigation is now a criminal probe? Nothing. At most, it means that some people from different offices down the hall have been called in and asked Well, what do you make of this?

Third, will New York prosecutors indict The Trump Organization? Yes. Everything I hear says theyre crazy up there. New Yorks legal system was woke before anyone knew the word. Because it is New York, where the grand jury and the petit (trial) jury are drawn from the mostly Democrat voters, and the prosecutors and judges are all soaked in just one political party, it is likely that they will indict TTO. No one can stop them.

Fourth, is this indictment dangerous? Probably not. There will be a trial that the prosecutors will lose at the end (which may be a year or two down the road).

Fifth, does it matter? No. Three words: Statute of limitations.

The statute of limitations is one of the very few defenses that are objective and non-discretionary. A judge has no choice. Once the statute of limitations is invoked, the entire project comes to a screeching halt.

Anything the New York A.G. is investigating expired years or decades ago. The statute of limitations is three to six years under New York State law depending on what kind of crime is alleged.

The rumors we have heard involve events in the 1990s. Although Trump did not set up a blind trust, in the summer of 2015, Trump turned TTO over to his children for them to run.

So, it has been almost six years now since Donald J. Trump even ran TTO. His children may want to review their actions, but what the Left wants is the former President in handcuffs. Expect more screaming at the sky as Leftists unrealistic hopes are dashed once again.

Sixth, could Trumps lawyers screw this up? Yes. Everything here assumes that Trumps lawyers respond effectively.

Trumps lawyers should have motions to quash any indictment already written and in their briefcases. Anywhere they are in New York or the country, they should be able to file a motion to quash within an hourbefore there is time for Democrats to spin up talks about arresting him.

Seventh, unlike Obamas Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, Trump does not do his own taxes. If anything was amiss, the fault lies with attorneys, accountants, real estate appraisers, financial advisors, etc. Because it is their job to tell Trump and TTO what can and cannot be done, they would be the ones at fault. Even if Trump said to do it, it is their actual legal responsibility to say no, you may not do that.

Eighth, did TTO do anything wrong? No.

The rumors are from former attorney Michel Cohen, who claimed that TTO valued real estate too high for the purpose of getting loans but too low for the purpose of paying taxes.

Governments have Tax Assessors. They dont listen to your opinion about what you think your real estate is worth. There is a process for disputing a tax assessment. That makes it even more clear that it is up to the government to decide.

Similarly, nobody loans money on real estate without ordering an independent appraisal from a licensed appraiser. A lender who does not order its own independent appraisal is grossly reckless.

In the law, fraud cannot be fraud unless the accused made a knowingly false statement intending that someone rely upon it, that the person (or entity) did rely on it, and that this reliance was reasonable. If Donald Trump says, This is the most beautiful high-rise in Manhattan, that is purely an opinion. If I say that my townhouse is worth its weight in platinum, no reasonable person would believe that and therefore (a) it is not intended to be relied upon and (b) it would be unreasonable for anyone to rely upon that statement. These are clear-cut legal principles. Any case against TTO will lose in the end.

At the end of the day, were witnessing leftist and NeverTrump grandstanding. Trump should be prepared to fight back hard but, ultimately, none of this is serious.

IMAGE: Donald Trump speaking at CPAC 2011 by Gage Skidmore. CC BY-SA 2.0.

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The Hamas-Israel conflict just nailed the coffin lid on mainstream media. The causes and effects may not be obvious. Therefore, some background information may be helpful.

Mainstream media need lots of money to pay salaries, taxes, office rent, etc.

Mainstream media still operate predominantly with a brick-and-mortar business model. Broadcast media require producers, camera crews, TV personalities, and associated support staff to be centralized in buildings. These are often situated in big cities with high tax rates and expensive real estate. Top-quality producers and TV personalities demand and often receive big salaries. However, advertising revenues have been decreasing in proportion to decreased viewership, forcing many to lay off staff. In a similar manner, newspapers such as the New York Times also operate out of expensive offices in large cities. Revenues have been falling for years at newspapers, and many writers have been fired.

The business model needed to sustain mainstream media is perilous, and it is unlikely that it can ever be replaced by anything more profitable. As the size and influence of mainstream media shrink, their ability to control the narrative evaporates.

How did this happen? It happened in a manner similar to what's described by Mark Twain or F. Scott Fitzgerald: "At first you go bankrupt slowly, then all at once." The first piece was internet scalability.

Fortunately, the protocols powering the Internet and the Web were designed for scalability. A scalable system is one that can continue functioning well even as it experiences higher usage.

Secondly, the COVID pandemic gave rise to widespread use of Zoom and other webinar platforms for communication.

The webinar business model has many similarities to the business model that made Amazon successful. Amazon was able to spot new opportunities that became available due to the internet and develop a new business model that would transform the retail business. Amazon bypassed the traditional brick-and-mortar retail outlets, instead earning its revenue by connecting buyers with sellers. Amazon does not have to pay for inventory or pay for retail outlets.

Once Amazon developed and refined its software platform, increasing the number of buyers and sellers added little cost but a lot of profit.

A meeting on Zoom can be scheduled on short notice and can reach up to 10,000 viewers. The costs are scalable.

The current Israel-Hamas conflict proved the utility of alternate media to influence public opinion. Michael Oren, former Israeli ambassador to Washington, just broke the code. He noticed this:

The Prime Minister's Office's Public Affair Department, which is responsible for public relations, is not functioning. But the problem is that our explanations no longer catch on. The media has changed. We have been saying the same thing for 15 years, and time has come for us to think and speak differently.

Gabriel Ben Tasgal, who established a pro-Israel advocacy project, explained that "there is an enormous difference from the situation back in 2014. One of the reasons for this is when analyzing the Middle East, many media outlets used to interview local experts."

"But now," he said, "thanks to technology, these media outlets go straight to the source."

Gutenberg changed the trajectory of civilization when he printed a massive number of Bibles. Most people assume that that was just about changing a religious narrative. That explanation shows how important controlling the narrative really is.

Jan Hus (aka John Hus or John Huss) was a priest who wanted alternative doctrines to take root in the Catholic Church. He failed to wrestle control of the narrative away from the Church and was executed for heresy. However, about a century later, Martin Luther wrote his Ninety-Five Theses, which contained many similarities to the message of Jan Hus. Although excommunicated from the Catholic Church, Martin Luther was not executed as Hus was. Why the difference in outcomes? By the time Martin Luther wrote his theses, tens of thousands of Bibles were in wide circulation thanks to new technology introduced by Gutenberg.

When Jan Hus challenged the narrative of the Catholic Church, the only Bibles in existence were controlled by the Church. Later, when Martin Luther challenged the narrative, thousands of people could read their own Bibles, translated by whomever. Many who did agree with Martin Luther. The Catholic Church lost control of the narrative, and the rest is history.

Fast-forward several centuries to more recent times. Recently, these phenomena have been described as Information Warfare and Strategic Information Warfare. Russia calls it Perception Warfare. The Chinese Communist Party calls it Media Warfare.

Within the last two weeks, Israel has identified how to successfully manage the narrative by identifying and reaching out to sympathetic audiences and motivating them. Audiences and commentators can now be connected on scalable internet platforms and follow Amazon's successful model of connecting buyers and sellers.

The American Thinker works on a similar model that connects audiences with commentators on scalable internet platforms. Similar internet platforms will further erode the audience and influence of the mainstream media.

I think these trends will be bigger than just the 2021 Arab-Israel conflict. The technology is there, but the audience and commentators just need a nudge to make the shift. I believe that this will now rapidly accelerate the economic demise and loss of narrative control (perception operations) by mainstream media.

Image via Pixnio.

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In his forthcoming book, Battle for the Soul: Inside the Democrats Campaigns to Defeat Donald Trump, Edward-Isaac Dovere reveals a few choice words that former president Barack Obama had for his successor, Donald Trump. As reported in the Guardian, these include madman, a racist, sexist pig, that f---ing lunatic, and a corrupt motherf---er.

In his own most recent memoir, Promised Land, Obamas fixation on Trump is manifest. In fact, it borders on obsession. In reviewing that memoir for my own forthcoming book, Barack Obamas Promised Land: Deplorables Need Not Apply, I could not help but notice, however, just how situational is Obamas objection to the sexual mores of others.

There is, of course, his and Michelles coziness with Hollywood pervert and major Democratic donor, Harvey Weinstein. In fact, their daughter Malia interned with Weinstein. Tweeted cultural critic Frank Rich after the Weinstein saga became too big to ignore, Biggest mystery of @nytimes Weinstein story: How exemplary parents like Obamas let their daughter work there. The stories were out there.

Said Obama long after he should have spoken out, "Michelle and I have been disgusted by the recent reports about Harvey Weinstein. Any man who demeans and degrades women in such fashion needs to be condemned and held accountable, regardless of wealth or status."

Any man, that is, except those who are politically useful, and none was more useful to Obama than the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. About Kennedy, Obama cannot gush enough. The Kennedy Obama came to know, he tells us in A Promised Land, was the closest thing Washington had to a living legend.

In his early support of Obamas 2008 campaign, Kennedy was was absolutely electric, summoning all the old Camelot magic, batting down the argument of inexperience once used against his brother and now directed toward me.

For the record, Teds war hero brother, John, had served in Congress twelve years before launching his presidential campaign. Community organizer Obama had served two, and the toughest thing he ever fought was the waves at Waikiki.

Having risen from his deathbed to ensure the passage of ObamaCare, Ted Kennedy strikes Obama as worthy of canonization. The road to sainthood, however, must first pass across the bridge at Chappaquiddick. In the #MeToo era, not even progressives get to detour around it.

An accounting of Kennedys road to perdition may not belong in Obamas memoir, but he should have factored it into his assessment of the man. The damage that Kennedy wrought on the women in his orbit did not end at that fabled bridge. In 1990, when journalists still felt some obligation to the truth, Michael Kelly wrote the following for GQ. In 2007, when Obama was a U.S. senator, the New Republic reprinted the account:

As [Carla] Gaviglio enters the room, the six-foot-two, 225-plus-pound [Sen. Ted] Kennedy grabs the five-foot-three, 103-pound waitress and throws her on the table. She lands on her back, scattering crystal, plates and cutlery and the lit candles. Several glasses and a crystal candlestick are broken. Kennedy then picks her up from the table and throws her on [Sen. Chris] Dodd, who is sprawled in a chair. With Gaviglio on Dodds lap, Kennedy jumps on top and begins rubbing his genital area against hers, supporting his weight on the arms of the chair. As he is doing this, Loh enters the room. She and Gaviglio both scream, drawing one or two dishwashers. Startled, Kennedy leaps up. He laughs. Bruised, shaken and angry over what she considered a sexual assault, Gaviglio runs from the room.

The incident above took place in 1985 at La Brasserie restaurant in Washington, D.C., where Loh and Gavigilio both worked as waitresses. In his memoir, Obama identifies Dodd as one of Ted Kennedys best friends, but goes no deeper than to speak of his warm relationship with the Connecticut senator.

Obama may or may not have known of the La Brasserie assault at the time, but everyone in Washington did, and the story lived on.

Obama surely knew about the Good Friday incident in 1991 when Kennedy commemorated Christs death on the cross by taking his nephew William Kennedy Smith and his son Patrick out barhopping. The young men brought two young women home with them.

Hoping perhaps for his share of the action, a drunken Ted Kennedy, nearly sixty now, wandered without pants into the room where everyone gathered. The one woman fled in panic. The other woman remained and claimed Smith raped her. Smiths criminal trial was long and very public. The Kennedys rallied to Smiths defense and cheered his acquittal.

To be fair, Obama does not discuss Trumps sexual peccadillos in A Promised Land. He makes no reference in the book even to the infamous Access Hollywood tape. That job was left to every other Democrat on the planet, Michelle included.

I cant stop thinking about this. It has shaken me to my core in a way that I couldnt have predicted, Michelle said in October 2016 while stumping for Hillary in New Hampshire. So while I would love nothing more than pretend that this isnt happening and come out here and do my normal campaign speech, it would be dishonest and disingenuous to just move on to the next thing like this was all a bad dream.

In her book, Becoming, Michelle accuses Trump of bragging about sexually assaulting women. As with almost every questionable thing Trump has ever said, Democrats have magnified the words beyond their intent.

Left out of Michelles analysis of the Access Hollywood tape is one key phrase: And when youre a star they let you do it. You can do anything. Sexual assault, of course, implies a lack of consent. Trump is no saint, but no one ever drowned in his Oldsmobile.

Jack Cashills latest book, Barack Obamas Promised Land: Deplorables Need Not Apply, is now on pre-sale. See www.cashill.com for more information.

Image: Piotr Siedlecki

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The scorpion wants to cross the river Jordan but cannot swim, so asks a frog to carry it across. The frog hesitates, afraid the scorpion might sting, but the scorpion says if it did that, they would both drown. The frog accepts this, lets the scorpion climb on its back and begins to swim. Midway across the river the scorpion stings the frog, dooming them both. The dying frog asks the scorpion why it stung, despite knowing the consequences. The scorpion replied, I could not help it, its in my nature.

Emulating the scorpion, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, on May 10, 2021, launched attacks on Israel, firing over 4,300 rockets, using an extensive network of tunnels, into the civilian population of Israel from the Gaza Strip and some from Lebanon. The attacks are in Hamass nature.

Against the indiscriminate firing of rockets on its population centers, Israel responded with air strikes and artillery bombardment of Gaza, aiming not at innocent civilians, but at the military infrastructure, the rocket sites, the 60 miles of underground tunnels, and Hamas commanders and militants.

After 11 days of fighting, Hamas and Israel on May 21, 2021 agreed to an Egyptian-brokered ceasefire. Similar agreements have been brokered and broken in the past as Hamas will not end its fanatical irredentism and refusal to accept the legitimacy of the State of Israel.

It was predictable that Osama Hamdan, the senior official of Hamas, declared that Israel had agreed to stop its aggressive actions. He is aware that Hamas still has thousands of rockets left, including the advanced short-range rocket Badr-3, based on an Iranian model, and has the expertise to build more rockets, aided by Iran, and Irans Quds Force, and can continue to bomb Israel if it chose to do so.

Hamas has suffered 232 deaths and thousands injured and witnessed the destruction of its tunnel network for firing rockets and the deaths of some of its leaders. But it also galvanized ethnic violence among Israeli Arabs and Jews and has inspired anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic demonstrations in many countries.

There are many aspects of the war that deserve comment.

First is the fallacy of the argument of equivalence on both sides. This is inherent in analyses by many in the media and in diplomatic circles such as the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. He stated that I am deeply shocked by the continued air and artillery bombardment by the IDF in Gaza. But indiscriminate firing of rockets by Hamas and other militant groups towards population in Israel was also unacceptable. A similar tack involves Israels lack of proportionality in its actions, best stated that Israel has a right to defend itself against unacceptable attacks but should limit the number of casualties. In this formula, proportion is never numerically defined.

A second issue is that of responsibility for the outbreak of hostilities. Some actions by Israel are controversial. Among them are protests and police actions at the Al Aqsa mosque/Temple Mound compound in Jerusalem, the real estate dispute involving the threatened eviction of some Palestinian families by Jewish settlers in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem, the 1970 Israel law that allows Jews to reclaim land in East Jerusalem that was owned by Jews before 1948. However, two factors are more relevant. One is that Hamas for more than twenty years has continually launched thousands of missiles, starting with the Qassam rocket that had a range of about six miles, and mortar fire against Israel from Gaza. This continual attack led Israel to develop the Iron Dome system to intercept the rockets.

The other factor is the rivalry between Hamas founded in 1987 as an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood and Fatah led by Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian Authority which have dominated Palestinian politics since 2006. A brief civil war took place between the rivals and an attempt to form a united government failed. Since 2007 the Palestinian leadership has been divided, with Fatah and the PA governing the West Bank and Hamas governing Gaza. Hamas had hoped to win in the election scheduled for May 22, 2021, and postponed indefinitely by Abbas. Hamas linked the movement to protecting Jerusalem, claimed to defend Muslim Palestine, and fired rockets to show solidarity with Palestinians protesting against Israeli police controlling access to the Damascus Gate, an entrance to Jerusalems Old City. By launching the attacks on May 10, Hamas is making a bid to increase its popularity and to displace Fatah as leader of the Palestinian movement.

The first surprise of the war is the sophistication and seriousness of the terrorist organization Hamas has built an extraordinary arsenal despite the Israeli-Egyptian blockade imposed in 2007. Hamas has been aided militarily by patrons Iran and Syria by a well-organized process by which rockets were shipped to Sudan, then to the Egyptian desert, then smuggled through tunnels beneath the Sinai Peninsula. Iran, which also provides $100 million a year to Hamas armed groups, started missile production after which Hamas developed most of its own. The Hamas arsenal included 7,000 rockets of various ranges, 300 anti-tank and 100 anti-aircraft missiles, attack drones, submarine drones, and enhanced rockets such as the 150-mile range Ayyash, Katyushas, and Irans Fajr-5. Hamas has no moral problem putting rocket sites near or in schools, hospitals, nurseries, and residential buildings.

Hamas can be regarded as part of Irans proxy war against Israel. It has received aid from Iran as well as being the recipient of help from Turkey and Qatar, which has provided $1 billion to Hamas. Iran is advising Hamas on its tactics and is increasing financial support to $30 million a month. Iran has supplied Hamas with armed unmanned aerial vehicles. Hossein Salami, head of the Revolutionary Guard, speaks of the Zionist regimes faulty defense system and claims that the balance of power in the Middle East has changed with the ability of Hamas to launch so many missiles against Israel. The central truth is that Hamas and other Palestinians are more interested in fighting than in finding a solution. Neglected is the Oslo Accord of 1993 that the status of Jerusalem will be settled in a permanent peace settlement.

Much of the media and many leftist activists have blamed Israel for starting what is a Hamas-initiated war. Anti-Israeli rhetoric and anti-Semitic protests have become intermingled with leftist politics. The conflict has gone viral around the world with displays of destruction in Gaza and personal tragedies sparking protests in many countries.

Yet ramifications of the supposed issue indicate the presence of anti-Semitism. For example, on May 18, 2021, a convoy of cars drove through areas with a sizable Jewish population in north London calling for Jewish women to be raped. For three hours the cars with the crusaders shouting fthe Jews, f...all of them. Fthe mothers. Fthe daughters. Similarly, in Los Angeles, restaurant diners were attacked by people from cars flying Palestinian flags, who shouted Israel kills children. In protests in Boston, San Francisco, Austin, and Skokie, demonstrators held signs that Israel was committing a Holocaust against Palestinians.

Two aspects are particularly troubling, the actions of Democrats in Congress and the BLM movement.

In Congress, the group known as the Squad and associates, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Cori Bush, and Jamaal Bowman, have declared their solidarity with and accuse Israel as an apartheid state.

Members of BLM tweeted solidarity with Palestinians and condemned Israels settler colonialism, and called for Palestinian liberation. They took part in violent protests outside the Israel consulate in NYC. BLM has long supported the BDS movement. In return, the BDS officially thanked BLM for its support in common struggle against racism and white supremacy.

Ongoing protests have little relation to the war started by Hamas. A policewoman in London shouted, free Palestine, and hugged protestors at a rally outside the Israeli embassy in London. Many anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic messages have appeared on social networks. Although the Gallup poll indicates that 75 % of the U.S. population is favorable to Israel, the number of those more sympathetic to the Palestinians is increasing. Most of this comes from Democrats.

Photo credit: YouTube screengrab

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Afternoon there, neighbor!

There's a new disease in town, and I wanted you to know about it.

It gives the chills and sweats and headaches

and fevers and diarrhea and a cough and it can kill you.

Not a cold or a flu, but a new thing.

It can kill most of us, it turns out.

Very dangerous.

We're going to have to lock you down, in fact.

For your well-being. Two weeks is all we ask to flatten this curve.

What's a curve? Funny you ask.

It's when too many people get put into the hospital.

We just want to slow the numbers.

Whittle them down a bit.

Lock you out of work and church and play for two weeks.

Totally worth it, we promise.

What do you mean, you don't have any symptoms?

It causes all symptoms and no symptoms,

and the people with no symptoms are the most dangerous people.

In fact, wear this mask. Put it on your kids.

Pull them out of school and hide them from the other kids.

We know that the flu kills way more kids every year

and kids need to develop an immune system, but put it on anyway.

It's about solidarity, and you don't want to kill old people, do you?

Change of plans  it's looking like four weeks.

Not everybody was on board, you know,

and this means that the disease still exists.

Yes, like the cold.

And it looks as though we've got a new wave!

So we're going to lock you down another month

and release a bunch of convicts.

Hospital capacity is a top priority, so you can't go out to feed your kids

or celebrate Independence Day.

Don't worry: we can put you on welfare and pause all the evictions.

Your business might go under, but you'll still have a Walmart!

We kept them open because they're essential (like liquor stores) and you aren't.

You're just feeding your family.

Walmart is big, and we don't want you to go without groceries you can't pay for.

I'm sure you can find a job there when we're done.

Lovely race riots we're having this year.

No, they're not spreading it 

but you do when you're at a Trump rally

or keeping your business open or going to the hospital.

That means no elective surgeries or silly doctor's visits

for other things that might kill you later.

This is a top priority, as we've said before,

and we've got to keep the nurses nursing.

Cancer screenings will have to wait.

We know that the hospitals are empty, but we've got to keep them empty

 just in case the Republicans with no symptoms cause a big wave...

...which they will!

And by the way, why are you making this a political issue?

This isn't about rights, or government,

or anything shallow like making a living.

This isn't abortion. It isn't "your body, your choice."

This is a medical issue.

It's a science issue.

That means all the other issues are non-issues.

You don't want to be anti-science, do you?

What's that?

You're doing your own research? Ha, ha!

Don't be silly  what can you say against a doctor?

As if you have a better idea how to live your life than he does.

What do you mean, there are other doctors and scientists with other opinions?

You think your chances of living are really good?

More than 99.9%? You have statistics, you say?

You know people who got COVID and all of them are fine?

All the front-line essential workers are alive?

You think tallying COVID deaths means more money for states and hospitals, and that the numbers are radically fudged?

That's great that you and your family aren't in danger,

but the ultra-old and ultra-fat are  and you're not a killer, are you?

No, we can't just send the elderly money and ask them to quarantine themselves.

And we certainly can't ask fat people to hit the treadmill.

Fat people are beautiful, and health is a personal choice they have to make for themselves.

Speaking of personal choices, great news!

We've just developed a few vaccines,

and if you choose to take them, we'll let you live your life!

FDA approval? Years, you say? How about months?

I know it's the only Moderna product the FDA ever approved,

but it's perfectly safe, they say, maybe 99% safe (no, not like COVID),

and only a few people are having seizures on television.

So we've approved it for kids!

It's so safe that we're blocking videos of strokes and seizures.

No need for that kind of negativity.

If science happened before your eyes, then why would anyone need a lab?

That's why I'm glad we've got a new pro-science president.

And would you look at that? We have to revise our numbers.

Turns out we were over-estimating all along. Whoopsie-daisy!

I guess this means things are getting better.

And no, they weren't already better.

Haven't people been getting the vaccine just now?

Do you think this bettering is a coincidence? C'mon, man.

Anyhow, we're all wrapped up and done, so thank you.

A year and a half of solidarity thanks to coercion.

A future of safety, so long as the unvaccinated wear masks

and keep themselves from the vaccinated.

That's how vaccines work, so go about and live your life like before.

Just bring along your vaccine card while you're flying,

or signing up for college, or getting AIDS on Grindr.

And if another strain attacks us from India?

Don't worry. All we're asking for is two weeks.

Trust us.

Jeremy Egerer is the author of the troublesome essays on Letters to Hannah, and he welcomes followers on Twitter and Facebook.

Image via Pxfuel.

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A few years ago, we saluted Prince Harry for serving in Afghanistan. He could have stayed home because the UK government was concerned about the prince being captured and turned into a PR victory for the enemy. Nevertheless, he served and that showed a lot about his character. Cheers for Prince Harry.

More recently, he is turned into an obnoxious personality. He married Megan, left the UK, and now is desperately looking for attention every day. This is from Fox News:

Prince Harry recalled the "heartbreaking" reaction his wife Meghan Markle had when the couple learned of the bullying allegations made against her. Just days before their sit-down with Oprah Winfrey aired in March, the U.K. Times reported that the Duchess of Sussex faced a bullying complaint made by one of her former advisors during her time as a working royal at Kensington Palace. In his new AppleTV+ docuseries titled "The Me You Cant See," which he co-created with the media mogul, Harry described how the 39-year-old broke down crying one night due to the "combined effort of The Firm and the media to smear her."

Okay -- but does anybody care? I don't, and my guess is that most people are sick and tired of all of this whining from the couple desperately seeking attention and maybe money.

Memo to Harry and Megan: Do something productive. We all have problems and we dont want to hear yours.

Memo to media: Stop giving this couple the time and space to whine and tell us how bad their lives are.

Again, I don't want to hear it!

P.S. You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

Image: Peter S

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You may recall that Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (RINO-Ohio) is one of ten Republican House members who voted to impeach President Trump after he left office on the bogus charge that he had incited the riot in the nation's capital on January 6. For this, Gonzalez was formally censured in early May by the Ohio Republican Party and asked to resign.

Far from being chastised, Gonzalez continued his vendetta against Trump and by extension MAGA supporters. He next voted for the Democrat resolution to establish a commission to investigate the January 6 fracas. Nancy Pelosi, chief proponent of the commission, says the commission will be "independent and bipartisan." Who in his right mind could believe Pelosi on this? Was there anything remotely fair or honest in the way Pelosi's House of Representatives held its two Trump impeachment trials?

In reality, the January 6 commission will function as a red herring designed to advance the Democrat agenda going into the 2022 election. The commission will be to focus media attention on the false Democrat argument that the events on January 6 constituted an insurrection. By any objective standard, it did not. All the ensuing kabuki theatrics will be a replay of the Russian collusion hoax, with the corporate media aggressively pushing the Democrat agenda. This will be done with the intent to take the spotlight off the mounting failures of the Harris/Biden administration. And for this, Gonzalez voted "yes."

It is interesting to hear Gonzalez's spurious argument as to why he shouldn't be purged from the Republican Party or primaried. It's the usual trite blather: we need to be a big tent party; we can't chase voters away; dissent is healthy. There is some truth in all those sayings, but they miss the point. Gonzalez conflates his treason to the GOP with legitimate dissent. Nobody would have thought ill of Benedict Arnold if he had merely disagreed with George Washington on tactics or strategy. But Arnold went beyond the pale. He gave aid and comfort to the enemy, just as Anthony Gonzalez has done. Gonzalez seemingly lacks the wisdom to heed the words of Abraham Lincoln ("a house divide cannot stand") or Jesus (Mark 3:25: "and if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand").

Gonzalez is in survival mode. He's throwing self-serving excuses around in the hope that some might stick. Just as likely, he's also auditioning for a lucrative post-political career in the arms of those who first recruited him to come back to Ohio from California to run for office. Gonzalez is angling to be the poster body purged by the narrow, mean-spirited Republican Party. His big-money backers will lap that up.

There is another aspect to this Gonzalez affair. In January, Ohio's Republican senator, Rob Portman, made a surprise announcement that he will not be running for re-election in 2022. This has created a scramble within the GOP of those aspiring for his seat. Two of them are former Ohio treasurer Josh Mandel and exOhio GOP chair Jane Timken.

As to Gonzalez's vote to impeach President Trump, Timken was initially soft on Gonzalez. In February she said he had "a rational reason" for voting to impeach and that he's of value to the Republican Party. But now that Mandel, a MAGA man, has sharply criticized Timken for supporting Gonzalez, she has abruptly changed her tune. She now is reported to favor Gonzalez out of office. Some profile in courage that Timken is. Ironically, Timken was elected to head the Ohio GOP in 2017 based on Trump's support.

Anthony Gonzalez and Jane Timken typify all that is wrong with the established Republican Party. The sooner they and their ilk are driven from power, the stronger and better the party will be. To be a big tent party does not require that back-stabbers be tolerated.

Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.

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From the beginning of COVID's outbreak in China, there's been a steady drumbeat of information saying the Chinese created COVID in a lab and, accidentally or on purpose, unleashed it on the world. The World Health Organization, the Democrats, the Deep State, and the tech tyrants managed to suppress that information in 2020, but it's roared back this year. Tucker Carlson put the pieces together in his opening monologue and, with help from Chinese scientist Li-Meng Yan, makes it plain that, even if China didn't deliberately release the virus, it turned it into a weapon of biological warfare by withholding information about it.

Here's Tucker's monologue. I'll have a few words to say after you've had a chance to watch it:

(If you can't watch the video through the above link, you can see it here.)

1. The video above does not include Tucker's most recent interview with Dr. Yan. She again makes it clear that China created this virus in the lab. Then she says something ominous: that the virus, because it's been weaponized, almost certainly has dangerous effects on humans that go beyond the obvious first phase sickness.

2. To the extent that Dr. Fauci used taxpayer money to illegally fund gain of function research in China, allowing the Chinese communist party and its military to weaponize viruses, including COVID, firing is not good enough. He needs to be criminally charged for what he's done.

3. Again, if China deliberately released COVID, that's a clear act of biological warfare. However, even if China's deplorably sloppy habits resulted in the virus being only accidentally released, China became culpable when it (a) failed to take timely steps to quarantine the virus within its own borders by stopping, rather than encouraging, foreign travel and (b) failed to give the world information it possessed about the virus. Again, this is an act of war.

4. Currently, while Joe Biden likes to talk a little bit tough about China, his actions have been anything but tough. One of Biden's first acts was to suspend Trump's Executive Order 13920, which stopped anything that might allow a foreign adversary (e.g., China) from getting near America's electric grid. And while Biden is holding surprisingly strong on trade, he just allowed his government to end Trump's ban on U.S. investment in Chinese technology. Biden even banned federal workers from saying "China virus." It's also clear that secretary of state Blinken is out of his league in dealing with the Chinese.

However, even Biden must be brought to see that, if China really did commit an act of biological warfare against the world, a few little sanctions here and there are inadequate to the offense. To date, rough estimates are the COVID has killed between 3.5 and 8 million people worldwide, and, as India shows, the virus is still claiming new victims. This cannot go unpunished. China needs to be completely isolated from the world in terms of trade, travel, and the flow of money and goods.

5. Just as a reminder, a top Chinese academic has already admitted that this was biological warfare, and he claimed victory for China. As Tucker Carlson's analysis shows, this is not mere puffery. One way or another, China fought a successful war and watched the world race to defeat itself.

Image: Tucker Carlson looks at COVID's origins. Fox News.
Jews are suddenly being targeted in scary numbers in New York, Los Angeles, and even other parts of the country. Worldwide, the escalation is 435% since Israel defended itself against Hamas rockets fired from Gaza. Democrats, though, are AWOL.

Ace at Ace of Spaces has a collection of videos of some of these unbelievable assaults in the past few days, while a search of "anti-Semitic" and "attack" on Twitter yields a hell of a lot more since then  some examples here and here.

"Are you Jewish?" now holds a chilling undertone. It's the question that precedes these organized thug attacks and smells as though some foul entity is directing them. After all, "are you Jewish" is the same phrase Palestinian terrorists asked of targets back when they were hijacking jets, as on this horrific flight in 1985, where the heroine stewardess hid the Jewish passports. Or this one, in 1986, where another heroine stewardess hid the American passports from other Palestinian terrorists. Say their names: Uli Derekson and Neerja Bhanot.

As for the Palestinian terrorists, of utterly forgettable names, well, they and their pals are back at work in this Biden era, here on these shores now but still identifying Jews as their forebears did, ahead of openly assaulting them in major U.S. cities. So much for "anti-Zionist but not anti-Jewish," which has been the mendacious trope of the left. That claim is blown out of the water with what is going on now.

That brings us to the Democrats and their response to this scary situation.

The condemnation? Just about nothing. The press is largely silent or at least not putting it on the front pages. Leftist pols, who tolerated a full year of Antifa violence on America's cities and refused to call it domestic terrorism, have now seen that indifference morph into these brownshirt-like seemingly coordinated Palestinian attacks targeting Jews and are saying little and doing nothing.

Oh, sure, some of them pay lip service while under pressure regarding these horrific Jew-hating organized attacks. Ric Grenell notes one here:

Lets be clear, @MayorOfLA waited until there was public pressure on him before condemning the anti-Semitic attacks in WeHo.



He, too, is afraid of @RashidaTlaib. pic.twitter.com/Wfm3XuBJGZ  Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) May 20, 2021

There's also he:

Cuomo condemns attacks on Jewish New Yorkers in Times Square: "We will not tolerate anti-Semitic violent gang harassment and intimidation" https://t.co/MeiQ4gPYxT pic.twitter.com/hzCYCCRB6Z  The Hill (@thehill) May 21, 2021

These bozos, too:

The kind of anti-Semitic attacks, like those reported over the last week, are disturbing and wrong. Intolerance like this has no place in New York or anywhere else, and it must be confronted and overcome.  Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) May 21, 2021

We as a city condemn last night's organized, anti-Semitic attack.



Jewish Angelenos, like all residents, should always feel safe in our city.@LAPDHQ is investigating this assault as a hate crime, and we will respond with the full force of the law.  MayorOfLA (@MayorOfLA) May 19, 2021

Gavin Newsom Condemns Antisemitic Attack on Jewish Diners in L.A. https://t.co/Bik5D0sS7k  Newsweek (@Newsweek) May 22, 2021

Some clung to their self-justifying now-bankrupt old tropes:

You can criticize Biden without being anti-American. You can criticize Putin without being a Russophobe. You can criticize Xi without being anti-Chinese. You can criticize Hamas without being anti-Muslim. & you can criticize Bibi without being anti-Semitic.  Michael McFaul (@McFaul) May 16, 2021

Some covered their keisters on the attacks with amazingly forked tongues.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is Exhibit A:

We will never, ever tolerate antisemitism here in NY or anywhere in the world.



The recent surge in attacks is horrifying. We stand with our Jewish communities in condemning this violence.



You can help. Take NYCs free, 1hr bystander intervention course: https://t.co/NCHJxvVHbU  Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 21, 2021

There is no room for anti-semitism in the movement for Palestinian liberation. Our critique is of Israel and their human rights abuses. This is not an excuse for anti-semitic hate crimes. https://t.co/ZkdcDECs9m  Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@RepAOC) May 21, 2021

There also were others of this stripe, people who'd spent careers focused on undermining and condemning Israel:

Horrific and unacceptable. Nobody should face threats and harassment based on their religion or ethnicity.



This has to stop. https://t.co/9QUgNm39UB  Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) May 21, 2021

I have decided to stick to love... Hate is too great a burden to bear.  Martin Luther King Jr.



We won't be free if we come from a place of hate + violence + racism. https://t.co/k88Ym3aF8y  Rashida Tlaib (@RashidaTlaib) May 22, 2021

Days have passed, with attack after attack, before any of these blatherings went on record. Most Democrats, particularly the Jew-haters among them, have stood silent as the assaults commenced for the cameras.

The forked tongue crowd among these is particularly disgusting when you think about it. "Never, ever tolerate" anti-Semitic attacks anywhere in the world, Sandy? You're tolerating them right now just fine in police-defunded New York City, where these attacks are exploding. You're hand-wringing from a place of safety and piously telling Jews to take a self-defense course, as if they were merely random targets of muggers, and these attacks were just spontaneous impulses, with no organizer, no actual root. Would she advise that too over in Kristallnacht-era Nazi Germany? Sounds as if she would. Is she looking for who is doing these "spontaneous" attacks? Not on your life.

For Ocasio-Cortez, the root of the attacks and the coordinated strategy are all apparently a non-issue. She's not vowing to get to the bottom of it or pass legislation about more hate crimes; she's just meaninglessly, toothlessly saying "this has to stop" as if for appearance's sake. Even her pious calls to self-defense are fork-tongued, now that in big cities with district attorneys like Chesa Boudin, people who defend against attack see their attackers let off scot-free as this incident in San Francisco shows. Defend yourselves, Jews; that's all we leftists offer.

The problem on the left starts with the refusal to name names, as Daniel Greenfield notes:

The ADL, OU, AJC, etc... dispatched an entire letter about the anti-Semitic attacks without ever mentioning who is committing them



this is cowardly and pathetically unserious https://t.co/x918xnIOCU  Daniel Greenfield - "Hang Together or Separately" (@Sultanknish) May 22, 2021

No names, no problem  just take that self-defense course, Jews.

Worst of all are the silent ones, the ones who don't want to look at all.

The FBI is still tweeting pictures of 1/6 Capitol rioters in a bid to find them but remains silent and apparently indifferent to this obviously coordinated attack. Where are their pictures on those Los Angeles restaurant attackers the other day, the one hurling the pylon, the one asking, "Who is Jewish?" Nothing. And who the hell let them into the country, as long as we are asking? Who?

And the ultimate boss of the FBI, Joe Biden, is absolutely culpably silent. Here is what's at the top of his Twitter feed at a time like this:

The truth is we have no time to waste when it comes to the threat of climate change.



We need to act. We need the American Jobs Plan.  President Biden (@POTUS) May 21, 2021

Here's his equivocation of Israel and terrorists, one big happy family, as Palestinian Hamas thugs in big groups hit one New York and Los Angeles restaurant after another.

I believe that Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live in safety and security and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy.



My Administration will continue our quiet and relentless diplomacy toward that end. pic.twitter.com/mXe39TyVMz  President Biden (@POTUS) May 20, 2021

Any statements like this for the Jews being assaulted?

Incidents of hate against Asian Americans have seen a shocking spike over the last year. Its wrong  and its un-American.



To all those who are hurting: we see you and we are committed to stopping the hatred and bias.  President Biden (@POTUS) May 20, 2021

Nope, not a thing.

It's a hideous picture, brought on by years of Democrats agitating against Israel and, in the case of Omar, hurling anti-Semitic tropes. Democrats couldn't even pass a censoring measure against Omar, needing to throw in all kinds of hate condemnations to obscure it, when the issue at hand was Omar's anti-Semitism and repugnant radical Jew-hating associates. That hate is now coming to fruition with these attacks.

Democrats also excused the Antifa riots that devastated American cities last year without consequences for any of them. Democrats refuse to create a commission about them. The FBI's director has called them "an idea." Palestinian terrorists looked at both pictures, and someone at the top said "sic 'em" to their barbarians in the States as a result. Now we've got a full-fledged France-style attack situation, where the Jewish population at some point is going to flee. Any leadership at the top to stop it? Not a trace, not in Joe Biden's idea of America, not even a phony condemnation from his. With this garbage going on, it can only get worse.

Image: Screen shot from video shot by Rob Bertrand and run by CBS News via shareable YouTube.

To comment, you can find the MeWe post for this article here.
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and her Democratic accomplices instituted a rule several months ago authorizing stiff fines for any representative who refuses to wear a facial mask on the House floor. Members are to be fined $500 for a first offense and $2,500 for a second offense. (No word on if a third offense would require a wayward representative to forfeit his life savings, home, or firstborn child.)

Despite CDC guidance and studies showing the relative ineffectiveness of masks in general, Pelosi and her aiders and abettors have chosen to ignore the science and keep the mask mandates, and punitive measures for disobeying them, in place. Three Republicans, of that rare subspecies that possesses a spine, have already been fined $500 for defying Speaker Pelosi's decrees: Reps. Beth Van Duyne (Texas), Mariannette Miller-Meeks (Iowa) and Brian Mast (Fla.). Mast lost both of his legs  and a finger as well  while serving as an Army explosive ordnance disposal technician in Afghanistan, and so is probably neither cowed by Pelosi's threats nor willing to cede control of his face to her.

Other Republicans who have reportedly been issued warnings include Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and Mary Miller of Illinois. Rep. Van Duyne, Rep. Miller-Meeks, Rep. Boebert, Rep. Taylor Greene, and Rep. Miller are twice the men that, say, Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell are. And have bigger cojones, too. (Figuratively speaking. Don't get excited, trans advocates and non-binary devotees.)

Why do so many vaccinated people still choose to obstruct their breathing apparatus? Why do so many people wish to proudly and publicly tout their fealty to vassaldom and submission? These are not trifling questions. They go to the very heart of a pathetically spoiled and soft society that is increasingly dumbed down and faithless, and therefore increasingly scared and easily misled.

And what of the mask imperialists, the facial fascists, the colonizers of the mouth? What motivates them? (The vaccinated are protected, right?) It should be obvious: control over the rest of us.

"My body, my choice" should be our motto. And, actually, it is only our bodies we are seeking sovereignty over, not a defenseless innocent inside of us.

But, thanks to the mainstream media, AKA the enemy of the people, the tragically woke don't have to acknowledge reality or truth...or anything but their own awesomeness. So they say to the rest of us: "Tremble at our awesome wokeness, cower at our omnipotent political correctness, genuflect towards our superior morality! Lay down before our righteous virtue-signaling! Give tribute to our godlike demeanor! Succumb to our irresistible authority! Swear a blood oath to diversity, inclusion and equity, all you reactionary worms clinging to your God and your guns!"

Unfortunately, the hypocritical, close-minded, intolerant tyrants who would permanently enslave us have control of every major societal institution.

There is only one way out for the rest of us. We must figuratively, literally  and permanently  remove our masks, declining ever again to don them. We must laugh in the face of those who would continue to enslave us...even if we can't see those faces as they are obscured by their owners' disdain for transparency. And humanity.

Just filed @SpeakerPelosis letter warning me to follow her mask rule. pic.twitter.com/KwKlbAV0Ml  Thomas Massie (@RepThomasMassie) May 19, 2021

Photo credit: YouTube screen grab (cropped).
Across the blue cities of America, city officials have turned their public spaces into vast and expanding homeless camps.

That leaves such cities without public spaces, and puts the quality of life at zero. Portland, San Francisco, Orange County, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., and New York, all spring to mind.

In such places, we have seen whole stretches of places like Venice Beach become a freakish third world tent shantytown, with the camping homeless blocking roads, scaring children, giving cash to drug dealers, getting intoxicated, throwing trash, boosting cars, theatening those who don't want to give them spare change, and doing their bodily functions in public places, if not on private property. The same is true in Los Angeles, New York, and the rest. When the homeless take over, the public has no choice but to stay away.

In Texas, though, the legislators passed a new state law banning this kind of "camping," coming up with the obvious:

AUSTIN, Texas  The Texas Senate on Thursday passed House Bill 1925, a statewide homeless camping ban, with 28 in favor and three voting against. Under the bill, people cannot camp in a public place unless authorized. Authorized camping includes camping for recreational purposes or if the property has been approved for sheltering people experiencing homelessness.

Surprise, surprise -- someone noticed the problem.

It's a pretty softie law, too, given that enforcement for the bums on the street shooting drugs and going to the bathroom in doorways wouldn't be "move along, move along," but pro-offered social services.

People who violate the legislation can be ticketed with a fine of up to $500, but only after the officer gives the person the option to leave, tells them where camping is allowed and educates them on resources available to help the homeless. The original bill passed by the House also allowed officers enforcing the law to arrest violators, but the Senate removed that provision. Now, someone can only be arrested if they are presenting a public safety threat or breaking a law. If the person is arrested, HB 1925 requires the officer to either allow the person to take their personal property or store it until the person can get it. In the House, the statewide ban was approved by a vote of 85-56, with most of the opposition to it coming from Democrats, although the legislation had sponsors from both parties.

It might actually work, though and may restore some semblance of quality of life in some places.

That's more than legislators of blue cities across America "experiencing homelessness" alongside the actual homeless, who include drug addicts and bums, have done.

San Francisco, for one, spends more on the homeless than it does on the police. Their huge public spending on such "services," last year putting the homeless up at grand hotels such as the Mark Hopkins and bringing them drugs, as part of the room service are famous. Yet the homeless camps even there have only gotten bigger.

Halting the camping, and the social dynamic of that homeless camping, which is typically a drug dealer and his clients all around him, is something they haven't thought of.

Perhaps one reason the measure passed so handily in Texas is that the lawmakers themselves, going to work, were actually affected by the camping.

Now we've got the laboratory of the states going on, and we can see the San Francisco and Texas models side by side. We know how COVID went for both California and Texas. Any guesses as to which state is going to have a handle on this?

Image: Pixabay / Pixabay License
Import prices for steel scrap to Bangladesh continued to rise during the week to Thursday May 20, with buyers increasingly searching for tonnages, sources told Fastmarkets.

Poor local steel prices, the countrys ongoing Covid-19 crisis, and the holy month of Ramadan had kept Bangladeshi mills out of the market for scrap imports in recent weeks.



But the lack of buying, together with the countrys largest mills continuing to produce steel at high capacity utilization rates, meant that scrap inventory levels are dropping below acceptable levels, sources said.



Offers were mostly at $545-555 per tonne cfr Bangladesh for deep-sea heavy melting scrap 1&2 (80:20) from the United States West Coast over the past week, with no deals done since buyers were unwilling to pay more than $525 per tonne cfr at the time of the price assessment on Thursday.



A South Asian trader said he had received a bid at $520 per tonne cfr Bangladesh for deep-sea shredded scrap this week, but this was far too low to be workable.



Fastmarkets price assessment for bulk cargoes of steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), deep-sea origin, import, cfr Bangladesh was $530-540 per tonne on Thursday, up by $10-15 per tonne from $520-525 per tonne a week earlier.



Exporter sources told Fastmarkets they did not expect any sales imminently, but buyers in Bangladesh may become desperate and could pay higher prices.



Fastmarkets price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, deep-sea origin, import, cfr Bangladesh was $535-545 per tonne on Thursday, also up $10-15 per tonne week on week from $525-530 per tonne previously.



Container sales rise sharply

Although Bangladeshi mills have been unable to obtain deep-sea shipments, they have been active in buying containers of scrap in the past seven days.



Bangladesh is maximizing container bookings now. Container offers are in greater number from traders in the market and container availability has eased a little, a key exporter source told Fastmarkets.



Bangladeshi mills are chasing scrap despite a poor local market, the exporter source said, with rebar prices being hammered by low demand in the local retail market caused by the ongoing battle with Covid-19. Rebar prices in Chattogram were heard at 70,000-71,000 Bangladeshi taka ($812-823) on Thursday.



He added that mills would have to either consider reducing output in the coming weeks or would have to keep raising their intake of steel scrap.



HMS 1&2 (80:20) in containers was sold at $515 per tonne cfr Chittagong at the start of the week, with deals rising to $520-525 per tonne cfr by the middle of the week, sources said.



Fastmarkets price assessment for steel scrap, HMS 1&2 (80:20), containerized, import, cfr Bangladesh was $515-525 per tonne cfr on Thursday, up $19-25 from $496-500 per tonne cfr a week earlier.



Shredded scrap was heard to have started the week with deals at $540 per tonne cfr Bangladesh, eventually rising to deals as high as $552 per tonne cfr from origins including the United Kingdom.



The price assessment for steel scrap, shredded, containerized, import, cfr Bangladesh was $540-552 per tonne on Thursday, up from $510 per tonne a week earlier.



Strong demand for low-impurity scrap in the country led to a rise in sales done for busheling and bundles. Mills have been unable to source Shindachi busheling from Japan in recent weeks amid restrictively high prices, sources said, leading to more interest in containers of high-yield material.



UK-origin busheling scrap in containers was heard offered at $585-590 per tonne cfr Bangladesh, while blue steel in boxes was heard sold at $560-565 per tonne cfr.



Brazil-origin light melting steel scrap bundles was also sold at $540 per tonne cfr Bangladesh on Wednesday.




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AP High Court gives one more shock to YS Jagan:- The government of Andhra Pradesh received several jolts in the past through the High Court and Supreme Court. In a major shock today, the High Court ordered the state government to cancel all the Parishad elections that are conducted in the state recently. There are several allegations that the MPTC and ZPTC polls are not conducted as per the norms. The High Court said that the government of Andhra Pradesh failed to follow the guidelines of the Supreme Court. It is mandatory to follow the mandatory gap of four weeks between the Election notification and the commencement of election in the country.

The High Court said that the Election Commission will have to follow the instructions of the Supreme Court and announced the cancellation of the ZPTC and MPTC polls in the state. The bench headed by Justice Satyanarayana Murthy announced the verdict today. The State Election Commission issued the notification of the ZPTC and MPTC polls on April 1st and conducted them on April 8th. ZPTC polls were held in 515 regions and MPTC polls are held in 7220 municipalities. After there are several petitions filed in the High Court, the court pronounced its verdict today. The High Court also asked the State Election Commission to issue a new notification for the polls which turned out to be a huge setback for the government of Andhra Pradesh.

(Video Source: TV5 News)
20,937 new coronavirus cases reported in Andhra Pradesh:- Andhra Pradesh continued to report a high number of cases in the state from the past few weeks. Out of the 92,231 tests conducted in Andhra Pradesh, the total new cases reported in the state are said to be 20,937. The total number of positive cases reported in Andhra Pradesh in total reached 15,39,184 and there are 13,20,124 recoveries are reported in the state. With 104 new deaths reported in the state, the total number of deaths are said to be 9904. There are 2,09,156 active cases in the state and 20,811 people recovered from coronavirus in the last 24 hours. The total number of samples tested in Andhra Pradesh in total till today are said to be 1,84,35,149.

Anantapur, Chittoor, East Godavari, Guntur, Krishna, Nellore, Prakasam, Srikakulam, Visakhapatnam and West Godavari districts continued to report high number of cases in the state. There are several cases of black fungus and the government is taking enough measures to bring things to a control. A total number of 2,59,591 new cases for coronavirus are reported in the country in the last 24 hours taking the total reach 2,60,31,991. The number of recoveries and discharges are increasing on a regular note and 3,57,295 got discharged in the last 24 hours. With 4209 new deaths reported yesterday, the total death tally reached 2,91,331.
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Talladega, AL (35160)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Jeremy Corbyn was among the speakers at a protest attended by thousands in central London to demand freedom for Palestinians.

A large crowd gathered in Hyde Park on Saturday afternoon for a rally in solidarity with the people of Palestine.

Protesters held banners, let off fireworks and chanted despite the heavy rain. A Palestinian flag was also placed at the top of a nearby crane.

Organisers from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign estimated that over 180,000 people attended the rally.

Mr Corbyn spoke at the end of the event, after speeches from former shadow chancellor John McDonnell and rapper Lowkey.

The former Labour leader said: Children should not grow up having seen their home demolished by a bomb dropped from the safety of thousands of feet above.

The occupation is the issue, the occupation of the West Bank, the siege of Gaza, they are the issues.

While the ceasefire is a step forward, unless the fundamental issues are addressed, we will be here again.

Mr Corbyn added: We will be here as long as is it takes until the Palestinian people are free.

We will never give up on the Palestinian people, we will never go away from the Palestinian people and their cause.

Protesters let off coloured smoke (Yui Mok/PA)

He was welcomed to the stage to large applause and chants of Oh Jeremy Corbyn.

Mr McDonnell said: Yes, a ceasefire has been negotiated and we welcome a ceasefire.

But lets be clear, there will be no ceasefire in our campaign to boycott, disinvest and sanction the Israeli apartheid state.

The message is clear, we will not cease our campaign in solidarity until there is justice.

So lets make it clear, no justice, no peace.

It came after thousands marched through central London from Victoria Embankment on their way to Hyde Park.

They held banners and placards and chanted, blocking off road traffic as they walked.

Banners and placards caused for peace in Gaza (Yui Mok/PA)

Some could be seen wearing costumes, masks and face paint, while others were draped in the Palestinian flag.

Groups of police officers watched on, as people climbed bus stops and lampposts and wrote Free Palestine on walls.

Chants of Israel is a terrorist state and we are all Palestinians could be heard as they marched.

One protester, named Muktha Ali, 32, from Harrow, north-west London, told the PA news agency: Im here because this is now urgent, the Israeli occupation needs to end now, its been long enough.

Mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters and children have been bombed and murdered, Palestine has to be free.

Protesters gather near to the Israeli embassy in Kensington (Ian West/PA)

Another, named Jake, said: I stand in solidarity with Palestinians, and so should everyone, no matter your nationality.

Its great to see so many people come out in their thousands to support the cause, we will win, our cause will be heard.

While largely peaceful, a few could be seen throwing objects at police officers who attempted to split up the march after they reached Hyde Park.

Among the groups in attendance were branches of the National Education Union and the Stop The War Coalition.

Saturday marked the first full day of a truce that ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade.

Israels security cabinet has approved a ceasefire, a move praised by Boris Johnson and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab.
UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has held talks with her Australian counterpart as the two countries edged closer to a free trade deal.

The Department for International Trade (DIT) confirmed Ms Truss spoke by telephone to Dan Tehan rising amid concern among British farmers that full liberalisation would see them severely undercut by their Australian rivals.

The call took place after ministers met on Thursday to thrash out their differences with Environment Secretary George Eustice and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove leading the resistance to a zero tariffs, zero quotas agreement which the Australians are demanding.

The two ministers were reported to have voiced concerns that smaller beef and lamb producers  particularly in Scotland and Wales  could be unable to compete with the typically much larger Australian farms.

Boris Johnson  who has made securing a series of ambitious post-Brexit free trade deals a key priority of his premiership  is thought however to have come down in favour of an agreement.

Speaking during a visit to Portsmouth on Friday, the Prime Minister insisted the agriculture sector should see such deals not as threats but as opportunities.

We are certainly looking at doing free trade deals with countries around the world, he told reporters.

I do think that free trade deals present a fantastic opportunity for our farmers, for businesses of all kinds and for manufacturers.

I think it is vital that as a great historic free-trading nation that grew to prosperity thanks to free trade, that we see these new openings not as threats but as opportunities.

Downing Street has indicated that Mr Johnson hopes an agreement can be concluded by the time of the G7 summit in Cornwall next month.

The DIT would not be drawn on reports that Ms Truss had put the UKs proposals for a full tariff-free, quota-free agreement to Mr Tehan in her call.

Officials have however insisted that any agreement would include safeguards for farmers, with the terms expected to be phased in over 15 years to allow them time to adapt.

A DIT spokeswoman said: Any deal we sign with Australia will include protections for the agriculture industry and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards.

Typically, any tariff liberalisation is staged over time. Australian meat accounts for a very low proportion of total UK imports, and is produced to high standards.

We will continue to work with the industry, keeping them involved throughout the process and helping it capture the full benefits of trade.
The Queen has flown on board the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth to wish the crew well as they make final preparations to depart on the carriers first operational deployment.

The 3 billion warship, carrying eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets, will depart later on Saturday for Asia accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters, a company of Royal Marines.

The Queen was welcomed on board at Portsmouth Naval Base by the ships commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG).

She was given a briefing on the 28-week deployment which will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

The Queen also had a chance to meet some of the 1,700 personnel on board the carrier which include Royal Navy sailors, Royal Air Force airmen and women, Royal Marines, and 250 United States personnel.

Captain Angus Essenhigh (left) greets the Queen (Steve Parsons/PA)

Her visit followed a tour by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.

She was wearing a brick-red military-style cashmere coat with a black velvet collar and buttons, over a crepe wool dress by Stewart Parvin and a Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat.

She was also wearing a scarab brooch which was a gift from the Duke of Edinburgh.

It is understood that the Queen is keen to recommence more public engagements in the coming months instead of the virtual events which have taken up much of her schedule since the pandemic hit.

Captain Essenhigh said: Its always a great privilege to host the Queen and to have her as both our sovereign and our lady sponsor come and wish us well as we set off on a seven-month deployment is something incredibly special.

The Queen meeting personnel before they deploy (Steve Parsons/PA)

The Queen presented a medal for 15 years long service and good conduct to Petty Officer Matthew Ready, 38, from Gosport, Hampshire.

He said: It was an incredible honour for me and my family.

Engineering Technician Marine Engineering (ETME) Billie Matthews, 22, from County Durham, who was one of those who met the Queen, said: It was brilliant, she was very chatty, very smiley.

Able seaman Chelsea Paterson, 24, from Chirnside, Scotland, said: It was incredible, an honour to see her, let alone speak to her, the highlight of my career.

The CSG will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean.

The Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth (Andrew Matthews/PA)

As well as the UK military units involved in the CSG, HMS Queen Elizabeth will also have a squadron of 10 US Marine Corps F35B Lightning II jets embarked and be accompanied by the US destroyer USS The Sullivans and the Dutch frigate HNLMS Evertsen.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who also visited the ship, said: The UKs Carrier Strike Group sets sail to write Britains name in the next chapter of history  a truly global Britain that steps forward to tackle the challenges of tomorrow, working hand-in-hand with our friends to defend our shared values and uphold the rules-based international order.

This deployment shows that we are strong on our own, but even stronger with our allies. I want to join the nation in wishing the crews across the Carrier Strike Group every success as they depart on this truly historic endeavour.

The Queen met members of the crew (Steve Parsons/PA)

The MoD has announced that the CSGs F35B Lightning fast jets operated by the renowned Dambusters squadron, or 617 Squadron, will join Operation Shader targeting the remnants of so-called Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The F35B jets are multi-role combat aircraft equipped with advanced sensors, mission systems and stealth technology  enabling them to carry out intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tasks.

The carrier had not been expected to return to Portsmouth after taking part in a major exercise off Scotland and the CSG had been expected to gather in the Solent prior to departure.

But heavy winds led to the unscheduled stop in the naval base with most of the other ships waiting at Devonport to regroup before sailing for the Mediterranean.

(PA Graphics)

The deployment has been organised as part of the UKs tilt to the Indo-Pacific region in a bid to bolster deep defence partnerships as well as to take part in an exercise to mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

Accompanying HMS Queen Elizabeth will be a surface fleet made up of Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, Type 23 anti-submarine frigates HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliarys RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring.

The Royal Navy Astute-class submarine will also be deployed, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles.

As well as the stealth fighters, four Wildcat maritime attack helicopters, seven Merlin Mk2 anti-submarine helicopters and three Merlin Mk4 commando helicopters will be embarked  the greatest quantity of helicopters assigned to a single UK Task Group in a decade.

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commander UK CSG, said the Queen was looking forward to some peace and quiet, as the F35B jets based near her home in Sandringham would be away on the deployment for seven months.

He told PA: It wasnt lost on her they are from Marham, just down the road from Sandringham, so she hears them regularly, so she was just relieved to see them go to sea and get a little peace over her.

He added: It was an absolute privilege to host her majesty on her flagship, she was really fascinated and interested in where we were going and was particularly struck not just by where the carrier was going but where the frigates and destroyers are going and the variety of the trip.

He said morale was fantastic ahead of sailing and added: The smiles on the faces is as much to meet her majesty but also knowing we will get away.
By APD writer Shristi Kafle

The United Nations and its partners have launched the "Nepal COVID-19 Response Plan" on Friday calling for US$ 83.7 million to mobilize an emergency response over the next three months.

As Nepal faces second wave of COVID-19 outbreak, the UN appealed to assist 750,000 of the most vulnerable people affected by the pandemic.

The plan was endorsed by the Nepal Humanitarian Country Team and the Government of Nepals COVID-19 Crisis Management Centre and lays out critical areas of support required to complement the Government of Nepals response efforts, according to the statement issued by UN Nepal.

UN Resident Coordinator Sara Beysolow Nyanti was quoted in the statement, The current outbreak is having a devastating impact not just on health but across all sectors, hitting the poorest and most marginalized people in Nepali society the hardest. The COVID-19 Response Plan calls for swift action and international solidarity that is desperately needed to save lives and prevent unnecessary suffering today, tomorrow, and in the difficult weeks to come. We have no time to lose.

Covid cases began to increase rapidly in mid-April in Nepal, rising from 150 cases per day in early April to over 8,000 cases per day since the first week of May.

Over 44% of COVID-19 tests nationally are coming back positive, suggesting that case numbers are much higher than reported.

Dr. Rajesh Sambhajirao Pandav, WHO Representative to Nepal, said, The recent surge in cases has resulted in an unprecedented need for medical supplies including oxygen, medicines, ventilators, diagnostic kits and vaccines. While WHO and partners are supporting the Nepal Governments endeavors in mounting a robust response, fighting the pandemic necessitates international solidarity. I appeal to friends of Nepal from around the world to come forward and help with fulfilling the needs of the hour.

The UN mentioned that millions of people in Nepal are struggling not just with the direct health impact of COVID-19, but also with hunger, malnutrition, devastating economic losses, and other health needs that are being overlooked.

"The Nepal COVID-19 Response Plan brings together the priority response activities as set out by the COVID-10 Preparedness and Response Plan (CPRP) to address both the health and humanitarian consequences of COVID-19," it said, adding that "The Government of Nepal is leading the response, but capacities are stretched to breaking point and international solidarity is urgently needed to assist the most vulnerable people with life-saving response activities in health, food security, education, nutrition, shelter, protection and water and sanitation."

We must come together, nationally and internationally, if we are to prevent interrupted childhoods in Nepal from being lost for good," Elke Wisch, UNICEF Representative for Nepal, said.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
By APD writer Shristi Kafle

Nepal has dissolved the House of Representatives on the recommendation of cabinet led by Prime Minister KP Oli.

Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the parliament on Friday midnight and announced the mid-term elections on November 12 and 19.

The election dates are a year ahead of regular schedule.

Issuing a statement, the Presidents Office said the President dissolved the House as per Article 76(7) of the Constitution on the recommendation of the cabinet.

The move comes at a time when the country is reeling under the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which has already killed over 6,000 people.

Prime Minister Oli had called an emergency meeting of the cabinet at the PMs official office at Friday midnight soon after the Presidents Office issued a notice invalidating both the claims submitted to form a majority government.

Experts have expressed that the latest political development has plunged the Himalayan country into more political unstability.

Civil society and general public have also come forward to the social media criticizing the latest move at a time when the whole attention should have been towards fighting the pandemic.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
Author: Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan, Sinologist (ex-Diplomat), Editor, Analyst, Non-Resident Fellow of CCG (Center for China and Globalization), National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, Pakistan. (E-mail: awanzamir@yahoo.com).

While celebrating the 70th Anniversary of establishing formal diplomatic relations between the People's Republic of China and the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Government and People of both countries are re-affirming the commitment to strengthen further and deepen the existing friendship. Which is already higher than mountains, deeper than oceans, sweeter than honey and stronger than steel. The formal diplomatic relations were established on 21 May 1951 with the opening of Embassies in other's capitals. The first Chinese ambassador to Pakistan was Mr. Han Nianlong, and the first Pakistani Ambassador to China was General (Retired) Nawabzada Agha Mohammad Raza.

As a matter of fact, the rapidly changing geopolitics has emerged a situation where both countries need to face the challenges unitedly. The relationship grew in all dimensions during the seven decades and proved as an all-weather and time-tested friendship. Both countries stood with each other on all critical moments and supported each other on all issues, whether Chinese domestic issues like Taiwan, Hong Kong, Xinjiang, South China Sea, or Tibet: or Pakistan's domestic issues like Kashmir, FATA, Baluchistan, or Afghanistan. Both countries enjoy identical views on International issues like Palestine, Ukraine, Globalization and multilateralism, etc. Both nations support each other on all international platforms and vote harmoniously in the UN and other international forums.

China and Pakistan are victims of colonialism and Western coercion. Both countries have been suffering from sanctions imposed by the West in the past. Both countries are facing media war, hybrid war, and attacked by fake news and distorted information by the West. Both nations are facing similar challenges.

Under this scenario, there is a dire need to cooperate with others, strengthen collaboration, and face challenges unitedly. According to Pew Survey, Pakistan is the country that favors China the most, just after the Chinese itself. Once confronted by US officials about Beijing's uncompromising support for Pakistan, Chinese General Xiong Guangkai famously said, "Pakistan is China's Israel."

In the early days, the relationship was basically political and diplomatic in nature, but the passage of time grew to encompass Education, Culture, Science, technology, etc. The Economic and Trade relations were somewhat limited. However, with the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) launch, the economic relation boosted up and gained new momentum. The bilateral relationship between the two neighboring countries is characterized by feelings of mutual trust, respect, and goodwill towards each other. There is a regular exchange of visits at the highest level between the two countries. The strategic cooperation between Pakistan and China has grown over the past several decades.

Economically, China is Pakistan's largest trading partner and a significant investor, especially in the infrastructure and energy sector. During 2018, bilateral trade between the two countries reached US$ 18 billion. With the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) official launch, the bilateral relationship has been elevated to a higher level. CPEC is a flagship project of Chinese President Xi Jinping's "One Road and One Belt" initiative. It aims at enhancing connectivity and improving infrastructure between Pakistan and China. Several projects are being implemented under CPEC for the enhancement of infrastructure and generation of energy. People-to-people contacts are a vital aspect of the bilateral relationship. The year 2015 was celebrated as the Year of Friendly Exchanges between Pakistan and China. Several high-profile events were organized, including seminars, exchanges of visits, and cultural events to highlight people-to-people interactions. High-Level visits are the hallmark of China-Pakistan bilateral relations; almost all of the high-level leadership of China and Pakistan have visited each other mutually.

As a matter of fact, China and Pakistan are two nations with a shared destiny. We complement each other and beneficiary of each other's strengths. In the early days, Pakistan was in a better position and looking after China as a brother. Now China has emerged as the second-largest economy and global power; it is in a much better position to help Pakistan. Pakistan is a beneficiary of the rise of China and depends on China in many week areas. China is generously helping Pakistan in building capacity, capital, and technology. China has opened its doors for Pakistani youth for higher education in Chinese Universities and producing high-quality Human Resources to face the challenges of the 21st century. China is investing in Pakistan liberally and has become the largest investor for Pakistan. Chinese entrepreneurs bring the latest technologies to Pakistan and contributing to the socio-economic development of Pakistan.

The people of Pakistan acknowledge the benefits of CPEC and are thankful to the People and the government of China for generously assisting Pakistan.

At this happy moment of celebration China-Pakistan the 70th Anniversary of diplomatic relations, I extend my sincerest congratulation to the people of both countries. I wish long lives the traditional friendship between two nations with a shared destiny.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)
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Christopher Elliotts latest book is How To Be The Worlds Smartest Traveler (National Geographic). Get help by contacting him at http://www.elliott.org/help .
The semiconductor industry requires two key resources sand and freshwater. They are the basic raw materials

The Shaksgam valley alone is home to 242 glaciers that can serve as the grand reservoir of fresh water for Chinese chip manufacturing. It, therefore, becomes imperative to view the Sino-Indian standoff through this technological lens also. (Photo: PTI)

One of the less analyzed reasons for the Chinese aggression in Eastern Ladakh since the April of 2020 is access to fresh water sources. Though there has been some discussion and dissection of this train of thinking in the rarefied echelons of strategic policy deliberations the issue has never really travelled into wider setting of public dialogues. It has something to do with semiconductors or the ubiquitous chip that powers our daily existence.

A chip or microchip is a semiconductor wafer usually manufactured from silicon that combines an assortment of electronic circuits, incorporating resistors, transistors, capacitors and diodes that interlock to perform a required task. A single integrated circuit can comprise of thousands to millions of such electronic circuits contingent upon the computing power required.

Semiconductors rule the world today. Optimising and producing speedier, thinner and more formidable semiconductors will be seminal in defining the outcome of numerous economic and geopolitical conflicts of our times. As it has been prophesized by Steve Bank the mentor of the Lean Start up movement to get hold of the semiconductors may be the 21st century equivalent of getting hold of the oil supply in the 20th century. This is the strategic resource that all emerging and great powers of the world are in a race to both secure and control.

The omnipotent and captivatingly nomenclatured Silicon Shield is what safeguards Taiwan. The Taiwan Semi Conductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) is the worlds largest third party chip manufacturer. It exercises dominance to the extent of 55 per cent if not more over the global market share insofar it pertains to the production of microchips. These semiconductors do not just power cellphones and laptops, they are central to the functioning of virtually everything from automobiles to weapon systems.

The factum that TSMC produces the microchips that run the electronics of the Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II stealth multirole combat aircraft, the latest jewel of the US Air Force, is a sterling example of the extent of strategic importance of the both the resource and its supply chain. Were the semiconductor industry of Taiwan to collapse it would not only constitute a national security threat to the US but also for the entire hub and spoke security architecture crafted by the United States globally. That is how the Silicon Shield of Taiwan is in itself a weapon of deterrence for Taiwan, especially against an ever expansionist China in the 21st century.

Both the US and China are trying to be autonomous when it comes to manufacturing of semiconductor chips. If the US were for some reason be deprived of access to the foundries of Taiwan, the US defence and consumer electronics industries would be set back at least half a decade if not more.

As China is investing heavily in setting up its own chip foundries, it could become the world leader in this technology in the next decade or so. Thats why, one of the early decisions made by the Biden administration was an executive order, promulgated in early 2021, to address both chip shortage and the gaps in its supply chain to the US. This deficiency is critical for the US as its global share in chip manufacturing stands at just 12 per cent. A large part of the US governments sanctions against Huawei are singularly focussed on inhibiting the companys access to the worlds most modern chip manufacturing technology  Taiwans TSMC.

China had the foresight that its initial success as the worlds low-cost factory was going to run its course and other countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, to name a few, would soon occupy that space. As a result, China needed to build more advanced and sophisticated products to be on par with the United States. However, most of these products required custom chips  and China lacks the domestic manufacturing capability to produce them.

China uses 61 per cent of the worlds chips in products for both its domestic and export markets, importing around $310 billion worth in 2018 alone. China was quick enough to appreciate that its incapacity to fabricate these sophisticated chips could well turn out to be the proverbial chink in its armour.

Beijing has always had mega motivations to build its own homegrown capacity. A total of 1.4 trillion dollars have been earmarked in the 2021 budget alone for the development of the semiconductor industry. By 2025 the objective being that 70 percent of chips used in China would be Made in China under the National Integrated Circuit Plan. Over 70 projects have been commenced utilising capital outlays in the past few years alone. Chinese semiconductor industry has gone from making zero to 16 per cent of the worlds chips.

But how does all of this mesh with the larger geopolitical conflicts between India and China? There is a growing realisation that the battle between the US and China to acquire leadership in semiconductor manufacturing is going to divide the world into microchip manufacturing haves and have nots. That is where India fits into the Chinese plans. The semiconductor industry requires two key resources sand and freshwater. They are the basic raw materials. 10,000 litres of fresh water is needed to manufacture one 30-cm silicon wafer.

Chinas Achilles heel is this availability of fresh water. Key Chinese water systems like the Yangtze, Huang Ho and Mekong rivers are full of effluents. That is how Kashmir, Aksai Chin and Ladakh became crucial for China. The Taklamakan desert (located in Aksai Chin) not only provides abundant sand but huge reservoirs of fresh water from Himalayan rivers and glaciers. The Shaksgam valley alone is home to 242 glaciers that can serve as the grand reservoir of fresh water for Chinese chip manufacturing. It, therefore, becomes imperative to view the Sino-Indian standoff through this technological lens also.

From 2011 onwards the UPA government had made chip manufacturing a priority. In September 2013 two consortiums, including IBM and ST Microelectronics, had proposed building semiconductor wafer plants in India with an outlay of USD 8 billion. However the proposals died after the NDA/BJP government assumed office in 2014. Finally in the June of 2020 the government finally announced a Performance Linked Incentive for Promotion of Electronic Components and Semiconductors and Electronics Manufacturing Clusters. However, as it is with the current dispensation, it is always a case of too little too late.
Experts have noted that the rise of populism and the emergence of anti-science politics are occurring simultaneously in many places

People perform Suryanamaskar after applying cow dung on their body during cow dung therapy, believing it will boost immunity to fight against the coronavirus disease. (PTI)

Death has a familiar face. Each one of us knows someone who has died of Covid-19 and someone whose life has been gutted. There is fear. There is uncertainty as we grapple with a ferocious second wave. Indias coronavirus tally has crossed 25 million. More than 2,87,122 are dead.

But this has not led to a push for pro-science politics that prioritises evidence-based medicine in these troubled times. Quite the opposite, in fact.

In Meerut, a politician from the ruling BJP has been walking down the streets, blowing a conch shell, and performing a havan which he claims will stop the spread of the virus. Behind him, there are people and a bicycle cart with a heap of combustible material, and billowing clouds of smoke. Gopal Das Sharma, the politician, is not one who shirks the TV camera. Between blowing conch shells and rallying the faithful, he found time to tell one news channel: We have mixed havan material with cow dung cakes and ghee of desi cow, stems of the mango tree, camphor, etc. to stop the spread of the corona, purification of the environment, increase the oxygen level in the atmosphere and kill the dangerous virus from the atmosphere.

Pragya Singh Thakur, another BJP politician who represents Bhopal in Parliament, has been telling people to consume gau mutra (cow urine) of a desi (Indian) cow to fight lung infections, and plant trees like peepal and tulsi to prevent oxygen shortage.

These are only two of the most recent illustrations of anti-science. Who can forget the Coronil fiasco?

Many of us are tempted to view all this as fodder for mirth and merriment in these bleak times. But its no longer that funny.

Kishorechandra Wangkhem, a journalist from Imphal, Manipur, was recently booked under the stringent National Security Act for a comment on the social media. Wangchem, media reports said, wrote cow dung and cow urine did not work in the wake of the death of a local BJP leader who succumbed to Covid-19.

Indias scientific community has been worried about anti-science politics for some time now, but its also important to recognise that statements which strike many of us as ludicrous and outright dangerous in the time of a pandemic resonate among a sizeable section of the Indian public.

These sentiments and views are not totally novel.

What is new is their growing social acceptability. That is, in part, linked to the kind of politics on the rise across the country. Earlier, what was not said so brazenly in public can be said now, with scant consequences.

What is happening in India is part of a global trend. Experts have noted that the rise of populism and the emergence of anti-science politics are occurring simultaneously in many places, raising questions about their possible connection.

Many analysts see this as a natural fallout of the populists dislike for science because science is meant to be evidence-based, objective and demands proof of statements, and it clashes with populist politics which relies greatly on emotion and fears that resonate with a lot of people.

Anti-science has emerged as a dominant and highly lethal force, and one that threatens global security, as much as do terrorism and nuclear proliferation, wrote Peter Hotez, in a recent Scientific American article. Hotez, a vaccine scientist at the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, is the author of Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science. We must mount a counteroffensive and build new infrastructure to combat anti-science, just as we have for these other more widely recognised and established threats, he said.

How exactly does one do that? Do scientists need to ask themselves if they can do a better job of communicating the need for rational thought in places where large numbers of people do not have a scientific temper nor a political leadership which encourages it?

Dr Soumyadeep Bhaumik, a medical doctor affiliated to George Institute for Global Health, India, who focuses on research evidence for informing policy, practice and public debate, stresses the need for redefining science communication.

Not all scientists feel that scientists should engage in science communication, make time and effort to do so They (scientists) need to promote rationalism and engage with their local communities. Globally, a big problem in science is obscure metrics which have no meaning, are easy-to-game and are used to evaluate scientists  number of research papers, number of citations, number of patents, etc. This needs to change. The current principal scientific adviser has started talking about science communication but hardcore investments are required.

A pandemic is a new, unfamiliar phenomenon for most people. This means that people are scared automatically. A lot of people are ready to try new things and believe new things, which they probably ordinarily wont. A lot of opportunistic people use this -- to earn money, to promote below-mediocre science as solutions. The government needs a very active communication plan which works to fight misinformation. The majority in India is still not on the Internet and for the Government of India, posting things on the social media is not enough One needs to engage with communities. says Dr Bhaumik. Science communication, he says, should be done in regional languages for greater relevance.

Which brings one back to the question  what does one do if the political leadership itself chooses to overlook public statements which are blatantly anti-science? And how does one advocate for rational thought in a society where faith holds the trump card?

There is no short and easy answer. But one must continue to call out pseudo-science, and one must do that in a language and idiom that is accessible to most people in this country.

Perhaps Indias successful fight against polio offers a lesson. It was not just the vaccine that did it. It was consistent communication with communities and engagement with a wide array of influencers. This included religious leaders.

During the battle against polio, vaccine resistance had varied from the overt to the covert in several districts. I remember several conversations with polio vaccine-refusers. Many were from marginalised communities who had never really had access to other basic services, such as clean water. They were wary of the vaccine and were easily manipulated into believing absurd conspiracy theories.

However, eventually, even the vaccine refusers became acceptors. The change came about through sustained efforts which mostly focused on communities. We need to remember that.
The situation today is that the Palestinians remain hopeful of regaining the West Bank without Israeli settlements

As the entire world heaved a sigh of relief, even if with fingers crossed, as the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire came into effect at 2 am local time on Friday, May 21, ending the devastating 11-day conflict that saw over 240 fatalities, most of them civilian, the question uppermost on everyones mind is if this respite is ensure a permanent truce and an end to the conflict. The conundrum and the antagonism that led to this dispute is the unshakeable belief by both the Israelis and the Palestinians that they are the rightful owners of the land for which they are fighting.

Without going deeply into the genesis of the dispute, it is worth recollecting that much headway has been made on the path to peace, keeping in mind the situation in 1948. Starting with the first Camp David Accord in 1978 between Israel and Egypt, which resulted in Egypt granting full recognition to the State of Israel in return for the Sinai Peninsula, to the Abraham Accords of 2020, much water has flown under the bridge. In between, the Oslo Accord of 1993, leading to the much-publicised Camp David Accord of 1993, promised a two-state solution which at the last minute failed mainly as Israel refused the right to return of all displaced Palestinians.

With most Arab countries grudgingly accepting the existence of the State of Israel (with back-channel diplomacy active to get Saudi Arabia too on board), the main parties in the dispute, besides Israelis and Palestinians, are the Iranians. Iran is implacably hostile to Israel and to a large extent to Saudi Arabia as well. Iran is known to fund and support Hamas in the same way as it funds and supports Hezbollah in Lebanon. Violence has been the rule rather than the exception since the first intifada of 1987, with brief lulls in between. Therefore, is there any possible solution to end this never-ending cycle of violence? There possibly is, and it is perhaps as out of the box as it can get.

Briefly, before the 1967 war, the West Bank was a part of the Kingdom of Jordan from 1948 onwards. Jordan eventually relinquished all claims on the West Bank in 1988 and even deprived the Palestinians of their Jordanian citizenship. The Gaza Strip has had a more convoluted history and was occupied by Egypt till 1967, when it was captured along with the Sinai Peninsula by Israel. Subsequently, as a result of the Israel-Egypt peace accord, Egypt relinquished all claims on Gaza, agreed to keep the Sinai Peninsula demilitarised and created a small buffer zone between it and the southern border of Gaza. In 1994, as a result of the Oslo Accords, Gaza came under the control of the Palestinian Authority. Since 2007, however, it has been completely under control of Hamas, which views the Palestinian Authority, now called Fatah, with contempt and is implacably opposed to it. In 2005, Israel withdrew unilaterally from Gaza: its military as well as its settlements. After ousting Fatah, Hamas took complete control of the territory in 2007.

The situation today is that the Palestinians remain hopeful of regaining the West Bank without Israeli settlements, and of a restoration of peace in the Gaza Strip, with the ultimate aim of the establishment of a full-fledged independent Palestinian state. For this to happen, with of course Israels grudging acceptance, a new paradigm needs to evolve. Having the same belligerents talking to each other again through well-meaning intermediaries is not going to yield any new result. All that will come of it will be more of the same.

Hence, as a forerunner to any eventual Palestinian state, given the current impasse, and to forestall any further bloodshed, there exists a strong case for Jordan to reclaim the West Bank and for Egypt to reclaim the Gaza Strip, of course with Palestinian consent. Both Jordan and Egypt have good diplomatic relations with Israel. Both have the trust of the Palestinians. If they are sovereign owners of the land, their locus standi improves vastly compared to them being just honest brokers. Their ownership and control of the territories will bestow upon them the necessary authority to deal with Israel on equal terms and not as mere supplicants, as is happening now with Fatah. Once these lands become their sovereign territories, the issue of settlements on the West Bank can be taken up in due course. It must be reiterated that Israel has to withdraw all its settlements in Gaza. The issue of settlements in the West Bank is not set in stone. In this way, Hamas can be de-fanged on the Gaza Strip.

Such a proposal, it is felt, would have the backing of all Arab countries. Iran too can be brought on board. Without Irans support, Hamas cannot be the disruptive force that it is today. Subsequently, after peace is established, both Jordan and Egypt can relinquish their claims on the West Bank and Gaza respectively to pave the way for the establishment of a full-fledged sovereign Palestinian state. This idea may seem hare-brained at first. It is however predicated on the fact that the belligerents want a just and durable peace with an end to violence and the desire for wanting peace is not as hare-brained as remaining in a perpetual state of conflict and suffering.
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When it comes to bikes, finding one that sells for six digits is very tricky business. When it comes to new ones, perhaps only Combat Motors is brave enough to ask $150k for its creations. Other than that, you can find bikes for all tastes and uses for far less than that.But not if youre in the business of collecting classic two-wheelers. If thats the case, you have to be ready to pony up a hell of a lot more than the price of a Porsche to land the dream bike.At the beginning of the month, Mecum held its mammoth motorcycle auction in Las Vegas, proving once again that the truly passionate spare no expense when it comes to their objects of desire. The top ten best-selling motorcycles during the event netted together close to $2 million.The FL we have here is one of those ten bikes, coming in at $192,500, the fourth most valuable bike of the sale.Born in 1947 alongside close to 7,000 others of its kind, it has been a museum piece ever since 1983, and at one point during its life it underwent a major restoration process, that brought it, the 74ci engine, and the four-speed transmission back to tip-top shape.Just to give you an idea how much more valuable the bike has become over time, consider that the price paid this May is 318 times over the original MSRP ($605). For perspective, that would be like a brand new Porsche 911 Carrera selling years from now for over $32 million.
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More than 44,500 reservations in less than 48 hours...and counting. The future is here: https://t.co/pbgGgnTVrS #F150Lightning pic.twitter.com/mpAztdfXZX  Jim Farley (@jimfarley98) May 21, 2021

Farley also made it clear that production numbers for the F-150 Lightning would be limited in the first year, mirroring the Dearborn-based automakers production strategy for the Mustang Mach-E. How many will be made is anyones guess right now because reservations are not firm orders and because the Rouge factory leaves many questions unanswered.In addition to the tighter demand compared to internal combustion-engined trucks, a huge problem that Ford hasnt solved yet is battery production. After Koreanbattery makers LG and SK reached a $1.8-billion settlement over a trade dispute, SK Innovation is now free to build lithium-ion cells for the F-150 Lightning as part of a joint venture with FoMoCo.BluOvalSK is the name of the joint venture, and the Georgia-based manufacturing plant aims to deliver 60 gigawatts of cells each year at full capacity. The Mustang Mach-E, by comparison, is powered by LG Chem. The Korean supplier assembles battery cells at the Wroclaw plant in Poland, the facility thats also responsible for the battery cells of the E-Transit van.Turning our attention back to the F-150 Lightning , the Ford Motor Company has an enormous advantage over General Motors, Tesla, and Rivian. On the one hand, the blue-ovaled pickup truck is very affordable at $39,974 for the commercial-oriented base model with 230 miles (370 kilometers) of range while the Hummer Edition 1 costs $112,595 in the first year of production. The weird-looking Cybertruck is nowhere to be seen, and Rivian doesnt have the experience of Ford, GM, or Tesla in selling or servicing electric vehicles.
You see, Cerberus is the name, in Greek mythology, of a dog with multiple heads that guards the doors to Hell. Guards as in it may allow people in, but most certainly wont allow people out.Now, in the case of these robots, were told the name is just an abbreviation of something that has nothing to do with dogs and hell. CERBERUS stands for CollaborativE walking & flying RoBots for autonomous ExploRation in Underground Settings  and now we know the team behind this project really wanted this name to happen.Speaking of the team, CERBERUS is the result of a collaboration between the University of Nevada, ETH Zurich, Sierra Nevada Corporation, the University of California, and Flyability. It is one of the eight projects to have been admitted in the final phase of the SubT Challenge (Subterranean Challenge). SubT aims to be the starting point of a new generation of robots that could be used in underground environments, either for military or civilian purposes.The CERBERUS approach calls for robots to team up to perform their tasks. There should be a walking robot for work at ground level, and a flying one that could monitor things from above. Both should be packed with sensors that would allow them to map their way underground in search of whatever they are sent there to find.CERBERUS is still in its development stages, but the team will have to have it ready by September, when it will be called upon to prove its advantages over what the other teams have to offer at the Louisville Mega Cavern. There, CERBERUS will have to look for and find planted backpacks, cell phones, and even trapped survivors.
SOHC

You might be able to guess whos behind this surreal entity by examining its unconventional design language. If youre still scratching your head in confusion, Ill have you know this mechanical gem is the work of Daryl Villanuevas Bandit9  an enterprise whose builds are anything but dull. In the past, we visited the workshops portfolio to drool over a bespoke Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 that manages to look seriously rad.This time around, well be analyzing yet another one of Bandit9s GT 650-based undertakings, namely a limited-edition bolt-on kit (dubbed Jaeger GT 650) priced at $28,000. Before we go into any other details about the package itself, lets pay our respects to Royal Enfield s machine by reminding ourselves about its powertrain characteristics.Within its tubular steel double cradle frame, the Continental houses an648cc parallel-twin mill thats good for up to 47 hp and 38 pound-feet (52 Nm) of twist at optimal revs. The twin-cooled fiend is coupled with a six-speed gearbox, which feeds its force to the rear 18-inch hoop via a chain final drive.Now, Bandit9s insane outfit features an assortment of steel bodywork items polished to a mirror finish, including a menacing front fairing, custom side panels and one shiny fuel tank, as well as a stealthy front fender and a bespoke tail unit that makes the GT 650 look fast even when it stands motionless.Up front, you will find a dual headlight setup, while the beasts rear end comes equipped with a discrete LED lighting strip. Additionally, a tougher riding stance is accomplished thanks to rear-mounted foot pegs, along with clip-on handlebars that wear steel grips, fresh levers and chunky mirrors. Last but not least, Saigons moto masters went about creating a stainless-steel two-into-two exhaust system in-house.At $28k, the Jaeger GT 650 cant be described as cheap, but the level of craftmanship thats gone into building it is certainly worthy of our praise and admiration.
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SUV

kWh

For those who don't know, a popemobile is the generic term given to custom-made vehicles used by the Pontiff during outdoor public appearances. Some of the most-used popemobiles have been produced by Mercedes, starting with the first Pope Pius XI in 1930. Since then, it has seen several redesigns and evolutions from different brands.After the attempt made on Pope John Paul's life in 1981 when he was riding his popemobile through Rome, vehicles started to feature bulletproof glass and chassis. Change also followed with Pope Francis' efforts toward a more sustainable life. The latest eco-friendly car to join the fleet was a hydrogen-powered Toyota Mirai introduced last year.Now, in accord with Pope's environmental concerns,maker Fisker is developing a new popemobile. This is gonna be the first fully electric vehicle to be received by the Pontiff, and it will be based on the Fisker Ocean , which the company aims to put into production next year.It's a fully electricthat runs on an 80battery and has a range of about 250 to 300 miles (402-482 km). It also features a solar roof that should offer around 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of range per year. For the papal transport, the interior will sport eco-friendly materials such as carpets made from recycled plastic bottles extracted from the ocean.While the design of Fisker Ocean is pretty much the same, for the Pope, the transport will be modified, and a glass dome will be added, thanks to which the crowd will be able to see His Holiness during his travels.So far, the company has already shown the Pontiff the design of the new popemobile, and it plans to deliver the custom-made Fisker Ocean to Pope Francis next year.
Developed by Subaru together with Bell, this recent model is an upgraded version of the Bell 412 series. In 2019, Japans National Police Agency was the first to place an order for the new helicopter, which has now been delivered. According to an official statement, after a training period at the Subaru Aerospace Companys Utsunomiya factory, it will begin its career with the Iwate Prefectural Police.The project began in 2015, when Subaru was awarded a contract for developing a new UH-X utility helicopter for the Japan Ground Self Defense Force (JGSDF). Then, a few years later, the Japanese company began working with Bell on the commercial upgrade of this prototype, known as the Bell 412EPX. Basically, the commercial version was developed in parallel with the military version.This helicopter was meant to be used by police forces and firefighters, as a multipurpose aircraft for difficult operations such as disaster prevention and response missions. Its built with a durable airframe, a better dry run capability and it has an increased internal weight. Also, the transmission upgrades led to an 11% increase in torque, at speeds lower than 60 knots, compared to the previous Bell 412EPI.All of these results in improved operational efficiency and the ability to carry more supplies  which is an important part of disaster relief operations, as is the ability to operate effectively even in challenging weather conditions.The Bell 412EPX also features a Bell Basix-Pro integrated glass cockpit and 4 large HD displays with digital navigation systems, which improve situational awareness and help the pilot focus on more sensitive tasks, by reducing the workload. The wide cabin door, new crew door and versatile landing skids add to Bell 412EPXs highly functional configuration.After its debut with Japans National Policy Agency, the Bell 412EPX helicopter is ready to work with the para-public sectors of other countries as well, like its predecessor.
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The recent escalation in violence between the Israeli military and Hamas in Gaza has had a ripple effect around the world, with reports of several incidents fueled by anti-Semitism and Islamophobia.

Driving the news: Israel and Hamas approved a ceasefire that went into effect at 2 a.m. local time on Friday. But fears remain that agreement is fragile and the conflict will resume. Gaza health officials say at least 232 Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of the crisis, including 65 children. Twelve people have been killed in Israel.

Zoom out: Anti-Semitic, as well as Islamophobic, vandalism and harassment have been reported to law enforcement and shared across social media platforms throughout the U.S. and Europe.

In Los Angeles this week, people in a convoy of cars flying Palestinian flags harassed and physically assaulted patrons sitting outside a restaurant. A witness told the Los Angeles Times: "They were chanting, 'Death to Jews' and 'Free Palestine.'"

LA police are investigating the attack as a hate crime, in connection with another incident that took place this Monday, when two motorists, also waving Palestinian flags, chased a Jewish pedestrian who was forced to "run for his life," AP reports.

The New York Police Department's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating a separate violent incident that took place Thursday involving a Jewish man in Times Square.

In Chicago, a window at the Persian Hebrew Congregation was shattered and surveillance caught two people on camera, one carrying a "Freedom for Palestine" sign. Police are investigating the vandalism as a hate crime and searching for the culprits.

A neighborhood in London also saw a parade of cars draped with Palestinian flags as passengers shouted anti-Semitic invectives into a megaphone, including a call to rape Jewish women, per the Washington Post. Rocks were thrown at a synagogue in Germany and some at a protest shouted anti-Semitic slurs, the New York Times reported.

Muslim groups, such as national advocacy organization Muslim Public Affairs Council, have condemned the events and emphasized that perpetrators do not represent the Palestinian cause. The groups have also recorded several Islamophobic incidents over the last two weeks.

Investigators found anti-Palestinian graffiti  which reportedly said "Death to Palestine"  spray-painted on the front door of an Islamic center in Brooklyn, New York last week.

A mosque on Long Island was also found vandalized earlier this week. A sacred flag on the property had been burned, NBC News reports, noting the investigation remains ongoing.

The big picture: Research from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino, shows that anti-Semitic and Islamophobic sentiments spike when conflicts escalate in the Middle East.

In the United Kingdom, the Community Security Trust reported a 500% jump in anti-Semitic incidents since clashes at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem. Islamophobic incidents are up 430% since the same date, per Tell Mama, an Islamophobia monitoring group.

The Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish civil rights group, submitted a letter to President Biden on Friday expressing "grave concern" about recent anti-Semitic attacks.

What they're saying: Salam Al-Marayati, president of the Muslim Public Affairs Council, a national Muslim American advocacy group, called the recent vandalism and attacks on Jewish and Muslim people "despicable," NBC notes.
Ankara  Turkey has gone on a charm offensive in Egypt and Saudi Arabia in an attempt to break its regional isolation and end a harmful economic boycott.

Why it matters: The response to these olive branches will depend on the extent to which Turkey is willing to fulfill Egyptian and Saudi demands in terms of its regional interventions and policies toward the Muslim Brotherhood and the Jamal Khashoggi case.

Driving the news: For the first time since 2013, Turkey and Egypt held political consultations in Cairo last week to improve bilateral relations and exchange views on regional issues, particularly Libya, Iraq, Syria and the Eastern Mediterranean.

Then this Tuesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu met in Mecca with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan. The meeting followed a call between King Salman of Saudi Arabia and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The outreach follows a bitter dispute over the 2018 assassination of Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, after which Turkey expressed outrage and demanded the extradition of Saudi suspects.

The big picture: Ankaras interventionist policies in the regions hotspots have also long angered Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which have condemned Erdogan's "neo-Ottomanist" aspirations.

The backstory: Erdogan said on March 12 that Cairo and Ankara had held intelligence, diplomatic and economic contacts, and he expressed his hopes for strong ties between the two countries after years of tensions.

These remarks preceded Turkeys push to soften the critical coverage of three Istanbul-based dissident Egyptian TV channels, which stopped broadcasting some of their political shows  a reconciliatory gesture that was welcomed by Egypt.

The Turkish parliament also recently decided to launch a friendship committee with Egypt.

Yes, but: Egypt and Saudi Arabia are dragging their feet in terms of rapprochement with Turkey, awaiting concrete steps from Ankara to show its sincerity.

Turkey says it's not ready to hand over Muslim Brotherhood leaders who are sought by Cairo but have legal residence permits in Turkey.

Saudi Arabia will likely have some prerequisites of its own for ending its unofficial boycott on Turkish goods, which has been in place for two years.

And the recent Saudi decision to close some Turkish schools by the end of the academic year indicates that the path to normalization could be rocky.

Between the lines: Rising tensions between Turkey and Iran have been another factor in Turkey's push for normalization with Egypt and Saudi Arabia, according to Galip Dalay, a nonresident fellow at Brookings Doha.

What to watch: The Turkish government's statements and actions on the Muslim Brotherhood and the Khashoggi case will be a sign of how deep of a shift Ankara is willing to make.
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Borders between counties sometimes are just straight lines drawn on a map, but in some places the boundary is defined by a natural feature that makes for a compelling hiking destination
Texas House, Senate reach deal on permitless carry of handguns but offer no details about the bill
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NEW YORK (AP)  For Harry, returning to London to attend Prince Philip's funeral last month meant once more facing a place where he felt trapped and hunted by cameras. It would be a test of his ability to cope with the anxiety that was bubbling up again.

I was worried about it, I was afraid, Harry told The Associated Press during a recent joint interview with Oprah Winfrey to promote a mental-health series they co-created and co-executive produced for Apple TV+.

He was able to work through any trepidation using coping skills learned in therapy.

It definitely made it a lot easier, but the heart still pounds, said Harry, the Duke of Sussex and grandson of Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and her late husband Philip.

In The Me You Cant See, which debuted Thursday night on Apples streaming service, Harry reveals that he first saw a therapist approximately four years ago at the encouragement of then-girlfriend Meghan. They'd had an argument and she recognized his anger seemed misplaced.

The series is another chapter in the unprecedented openness that Harry has brought to his life and his royal family relationships since stepping away from his duties and moving with his wife to California. In March, he and Meghan gave a headline-making interview to Winfrey that elicited a rare public response from the palace.

Harry's self-work may be relatively recent but he and older brother William, The Duke of Cambridge, have long championed the importance of mental health. In 2016, Harry, William and his wife Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge, launched Heads Together, an initiative to speak up and not be ashamed to ask for help when mental well-being is at stake.

Their collective work led to interactions with people across the globe, from all walks of life, and they recognized a common thread. Sharing your story in order to be able to save a life or help others is absolutely critical," said Harry.

Harry is practicing what he preaches and laying bare his own struggles with trauma and grief. He describes in The Me You Can't See, the instances of feeling helpless as a young boy while riding in the car with his mother, Princess Diana, who cried as they were surrounded by paparazzi and she struggled to drive.

Years later, Diana was killed in Paris after the car she and friend Dodi Fayed were riding in, crashed during a high-speed chase to flee cameras. Harry was 12 and suppressed his own feelings to meet the mourning public gathered outside Kensington Palace.

Cameras rolled and snapped away as he walked behind her casket to Diana's funeral, alongside William, father Prince Charles, Philip and Dianas brother Charles Spencer.

Harrys revelations coincide with Queen Elizabeth's official confirmation a few months ago that he and Meghan will not return to their senior royal positions within the family, following a one-year trial period.

The couple now lives about 90 minutes north of Los Angeles in an exclusive area near Santa Barbara called Montecito. They count Winfrey, Katy Perry and Orlando Bloom as neighbors. The paparazzi still lurks but it's less intense than in Los Angeles.

This new, outspoken prince who shares his emotions is a contrast to the never complain, never explain," keep calm and carry on mantras that are part of the prototypical British way.

The British tabloids have had a field day picking apart his statements. Some royal commentators have also cried foul over a contradiction between seeking a private life yet granting interviews and revealing family strife.

Harry appears to be cautious in choosing what he wants to speak about, and neither he nor Meghan seem interested in sharing their every move with the world. They do not operate a social media account.

He is undeterred by naysayers, he says, because there's a greater good in being honest about his struggles. I see it as a responsibility. I dont find it hard to open up," he said. "Knowing the impacts and the positive reaction that it has for so many people that also suffer, I do believe its a responsibility.

Winfrey was already working with Apple to develop a series on mental health when a conversation with Harry sparked the idea to join forces.

We were having a conversation and I asked him, What are the two most important issues you think facing the world today? And he said immediately, climate change and mental health."

She mentioned the project and Winfrey recalls him later saying , Oh, by the way, if you ever need any help with that  give me a call. And I went and turned around and said, Whats your number?

Winfrey's existing partnership with Apple created a rare opportunity to reach the vast number of people who use the companys devices, Harry said.

If thats in a billion pockets on a billion screens, then maybe we can really start a global conversation about this, he said.

Winfrey recalls some of her own childhood traumas in The Me You Cant See. In addition to her and Harrys stories, the series also features accounts from both regular people and celebrities including Lady Gaga and Glenn Close, who speak candidly about their own experiences with mental illness.

Winfrey said Harry pushed to present a global perspective. This has got to be a world thing and not just a U.S. thing, she recounted him saying, adding: "I think weve accomplished that really well.

Harry jokes he's slowly catching up to Winfrey's decades of inner-work and encouragement of others to do the same whether on The Oprah Winfrey Show" or her Super Soul Sunday" interviews on OWN. Even Winfrey said she's had a lot to learn.

I have dealt personally with one of the girls from my school (Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa), who had schizophrenia," Winfrey said. Only after hearing the doctor say that its a diagnosis. Its not your life, its not who you are, that I had my great awakening about it. ... That is not you. You are a person who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. That is powerful."
Even in spite of less than ideal weather conditions, the Beaumont Independent School District hosted its first of three registration drives for the 2021-22 school year Saturday. District officials were content with the turnout at the drive.

As parents trickled into the planetarium location, they were quickly assigned to a table with a Dell computer and given the opportunity to have a staff member assist them in registering for the next school year.

Staff members were available for four hours at the districts boardroom and the annex building to assist any parents with login information and questions about documentation needed for early registration.

Of course its early and we wanted to start early. We want parents to come in and have the opportunity to get assistance, said Anita Frank, BISD Associate Superintendent for Elementary Administration.

More importantly, Saturdays drive solidified the success of in-person drives to district officials especially after many of the virtual struggles affected Beaumont ISDs large Hispanic community.

Related: Bilingual parents struggle as BISD registration deadline looms

Beaumont ISD and volunteers  who were provided by Jesus Abrego, co-director of the Multicultural Ministry Office of the Catholic Diocese of Beaumont  assisted several Spanish-Speaking parents registering their children Saturday. Abrego told The Enterprise the volunteers only priority was to help with staff with translating for Spanish-speaking parents.

Abrego, who has been a defacto-liason for the Spanish-speaking BISD parents during the last few years, has been integral in highlighting the language barrier between the district and its only-Spanish-speaking parents.

At a glance What: BISD in-person registration drive When: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 1 and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 8 Where: Every campus in the district Details: Parents can register online See More Collapse

Several Spanish-speaking families came into the districts boardroom to register and were assisted with a translator along with a BISD registration staff member.

Frank said how grateful she and the staff were for the collaboration.

We were so excited to work with Mr. Abrego, Frank said. I know it makes our parents feel comfortable that someone can come in and speak with them in their native language  so we can walk them through the registration process from start to finish.

The drive was also a part of another larger message from the district to parents about the importance of registration. BISD officials emphasized to parents that instructional materials like computers and other resources like the previously-awarded state pandemic food benefits of $285 for each student.

Its important for parents to understand that the annual registration process must be complete for their students to be issued instructional material, Senecia Saveat, BISD director of student services, said in a statement. BISD wants to ensure all of our students are once again registered and accounted for in order to take advantage of any such future awards or incentives.

BISD will host two more registration drives next month, but unlike Saturday, the drives will be held on every campus in the district.

As Saturdays registration drive came to a close, Frank reiterated parents do not need to register in-person and if they do not require any assistance or do not have any question, they can register online.

jorge.ramos@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/byjorgeramos
More relief from COVID-19s economic impacts is coming for Southeast Texans.

The Jefferson County Commissioners Court last week took the last step to finalize an agreement with the Southeast Texas Regional Planning Commission for the agency to distribute $7.6 million in utility and rent relief to eligible county residents.

Jefferson County Judge Jeff Branick said he expects the Commission to open the portal to apply for the money on June 7.

Auditor Patrick Swain said the Commission currently is in the process of training case managers that were hired to take on the program, and it expects to have a soft launch with a small number of applicants on June 2.

Related: COVID-related rental assistance available, more on the way

They will send out some fliers probably in the last week of May and do some public service announcements, he said.

The county looked at working with a few organizations to distribute the money, which came from the federal government. It ultimately settled on the SETRPC in part because of the organizations experience with such programs and the workload already being taken on by other community organizations conducting similar programs in the region.

The county has until the fall to use 65% of the funding and until the end of the year for the rest.

While the county has been ironing out this program, Swain said a similar program run by the state of Texas has assisted 51 individuals in the county.

Additionally, Beaumont Planning and Community Development Director Chris Boone said the city this month totally expended its first round of funding allocated to a similar program solely for Beaumont residents.

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More than 300 households - 845 people - were helped using the $740,000 initial allocation, he said.

Some $60,000 of the more than $600,000 second allocation already has been used on 47 households, or 107 people. That leaves more than $500,000 in aid available for Beaumont residents.

For both programs, applicants must be able to prove that they lost some of their income as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, among other requirements.

kaitlin.bain@beaumontenterprise.com

twitter.com/KaitlinBain
Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the countrys largest newspaper chains, approved a $630 million takeover bid by hedge fund Alden Global Capital on Friday, the company said in a brief statement. Alden, which already owned nearly one-third of Tribune, stands to take full control of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune papers.

Through its Digital First Media chain, Alden owns the Boston Herald, Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News.

Tribune offered little additional detail beyond the fact that it expects the deal to close on May 25. In a statement, Alden said the move reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry" and its focus on retooling publications so they can operate sustainably over the long term."

The Alden deal is just the latest major acquisition of a newspaper company by an investment firm dedicated to maximizing profits in distressed industries. The collapse of print advertising as readers migrated to digital publications has rocked the traditional newspaper business. Publishers have shut down more than 2,000 papers over the past 15 years and half of newsroom jobs have disappeared.

Investment firm owners are often criticized for valuing profits over the mission of local journalism, and Alden is no exception.

The deal drew opposition from many of the companys journalists in an unusual spate of employee activism. They set up rallies, tried to find local buyers and begged for a rescue in their own newspapers. They had rooted for a higher bid from hotel mogul Stewart Bainum in the belief that it would be better for local journalism, although that never came to fruition. They lobbied Tribune's No. 2 investor, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, to vote no and scuttle the deal.

In a blog post, the president of the union representing Tribune journalists lamented that Tribune's shareholders had  let everyone down  by approving the deal, but said the union would continue to hold Alden Global Capital accountable.

Confusion arose earlier in the day when a spokeswoman for Soon-Shiong said he abstained from the vote. According to Tribunes April 20 proxy statement, which states that approval of the deal required the votes of at least two-thirds of shares not owned by Alden, an abstain vote counted the same as an against vote.

Neither Tribune nor its board made any public comments on vote result until late in the day Friday. In its statement, Tribune effectively confirmed earlier reporting attributed to unnamed Tribune officials that Soon-Shiongs ballots were submitted without the abstain box checked, and so were counted as yes votes toward the Alden takeover in accordance with the instructions on the ballot. Tribune did not name Soon-Shiong directly, but said that proxies from one of the company's largest shareholders were submitted in this fashion.

Soon-Shiong's representative, Hillary Manning, said the billionaire viewed Tribune as a passive investment and that he is focused on the revitalization of the L.A. Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, which he bought from Tribune in 2018. Soon-Shiong stands to gain about $150 million from his Tribune stake.

Legal experts agreed that if Soon-Shiong left his ballot blank, he likely did so deliberately.

One possibility, said Andrew Verstein, a UCLA School of Law professor, is that Soon-Shiong intended to vote yes but didnt want to take flak for that vote. If you say yes, people yell at you for selling out the newspaper," he said.

Alden became Tribunes largest shareholder in 2019. The union representing Tribunes journalists says the hedge funds cost cuts have already led to shrinking newsrooms and closed offices. A 2020 report from the University of North Carolinas journalism school said the combination of Alden and Tribune would be the countrys second-largest newspaper publisher by circulation, behind Gannett.

Tribune itself is no stranger to cost cuts and shrinking newsrooms. After emerging from bankruptcy in 2012, it split from its TV broadcasting arm in 2014 and since then has bought and sold papers including the Los Angeles Times (sold), the San Diego Union-Tribune (bought and then sold) and the New York Daily News (bought, then hit with layoffs that cut its editorial staff in half ). Its annual revenue has fallen by more than half since 2015, and by the end of 2020 its number of full- and part-time employees stood at 2,865 people, just 40% of its headcount five years earlier.

Overall, publishers have shut down more than 2,000 papers over the past 15 years; half of newsroom jobs have disappeared.

Investment firms have played a significant role in consolidating the industry as online competition drew away readers' attention and ad dollars. Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management bought newspaper chain McClatchy in an auction last year following the company's bankruptcy, beating a bid from Alden. A newspaper company managed by private equity firm Fortress bought Gannett in 2019 with a high-interest loan from another private equity firm. The newspaper company, which retained the Gannett name and is publicly traded, has since ended the management arrangement with Fortress.

An expected higher bid for the whole company from the hotel mogul Bainum never fully materialized after he was unable to find a buyer for the Chicago Tribune. Hansjorg Wyss, a billionaire from Wyoming who had expressed interest in owning the Chicago Tribune, joined Bainum's bid, then subsequently dropped out. He did not say why.

Prior to his bid for all of Tribune, Bainum struck a side deal to buy Baltimore Sun Media from Tribune for $65 million via a nonprofit. In a statement, Bainum said that while his efforts to buy Tribune have fallen short, his focus now is on Baltimore and Maryland, where he is evaluating various options to create nonprofit newsrooms.

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An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Alden would gain control of the Los Angeles Times in a successful bid for Tribune. The newspaper is owned by Tribunes No. 2 investor, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and is not part of the Alden deal.
Emily Wilder, a journalist and 2020 graduate of Stanford University, started a new job as an Associated Press news associate based in Maricopa County, Arizona, on May 3.

Two weeks later, she was unceremoniously fired by the news outlet after conservatives resurfaced old social media posts that drew attention from Republicans as prominent as Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton. In Wilder's eyes, her firing is the latest example of right-wing cancel culture.

"There's no question I was just canceled," Wilder told SFGATE by phone Thursday afternoon. "This is exactly the issue with the rhetoric around 'cancel culture.' To Republicans, cancel culture is usually seen as teens or young people online advocating that people be held accountable over accusations of racism or whatever it may be, but when it comes down to who actually has to deal with the lifelong ramifications of the selective enforcement of cancel culture  specifically over the issue of Israel and Palestine  it's always the same side."

Wilder, who worked with the Arizona Republic upon graduation until this May, became a national news story after the Stanford College Republicans wrote a Twitter thread Monday highlighting Wilder's pro-Palestine activism in college as well as some of her old Facebook posts. In one post, Wilder referred to the late Sheldon Adelson  who was a Jewish billionaire, Republican mega-donor and staunch defender of Israel  as a "naked mole rat."

Wilder, who is Jewish, said she would not have used such language today. Not long after the thread started to gain steam on Twitter, Wilder says an Associated Press editor called her and said she would not get in trouble for her past activism and social media activity.

"The editor said I was not going to get in any trouble because everyone had opinions in college," Wilder said. "Then came the rest of the week."

On Tuesday, the conservative Washington Free Beacon published an article about Wilder, writing, "The hire could fuel concerns about the AP's objectivity amid revelations that the news outlet shared an office building with Hamas military intelligence in Gaza." On Saturday, an Israeli airstrike destroyed the Associated Press offices in Gaza after the Israeli government said the militant group Hamas operated out of the same building. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday he hasnt yet seen any evidence supporting Israels claim. Reportedly, a cease-fire was issued on Thursday, after the deaths of at least 227 people in Gaza and 12 in Israel.

Adel Hana/AP

On Wednesday, two more conservative outlets  The Federalist and Fox News  published their own stories on Wilder, and Cotton tweeted of Wilder's employment, "Not a surprise from a media organization that shared office space with Hamas."

Wilder said she received an "onslaught of absolutely vile messages" as the story picked up steam. On Thursday, her employer delivered the final gut punch.

"They told me that I violated their social media policy and would be terminated immediately, but they never said which tweet or post violated the policy," she said. "I asked them, 'Please tell me what violated the policy,' and they said, 'No.'"

An Associated Press spokesperson confirmed to SFGATE that Wilder "was dismissed for violations of APs social media policy during her time at AP," but did not address any other issue Wilder raised, stating that the AP generally does not comment on personnel matters.

Wilder said that because her editor originally noted that "everyone had opinions in college," she sees her firing as selective enforcement against those who have expressed criticisms of Israel.

"This is clearly a case of selective enforcement," she said. "I dont buy their convenient cover story at all because they never told me what specifically I did wrong, and in the termination letter, they said the harassment campaign prompted the review, and in that review they found supposed violations of their policy.

"Thats an admission this was prompted by the campaign against me, and it's really unfortunate the Associated Press is abdicating their responsibility to not only me, but to all journalists just because a group of college students wanted to engage in a witch hunt."

Wilder has since received support on Twitter, with several prominent journalists coming to her defense.

"Amazing how quickly a talented young reporter's career can be snuffed out by a Twitter mob that decided to feign outrage over some college tweets," tweeted the Washington Post's Glenn Kessler. "And if [Wilder] somehow violated @AP's social-media rules, the solution is to offer guidance, not termination, to a new reporter."

"'Hire [Emily Wilder]' is something more and more people are saying," wrote Kessler's Washington Post colleague Dave Weigel.

Wilder notes she was covering Arizona-specific news for the Associated Press prior to her termination, and while she still has strong opinions on the Israel-Palestine conflict, "every journalist has opinions" that are not relevant to "fact-based reporting."

The now-unemployed Wilder is currently in the process of sorting out her next steps but said she regrets none of her past activism.

"Its devastating of course," she said. "I love journalism and part of what I think makes me such a capable, powerful journalist is how much I care about the people I write about, particularly the marginalized. Thats why I joined the Associated Press, and they saw me as capable. This is of course a really hard situation, and I'm not sure whats going to happen next."
KeithBinns/Getty Images

In a major announcement last week, the governor of the Mexican state of Quintana Roo warned that the state had seen five straight weeks of increased COVID-19 rates following last months spring holidays. The dramatically rising case numbers led him to warn that Mexicos number one tourist destination is at risk of imminent lockdown, according to the Associated Press.

Rates in most of the rest of Mexico have been declining, reported the A.P., but Quintana Roo depends on tourism for 87% of its economic activity, and has instituted no travel bans or testing requirements.
Bedford, PA (15522)

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A few showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

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A few showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low around 60F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo addresses the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly, at the U.N. in New York, on Sept. 22, 2020.

Indonesia joined North Korea, China, Russia and other repressive regimes in voting no this week on a U.N. resolution mandating annual debate on preventing crimes against humanity  raising alarm among human rights advocates and observers of Southeast Asias largest democracy.

Still, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly  115 in favor to 15 against, with 28 abstentions  for the resolution, which also formally requested the U.N. secretary-general to report every year on measures to prevent genocide, ethnic cleansing and other war crimes.

The May 18 vote was on what is commonly referred to as R2P: the responsibility to protect and the prevention of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Indonesias vote against the resolution was completely mystifying to Simon Adams, executive director of the Global Center for the Responsibility to Protect (Global R2P), a New York-based organization set up in 2008 to make the promise of R2P a reality.

I was shocked, surprised and deeply disappointed. This is Indonesia, basically voting with North Korea and some of the worst human rights abusers in the world on a resolution to discuss R2P every year, Adams told BenarNews.

We dont see Indonesia as being similar to North Korea. We think in particular that Indonesia has such an important role to play in region to stand up for human rights whether to do with Myanmar or generally in the world. It is a democracy.

Usman Hamid, executive director of the Indonesian office of Amnesty International, said Indonesias position showed its poor commitment to advancing and protecting human rights globally.

We lament Indonesias action, Usman told Tempo, an Indonesian news website.

Indonesia, in fact, was the only member of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to vote against the resolution, while neighbors Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines voted in favor of it, and the rest abstained. Indonesia transitioned to democracy, after the May 1998 fall of the dictator Suharto and nearly five decades of military rule.

The resolution this week to put R2P on the annual agenda came in light of the escalating Israeli-Palestinian conflict and crises raging in strife-affected countries like Myanmar and Syria, a U.N. press statement said.

R2P was adopted as part of the U.N. World Summit Outcome Document in 2005. Four years later, the General Assembly passed a resolution to continue its consideration of the responsibility to protect.

No need to reinvent the wheel

Indonesia had joined the 2005 consensus that adopted the concept, as the Southeast Asian nations U.N. representative pointed out in his statement this week.

According to Indonesia, R2P does not need a standing annual agenda item, because debates on reports on it are mandated by the 2009 General Assembly resolution.

Indonesias voting position today should not be mistaken as against R2P, the countrys U.N. representative said, according to a statement issued on Thursday by Jakartas diplomatic mission to the United Nations.

Efforts to discuss R2P must not turn the concept into something that it is not. There is hardly any need to reinvent the wheel.

Many were taken aback by Indonesias vote, because on the face of it, Indonesia, with Malaysia, was one of the first ASEAN members to call for a special leaders summit of the bloc to discuss the military coup in Myanmar and its violent aftermath for that countrys citizens.

The spokesman for Indonesias foreign ministry insisted that the countrys vote at the General Assembly this week was not on the R2Ps substance but it [was] procedural.

That argument did not cut it, Lina Alexandra, a senior researcher at Washington think tank Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), told The Jakarta Post.

If it doesnt have anything to do with the substance, our question is, why bother voting no? After all, its just procedure regarding where [R2P] should be discussed, she told the Indonesian newspaper.

The concern is that [Tuesdays] move could be picked up by anyone who wants to question Indonesias commitment to resolving the crisis in Myanmar. This could backfire on us.

GlobalR2Ps Adams agreed with Alexandra.

Indonesias explanation has no merit. If everything was going well and there was an abundance of world peace then you can say, Do we really need this on the annual agenda? Clearly human rights are a big issue, Adams said.

Papua is a possibility

Some analysts wondered whether Indonesias response to a recent increase in violence in its restive Papua region was the reason it voted no.

After the escalation of violence in Papua, Indonesia designated Papuan separatist rebels as a terrorist group, a move that was criticized by some rights groups.

Indonesian forces had invaded the Papua region in 1963. Papua was incorporated into Indonesia in 1969 after a U.N.-administered ballot, which many Papuans and rights groups said was a sham.

Papuas situation may be a reason for Indonesias vote, said Joshua Kurlantzick, Senior Fellow for Southeast Asia, at the Council on Foreign Relations.

Papua is a possibility, in that he doesnt want to discuss that situation, certainly that could be a factor, Kurlantzick told BenarNews.

The Jokowi administration has become less protective of human rights over time  that may be something of a factor in the way the country voted, he said, referring to President Joko Jokowi Widodo.

Besides, Jokowi is not interested in foreign policy, Kurlantzick said. In addition, Indonesia has a long history of being skeptical of foreign intervention, the CFR senior fellow added.

But still, R2P doesnt mean forces will be sent off to Myanmar, Kurlantzick noted correctly.

Indonesia had also indicated that the contentious application of R2P ... further testified that greater caution is indeed necessary.

It did not expand on what it was referring to.

Global R2Ps Adams said it was possible  though he said he could not be sure  Indonesia may have been referring to the case of Libya.

NATO intervened in Libya in 2011, during the civil war there, which some had said was the first application of the R2P doctrine.

Libya has become a convenient excuse, Adams said.

They went looking in the dustbin of convenient diplomatic excuses and they found that one and dusted it off. It is not good enough.

Meanwhile, an editorial in the Jakarta Post questioned Indonesias reasons for justifying its vote against R2P.

Indonesias statement falls short of explaining how Indonesia, which touts itself as the worlds third-largest democracy, could end up with the likes of North Korea and other countries that are repressing their own people, the editorial said.

When it comes to observing democracy and human rights, Indonesia does not want to be associated with most countries in this group.
Bennington, VT (05201)

Today

Rain likely. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Experts attend online forum on Xinjiang

Xinhua) 11:10, May 22, 2021

URUMQI, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A group of experts and scholars from around the world attended an online forum on Thursday, discussing the situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

During the forum titled "Xinjiang in My Eyes," participants from 16 countries including Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Slovenia, the United States, Britain and Denmark exchanged views with their Chinese counterparts on Xinjiang's social stability, economic development, the improvement of people's livelihoods and their religious beliefs.

They agreed that profound development and changes have taken place in Xinjiang in recent years, with the basic rights of people of all ethnic groups effectively guaranteed, and that other countries should not make irresponsible remarks about Xinjiang, let alone interfere in China's internal affairs.

The forum was held by the China Public Diplomacy Association, which led a delegation of Chinese college professors, scholars and journalists on a tour around Xinjiang on May 17-20.

Wu Hailong, president of the association, said at the forum that the visit showed the social stability and peace that exists in Xinjiang, with the people living and working in contentment. He hopes that more people around the world will discover the real Xinjiang and dispel the fabricated stories about the region.

U.S. expert William Jones said that some Western media have slandered Xinjiang, but the forces behind them do not care about the real situation there.

Danilo Turk, former president of Slovenia, said that to discuss the human rights issue in Xinjiang, one must take into account the real facts, but many of the critics of Xinjiang do not know the facts and are politically biased.

Former Kyrgyz prime minister Djoomart Otorbaev said that the facts will triumph over the lies. He hopes more people will visit Xinjiang and the negative comments about Xinjiang will be gradually dispelled.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
In this May 6 photo, Maricopa County ballots cast in the 2020 general election are examined and recounted by contractors working for Florida-based company, Cyber Ninjas at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix. On Friday, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming the election database in Maricopa County, in Arizona has been deleted, seals were improperly broken on boxes that hold the votes and ballots are missing.
It is imperative that every business review and document its standard operating procedures. Dont assume your employees already know these steps.
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.
SANDISFIELD  Nearly two months after the town granted Sama Productions LLC a permit for a marijuana growing and manufacturing operation near Town Hill and Abbey roads  over the fierce objection of neighbors  the company is seeking an alternate location in the town.

Sama filed a new special permit application on Tuesday to build its 22 greenhouses and manufacturing building on a 14.7-acre parcel on the eastern side of South Main Street (Route 8).

The scope of the project outlined in the new application is the same at the previous site; it wasnt clear why the company is possibly choosing to switch locations. Sama principal John Heck could not be reached for comment.

The new site abuts property owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and is surrounded by mature forest, according to the application. The nearest other abutter is across the state highway, and the land has 1,200 feet of frontage that the company says it will screen with new trees.

A public hearing date has not yet been scheduled for the new application.

The decision comes just days after residents at the annual town meeting shot down any and all cannabis regulations, as well as a proposed ban on the industry. The regulations would have prohibited cannabis farms with over 20,000 square feet of canopy. Sama is proposing 100,000 square feet of canopy, which the state classifies as a Tier 11 facility  the largest state law allows.

Its really interesting that, had the bylaws passed, Sama wouldnt have been able to even consider a new site in town for their Tier 11 project, said Carl Nett, who has been a vocal supporter of having the industry in town.

Approval of Samas initial permit followed months of townwide debate over the issue. Residents and abutters pitched a battle over the business and its potential future impact on the bucolic landscape. Others welcomed the company, saying cannabis revenues might be the ticket out of a longstanding economic slump in this remote town. The company faced a similar fight in Great Barrington in 2019, and withdrew a permit there as a result.

Amid resistance, Sandisfield approves commercial pot-cultivation plan SANDISFIELD  A companys long battle for a permit to grow and process cannabis in the Berks

Lev Natan, who owns land near Samas Town Hill Road location and plans to build a home there, said while this apparent change of address is good for him personally, he still has concerns about large facilities and pollution. Natan authored a change.org petition this month to protect Western Massachusetts from the industrial cannabis industry.

He was disheartened by the failed bylaw vote, and says he supports a creative diverse economy that includes cannabis on a smaller scale.

He said the approval of Samas permit last month shook him in a new way.

Ive never fought for my own land before, he said. Ive never owned land, and Im grateful that thats something thats in my life now.
Francesca Paris is The Eagle's data and public records reporter. She was previously the North Adams reporter. A California native and Williams College alumna, she has worked at NPR in Washington, D.C. and WBUR in Boston. Find her on Twitter at @fparises.
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.
Market Reports on Saudi Arabia Provides the Trending Market Research Report on Deodorants in Saudi Arabia under Saudi Arabia Consumer Goods Market category. The Deodorants 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.

COVID-19 led to an acceleration in retail volume sales of deodorant during 2020, with unit sales expanding at their fastest rate in five years. During the early stages of the pandemic, some consumers stocked up on personal care products like deodorants due to a fear of supply-chain disruption. However, once it became apparent that supply chains had not been affected by COVID-19, consumers largely reverted to pre-pandemic purchasing patterns.

Deodorants 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 2016-2020, allowing you to identify the sectors driving growth. Forecasts to 2025 illustrate how the market is set to change.

Product coverage: Deodorant Creams, Deodorant Pumps, Deodorant Roll-Ons, Deodorant Sprays, Deodorant Sticks, Deodorant Wipes.

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Table Of Contents

List OF CONTENTS AND TABLES

DEODORANTS IN SAUDI ARABIA

KEY DATA FINDINGS

2020 IMPACT

COVID-19 leads to stockpiling, but fears of shortages prove to be unfounded

Focus on long-lasting products helps Nivea to overtake Binzagr Lever Ltd

Homebound consumers and bulk buying drive a surge in online sales

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

Post-pandemic normalisation will see unit sales decline in 2021

Natural and dermocosmetic products will grow in importance, as local consumers become more sophisticated

Growth of e-commerce will lead to more intense competition among retailers

CATEGORY DATA

Table 1 Sales of Deodorants by Category: Value 2015-2020

Table 2 Sales of Deodorants by Category: % Value Growth 2015-2020

Table 3 Sales of Deodorants by Premium vs Mass: % Value 2015-2020

Table 4 NBO Company Shares of Deodorants: % Value 2016-2020

Table 5 LBN Brand Shares of Deodorants: % Value 2017-2020

Table 6 LBN Brand Shares of Premium Deodorants: % Value 2017-2020

Table 7 Forecast Sales of Deodorants by Category: Value 2020-2025

Table 8 Forecast Sales of Deodorants by Category: % Value Growth 2020-2025

Table 9 Forecast Sales of Deodorants by Premium Vs Mass: % Value 2020-2025

BEAUTY AND PERSONAL CARE IN SAUDI ARABIA

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

COVID-19 impact on beauty and personal care

COVID-19 country impact

Company response

Retailing shift

What next for beauty and personal care?

CHART 1 Beauty and Personal Care Value Sales Growth Scenarios: 2018-2025

CHART 2 Beauty and Personal Care Impact of Soft Drivers on Value Sales: 2017-2025

MARKET DATA

Table 10 Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: Value 2015-2020

Table 11 Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: % Value Growth 2015-2020

Table 12 GBO Company Shares of Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2016-2020

Table 13 NBO Company Shares of Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2016-2020

Table 14 LBN Brand Shares of Beauty and Personal Care: % Value 2017-2020

Table 15 Distribution of Beauty and Personal Care by Format: % Value 2015-2020

Table 16 Distribution of Beauty and Personal Care by Format and Category: % Value 2020

Table 17 Forecast Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: Value 2020-2025

Table 18 Forecast Sales of Beauty and Personal Care by Category: % Value Growth 2020-2025

GLOBAL MACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT

GLOBAL INDUSTRY ENVIRONMENT

DISCLAIMER

SOURCES

Summary 1 Research Sources

Browse our full report with Table of Contents: http://www.marketreportsonsaudiarabia.com/marketreports/deodorants-in-saudi-arabia/211507

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.

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NORTH ADAMS  Mass MoCA is ready to welcome back summer with the return of its traditional Memorial Day weekend summer kickoff celebration.
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.
Members of the Congressional Committee of the National American Woman Suffrage Association pose in 1913. Hazel MacKaye is pictured second from right in the back row.
@facebook.com/northeastberksnews/

Lisa Mitchell is an editor for Berks-Mont Newspapers, covering news and events in the Northeast Berks County area.
Hip Hop royalty gathered on Thursday (May 20) for the groundbreaking of a Universal Hip Hop Museum in the New York borough that birthed the culture.

Icons like Nas, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, Fat Joe, Slick Rick and more came together in New Yorks Bronx and held shovels for the official ceremony celebrating the construction of the museum that was described by Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. as long overdue.

Diaz opened his remarks at the ceremony by quoting lyrics from Boogie Down Productions South Bronx and Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Fives The Message,

Hip hop has continued to mature. It started from the early days of young boys and girls who saw the rest of the world ignore us, he said, according to the New York Daily News. Showing the rest of the world the injustices that were happening in the South Bronx, in East New York, in Manhattan, in Harlem. God bless you all, and God bless Hip Hop.

RELATED: DMX To Be Honored At Universal Hip Hop Museum

Fat Joe said Hip Hop came out of the Bronx like Vietnam.

Im just a kid, Im talking 8 years old, and I would be listening to Hip Hop, he said during his remarks, according to the Daily News. And I knew this was what I wanted to do. It was born from nothing, and it has fed millions and millions.

During his remarks, Grandmaster Flash recalled the early days of a phenomenon that would influence culture worldwide.

This is a really special time, he said while choking up. There was a time where nobody gave a f**k about the Bronx. Nobody cared. This thing we were doing was anti-everything.

LL Cool J, who was born in Queens, acknowledged that the Bronx was the mecca of Hip Hop while explaining how much the culture influenced his life.

When I saw Run-DMC, it took my soul, the Rap legend said during his remarks, according to the Daily News. And from that point on, I knew I had a journey that I was going to be dedicated to for the rest of life.

The $80 million, 52,000-square-foot museum financed through city, state, and private monies will be located at 610 Exterior Street in the Bronx Terminal Market.
After rapper Antionne DeShaun Brodnax sat on a U.S. Capitol Police SWAT truck during the Jan. 6 insurrection inside Washington, D.C, he turned the image into the cover of his new album The Capital. Now, hes facing federal charges.

According to The Washington Post, Brodnax who goes by Bugzie the Don in the music industry, told investigators that he was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, but claimed that was not a part of the riot but was only in Washington to shoot a music video. He also states that he entered the building to take photos and videos, court documents report.

His album The Capital is available on Spotify and Apple Music. It features the tracks, The Capital Skit and The Capitol Interview Skit, Pt. 2.

Brodnax followed the crowd to the United States Capitol Building and entered the building after United States Capitol Police moved the gates that blockaded the door, an affidavit said.

The affidavit also notes that the rapper made his way peacefully into the building and spent approximately forty minutes inside taking pictures and videos of the architecture.

RELATED: Man Pictured Carrying Confederate Battle Flag In Capitol Riot Is Arrested With Son

However, investigators have a different account of his time in the Capitol and arrested Brodnax on March 11. Video footage shows Brodnax inside the National Statuary Hall asking an unidentified woman to take a photo of him sitting on the base of the statue of Norman Borlaug, an agronomist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970.

A tweet also surfaced and included a screen recording of a CNN live stream on Jan 6. that showed the rapper in the Capitol which identified him by @bugziethedon, his Twitter handle. A screenshot of a since-deleted Instagram post on the rappers account also showed him on the Borlaug statue.

He is facing four federal charges including disorderly conduct and unlawful entry. His attorney is attempting to block search warrants on Brodnaxs Twitter and Facebook accounts, saying that Brodnaxs constitutional rights are being violated.
Pittsburgh is positioned to elect its first Black mayor after Pennsylvania state representative Ed Gainey upset two-term incumbent mayor Bill Peduto in the Democratic primary earlier this week.



Gainey, who has served five terms in the state legislature, took 46 percent of the vote, essentially creating an apparent path to a win in November since there is no declared Republican candidate on the ballot and the city votes overwhelmingly Democratic.



Representing a district covering much of the city, Gainey campaigned on a progressive platform which questioned whether or not Pittsburgh really is one of the nations most livable cities, as it has been called.



"For whom is Pittsburgh most livable?" Gainey asked, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "A city is changed when we all come together to improve the quality of life for everybody. That's why I ran for mayor: because I believe we can have a city for all."



Peduto took office in 2013, campaigning on transforming Pittsburgh into a town centered on the tech and healthcare industries rather than its longtime steel foundry legacy. But at the same time, gentrification became a major issue as almost 7,000 African Americans left the city between 2014 and 2018, The New York Times reports. Currently, Black people make up 23 percent of its population or about 71,000 people according to Census Bureau figures.

RELATED: University Of Pittsburgh To Require Anti-Black Racism Course



Several reports displayed data finding that quality of life for Pittsburghs Black residents has been particularly low and finding large gaps in racial and gender equality. In a 2019 study, released by Pedutos office, health, employment and education opportunities fell behind most major American cities. For example, Black and other women of color earned between 54 and 59 cents for every dollar a Pittsburgh white man earned.



Another report from the Pittsburgh Police Department showed a disproportionate rate of arrests of Black citizens. Officers took 9,992 individuals into custody in 2018, 60 percent of them were black, the study said, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.



Gainey used inequalities like those to bolster his campaign, pledging to make Pittsburgh welcoming for all residents, not for just a few demographic segments.

"We will work hard, not just I as mayor, but we as a community and we as a city will work to build a better city called Pittsburgh for everybody, Gainey told supporters after his victory. We will embrace justice. We will do all that we have to do to make this a city that's welcoming for everybody.
The decision of the University of North Carolina to not approve MacArthur Genius Grant and Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist, Nikole Hannah-Jones for tenure at the school has drawn backlash from both academic and media circles.

Jones, who developed and led the groundbreaking 1619 Project for The New York Times Magazine on the institution and legacy of slavery for which she won the Pulitzer, was appointed to the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at UNC. She was set to start there as a professor in July, while remaining with the Times Magazine. But rather than a tenured position, she was offered only a five-year contract, with an option to review, according to the Times.



Conservative criticism over the 1619 Project reportedly influenced the universitys decision to decline an approval of tenure for Hannah-Jones, according to NC Policy Watch, a political watchdog website. When the announcement came of her hiring in April, outspoken elements balked at her joining the faculty with some deriding her work on the project, calling it political agitation, while other right-wing elements blasted it for having inaccuracies.



Both the Times and Hannah-Jones have publicly defended the project since it debuted in 2019. But, according to the Times, North Carolinas state legislature, which is Republican controlled, appoints the state university systems Board of Governors, which in turn has major influence over UNCs Board of Trustees.



RELATED: The New York Times 1619 Project About Slavery Draws Criticism From People Who Want To Bury Its Legacy



The university has not commented on the decision except in a statement from UNC spokesperson Joanne Peters Denny, that said details of individual faculty hiring processes are personnel protected information, the Times reports.



But faculty members were not happy with the decision, with many saying Hannah-Jones was certainly qualified for tenure and there is no reason she should not have it, given that the last two people in the position were awarded it.



Failure to tenure Nikole Hannah-Jones in her role as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism is a concerning departure from UNCs traditional process and breaks precedent with previous tenured full professor appointments of Knight chairs in our school, read an online statement from 43 faculty members and 215 additional signatories. This failure is especially disheartening because it occurred despite the support for Hannah-Joness appointment as a full professor with tenure by the Hussman Dean, Hussman faculty, and university. Hannah-Joness distinguished record of more than 20 years in journalism surpasses expectations for a tenured position as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism.



Further, the National Association of Black Journalists, which named Hannah-Jones Journalist of the Year in 2015, said that it reached out to UNC officials about their declining to grant her tenure and was displeased that conservative skepticism over the 1619 Project may have been behind it.



If the speculations are true, then we denounce any decision to deny a distinguished journalist tenure because she simply did her job by reporting facts about slavery in America, said NABJ president Dorothy Tucker in a statement. "The university would be sending a message to its students that it does not support press freedom and that seeking the truth and reporting it is not a pillar it believes should be a part of our profession, and that the work of Black journalists, or any journalist, to expose the ills of slavery and its impact on America is unmerited.



Hanna-Jones, who is a UNC alumnus having earned her masters degree at its Hussman School of Journalism and Media in 2003, has not responded directly to the schools decision but simply tweeted to her supporters on Thursday, thanking them.
A detailed analysis report of the Global Andiroba Oil Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

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A Chicago woman whose husband was murdered last summer is claiming that the people who killed him rapped about his death in a song and subsequent music video.

According to CBS Chicago, Asiah Carter says she believes the lyrics are a confession and is trying to get authorities involved.

It was so disturbing because nobody in the entire state of Illinois had claimed Aarons death until these guys did, she told the news station. They literally sang about it, and they continue to mock him. Its not fair to kill people and mock their families. Its not trendy.

RELATED: Chicago Teen Charged In Death Of 7-Year-Old Girl Killed At McDonalds Drive-Thru

Carters husband, Aaron, was killed when someone opened fire into the back of a home in Chicagos South Shore neighborhood last August.

They gave so many clear details about his murder, she said, claiming the details matched up even without the rappers saying the Aarons name.

Thats Aaron. He hopped the gate. Thats all the similar things that happened with Aarons murder, Carter said while watching the visual. You see how theyre in the alley in the backyard? Right on 75th. It was so disturbing because nobody in the entire state of Illinois had claimed Aarons death until these guys did.

Chicago police are currently investigating Aarons murder, however no one has been charged. Hopefully, hopefully these songs and videos can be used against them and prosecute them for Aarons murder, Carter said. It would mean so much. It would be justice, a resolution.

Watch Asiah Carters story below.
Since April 24, Saniyya Dennis has been missing, and as the month anniversary of her disappearance approaches, her family remains vigilant.

Authorities in Buffalo have already ruled the 19-year-old Bronx native had committed suicide by jumping into Niagra Falls, however her family says shes still missing and are determined to find her.

Saniyya Dennis is still missing, Latisha, Dennis mother said, according to Amsterdam News. Her family and loved ones want her found!

RELATED: DA Claims Missing Buffalo State Student Saniyya Dennis May Have Committed Suicide

Friends, family and community members have joined forces in order to find out what happened to Saniyya.

According to WIVB, Buffalo State University Police say the sophomore was last seen leaving her dorm on April 24. She was then later captured on video at a bus terminal.

Dennis family has been searching the Niagara Falls area since learning her phone last pinged there near an area called Goat Island.

Erie County District Attorney John Flynn announced at a press conference earlier this month that after a manhunt was conducted, Dennis disappearance was determined to be a suicide based on text messages he presented between her and an alleged ex-boyfriend where she allegedly discussed killing herself.

In an interview with AmNews, Myles Carter, a community leader working with Dennis family, said they will continue the search regardless and wont stop until Dennis is found.

There has been a continued effort to find Saniyya since the DA made his statement regarding her taking her own life, Carter said. Theres a daily search at the gorge at Artpark State Park in Lewiston where bodies would surface and thats been going on since May 30.

Additionally, Carter said those helping with the search have been posting flyers throughout Western New York.

RELATED: Former Dipset Rapper 40 Cal Searches Desperately For Missing Daughter Saniyya Dennis

Two weeks ago, Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown met with Saniyya Denniss family after they claimed they were frustrated over the lack of answers surrounding the teens death. Brown Claimed their meeting helped.

It was a good meeting with the parents, but obviously they are deeply concerned with the whereabouts of their daughter, and the parents are here in town from New York City to do every single thing that they can to aid in the investigation, said Mayor Brown, according to WIVB.

Anyone with information about Saniyya Dennis whereabouts to call 716-878-6333 or email police at police@buffalostate.edu. You can also call the New York State Missing Persons Clearinghouse at 1-800-346-3543.
Marsai Martin is a young queen whose style is effortless.

The Black-ish star and record-breaking producer recently wore a stylish, feathery Christian Siriano dress to virtually attend the 2021 NAACP Image Awards. The black dress featured a mini silhouette, mock neck, and long sleeves covered in matching black feathers.

Styled by Jason Rembert, the outfit was complemented by gold Forevermark jewelry and satin platform sandals. Her bold red lipstick and knotless braids styled into a bun pulled the timeless look together perfectly.


remaining of

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Democratic legislators have released proposed maps for the states 118 House and 59 Senate districts that they say ensure the broad racial and geographic diversity of Illinois is reflected in the General Assembly, but that Republicans called partisan
A detailed analysis report of the Global Alpha Mannosidosis Market has been covered in the report coupled with a thorough description of each company profile with information on the H.Q, future capabilities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial outline, partnerships and new product launches and developments.

The comprehensive value chain analysis of the market will assist in attaining better product differentiation, along with detailed understanding of the core competency of each activity involved. The market attractiveness analysis provided in the report aptly measures the potential value of the market providing business strategists with the latest growth opportunities.

The report classifies the market into different segments. These segments are studied in detail incorporating the market estimates and forecasts at regional and country level. The segment analysis is useful in understanding the growth areas and probable opportunities of the market.

Final Report will cover the COVID-19 Impact and Recovery on this industry.

Browse the complete Global Alpha Mannosidosis Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027 @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/ip/42944-alpha-mannosidosis-market-report

The report also covers the complete competitive landscape of the global Alpha Mannosidosis market with company profiles of key players such as:

Zymenex

The detailed description of each has been included, with information in terms of H.Q, future capacities, key mergers & acquisitions, financial overview, partnerships, collaborations, new product launches, new product developments and other latest industrial developments.

SEGMENTATIONS IN THE REPORT:

By Type

Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT)

Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT)

By Application

Hospitals

Specialty Clinics

By Geography:

North America (NA)  US, Canada, and Mexico

Europe (EU)  UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Spain & Rest of Europe

Asia-Pacific (APAC)  China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia & Rest of APAC

Latin America (LA)  Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile & Rest of Latin America

Middle East and Africa (MEA)  Saudi Arabia, UAE, Israel, South Africa

Download Free Sample Report of Global Alpha Mannosidosis Market @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/download-sample-42944

The Global Alpha Mannosidosis Market has been exhibited in detail in the following chapters 

Chapter 1 Alpha Mannosidosis Market Preface

Chapter 2 Executive Summary

Chapter 3 Alpha Mannosidosis Industry Analysis

Chapter 4 Alpha Mannosidosis Market Value Chain Analysis

Chapter 5 Alpha Mannosidosis Market Analysis By Type

Chapter 6 Alpha Mannosidosis Market Analysis By Application

Chapter 7 Alpha Mannosidosis Market Analysis By Geography

Chapter 8 Competitive Landscape Of Alpha Mannosidosis Companies

Chapter 9 Company Profiles Of Alpha Mannosidosis Industry

Purchase the complete Global Alpha Mannosidosis Market Research Report @ https://www.decisiondatabases.com/contact/buy-now-42944

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Global Alpha-Amylase Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027

Global Linear Alpha Olefins Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027

Global Poly Alpha Olefin (PAO) Market Research Report  Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast Till 2027

About-Us:

DecisionDatabases.com is a global business research reports provider, enriching decision makers and strategists with qualitative statistics. DecisionDatabases.com is proficient in providing syndicated research report, customized research reports, company profiles and industry databases across multiple domains.

Our expert research analysts have been trained to map clients research requirements to the correct research resource leading to a distinctive edge over its competitors. We provide intellectual, precise and meaningful data at a lightning speed.

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Source:-https://www.industrynewsengine.com/2020/12/15/alpha-mannosidosis-market-2020-global-industry-research-report-till-2027/
Hideaway Hills homeowners do have the right to sue state
The agreement is an effort to further scientific research in infectious diseases and make knowledge more accessible through advocacy and joint publications

South Korea based International Vaccine Institute (IVI) and the Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII-I) in Saudi Arabia have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to increase awareness and muster support to tackle infectious diseases.

IVI and FII-I will endeavor to pursue strategic collaborations with each other, working together on topics that create value for both organizations within healthcare, more specifically within the field of infectious diseases.

Dr. Jerome Kim, Director General of IVI, and Rakan Tarabzoni, Chief Operating Officer of the FII-I, signed the agreement on March 24 from Seoul, South Korea and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

This MOU will create further opportunities for IVI and FII-I to continue developing and publishing content about vaccines and their role in strengthening global health.

IVI welcomes this new partnership with the FII Institute to mobilize support and advocacy for vaccines against highly problematic infectious diseases such as tuberculosis, exchange information and global health networks, and co-create research on the value of vaccines, said Dr. Jerome Kim.

The agreement reflects the FII Institutes eagerness to contribute at large scale to the global dialogue on healthcare. We look forward to a fruitful collaboration on tackling global health issues and raising awareness about potential solutions for them, said Richard Attias, CEO of the FII-I.
Antipsychotic Drugs Market is expected to grow significantly over the forecast period. The market held a market value of USD 18.5 million in 2018 and is projected to grow at 4.5% CAGR over the forecast period.

Antipsychoticalso called neurolepticsis a class of medication used to treat psychosis, including hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, or disordered thought, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. It is also used to treat Alzheimer's and other memory-related diseases. Antipsychotic drugs act by controlling the production of dopamine in the brain.

also read @ https://www.medgadget.com/2019/11/antipsychotic-drugs-market-size-estimation-share-analysis-future-growth-insights-top-key-players-and-global-antipsychotic-drugs-industry-trends-by-2025.html

Antipsychotic Drugs Market Segmentation

The segmental analysis of the global antipsychotic drugs market is done by generation, end-users, and therapeutic applications.

The generation-based segments of the global antipsychotic drugs are generation, has been segmented into first generation, second generation, and third generation.

The end-users-based segments of the global antipsychotic drugs are hospitals & clinics, research institutes, and others.

The therapeutic application-based segments of the global Antipsychotic Drugs Market are schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, dementia, and others.

Antipsychotic Drugs Market Regional Analysis

Based on the region, the global antipsychotic drugs market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Rest of the World (RoW).

As per the analysis, the global antipsychotic drugs market is projected to be dominated by North America owing to the rising population being affected by psychosis. The US and Canada are expected to make significant participation due to the increasing cases of schizophrenia and insomnia. Further, the presence of established key players in the region is predicted to augment the market in the coming period. The developing healthcare infrastructure is anticipated to strengthen the market during the review period.

Europe is expected to acquire significant antipsychotic drugs market value during the forecast period, thriving at a notable CAGR. The region is anticipated to grow due to the expanding patient pool. The on-going development in the concerned field is likely to bolster the market during the assessment period. Further, the development of healthcare infrastructure can augment the market during the evaluation period.

The APAC region is expected to garner substantial antipsychotic drugs market value during the review period. The expanding patient pool with the growing innovation in medical devices is likely to grow the market in the forecast period. Developing countries like India, China, and Japan are projected to play a crucial role in strengthening the regional market due to the on-going development of the healthcare sector. Furthermore, the on-going R&D in the field is expected to drive the regional market at a fast pace in the coming period.

Browse Detailed TOC with COVID-19 Impact Analysis at: https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/antipsychotic-drugs-market-2784

The MEA region is anticipated to witness steady antipsychotic drugs market growth during the forecast period due to the developing healthcare infrastructure. The presence of Middle East countries like Qatar and Saudi Arabia are expected to make more significant participation than the African countries due to economic stability.

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Antipsychotic Drugs Market Key Players

Key players of the global antipsychotic drugs market are Bristol-Myers Squibb (US), Eli Lilly & Co. (US), AstraZeneca (UK), GlaxoSmithKline Plc. (UK), Pfizer Inc. (US), and Johnson & Johnson (US).

About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), & Consulting Services. MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients.
Market Scenario Surgical equipment plays a vital role during the surgeries. It is one of the important aspects in the medical as well as medical technology. With the developing surgical procedure, the trade of the instrument is developing. The instrument must have good quality and elaborative ornament to be prefer widely. Surgical equipment are widely used in neurosurgery, wound closure, urology, cardiovascular surgeries, orthopedic surgery, and others. Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, increasing number of hospitals, increasing geriatric population, and increasing healthcare expenditure boost the market growth. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 60% of the worlds total diabetic population is living in Asia Pacific region. Additionally, diabetes is one of the major cause for cardiovascular diseases, which in turn, result into increased cardiac surgeries. Moreover, development in technology and increased government initiatives have a fuelled the growth of the market, from the last few years. On the other hand, high cost of the devices, and shortage of skilled labor may slow the growth of the market.The Asia Pacific surgical equipment market is expected to grow at a CAGR of ~ 7.8% over forecasted period 2017-2023.

also read @ https://healthcareworldtoday.wordpress.com/2021/05/13/surgical-equipment-market-share-2021-growth-global-industry-overview-2/

Key Players

Some of the key players in this market: Integra LifeSciences Corporation (US), Boston Scientific Corporation (US), Smith & Nephew (UK), B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), Ethicon US, LLC. (US),Stryker Corporation (US), COVIDIEN (US), CONMED Corporation (US), MEDICON (US), Synergetics USA, Inc. (US), Erbe Elektromedizin GmbH (Germany), KARL STORZ & Co. (US), and KLS Martin (Germany).

Market Segmentation

Surgical Equipment Market sizeis into product type, application, and end users.

On the basis of product type the market is segmented into surgical sutures & staplers, handheld instruments, electrosurgical devices, electrosurgical generators, monitoring devices, and others. Surgical sutures & staplers are further segmented into absorbable and non-absorbable sutures. The handheld instruments are sub-segmented into forceps, sutures, visual scope, and others. The electrosurgical devices are further categorized into electrosurgical instruments (HET bipolar system, electrosurgical pencils, smoke evacuation system, and other), and electrosurgical generators.

On the basis of application, the market is segmented into neurosurgery, wound closure, urology, cardiovascular surgeries, orthopedic surgery, and others.

On the basis of end user, the market is segmented into government hospitals, private hospital, and other.

Browse Complete Premium Research Report https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/asia-pacific-surgical-equipment-market-631

Regional Analysis

Asia Pacific surgical equipment market is segmented into Japan, China, India, Republic of Korea, Australia, and Rest of Asia Pacific. Increasing number of hospitals, rising geriatric population, and increasing healthcare expenditure drives the growth of Asia Pacific surgical equipment market. Moreover, increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, government initiatives, and increasing patient inflow have fuel the market growth. China holds the major share in the Asia Pacific surgical equipment market owing to huge geriatric population and rapidly developing economy. Moreover, India and Australia contributes considerable share to the market.

And Many More.

About Market Research Future: MRFR team have supreme objective to provide the optimum quality market research and intelligence services to our clients. In order to stay updated with technology and work process of the industry, MRFR often plans & conducts meet with the industry experts and industrial visits for its research analyst members.

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Human Rotavirus Vaccine Market Research Report- Forecast to 2027
Bradford, PA (16701)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 59F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
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With a Digital Only subscription, you'll receive unlimited access to our website and e-edition. Our digital products are available 24/7 and are accessible anywhere, anytime.

If you have any questions or need further assistance, please call our customer service team at 814-368-3173 or email nfinnerty@oleantimesherald.com.
The provincial government has released heavily redacted documents regarding the death of Christine Mitchell to The Brandon Sun after a freedom of information request.

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The provincial government has released heavily redacted documents regarding the death of Christine Mitchell to The Brandon Sun after a freedom of information request.

The Sun made a series of requests for documents in mid-April concerning Mitchells death and the subsequent RCMP review after Justice Minister Cameron Friesen released a statement calling the review "appropriate and professional."

One page in a heavily redacted document package on the death of Christine Mitchell the Sun received after a Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act request to Manitoba Justice. (Screenshot)

The RCMP conducted a 15-month long review of the Brandon police investigation into Mitchells death after overdosing at former Brandon city manager Rod Sages house, which was given to the justice minister earlier this year. Few details have emerged since.

Mitchell was 30 years old when she died.

Included in the FIPPA request, the Sun asked for Manitoba Justice correspondences mentioning Sage, a copy of the letter then-Justice Minister Cliff Cullen sent to the RCMP requesting a review of the death and Brandon police investigation and Manitoba Justice correspondences concerning Mitchell.

The request was partially granted, but the contents of the documents are almost entirely censored and shed little light.

"As required by subsection 7(1) and 7(2) of FIPPA, the department severed information excepted from disclosure and provided you with as much information as possible," the response letter from Manitoba Justice reads.

While documents were provided, the entire text of nearly all the emails has been redacted.

The package also included a copy of the letter Cullen sent to the RCMP requesting the review in October 2019, but that too was almost entirely redacted, other than the first paragraph.

The province cited multiple sections of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act while censoring the documents, including harm to a third partys privacy, harm to relations between Manitoba and other governments, advice to a public body and harm to a law enforcement matter.

The province also previously denied the Suns request for a copy of the RCMP review into Mitchells death.

 dmay@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @DrewMay_
Indigenous people in Manitoba will be able to start booking appointments to receive their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, the province announced Friday.

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Indigenous people in Manitoba will be able to start booking appointments to receive their second dose of COVID-19 vaccine as of Monday, the province announced Friday.

During a Friday morning media briefing, First Nations Pandemic Response Coordination Team lead Dr. Marcia Anderson said it was important for First Nations people to get their vaccines because they have made up 40 to 60 per cent of all COVID-19 admissions in the second and third waves of the pandemic.

In order to book appointments, people must have received a Pfizer vaccine at least 21 days before their second-dose appointment date. For Moderna, second-dose appointments must be at least 28 days after their first dose.

Appointments do not need to be made at the same location that people received their first dose, but they must book at a location offering the same type of vaccine they received for their first dose.

Bookings begin at 11:45 a.m. Monday. Appointments can be made by visiting protectmb.ca or calling 1-844-626-8222.

"This approach to second-dose eligibility will benefit all Manitobans," vaccine implementation task force medical lead Dr. Joss Reimer said during the briefing.

"Our data ... shows that First Nations people are more vulnerable to the virus for a variety of systemic reasons and we are seeing that First Nations people are being admitted to the hospital more frequently. The more that we can fully vaccinate people in Manitoba, the safer our communities will be and we expect that this is one thing that we can do to ease the strain on our health-care system."

According to Anderson, First Nations people made up approximately 39 per cent of COVID hospitalizations despite only representing approximately 10 per cent of the provincial population. Of the 78 First Nations people in hospital, Anderson said 55 live in off-reserve settings. For COVID patients in intensive care units, 22 patients were First Nations  39 per cent of the total.

"Yesterday was one of the first days we were under 40 per cent in quite a long time," Anderson said. "Of those 22 individuals, 14 live in off-reserve settings."

The need to close the gap between the percentage of cases among First Nations people compared to the general population was one of the reasons Anderson cited for Fridays announcement.

Regarding vaccine hesitancy, Anderson said the greatest factor in convincing people to get vaccinated has been getting valid and credible vaccine information from trusted sources like Indigenous health professionals, community leaders, elected leaders and influencers.

"Another thing thats been really important was when we rolled out the vaccine first to elders," she said. "Seeing some of our respected traditional healers, knowledge keepers, elders being vaccinated and also people seeing peers getting vaccinated, having a good experience, not experiencing significant or serious side-effects, those all help build the trust both in the vaccine itself and in the health-care system thats administering the vaccine."

Asked again if Manitoba had received data on the efficacy and safety of people receiving doses of multiple kinds of vaccine, Reimer said the wait is still on. However, she said the results of a U.K. study on the subject should arrive by the end of the month.

Reimer also reminded Manitobans that Friday was the first day people in the general population with certain health conditions and receiving certain types of medical treatments and procedures can start booking their second dose appointments.

 cslark@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ColinSlark
The following is a rundown of hours of operation for various local businesses and services throughout the 2021 Victoria Day long weekend.

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The following is a rundown of hours of operation for various local businesses and services throughout the 2021 Victoria Day long weekend.

The list is far from complete. If you want your service or business to be included in The Brandon Suns next holiday hours listing, email your hours of operation a few days in advance to reporter Colin Slark at cslark@brandonsun.com, with "Holiday Hours" in the subject line.

BRANDON SUN

The Brandon Sun will not publish a paper this upcoming Monday, although a reporter will remain on duty to post breaking news at brandonsun.com.

The next edition of the Sun will be published on Tuesday.

COVID TESTING

The drive-thru COVID-19 testing site in Brandon on Van Horne Avenue behind the Manitoba Emergency Services college will operate under regular hours for the long weekend, which includes Saturday (8:45 a.m. - 3:15 p.m.), Sunday (8:45 a.m. - 2:30 p.m.) and Monday (8:45 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.).

The walk-up testing site at the 7th Street Health Access Centre will be open on Saturday (1:30 pm - 3:30 p.m.), but closed on Sunday and Monday.

The testing site at the Keystone Centre will be open during regular hours, but by appointment only.

Here is a list of hours for other testing sites in Westman over the long weekend:

Dauphin: Closed Saturday and Sunday, open 9 a.m. - 3 p.m. on MondaySwan River: Closed Saturday and Sunday, open 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. on MondayNeepawa: Closed throughout the long weekendRussell: Closed throughout the long weekend

RESPIRATORY CLINICS

Prairie Mountain Health is operating several respiratory health clinics in the region. Heres a list of closures over the long weekend.

Swan River: Closed on Monday, but reopening on Tuesday (3 p.m. - 5 p.m.)Dauphin: Closed on Monday, but reopening on Tuesday (1 p.m. - 5 p.m.)Neepawa: Closed on Monday, but reopening on Wednesday (9 a.m. - 12 p.m.)Russell: Closed on Monday, but reopening on Thursday (3 p.m. - 5 p.m.)

CITY OF BRANDON

Brandon City Hall (410-9th St.), the A.R. McDiarmid Civic Complex (638 Princess Ave.) and the Civic Services Complex (900 Richmond Ave. E.) will be closed Monday in observance of Victoria Day. All three facilities will re-open for regular business hours on Tuesday.The Eastview Landfill will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6:45 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. on Monday. However, the household hazardous waste depot, material recovery facility and ECO Centre is closed on Monday.Brandon transit routes will run on statutory holiday hours, which is hourly service, from 6 a.m. to midnight on both Saturday and Sunday. The hourly service will also run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday. However, the transit info centre will be closed on Monday. For any after-hours public works emergencies, call the City of Brandon public works after-hours line at 204-729-2285.

MEDICAL CLINICS

The Newmount Medical Walk-in Clinic at 624 18th St. will be open for regular hours on Saturday (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Sunday (noon to 4 p.m.) and Monday (12 p.m. to 4 p.m.).The Brandon Clinic (620 Dennis St.) will be closed the entire long weekend.Brandon Clinic West (2835 Victoria Ave.) will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout Saturday, Sunday and Monday.Wheat City Clinic (1711 Kirkcaldy Dr.) will be closed the entire long weekend.The Western Medical Clinic (2425 Victoria Ave.) will be closed throughout the entire long weekend.Rosser Medical Group (841 Rosser Ave.) will be closed throughout the entire long weekend and will reopen on Tuesday.Trinity Medical Clinic (335 18th St.) will be closed on Sunday and Monday, but will be open for bookings on Saturday. To book any future appointments, clients are asked to call 204-728-4141.

GROCERY STORES

The Real Canadian Superstore (920 Victoria Ave.) will open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, the store will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.Sobeys Extra Brandon South (1645 18th St.) and Sobeys Brandon West (3409 Victoria Ave.) will be open during regular hours throughout the entire long weekend.The Co-op Marketplace (1035 Richmond Ave.) will be open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Sunday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.The Walmart Supercentre in the Corral Centre will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, the store will be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

LIQUOR

Brandons Liquor Mart location at the Corral Centre will be open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.The Liquor Marts in the south end and on Victoria Avenue will be open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m to 6 p.m. on Sunday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.The Express Liquor Mart location at Sobeys in the west end will be open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday.The Keystone Beer Company (1865 Brandon Ave.) will be open during regular hours throughout the long weekend.Beer Warehouse (Victoria Inn, 3550 Victoria Ave.) will be open from 10 a.m. until midnight on Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Monday.The 40 (210 18th St.) will be open from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Monday and will retain regular hours otherwise.Empire Inn Hotel beer vendor (150 5th St.) be open during regular hours throughout the long weekend.PHARMACIES

There are too many pharmacies to list, so its best to contact your pharmacy of choice for its respective hours of operation. However, the Shoppers Drug Mart at 139 Victoria Ave. E will be holding regular business hours, while the one located at the Shoppers Mall will be open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Monday.

OTHER THINGS TO DO

Shoppers Mall will be open from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Monday, although individual store hours will vary.

 The Brandon Sun
Of course, for low-income earners paying a tax rate of 15 per cent or less, there is not much of a benefit. For such people, Vercoe says it is worth looking at their eligibility for the governments low income co-contribution scheme. Also, she says, dont forget the governments spouse contributions tax offset, whereby if your spouse is earning less than $37,000 and you tip $3000 into their super fund, you get a tax offset of $540. However, for anyone looking to max out their $25,000 a year concessional contributions cap, there are a few things to check first. I think the most important thing for people to be aware of is what theyve already contributed this year, and even in the past three years, so theyre not in breach of any caps, says Vercoe. Either call your super fund or log into your MyGov account to see what contributions have already been made into your account this financial year. The $25,000 cap includes all employer contributions (including the 9.5 per cent compulsory super guarantee) plus any salary sacrifice amounts you have tipped in throughout the year.

Make sure to check your contributions across all your super accounts  if you have multiple  as the cap applies across all your contributions. Once youve done this and know what space you have left to contribute, you can contact your super fund to inquire about how to make an after-tax personal contribution. I rang my fund this week and I can just BPAY into my super account. A word of warning about timing! Contributions must be received before the end of the financial year to be able to be claimed on this years tax return.

My fund has set a cut-off date to receive funds of June 25, meaning I need to transfer any money by June 21 to be sure my transfer makes it in time. Your deadline may be earlier. Transferring the money is easy enough, but if you want to then claim your contributions as a tax deduction, there is another process to follow. Before you submit your tax return, you must fill out an official Notice of intent to claim form and send it to your super fund. You must also wait to receive a letter of acknowledgment from your fund that it has received this form. You can do this paperwork after June 30, but it must be completed and acknowledged before you submit your tax return. When you do file your return, remember to add your contribution under Personal Superannuation Contributions and watch as your taxable income is reduced by an equivalent amount.

But wait, theres more! People with super balances of less than $500,000 are also eligible to take advantage of any unused concessional contributions caps from previous years, stretching back to the 2018-19 financial year. Your MyGov account will tell you how much you have unused. If you are eligible and have sufficient unused amounts from previous years, you can contribute more than $25,000 a year and the Australian Taxation Office will automatically roll over previous unused amounts to give you full deductibility. But be careful. Vercoe warns there can be harsh penalties for getting your sums wrong and breaching the concessional contributions cap. The extra amount will be taxed at your marginal tax rate and potentially subject to an excess concessional contributions charge, she says. The excess amount is then added to your non-concessional cap for the financial year and if you are in breach of those thats where the really harsh penalties can apply. Ouch!
Market Scenario

Point-of-care testing allows patient diagnosis, in an ambulance, the home, the field, or in the hospital. The results of care are timely, and allow rapid treatment to the patient. Point of care technology market is growing rapidly due to the evolving healthcare industry, especially in developing nations. The major factors that propel the growth of the market are development in diagnostics, patients with chronic diseases, increasing growth in medical technology, and other uses of point of care technology. Moreover, increasing investment in research and development among the developed countries will also boost the growth of the market positively during the forecast period. Furthermore, advancement of diagnostic laboratories and adoption of automated lab systems, is likely to fuel the growth of the market. On the other hand, complexity of documentation and investment cost involved in this type of care technology, may hinder the growth of the market during the forecasted period.

also read @ https://www.medgadget.com/2019/07/point-of-care-technology-market-finds-industry-will-cross-with-healthy-cagr-9-5-till-2023-by-new-upcoming-enhancement-with-abbott-techno-medicaco-ltd-siemens-ag-alere-inc-etc.html

Point of Care Technology Market  Competitive Analysis

The global point of care technology market includes a host of key players, including Alere Inc. (U.S.), Johnson & Johnson Services, Inc. (U.S.), PTS Diagnostics (U.S.), F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Switzerland), Techno MedicaCo., Ltd. (Japan), Abbott (U.S.), Nova Biomedical (U.S.), Instrumentation Laboratory (U.S.), Quidel Corporation (U.S), BD (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), Beckman Coulter, Inc. (U.S.) Meridian Bioscience, Inc. (U.S).

March 21st, 2019, according to a published journal by the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology, it was ascertained that a point-of-care HbA1c test using venous blood sampled or finger stick can be leveraged upon to precisely diagnose diabetes in adults.

April 9th, 2019, Chembio Diagnostics, Inc., one of the pioneering companies in point-of-care diagnostics, announced the approval from the health regulatory agency of Brazil, namely Agencia Nacional de Vigilancia Sanitaria (ANVISA), of its new DPP Zika/ Chikungunya/ Dengue System.

Market Segmentation :

The global Point of care diagnostics market segmentation is divided on the basis of type of products and end-users.

By type of products, the market is divided into cardiac markers, HbA1c testing, glucose testing, and coagulation, and others.

By end-users, the market comprises of hospital, ambulatory care, home care, clinics, and others.

Regional Analysis :

The regional segmentation of the point of care technology is divided into Asia Pacific, Americas, Europe, and the Middle East & Africa.

The report by MRFR identifies the Americas to hold a majority of the share in the global market to lead the standings. The region is expected to grow and expand further due to huge investment therein and the strong economic conditions therein, one which aids the research and development activities in the healthcare sector. Increasing incidences of surgeries coupled with the growing demand for products relevant to this technology is expected to boost the market growth in this region.

Europe stands out as the second largest regional market following Asia Pacific. The proliferation and the expected growth of the market depends upon the ameliorating importance of research in the healthcare industry. This, in turn, is increasing the investment pool of research and development activities in the Asia Pacific region. The Asia Pacific market is expected to showcase the fastest growth potential owing to the widespread prevalence of communicable diseases and a burgeoning demand for more diagnostics. Add to this, both India and China have also entered the market with growing investment in the research and development activities of healthcare domain. The Middle Eastern & African region holds the least share in the global market due to lack of economic stability and poor development in the medical facilities.

Browse Complete Report visit https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/point-of-care-technology-market-1164

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About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Statistical Report, Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.
Police are searching for a driver who allegedly crashed a vehicle into a power pole in Dubbo before fleeing on foot early Saturday morning, leaving a passenger with serious injuries behind.

Officers had attempted to stop the driver of the Ford Falcon sedan for a random breath test on Cobbora Road around 12.30am, but the vehicle allegedly failed to stop, forcing the police to start a pursuit.

Traffic and highway patrol officers soon ended the pursuit, due to the nature of the driving.

A short time later the Ford Falcon was found crashed into a power pole and fence on Fitzroy Street, North Dubbo.

A 49-year-old woman was in the front passenger seat with serious injuries, however the driver had left the crash site.
The NSW government will buck a recent trend of overseas shipbuilding with two new $10 million firefighting vessels to be produced in the state as Transport Minister Andrew Constance eyes future local manufacturing options for electric ferries.

The new multipurpose vessels will be built in Port Macquarie and are expected to be completed by 2023 to replace two 40-year-old firefighting tugs.

NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance says he is considering building electric ferries locally. Credit:Edwina Pickles

The Berejiklian government has come under fire for procuring a series of overseas built Sydney Harbour ferries that have experienced design and manufacturing issues upon delivery in NSW.

But Mr Constance said the government had been able to secure a competitive tender in NSW for the two firefighting boats, and was considering building more ferries locally in the future.
Virgin Australia passengers should expect flight delays and possible cancellations on Saturday as the network recovers from a major outage that hit airlines around the world on Friday night.

Travellers were met with lengthy queues at Sydney Airport when Virgins digital platform for checking, boarding and flight bookings crashed. The third-party IT system, Sabre, is used by multiple airlines around the world.

More than 30 Virgin flights were cancelled as a result of the system outage around 4.30pm. Rex Airlines was also affected.

A Sabre spokeswoman on Saturday said the outage was caused by a hardware redundancy failure, which impacted its passenger service system and check-in function.
North Queensland police are investigating the death of a woman in Townsville on Friday night.

Police were called to a residence on Riverway Drive in the suburb of Condon about 7.20pm, where a woman was being treated for a life-threatening neck wound.

The 29-year-old woman was transported to Townsville University Hospital in a critical condition. She was pronounced dead a short time later.

A crime scene was declared at the property and police continue to investigate the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Detective Acting Inspector Jason Shepherd said ambulance and police located the woman laying on the footpath outside the residence.
Sydneys New Years Eve celebrations face an overhaul, with the City of Sydney contemplating the use of light shows, lasers and drones for this years event as it renegotiates a five-year agreement with the state government.

But lord mayor Clover Moore said the multimillion-dollar fireworks on Sydney Harbour will remain the centrepiece of the festivities despite the COVID-19 crisis which kept most Sydneysiders away from the foreshore last year, and the 2019 controversy over staging the fireworks display during the bushfire crisis.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said fireworks remain the most spectacular, economical and egalitarian entertainment for New Years Eve. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Fireworks are still the most spectacular, economical and egalitarian entertainment the City can provide, she said.

But we are always looking for new ideas and technologies to enhance the event and keep it the premiere celebration of New Year locally and globally  light shows, lasers and drones are certainly being considered.
The Coalition is working on a Premier State strategy to claim victory at the next federal election, with 10 Labor-held marginal seats in the Liberal Partys sights in Prime Minister Scott Morrisons home state of NSW.

Female candidates are also a key part of Mr Morrisons strategy, with the Prime Minister telling parliamentary colleagues and party operatives he is determined to increase the number of Liberal women in Parliament.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison takes centre stage at Ampols Lytton refinery on Monday. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

The Sun-Herald and The Sunday Age spoke to 11 senior MPs and party officials in battleground states across the country about how the Liberals are preparing for the next election, which is due between August this year and May 2022.

In January, Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese outlined the eight target seats in Queensland and four in NSW that Labor is eyeing as its path to victory. Queensland regularly plays a key role in who wins federal elections because of the states propensity to swing big.
NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro says Nationals candidate Dave Layzell will be the next member for Upper Hunter, with the government on track to defy history and claim victory in the crucial byelection.

Mr Barilaro and Mr Layzell addressed hundreds of party faithful at the Singleton Diggers Club on Saturday night, indicating that although counting was not over, they would win.

With more than 60 per cent of the vote counted, Mr Barilaro said: Tonights a great victory for the party. The Nats are back.

David Layzell celebrates after claiming the Upper Hunter seat for the Nationals on Saturday night. Credit:James Brickwood

Governments are traditionally punished by voters in byelections and rarely hold the seat, suffering swings of about 10 per cent against them.
Washington: A rising star in the United States Congress says the US and Australia should be prepared to go to war to defend Taiwan against a potential Chinese military invasion within six years.

Republican congressman Mike Gallagher, co-chair of the congressional Friends of Australia caucus, said he fears the Chinese Communist Party sees a moment of strategic opportunity to assert its dominance in Taiwan while the world is distracted by the coronavirus pandemic.

Two soldiers guard on a tank during a military exercise in Hsinchu County, northern Taiwan. Credit:AP

Its remarkable that a year and change after the pandemic started in China, I think the CCP feels more emboldened than they did before and the West is more divided, Gallagher told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.

We all need to send a signal that they cant get away with it.
Healthcare IT Market Overview Global Healthcare IT Market size is expected to have a CAGR of approximately 15% during 2018 to 2023.

Healthcare Information Technology (IT) is a vast field that applies IT for creating, designing, using, and maintaining the data systems in the field of healthcare. The market for healthcare IT is anticipated to grow at an immense rate due to the collective demand for improved healthcare facilities along with technological advancements in this field, globally.

also read @ https://www.medgadget.com/2020/08/coronavirus-business-impact-healthcare-it-market-size-2020-technology-developments-industry-growth-rate-carg-status-top-key-players-size-estimation-upcoming-trends.html

Potential and Pitfalls

With the growing need to curtail healthcare costs and manage regulatory compliance through healthcare IT solutions, the global healthcare IT market is considered to expand at a rapid pace. Also, high return on investment for healthcare IT solution and government support for healthcare IT solutions are further anticipated to stimulate the global market. Moreover, the ever-increasing population and urbanization are fueling the demand for automated procedures, thereby driving the global market. A steady rise in prominence of big data analytics in the digital healthcare sector is considered to fuel the market growth in the coming years. With the growing prevalence of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular ailments, blood pressure, and kidney disorders, the global market for healthcare IT is likely to flourish.

On the flip side, reluctance among the medical professionals to adopt advanced IT tools related to healthcare and high cost of deployment are some of the major factors considered to impede the market growth in the coming years.

Competitive Dashboard

The major players operating the global market are Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), Kronos Incorporated (U.S.), Oracle Corporation (U.S.), United Healthcare Group (U.S.), Cerner Corporation (U.S.), Koninklijke Philips N.V. (The Netherlands), Wolters Kluwer (Netherland), CSI Healthcare IT (U.S.), Infor Inc. (U.S.), Anthelio Healthcare Solutions Inc. (U.S.), GE Healthcare (UK), Dell Technologies (U.S.), Spok Inc. (U.S.), Epic Systems Corporation (U.S.), McKesson Corporation (U.S.), CTS (U.S.), athenahealth Inc. (U.S.), Orion Health (New Zealand), IBM (U.S.), Syntel Inc. (U.S.), Lexmark Healthcare (U.S.), Conifer Health Solutions (U.S.), 3M Health Information Systems (U.S.), and others.

Global Healthcare IT Market: Segmental Analysis

The healthcare IT market has been segmented on the basis of component, products and services, end-users, and region.

By mode of products and services, the global healthcare IT market has been segmented into healthcare payer solutions, healthcare provider solutions, HCIT outsourcing services, and others.

On the basis of component, the healthcare IT market has been segmented into software, services, and hardware.

By mode of end-user, the global healthcare IT market has been segmented into healthcare payers, healthcare providers, third-party administrators, research centers, and government institutions. Among all the regions, hospitals are considered to form the largest end-user segment of the global healthcare IT market. The growth is due to the high demand for various healthcare IT solutions among hospitals to manage the increasing load of patient information generated in the hospitals. Also, the growing need to improve the healthcare quality while improving operational efficiencies within the organizations is likely to fuel the segment growth.

Regional Insights

Geographically, the Healthcare IT Market Size span across regions namely, Europe, America, the Middle East and Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Among all the regions, America is considered to hold the largest share in the market and is presumed to maintain its dominance in the coming years. The growth is attributed to the presence of high-quality healthcare systems along with modern medical technology in this region.

Europe registers the second position in the global market as healthcare providers in this region are extensively adopting social media technologies. The Asia Pacific region is considered to register the fastest growth due to the accelerated economic growth of the countries. Also, the growing need to control the soaring healthcare costs are responsible for the emerging trends toward the digitization of patient records.

Industry Updates

November 01, 2018: National Health Service Scotland has recently signed a new agreement with Microsoft in order to deploy Office 365 and migrate all systems to Windows 10 E5. This effort has been made to mitigate any potential threats and boost cyber resilience.

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Market Research Future (MRFR), enable customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services.
By Neha Arora, Clara Denina and John O'Donnell

(Reuters) -India's largest steel producer, JSW Steel, is considering a bid to buy Liberty Steel in Britain as well as mills elsewhere, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters, as would-be buyers circle Sanjeev Gupta's global commodities empire.

JSW's interest, which extends to plants including Gupta's Adhunik steel mill in eastern India, could mark yet another chapter for Britain's steel industry, which has been privatised and sold to overseas buyers as its pre-eminence slid in lock-step with the country's manufacturing might.

In a statement on Saturday, said its focus remained in India for now and it was not looking at acquiring any overseas assets.

A sale would chip away at Gupta's sprawling network of businesses, comprising hundreds of privately held with interests spanning steel, aluminium, mining, financial services and real estate, built up over years of acquisitions.

Gupta has been scrambling to refinance after his go-to source of funding, British supply chain finance firm Greensill, filed for insolvency in March. Britain's Serious Fraud Office said this month that it was investigating Gupta's businesses, including their links to Greensill.

Although JSW Steel, part of the metals-to-cement conglomerate controlled by billionaire Sajjan Jindal, was interested in bidding, one of the sources said, there were obstacles to any deal, including navigating the fallout from Brexit as well as India's coronavirus crisis.

And no final decision had been taken on whether to bid for what the source described as a "surprise package".

"The due diligence has not yet started. After Brexit, it will not be easy to operate these assets," he said.

A spokesman for GFG said it "continues to serve its customers around the world and is making progress in the refinancing of its operations, which are benefiting from the operational improvements it has made and the very strong steel, aluminium and iron ore markets."

Gupta was lauded as the saviour of steel in Britain who bought distressed assets in economically deprived areas. His group has 35,000 workers, including 5,000 in Britain, and annual revenues of $20 billion.

UK 'MONITORING DEVELOPMENTS'

Any change of ownership of Liberty Steel, which employs around 3,000 people in Britain, will be politically sensitive.

Darren Jones, who chairs the UK parliament's business, energy and industrial strategy committee, said he expected any buyer to require ministerial clearance.

"Steel production can also be considered to be an important part of our economic resilience and national security," he said.

The government said it was "closely monitoring developments around Liberty Steel and continues to engage closely with the company, the broader UK steel industry and trade unions".

Private equity investor Endless and China's Jingye Group, which owns British Steel, were also interested in Gupta's business in Britain, said people familiar with the matter.

Separately, commodity trader Trafigura has expressed an interest in investing in GFG's aluminium smelter at Dunkirk in France, which is Europe's largest, said one source.

JSW and Endless did not respond to requests for comment and Jingye's British Steel declined to comment. Trafigura, which provided a loan to GFG's Liberty House to help finance Dunkirk's purchase in 2018, declined to comment.

Gupta bought the smelter for $500 million from Rio Tinto.

(Reporting by Neha Arora, Clara Denina and John O'Donnell; Additional reporting by William James in London, Gus Trompiz and Gwenaelle Barzic in Paris; Writing by John O'Donnell; Editing by Alexander Smith and William Mallard)

(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.)
Darbhanga (Bihar) [India], May 22 (ANI): The facilities at the Darbhanga Medical College Hospital (DMCH), one of the oldest medical colleges in after the Patna Medical College Hospital, are in a sorry state.

Residents of several districts including Samastipur, Madhubani and Saharsa depend on the DMCH but a visit to this medical college reminds one of hell.

Filled with garbage and waterlogged, the hospital premises are unhygienic with pigs and cows hanging around.

Nurses on emergency duty were seen crossing over pools of dirty water. A nurse, Dipa Kumari, said they have been facing this situation for 27 years and it worsens during the monsoons. She said frontline workers are forced to serve by putting their own lives at risk.

Not even the DMCH medical superintendent Mani Bhushan Sharma's office has been spared. In order to escape injury or get himself drenched in the filthy water, Sharma has to take the help of a guard and driver to reach his office.

When asked, Sharma said the situation is not new because this hospital is very old and situated in a low-lying area. On the Covid situation and facilities for Covid patients, he said they are fighting day and night with the support of the administration. He, however, pointed out that there is a lack of manpower to handle ventilator issues. Sharma, who himself has recovered from coronavirus, said his daughter is also Covid positive, but despite all odds, he is doing everything possible to ensure the recovery of patients.

Sharma said DMCH is running a Covid ward in a new building where everything is upgraded.

However, in front of the DMCH superintendent's office is the Covid ICU ward. The nearby area is again inundated with dirty water.

Doctor Ashutosh Kumar, who serves in the Covid ICU ward said, said doctors and nurses are at God's mercy with high chances of infection from garbage and water-logging on the premises but they are helpless.

The road to the new nurses' hostel, especially for the ones serving in the Covid wards is damaged and water-logged.

Chandan, whose father-in-law is critical and admitted to the Covid ward, crosses the water-logged road to buy medicines. He said, "What can we do? I have to go to get medicines every day. I have to buy them from outside."

The surgery ward of DMCH is in a similar poor state, and the chances of any untoward incident can't be ruled out. Half the building has already been vacated by the administration due to worsening conditions leaving the surgery ward at God's mercy.

Reacting to the poor condition of the building, a surgical ward staff member said, "Yes, we are afraid but you have to ask this question from the government."

The DDC of Darbhanga Tanay Sultania told ANI, "We have made available two senior doctors (POD) and four SR/PG doctors in each shift for three shifts every day. Apart from that, we have made available one senior doctor and two PG students of the medicine department in each shift for the care of serious patients. Physician on call (head of one medicine unit) is also available."

"Before April 12 only one POD and 2-3 PG students were there for the entire HDU ward and converting HDU to semi-ICU--the entire HDU ward is made as semi-ICU with 75 BIPAPs available for non-invasive ventilation. Sixteen patients are currently on BIPAP. The nursing station has been operationalised on each floor. There are two nurses each on five floors in each shift. Earlier there were only six nurses in each shift," he said.

He said, "And we increased the number of ward boys from 4-5 in total to 10 government ward boys in each shift and six outsourced ward boys in each shift dedicated to the movement of cylinders. Also, the control room functions all the time for addressing complaints. Twenty calls are made by operators on their own to admitted patients to seek feedback in each shift every day."

Blaming the low-lying area and the old building that houses the DMCH for the unhygienic conditions on the premises, Sultania said the entire focus has now been shifted to the cure of Covid patients.

(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 case fatality rate of COVID-19 in is lower compared to other states in the country, which indicates the disease is under control, surveillance medical officer of the WHO here said on Saturday.

Dr Ashiq Rashid Mir, Surveillance Medical Officer, World Health Organization, Kashmir Division, expressed optimism over the recovery rate of positive cases along with less case fatality rate in compared to the rest of the states.

This is the main indicator which shows the disease is under control, he said.

Mir said with the cooperation of the people, the impact of the pandemic could be subdued to a large extent.

He said over 1,30,000 patients have recovered in Kashmir and another 80,000 have recovered in Jammu, which is an encouraging sign.

He urged people to keep following Covid protocol, including wearing face masks properly.

The exterior side of the masks may contain infection and touching it may pose a threat of infection. The people should wash hands with soap for thirty seconds while returning home from work. These preventive measures are the first weapon against curtailing the spread of pandemic, Mir said.

He asked people to register for vaccination and get the jab on their turn as it is another effective weapon against the infection.

(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.)
Commonwealth health ministers, led by India, have called for swift and equal access to Covid-19 vaccines for everyone around the world.

In a joint statement on Friday on behalf of the 54 Commonwealth member countries, they expressed deep concern over the stark gaps in access and delivery of doses, especially in poor countries, and called for "fair and transparent" pricing for the vaccine.

Only 0.3 per cent of the life-saving vaccine doses have been administered in 29 poor countries. About 84 per cent of shots have been given in high and upper-middle-income countries.

Speaking at the meeting, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: "The science is clear: vaccination works and is the clear and only sustainable route out of this pandemic for the whole world.

"The rise of new variants shows that until everyone is safe no one is safe. No plan to tackle this virus will work until everyone agrees to work together.

"We must talk with each other to move away from some stockpiling vaccines, while many low-middle income countries still do not have access to the much-needed vaccines supplies for the vulnerable populations in their countries. So, cooperation to develop a global immunisation plan to deliver equal access to vaccines must be a top priority."

Health ministers appreciated the global vaccine equity initiative 'COVAX' and encouraged all partners to support government efforts on boosting vaccine confidence and immunisation drives.

Recognising the acute gaps in research and development of new tests, vaccines and therapies in the Commonwealth, they stressed enhanced collaboration with scientists, academics and business leaders.

In his guest address, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Vaccines are reducing severe disease and death in countries that are fortunate enough to have them in sufficient quantities, and early results suggest that vaccines might also drive down transmission.

"The shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic. We seek the support of the Commonwealth in solving the global vaccine crisis by funding the ACT Accelerator, advocating for greater sharing of technology, know-how and intellectual property, and sharing doses with COVAX."

Ministers further backed a potential treaty on the fight against pandemics and a Commonwealth mechanism to share and distribute extra medical supplies such as ventilators and medicines.

They called on Heads of Government to allocate resources for strengthening health systems, especially through primary healthcare, towards attaining universal health coverage.

Chairing the meeting, India's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said: "Accelerating coordinated action for ensuring equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines and building resilient global healthcare systems is the need of the hour.

"In our closely interlinked world, we need greater transparency to quickly identify and contain emerging health threats. Sharing best practices, strategies and solutions shall ensure preparedness against all future challenges."

Health ministers welcomed the creation of a technical group to share practical solutions and policy advice on helping countries with the pandemic response and recovery.

New data shows 60 immunisation campaigns for other health threats are currently suspended in 50 countries due to Covid-19. Such delays could cause significant avoidable mortality.

Disruptions to HIV/AIDS services, for instance, could lead to five thousand excess deaths globally.

Ministers, therefore, committed to keeping essential health services running and sustaining the gains made towards tackling threats such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, avoidable blindness and non-communicable diseases while dealing with an influx of Covid-19 cases.

In their statement, they further voiced their support for a common framework for sovereign debt treatments, cooperation with the WHO and improved compliance with the International Health Regulation -- international laws for preventing the spread of disease.

This is the second time that Commonwealth health ministers met virtually for their annual gathering due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting, hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, took place on May 20 and 21.

--IANS

vg/rs

(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.)
has extended the ban on direct flights from India and Pakistan by one more month until June 21 in a bid to arrest the spread of new variants of the COVID-19, according to an official announcement.

The ban on flights from India and Pakistan was extended as the previous 30-day ban, first imposed on April 22, was set to expire on Saturday, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) News reported.

Cargo flights, however, will be permitted in order to maintain shipments of essential supplies, such as vaccines and personal protective equipment, it said on Friday.

"The Minister of Transport is of the opinion that it is necessary for aviation safety and the protection of the public," according to a notice to airmen.

As the ban applies to direct flights from both countries, passengers can still fly to from India or Pakistan by arriving via a third country. They will need to produce a negative result on a COVID-19 test taken at their last point of departure before being allowed to enter Canada, according to the report.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, at a government pandemic briefing, said that the restriction was put in place "based on public health advice to reduce the importation risk of COVID-19 and its variants."



"I can say that we've seen a significant reduction in the number of positive cases of COVID-19 arriving from international flights since this restriction was put in place," he said.

Alghabra said the government would continue adapting border restrictions as conditions change.

Dr Howard Njoo, Canada's deputy chief public health officer, said that travel restrictions are important given that roughly 70 per cent of new cases in are variants of concern.

Last week, Canada's flag carrier Air Canada proactively extended the flight ban from India in anticipation of the government's announcement. Air Canada does not fly to Pakistan.

All travellers arriving in Canada by land or air have to show a negative COVID-19 test and quarantine for two weeks; some exceptions are made for essential workers.

Air passengers must quarantine for up to three days at an approved hotel while awaiting COVID-19 test results, and must test again eight days after arrival.

The B.1.617 variant, first identified in India, has been found in Canada as 279 air travellers tested positive for that variant between February 22 and May 6, the Public Health Agency of Canada said.

India has been severely affected by the unprecedented second wave of the and hospitals in several states are reeling under the shortage of health workers, vaccines, oxygen, drugs and beds.

The daily rise in cases in India remained below 300,000 for the fifth consecutive day with 2,57,299 new cases recorded in a single day, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Saturday.

With a total of 2,57,299 fresh cases, India's total tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,62,89,290. The death toll climbed to 2,95,525 with 4,194 fatalities.

(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 Heathrow airport will devote a terminal to arrivals from countries with high levels of Covid-19 infection amid concern that having them share a building with other passengers risks spreading the virus.



A dedicated facility for flights from so-called red list nations will open in Heathrows Terminal 3 from June 1, the airport said in a statement Friday. The hub had been in protracted talks over government funding for the plan, which it said will be very challenging logistically.

Red list routes will likely be a feature of U.K. travel for the foreseeable future as countries vaccinate their populations at different rates, the airport said. Were adapting Heathrow to this longer-term reality.

Red-list passengers are currently met from the plane, guided down special immigration channels and taken straight to an approved quarantine hotel.

Other travelers have expressed concerns about close contact, especially given the spread of variants like the one first identified in India. Checks for negative tests at the border have forced people to line up for hours in arrivals halls, heightening fears about potential transmission.

Heathrow said the change should allow Border Force officials to carry out their duties more efficiently as passenger volumes increase. The red-list facility will be moved to Terminal 4 as soon as operationally possible so that Terminal 3, which is more easily adaptable in the short term, can reopen for other passengers.
The BJP on Saturday slammed former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath for allegedly linking a variant with India and accused the Congress of making frequent statements to "insult" the country and weaken its fight against COVID-19.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the Congress was not playing the role of a responsible opposition and had instead fallen to doing negative politics.

He alleged that Nath used the term "Indian corona" during an interaction and noted that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that any variant is not named after any country.

Javadekar said, "He (Nath) did not stop there and said 'hamari pahchan mera Bharat covid'... This is an insult to India. Many Congress leaders are making such statements. Many leaders said this is an Indian variant."



Responding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure the assured supply of essential medicines for the treatment of mucormycosis (black fungus) and cost-free care to those affected, Javadekar said India has brought medicines from abroad also and is providing states with adequate supply.

He accused opposition leaders of spreading doubts and fear among people, and said they had done it when Covaxin, an indigenous vaccine against COVID-19, was launched.

Now it is being claimed that those having Covaxin jabs will face travel ban because it is not listed in other countries, Javadekar said.

"As far as I know this process is on, and the WHO has not taken any such decision," he said.

Statements from the Congress have not only insulted the country but also worked to weaken the fight against the pandemic, the Union minister alleged.

"Sonia Gandhi should tell as to why the Congress is doing such negative politics and why has she not condemned Kamal Nath's remarks," Javadekar said.

When Covaxin was introduced, they called it BJP vaccine. But it proved to be very effective. Now they speak of travel ban due to Covaxin...WHO hasn't taken such decision. It says Congress isn't only insulting country but also weakening fight against Corona: Union Min P Javadekar  ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2021

(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.)
Working on mission mode amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Railways has successfully delivered nearly 14,500 metric tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) in more than 884 tankers by 224 Oxygen Expresses.In its statement, the Railways said 8 Oxygen Expresses with a load of more than 563 MT of LMO in 35 tankers are also on the run, the ministry informed.

Oxygen relief by Oxygen Expresses has reached out to 13 states, namely Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Telangana, Punjab, Kerala, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh.

According to the Ministry, Delhi has received the most oxygen relief with 4,278 MT, while Uttar Pradesh has got nearly 3,463 MT. Maharashtra has received 614 MT of oxygen relief so far.

Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala have been delivered 943 MT, 571 MT, and 246 MT of LMO respectively.

The Railways have mapped different routes with oxygen supply locations and have kept themselves ready with any emerging need of the states. The states provide tankers to the Railways for bringing LMO.

Oxygen Express started with its delivery of oxygen relief days back on April 24 in Maharashtra with a load of 126 MT.

To ensure that oxygen relief reaches in the fastest time possible, Railways has created new standards and unprecedented benchmarks in the running of Oxygen Express Freight Trains, the ministry informed.

The average speed of these critical Freight trains, in most cases, is way above 55 over long distances. These trains run on high priority Green Corridor, with the highest sense of urgency.

The operational teams of various zones have also been working round the clock in these challenging circumstances to ensure that oxygen reaches in the fastest possible time frame.

Railways said that technical stoppages have also been reduced to 1 minute for crew changes over different sections. "Tracks are kept open and high alertness is maintained to ensure that Oxygen Express keeps zipping through. All this is done in a manner that speed of other Freight Operation does not get reduced as well", the ministry 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.)
In view of the cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal, Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mahapatra on Friday informed that all coastal and adjoining districts in have been put on high alert.

Chief Secretary Mahapatra held a meeting with all line departments, NDRF, Coast Guard, INS Chilika, DG Police, and DG fire services on Friday."Keeping in view the IMD's predictions, all concerned departments like electricity companies, rural and urban water supply departments, health departments, Disaster Response Force, and NDRF teams have been put on alert to be in readiness with the manpower, material," said Chief Secretary Mahapatra

"The process for identification of shelters and safe buildings in large-scale has been started. Whatever is required for relief and rescue has been arranged," Mahapatra added

Mahapatra further said that "Entire administration is fully prepared to cope with the As things will be more clear about the path of the in next two-three days, then we will decide that where we have to be more focused"

Special relief Commissioner Pradeep K Jena said, "The fisheries department through its warning system has almost brought back the fishermen who were in the sea excepting 39 persons, and we are expecting them to come back to the shore by Saturday."

Jena said that two airplanes and ships of the Indian Coast Guard, Paradip are patrolling in the sea to guide ships, fishing boats to come to the shore well before the cyclone.

(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.)
India on Saturday reported a net reduction of 104,525 in active cases to take its count to 2,923,400. Indias share of global active cases now stands at 18.61 per cent (one in 5). The country is second among the most affected countries by active cases. On Saturday, it added 257,299 cases to take its total caseload to 26,289,290. And, with 4,194 new fatalities, its Covid-19 reached 295,525, or 1.12 per cent of total confirmed infections.

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Synopsis of the Global Coronary Stent Market

Coronary stents are small stretchy tube-like devices used to expand the arteries of the patient in order to prevent blockage. A coronary stent is inserted into the artery of a patient suffering from a coronary disease due to the build-up of plaque. It is used for widening the narrowed arteries, and it helps in reducing chest pain and the chance of heart attack

The global coronary stent market is mainly driven by the high prevalence of heart-related diseases and huge demand for diagnosis and treatment methods. Additionally, the increasing availability of diagnostic services for coronary heart diseases also fuels the growth of the market. Moreover, favorable reimbursement policies are likely to boost the market growth.

also read @ https://www.marketwatch.com/press-release/coronary-stent-global-market-industry-analysis-growth-trends-opportunity-and-forecast-2018-to-2023-2021-01-17

Coronary Stent Market Overview

Coronary stents are a small tube-like device that is placed into the coronary arteries of a patient in order to keep the arteries open in the coronary heart disease treatment and prevent the same from any kind of blockage. It is used for broadening the narrowed arteries and helps curb-down chest pain and the chances of heart attack. According to the recently published report by the team of Market Research Future (MRFR), the global coronary stent market is projected to grow at a rate of 7.8% during the review period.

The market is identified to be driven by a number of factors, including the wide-spread prevalence of heart-related diseases and a proliferating demand for diagnosis and treatment methods. Additionally, the growing availability of diagnostic services for coronary heart diseases is also pushing the growth of the market. A growing percentage of positive outcomes with stenting and the emergence of a number of advancing technologies in the coronary artery field is adding to the market growth of the device. It is also worth noting that alternative treatment methods for curing coronary artery diseases and a number of product recall cases are likely to hinder the market growth of coronary stents.

Coronary Stent Market Segmentation

Global coronary stent market segmentation is classified on the basis of mode of delivery, type, material, and end-user.

By type, the market segments into drug-eluting stents, bioabsorbable stents, and bare-metal stents.

By material, the market comprises cobalt chromium, metallic stents, stainless steels, platinum chromium, nickel titanium, and others.

By end-user, the market includes hospitals and clinics, ambulatory surgical centers, cardiac centers, and others.

By mode of delivery, the market divides into self-expanding and balloon-expandable stents.

Coronary Stent Market Regional Analysis

segments into North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and the Middle East & Africa.

North America is the dominant region of the lot and is primarily driven by the surging patient population suffering from coronary heart diseases, an increasing pool of geriatric population, and growing investments in the healthcare sector. Latin America, on the other hand, is slated to be one of the fastest growing regional market owing to the rising demand for coronary heart disease treatment options and the availability of technologically advanced devices for diagnosis purposes.

With Germany and the UK being the major contributors, the European coronary stent market is expected to flourish in the forthcoming years. An increasing emphasis on the diagnosis and treatment of heart and other related diseases has majorly driven the market in this region. The increasing healthcare expenditure is another key contributor to the markets growth.

Asia-Pacific stands out as the fastest growing market amongst all the mentioned regions. This projection can be primarily attributed to the increasing prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and a rising focus on performing early diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases. The Middle East & African region is forecasted to exhibit a slow and steady rise in the growth ladder. The regional market is starting to show positive signs with an increasing number of healthcare facilities offering treatments for chronic diseases and an increasing growth of the medical device sector, especially for diagnostic devices. In Africa, increasing awareness concerning coronary heart diseases is pushing the market growth herein.

Coronary Stent Market Competitive Landscape

Coronary Stent Market Sizeincludes some highly noteworthy players including B. Braun Melsungen AG (Germany), MicroPort Scientific Corporation (China), Vascular Concepts (India), Terumo Corporation (Japan), BIOTRONIK SE & Co. KG (Germany), Translumina GmbH (Germany), Biosensors International Group, Ltd. (Singapore), Meril Life Sciences Pvt. Ltd. (India), Elixir Medical Corporation (U.S.), Boston Scientific Corporation (U.S.), STENTYS SA (France), Medtronic plc (Ireland), Abbott Laboratories (U.S.), Reva Medical Inc. (U.S.), and others.

Coronary Stent Industry Overview

Feb 8th, 2019, CeloNova BioSciences, Inc. (CeloNova), an innovative global medical device leader, announced the signing of a three-year group purchasing agreement with HealthTrust for their new game-changing Coronary Stent named COBRA PzF(TM) NanoCoated Coronary Stent (NCS) System.

Feb 22nd, 2019, Biotronic announced the approval of Osiro, an ultrathin-strut coronary stent, from the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of coronary artery disease. It was approved in Europe eight years back and has been implanted upon millions of patients globally.

Get More Information on Coronary Stent Market Research Report  Forecast to 2023 @

https://www.marketresearchfuture.com/reports/coronary-stent-market-5915

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About Market Research Future:

At Market Research Future (MRFR), we enable our customers to unravel the complexity of various industries through our Cooked Research Report (CRR), Half-Cooked Research Reports (HCRR), Raw Research Reports (3R), Continuous-Feed Research (CFR), and Market Research & Consulting Services
recorded 2,260 fresh cases, the lowest since March 1, and 182 fatalities on Saturday with the positivity rate slipping to 3.58 per cent, even as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal cautioned that falling numbers did not mean the dangers have been stalled.

According to the latest health bulletin issued by the health department here, the number of deaths recorded in the city has also dipped to less the 200 the first time since April 18.

had recorded 3,846 COVID-19 cases and 235 deaths on Wednesday, 3,231 cases and 233 deaths on Thursday, and 3,009 cases and 252 deaths on Friday.

On Saturday, 2,260 cases and 182 deaths were recorded, with a much lower positivity rate of 3.58 per cent, according to the health bulletin.

This is the lowest daily spike in cases recorded since March 31 (1,819) and the first time that the count has gone below the 3,000-mark since April 1, when 2,790 people tested positive for the viral disease.

The new fatalities pushed the death toll due to COVID-19 in the national capital to 23,013 on Saturday.

The positivity rate was 5.5 per cent on Thursday and 4.76 per cent on Friday, slipping gradually to less than 4 per cent on Saturday.

In an online briefing, Kejriwal said, In the past 24 hours, only about 2,200 cases have come up in Delhi, and the infection rate has also declined in the past 24 hours, and come down to about 3.5 per cent. But this does not mean that the dangers of the have been stalled. It persists".

"We have to take every measure to save ourselves from the coronavirus," he said.

As the cases registered a mark fall, Health Minister Satyendar Jain shared the bulletin copy on Twitter, and wrote that the number of daily cases of the disease in the city stands at 2,260.

"These are lowest numbers after 31 March. Still need to take all precautions and follow Covid appropriate behaviour," he added.

Amid escalating cases of black fungus in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister Jain earlier in the day had asked people to be watchful and not resort to self-medication, particularly of steroids, and said about 15 hospitals in the city are treating patients of mucormycosis.

Mucormycosis or black fungus is more common among people whose immunity has got lowered, due to Covid, diabetes, kidney disease, liver or cardiac disorders, age-related issues, or those on medication for auto-immune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis.

On May 15, Kejriwal had said, "The virus is reducing in Delhi slowly and steadily, and I hope it diminishes completely and does not rise again. However, we are not going to become negligent in anyway", while sounding a tone of caution.

Kejriwal on Saturday said, To save Delhi and the country from the third wave, there is only one way vaccinate maximum people in minimum time. Beds, ICUs, oxygen, and medicines, we are already preparing for all this, but the vaccine is the strongest weapon to save ourselves from the wrath of the The shortage of vaccines is not just the concern of the government, the ordinary man is also scared of the problem of shortage of vaccines."



Since April 19, both daily cases and single-day deaths count had been spiralling up, with over 28,000 cases and 277 deaths recorded on April 20; rising to 306 fatalities on April 22. On May 2, the city registered a record 407 deaths, according to official data.

A total of 63,155 tests, including 43,061 RT-PCR tests and 20,094 rapid antigen tests, were conducted a day ago, according to the health bulletin on Saturday.

The number of cumulative cases on Saturday stood at 14,15,219. Over 13.6 lakh patients have recovered from the virus.

The number of active cases decreased to 31,308 on Saturday from 35,683 a day before.

The number of people under home isolation dipped to 18,060 from 20,673 on Friday while the number of containment zones dropped to 48,429 from 50,074 a day before, the bulletin 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.)
Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal on Saturday blamed the Union government for not resuming talks, claiming that farmers never denied having a dialogue over the central farm laws.

No meeting has been called by the central government after January 22. The way ahead for talks has been stopped from the government side. We never refused to hold talks, said Rajewal while addressing the media here.

He added a letter has also been written to Prime Minister for resumption of talks.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 protesting farmer unions and which is spearheading the protests, on Friday had written to the prime minister, urging resumption of talks over the three farm laws they have been agitating against at Delhi borders since November last year.

Several rounds of talks between farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over the three central laws.

A government panel had met farmer leaders on January 22. There have been no talks between the two sides since January 26 when the farmers'' tractor rally in the capital turned violent.

Rajewal on Saturday warned the central government that they would hold campaigns as they did during the West Bengal assembly polls against it in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

He further said a convention of all farmers' bodies would be organised to further intensify their struggle. A date in this regard, however, could not be finalised because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rajewal, who is the president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) faction, said May 26 would be observed as black day to mark six months of their protest at Delhi borders.

On this day, people should raise black flags at their homes, shops, industries and tractors to protest against the farm laws. In addition to it, effigies of the prime minister will also be burnt on May 26, he said.

Rajewal also accused the BJP-led government in Haryana of trying to defame the ongoing farmers' protest at Delhi borders by claiming that it could spread the COVID-19 infection.

The farmer leader said they have made necessary arrangements for protection against the infection at the protest sites Tikri and Singhu borders.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on May 13 had urged farmers to suspend their stir amid the grim COVID-19 situation, claiming that their movements to and from 'dharna' sites were spreading the infection in villages.

Rajewal said they have arranged 10 oxygen cylinders at a hospital near the protest site.

We are giving 'kadha' (a drink to boost immunity) to each protester. We also distribute Vitamin A, C, D and other medicines, he said.

Rajewal rued that nobody till now came to vaccinate farmers at Tikri and Singhu despite the Haryana's Sonipat administration having been requested for it over 20 days ago.

Farmers have been camping at Delhi's borders since November 2020 demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

The government, however, has maintained the three central laws are pro-farmer.

(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 government has asked companies to immediately remove any content from their platform that uses or refers to the term Indian variant' of coronavirus, to curb misinformation around COVID-19, sources said Friday.

According to sources, the IT Ministry has written to all platforms asserting that the World Health Organization (WHO) has not associated the term "Indian Variant" with the B.1.617 variant of the in any of its reports.

The sources said that a notice has been issued in this regard on Friday by the IT Ministry, which states that a false statement is being circulated online that implies that an "Indian variant" of is spreading across countries.

The sources said the matter has already been clarified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on May 12 through a press release.

They added that platforms have been asked to "remove all the content that names, refers to, or implies Indian variant' of corona virus from your platform immediately".

Previously, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology had issued advisories regarding curbing of false news/misinformation concerning on social media platforms.

(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 on Friday directed the police not to former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a case under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act till May 23.

A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade on late Friday night heard a petition filed by Singh, seeking to quash the FIR lodged against him and demanding a CBI probe into the case. While Singh's counsel claimed that the FIR was a backlash over his allegations of corruption against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the government said the FIR was registered as the complaint disclosed commission of offence. The bench, however, questioned the timing of the FIR and said, "We do not understand why all this after Param Bir Singh has had a fallout with the government."



After hearing the parties at length for over an hour, the court at midnight said it now ceases to be a vacation bench, and hence the matter would have to be heard on Monday.

"Since the matter is part heard, the State of Maharashtra in the meantime shall not Param Bir Singh till the next date of hearing, the court said. Singh's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani argued that the FIRs lodged against Singh was a result of the letter the former Mumbai commissioner of police wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister against Deshmukh. "There is not a shred of evidence against Singh in this case. The state is just vindictive towards someone who has proved to be inconvenient to them. A disgruntled person, who is already accused in several cases, is picked up by the government only to implicate Singh," Jethmalani said.

He further argued that the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act cannot be attracted unless the offense is committed due to caste motivations.

Senior counsel Darius Khambata, appearing for the Maharashtra government, alleged that Singh indulged in corrupt practices.

"Singh tried to get the complainant (Bhimrao Ghadge) do his dirty work and when he refused, Singh got him suspended," he argued.

The FIR is based on a complaint by police inspector Ghadge, now posted at Akola in Maharashtra.

Ghadge made a series of allegations of corruption against Singh and other officers when Singh was posted in Thane.

The IPS officer pressured him to drop the names of some persons from a case and when he refused, Singh framed him up in false cases, the FIR, now transferred to Thane, claimed.

(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.)
Over 257,000 fresh cases reported

India reported 257,299 fresh infections on Saturday, taking the cumulative caseload to 26.2, according to central health ministry data. The country saw 4,194 deaths due to the pandemic, taking the death toll to 295,525. The active caseload is at 2.9 million, while the total recoveries have surged to 23 million. As many as 193 million shots have been administered since the nationwide inoculation programme kicked off on January 16. Of these, 1.4 million were given on Friday. Read more

Another novel detected in humans, likely came from dogs

A study has revealed that a new has been detected in Malaysia and is likely to have come from dogs, a report in ThePrint said. However, scientists are yet to determine if the virus is a threat to humans or not. The virus, called CCoV-HuPn-2018, is the newest coronavirus to jump to humans after the emergence of SARS-CoV-2, the one that caused the Covid-19 pandemic. It is a novel canine-feline recombinant alphacoronavirus and was isolated from human pneumonia patients in Malaysia in 2017 and 2018, the report said. Read more

Vaccine tourism gains momentum

Vaccine tourismflying to a foreign country with the intent to get vaccinated against Covidhas gained momentum in India, a report in The Indian Express said. Many Indians, who fled to Dubai just before the international flight ban came into effect last month, are said to be getting the Chinese vaccine Sinopharms in the UAE. However, Union Tourism Minister Prahlad Patel told the newspaper, There may be no need for anyone from India to go abroad for vaccination since all eligible Indians will be vaccinated in the country by the end of this year  that too, at the most reasonable rates possible. Read more

Diabetes, rampant use of steroids amid Covid appear to increase mucormycosis: study

A new study found that the combination of diabetes, indiscriminate use of corticosteroid, and Covid-19 appears to increase the occurrence of mucormycosis, a rare black fungus infection, a report in The Indian Express said. The study, published in Diabetes And Metabolic Syndrome, Clinical Research and Review Journal, said all efforts should be made to maintain optimal glucose besides judicious use of corti-costeroids in patients with Covid-19. Read more

Naga entrepreneur converts his Maruti car into DIY ambulance

John Bendang, an entrepreneur in Nagalands Dimapur district, has made what he calls a DIY ambulance after he was moved by the plight of Covid patients in his hometown of Medziphema, a report in ThePrint said.

Bendang, who runs a service centre in the town, has converted his car  a Maruti Zen Estilo  into an ambulance to ferry Covid patients to and from hospitals in his part of town. The businessman said he was moved by the plight of a family who waited for hours in search of a vehicle to take them to the hospital, the report said. Read more
Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy on Friday appealed to the government to restart the COVID-19 vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week.

Reddy, while the inauguration of the food distribution program to needy by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) told ANI, "I appeal to the State Government to restart the Vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week, while the state has nearly about 6 lakh doses of vaccine in its hands."

He further appealed to the government to at least vaccinate the people who are eligible for the second dose.

In order to help the poor and needy people during the lockdown, the Union Minister said that BJP National President JP Nadda has given a call to party workers across the country to come forward and help those who are unable to feed themselves.

"To serve the poor people, the central government has decided to provide them with free ration along with 5 kilograms of rice. Nearly about 80 crore people have been benefited from this free ration distribution program this year," he said.

He further said that the BJP party workers and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) of Hyderabad are serving cooked food to the poor and needy people.

He appealed to all the NGOs to come forward and help the government in feeding the poor.

Reddy said the government has received about 1,400 ventilators so far from the Central government.

He further said that in India from its post-independence stage to nearly about eight months earlier, there were only 1,800 to 2,000 ventilators across the nation in government hospitals.

The minister said that nearly about 51,000 ventilators have been given to government hospitals in the last eight months.

He mentioned that if the state government needs further ventilators, the Centre will do the needful.

Regarding the black fungus infections, Reddy said that the central government is taking all the required steps and trying to import medicines from abroad.

As many as 3,464 new cases and 25 deaths have been recorded in Telangana on Friday.

According to the State Health Department, the cumulative caseload stands at 5,47,727 including 5,00,247 discharges and 3085 deaths. At present, there are 44,395 active infections in the state.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Friday informed that vaccination centers in Municipal Corporation will remain shut on May 22 due to shortage of vaccine stock.

Mohol took to Twitter saying, "Vaccination will not be done on May 22 at all vaccination centers in Municipal corporation area due to shortage of vaccine stock," (translated from Marathi)."

Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Friday said that there are more than 300 cases of mucormycosis in Pune and there is a shortage of injections to treat black fungus in patients.

Speaking to media persons, the minister said, "Presently there are over 300 cases of black fungus in Pune, including many outsiders (residents of other districts). There is a shortage of injections for them."

As per official data, Maharashtra, currently, has 3,85,785 active COVID-19 cases in the state.

Pune has 64,084 active cases and 10,728 died due to the virus in the district.

(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.)
Former US President has been sued by a Chinese-American civil rights group for calling Covid-19 the " virus".

The complaint, filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday by the Chinese Americans Civil Rights Coalition (CACRC), alleged that Trump's use of that phrase and other similar racist slurs is baseless, since the origin of the is not yet determined, and that the former President's conduct harmed the community, reorts Xinhua news agency.

Trump's "extreme and outrageous conduct was carried out throughout the pandemic with reckless disregard of whether such conduct would cause Chinese Americans to suffer emotional distress", stated the suit.

The pandemic has led to a spike in violence against Asian Americans, a sizable portion of them Americans of Chinese descent, which activists have blamed on Trump's rhetoric.

One of the worst incidents of violence against Asian-Americans took place on March 17 when a gunman shot eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in three attacks on massage parlours in and around Atlanta.

The suit further alleged that Trump continued to use those derogatory words to refer to the even as he knew that the virus didn't necessarily come from

"The truth matters, words have consequences especially from those in powerful and influential positions," the complaint said.

"(Trump) intentionally repeated those defamatory words to serve his own personal and political interest with astonishing level of actual malice and negligence, hence severely injuring the Chinese/Asian Americans communities in the process."

The CACRC is asking that $1 be paid to every Asian American and Pacific Islander living in the US as an apology, which would total $22.9 million.

The plaintiffs said they would use the money to establish a museum that will showcase the history of Asian American and Pacific Islanders communities and their contribution to the US.

Responding to the suit, Jason Miller, senior adviser for Trump, told The Hill news website in a statement: "This is an insane and idiotic lawsuit that is specious at best, and it will be dismissed if it ever sees a courtroom.

"It's a complete joke, and if I was the lawyer that brought it I'd be worried about getting sanctioned."

The lawsuit was filed the same day when President Joe Biden also signed a bill that addressed the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Samajwadi Party supremo on Saturday asked the BJP-led government to shed politics and make operational the health centres opened during his regime amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.

"Taking inspiration from good work always paves the path for improvement. If BJP government sheds politics and starts the cancer institute in Lucknow and other modern health centres in Jhansi, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Sitapur, Budaun, Saharanpur, Lakhimpur, Ayodhya, it will save lives of thousands," he said in a tweet in Hindi.

The former chief minister also said that the state needs a leadership that can help build back the economy and attract investments in the post-COVID time.

"The impact of Covid isn't just a question of health, but the economic devastation is just as significant. Post COVID we need leadership that can hep build back UP's economy and attract investment," he said in another tweet.

The SP leader also tagged a news report titled "Bangladesh beats India in per capita income" with his tweet.

(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 55-year-old man who had recovered from COVID-19 has been diagnosed with 'white fungus' , a a type of fungal infection, in Jabalpur in even as the state is dealing with an outbreak of mucormycosis or 'black fungus' among patients or survivors, a health official said.

Though it was said to be the 'first reported case' in the state during the ongoing second wave of pandemic, a senior doctor said white fungus is quite common and curable.

Known as Aspergillus Flavus infection in medical parlance, it is not a new disease, nor is it as fatal as mucormycosis, and is curable with commonly available medicines, she said.

The 55-year-old patient was operated on May 17 after complaining of persistent headache and eye pain and a test on Friday revealed that he had white fungus in the nose, said Dr Kavita Sachdeva, head of the ENT department at government-run Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College hospital in Jabalpur.

"He is recovering well and will be discharged shortly," she said.

White fungus is curable with commonly available medicines and does not need expensive injections unlike in the case of mucormycosis, nor is it as deadly, Dr Sachdeva added.

"White fungus is not rare and many people have been cured of it," she said.

This infection is more common in rural areas as it is carried by dust, hay or other such particles, she said.

"It has no direct connection with diabetes, but diabetes aggravates most infections, bacterial and fungal," she added.

On average, five white fungus patients visit the hospital a month, Dr Sachdeva said.

"By contrast, mucormycosis is rare. We get eight to ten cases in the entire year," she added.

Meanwhile, MP Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang said on Saturday that the state has reported 650 confirmed cases of black fungus so far.

(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.)
Litchfield (06759)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 54F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. Increasing clouds with periods of showers late. Low 54F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
India's engineering goods exports to 23 key markets, including the US, China and Germany recorded positive year-on-year growth in April 2021, EEPC India said on Saturday.

According to the council, overall merchandise trade from the country surged primarily on account of base effect.

Last year's corresponding period had seen exports plummet as outbreak of coronavirus disrupted the supply chain globally.

"All the product groups other than 'ships, boats and floating structures' recorded positive growth during this period. The growth momentum has continued for the past few months despite Covid shadow," said Mahesh Desai, Chairman, EEPC India.

"The high growth rate in outbound shipment is mainly due to the low base of FY21 but recovery is indeed impressive. It mirrors global trends."

EEPC India's data showed that engineering goods exports in April soared 229.74 per cent in value terms to $7.60 billion from $2.31 billion in the corresponding month last year.

Presently, engineering goods account for about one-fourth of the total merchandise exports from India and therefore it has significantly contributed to the recovery in the country's external trade.

As per the data, among the top 25 export destinations for India's engineering goods, negative growth was seen only in the case of Malaysia and Singapore.

Besides, the US continued to be the biggest market for India's followed by China.

"While exports to the US jumped more than 400 per cent year-on-year in April this fiscal, shipments to India's second largest export destination China clocked monthly growth of 143.3 per cent during this period," the statement said.

Furthermore, the data showed that amongst the 32 engineering goods categories which posted positive growth, exports of iron and steel recorded a massive jump of 210 per cent in April 2021 compared to the same period last year.

"Non-ferrous segment as a whole comprising aluminium, zinc, nickel, lead, tin and other products witnessed 110.5 per cent growth in exports during this period."

"Within industrial machinery, overall there has been growth in monthly exports to the extent of 703 per cent from $146.21 million in April 2020 to $1174.23 million in April 2021."

In terms of electrical machinery, exports increased from $245.43 million in April 2020 to $853.1 million in April 2021 witnessing a growth of more than 247 per cent unlike the pattern observed in the previous months.

"Exports of aircraft, spacecraft and parts exhibited positive monthly growth by more than 200 per cent in April 2021 scaling up from $24.1 million in April 2020 to $74.5 million in April 2021."

"Exports of ships, boats and floating structures was the only engineering panel witnessing negative growth to the extent of 32.8 per cent from $677.4 million in April 2020 to $455.4 million in April 2021."

--IANS

rv/sn/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.)
Direct overseas listing of Indian companies may take time as no decision has been taken yet on whether capital gains tax will be imposed on such transactions.

Also, while the Union Cabinet had approved foreign direct listing in March 2020 (without having to list in India), theres been a delay in finalising the foreign jurisdictions where companies could list their shares, according to two officials in the government. The ministries concerned, including finance and corporate affairs, along with regulators, have not arrived at a consensus so far, said one of the two ...
Amid escalating cases of black fungus in the national capital, Delhi Health Minister on Saturday asked people to be watchful and not resort to self-medication, particularly steroids, and said about 15 hospitals in the city are treating mucormycosis patients.

Black fungus or mucormycosis is a fungal infection that affects the nose, eyes, sinuses among patients who are recovering or have recovered from COVID-19.

Interacting with reporters, he also said there was a scarcity of drugs needed for its treatment in Delhi and the rest of the country.

There were 197 cases of black fungus in hospitals across the city till Wednesday night, including non-residents who have come to the city for treatment, he reiterated.

"Earlier, 30-50 cases would get reported in a year but this time, the number has gone up quite big. As it is being found this time a lot in post-COVID cases, so we have to watchful as a large number of people have tested positive in Delhi, several of them put on steroids, and many are diabetic in which case, if sugar level is not maintained, it flares up," Jain said.

Amid rising cases of black fungus, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday had said dedicated centres were to be set up for the treatment of black fungus cases at three city government-run hospitals -- LNJP Hospital, GTB Hospital and Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital.

"About 8-10 private hospitals are treating black fungus patients, three Delhi government hospitals are there too, and AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital among the Centre-run facilities. So, about 15-16 hospitals are there for it," he said



Asked if black fungus cases could further escalate, the minister said as a large number of people have tested positive in Delhi, and several of them put on steroids too, "we will have to be very watchful".

"I would urge people to not resort to self-medication, particularly steroids. It has been found that many people are administering steroids at home, without any prescription by doctors, including those who have been discharged from hospitals. I would advise people not to do that," he said.

Also, those who are diabetic and then put on steroids, their sugar level goes up, and that has to be monitored and brought under control through insulin injections, so people must do that too, the minister cautioned.

Mucormycosis or black fungus is more common among people whose immunity has got lowered, due to COVID, diabetes, kidney disease, liver or cardiac disorders, age-related issues, or those on medication for auto-immune like rheumatoid arthritis.

"If such patients are administered steroids, their immunity reduces further, allowing the fungus to thrive," Jain said, adding, steroids should be administered very judiciously after proper clinical examination by a doctor.

On the shortage of drugs to be used for black fungus treatment, like Amphotericin B, he said, "Shortage is across the country, and Delhi too facing it".

"We had spoken to a couple of pharmaceutical companies for this drug, and they had agreed on it. But, the Centre has taken the distribution process under its ambit, and states get as per their quota.

"So, whenever, we get it, we send it to the hospitals where treatment going on. Also, hospitals have to write to the government for injections requirements, and whatever is sent to us, is proportionately divided," Jain said.

Delhi recorded 3,009 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Friday, and 252 fatalities, while the positivity rate dipped to 4.76 per cent, according to data shared by the health department here.

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An with a magnitude of 7.0 on the Richter Scale hit at a place in China's Qinghai province at 23

" of Magnitude: 7.0, Occurred on 21-05-2021, 23:34:14 IST, Lat: 34.65 & Long: 98.06, Depth: 10 Km, Location: Qinghai, China," National Center for Seismology tweeted.

Chinese news agency Xinhua reported that the quake hit Maduo County of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Qinghai at 2:04 am Saturday Beijing Time.

This comes a few hours after a series of earthquakes jolted Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in China's Yunnan Province on Friday.

At least one person was killed and eight other sustained injuries in Yunnan due to the tremors.

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US President has announced the appointment of a special envoy for after he had his maiden talks with his South Korean counterpart

I'm pleased to announce that Ambassador Sung Kim, a career diplomat and with deep policy expertise, will serve as the US Special Envoy for the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), Biden told reporters on Thursday at a joint press briefing along with the visiting South Korean President

DPRK is popularly called

Biden told reporters that his team consulted closely with President Moon's team throughout the process of his Administration's DPRK review.

We both are deeply concerned about the situation. Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK, to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula. Today, I affirm to President Moon that the United States will proceed in close consultation with the Republic of Korea on our strategy and our approach, he said.

President Moon said that the most urgent common task that the two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearisation and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula.

Recently, the Biden administration concluded its DPRK policy review, building on past agreements including the Singapore joint statement, while taking a calibrated and practical approach to seeking diplomacy with North Korea, he said.

It is indeed a welcome direction of the Biden administration's policy. During the course of the review, our two countries closely coordinated with each other in lockstep, which I note with much appreciation, he added.

Moon welcomed Biden's appointment of Ambassador Sung Kim as Special Representative for North Korea Policy.

This reflects the firm commitment of the US for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea. I have high expectations all the more, as such a man of high caliber with expertise in the Korean Peninsula issues has been appointed, he said.

The South Korean president said he and Biden discussed the dialogues based on commitments made between the two Koreas and between the US and North Korea are essential for making a peaceful Korean Peninsula.

This is the belief that we were able to reaffirm, he said.

Moreover, President Biden also expressed his support for the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. Under close cooperation with the US, we will work to facilitate progress in inter-Korean relations, so as to achieve a virtuous cycle with US-DPRK dialogue, he said.

Moving forward, Korea and the United States will continue close communication while exploring our North Korea approach through dialogue and diplomacy. On that, I expect a positive response from North Korea, he added.

Responding to a question, Biden said their goal remains complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

We want to make practical progress and increase the security of the United States for the United States and our allies. We closely studied what others have tried, and what worked and what hasn't worked. We're under no illusions how difficult this is, none whatsoever, he said.

Observing that the past four administrations have not achieved the objective, he said it is an incredibly difficult objective.

As we move forward, we're going to stay in very close coordination with our friends and our partners in the region, including President Moon. And we fully recognise that this is about our collective security in the Indo-Pacific region. And so, total denuclearization is our objective, and remains so, Biden said.

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Much before their diplomatic ties spiraled down, Beijing could have shut down Canberra's network and brought the nation to its knees if was not banned, a top spy has revealed.

The Australian Signals Directorate spent more than eight months trying to find a way to make the Chinese company's telecommunications equipment acceptably safe but ultimately told the Turnbull government the risk could not be contained satisfactorily, as reported by the Sunday Morning Herald.

According to the Sunday Morning Herald, " was the first country to ban from its system in 2018, a decision many more have followed. The government of Chinese President Xi Jinping continues to demand that Canberra reverse the veto. It is number two on a list of 14 demands released by the Chinese embassy in Canberra in November as a prerequisite to improving relations. Number one on the list calls for China's foreign investment to be unrestricted."

A senior Australian spy said the main risk was not Chinese spying but that Beijing could order to disconnect the Australian network altogether. "Here's the thing that most commentators get confused about with 5G, including some of our American friends," the spy told this correspondent for the new book Red Zone, extracted in Saturday's Good Weekend magazine. "It's not about the interception of telephone calls. We've got that problem with 4G, we had it with 3G," as reported by the Sunday Morning Herald.

The official said the real problem was that Beijing could order Huawei or the other major Chinese telecoms gear maker, ZTE, "to switch things off, and that disrupts the country - elements of it, or the whole country. That's why you've got to be concerned.

"The sewerage pump stops working. Clean water doesn't come to you. You can imagine the social implications of that. Or the public transport network doesn't work. Or electric cars that are self-driving don't work. And that has implications for society, implications for the economy."

For these reasons, he said, the 5G network would be "No.1 on our critical infrastructure list" in need of protection once it was fully operational.

Huawei has always insisted that if so ordered by China's authorities, it would never comply. The prime minister who made the 2018 decision, Malcolm Turnbull, did not believe the company: "One thing you know - if the Chinese Communist Party called on Huawei to act against Australia's interests, it would have to do it," he said in an interview for the book. "Huawei says, 'Oh no, we would refuse.' That's laughable. They would have no option but to comply."

Beijing passed a 2017 law that requires all companies, private as well as publicly owned, to co-operate with the Chinese government on any national security matter.

But before banning Huawei, Turnbull tried to find a way to make it acceptable: "I went back and forth with Mike Burgess [then head of the ASD and now ASIO's director-general of security], pressing him to find an effective means of mitigating the risk.

"I would have preferred to have all vendors available in Australia, but not at the expense of security."

Burgess assembled a crack team of the ASD's best hackers, a Red Team tasked to act as Beijing. They were told to use Huawei against

The vulnerabilities they exposed formed the basis for the protection measures the ASD compiled, as reported by the Sunday Morning Herald.

Burgess and his staff brought the full list of more than 300 measures to Turnbull on A3 sheets of paper. They included that would need to have full and sole access to the source code, full access to hardware schematics and that updates should only be done in Australia.

But even then, ASD advised, the risk of the shutdown could not be fully mitigated.

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Beijing has expressed concern over Tokyo's plan to increase to counter China, and has accused its neighbouring country of stoking military tensions in the region.

Japanese Defence Minister Nobuo Kishi in an interview with Nikkei Asia on Wednesday said the country could take a "radically different approach" to counter China's increased capabilities, a remark that signals Japan's readiness to let go of its long-standing 1% GDP ceiling for annual defense spending.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday accused of advocating arms race. "The Japanese side made these irresponsible remarks to blatantly advocate arms race, play up regional tensions, provoke a military confrontation, and even attempt to interfere in the Taiwan question and China's internal affairs," he said.

The spokesperson warned its neighbour, saying that " should not overstretch itself."

"We once again warn the Japanese side that the determination and will of the Chinese government and military to safeguard national sovereignty, security and unity is rock-firm. should not overstretch itself," he said.

This reaction comes in the backdrop of a joint statement by Joe Biden and Yoshihide Suga stressing the importance of peace in the Taiwan Strait. It was the first mention of the self-ruled island in a joint statement since 1969, South Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Kishi's remark could be "a trial balloon" in a push for constitutional reform but an increase in to 4 or 5 per cent was unlikely soon, said Liu Jiangyong, a Japanese affairs expert at Tsinghua University in Beijing.

"But what is worth noting is that the so-called defence budget is not only for defending Japan but an increasing part of it would be invested in the US-led global military strategy so that Japanese military, even in the case of no attack, could join the US and fight overseas, which also raises its so-called defence input," Liu said, as quoted by SCMP.

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has said EU states "disregarded facts" on the human rights issue in Xinjiang after the European Parliament froze the legislative process for ratifying the investment pact with Beijing, in response to sanctions against EU lawmakers.

On Thursday, the EU legislators adopted the resolution on the Chinese sanctions, dealing a major blow to the major economic pact, officially known as the Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI).

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday defended the sanctions against the EU members, saying that it was a "legitimate reaction" to the EU's moves of imposing sanctions on Beijing.

"China's decision to sanction relevant EU entities and individuals who maliciously spread Xinjiang-related lies and disinformation and severely harmed China's sovereignty and interests are out of the need to safeguard its own interests," the spokesperson said.

"The EU's unjustified sanctions strain China-EU relations. This is what is unwilling to see, and what should not be blamed for. It is hoped that the EU side will make serious reflections," he added.

According to the motion that was passed with an overwhelming majority, "any consideration of the EU-China Comprehensive Agreement on Investment, as well as any discussion on ratification by the European Parliament, has justifiably been frozen because the Chinese sanctions are in place."

The motion also demands that "China lift the sanctions before dealing with CAI, without prejudice to the final outcome of the CAI ratification process." It also says that MEPs expect the European Commission "to consult with Parliament before taking any steps towards the conclusion and signature of the CAI."

The sanctions imposed by the EU on China in March marked the EU's first punitive measures on Beijing since it imposed an arms embargo after the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

In retaliation to the bloc's sanctions, China introduced sanctions against 10 officials and four European organizations after accusing them of spreading lies and false information about the Xinjiang region.

Since the signing of the deal by Chinese Premier Xi Jinping, there is growing concern in Europe over China's human rights record on issues, including alleged forced labour camps and a crackdown in Hong Kong against anti-government protestors.

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CEO faced some harsh questions during the ongoing Epic Games- trial over the removal of Fortnite game from the App Store, but he offered a mild, "carefully tended ignorance" that left several key questions unanswered.

The company called CEO to conclude three weeks of testimony in Epic vs legal battle on Friday and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers engaged Cook in a surprisingly tense exchange over Apple's business model, reports The Verge.

When asked what the problem is with allowing users to have choice, especially in a gaming context, to have a cheaper option for content, Cook replied: "I think they have a choice today. They have a choice between many different Android models of smartphone or an iPhone, and that iPhone has a certain set of principles behind it, from safety and security to privacy".

Rogers then argued: "But if they wanted to go and get a cheaper Battle Pass or V-Bucks, and they don't know they've got that option, what is the problem with Apple giving them that option? Or at least the information that they can go and have a different option for making purchases?"

Cook replied: "If we allowed people to link out like that, we would in essence give up our total return on our IP (intellectual property)."

The much-reported trial between Apple and Epic Games began on May 5, as the got involved in a legal battle over the use of an in-game payment system.

While Epic Games argues about Apple's monopoly over the app market and treats 30 per cent standard fee amount to anti-competitive behaviour that must be regulated by antitrust law, Apple contends that "the whole antitrust allegation and associated dust-kicking is little more than a PR stunt".

The Fortnite game was removed from App Store in August last year after the company allegedly violated rules by adding an in-game payment system aimed at depriving Apple of its commission on in-app purchases from App Store.

Rogers asked Cook that the gaming industry seems to be generating a disproportionate amount of money relative to the IP that you are giving them and everybody else and "in a sense, it's almost as if they're subsidising everybody else".

Cook replied that the bulk of the apps on the App Store are free, so you're right that there is some sort of subsidy there.

"However, the way I look at that, Your Honor, is that by having such a large number of apps that are free on the store, it increases the traffic to the store dramatically, so the benefit somebody gets is a much higher audience to sell to than they would otherwise if there weren't free apps there," he told the judge.

--IANS

na/in

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Environment ministers from seven leading industrialised nations agreed Friday to accelerate efforts to slow global warming, including a commitment to end government support for new coal-fired power plants by the end of this year.

The pledges were part of a wide-ranging communique issued by Group of Seven environment ministers after a two-day virtual meeting hosted by the U.K., which holds the G-7's rotating presidency. At the heart of the document is a commitment to limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees Celsius over pre-industrial levels, compared to the previous goal of 2 degrees.

The ministers also promised to combat deforestation and overfishing, to promote biodiversity and to tackle the scourge of ocean plastic, while seeking to prevent future outbreaks of diseases like COVID-19 that spread from animals to humans.

We acknowledge with grave concern that the unprecedented and interdependent crises of climate change and biodiversity loss pose an existential threat to nature, people, prosperity and security, the ministers said in the communique. We recognize that climate change and the health of the natural environment are intrinsically linked and will ensure that the actions we take maximize the opportunities to solve these crises in parallel.

The statement came just days after the Energy Agency released a report saying governments needed to speed up efforts to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases if they hope to reach their goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. The IEA is a multilateral organization that provides analysis and policy recommendations on energy issues.

Its report made a series of recommendations, including immediately ending investment in new fossil fuel supply projects and stopping the sale of gasoline- and diesel-powered cars by 2035.

The world has a viable pathway to building a global energy sector with net-zero emissions in 2050, but it is narrow and requires an unprecedented transformation of how energy is produced, transported and used globally, the IEA said.

The includes the U.S., Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan. China, the world's biggest source of carbon emissions, is not a member.

While the commitments don't cover other nations, the communique includes a call for all countries to join us in this action.

American climate envoy John Kerry said that ultimately decisions in the marketplace would see an end to the use of coal.

You can't fund a coal-fired plant in the United States, and you can't do it in Europe. The market won't go there,'' he said. The marketplace is going to make a decision for us.

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China, Pakistan to further boost China-Pakistan friendship

Xinhua) 11:11, May 22, 2021

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan attends a reception marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan and meets with Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Friday said that China is willing to work together with Pakistan to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to push the China-Pakistan friendship to a higher level.

Wang made the remarks during a reception marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan, where he met with Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque.

The friendship between the two nations goes back to ancient times, Wang said, adding that, since the establishment of diplomatic ties 70 years ago, no matter how the international situation has changed, China and Pakistan have always stood firmly together.

In 2015, the leaders of the two countries jointly upgraded China-Pakistan relations to an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, opening a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations, Wang noted.

Inheriting and carrying forward the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan and conducting strategic cooperation at a higher level, with a wider scope and at a deeper level are not only in the common interests of the two countries and their peoples, but are also conducive to lasting stability and common prosperity in the region, he said.

"China is willing to work with Pakistan to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to build a closer community of destiny between China and Pakistan in the new era and push the China-Pakistan friendship to a higher level," Wang said.

Noting that the 70th anniversary of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations is an important milestone, Haque said the friendship with China is a matter of national consensus within Pakistan. He said his country is ready to continue to firmly support each other with China, and join hands to usher in the next brand new 70 years.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
They were really the catalyst for this thing going the way it went, because if they didnt call us when they did and if they didnt try to find her when they did, that wouldnt have been able to start us off as soon as it did, Cleverdon said. They certainly set the tone for what was happening over the last couple weeks that gave us a lot to go off, and thats because their family dynamic is so strong. You can sense it from talking to her mother and sister. They immediately sensed something was seriously wrong.
A ceasefire between and Hamas-led Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip held on Saturday as Egyptian mediators pressed on with talks with the two sides on securing longer-term calm, officials said.



The ceasefire began before dawn on Friday, and Palestinians and Israelis are now assessing the damage from 11 days of hostilities in which pounded Gaza with air strikes and militants fired barrages of rockets at



Palestinian officials put the reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars and medical officials said 248 people had been killed in Gaza. The devastation has raised concerns about the humanitarian situation in the densely populated enclave.



Economists said the fighting could curb Israel's economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and medics said Palestinian attacks killed 13 people in Israel, where the rocket attacks caused panic in some communities.



A source familiar with planning said U.S. Secretary of State would visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on the ceasefire mediated by Egypt with U.S. support.



Egypt sent a delegation to Israel on Friday to discuss ways of firming up the ceasefire, including with aid for Palestinians in Gaza, officials told Reuters.



The delegates have since been shuttling between Israel and Gaza, with talks continuing on Saturday, the officials said.



Despite confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a Jerusalem holy site on Friday, there were no reports of rocket launches from Gaza or Israeli military strikes on the enclave as of Saturday morning.



U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Washington would work with the United Nations on bringing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Gaza, with safeguards against funds being used to arm Hamas, which the West deems a terrorist group.



The State Department announced Blinken's visit on Thursday, without announcing dates, and said he would "discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians".



The source familiar with planning for Blinken's visit said the top U.S. diplomat would visit Egypt and Jordan as well as the Palestinian Authority, which is run by Hamas' rival, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.



HUMANITARIAN CONCERNS



World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris said on Friday Gaza's health facilities were in danger of being overwhelmed by the thousands of injuries, and called for immediate access into Gaza for health supplies and personnel.



"How can the world call itself civilised?" Gaza resident Abu Ali asked, standing next to the rubble of a 14-storey tower block.

Gaza has for years been subjected to an Israeli blockade that restricts the passage of people and goods, as well as restrictions by Egypt.



Both countries cite concerns about weapons reaching Hamas, the Islamist group that controls Gaza and led the rocket barrage. Palestinians say the restrictions amount to collective punishment of Gaza's 2 million population.



Gaza medical officials say the Palestinian death toll from Israeli air and artillery strikes includes 66 children.



Israel said its forces killed more than 200 fighters from and allied faction Islamic Jihad, and that at least 17 civilian fatalities in Gaza were caused by militants' rockets falling short.



The death toll in Israel included two children, a soldier and three foreign workers, medics said.

In a cafe in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, north of Gaza, student Dan Kiri, 25, said Israel should continue attacking Hamas until it collapsed.



"It's only a matter of time until the next operation in Gaza," he said.

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Israeli police stormed into Al Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem and fired tear gas at Palestinians who threw rocks and bombs at the officers after Friday prayers.

This came hours after a ceasefire brokered by Egypt was reached in between and Palestinian extremist group Hamas who had been engaged in clashes for the past 11 days, in which both sides targeted each other with rockets.

At noon, thousands of Palestinians gathered in the tree-lined compound surrounding the mosque for Friday prayers. Many stayed on to demonstrate in support of Palestinians in the Strip, cheering and waving Palestinian flags, reported Dawn.

An Israeli police spokesman said that some of the gathered Palestinians gathered threw stones and petrol bombs towards officers who had been stationed along with the compound's gates. The police officers responded by using stun grenades to chase away protesters who had thrown stones and fireworks at them, the spokesman said.

The confrontations died down within about an hour, with Israeli police retreating to their positions at the compound's gates.

According to the New York times across the West Bank, Israeli soldiers used rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse Palestinians demonstrating after Friday prayers. The daily quoted the Red Crescent as saying that, in all, 97 Palestinians were injured in the West Bank and Jerusalem on Friday.

Meanwhile, Israel's foreign diplomat Riyad al-Maliki an exclusive interview with Aljazeera news said: "There are no guarantees at all. No guarantees at all. Because proclaims that the ceasefire is unilateral. That they have taken that decision on their own."

The Security Cabinet of approved a ceasefire in the Strip from 2 am on Friday (23:00 GMT on Thursday). Both sides have been firing rockets at each other, leading to 217 Palestinians and 12 Israelis dead.

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US President has said that there is no shift in the commitment of his administration towards the security of but insisted a two-state solution that includes a state for Palestinians remains the only answer to that conflict.

Biden's comment comes a day a ceasefire was announced between and Hamas negotiated by Egypt following a 11-day war that caused a lot of casualties and infrastructure damage in Gaza.

There is no shift in my commitment, the commitment to the security of Israel, period, Biden told reporters at a joint news conference along with the visiting South Korean President Moon-Jae-In.

No shift, not at all, but I tell you what there is a shift in. The shift is that we still need a two-state solution. It is the only answer, the only answer. What I'm convinced of is that we can now move, as I did even before I was able to negotiate--well, I shouldn't--before the cease-fire was negotiated, he said.

Biden said his administration is going to make sure that the US is going to provide for security in the West Bank.

We renewed the security commitment, as well as economic commitment to the people on the West Bank, he said.

In his call with the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Biden said he indicated to the Israelis it was very important that they stop in Jerusalem this inter communal fighting that is by extremes on both sides.

It has to end. I'm prepared to put together and attempt to put together a major package with other nations who share our view to rebuild the homes and without providing Hamas the opportunity to rebuild their weapons systems, rebuild the Gaza. They need to help, and I'm committed to get that done, he said.

Responding to a question on the shift on position of several of his Democratic party lawmakers, Biden asserted that his party still supports

Let's get something straight here. Until the region says unequivocally, they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace, Biden said.

Biden hoped that Netanyahu would abide by his commitment of ceasefire.

I'm praying this cease-fire will hold. I take Bibi Netanyahu when he gives me his word; I take him at his word. He's never broken his word to me, he said.

What I've made clear is that it is essential. It's essential that the Palestinians on the West Bank be secure; that Abbas be recognised as the leader of the Palestinian people, which he is; Hamas is a terrorist organisation, we've recognised that, Biden added.

But that doesn't mean we should not be in Gaza, rebuilding Gaza for all those innocent people who in fact have been hurt and had collateral damage, including loss of homes and a whole range of other things. As well as insisting that Israeli citizens, whether they be Arab or Jew, are treated equally, Israeli citizens. That was what was going on in Jerusalem. That has to come to an end, said the president.

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In a dramatic turn of events, President on Friday midnight dissolved the Parliament as per the recommendation of the government and declared to hold midterm elections on November 12 and 19.

As per the constitutional provision, the President has authenticated the recommendation made by the Cabinet to dissolve the House and declare the snap polls for November 12 and 19, a notice issued by the President Office read.

This is for the second time that the House has been dissolved. Earlier, President Bhandari had dissolved the House on December 20 last year but later it was reinstated on February 23. The decision to dissolve the house came hours after a new government formation bid failed.

While invalidating both petitions registered by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba staking claim for the post of prime minister, Bhandari has stated that the claims made by the both Oli and Deuba have failed to meet the required provisions and as such, neither Oli or Deuba can form the new government.

On Thursday, President Bhandari had called on to form the new government as per the Article 76-5 of the Constitution. Before the deadline expired, Oli and Deuba claimed the formation of the new government with majority of the signatures.

Later, President Bhandari issued a statement saying that she did not see any reliable reason behind claims made by Oli and Deuba to form the new government and therefore she is not going to appoint a new Prime Minister.

The claim made by both Oli and Deuba was insufficient, a statement by the President Office said, hence the claim made by both leaders could not meet the required numbers. Based on the signatures and claims by the both sides, the President Office said that there is no concrete basis for both the claimants to get a vote of confidence from the Parliament as per the Article 76-5 of the Constitution.

--IANS

giri/pgh

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UK Prime Minister said that he was "obviously very concerned" about the findings of the inquiry into the BBC's 1995 interview with the late Princess Diana, which said that the broadcaster "fell below its high standards of integrity and transparency".

"I can only imagine the feelings of the royal family and I hope very much that the will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again," Xinhua news agency quoted Johnson as saying on Friday.

His remarks came as the Met Police said it will assess the contents of the inquiry into former reporter Martin Bashir's interview with the late Princess of Wales to ensure there is no "significant new evidence" to support a criminal investigation.

In a statement on Friday, the Met said: "Following the publication of Lord Dyson's report we will assess its contents to ensure there is no significant new evidence."

In March this year, the police said it was "not appropriate" to launch a criminal investigation into "unlawful activity" in connection with the interview, but adding that "should any significant new evidence emerge it would be assessed".

Meanwhile, British senior officials said on Friday that the latest independent inquiry, by retired judge Lord Dyson, has raised "very serious questions" about the corporation.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said it "raises some very serious questions" and "issues around governance" within the

"I think an apology is a start, but I don't think it's the end of it," he told Sky News.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "The media themselves and our broadcasters, and the national broadcaster, has a huge sense of responsibility with the way in which they investigate, review and conduct their own media reports.

"So there will be very, very strong and searching questions for the BBC post the publication of this report."

Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said on Thursday night said the report "reveals damning failings at the heart of the BBC" and he will "consider whether further governance reforms are needed".

Both Prince William and his brother Harry have both criticised the BBC's failures surrounding the Panorama interview with their mother.

Prince William said the interview made a "major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse," adding it has "since hurt countless others".

"But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived," he said.

"She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions."

Prince William said the original Panorama interview program had "no legitimacy" and should never be aired again.

A report published on Thursday by the independent inquiry said the BBC fell short of "high standards of integrity and transparency" over its interview.

Former BBC reporter Martin Bashir had acted in a "deceitful" way and faked documents to obtain the interview while the BBC's own internal probe in 1996 into what happened was "woefully ineffective", the inquiry said.

The BBC has apologized by saying that the report showed "clear failings," admitting it should have made more effort to get to the bottom of what happened at the time.

The corporation has sent personal apologies to the Prince of Wales, the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, and Diana's brother Earl Spencer, according to the BBC.

The inquiry found Bashir mocked up fake bank statements that falsely suggested individuals were being paid for keeping the princess under surveillance.

He later showed the fake documents to Diana's brother Spencer, to gain his trust to gain access to Diana and persuade her to agree to give the interview.

The BBC carried out its own investigation into the issue in 1996, but it "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency", according to the inquiry.

Bashir, who is one of the UK's best known journalists and had also made headlines for his 2003 interview with the late pop star Michael Jackson, has stepped down from his role as the BBC's religion editor, the corporation confirmed last week.

According to the the BBC, this was the first time a serving British Royal had spoken openly about her life, including her "unhappy marriage" to Prince Charles, their affairs and her bulimia.

--IANS

ksk/

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Sonali Guha, the turncoat Trinamool Congress leader, who switched to the saffron camp just before the Assembly polls in West Bengal, has written to Chief Minister expressing her willingness to return to her old party.

Guha left Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP after she was denied a ticket to contest the polls.

Guha said that she had left the party out of extreme emotion and in a fit of temper, but now she has realised that she has made a huge mistake.

In an emotional tweet in Bengali addressed to the Chief Minister, the former Trinamool MLA wrote, "'Sekhane nijeke maniye nite parini. Mach jemon jol chara thakte pare na, temoni ami apnake chara banchte parbo na. Didi ami khomaprathri, daya kore amake khoma kore din. Apni na khoma kore ami bancho na' (I could not fit myself there (BJP). The way a fish cannot stay out of water, I will not be able to live without you. Didi, I seek your forgiveness. If you don't pardon me, I won't be able to live)."

Expressing her willingness to return to the Trinamool fold again, the former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly wrote, "'Apnar aanchaler tolae amake tene niye baki jibonta amake apnar snehatole thakar sujog kore din' (Take me under your fold and allow me to live the rest of my life under your guidance and blessings)."

Though there was no official reaction from the Trinamool Congress on Guha's tweet, senior party leaders are not in favour of taking her back into the party.

" gave her everything, but what did she do? She deserted her (Banerjee) and the Trinamool just before the elections when the party needed her the most. If she comes back to the party, it will send out a wrong signal to our workers and all the people who had left the party and joined the BJP before the polls," a senior Trinamool leader said.

Guha, a four-time MLA and once considered to be the 'shadow' of Chief Minister Banerjee, was among the slew of Trinamool leaders who jumped ship to the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.

Guha had won from Bishnupur in South 24 Parganas district in 2016 and became the Deputy Speaker, but she was denied ticket this time.

Guha did not fight the elections this time, but had said that she would work to strengthen the BJP.

When contacted, Guha said that she felt "unwanted" in the saffron camp.

"My decision to join the BJP was a wrong one and I can feel that today. I did not bother to tell the BJP about leaving that party. I always felt unwanted there. They tried to use me and asked me to badmouth Mamata-di. I could not do that," she said.

Guha also expressed her willingness to meet the Chief Minister next week and try to resolve the issue.

(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 party on Saturday chose five-time legislator V D Satheesan as the leader of opposition in Kerala. Satheesan will become the opposition leader once the party gives a letter to the pro-term speaker informing him of the party's decision.

The Paravur member of legislative assembly's (MLA's) selection ends weeks of uncertainty regarding who will lead the party in the assembly and signals a revamp.

"With Satheesan's elevation, a new generation of leaders are coming up; leaders who are senior to Satheesan will slowly fade away," said A Jayashankar, political analyst.

Satheesan will be leading the 41 member in the assembly. The UDF, besides the Congress party, includes the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP), a breakaway faction of the CPI(M), Nationalist Congress Kerala (NCK), a splinter group of NCP and a bunch of regional parties.

The Congress-led united democratic front (UDF) suffered a crushing defeat in the recently concluded assembly elections despite a spirited campaign. Kerala was the only state where the party hoped to come back to power. However, a massive wave favouring the ruling LDF helped it beat anti-incumbency and rewrite history. Kerala's electorate has alternated between and LDF for more than four decades.

The left democratic front (LDF) led by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) had won 99 out of the 140 seats.

According to reports, both the outgoing leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala and former chief minister Oommen Chandy had opposed the move to appoint Satheesan. Chandy and Chennithala head rival factions in the Congress party in Kerala. And their alleged stance to stall Satheesan's elevation was panned by the Congress supporters.

Satheesan and Chennithala were frontrunners for the opposition leader's position. The names of senior Congress leader PT Thomas and former minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan also did rounds. What worked in Satheesan's favour was the support of legislators cutting across both the factions, especially the young MLAs. A large section of Congress leaders and supporters from Kerala wished for an organisation revamp after Congress's drubbing. All India Congress Committee (AICC) observers led by Mallikarjun Kharge had arrived in Kerala after the elections. They held one to one meetings with legislators.

"Congress workers are dejected. The general feeling is that a leadership change could revive the party. Satsheesan's elevation gives hope to cadres. He is a good parliamentarian and thoroughly secular. You cannot see another Congress leader's picture in any poster in his constituency that shows his confidence,' said A Jayashankar.

Satheesan was defeated in the first assembly election he contested in 1996. However, he won in his second attempt in 2001 and has never lost an election since then. He was the chairman of the public accounts committee in the Kerala assembly in his last term.

Chennithala congratulated Satheesan in a tweet. Satheesan was part of Chennithalas's faction but has tried to carve a space for himself over the years. He had done a series of interviews with prominent personalities last year, like Rahul Gandhi. Satheesan cut his teeth in as a student activist; he was an office-bearer of the National Students Union (NSU). Despite being one of the most articulate faces of the Congress in the assembly, he was not considered for a ministerial post in the 2011 government.

More changes could be in the offing including a new president for the Congress party's Kerala unit and UDF convenor.

Political observers said that a mere change in top leadership could not change the Congress party's fortunes. Nothing short of a complete overhaul could revive the party.

"Satheesan's elevation per se is not going to help the party. If Congress wants to reinvent itself, it has to go for a revamp right from booth level . There is no Congress in the villages. There should be atleast ten Congressmen in every booth who are ready to toil day and night for the party. Without that, the current change will be a window dressing,' said J Prabhash, former pro-vice-chancellor of Kerala University and political analyst.

"Only strong leaders have succeeded electorally in the recent past, whether Stalin, Jagan Mohan Reddy or Mamata Banerjee. Today is the age of strong leaders. Congress needs strong leaders at every level who can take on the CPI(M)."

Chennithala had made a name for himself as an effective leader of opposition by keeping the government on its toes. His interventions had forced the government to roll back its decisions more than once. But his work inside the assembly did not translate into public support for UDF. Some blamed it on the Congress party's complacency and lack of support for Chennithala from the party.

"It is due to Congress culture of not rallying behind a single leader unlike CPI(M). Chennithala raked up all the issue towards the end of Pinarayi Vijayan's first term. The Congress does not work hard as an opposition they beleive that they can come automatically back to power. When AK Antony was the opposition leader; he did not organise a single protest. But CPI(M) cadres will be on the street every day when they are out of power," said Prabhash.

The fact that Chennithala became a pet target of trolls supporting LDF did not help matters either.

" There was a pro incumbency this time in the elections. No Congress leader could have stopped Pinarayi Vijayan from coming back to power. Congress needed a scapegoat, and unfortunately, Chennithala was the victim,' said Jayashankar.
The on Saturday held Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) responsible for the death of several personnel of the barge that sank off the Mumbai coast when cyclone Tauktae brushed past the city earlier this week, and sought to know if Petroleum Minister would resign owning the moral responsibility of the tragedy.

In an editorial in its mouthpiece Saamana', the party said the deaths were not caused due to a natural disaster, but it was a case of culpable homicide as did not take the cyclone warnings seriously.

Barge P-305, which housed personnel engaged in maintenance work of an offshore oil drilling platform of state-run oil and gas major ONGC, sank on Monday evening during the cyclone. The official death toll in the tragedy has reached 60.

Warning of the cyclone was given well in advance, but the ignored it and did not recall the 700 workers on the barge. The barge sank and 75 workers died - 49 bodies have been found and 26 are still missing, the Sena said.

Had the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard not launched search and rescue operations, all the 700 people would have drowned in the sea. These workers may be employees of a private company, but they were doing oil rigging for Hence, it was the duty of the ONGC administration to protect them, it said.

The party said it was surprised to know that ONGC did not take the cyclone warnings seriously when all the states on the coast were preparing to counter its onslaught and Union Home Minister Amit Shah held discussions with the chief ministers of these states.

"The callous approach of ONGC administration is surprising. Hence the demand of filing a case of culpable homicide against it for its negligence is justified. Do petroleum minister, ONGC chairman, its board of directors have any responsibility or not?" it asked.

The cyclone cannot be blamed for this tragedy at sea. It is not a natural disaster, but a case of culpable homicide, the party alleged.

ONGC is one of the navratna' companies and the process of its privatisation has begun, the Sena said, adding that petroleum companies have given thousands of crores of rupees to the PM Cares Fund. But the companies failed to protect its workers.

Will petroleum minister quit owning moral responsibility for the death of innocent people? it asked.

The party demanded punishment against those who did not act despite having prior information about the cyclone.

"Those who did not act on the inputs are criminals," it said.

On Thursday, the Sena had sought a high-level probe into the barge tragedy and demanded the resignation of Pradhan and the ONGC chairman. The party, which heads the government in Maharashtra, had also said that the death of workers on the ONGC barge was a man-made tragedy and the guilty must be punished severely.

(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 examination is going to be really tough since the students are getting plenty of time to prepare themselves for it.

New Delhi [India], May 22 (ANI/Oswaal Books): The Karnataka Primary and Secondary education minister, S Suresh Kumar has clearly stated that contrary to the rumors afloat and what people are assuming to be true, a decision hasn't been made regarding whether or not the SSLC or the PUC-II will be cancelled altogether.

The exams have been postponed before in light of the chaos and inconvenience brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic but there has been no verified or authenticated leads on the examinations being cancelled.

The dates haven't been circled in yet but that doesn't mean that students should see this as an opportunity to bide some time. The examination is going to be really tough since the students are getting plenty of time to prepare themselves for it. And ideally, the students should start preparing notwithstanding the delay in examination.

Now we realize that it may be difficult to cope with the vast syllabus and now that the circumstances have drastically altered, some studying or learning techniques might be rendered useless. This a lot of students may find difficult. If you are looking to start off on a strong foot, read on to know more.

Tips to stay focused and outperform yourself with the help of these studying tools

With so much morbidity and toxicity encapsulating us, it is only natural that the students have a hard time focusing on their studying. That being said, time stops for no one and students need to prepare themselves for when all this passes over. That is why, in this article, we have created a list of all the things you can do to help prepare yourself better:

1. Make notes in your class - No matter how hard it may seem initially, do not forget to document every little thing that is being taught in class because these are the things that come in handy when answering trick questions. That is what sets a topper apart from a regular student. It is difficult to take notes in an online class but you will get into the habit of it. Make sure that you paraphrase what the teacher says and create your own notes for revisiting and revision. This helps more than you know.

2. Solve Sample Papers - Oswaal Books' Karnataka SSLC & PUC Sample Papers for Class 10 & 12 are the perfect way for you to test yourself out and figure out what needs work and what your strengths are. Sample papers are usually drafted by academic stalwarts or toppers who have a fair idea of what the SSLC examination question paper may consist of. By solving these sample papers, you are confronted with some of the trickiest questions and learn how to think on your feet, recall better and how to frame your answers in the right format so as to secure the highest marks. Also, solving sample papers gives you a good idea of what the real question paper may entail and this way, you are prepared to deal with it appropriately. The trick is to time yourself so that this can simulate a real examination experience for you. Also, These PUC & SSLC Sample Papers for Class 10 & 12 come with a quick revision section of its own called 'On-Tips Notes'.

Here's the recommended link for Karnataka SSLC & PUC Sample Papers Class 10 & 12: (https://bit.ly/2QEKL41)

3. Refer to multiple books - When studying the course, do not stick to one particular book. Make sure you have a couple of reference books to resort to as well. Some chapters or topics are better explained with a more comprehensive tone and point of view that might help you get a better insight. This is why having a couple of reference books always pays off. Also, you might come across some important and scarce information that other books might not provide. Referring to different course textbooks can help you develop a better and deeper level of understanding of the subject matter which is really important to have when appearing for an examination like SSLC & PUC Karnataka Board Exams 2021

4. Question Banks - Perhaps the most effective tool that can be called a ticket to academic success in its own right is the question bank. Question banks consist of a number of SSLC question papers from different years in one book, thereby facilitating solving. By solving Oswaal Books' Karnataka SSLC & PUC Question Banks for Class 10 & 12, you are preparing yourself in the most effective and exam-oriented manner since these are the questions that have been asked in previous years' examinations. Also, you come across some questions that are recurring and if you are able to solve the question bank and secure a decent score, then you are ready to take on the real examination as well. Another great way this helps is to figure out the questioning pattern. If you are someone who is inclined towards smart studying, then studying these question bank can really help you figure out a really efficient and productive studying strategy that allows you to save a lot of time (that you can dedicate to other important concerns like revising or solving papers), cover the important subjects, all while preparing you for the examination, subconsciously.

Here's the recommended link for Karnataka SSLC & PUC Question Banks Class 10 & 12 2021 | Previous Years Solved Question Papers: (https://bit.ly/2T0iMMQ)

5. Study Techniques - One of the greatest tools you can have at your disposal is full mastery over different studying techniques or maybe even just one. There are so many kinds of techniques like Mind Mapping, Color Coded Note making, the Feynman Technique, Leitner System, etc. All these enhance your reading, learning, comprehending and retaining skills for the better and make you a better student overall. Try out different techniques and see what works for you. When preparing for an important examination and with little or not time in hand, this is something that can come in handy and help you perform really well.

These are only 5 of the many ways that you can bring yourself to prepare for an important examination like the Karnataka SSLC & PUC Board Exams 2021 the right way. The key is to be consistent with the studying process and to frequently check you before you go ahead and wreck yourself. Start studying today.

This story is provided by Oswaal Books. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of this article. (ANI/Oswaal Books)

DISCLAIMER

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
He spoke further with officers after he too was treated at the hospital and told the detectives he believed the woman would stab him with a kitchen knife in the car, but he said he had not seen her with a knife and could not describe it, detectives wrote of his version of the incident. Vela confirmed the knife police had found was the one he used to stab the woman and that hed intended to kill her, detectives wrote.
India's decision to put restrictions on COVID-19 vaccine exports "disproportionately" impacts developing nations, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said on Friday.

Laying out a $50 billion proposal to end the COVID-19 pandemic by vaccinating people around the world by the middle of next year, the agency said, "already, various manufacturers including the Serum Institute of India (licensed to manufacture Novavax and AstraZeneca) have experienced substantial delays."

The discussion note drafted by IMF Chief Economist Gita Gopinath and staff economist Ruchir Agarwal further stated that "India has delayed most of its vaccine exports to prioritise vaccinations at home."

The Washington-headquartered financial watchdog added that these delays in vaccine exports impact developing countries severely.

Also read: India needs to order 1 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to cover 60% of population: IMF

The IMF further mentioned in its report that free cross-border flow of vaccine inputs and supplies is imperative to ensure that the world achieves its vaccination targets without delays. It noted that India is facing production-related issues due to a shortage of critical raw materials.

"India has delayed most of its vaccine exports to prioritize vaccinations at home. Such delays disproportionately impact developing countries - for instance, the Serum Institute is contracted to supply about 85 per cent of the supplies to the COVAX facility, and persistent shortage of raw materials and export restrictions can reduce access to vaccines for 4 billion people in 91 developing countries plus India relying on this facility," the IMF research piece stated.

Only 2 per cent of the population has been inoculated in Africa compared to 40 per cent in the US and 20 per cent in Europe as of April 2021-end. The global financial watchdog also stated that many poor nations won't see large chunks of their populations getting vaccinated until 2023.

The IMF said that the current COVID-19 situation in India and Brazil may just be a warning of what is about to come in other low and middle-income countries. It said, "The ongoing catastrophic second wave in India, following a terrible wave in Brazil, is a sign that the worst may be yet to come in the developing world."

Also read: COVID-19: Ready to scale up collaboration with India, says IMF

The detailed paper clearly stated that the aim of this plan is to inoculate 40 per cent of the entire population by 2021-end and the remaining 60 per cent by the first half of 2022.

"Saving lives and livelihoods should need no justification, but a faster end to the pandemic could also inject the equivalent of $9 trillion into the global economy by 2025 due to a faster resumption of economic activity," the paper read.

"Advanced economies, likely to spend the most in this effort, would see the highest return on public investment in modern history-capturing 40 percent of the cumulative $9 trillion in global GDP gains and roughly $1 trillion in additional tax revenues," it further added.

Edited by Mehak Agarwal; with agency inputs
Patanjali Yogpeeth on Saturday said its founder yoga guru Ramdev's statement on allopathy has been taken out of context, and he believes that allopathy is a progressive science.

Acharya Balkrishna, co-founder of Patanjali Yogpeeth, shared a statement on Twitter by the organisation saying the truncated version of Ramdev's statement doing rounds on social media "is totally out of context of what is sought to be conveyed by" him.

Let us all join our hands to heal the diseased humanity by combining ancient and modern scientific wisdom, and by dissolving the hard boundaries of various --pathy's or their treatment ways @ians_india@ANIpic.twitter.com/OedThJDYOW - Acharya Balkrishna (@Ach_Balkrishna) May 22, 2021

Earlier today, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) asked Union Health Ministry to take action against Ramdev, saying he misled people by making "unlearned" statements against allopathy and defamed scientific medicine.

Also read: Hero MotoCorp to restart production at all manufacturing plants from May 24

Patanjali Yogpeeth said the statement was given at a private event and Ramdev was reading out a forwarded WhatsApp message received by him and various other members who were participating in the event.

"Swami jee has been a firm believer that patient treatment, and relief from the diseases and its pains should be the motto of a medical practioner. He belives that allopathy is a progressive science; and a combination of allopathy, ayurveda and yoga will be beneficial to everyone during such difficult times," the statement said.

Calling the accusations false and nugatory, the statement said Ramdev has utmost regards for doctors and supporting staff who have been working day and night amidst the pandemic.

The IMA, in a statement, had said Ramdev should be prosecuted under the Epidemic Diseases Act as "untutored" statements are "a threat to the literate society of the country as well as to the poor people falling prey to him".

Also read: IMA seeks action against Ramdev for making unscientific statements against allopathy
Private sector Axis Bank on Saturday said three promoters United India Insurance Company, National Insurance Company and New India Assurance Company will be reclassified as public category shareholders post requisite regulatory approvals.

The bank has identified the administrator of the Specified Undertaking of the Unit Trust of India (SUUTI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), General Insurance Corporation, New India Assurance Company, National Insurance Company, United India Insurance Company, and Oriental Insurance Co Ltd as the promoters, Axis Bank said in a regulatory filing.

Three promoter entities United India Insurance, National Insurance and New India Assurance have made a request to reclassify them to "public" category from "promoter" category, in terms of Sebi regulations, said the lender.

The board at its meetings held this year on February 27, March 26, and April 28 has considered and approved the said requests, subject to the approval of the stock exchanges, statutory/regulatory authorities and the shareholders of the bank, it said.

"The reclassification will be effective post receipt of the aforesaid approvals," Axis Bank said.

The three entities held 0.03 per cent, 0.02 per cent and 0.69 per cent stake, respectively in Axis Bank as on March 31, 2021.

Also Read: Axis Bank board reappoints Amitabh Chaudhry as MD, CEO for three more years
Highlights Air India revealed that the private data of 45 lakh customers were leaked in a massive cyberattack in February.

The data that has been leaked includes the names, date of birth, contact information and ticket information of the customers.

Turns out that Air India is not the only airline company that has been affected by the data breach.

Air India on Friday revealed that the private data of 45 lakh customers were leaked in a massive cyberattack in February. The data that has been leaked includes the names, date of birth, contact information and ticket information of the customers registered between 26th August 11 and February 3, 2021. Turns out that Air India is not the only airline company that has been affected by the data breach.

The cyberattack on SITA PSS had impacted the companies including Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, Cathay Pacific, SAS-Scandinavian Airlines, Finland's Finnair, Jeju Air, and Air New Zealand in March. Air India was also one of them, but the company notified its customers about it only in May. This is because SITA, a multinational company that provides services to the air transport industry was subjected to a cyberattack. Almost every airline company flight relies on SITA technology.

SITA had confirmed being a victim of a cyberattack in March and said that it has been involved in a sophisticated attack. "SITA confirms that it was the victim of a cyber-attack, leading to a data security incident involving certain passenger data that was stored on SITA Passenger Service System (US) Inc. servers. Passenger Service System (US) Inc. ("SITA PSS") operates passenger processing systems for airlines.SITA acted swiftly and initiated targeted containment measures. The matter remains under continued investigation by SITA's Security Incident Response Team with the support of leading external experts in cyber-security," the company said in a statement.

Singapore Airlines had said that it does not use the SITA PSS data processor, but the breach has affected some of the flyers. The company had informed the customers about the data leak in March and revealed in a blog that around 580,000 KrisFlyer and PPS members have been affected by the breach of the SITA PSS servers. There is no information about the total number of users' data that was compromised in the data breach. Companies other than Air India, Singapore Airlines have not disclosed the exact figure.

Coming back to Air India, the company revealed that the credit card details of users were compromised but the CVV/CVC numbers of users are safe because it is not held by the data processor.

"The breach involved personal data registered between 26th August 2011 and 3rd February 2021, with details that included name, date of birth, contact information, passport information, ticket information, Star Alliance and Air India frequent flyer data (but no passwords data were affected) as well as credit cards data. However, in respect of this last type of data, CVV/CVC numbers are not held by our data processor," the airline said.
- The positive opinion is based on the EMPEROR-Reduced trial, which showed a significant 25 percent reduction in the combined relative risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization for heart failure - The results were observed in adults with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), with or without diabetes - Jardiance is currently indicated for the treatment of adults with insufficiently controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus

The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted a positive opinion recommending Jardiance (empagliflozin) for the treatment of adults with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company announced.1

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210521005278/en/

Heart failure is a progressive and debilitating condition affecting 60 million people worldwide.2 It is the leading cause of hospitalizations in Europe  not only impacting the quality of life considerably for those living with the condition but also putting significant pressure on healthcare systems, said Faiez Zannad, M.D., Ph.D., EMPEROR Program clinical investigator and Emeritus Professor of Therapeutics at the University of Lorraine, France. If Marketing Authorisation is granted by the European Commission, empagliflozin will provide an important additional treatment option for the millions of people in Europe already living with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.

The positive opinion is based on results from the EMPEROR-Reduced trial in which empagliflozin showed a significant 25 percent reduction in the combined relative risk of cardiovascular death or hospitalization due to heart failure.3 The findings from the primary endpoint were consistent in subgroups with and without type 2 diabetes. Key secondary endpoint analyses from the trial demonstrated that empagliflozin reduced the relative risk of first and recurrent hospitalization for heart failure by 30 percent and significantly slowed kidney function decline.4

We are delighted with the CHMPs decision to recommend empagliflozin as a treatment for people living with symptomatic chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction, said Waheed Jamal, M.D., Corporate Vice President and Head of CardioMetabolic Medicine, Boehringer Ingelheim. Todays decision marks our entrance into a new chapter of heart failure management, enabling us to help address the challenges heart failure patients are facing in the EU and beyond.

Later this year, we expect trial results from our study in people with heart failure with preserved ejection fraction, another serious form of the condition. Our ongoing research of empagliflozin underscores the continued needs of people with serious metabolic conditions, and our collective commitment to finding solutions, continued Jeff Emmick, M.D., Ph.D., Vice President, Product Development, Lilly.

In Europe, heart failure is the leading cause of hospitalization in people over the age of 65.4 Heart failure is a very common and severe complication of a heart attack5,6 and occurs when the heart cannot pump sufficient blood to the rest of the body. People with heart failure often experience breathlessness and fatigue, which can severely impact their quality of life.7,8

The EMPEROR-Reduced trial is part of the EMPOWER clinical program, the broadest and most comprehensive of any SGLT2 inhibitor, exploring the impact of empagliflozin on the lives of people across the spectrum of cardio-renal-metabolic conditions.

+++

About the EMPEROR Heart Failure Studies9,10

The EMPEROR (EMPagliflozin outcomE tRial in patients with chrOnic heaRt failure) heart failure studies are two Phase III, randomized, double-blind trials investigating once-daily empagliflozin compared with placebo in adults with heart failure with preserved or reduced ejection fraction, both with and without diabetes, who are receiving current standard of care:

EMPEROR-Reduced [NCT03057977] investigated the safety and efficacy of empagliflozin in patients with chronic heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF).

Primary endpoint: time to first event of adjudicated cardiovascular death or adjudicated hospitalization for heart failure

Number of patients: 3,730

Completion: 2020

Link to lay summary

EMPEROR-Preserved[NCT03057951] investigates the safety and efficacy of empagliflozin in patients with chronic heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF).

Primary endpoint: time to first event of adjudicated cardiovascular death or adjudicated hospitalization for heart failure

Number of patients: approx. 5,989

Completion: 2021

About the EMPOWER program

The Alliance has developed the EMPOWER program to explore the impact of empagliflozin on major clinical cardiovascular and renal outcomes in a spectrum of cardio-renal-metabolic conditions. Cardio-renal-metabolic conditions are the leading cause of mortality worldwide and account for up to 20 million deaths annually.11 Through the EMPOWER program, Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly are working to advance knowledge of these interconnected systems and create care which offers integrated, multi-organ benefits. Comprised of eight clinical trials and two real-world evidence studies, EMPOWER reinforces the long-term commitment of the Alliance to improve outcomes for people living with cardio-renal-metabolic conditions. With more than 400,000 adults studied worldwide in clinical studies, it is the broadest and most comprehensive clinical program for an SGLT2 inhibitor to date.

About Heart Failure

Heart failure is a progressive, debilitating and potentially fatal condition that occurs when the heart cannot supply adequate circulation to meet the bodys demands for oxygenated blood or to do so requires increased blood volume leading to fluid accumulation (congestion) in the lungs and peripheral tissues.6 It is a widespread condition affecting over 60 million people worldwide and expected to increase as the population ages. Heart failure is highly prevalent in people with diabetes;12 however, approximately half of all people with heart failure do not have diabetes.3,13

About Cardio-Renal-Metabolic Conditions

Boehringer Ingelheim and Lilly are driven to transform care for people with cardio-renal-metabolic conditions, a group of interconnected disorders that affect more than one billion people worldwide and are a leading cause of death.12

The cardiovascular, renal and metabolic systems are interconnected, and share many of the same risk factors and pathological pathways along the disease continuum. Dysfunction in one system may accelerate the onset of others, resulting in progression of interconnected diseases such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, heart failure, and kidney disease, which in turn leads to an increased risk of cardiovascular death. Conversely, improving the health of one system can lead to positive effects throughout the others.14,15

Through our research and treatments, our goal is to support peoples health, restoring the balance between the interconnected cardio-renal-metabolic systems and reducing their risk of serious complications. As part of our commitment to those whose health is jeopardized by cardio-renal-metabolic conditions, we will continue embracing a multidisciplinary approach towards care and focusing our resources on filling treatment gaps.

About Empagliflozin

Empagliflozin (marketed as Jardiance) is an oral, once daily, highly selective sodium glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor and the first type 2 diabetes medicine to include cardiovascular death risk reduction data in its label in several countries.16,17,18

Please click on the following link for Notes to Editors and References http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/emperor-reduced-chmp-positive-opinion

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New analyses from pivotal BAVENCIO  study reinforce unique clinical benefits across different subgroups in the treatment of advanced urothelial carcinoma

New data from VISION study of TEPMETKO  show association between liquid biopsy-identified biomarker and clinical response in MET ex14 skipping NSCLC, supporting liquid biopsy as a means for monitoring treatment response

TEPMETKO  shows efficacy in MET ex14 skipping NSCLC patients with brain metastases consistent with overall treatment population

Oral presentations from independent studies reinforce the position of ERBITUX in 1L RAS wt mCRC and as backbone of treatment in SCCHN

Not intended for UK-, US- or Canada-based media

Merck, a leading science and technology company, today announced 40 abstracts, including seven oral presentations and seven poster discussions, from Company- and investigator-sponsored studies (ISS) and external collaborations, representing the Companys innovative oncology portfolio will be presented at this years American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, June 4-8, 2021.

Important new analyses from our pivotal studies in urothelial cancer and non-small cell lung cancer, which have led to recent regulatory approvals for BAVENCIO (avelumab) and TEPMETKO (tepotinib) in these tumor types, demonstrate how our research continues to drive forward new standards of care in certain cancers with high unmet medical need, said Danny Bar-Zohar, Global Head of Development for the Healthcare business of Merck. These analyses, along with additional data informing the understanding of new and emerging mechanisms under investigation, are the latest examples of our dedication to advancing the science of cancer treatment to make a meaningful difference for patients.

The Companys research programs, focused on synergistic approaches in immuno-oncology, oncogenic pathways, and DNA damage response (DDR), aim to tackle some of the most challenging tumor types, including urothelial cancer (UC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), renal cell carcinoma (RCC), colorectal cancer (CRC), and cervical cancer (CC).

Key Data Highlights at ASCO

BAVENCIO (avelumab)

Data across three approved indications for BAVENCIO (avelumab) provide further evidence of continued patient benefit:

Advanced urothelial cancer (presentations: 4520, 4525, 4527). New analyses from the Phase III JAVELIN Bladder 100 study demonstrated consistent survival benefit of BAVENCIO (avelumab) as first-line maintenance treatment across key subgroups including those defined by the treatment-free interval from the end of chemotherapy to the start of maintenance, disease stage, site of metastasis, or genomic subtype. These data further reinforce the role of BAVENCIO for patients with advanced UC that have not progressed on 1L platinum-containing chemotherapy.

Advanced renal cell carcinoma (aRCC) (presentations: 4514, 4574). Data from the extended follow-up of the Phase III JAVELIN Renal 101 study explored the effects of subsequent therapies on outcomes for patients with aRCC treated with BAVENCIO (avelumab) plus axitinib and confirmed the efficacy benefits of the combination across International Metastatic RCC Data Consortium (IMDC) risk groups including in the favorable risk group.

Metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (mMCC) (presentation: 9517). In previously treated patients with metastatic MCC (mMCC), treatment with BAVENCIO (avelumab) provided meaningful long-term overall survival (OS), based on more than five years of follow-up in Part A of the Phase II JAVELIN Merkel 200 study with 48- and 60-month OS rates 30% (95% CI, 20%-40%) and 26% (95% CI, 17%-36%), respectively. These results further support the role of avelumab as a standard-of-care treatment for patients with mMCC.

TEPMETKO (tepotinib)

ASCO highlights for TEPMETKO (tepotinib) include new data from the Phase II VISION study:

METex14 NSCLC biomarker response detected in liquid biopsy (LBx) abstract (oral presentation: 9012). In this analysis, reduction in variant allele frequency following tepotinib treatment was related to an improved treatment outcome. Further, this investigation provides evidence that liquid biopsy may provide a reliable means for monitoring response to treatment, understanding resistance mechanisms, and improving patient outcomes and quality of life.

METex14 skipping NSCLC with brain metastases (presentation: 9084). Data demonstrated efficacy in patients with mesenchymal epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 (METex14) skipping NSCLC with brain metastases consistent with the overall treatment population, complemented by intracranial activity in an ad hoc retrospective analysis of brain lesions determined by CT/MRI. Brain metastases are reported in 20% to 40% of patients with METex14 skipping NSCLC and are associated with poor prognosis.

NSCLC with MET amplification (METamp) (presentation: 9021). Clinical activity observed in VISION Cohort B, the first study of a MET inhibitor in people with NSCLC with METamp prospectively detected by liquid biopsy, showed the potential of tepotinib to target METamp-driven disease, particularly in the treatment-naive setting where there is high unmet need. MET amplification is a genetic alteration occurring in approximately 1% to 5% of patients with NSCLC and has no approved targeted therapies.

Tepotinib is also being investigated in two ongoing studies, which are currently recruiting patients: INSIGHT 2 (Presentation: TPS9136), assessing the combination of osimertinib and tepotinib in patients with epithelial growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant NSCLC that has developed resistance to first-line osimertinib treatment due to MET amplification; and PERSPECTIVE (Presentation: TPS3616), evaluating tepotinib in combination with cetuximab in mCRC having acquired resistance to anti-EGFR antibody-targeted therapy due to MET amplification.

ERBITUX (cetuximab)

For the Companys first biology-driven leader, ERBITUX (cetuximab), a number of ISS, and the PERSPECTIVE study in combination with TEPMETKO (tepotinib) continue to demonstrate its steady role across the continuum of care in metastatic colorectal cancer, and as a backbone of treatment in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck.

DEEPER JACCRO CC-13 (oral presentation: 3501). Significant greater depth of response seen with cetuximab + triplet CT vs bevacizumab + triplet CT in 1L RAS wt mCRC

FIRE 4.5 AIO KRK-0116 (oral presentation: 3502).Comparable efficacy shown between cetuximab and bevacizumab in 1L BRAF mt mCRC

TROG 12.01 and De-ESCALaTE (oral presentation: 109).This pooled analysis from two Phase III studies identifies a potential prognostic biomarker for patients treated with cetuximab + RT in HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer (OPC) LA SCCHN

Bintrafusp alfa(M7824)

Data for bintrafusp alfa, an investigational bifunctional fusion protein, continue to shed light on the potential benefits of dual inhibition of the TGF- and PD-L1 pathways:

Recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer (oral presentation: 5509). A pooled analysis of data from the Phase I [email protected] Solid Tumor 001 study and a National Cancer Institute (NCI)-led Phase II study demonstrated that bintrafusp alfa monotherapy has a manageable safety profile and clinical activity in patients with platinum-pretreated, immune checkpoint inhibitor-naive recurrent/metastatic cervical cancer.

HPV 16+ advanced malignancies (oral presentation: 2501). Data from this NCI-led Phase II clinical study of patients with advanced HPV 16+ cancers provided early evidence of the clinical activity of a triple combination of bintrafusp alfa, NHS-IL12 and PDS0101, with a manageable safety profile.

Merck is a science-led organization dedicated to delivering transformative medicines with the goal of making a meaningful difference in the lives of people affected by cancer. Our oncology research efforts aim to leverage our synergistic portfolio in oncogenic pathways, immuno-oncology, and DNA Damage Response (DDR) to tackle challenging tumor types in gastrointestinal, genitourinary, and thoracic cancers. Our curiosity drives our pursuit of treatments for even the most complex cancers, as we work to illuminate a path to scientific breakthroughs that transform patient outcomes. Learn more at https://www.merckgrouponcology.com.

About BAVENCIO (avelumab)

BAVENCIO is a human anti-programmed death ligand-1 (PD-L1) antibody. BAVENCIO has been shown in preclinical models to engage both the adaptive and innate immune functions. By blocking the interaction of PD-L1 with PD-1 receptors, BAVENCIO has been shown to release the suppression of the T cell-mediated antitumor immune response in preclinical models. In November 2014, Merck and Pfizer announced a strategic alliance to co-develop and co-commercialize BAVENCIO.

BAVENCIO Approved Indications

The European Commission (EC) has authorized the use of BAVENCIO as monotherapy for the first-line maintenance treatment of adult patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) who are progression-free following platinum-based chemotherapy. BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated for the first-line treatment of adult patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma (RCC). BAVENCIO is also authorized by the EC for use as a monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic Merkel cell carcinoma (MCC).

In the US, BAVENCIO is indicated for the maintenance treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC) that has not progressed with first-line platinum-containing chemotherapy. BAVENCIO is also indicated for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic UC who have disease progression during or following platinum-containing chemotherapy, or have disease progression within 12 months of neoadjuvant or adjuvant treatment with platinum-containing chemotherapy.

BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib is indicated in the US for the first-line treatment of patients with advanced RCC. Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approval for BAVENCIO for the treatment of adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older with metastatic MCC. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on tumor response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials.

BAVENCIO is currently approved for patients in 50 countries for at least one use.

BAVENCIO Safety Profile from the EU Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC)

The special warnings and precautions for use for BAVENCIO monotherapy include infusion-related reactions, as well as immune-related adverse reactions that include pneumonitis and hepatitis (including fatal cases), colitis, pancreatitis (including fatal cases), myocarditis (including fatal cases), endocrinopathies, nephritis and renal dysfunction, and other immune-related adverse reactions. The special warnings and precautions for use for BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib include hepatotoxicity.

The SmPC list of the most common adverse reactions with BAVENCIO monotherapy in patients with solid tumors includes fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, decreased appetite, constipation, infusion-related reactions, weight decreased and vomiting. The list of most common adverse reactions with BAVENCIO in combination with axitinib includes diarrhea, hypertension, fatigue, nausea, dysphonia, decreased appetite, hypothyroidism, cough, headache, dyspnea, and arthralgia.

About TEPMETKO (tepotinib)

TEPMETKO is an oral MET inhibitor that inhibits the oncogenic MET receptor signaling caused by MET (gene) alterations. Discovered and developed in-house at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, TEPMETKO has a highly selective mechanism of action, with the potential to improve outcomes in aggressive tumors that have a poor prognosis and harbor these specific alterations.

TEPMETKO was the first oral MET inhibitor to receive a regulatory approval anywhere in the world for the treatment of advanced NSCLC harboring MET gene alterations, with its approval in Japan in March 2020. TEPMETKO was approved in the United States in February 2021 for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring mesenchymal-epithelial transition (MET) exon 14 skipping alterations. This indication is approved under accelerated approval based on overall response rate and duration of response. Continued approval for this indication may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials. Tepotinib is currently under clinical investigation and not yet approved in any markets outside of Japan and the United States.

About ERBITUX (cetuximab)

ERBITUX is an IgG1 monoclonal antibody targeting the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). As a monoclonal antibody, the mode of action of ERBITUX is distinct from standard non-selective chemotherapy treatments in that it specifically targets and binds to the EGFR. This binding inhibits the activation of the receptor and the subsequent signal-transduction pathway, which results in reducing both the invasion of normal tissues by tumor cells and the spread of tumors to new sites. It is also believed to inhibit the ability of tumor cells to repair the damage caused by chemotherapy and radiotherapy and to inhibit the formation of new blood vessels inside tumors, which appears to lead to an overall suppression of tumor growth. Based on in vitro evidence, ERBITUX also targets cytotoxic immune effector cells towards EGFR-expressing tumor cells (antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity [ADCC]).

ERBITUX has already obtained market authorization in over 100 countries worldwide for the treatment of RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer and for the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck. Merck licensed the right to market ERBITUX, a registered trademark of ImClone LLC, outside the U.S. and Canada from ImClone LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company, in 1998.

About Bintrafusp Alfa

Bintrafusp alfa (M7824), discovered in-house at Merck, and currently in clinical development through a strategic alliance with GSK, is a potential first-in-class investigational bifunctional fusion protein designed to simultaneously block two immunosuppressive pathways, TGF- and PD-L1, within the tumor microenvironment. This bifunctional approach is thought to control tumor growth by potentially restoring and enhancing anti-tumor responses. In preclinical studies, bintrafusp alfa has demonstrated antitumor activity both as monotherapy and in combination with chemotherapy. Based on its mechanism of action, bintrafusp alfa offers a potential targeted approach to addressing the underlying pathophysiology of difficult-to-treat cancers.

All Merck Press Releases are distributed by e-mail at the same time they become available on the Merck Website. Please go to www.merckgroup.com/subscribe to register online, change your selection or discontinue this service.

About Merck

Merck, a leading science and technology company, operates across healthcare, life science and electronics. Around 58,000 employees work to make a positive difference to millions of peoples lives every day by creating more joyful and sustainable ways to live. From advancing gene editing technologies and discovering unique ways to treat the most challenging diseases to enabling the intelligence of devices  the company is everywhere. In 2020, Merck generated sales of  17.5 billion in 66 countries.

Scientific exploration and responsible entrepreneurship have been key to Mercks technological and scientific advances. This is how Merck has thrived since its founding in 1668. The founding family remains the majority owner of the publicly listed company. Merck holds the global rights to the Merck name and brand. The only exceptions are the United States and Canada, where the business sectors of Merck operate as EMD Serono in healthcare, MilliporeSigma in life science, and EMD Electronics.

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River damming, water pollution, overfishing, and sand quarrying have been damaging the living environment of aquatic organisms in the Yangtze River for some time. The decline of biodiversity in the Yangtze ecosystem is an immediate threat to fishery production, and a longer term threat to the health of the surrounding regions.

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Dahua Technology Supports Water Management Efforts (Photo: Business Wire)

To protect the environment of the Yangtze basin, the main part of the Yangtze River as well as large-scale lakes and important tributaries have just started this year a ten-year comprehensive ban on fishing, a project Dahua Technology is supporting with its digital intelligence systems.

Automatic supervision tools, like smart warnings of ship intrusion, greatly improve the efficiency of manual inspections and speed response to illegal activity in the basin. Dahua systems will monitor activity within banned areas, other fishing regions, dock landing points, and aquatic product wholesale markets. Combining this digital intelligence with enforcement on the ground allows for sufficient evidence and follow up, as well as real-time responses which together contribute to more careful management of these critical bodies of water.

Dahua Technology uses a three-dimensional perception system of air, land and water, deploying AI image recognition systems to capture relevant events in real-time. Our technology can power automatic warning of abnormal activity, deterrence of illegal events, and time-based retrospective evidence collection. This technology builds on years of Dahua experience running ecosystem protection systems along major rivers, using video IoT, artificial intelligence, and data fusion to support water area governance in irrigation systems around China that cover more than 10,000 kilometers.

Building Dahuas Sustainability and Conservation Agenda

Dahua Technology is a world-leading video-centric smart IoT solution and service provider. Our engineers and product designers take the solutions part of that description seriously. An important part of their mission is to identify areas where our technology can make distinctive contributions to problem-solving in the interests of society. In the last few years, Dahua Technology has been developing and deploying systems that can advance sustainability goals, participating in one of the most crucial human endeavors of our century. We have taken important steps in the battle against species extinction, against forest fires, and in the protection and conservation of water resources.

Check out How Dahua Video Monitoring Solution Protects Endangered Species and How Dahua Technology Helps Prevent Forest Fires.

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End-to-end 5G Private Network with Open RAN capabilities, cloud-enabled 5G Core, orchestration and analytics, and an ecosystem of device and application partners

Ban Chang Silicon Beach Smart City showcasing todays technology in partnership with 5GCT, Mavenir and Cisco



Mavenir, the Network Software Provider building the future of networks with cloud-native software that runs on any cloud and transforms the way the world connects, announced today that its working with National Telecom Public Company Limited (NT), a state-owned telecommunications company, 5GCT, a local partner specialized in delivering end-to-end 5G Smart Cities and Cisco Systems (Thailand), a leading networking company, to launch the first 5G Open RAN Smart City in Ban Chang, Thailand.

The launch of the 5G Smart City creates synergies between public and private sectors for a fully functional smart city. The city of Ban Chang, is connected to a motorway linking Thailands two largest cities: Pattaya and Bangkok. The location is within close proximity to U-Tapao International Airport, Map Ta Phut Industrial Zone and the new master planned Ban Chang Smart City that are strategically important infrastructure for the Digital Economy in Thailand and the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC). These characteristics make Ban Chang the perfect city to take advantage of 5G use cases across industrial robots, factory automation, remote telemedicine, aviation, logistics and agriculture. Industry leaders are terming the development the Silicon Beach of Asia.

The Ban Chang Smart City 5G Private Network operates on Millimeter wave (mmWave) spectrum, spectrum which is ideally suited for a network operating Internet of Thing (IoT) sensors, drones and smart poles, all applications which require fast data uplink to the core for realtime analysis and city management.

Mavenir provided a cloud-native, open architecture-based Private Network solution that enabled TOT1 to reach the promise of 5G. The software-based platform enabled the transformation of the mobile communication private network into a completely virtualized environment, where devices, applications, and services run on an automated network using open architecture, containers, and artificial intelligence (AI). Mavenirs end-to-end 5G Open RAN, Millimeter wave (mmWave) radios and 5G Core with Open API technology standards, in-sync with the cloud-native solutions supporting private On-Premise applications delivers Smart City concepts such as real-time diagnostics of traffic, public safety, digital signage and sensitive environmental conditions.

TOTs IP transport infrastructure vendor and a key Mavenir technology partner, Cisco, provided switching hardware and application services to enable the smart components of the 5G solution.

Mavenirs Aniruddho Basu, GM of its Emerging Business Unit, said We are proud to be part of this ambitious 5G project which sees a whole city connected on a series of 5G applications running in parallel. Connectivity is at the heart of this deployment - connecting people, communities, government services, and private sector services through local government data combined with new data acquired through Internet of Things (IOT), sensors, drones, and external collected data, to fully analyze it for proper city management and citizen knowledge.

Commenting on the announcement, Shannon Kalayanamitr, Chief Executive Officer at 5GCT, said At 5GTC, we are driven to strengthen the potential of Thailand through high speed 5G. The partnership with Mavenir as an infrastructure provider enables us to deliver robust, secure and reliable 5G Private Network infrastructure across enterprises, including smart city applications, industry 4.0 applications - automated industry and modern medicine.

Taweewat Chantaraseno, Managing Director, Thailand & Indochina, Cisco Systems (Thailand), said We are delighted to be part of the first 5G smart city in Thailand. With the partnership with Mavenir and Cisco Connected Communities Infrastructure (CCI), the host of Smart City can create a single, secure communications network to support all needs that are simpler to deploy and manage from end-to-end visibility, ranging from smart kiosks and outdoor Wi-Fi, to smart street lighting, parking, waste and more. Smart city infrastructure is enabling efficiency, cost reduction and improved living for city occupants and network infrastructure platform helps create these efficiencies.

About Mavenir:

Mavenir is building the future of networks and pioneering advanced technology, focusing on the vision of a single, software-based automated network that runs on any cloud. As the industry's only end-to-end, cloud-native network software provider, Mavenir is focused on transforming the way the world connects, accelerating software network transformation for 250+ Communications Service Providers in over 120 countries, which serve more than 50% of the worlds subscribers.

Visit: www.mavenir.com

1 TOT and CAT Telecom recently merged under National Telecommunications Public Company Limited (NT) a Thai Government Telecom service provider

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 The Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) Grants Regulatory Approval of Modernas COVID-19 Vaccine (COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna Intramuscular Injection) Following Positive Interim Results in Takedas Phase 1/2 Immunogenicity and Safety Clinical Trial



 Interim Results Indicate Immune Response Consistent with Modernas Pivotal Phase 3 COVE Trial Results



 Takeda Will Immediately Begin Distribution in Japan



Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK)(Takeda) today announced that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) granted special approval under article 14-3 of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act for emergency use of Modernas mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, TAK-919, now known as COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna Intramuscular Injection, in Japan. The approval is based on positive clinical data from Takedas Phase 1/2 immunogenicity and safety clinical trial of Modernas COVID-19 vaccine in Japan, which showed an immune response consistent with results from Modernas pivotal Phase 3 COVE trial conducted in the United States. Takeda plans to begin distribution in Japan immediately.

This is an important step in Takedas support of Japans pandemic response, said Rajeev Venkayya, president of the Global Vaccine Business Unit at Takeda. Modernas vaccine has demonstrated an excellent safety and effectiveness profile to date, and we are excited to make it available to the Japanese population.

The approval is the result of a three-way agreement announced in October 2020 with Moderna and Government of Japans Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (MHLW) to distribute 50 million doses of TAK-919 in Japan in the first half of 2021. Takeda also entered into a collaboration with Novavax to develop, manufacture and commercialize Novavax COVID-19 vaccine candidate (TAK-019) in Japan.

Takedas efforts to bring the COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna Intramuscular Injection and Novavax vaccine candidates to Japan are supported by the MHLW and the Japan Agency for Medical Research and Development (AMED).

TAK-919 Clinical Trialand Results

Takeda is conducting a placebo-controlled Phase 1/2 study in Japan to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of two vaccinations of TAK-919 given 28 days apart. Takeda enrolled 200 participants aged 20 years and older. Each participant was assigned to receive a placebo or a 0.5 ml dose of TAK-919 at both vaccinations. Participants will be followed for 12 months after the second vaccination.

This interim analysis showed that binding antibody and neutralizing antibody titers were elevated at 28 days after the second dose in 100% of people vaccinated with two 0.5ml doses of TAK-919 given 28 days apart. The vaccine candidate was generally well-tolerated with no significant safety concerns reported. Takeda intends to publish additional data in a peer-reviewed journal.

About Takedas COVID-19 Efforts

Takeda is taking a comprehensive approach to treat and prevent COVID-19 today, and future pandemics through multiple activities and partnerships including, but not limited to:

Hyperimmune globulin : Takeda co-founded the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance and joined forces with other leading plasma companies to evaluate a hyperimmune globulin medicine in a global clinical trial. While the data did not meet its endpoints, the program has contributed to the scientific understanding of antibody-based treatment to address the virus and highlighted the broader therapeutic value and importance of plasma to treat rare diseases.

: Takeda co-founded the CoVIg-19 Plasma Alliance and joined forces with other leading plasma companies to evaluate a hyperimmune globulin medicine in a global clinical trial. While the data did not meet its endpoints, the program has contributed to the scientific understanding of antibody-based treatment to address the virus and highlighted the broader therapeutic value and importance of plasma to treat rare diseases. Additional therapeutics: The company has assessed existing Takeda products for activity against the COVID-19 virus and co-founded the COVID R&D Alliance. In addition, Takeda has joined the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) CARE consortium, the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership and the COVID RED project.

The company has assessed existing Takeda products for activity against the COVID-19 virus and co-founded the COVID R&D Alliance. In addition, Takeda has joined the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) CARE consortium, the Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) partnership and the COVID RED project. Vaccines: Takeda has partnered with the Government of Japan, Novavax and Moderna, to help accelerate the availability of COVID-19 vaccines. We are leveraging our extensive and well-established global manufacturing and supply capabilities and building upon our existing influenza pandemic preparedness efforts in Japan. Takeda also announced a mutual agreement with IDT Biologika GmbH (IDT) to utilize capacity at IDT for three months previously reserved for Takedas dengue vaccine candidate to manufacture the single-shot COVID-19 vaccine developed by Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Takeda supports our partners and alliances in a shared goal to rapidly discover, develop and deliver effective treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 and ensure preparedness for future pandemics.

Takedas Commitment to Vaccines

Vaccines prevent 2 to 3 million deaths each year and have transformed global public health. For the past 70 years, Takeda has supplied vaccines to protect the health of people in Japan. Today, Takedas global vaccine business is applying innovation to tackle some of the worlds most challenging infectious diseases, such as dengue, COVID-19, Zika and norovirus. Takedas team brings an outstanding track record and a wealth of knowledge in vaccine development, manufacturing and global access to advance a pipeline of vaccines to address some of the worlds most pressing public health needs. For more information, visit www.TakedaVaccines.com.

About Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE: 4502/NYSE: TAK) is a global, values-based, R&D-driven biopharmaceutical leader headquartered in Japan, committed to discover and deliver life-transforming treatments, guided by our commitment to patients, our people and the planet. Takeda focuses its R&D efforts on four therapeutic areas: Oncology, Rare Genetics and Hematology, Neuroscience, and Gastroenterology (GI). We also make targeted R&D investments in Plasma-Derived Therapies and Vaccines. We are focusing on developing highly innovative medicines that contribute to making a difference in peoples lives by advancing the frontier of new treatment options and leveraging our enhanced collaborative R&D engine and capabilities to create a robust, modality-diverse pipeline. Our employees are committed to improving quality of life for patients and to working with our partners in health care in approximately 80 countries. For more information, visit https://www.takeda.com.

Important Notice

For the purposes of this notice, press release means this document, any oral presentation, any question and answer session and any written or oral material discussed or distributed by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda) regarding this release. This press release (including any oral briefing and any question-and-answer in connection with it) is not intended to, and does not constitute, represent or form part of any offer, invitation or solicitation of any offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, exchange, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities or the solicitation of any vote or approval in any jurisdiction. No shares or other securities are being offered to the public by means of this press release. No offering of securities shall be made in the United States except pursuant to registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or an exemption therefrom. This press release is being given (together with any further information which may be provided to the recipient) on the condition that it is for use by the recipient for information purposes only (and not for the evaluation of any investment, acquisition, disposal or any other transaction). Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of applicable securities laws.

The companies in which Takeda directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this press release, Takeda is sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Takeda and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words we, us and our are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any materials distributed in connection with this press release may contain forward-looking statements, beliefs or opinions regarding Takedas future business, future position and results of operations, including estimates, forecasts, targets and plans for Takeda. Without limitation, forward-looking statements often include words such as targets, plans, believes, hopes, continues, expects, aims, intends, ensures, will, may, should, would, could anticipates, estimates, projects or similar expressions or the negative thereof. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions about many important factors, including the following, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements: the economic circumstances surrounding Takedas global business, including general economic conditions in Japan and the United States; competitive pressures and developments; changes to applicable laws and regulations; the success of or failure of product development programs; decisions of regulatory authorities and the timing thereof; fluctuations in interest and currency exchange rates; claims or concerns regarding the safety or efficacy of marketed products or product candidates; the impact of health crises, like the novel coronavirus pandemic, on Takeda and its customers and suppliers, including foreign governments in countries in which Takeda operates, or on other facets of its business; the timing and impact of post-merger integration efforts with acquired companies; the ability to divest assets that are not core to Takedas operations and the timing of any such divestment(s); and other factors identified in Takedas most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F and Takedas other reports filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, available on Takedas website at: https://www.takeda.com/investors/ reports/sec-filings/ or at www.sec.gov. Takeda does not undertake to update any of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release or any other forward-looking statements it may make, except as required by law or stock exchange rule. Past performance is not an indicator of future results and the results or statements of Takeda in this press release may not be indicative of, and are not an estimate, forecast, guarantee or projection of Takedas future results.

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'MI Vacc to Normal' Plan now features two steps to get the state back to normal by July 1
The Branford intensive outpatient program, where Lekwauwa is the medical director of the adolescent program, was just slammed with demand for care, particularly from January to March, she said. It may have been that as the winter let up and COVID-19 metrics started to improve in Connecticut, more families began to seek care for adolescents in distress. Even now, Lekwauwa is seeing a lot more acuity  patients with more severe needs  than she otherwise would at this time of year.
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The Palestinians trust China to be a neutral and unbiased mediator to host peace talks in a bid to help resolve the ongoing conflict between Palestine and Israel, Palestinian Ambassador to China Fariz Mehdawi told Caixin in an interview Monday.

The ambassadors comments came after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during a U.N. Security Council meeting on Sunday that Beijing is willing to invite Palestinian and Israeli representatives for direct talks in China.

Wang also accused the U.S. of blocking the U.N. Security Council from issuing a unified statement calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict in the Gaza Strip.

Due to one countrys obstruction, the Security Council has so far failed to make a unanimous voice, he said. We call on the United States to shoulder its due responsibilities, adopt a fair stand, and support the Security Council in playing its due role in easing the tensions.

The conflicts between Israel and Palestine escalated during the week with hundreds being killed and injured by rockets fired by Hamas militants against Israeli cities, and airstrikes launched by the Israeli forces on Gaza.

The Palestinian ambassador said that he welcomed Wangs offer to host peace talks in China. We observed that China is trying to become active [on Palestine-Israel peace process], he said, adding that the Palestinians trust China to be neutral and objective and not biased.

Mehdawi believes that Beijing would like to discuss every part of this problem and address it all together in one full package, which will end this problem right from the roots of it.

He also laid out a three-step plan for the two sides to return to the peace process. He said Israel should first stop shooting and bombing in front of us, while Washington should reverse all of the Palestine policy measures made under the previous Trump administration.

Finally, he said, an international peace conference should be convened with the objective of two-state solution on the table. The outcome should be guaranteed ... you cannot go to conference to start from zero, he said.

Read Caixins interview with Israeli ambassador to China Irit Ben-Abba Vitale here.

Contact reporter Lu Zhenhua (zhenhualu@caixin.com) and editor Michael Bellart (michaelbellart@caixin.com)

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Ceramist Qu Hanlin opened his first solo exhibition, Unrestrained  Maverick, after 15 years of preparation in Jingdezhen, East Chinas Jiangxi province, in October 2020. Qu moved to Jingdezhen, famous for its white porcelain, to master his pottery-making skills after graduating from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Clay provided a way for the artist to set himself free. Xiangwai Artha, an art-sharing platform, contributed to todays gallery

Jun 11, 2021 06:15 PM
Here you'll find our latest collection of Caledonian-Record reports on the coronavirus outbreak and local response, from the beginning of April. Our January, February and March stories are here: https://www.caledonianrecord.com/news/local/our-coronavirus-coverage/collection_5885178c-692e-11e
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KABUL, Afghanistan (AP)  For the past four years, since she was 14, the notebook was always within her reach. Shukria Ahmadi titled it Beautiful Sentences and put everything in it. Poetry that she liked  sometimes a single line, sometimes long verses. Her drawings, like one of a delicate Read more
Newport News Sheriff Gabe Morgan said he wanted to try something new to stop a revolving door for those, like Jones, who repeatedly land in jail while intoxicated, charged with misdemeanors. He put up some of the jails limited funds, won a federal grant and convinced Alkermes Inc., the maker of a naltrexone extended-release shot used in medication-assisted treatment programs.
Stephanie Berntsen is a shareholder with Schwabe, Williamson & Wyatt. She is part of the firms Real Estate and Construction and Transportation, Ports and Maritime industry group. She provides proactive, common-sense legal advice on employment issues for companies operating in the Pacific Northwest.
Do you have an athlete in mind that contributes to the team or sport, holds sportsmanship and team spirit, has epic playmaker moments and/or in general makes the the sports fun? If yes, please make your nominations for our edition of Athlete Spotlight.

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Carteret County Deputy Sheriff Cenold Belizaire, left, receives the Coastal Carolina Taxpayers Association Deputy Sheriff of the Year award from Carteret County Sheriff Asa Buck during an awards banquet Tuesday in New Bern. (Contributed photo)
FILE - In this April 27, 2021 file photo, attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., Wayne Kendall, left, and Ben Crump hold a news conference outside the Pasquotank County Public safety building in Elizabeth City, N.C., to announce results of the autopsy they commissioned. Many police departments  including in large U.S. cities such as New York and Chicago  ban or strictly limit shooting into moving vehicles after concluding that the practice is ineffective and not worth the risk to human life. But it is still happening and defended as a justifiable use of force in other areas, including the small municipality of Elizabeth City. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP)
Glen, NH (03838)

Today

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low near 50F. Winds WNW at 10 to 15 mph.
Emotions continue to erupt at an anti-logging blockade on Vancouver Island as protesters and police clashed on Thursday.

A more dramatic arrest was captured on camera and posted to Fair Creek Blockades Instagram.

The man in the video spoke to Glacier Media and said his name is Dominic.

An officer came up and said, 'Youre under arrest,' says Dominic. I didnt do anything wrong. I said I am not under arrest and he said I was and then he put his hand on me and tried to start moving me around.

He claims to have been walking to grab a friend's backpack and was observing the demonstrators.

Despite my best intentions, [the officer] put me on the ground rolled me over... I have a bump on my head, he says.

Hundreds of protesters have blocked the logging road for days after police enforced a court-ordered injunction to remove old-growth logging protesters from the area around Fairy Creek.

As of Thursday, police have arrested 21 people. Seventeen of them breached the induction and four were arrested for obstruction.

Teal Jones Logging has the right to harvest and a nearby First Nation says they have obtained commitments from the government and the licence to protect specific areas of interest to them.

Pacheedaht First Nation is deeply saddened and concerned by the continued extreme disrespect being shown to our people, says Rod Bealing, forestry manager.

Our traditional territory is currently being exploited as a backdrop for a provincewide environmental campaign with insufficient regard to the proper Indigenous protocols, or the sovereignty, rights, wishes or needs of the Pacheedaht people.

He adds their planning process will properly engage the nation, allow everyone's voice to be heard, and "guide our management of our traditional territory into the future."

A spokesperson for Rainforest Flying Squad, the group that's behind the blockade, says they will continue to stay until the old-growth trees are protected.

The fact of the matter is we are down to a tiny fraction of the old-growth forest that once dominated the landscape. We are on the brink of ecosystem collapse in these areas, says Joshua Wright.

More than 200 people are scattered across the area at six different camps, according to Wright.

These forests could survive just fine without us, but we cant survive without them, he says.

A woman, who asked to be called Pony, positioned herself high up in the trees and says she wont come down. Shes been up there for four days.

I have refused to come down so I will just stay and see how long it takes them to come and take me down, she says.

Mounties say they will continue to monitor the situation and, on Friday, will remove people from trees if they do not choose to come down.
FILE - In this April 27, 2021 file photo, attorneys for the family of Andrew Brown Jr., Wayne Kendall, left, and Ben Crump hold a news conference outside the Pasquotank County Public safety building in Elizabeth City, N.C., to announce results of the autopsy they commissioned. Many police departments  including in large U.S. cities such as New York and Chicago  ban or strictly limit shooting into moving vehicles after concluding that the practice is ineffective and not worth the risk to human life. But it is still happening and defended as a justifiable use of force in other areas, including the small municipality of Elizabeth City. (Travis Long/The News & Observer via AP) (Travis Long/AP)
Christine Pegg (The exemptions are lies) claims people should have to prove they have a mask exemption, a personal opinion contrary to the BC Human Rights Tribunal. If a person claims a mask exemption, take them at their word. Proof should not be required. Business owners cannot be fined for allowing people without masks to enter their place of business. This comes direct from the BC Office of the Human Rights Commissioner. Even the cruel and socially destructive Bonnie Henry stated we should "take people at their word. But I guess people like Christine think we should rely on personal, subjective, emotive opinions.

I demand facts, science, evidence, and thoughtful considered research. Sadly even an MIT study recently referred to skeptics and critics with the pejorative term anti maskers but it did reveal remarkable insight such as users...are deeply invested in forms of critique and knowledge production that they recognize as markers of scientific expertise, and added that if anything, anti-mask science has extended the traditional tools of data analysis by taking up the theoretical mantle of recent critical studies of visualisation and are more sophisticated in their understanding of how scientific knowledge is socially constructed than their ideological adversaries, who espouse naive realism about the objective truth of public health data.

To simply trust the science as the meme espouses is to ignore the fact that data visualizations are not a neutral window onto an observer-independent reality, and that during a pandemic, they are an arena of political struggle.

I doubt people yelling at store clerks read MIT research, and I disassociate myself from their uncivilized disrespectful kind.

Beverly Ryder may be Tired of the covid letters but many are not. Many people across the world are fighting for civil rights, freedoms, democracy, and demanding information, evidence and facts. If we always treated oppression and anti-humanity cruelty as simply a case of it is what it is we would live in a much worse world than we do now. As humanity slips into a fog of totalitarian control, with restrictions and oppression of every sort, we can either look back and say that we fought it, or we embraced the human misery of totalitarian communism, willingly surrendering Canada's sovereignty to the World Economic Forum, UN, WHO and other far more nefarious entities. As the old saying goes one man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

I'm not a covid-denier but if governments can't produce scientific evidence, then one has the right to be skeptical and demand proof. Health orders are rarely based on proven science, and are simply based on Dr Henry's personal opinion or the flavour of the month for the global health tyrants.

I favour legal action to attain the truth. In Switzerland, Martin Ackerman, head of the Covid Science Task Force has been indicted by 5 organizations and 7 private individuals for criminal attempted and actual intimidation of the Swiss people contrary to their Constitution.

I long for the day that Bankrupt Bonnie and her ilk are standing before Human Rights tribunals. For the time being, lets see where the case in BC's Supreme Court takes us, shall we (brought against Dr Henry and the Crown by the Canadian Society for the Advancement of Science in Public Policy). Perhaps Bankrupt Bonnie will finally produce some scientific evidence.

Until then we can dream of freedom, the old normal, or look forward to more CCP-style Social Credit Score dystopia.

Ricky Daytona, West Kelowna
Photo: The Canadian Press South Korean President Moon Jae-in walks with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin as they arrive for the groundbreaking ceremony for the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, Friday, May 21, 2021. The Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance is a long-planned addition to the existing Korean War Veterans Memorial and will display the names of the U.S. military and Korean Augmentation to the United States Army personnel who gave their lives defending South Korea's people from aggression and ensuring their freedom. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed Americas return to the world stage and said both leaders pledged in their meeting to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Biden told a joint news conference with Moon that he was dispatching career diplomat Sung Kim, who previously served as ambassador to South Korea, to serve as the special envoy to the region. Moon said the move by Biden reflects the firm commitment of the U.S. for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea.

Biden also announced that the U.S. would vaccinate 550,000 South Korean servicemembers who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula.

This marks the first commitment by the Biden administration for what it plans to do with the 80 million vaccine doses it aims to distribute globally in the next six weeks. Biden has said he hopes to use domestically produced vaccines as a modern-day arsenal of democracy, a reference to the U.S. effort to arm allies in World War II. At the same time, the White House has pledged not to attach policy conditions to countries receiving the doses as global vaccine diplomacy heats up.

Moon came to Washington seeking renewed diplomatic urgency by the U.S. on curbing North Koreas nuclear program, even as the White House signaled that it is taking a longer view on the issue. The two also discussed coordination on vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security concerns spurred by China.

Their meeting was only Biden's second in-person session with a foreign leader because of the coronavirus pandemic. His first was with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Moon said afterward he and Biden spoke "like old friends and emphasized the need for cooperation on security issues in the region.

The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Biden did not rule out meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim. But in a veiled reference to former President Donald Trumps charm offensive with Kim, Biden said he would not replicate the efforts of the recent past.

Trump met face-to-face with the dictator on three occasions and exchanged what he called love letters with the leader.

I would not give him all that hes looking for," Biden said of Kim, namely international recognition.

Biden paid tribute to the long history of shared sacrifice by the two allies. His formal talks with Moon in the afternoon ran long, Biden said in earlier remarks, because I enjoyed the meeting so much that it caused us to move everything back. He said his staff interrupted repeatedly to warn they were over time.

At the press conference, Biden also took a moment to note South Korea's growing influence on mainstream American culture. He said that now K-pop fans are universal" and noted Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn winning the Oscar award last month for her performance in Minari as well as the South Korean film Parasite winning the best picture award at the 2020 Oscars.

Moon said, The world is welcoming Americas return, an oblique reference to Trump's attempts to disengage on some aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy and Biden would veer from the strategies of his two most recent predecessors, rejecting both Trumps deeply personal effort to win over Kim and Barack Obamas more hands-off approach.

But the administration has yet to detail what its third-way effort to try to prod the North to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

Moon started his day at the White House complex by meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top Biden advisers. Moon also participated in a Medal of Honor ceremony for Ralph Puckett, a 94-year-old Army veteran who was celebrated for his gallantry during the Korean War more than 70 years ago.

Without the sacrifice of veterans including Colonel Puckett ... freedom and democracy we enjoy today couldnt have blossomed in Korea, said Moon.

Moon, who will leave office next May, is eager to resume stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang and between Seoul and Pyongyang. But the Biden administration, which confirmed in March that it had made outreach efforts to the North without success, has been less enthusiastic about the idea of direct negotiations in the near term.

Still, Moon made clear before the meeting that he would nudge Biden to renew diplomatic efforts with the North.

Biden also used the meeting to press South Korea to adopt a more ambitious 2030 target for curbing carbon emissions and to urge Seoul to do more to counter Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden also wants Moon to take a strong stance on China's activity toward Taiwan and other provocative moves Beijing has made in the region. Biden has sought to rally Pacific allies to coordinate on China, which Biden sees as the United States' fiercest economic competitor.

South Korea could be reluctant to speak out about China, an important trading partner that it also sees as key in dealing with the North Korean government. Moon told the press conference there was no pressure on the issue from Biden in their meeting.
Photo: File photo

Victoria police are warning the public about a sophisticated Bitcoin fraud that targeted staff at two outlets of the same retailer in Victoria and Saanich.

Police say the retailer, who they are not naming, has lost thousands of dollars as a result of the scam.

At both locations, a man identifying himself as Robert Wells phoned and claimed to be the regional manager. He said that business licences needed for an upcoming health inspection were about to be delivered to the store.

He said the stores would be closed without the licences.

While he was still on the phone, a second fraudster called the store claiming to be from a delivery company. The caller confirmed the delivery, gave a tracking number and demanded payment in advance  in Bitcoin.

At that point, the so-called regional manager told employees to take money to a Bitcoin ATM.

Police said the first caller knew detailed information about both stores, including the names and roles of staff, which convinced employees the callers were legitimate.

Money was taken from the store to the Bitcoin ATM in both cases, while one employee used money from a personal account. Once the fraudsters were given the code from the transaction, the money was theirs.

The first caller stayed on the phone until the Bitcoin transactions were complete, at which point employees realized it was a fraud.
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Five Hamilton County Schools were recognized as part of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network at the Tennessee STEM Innovation Summit. Harrison Elementary School, Normal Park Museum Magnet, Hixson Middle School, Red Bank Elementary and Red Bank High School are the five schools in Hamilton County Schools being recognized for their work in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM.) The Tennessee Department of Education and the STEM Leadership Council worked together to develop the recognition as a way to identify and recognize schools for their commitment to teaching STEM or STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics) and for their work to prepare students for college and career success.The Hamilton County Board of Education's five-year plan, Future Ready 2023, addresses the need to provide Future-Ready Students in Action Area 2, and the recognition of these five schools demonstrates progress in this vital area, officials said.Designated schools will also be invited to share promising practices at the Tennessee STEM Innovation Summit and become a member of the Tennessee STEM Innovation Network's school group.The schools chosen this year join the other 26 previously designated schools and serve as models that other schools may visit and learn."We are excited to celebrate this milestone with these schools. Thanks to our partnership with HCS and Benwood Foundation, we have been honored to work alongside inspiring teachers and leaders through STEM Fellows to support schools as they have reimagined how they prepare students for success," said Michael Stone, vice president of Innovative Learning at the Public Education Foundation.When Hamilton County Schools launched the Office of Innovation and Choice, one of Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson's goals was to increase STEM opportunities and designations. The Office of Innovation launched a STEM Cohort and provided year-long support to schools pursuing the state designation. The STEM focus addressed Accelerating Student Achievement and Future-Ready Students, two critical areas in the Future Ready 2023 five-year plan.Each school that was awarded the Tennessee STEM School Designation was evaluated through a rigorous application process. Schools were asked to complete a self-evaluation, participate in interviews and host site visits with the Tennessee STEM Designation review team. The designation criteria included five focus areas: infrastructure, curriculum and instruction, professional development, achievement and community and post-secondary partnerships. As a part of the process, schools were required to submit a plan of action for implementing and sustaining STEM or STEAM education for the next five years.Hamilton County Schools has a total of seven schools with STEM designation. Harrison Elementary School, Normal Park Museum Magnet, Hixson Middle School, Red Bank Elementary, and Red Bank High School were formally recognized on Thursday at 7 p.m.
A new virtual reality tour option is available at The Canopy at Boynton Ridge, the newest senior living community to open in Catoosa County.

Originally piloted as a way to safely tour communities during the pandemic, the management company for the community, SRI Management, has seen such a positive response to the convenience of this technology, they are continuing to grow the program throughout all of their facilities, making it a way for prospective residents and families to get a look at the state-of-the-art community.

Providing goggles and handheld controllers, The Canopy at Boynton Ridge sales team members guide the VR tour program. The unique technology allows the team to open the eyes of seniors considering senior living and involve their families in the process, all without asking them or their families to leave their respective homes.

With an official ribbon cutting planned for the end of June, The Canopy at Boynton Ridge is located on nearly six acres of land within the rapidly-growing, six-county Chattanooga metropolitan area. The community encompasses both assisted living and memory care apartments in an amenity-rich, resort style environment.

The coronavirus pandemic has challenged the senior living industry as a whole to consider sales, and accessibility in safe, creative ways, said Shelley Kaiser, chief operations officer, SRI Management. We are taking much of what we have learned in the last year about how our customers and residents wish to interact with one another and providing an immersive virtual reality option to meet these needs.

Initial feedback from the SRI Management pilot program indicated this new touring option helps those interested in senior housing but are hesitant to take the first step. One 86-year-old test user shared she enjoyed the virtual tour and is now more likely to want to visit in-person.

I just didnt know what to expect, but its amazing because you really do feel like youre there, said Maye Walker. I had no idea your communities were this nice. After the virtual tour, Im now interested in learning more and seeing the community in-person.

As the program training is implemented across communities, Ms. Kaiser is finding the equipment may have an additional purpose outside of sales. In the past year, we have used iPads in some of our communities to engage residents and allow for virtual travel," said Ms. Kaiser. "With the VR goggles and programming, we see the possibility of growing this even more. Imagine giving our residents the chance to tour the Australian Outback or visit Paris, all without leaving their community.
Jordan, Tamela Michelle (Trenton)

Tamela Michelle Jordan, 55, of Trenton, passed away on May 19, 2021. She was born on Feb. 2, 1966 to the late Chester and Betty Wimpee. She loved music and attending concerts. Tamela held a masters degree in physical therapy and did home health for many years.



She leaves behind to cherish her memory her two daughters, Kara Huff (Caleb) and Lacresha Jordan; siblings, Teresa Wimpee Pritchett and Mark Wimpee (Stacy); and grandchildren, Kaylee Grace, Caden, Levi, Lucas and Liam.



The family will hold a celebration of life at a later date.



Share a personal memory of Tamela or your condolences with her family at her online memorial at www.companionfunerals.com.



Companion Funeral & Cremation Service and the Cody family are honored to assist the Jordan family with these arrangements.
(John Anthony Smith, president of the fast-growing Conversant Group on the Southside, advises on Internet security after an attack by a Russian criminal gang on a U.S. pipeline company that caused many gas stations to run dry for several days).

It is very common for threat actors to leverage ransomware to coerce organizational or governmental leaders into dire situations that require the payment of a ransom to avoid extreme business loss or embarrassing exposure of sensitive data. Ransomware is malicious code (a program/application/script) used by threat actors to lock all accessible data by using encryption keys, often managed by malicious key management servers on the Internet. Once the data is encrypted, using complex algorithms that are often very difficult to crack, the attackers leave behind a ransom note in a text file, often placed on the desktop of all Microsoft Windows systems that have been encrypted.

I am sure most of us have seen movies that contain kidnappings or grand theft in which ransom notes were left behind. Many years ago, I made the trip to Maui, and as many know, Charles Lindbergh is laid to rest there. So, I did some reading on his history, and I learned that his 20-month-old son was kidnapped on March 1, 1932. A $50,000 ransom note was left behind on the windowsill of the childs nursery. Unfortunately, the child did not survive the ordeal. It is a grim reminder that criminals, and cybercriminals like them, often do not care who they harm in their wake. In terms of cybercrime, they are often self-motivated or nation state sponsored. No matter their motivation, their damage is often painful to those involved. Organizations and governments worldwide have sacrificed millions, if not billions, and likely lives, due to poor care and loss of other technologically managed resources through ransomware. Sometimes, the victims of ransomware are chosen by mere chance via mass phishing campaigns; however, of recent history, more of these events are targeted. Threat actors use spear phishing, whaling, mass Internet vulnerability scans, and other methods to select their victims.

When ransomware originally became a technique used by threat actors, the ransoms were often small, and if the organization had a means of recovery, the threat actor would most likely not collect the ransom. In time, the threat actors learned that if they added backup (method of recovery) destruction and exploitation to their ransom requests they were more likely to get the ransoms.

Ransom demands are often, depending on the organization, in the multiples of millions. Recently, it was reported that Colonial Pipeline paid a $5 million ransom. In May 2020, Grumman Shire Meiselas & Sacks received an initial $21 million ransom demand; however, they did not pay. Gary Indiana was recently compromised with ransomware; however, the ransom demand has not, as of this writing, been published. Irelands Health Service Executive received a $20 million demand. It was reported just this week that one of the largest insurance companies in America paid $40 million in ransom, CNA.

Let me be clear at this point; if you find yourself in a ransomware event, do not negotiate with the threat actors. Do not even start communications with them. Please hire professionals, like Conversant Group, to advise on doing this properly. There are federal laws you could be breaking, and you may limit your ability to recovery if you start negotiating with them first.

During a ransomware event, there are really two reasons an organization may have no option except to pay a ransom: (1) No ability to recover otherwise and (2) Prevent data exploitation. Naturally, cybersecurity professionals and governmental entities advise to not pay threat actors. Paying ransoms emboldens the criminals, and it enables them financially to enact more terror. Thus, the professionals advise to not pay ransoms. However, if your organization is in a situation of non-recovery, meaning you have no remaining backups to use for recovery, paying the ransom often becomes an act of survival.

Roughly about 4.5 years ago now, we worked our first breach recovery event that involved the threat actor destroying all the organizations backups prior to locking up the companys data. Since, every attack we have worked has involved either encrypting or deleting the organizations backups. If your company fails to protect its backups, you will find your organization with a difficult choice: (1) Pay the ransom and decrypt the data or (2) Skip paying the ransom and rebuild all your companys data manually.

In our industry, there is a backup strategy called 3-2-1. This means that the industry standard is always to keep three copies of your data: (1) production data, (2) first backup copy, and (3) second, remote backup copy. Unfortunately, most companies entrust their survival completely to this strategy, and 3-2-1 are often all stored within domain accessible, non-immutable storage mechanism. For a non-technical person, this simply means that all three copies of the data can be destroyed by ransomware. You should not solely entrust your companys fate to this backup strategy. You must have additional, air-gapped copies of all your data. Air gapping means that you have a copy of your backups in a form that cannot be destroyed by ransomware. Further, the primary storage platforms employed should be immutable, meaning the data cannot be fully deleted/destroyed by a threat actor. To add insult to injury, most companies are not even monitoring and testing their backup systems, and most simply do not have a plan for recovery.

Threat actors now, not only delete the backups and encrypt the data, but they also often first exfiltrate sensitive data (meaning they send copies of your sensitive data to their servers), and like with Lindbergh, they hold something precious to you hostage at threat of significant, negative outcomes. The threat is the dropping of sensitive data about your clients, employees, or intellectual property to the Internet for public consumption. During these situations, your organization may be advised to pay the ransom even if your organization has a means of recovery.

We have spoken publicly regarding the need for strong password policy (long passwords with no reuse) and MFA on all publicly exposed systems. Here our goal is to stress the importance of protecting, monitoring, and testing your backups. Have a plan! In more than 75% of all assessments conducted by Conversant Group, we find significant issues with backups that are not being addressed. There are a variety of underlying reasons, but no matter the reasons, you must protect your companys data with appropriate backups. This point also applies if you have fully converted to cloud infrastructure.

If the data is good enough to keep, it is good enough to back up properly! Defense and prevention are almost always less expensive than recovery.





* * *

John Anthony Smith can be reached at:

423-305-7890 John.Smith@conversantgroup.com 1513 Cowart Street Chattanooga, TN 37408





[1] https://siliconangle.com/2021/03/21/revil-ransomware-gang-demands-50m-ransom-payment-acer/

[2] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/indiana/articles/2021-05-13/gary-rebuilding-city-servers-following-ransomware-attack

[3] https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/technology/ransomware-attack-ireland-hospitals.html

[4] https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-20/cna-financial-paid-40-million-in-ransom-after-march-cyberattack
As a health care professional for nearly a decade, Johnson said he has worked with numerous tribes across the country to set up facilities and understands the importance of low-cost access. According to Johnson, the clinic is only the first of many facilities the county will see from the tribe.
Lisa Sherman-Nikolaus statements to elected officials concerning illegal migrant children being flown into Chattanooga and other Tennessee cities are misguided and based on unlawful actions.

First, this is a nation of laws and the laws are being violated with impunity. The desire of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition to further facilitate unlawful acts does not negate the seriousness of these actions, it only emphasizes the seriousness of the problem that the U.S. has within its borders.

Second, we have children and families who are citizens of the United States who need assistance, who live in poverty, who need better education, and who have either been thrown away or are ignored. We have veterans who have served our great nation and are homeless. We need to be able to help these people who are in need, including the poor, people of color, and those of various ethnicities, and their children, who are in need.

Is it appropriate to take our attention away from our own citizens in need to attend to those who have not been vetted and become legal residents or citizens through a legal process? What kind of reasoning are these people engaged in?



What we have here is misinformation and a shell game. These are merely future DACA-labeled children. If these organizations were acting legitimately, they should have been transparent. They failed to be transparent to our elected officials in Congress or our state officials, let alone to the people of the community. Did they really believe that we could trust their actions?

I think this organization is misguided and fails to act for the public benefit of Tennessee, and if they desire to act outside the laws of the United States their non-profit status should be revoked.

Don Gala, Ph.D.




The Chattanooga Fire Department conducted a rope rescue on Saturday afternoon in Hixson after two hikers fell off a cliff and were injured.

Firefighters responded to Greenway Farms (4000 block of Gann Store Road) at 1:30 p.m. to begin the operation.

One of the hikers broke his leg and the other injured his back in the fall.

Crews were about a half mile in the woods roping the patients out. Engine 11, Squad 19, Ladder 19, Squad 7, Ladder 7, USAR 1, Battalion 2, Battalion 3 (Green Shift), CFD Special Operations, Chattanooga Hamilton County Rescues Rehab Truck Response and Hamilton County EMS were on the scene.
Alicia Keys is an iconic musician, a performer who started her career as a child prodigy, playing classical piano when she was only six years old. By the time she was a teenager, Keys was composing songs  and by the early 2000s, she was an award-winning artist, racking up Grammy win after Grammy win.

In recent years, Keys has become a strong advocate for womens rights and other causes that she believes in, regularly speaking out about mental health issues. Keys is also a devoted mother, and when she needs to unwind, theres one specific practice that she turns to for relief and relaxation.

What is Alicia Keys best known for?

#ALICIA is out right now!! Im grateful to share all the different sides of me with you. Im grateful you love me as I am! Press play and let the magic begin 



And tell me your favorites!! I cant wait to hear https://t.co/fP7293upZD pic.twitter.com/OLwQmOFk5I  Alicia Keys (@aliciakeys) September 18, 2020

RELATED: Alicia Keys Reveals She Was Almost a Member of 3LW

Born in New York City in 1981, Keys turned to music at an early age as a way to escape some self-esteem issues. She thrived when she discovered playing the piano and went on to attend Manhattans Professional Performance Arts School, majoring in choir.

In 1998, Keys signed with Arista Records  but it wasnt until 2001, with J Records, that she released her debut album, Songs in A Minor. Keys started making waves in the music industry, with several songs from the album hitting the charts, including her now-standard tune, Fallin.

In 2003, Keys released her follow-up album, The Diary of Alicia Keys. The album cemented her place as an artist to be watched, earning her four Grammy Awards. She has since released five more studio albums, including her most recent, Alicia.

All in all, Keys has earned 15 Grammy Awards and 17 NAACP Image Awards, as well as a slew of other honors and special accolades. These days, she is considered to be one of the finest songwriters of her generation.

How many kids does Alicia Keys have?

Alicia Keys | Michael Muller/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank

RELATED: Alicia Keys Shares What She Cant Live Without

Keys has always preferred to keep her personal life under the radar, and for the first few years of her career, she rarely discussed her love life with the media. Still, in 2010, the artist confirmed that she and her longtime friend, fellow musician Swizz Beatz, were engaged and expecting a baby.

The couple was married in the summer of that year, welcoming their first child, a boy named Egypt Daoud Dean in October 2010. Keys and Beatz have since had a second son, whom they named Genesis Ali Dean.

What did Alicia Keys say about the practice of meditation?

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As a busy working mother of two boys, Keys rarely has time to completely relax. Still, the musician knows how important it is to stay grounded and centered, by any means necessary.

As reported by Us Weekly, Keys has turned to the practice of meditation as a means of self-care. I have to be honest: The first time I tried the meditation, I was so tired that I fell asleep, Keys detailed in an essay. But the second time, I felt a little spark. She went on to discuss how she found meditation after the birth of her son Genesis, in 2014.

Like so many new moms I was exhausted, but the depletion was more than physiological; my spirit was shot, she wrote. Once you make that kind of deep connection with yourself, your relationship with everything and everyone around you changes. As Id hoped, I became a better mother because I was more confident in myself.

Meditation, according to Psychology Today, is a mental exercise that helps to train awareness and attention. Not only can meditation curb negative thoughts and feelings, but it has been shown to reduce stress and promote an overall sense of calm. For celeb moms like Keys, the benefits are clearly profound.
All Time Low is a pop-punk band from Towson, Maryland. They first came onto the music scene in the early 2000s. Find out how many albums All Time Low has, plus whether or not the band will tour any time in 2021.

All Time Low | Desiree Navarro/WireImage

All Time Low members

All Time Low is a four-piece band. Alex Gaskarth is All Time Lows lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Meanwhile, Jack Barakat sings backup vocals and plays the lead guitar in All Time Low. Zachary Merrick sings backing vocals as well and plays bass, while Rian Dawson plays drums.

Kas Andrews is a former member of All Time Low. During his time with the band, he played rhythm guitar and sang backup vocals.

All Time Low has 8 studio albums

In 2004, All Time Low released their first EP: The Three Words to Remember in Dealing with the End. Their first studio album, The Party Scene, came out a year later in 2005.

While touring to promote their first studio album, All Time Low attracted the attention of Hopeless Records. The label signed them and released Put Up or Shut Up EP the following year.

In 2007, All Time Low released their second studio album, So Wrong, Its Right. While the album nor any of its songs reached the charts, Dear Maria, Count Me In is wildly popular. The song has recently seen a resurgence thanks to apps like TikTok.

All Time Lows album Nothing Personal was released in 2009. It reached number four on the Billboard 200 charts. Weightless, the lead single from the album, was another chart-topper for All Time Low.

All Time Lows success has continued over the years, thanks to albums like:

Dirty Work (2011)

Dont Panic (2012)

Future Hearts (2015)

Last Young Renegade (2017)

Wake Up, Sunshine (2020)

Wake Up, Sunshine came out in April 2020 amidst the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. As such, All Time Low was unable to tour and promote the album. Fortunately, the band will be on tour in the summer of 2021.

All Time Low is headlining Sad Summer Festival this year. Other bands playing include The Story So Far, The Maine, Movements, Greyscale, and Destroy Boys.

According to the website, the tour kicks off in Sacramento, California on Aug. 6, 2021. The last date of the Sad Summer Festival is Sept. 11. Check the site for details regarding tickets in your city.

All Time Lows newest single Once In a Lifetime

In March 2021, All Time Low released the single Once In a Lifetime. This is their first single since their 2020 album Wake Up, Sunshine.

RELATED: 6 Bands You Didnt Know Were Green Day

Once In A Lifetime is a song about loss and dealing with loss, facing harsh realities, and coming out the other side stronger for it, Gaskarth told Substream Magazine. We wrote this song in bleaker times, in a world still asleep at the wheel that left us all relearning how to navigate the uncertain roads ahead, but ultimately there is a hopeful undertone to the entire sentiment.

Gaskarth says Once In a Lifetime is cut from the same cloth as the Wake Up, Sunshine single Monsters. He considers All Time Lows latest single a progression and continued evolution from their last studio album.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is well-known for its adventurous storylines, impressive special effects, and, of course, the highly-beloved characters who make it all happen.

Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Endgame, and Black Panther are just a few of the many successful Marvel Cinematic Universe movies. Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Chris Pratt have been some of the talented celebrities to bring these films to life.

However, looking ahead, there is one role MCU fans think is perfect for Gillian Jacobs.

Take a look back at Jacobs career and what MCUs fans are saying about the possibility of Jacobs appearing as Sue Storm.

Gillian Jacobs journey to fame and stardom

Gillian Jacobs | Desiree Navarro/WireImage

RELATED: Community: Why Gillian Jacobs Was So Intimidated Despite the Supportive Cast

Jacobs, a Pennsylvania native, was born in Pittsburgh in 1982. From a young age Jacobs was interested in acting and began taking classes at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. When it came time for college Jacobs made the decision to attend Juilliard, a prestigious art school located in New York.

Jacobs acting debut came in 2005 when she appeared as Katie in Building Girl. This would be the first of her many roles. The following year Jacobs was cast as Adele Congreve in The Book of Daniel. The actress spent the late 2000s working on a variety of television sets and films until she finally landed her big break in 2010.

Gillian Jacobs most memorable roles throughout her acting career

RELATED: Gillian Jacobs as Invisible Woman? Fans Are Still Set on Emily Blunt

Most of Jacobs fans and followers remember her from NBCs Community. The television series premiered in 2009, and viewers quickly got attached to the quirky but genuine characters. Jacobs played the part of Britta Perry for six seasons until the series sadly came off the air.

Jacobs character in Community helped her land many other memorable roles along the way. Jacobs still receives a tremendous amount of her praise for her acting in Nonames.

Many of Jacobs fans probably fondly remember her brief stint as Mimi-Rose Howard on HBOs Girls. However, looking ahead, it might surprise some audiences to hear what role Marvel Cinematic Universes fans are hoping to see Jacobs in.

Gillian Jacobs as Sue Storm? Here is why Marvel Cinematic Universes fans think it would totally make sense

RELATED: Is the Community Cast Friends in Real Life?

Reddit is the place MCU fans and followers go to discuss all things Marvel, and some of Jacobs fans might have been surprised to come across her name in the conversation. It turns out that much of the MCU community thinks Jacobs would be the perfect fit for Sue Storms.

Though some people find it surprising that Jacobs has landed a role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet, this Reddit discussion shows the followers and fans excitement behind the idea of Jacobs being cast as Sue Storms.

From Jacobs versatile acting background to her stunning looks, many MCU fans are already on board with the possibility. Plus, as one user pointed out, Jacobs is actually in the process of voicing a superhero in the television series Invincible. Jacobs role as Atom Eve on the show may have put her in the perfect position to take on Sue Storm.

Not to mention Jacobs recent position as director for Marvels 616, a documentary surrounding the successful franchise and its history. In many ways, it seems like Jacobs might have this one in the bag.

Though many fans and viewers of the MCU have already gotten their hopes up, no decisions regarding the role have yet to be made.
Josh Duggar caused more trouble for the Duggar family in April 2021. His recent arrest has fans and critics talking, and it seems its also completely turning his life upside down. Because of the allegations against him, he cant reside with his pregnant wife, Anna Duggar, and their six kids. And hes reportedly living in a mansion thats much different than the home he owns.

Where did Josh Duggar live prior to his arrest?

Josh Duggar and his daughter during their visit with Extra | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

Josh and Anna have lived in multiples places, but they currently allegedly reside on Duggar family property. Its no secret Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have a huge family home and tons of land. This seems to work in Josh and Annas favor, as theyve been raising their kids on the property.

While Anna doesnt ever post too much about her home, Duggar family critics deduced Josh and Anna live in a warehouse. Abbie Duggar, John David Duggars wife, allegedly tried on wedding gowns prior to her big day in the same warehouse. The fixtures spotted in Abbies bridal affairs were also spotted in some of Annas Instagram photos, prompting many to conclude that the warehouse is where Anna and Josh live.

Considering how often Anna posts photos of herself at Jim Bob and Michelles, this also makes sense. She likely lives quite close  or on  the same property as her in-laws. As for why Josh and Anna dont live in one of the guest houses, it seems theyre taken.

Hes allegedly now living with Duggar family friends in a mansion

Josh Duggar is arrested by the Washington County Sheriff's Office. He is now "on hold for other department" with no bond. #NWAnews pic.twitter.com/0xMqEBD6dK  Chad Mira (@ChadMiraKNWA) April 29, 2021

RELATED: Jim Bob Duggar is Allegedly Building a Fence to Protect Josh Duggar

In April 2021, Josh was arrested for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material. He can no longer stay with Anna and his six children because of the allegations. Now, hes allegedly staying with Duggar family friends, Lacount and Maria Reber, as they agreed to become Joshs third-party custodians, The Sun reports.

The publication notes the Rebers live in a mansion in Elkins, Arkansas. In 2005, the couple bought nine acres of land for $68,000, according to property records. Then, in 2007, the Rebers built a one-story home on one acre of their property. The house has four bedrooms and three bathrooms. The Rebers property has a long, gravel driveway from the main road, too, giving Josh some privacy as he stays with them.

It looks like Jim Bob wants to help the Rebers assist Josh as well. The Sun notes he offered to pay for a new fence around their home to give Josh extra protection.

Jim Bob has offered to pay for a new fence to be built at the Rebers to also keep them safe, along with Joshs wife, Anna, and the kids when they go and visit, a source claimed.

Are Josh Duggar and Anna Duggar still together? She recently visited him

Anna Duggar and Josh Duggar | Kris Connor/Getty Images

While Josh and Anna arent living together at the moment, are they still holding their marriage together? It seems they are. While Duggar family critics and fans want Anna to leave Josh behind, Screen Rant notes she recently visited him at the Rebers home. The publication notes Anna also allowed their six children to visit Josh.

Well have to wait and see what happens with Josh and Anna once his trial begins. She stuck by his side during past turmoil, so theres a good chance shell continue to do so in the future.

TLC did not return a request for comment regarding Joshs living situation by the time of publication.

How to get help: If you or someone you know has been sexually abused, text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 for free and confidential support.

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It takes a lot to film Outlander. The Starz series tells the story of Jamie and Claire Frasers epic romance. And as with any period piece, its told with great attention to detail. Period pieces are famously arduous projects to take on, and Outlanders time traveling narrative has to account for multiple eras. Suffice it to say they have their hands full. Executive producers Maril Davis and Matthew B. Roberts said while every season has its challenges, one season went more smoothly than others because Diana Galbaldons book was so clearly translated to the screen.

Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe in Outlander | Starz

Outlander Season 6 has started filming

Fans of the Sam Heughan and Caitriona Balfe-led series are in whats called the Droughtlander. The Droughtlander is the length of time between each season, and its famously long. But the coronavirus pandemic will make this the longest Droughtlander yet.

Luckily, Outlander Season 6 started filming in January 2021. The show films mainly in Scotland, in a town near Glasgow where the crew has built a massive studio out of a former cellphone warehouse. While seasons five and six are set in North Carolina, they film in Scotland. It works out better for the primarily Scottish crew, but it does pose its challenges.

As wonderful as an actress as [Scotland] is, she has to play North Carolina now. And thats no small feat, Roberts said.

RELATED: Outlander Season 6 Has Very Traumatic Scenes, EP Maril Davis Says

Outlander Season 1 was the easiest to film, while season 5 posed new challenges

During the first episode of the official Outlander podcast, the producers explained how much time and work is put into each season.

It takes a good four months to get the show up onto its feet before we even start filming, Davis said. As Roberts added:

People probably dont realize how many meetings we go to. Prior to the cast and the shooting crew arriving for the day, weve gone through hundreds and hundreds of meetings. One of the reasons why Droughtlander is Droughtlander is because we want to get it right. So we want to take the time to do it right.

Getting it right, as Davis explained, was much easier in season 1 than any other season. That makes sense, given much of a shows first season is expository. Details get more layered as a show goes on. But Davis credited Galbaldons writing as the main reason season 1 was so seamlessly interpreted for the small screen. She said:

The first book, first season was by far the easiest because that book just translated really well. It was a clear point of view. Theres just some very clear storytelling routes that I think as the books go on, it becomes a little more difficult. Point of views shift. Youre trying to keep things fresh and exciting and new. As in any series, I think, the more you continue  and were incredibly lucky to do so  the more difficult it gets.

Outlander executive producers Matthew B. Roberts and Maril Davis | Michael Tran/Getty Images

RELATED: Outlander: A Politician Delayed the Show From Premiering

Outlander Season 5s most difficult episode to film

For his part, Roberts said season 5 episode 9 of Outlander was one of the hardest scenes theyve had to coordinate.

Oddly enough, the buffalo scene from last season was very challenging, he said. We had to piece that together the way it was filmed, because there was a buffalo farm that we had to go to. But we couldnt transport the buffalo.

Another famously difficult scene for the series was one of its most memorable battle scenes. Before the Battle of Culloden destroyed the Jacobite rebellion, the Scottish army was victorious at the Battle of Prestonpans. That fight is seen in Outlander Season 2 Episode 10. As Roberts said:

The difficulties of Prestonpans and how we were going to do that. We decided to build a huge marquee or tent and do the entire battle within that tent so we can control the mist and make sure its not windy during the four or five days that were shooting.

Davis also revealed each episode takes about 12 days to film, barring significant complications. And each scene could take anywhere from two hours to five hours.

I would say, on average, we get about four and a half, five pages of script shot a day, she continued. And thats not a lot. People wonder why it takes us so long, and thats why.

For reference, they say one page of dialogue is about one minute. Five pages of dialogue is just five minutes. Repeat that for every scene of the entire season, and you have a seriously long work schedule. The pandemic delayed production for Outlander Season 6 by nine months. Fans can expect it to air by the end of 2021 or early 2022.
Rihanna and A$AP Rocky are officially dating, and fans are freaking out. The star-studded couple seems perfect for each other, and we cant wait to learn more about how their relationship progressed. When it comes to both of them, theres no shortage of cash, either. So, what is Rihannas net worth? And how does it compare to A$AP Rockys net worth?

Are Rihanna and A$AP Rocky dating? The status of their relationship

Rihanna and A$AP Rocky in 2019 | Daniele Venturelli/WireImage

RELATED: A$AP Rocky Talks Rihanna Romance, Says Shes The Love of My Life

Rihanna stepped out of the music spotlight years ago and focused on her own beauty and clothing products under her brand. But shes back in the spotlight thanks to her relationship with A$AP Rocky. In May 2021, the two came forward to announce theyre together after years of rumors, and they seem happy and in love.

According to GQ, Rakim Mayers, aka A$AP Rocky, is madly in love with Rihanna. The love of my life, he called her when the subject was brought up during a GQ interview. My lady.

He remained mum on the subject, though, as the couple seems to prefer their privacy. But the publication notes Rocky opened for Rihanna during her Diamonds World Tour in 2013, and that couldve been when their relationship began.

During the interview, Rocky did call Rihanna the one, though. So much better when you got the one, he added. She amounts to probably, like, a million of the other ones.

What is Rihannas net worth in 2021?

Rihanna arrives at the Fashion Awards 2019 with A$AP Rocky | Gareth Cattermole/BFC/Getty Images

The pop star is known for a lot more than just her romantic relationship with A$AP Rocky. Rihannas net worth grew exponentially over the years thanks to her start in music, and her latest business ventures also contribute to her wealth. Celebrity Net Worth notes Rihannas net worth totals $550 million, and her annual salary stands around $70 million.

As far as Rihannas music career is concerned, she got her start thanks to Jay-Z. Jay-Z heard her tunes and helped produce her debut album back in 2005. Then, her 2006 album, A Girl Like Me, went platinum. She continued to make music up until 2016, and she has nine Grammys, 12 Billboard Music Awards, 13 American Music Awards, as well as eight Peoples Choice Awards.

After music, Rihanna launched Fenty Beauty, her makeup line, in 2017. The total value of the brand stands somewhere around $1.5 billion to $2 billion. Additionally, Rihanna has her lingerie brand, Savage X Fenty, and her fashion brand, Fenty, launched in 2019.

What is A$AP Rockys net worth? How does it compare?

A$AP Rocky performs during the 2019 Rolling Loud LA festival | Timothy Norris/WireImage

Rihannas net worth is undoubtedly impressive. So, how does A$AP Rockys compare? While the music star still has a lot of money, it doesnt hold a candle to Rihannas. A$AP Rockys net worth stands at $10 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Thats $540 million less than Rihanna.

So, how did the musician attain his wealth? The publication notes he joined the A$AP Mob Crew, a collective of rappers based out of Harlem, New York, back in 2007. His single, Peso, gained attention in 2011. He eventually signed a $3 million record deal with Sony, RCA Records, and Polo Grounds Music.

Rockys first album, Long. Live. A$AP, came out in 2013 and was certified gold by 2015. Additionally, in 2013, he released his clothing brand. He then went on to create other albums and has collaborated with a number of notable artists like Tyler, the Creator, Gucci Mane, 21 Savage, Drake, Kid Cudi, Frank Ocean, and Lana Del Ray.

Will Rihanna and A$AP Rocky ever collaborate on any projects together? Fans certainly hope so.

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Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar have not been spotted out and about in Springdale, Arkansas, since their son, Josh Duggar, was arrested on two child pornography charges in late April. The familys patriarch has had a tight hold on the media machine he created up until now, but things are quickly changing. Duggar Family followers think more family rifts are about to happen. It is becoming increasingly clear that Jim Bob is, at the very least, losing control of his adult children.

Several Duggar family members issued statements following Josh Duggars arrest

Following Joshs arrest, several members of the Duggar family issued statements on social media. Jim Bob and Michelle posted a joint message on their family Instagram. Jessa Seewald, Joy-Anna Forsyth, Jinger Vuolo, and several others did the same. Their comments appeared similar at first glance, but family critics think some of the Duggar kids are moving in a direction upon closer inspection. At least they seem to be when it comes to the charges against Josh.

AJ Calloway and the Duggar family | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

RELATED: How Many People Knew About Josh Duggars Behavior Before 19 Kids and Counting?

Jessa Seewald, for example, was dragged by social media followers when she appeared to liken the charges against Josh to the adult film industry. Some followers felt as though Jessa was attempting to downplay her older brothers alleged actions. Jinger took a far more accepted approach. Jinger and her husband, Jeremy Vuolo, stated that they stand against child abuse of any kind. Jill Dillard and her husband, Derick Dillard, have remained mostly quiet, at least when it comes to Joshs legal troubles. Jill and Derick have had limited contact with the Duggar family in recent years.

Several months ago, Joy-Anna Forsyth made headlines when she liked an anonymous confession that criticized her older sister. Joy-Anna quickly unliked the Instagram post, but the damage was done. The post suggested Jill was making her family look bad by airing her grievance to the public.

Critics were quick to notice that Joy had largely avoided her older sister in recent months, even though Jill essentially raised her. Now, as the Duggars latest scandal wears away their wholesome image even further, the siblings appear to be realigning themselves. At the very least, Joy has returned to engaging with Jills Instagram content. Joy left Jill a comment on an Instagram post regarding her birthday. Family followers have also noticed that Joy is liking more of Jills posts recently, too.

Will Duggar followers see more familial drama in the coming months?

As the spotlight continues to shine on Joshs troubling behavior, some critics are sure more family rifts are in the works. The theory appeared to become more solid when Derick hinted at the same. On May 2, Derick suggested more members of the Duggar family are interested in breaking away from the famous family.

Jill Duggar Dillard (L) and husband Derick Dillard visit Extra | D Dipasupil/Getty Images for Extra

RELATED: Duggar News: Jill Duggar and Derick Dillard Discuss Prioritizing Their Mental Health

Derick didnt name any names, but he made it clear that each of the Duggar kids has different circumstances and different reasons for either choosing to be on the show or not. He did suggest several family members might be interested in ending their filming careers. He went on to claim that they may fear stepping away. Derick might not have mentioned Joshs arrest, but family followers are reading between the lines. They strongly suspect the criminal proceedings will further divide the ultra-conservative Christian family. When the could happen is still anyones guess, though.
Zoe Saldana spends a lot of time saving people from their arch enemies and galactic invaders. Of course, as a celebrity, thats her job, and she does it well on the big screen.

The Guardians of the Galaxy actor took her life-saving abilities to the next level when she crossed paths with a woman in dire need of assistance. Saldana didnt hesitate, and in lending a hand, similar to the characters she portrays, the accomplished actor became a real-life hero in the process.

Zoe Saldana has something to smile about

Zoe Saldana | Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

RELATED: The Inspiring Reason Zoe Saldana Left Her Old Life for Hollywood

Saldana has an irresistible smile that pulls people into every role she plays. Born in 1978, the accomplished actor lived in Queens, New York, until she was nine years old. After her fathers untimely death, she moved with her mother and two sisters to the Dominican Republic to live with her grandparents.

At 17, Saldana returned to New York to pursue a career in ballet dancing. Biography reports a talent agent discovered the young girl, offering her a guest role on the NBC television series Law & Order.

With a newfound passion for acting, the Avatar star went on to land supporting roles in films such as Center Stage, Crossroads, and Snipes. In 2002, she got a lead role in Drumline, which led to major starring roles in blockbuster movies such as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and The Terminal with Tom Hanks.

By 2009, Saldana was one of Hollywoods hottest leading ladies. She starred in the J.J. Abrams remake of Star Trek and portrayed Neytiri, the alien warrior, in the blockbuster movie Avatar.

Several years later, Saldana immortalized the role of Gamora in The Guardians of the Galaxy. The character continues to live on through subsequent sequels and the Avengers: Infinity Warblockbuster film.

The 42-year-old actor has appeared in several music videos for artists such as Drake, Sia, and Alicia Keys. She currently has a vast array of projects in production, as fans await the highly-anticipated sequels to both Avatar and Star Trek.

Saldana receives high praise

RELATED: The Marvel Actors Make Way Less Than You Think

According to IMDb, the sky is no limit for this young star who has incredible range, intense concentration, and a steely determination to be involved with projects that challenge her professionally with wide-ranging subject matters and characters.

The sci-fi princess has an estimated net worth of $35 million. According to Celebrity Net Worth, in 2019, Saldana was named the second-highest grossing film actress of all time, behind Scarlett Johansson. They explained, This is largely due to her appearances in some of the most commercially successful films ever, such as Avatar and Avengers: Endgame. Saldanas films grossed a worldwide total of more than $11 billion in 2019.

Saldana is an everyday hero

RELATED: 3 Times Chadwick Boseman Was a Real-Life Superhero

Fans have become accustomed to Saldana saving the day onscreen. But, when it comes to real life, it is definitely unexpected.

People reported the mother of three was in Culver City, California when she witnessed a car accident involving an elderly woman. An onlooker said the Avatar star seemed very concerned, explaining she immediately called 911 for emergency assistance.

Witnesses say Saldana and another Good Samaritan helped move the injured woman out of the vehicle and to a nearby curb to wait for paramedics.

The onlooker explained, While waiting for help to arrive, Zoe returned to the womans car and picked up the womans handbag and sweater. Zoe was very caring and sweet to the woman.
India is the second most populated country in the world, and, according to a study conducted by a United Nations University, around 60 per cent of Indias population, i.e., approximately 812 million people, live below the poverty line. Their condition has now worsened because of the pandemic, with many of them losing jobs, and turning homeless. They can take some comfort from the efforts of Perala Manasa, who is on a mission to provide affordable shelters for the needy.



The 23-year-old, who completed her B.Tech (Civil Engineering) from Lovely Professional University, last year, has designed micro-houses of between 40 and 120 sq ft, made from sections of concrete sewerage pipes of 2,000 mm diameter.

Manasa launched the homes, which she has christened OPods, in January this year. The OPods are complete with one bedroom, a hall, kitchen and washroom, and can accommodate a family of three comfortably. They have water, electricity and drainage facilities, and can be built with as little as Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh. What is more, these houses can be translocated.



Manasa, who has set up an OPod at Chengicherla in Hyderabad, hails from Telanganas Karimnagar District. Coming from a poor family herself, she is well-aware of the need for shelter.

Elaborating on her inspiration for making OPods, she says, When I was at college, I used to visit nearby slums, mostly inhabited by migrant workers who came in search of a better life. But the pandemic had made their already bad situation worse. When I asked them what they most wished for, the majority told me their dream was to have a proper house to live in.



Manasa used the enforced downtime of the lockdown period to do some research. I devoted my time to learning more about micro homes, as they require comparatively less money and time to build. I learned about different types of such houses, like container homes and bamboo shelters. I stayed at each type of house for 3-4 days, to gain personal experience. Sadly, I found none of them had sustained all-weather durability. My search led me to pipe homes, and we made some design changes to suit our needs, she shares.



An OPod can be completed within 15 days. Crediting the faculty at the college for nurturing her dreams and helping her to make them a reality, Manasa says exposure to the Entrepreneurship cell and the R&D department of the college helped her significantly in the innovation and business aspects of the project. Initially, it was difficult to raise funds to build OPods, but once people saw the end product, they were enthusiastic to help, reveals Manasa. She has already bagged orders for building 200 OPods from four states  Odisha, Kerala, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. I wanted to pursue MBA earlier, but now I want to take this forward, says the young woman. I will approach my college first for funds, and if needed, I will approach politicians from the state.

Manasa says shes tweaking the design of the houses a bit  making them cube shaped, as people in India are more connected to the concept of four walls.
Good morning! Summer has arrived here in Chicagoland  as my phone temperature seemed stuck on 84 for two days.

The grocery run club, yes!

CHICAGO, Ill. -- A couple from Chicago created a non-profit called Grocery Run Club that is helping underserved neighborhoods on the South and West Side by providing food and essentials.



Lucia Angel and Jorge Saldarriaga are the founders and operators of the Grocery Run Club, a non-profit that started last July in the midst of the pandemic. The non-profit started as a result of the mass need for essentials and food in the South and West Side of Chicago. "We saw this immense need and we felt a call to action saying I'm from this community I need to help my people," Angel said.



The couple said they have partnered up with several organizations, delivering fresh food and essentials to people in need almost every day.



On Friday, the non-profit collaborated with Dions Chicago Dream, another non-profit that works to ease the food disparity in the city's Englewood neighborhood.



The collaboration allowed both groups to stock up a community fridge in the Englewood community.

Wrestling those gators:

A Florida man wrestled an alligator to save his 8-month-old dog while they were out for a walk on Tuesday. Mike McCoy was walking Jake, his chocolate lab, around a pond when the dog wandered a few feet away to a bush. Suddenly, an alligator emerged from the water and attacked the dog in a matter of seconds. McCoy recalled the he barely saw the gator spring out of the pond, but heard Jake crying out as the gator pulled him back into the water, he said in a phone interview with NBC News. "He was in a death roll with that thing," McCoy said. With his dog helplessly in the water and under attack from the alligator, Mike said he jumped into the pond immediately to fight off the predator and save his dog. He said he recalled some tips he previously read on alligators and tried to put that knowledge to use. McCoy said he thumbed the alligator in the eye and tried to pick it up out of the water so it could not go anywhere until the dog was freed from its jaw, but as McCoy tried to fight the gator, he too was bit on both of his hands. "Had I not remembered what I read about the alligators, I wouldn't have been able to respond as quickly to help Jake," McCoy said. "It was only because I knew what I did that I felt confident to fight the gator off." HT: DM

Linsey Marrs persistence changes aerosol impact:

ON FRIDAY, APRIL 30, the WHO quietly updated a page on its website. In a section on how the coronavirus gets transmitted, the text now states that the virus can spread via aerosols as well as larger droplets. As Zeynep Tufekci noted in The New York Times, perhaps the biggest news of the pandemic passed with no news conference, no big declaration. If you werent paying attention, it was easy to miss. But Marr was paying attention. She couldnt help but note the timing. She, Li, and two other aerosol scientists had just published an editorial in The BMJ, a top medical journal, entitled Covid-19 Has Redefined Airborne Transmission. For once, she hadnt had to beg; the journals editors came to her. And her team had finally posted their paper on the origins of the 5-micron error to a public preprint server. In early May, the CDC made similar changes to its Covid-19 guidance, now placing the inhalation of aerosols at the top of its list of how the disease spreads. Again though, no news conference, no press release. But Marr, of course, noticed. That evening, she got in her car to pick up her daughter from gymnastics. She was alone with her thoughts for the first time all day. As she waited at a red light, she suddenly burst into tears. Not sobbing, but unable to stop the hot stream of tears pouring down her face. Tears of exhaustion, and relief, but also triumph. Finally, she thought, theyre getting it right, because of what weve done. The light turned. She wiped the tears away. Someday it would all sink in, but not today. Now, there were kids to pick up and dinner to eat. Something approaching normal life awaited.

Yes, and Im grateful for a great editor in my early days:

We have so many fantasies of what the writers life is like: jotting down notes at a cafe, time to dream, and a certain ease of getting published. While many of these, particularly the last, quickly fade, either because of early rejections or the need for a steady paycheck, there is one fantasy that I held on to until my first book was published: that of the overly involved, tough-love editor who would take my work to some next levelthe Gordon Lish to my Raymond Carverand care about it as much as I did. My first book, a story collection, was published by a university press. The peer reviewers each gave a few careful comments. One reviewer wanted one story cut, the other thought it could be reworked. A second story was recommended for fine-tuning. I agreed to address these small issues, and I waited for the editor to whom I had originally submitted the work to give me her edits. They never came. She told me to make the changes the reviewers had suggested, and then I was whisked right on to copy editing. I know she cared about the book. She just wasnt going to edit it in the way I thought she would. Rewind a year, to when I found an agent for my debut novel. He and I spent months going back and forth with my revisions, his comments, and more revisions. Here was the editing process I expected: where sentences are debated, scenes deleted, problems large and small addressed. Throughout this process, he kept telling me editors these days like really clean copy, and I started to realize that editors dont really edit anymore. My agent used to be an editor, says author Keith Lee Morris, whom I contacted after hearing him discuss the editing process at a book event, and she quit to become an agent so that she could work more closely with authors on their manuscripts. My own agent, Madison Smartt Bell, agrees that editing has shifted: Editors now can expect manuscripts submitted to them to be in an extremely finished state, perfected whether by writers teaching in the academy, or by agents drawing on their past experience as editors, or a combination of those two.

Philly, well done!

(CNN)Nearly twenty buildings in Philadelphia are dimming their lights this spring after thousands of birds perished in the city's largest mass collision in recent history. The voluntary measure has been coordinated by "Bird Safe Philly" and continues until May 30 with the purpose of sparing the lives of some of the 100 million birds passing over the City of Brotherly Love on their semiannual migrations. To some, it might seem more intuitive to leave the lights on to help birds steer clear of buildings, but Robert Peck, a senior fellow at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, explains most migrating fowl navigate by light; the sun, the moon and the stars. Fog and rain, which are quite common in spring and autumn, force birds to fly at lower altitudes. When they see the bright city lights, they are often dazzled, disoriented and confused. "Suddenly they have all these lights coming at them from different directions. It's overwhelming," Peck said. "They get turned around and they will fly into buildings and walls." The Philadelphia buildings participating in these efforts have agreed to switch unnecessary lights off from 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m., especially on higher floors, dimming lights in lobbies and atriums.

Democracy after God:
Islamic radicals kill 15 Christians in attack on baptism celebration in Burkina Faso

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Suspected jihadists ambushed a baptism ceremony where they killed 15 Christians in northern Burkina Fasos Oudalan province near the Mali border, according to a report.

The attack occurred in the Adjarara area, about 4 miles from Tin-Akoff, on Tuesday, the Sahel regions governor, Col. Salfo Kabor, confirmed in a statement, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported Friday.

People are shocked and many are running, Moha A.G. Agraz, a Tin-Akoff native, was quoted as saying.

The al-Qaeda and Islamic State terror groups have been launching attacks in West Africa since January, but no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack.

Last May, 58 people, including children, were killed within 24 hours in three separate attacks in the provinces of Loroum, Kompienga and Sanmatenga by armed Islamic militants who were targeting Christians, the U.K.-based aid agency Barnabus Fund reported at the time.

Burkina Faso, one of the most impoverished countries in the world, has been fighting armed groups with links to al-Qaeda and the Islamic State for about five years.

Since 2016, extremist groups including the Islamic State West Africa Province and Ansaroul Islam have carried out hundreds of attacks throughout the Sahel region of West Africa. But attacks increased in 2019  deaths rose from 80 in 2016 to 1,800 in 2019.

Attacks on both Muslim and Christian houses of worship and religious leaders have spiked as jihadist and other militia groups expand their area of influence throughout the country, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom said in a report last year. The government is struggling to rein in the violence, and poor performance and misconduct by government-affiliated forces are exacerbating the situation.

Analysts posit that the selection of religious targets, even by fighters with jihadist-affiliated armed groups, may not always be religiously motivated. Attacks against religious leaders and houses of worship resemble other attacks on local authorities and symbols of foreign influence, as these groups attempt to establish control over certain areas for political and economic gain, the report added.

USCIRF explained that many jihadists fled to the border region of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, where they regrouped after the French defeat of insurgents and jihadists in northern Mali in 2012 and 2013. Since 2016, both al-Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates have expanded their reach deep into the Burkinabe territory, aggravating other local tensions and triggering a security crisis.

Jihadist violence has spread from the countrys north to the western Boucle du Mouhoun region where rice and maize are produced and transported to other areas, resulting in a food shortage and might cut off food for millions more in the region, The Associated Press reported earlier.

It is feared that the COVID-19 pandemic might exacerbate the situation at a time when 2 million people in the country are already facing food insecurity.
LAPD arrests man accused of attacking Jews outside restaurant amid rise in anti-Semitism nationwide

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The Los Angeles Police Department announced Saturday that it has arrested a suspect who was seen attacking Jews dining outside a sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills earlier this week.

Police said the unidentified individual was arrested after 10 p.m. Friday on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon.

City News Service reports, Police Saturday said a man was taken into custody, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshal Service, as one of the primary suspects who allegedly assaulted several Jewish men Tuesday outside a restaurant in the Beverly Grove area of Los Angeles.

A video posted on Twitter by Adam Milstein Wednesday showed multiple pro-Palestinian men attacking the Jewish men sitting outside the restaurant.

LAPD requested the suspect's bail be increased due to the crime being motivated by hatred.

Shocking videos from Los Angeles where Palestinians started attacking Jews



Witnesses said 10 Palestinian cars rolled up and started hitting them with knives at a Sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills#israelunderfirepic.twitter.com/i1Au9sOEIh  Adam Milstein (@AdamMilstein) May 19, 2021

Another video from LA posted to Twitter showed at least one Jewish individual being beaten and other Jews being intimidated by people in cars displaying large Palestinian flags, the Anti-Defamation League reported.

The ADL, a United States-based anti-discrimination organization, has reported a rise in anti-Semitic events in the U.S. and worldwide since the latest fighting started between Israel and Hamas earlier this month. The ADL said a similar surge in anti-Semitic violence happened in 2014 during the last Israel-Hamas conflict.

On Friday, the Israeli Consulate in New York said the attacks and protests have been more violent than previously seen, according to The Times of Israel.

The demonstrations are larger, more toxic, and unfortunately also more violent. There is a direct connection between Hamas stated agenda which is sworn to Israels destruction and the slogans of the demonstrators that undermine the legitimacy of Israel as the Jewish nation-state, the consulate said in a statement.

Anti-Semitic attacks also erupted in New York City this week, even after a ceasefire agreement was reached between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas.

Footage from separate incidents in New York City Thursday showed attacks on Jews during a pro-Israel demonstration that was met with pro-Palestinian counter-protesters in midtown Manhattan where one person suffered burns after two commercial fireworks were thrown from a car, Fox News reported.

Another video posted on social media showed an older Jewish man wearing a Yarmulke being attacked by pro-Palestinian protesters in Times Square.

Stop telling me this is about Israel and Gaza," a New Yorker confronted by a pro-Palestinian mob on his way to synagogue said, according to Fox News. "My people are being targeted across the United States in broad daylight. This is textbook anti-Semitism, and we will continue to live in danger until the public starts to recognize it for what it is."

Outside of violence in New York City and Los Angeles, protestors across the country are proclaiming anti-Jewish messages at rallies.

A protestor in Seattle, Washington, last week held up a sign that said Zionism = Nazism. A crowd rallying in Washington, D.C., chanted Zionists are terrorists, and a protestor in Michigan held a sign at a rally that read, Zionists r modern-day Nazis, according to ADL.

In the Miami, Florida area, Eric Orgen told CBS 12 that he, his wife and teenage daughter were walking out of synagogue recently when a group of men driving by began shouting and cursing at them.

"They just started screaming some derogatory things toward Jewish people out the window," Orgen told CBS12. He said the driver threw trash at his family and shouted: "Free Palestine, die Jew, F you Jew, Im gonna rape your wife.

"My first thought was just making sure my wife and daughter were behind me so I could take the brunt of anything that was going to happen," Orgen said.

A person driving in a vehicle next to those shouting verbal threats showed the driver that he was armed with a gun in an effort to protect the Jewish family. After seeing the weapon, the man drove off. Orgen described the man who intervened as their guardian angel.

Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, the first Jewish mayor of Miami-Dade County, released a statement Wednesday condemning the rise in anti-Semitic attacks in the area and said the attacks cut especially close to home.

Acts of hate and violence against any community are not tolerated in Miami-Dade County, Cava said in a statement. Hate and intolerance contradict the foundations of our community  a place where so many generations of people found a safe home after fleeing their own countries to build a new life with their families.

In a statement released Thursday, ADL urged leaders to speak out against anti-Semitism before it exacerbates further.

As the violence between Israel and Hamas continues to escalate, we are witnessing a dangerous and drastic surge in anti-Jewish hate, ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said in the statement. We are tracking acts of harassment, vandalism and violence as well as a torrent of online abuse. Its happening around the world  from London to Los Angeles, from France to Florida, in big cities like NYC and in small towns, and across every social media platform.

To those who choose to indulge in age-old antisemitic tropes, exaggerated claims, and inflammatory rhetoric, it has consequences: attacks in real life on real people targeted for no other reason than they are Jewish, Greenblatt said. This is antisemitism, plain and simple. And its indisputably inexcusable in any context.

ADL remains steadfast in its commitment to fight antisemitism and hate with every ounce of energy we have, he continued. We are working actively with authorities in cities across the country to identify the perpetrators of hate and to protect our community. We call on leaders throughout our country to speak out against antisemitism and stand alongside the Jewish community in the face of this wave of hate before it gets any worse.
New Hampshire Sunday school teacher arrested for not wearing mask at school board meeting

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Police in New Hampshire arrested a Sunday school teacher after she and other parents showed up at a school board meeting without masks to urge the district to lift its mask mandate.

Kate Bossi, who's also a mother of a student in the district, was arrested Thursday night from the Timberlane Regional School Boards meeting at the districts Performing Arts Center in Plaistow, The Washington Examiner reported Friday.

Some of Bossi's Sunday school students also attended the meeting and were said to have cried after seeing her arrested for disorderly conduct and escorted out of the building in handcuffs.

You are violating my rights right now. You are remiss, Bossi was quoted as telling police as they arrested her from the meeting that was to discuss the mask-wearing policy for schools, the Examiner said. The meeting was subsequently canceled and rescheduled online.

Are you seriously doing this you guys. This is law enforcement. Youre not enforcing laws, youre enforcing policy. That doesnt matter, Bossis daughter, Jackie Wydola, was quoted as telling the officers.

Board Chairwoman Kimberly Farah sought to explain the necessity for the arrest by saying, I didnt want to jeopardize the health of the staff and the students, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader.

Wydola said her mother didnt really have any interaction with the officer before they arrested her.

She just walked into the building, and when they realized that she had come into the auditorium they followed her in here, she said.

Some studies have indicated that mask-wearing might have negative impacts on emotional and mental wellbeing. And though children can contract COVID-19, most have no symptoms or experience mild symptoms, Harvard Health Publishing reported.

Last month, a Georgia mothers emotional plea at a school board meeting in the metro-Atlanta area to end a mask mandate made waves nationwide.

Courtney Ann Taylor, a mother of three, petitioned the Gwinnett County Board of Education to take these masks off my child in a video that circulated widely on social media. Every month, I come here and hear the same things  social, emotional health, Taylor said. If you truly mean that, you would end the mask requirement tonight.

Taylor is the mother of a 2-year-old, a 4-year-old and a 6-year-old kindergarten student who complained about having to wear a mask day after day. Its April 15, 2021, and its time. Take these masks off of my child, Taylor said as applause broke out at the meeting.

She also launched a change.org petition calling on Gwinnett County Public Schools to make masks optional for K-12 students.

Thirty-two Republican lawmakers have also sent a letter to CDC Director Rochelle Walensky to question how the agency determined children over 2 years old should wear masks to stop the spread of the virus.
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In his book Was Jesus a Socialist? author Lawrence W. Reed writes, Almost everybody wants to help those in need. The crucial question is how to help. Lets not make the mistake of arguing that to use force, plunder, and dependency is somehow the Christian thing to do. [Emphasis his]

Today we see the party in power in Washington, D.C. spending recklessly, ostensibly to help those in need. But one suspects theyre really just trying to buy votes by giving away free money. They are racking up debts so high they threaten our nations future. As Senator Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, asks, where is the money tree to pay for all these supposedly good programs?

We see this on the state level too. The Associated Press reports (5/14/21) on a new plan by California Governor Gavin Newsom to presumably help those in need.

They write, Newsom's budget proposal, announced Friday, includes $35 million over five years to pay for universal basic income pilot programs. The idea is to give poor people money each month to help ease the stresses of poverty that can make it harder to find full-time jobs and stay healthy.

All of this sounds compassionate. But his critics, like the National Review (5/14/21), note that this is just a ploy to try and bribe his way to remain in office and to cover-up his epic mismanagement. Newsom, of course, is in the throes of a massive recall effort.

Whether on the federal or the state level, is this the Christian thing to do? To force Citizen A to work harder, so Citizen B can receive free money? Government has no money of its own. So someone has to earn it  and often it is those in the middle class.

Said George Bernard Shaw, If you rob Peter to pay Paul, youll always have Pauls vote. This also creates long-term dependency.

Author Bob Lupton noted in his book, Toxic Charity:

Give once and you elicit appreciation;

Give twice and you create anticipation;

Give three times and you create expectation;

Give four time and it becomes entitlement;

Give five times and you establish dependency.

Presbyterian pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy noted that the New Testament teaching on work may sound harsh in todays milieu. The Bible says that if a man will not work, then neither shall he eat. (It does not say, if he cannot work).

Kennedy says that this is actually a statement of great compassion. Dependence is crushing to the soul and deleterious to well-being, and Pauls teaching points us toward fulfilling our God-given destiny through work.

I just read an interesting story about the great American novelist, Sherwood Anderson (1876-1941). At first he earned little money in his writing career. His publisher sought to encourage him by sending him a weekly stipend (even without him writing anything), just to cover expenses, and at first Anderson received it.

But, notes the Boston Globe, Anderson stood it for three weeks and then brought the newest check, unopened, back to the publishers office, Its no use, he said, I find it impossible to write with security staring me in the face.

During the pandemic, we have seen massive bailouts to deal with the economic blow the virus has wrought. The problem is when people become repeatedly reliant on these things.

Right now many small businesses are clamoring for more employees. It is a crisis, and businesses like restaurants are closing around the country for lack of enough workers. But so many potential workers find it easier to just stay home and receive unemployment payments.

This is very short-sighted on their parts. I remember seeing a study a few decades ago which compared two men, both around 20 years old. One was on welfare, just eking out an existence. The other had a minimum wage job. They both received about the same amount of money. The one working might well have thought, Why should I have to work so hard and receive so little  especially when my neighbor doesnt work and earns the same?

Five years later, the working man had advanced well beyond minimum wage, while the welfare recipient was still eking out an existence. Ten years later, things were even more disparate. And so it goes. Fostering dependence and paying people not to work has consequences.

There is absolutely a place for Christian charity, and it is needed now more than ever. But thats voluntary  not coercive, which all government redistribution schemes are.

Plus, in the long run, we help people much more by helping them learn personal responsibility. As the Salvation Army puts it, a hand up is far better than a hand out. Oh, that we could all see through these politicians who are in effect trying to buy votes  with other peoples money.
George Floyds sister says shes leaning on God as anniversary of killing approaches

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Just days away from the one-year anniversary of her brothers death which triggered a summer of protests for racial justice, George Floyds sister, Bridgett Floyd, who started a foundation in his name, says her faith in God helped her survive his passing.

"I always put God first in everything I do," she said during a press conference Thursday. "Without him I am nothing. God always gives me the strength to carry. He put me in this position. And oftentimes I want to ask, 'Why me?' But they say you're never supposed to question God. So maybe He saw a weakness in me and He made it my strength. That's how I see it."

George Floyd, a 46-year-old African American man, died in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25, 2020, while former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck as he begged to breathe. Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter for his role in the death last month.

The George Floyd Memorial Foundation has planned a number of events in Minneapolis from May 2325 to mark his passing. They include a rally on May 23, a virtual day of action on May 24, and a Celebration of Life in downtown Minneapolis on May 25.

"It's getting real close to the day," Floyd said during the press conference. "And I feel like, as close as the days come, I get a little stronger than I was last year. And that's because I have been through so much in this last year. I have no choice but to be strong and carry this weight, and carry this position that God has put me in. Because I didn't see it coming, none of us did."

While President Joe Biden called on Congress late last month to pass a police reform bill by the end of May called the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act to mark the anniversary of his death, Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., the lead author of the bill, said Wednesday that it would not be ready for a vote by May 25.

We won't make May 25, but I don't believe it's going to take months, Bass told reporters at the Capitol, according to The Hill. What's most important is that we get it right and that it be substantive, even if it's a couple of weeks later.  I won't say we're apart on all of these issues, we just haven't finished.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act aims to overhaul policing and "eliminate 'qualified immunity' for all local, state and federal law enforcement officers. Under qualified immunity, government escape any legal liability for civil rights violations unless the victim can show that their rights were clearly established at the time," Forbes reported.

Floyd said she has faith the bill will become law.

"These police officers need to be held accountable for their actions," Floyd said. "So they can know that when they break the law, when they take a loved one from someone, they'll think twice about it."
Matt Chandler identifies 2 'non-negotiables' for pastors to lead well in 'increasingly hostile' culture

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Village Church Pastor Matt Chandler identified two non-negotiables pastors must employ to lead their churches boldly post-COVID-19 and offered the reminder that though culture is growing increasingly hostile to the Body of Christ, the Church was made for this moment.

What I want to encourage the brothers and sisters to do is to make sure their eyes and hearts are oriented around Jesus and who He is and His promises to His bride, His promises to the Church, so that we might stand in the confidence of knowing that the gates of Hell will not prevail, that we might stand in the confidence of knowing that we are the bride, and He will not betray His bride, Chandler said during Exponential's Reset Summit on Wednesday

If we will orient our imaginations, our minds, our hearts, around being the Bride of Christ, what the Scriptures have said about the Bride of Christ, and consider the reign and rule of King Jesus lion and lamb, I think we can move forward in courage. If we use the old metrics, I think we're in a lot of trouble.

When it comes to leading a church with confidence post-COVID, Chandler, who also leads the Acts 29 church planting network, presented two non-negotiables for pastors. The first, he said, is to fight for unhurried time with Jesus.

It's one thing to kind of create space for, study your Bible or to write a sermon or to do deep work. It's another thing to say, I want to fight for, and I will want to find, unhurried space where I can just linger with Jesus, thanking, praising, asking for gratitude to be stirred up in my heart, remembering who I am in Him, remembering He called me into this ... so He won't betray me, He won't abandon me.' And just sit there and listen, and that will reveal all sorts of other things that are going on in your heart that then the Spirit of God can deal with that I think will really embolden and strengthen ministers of the Gospel.

The second non-negotiable is, I'm always going to fight for transparency with my inner circle," Chandler said, revealing that, for him, his inner circle are two close, trustworthy friends.

Those guys have seen my budget, they've seen my tax returns, they know when [my wife] Lauren and I are trying to navigate something, they know when I'm frustrated or concerned or worried about a kid, they know when I feel like I'm crushing it, and when I feel like I'm not. I will copy the select group of men  on emails that I'm in that seem to be growing hostile, so that they serve as a buffer for what the compulsion of my heart is versus how I probably need to behave as a pastor to a member.

I've been sustained by the Spirit of God simply by fighting for that unhurried time with Jesus, and then making sure that those closest to me know exactly what's going on in this head and heart of mine.

Coming out of a pandemic, Chandler said he wants to preach confidence back into the people of God. He stressed that though there is a growing hostility toward the Church, the Body of Christ was made for this moment.

God created us for this moment, let's step into it with all the zeal of those who understand how the story ends, he said.

If the Church believes it's over and we've lost, and it's over ... what an opportunity we just squandered, he said. People are more lonely, more desperate. Secularism has been exposed as lacking, our sexual ethics is starting to show the cracks in its ideology. What an opportunity to step in and be this plausibility structure that, life can be different than you see it, life can be different than you know it, and here's a group of people that embody that and believe it and pray and worship and love one another in a way that shows you there's something better than the life you're in.

Its inevitable that pastors are going to get beat on in todays culture, Chandler said, making it all the more important for people to know who they are in Christ.

It has been given to you to suffer and be misconstrued and be misrepresented and to be in some senses bullied and badgered, he emphasized. As it was given to Jesus so now it's given to you. I would try to reframe this as, what a privilege at this moment in history to endure as our Savior endured and bear the reproach, even from those who are in the household of faith.

You are not going to be able to lead in such a way where you're not misrepresented  that day is gone. You will be misrepresented, you will be misunderstood  I want you to reframe that as the blessing that Jesus said it was, he added.

What a privilege to endure hardship for the sake of the King, and then boldly step into the call to radical discipleship, the call to radical surrender that He's called us to that now comes with a cost  we will suffer, but through worship and prayer and fasting and confidence, we will overcome and conquer.
Retired generals question Biden's fitness for office, warn US is in 'fight for our survival'

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A group of retired generals and admirals is calling into question President Joe Bidens mental health and fitness for office and warning that the United States is in the midst of a fight for our survival.

More than 150 retired military leaders have signed an open letter on behalf of the group Flag Officers 4 America. The group describes itself as retired military leaders who pledged to support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic that feels bound by that oath to do what we can, in our capacity today, to protect our nation from the threats to her freedom.

Notable signatories of the letter include Lt. Gen. William Boykin, executive vice president of the Family Research Council, and Don Bolduc, a candidate for the U.S. Senate in New Hampshire. While the signers of the letter never identified their partisan affiliation, their concerns were reflective of adherence to a conservative worldview.

The mental and physical condition of the Commander in Chief cannot be ignored, they wrote in the letter, first published on May 10. He must be able to quickly make accurate national security decisions involving life and limb anywhere, day or night. Recent Democrat leaderships inquiries about nuclear code procedures sends a dangerous national security signal to nuclear armed adversaries, raising the question about who is in charge. We must always have an unquestionable chain of command.

The Flag Officers began the letter by declaring: Our Nation is in deep peril as we are in a fight for our survival like no other since the time of our founding since 1776. The fight for survival, they assert, is part of a conflict between supporters of Socialism and Marxism vs. supporters of Constitutional freedom and liberty.

After referencing a previous warning from more than 300 retired military leaders that the 2020 presidential election was the most important election in American history because of the Democratic Partys embrace of Socialists and Marxists, the signatories contended that the 2020 election was not a fair and honest election that reflected the will of the people.

They also accused the FBI and the U.S. Supreme Court of ignoring the election irregularities that surfaced following the election and lamented efforts to label election integrity measures as racist.

Policies the retired military leaders expressed support for include the requirement that people show a photo ID when they vote and the use of strengthened signature verification for absentee ballots.

The current Administration has launched a full-blown assault on our Constitutional rights in a dictatorial manner, bypassing the Congress, with more than 50 Executive Orders quickly signed, many reversing the previous Administrations effective policies and regulations, they added. The retired military leaders characterized population control actions such as excessive lockdowns, school and business closures, and most alarming, censorship of verbal and written expression as direct assaults on our fundamental Rights.

Additionally, the signers of the letter expressed concern about the border crisis and the Biden administrations actions stopping the Keystone Pipeline and re-engaging in the flawed Iran Nuclear Deal. They also called for the imposition of sanctions and restrictions against China and the removal of section 230 protection from big tech companies that suppress the free flow of information by censoring speech and expression.

Under a Democrat Congress and the current Administration, our Country has taken a hard left turn toward Socialism and a Marxist form of tyrannical government which must be countered now by electing congressional and presidential candidates who will always act to defend our Constitutional Republic, they concluded. The survival of our Nation and its cherished freedoms, liberty, and historic values are at stake.

The letter from Flag Officers 4 America is not the first time a group of retired military officials has called into question a sitting presidents fitness for office. Ahead of the 2020 presidential election, more than 200 retired generals and admirals signed a letter endorsing Biden for president. The military leaders alleged that then-President Donald Trump has demonstrated that he is not equal to the enormous responsibilities of his office, adding, he cannot rise to meet challenges large or small.

According to Politico, the Flag Officers 4 America letter was spearheaded by retired Army Maj. Gen. Joe Arbuckle, who served in Vietnam and retired from active duty in 2000. Speaking to the political website, Arbuckle acknowledged that retired generals and admirals do not normally engage in political actions, but stressed that the dire situation the country currently finds itself in and the threats that it faces warranted an exception to that norm.

Aside from China, many of these threats flow directly from policy positions and actions of our own government, he said. It is critical that the threats to our national security be brought to the attention of the American people and that is the main purpose of the letter. To remain silent would be a dereliction of duty.
Regarding the black fungus infections, Reddy said that the central government is taking all the required steps and trying to import medicines from abroad. (ANI)

Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G Kishan Reddy on Friday appealed to the Telangana government to restart the COVID-19 vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week.

Reddy, during the inauguration of the food distribution programme to needy by Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) told ANI, "I appeal to the Telangana State Government to restart the Vaccination drive that has been put on halt for the last one week, while the state has nearly about 6 lakh doses of vaccine in its hands."

He further appealed to the government to at least vaccinate the people who are eligible for the second dose.

In order to help the poor and needy people during the lockdown, the Union Minister said that BJP National President JP Nadda has given a call to party workers across the country to come forward and help those who are unable to feed themselves.

"To serve the poor people, the central government has decided to provide them with free ration along with 5 kilograms of rice. Nearly about 80 crore people have been benefited from this free ration distribution programme this year," he said.

He further said that the BJP party workers and Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha of Hyderabad are serving cooked food to the poor and needy people.

He appealed to all the NGOs to come forward and help the government in feeding the poor.

Reddy said the Telangana government has received about 1,400 ventilators so far from the Central government.

He further said that in India from its post-independence stage to nearly about eight months earlier, there were only 1,800 to 2,000 ventilators across the nation in government hospitals.

The minister said that nearly about 51,000 ventilators have been given to government hospitals in the last eight months.

He mentioned that if the state government needs further ventilators, the Centre will do the needful.

Regarding the black fungus infections, Reddy said that the central government is taking all the required steps and trying to import medicines from abroad.

As many as 3,464 new coronavirus cases and 25 deaths have been recorded in Telangana on Friday.

According to the State Health Department, the cumulative caseload stands at 5,47,727 including 5,00,247 discharges and 3085 deaths. At present, there are 44,395 active infections in the state.
Churches are becoming 'a social action group,' need to get back to preaching the Gospel: Douglas Murray

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The Church is "falling into all of the latest tropes" when it should be preaching the Gospel, says British author Douglas Murray.

Murray, author of The Madness of Crowds and former Christian said he felt an "irritation" at seeing the Church "giving up its jewels and becoming something else".

He made the comments in a conversation with theologian NT Wright hosted by Premier's Justin Brierley.

Describing himself as an "uncomfortable agnostic" and "disappointed non-adherent," Murray, who's also an associate editor of The Spectator (U.K.), said he recognized the values and virtues the Christian faith has brought to British society, and that it was simply "wrong" to claim morality and basic ethics were self-evident.

"There has, in my view, been an interesting movement in recent years ... of people saying, well actually, if we go back and look at this, what we have and what we like does have roots in the Christian story," he said.

Despite being "outside of faith," Murray said he felt the "added discomfort" of being "a non-believer who is disappointed by the behavior of a believing Church."

"Now many people think that's paradoxical but it isn't at all. I not only was brought up in, but afterwards sought the Church as it was and has been in England, and its jewels and gems of the King James Bible, the Book of Common Prayer, and much more," he said.

"And it's been my experience, as it has been for many other people ... that one has observed the Church giving up its jewels and becoming something else, and actually that irritation I feel ... about the Church hasn't gone away even while being outside it."

He said that any retreat from faith tended to end with religious bodies becoming "effectively a social action group."

"My fear is constantly [that] the Church is not doing what so many of us on the outside would like it to do, which is preaching its Gospel, to be asserting its truths and claims," he said.

"And so when one sees it falling into all of the latest tropes, one just thinks, well, that's another thing gone. It's just like absolutely everything else in the era, everything in its boring, monotone, ill-thought-out and shallow dialectic."

Responding, Wright said he could "very much understand" why Murray felt that way.

"I share his frustration when it appears the Church is simply jumping on the latest trendy bandwagon," he said.

"I totally agree the Church shouldn't just be jumping on the [latest] agendas, it should be exploring more what is in its own textbook."

Murray went on to say that the "most striking failure of the time" had been the attempt to replace the Christian ethic of equality in the eyes of God.

"Our age is struggling very badly with an attempt to replace that ethic or find another way to do it, and there are various ways which it's tried to do that - human rights ideology is one way, fairly developed but not successful, and the other is effectively the landing on equity as the answer when it can't be the answer.

"But I see what people are struggling to do, which is to try to maintain and hold onto this exceptionally important gift of the Christian inheritance.

"Without the idea of equality in the eyes of God and the value of every individual in the eyes of God, you are left with these attempts to assert that, for instance, everyone is the same or can be, and it's clear that we can't be and aren't."

Wright agreed, saying that from his point of view the only answer to this conundrum was "to go back to Jesus" and the Gospel.

"It's a renewal of human beings, not in order to be identical 'oh, we're all equal now,' but in order to be certainly equally valued ... and equally  though uniquely in themselves  part of an ongoing program that God has launched, not human beings."

The New Testament scholar said the emergence of today's woke ideology was rooted in the moral drift from Christianity that started in the 1960s.

"When I was young we watched traditional morality go out the window. It was sex in the '60s, it was money in the '80s, 'we don't need to obey the old rules, we're going to do it differently, we're the modern world now,'" he said.

"And then what's happened is the invention of neo-moralisms, which is what the woke ideology is really all about and it reminds me [Roman Emperor Caligula] who put new laws up so high that nobody could read them and then blamed or punished people for not obeying these new laws that he'd just invented, and that's very much what's going on at the moment.

"Society can't live without morality but if you've banished all the older moralities, you've got to invent some more from the ground up and we're doing that on a very flimsy basis, it seems to me."

Murray agreed, but said there was an "added cruelty if you haven't even finished writing them yet and you tell people to 'get with them.'"

"What are the rules here? The Christian ethic has a set of rules. They can be debated around endlessly as everyone knows, but there are foundations to them, you cannot deny. They are not wholly abstract," he said.

Originally published at Christian Today
Amazon has suspended work on a fulfillment center in Windsor, Conn., after numerous nooses were found at the construction site in the past month, company officials and investigators say.

The site will remain closed until security measures have been implemented, Amazon told The Washington Post on Friday. The FBI and Connecticut State Police are helping local police with the investigation into the incidents, which are being treated as potential hate crimes. The e-commerce giant is offering a $100,000 reward for information that helps identify the responsible party.

Windsor police officers had been patrolling the site when the seventh noose was discovered early Wednesday afternoon, the department said in a news release. Employees in the area were interviewed, and the rope collected and taken to the state lab for analysis. The work site has no surveillance cameras, and hundreds of workers for various contractors come and go on-site each day.

"The implications of a hanging noose anywhere are unacceptable and will always generate the appropriate investigative response," said FBI Special Agent in Charge David Sundberg, of the agency's New Haven field division, in a statement emailed to The Post. "We stand united with all of our law enforcement partners across the state in rooting out and applying the rule of law to any individual or group perpetuating hateful ideology and intimidation in our communities."

Such incidents are not uncommon in the construction industry. In 2020, at least 20 known racist incidents were reported on North American construction sites, according to Construction Dive. Some involved graffiti or verbal abuse, but almost half involved nooses found at worksites from Toronto to Portland.

Scot X Esdaile, president of the Connecticut NAACP, has been following the situation since the first noose was found April 27. Despite repeated inquiries, Esdaile said the group has not been able to get answers from police, contractors or Amazon as to how many Black workers are on the site and whether the company has checked on their welfare. He said company representatives met with him for the first time Thursday but offered little information.

"If there were seven Amazon trucks missing, you'd better bet your bottom dollar that they'd be all over this and they'd find the individuals that were involved," Esdaile said. "These are human beings, these are people. If they're doing a real investigation and they're really adamant about shutting this thing down, they should have done a whole lot better."

Esdaile has received emails and phone calls from workers who say that there are only a handful of Black people on the site. Many allegedly have been subjected to racist epithets and imagery, he said, and a few have filed complaints with the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities about their treatment on the job.

Kelly Nantel, an Amazon spokeswoman, said the company is committed to working with Windsor officials to hold the perpetrator or perpetrators accountable.

"We continue to be deeply disturbed by the incidents happening at the construction site in Windsor and have ordered [it] shut down until necessary security measures can be put in place," Nantel said in a statement emailed to The Post. "Hate, racism or discrimination have no place in our society and are certainly not tolerated by Amazon - whether at a site under construction like this one, or at one that we operate."

(Amazon founder Jeff Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

This isn't the first time nooses have appeared at worksites in Connecticut, Esdaile said, citing an incident at a Royal Bank of Scotland construction site in Stamford in 2007. One was found in 2015 at a construction site for a University of Connecticut health center in Farmington.

"They need to take this seriously and stop playing games," Esdaile said. "A lot of people's lives are at stake."

Work on the Amazon facility in Windsor began late last year and is supposed to be completed in late 2021. Amazon has said that the center will create 1,000 jobs in the next two years and that employees will be paid a $15 hourly wage plus benefits.

Esdaile said he can't stop thinking about the giant noose that insurrectionists carried during the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. "If they can take over the capital of the most powerful government in the world, what could they do in a little town like Windsor, Connecticut?"
RAVENNA, Italy (AP)  As she has each evening for the last eight months, Giuliana Turati opened her well-worn copy of Dantes Divine Comedy as the last of 13 peals of a church bell reverberated around the tomb of the great Italian poet.

Italy is honoring Dante Alighieri  who died in exile from Florence on Sept. 13, 1321  in myriad ways on the 700th anniversary of his death. Those include new musical scores and gala concerts, exhibits and dramatic readings against stunning backgrounds in every corner of the country. Pope Francis has written an Apostolic letter, the latest by a pope examining Dantes relationship with the Roman Catholic Church.

But nowhere is the tribute more intimate than before his tomb, which was restored for the anniversary, as dusk falls each day in the city of Ravenna, a former Byzantine capital.

Turati, a life-long Ravenna resident, comes to listen as volunteer Dante-lovers read a single canto, following along in the copy of the Divine Comedy" inscribed with the year she studied the poet's masterwork in school: 1967.

There is always something new, Turati said. Even if you have read and reread it, Dante always has something new to tell us.

The daily reading, part of a yearlong celebration of Dante that started in September, is intended to connect ordinary people -- residents and tourists, scholars and the uninitiated -- with the Divine Comedy as an appreciation by the city he adopted while in exile.

Copies of the Divine Comedy in 60 languages are housed nearby, and organizers envision they also will be read by foreign tourists as soon as post-pandemic travel resumes.

Reading Dante is perhaps the truest and most profound homage that we can offer, said Francesca Masi, secretary general for Ravennas Dante 700 organizing committee. It requires everyone to make an effort to go toward Dante, while too often we ask Dante to come toward us, perhaps stretching a little without understanding him, ideologizing him. Instead, this solemn way of reading, without comment, is respectful.

Dante spent years composing Divine Comedy during his banishment from his native Florence, the home of the vernacular he elevated to a literary language through his poetry.

While Dante was embraced as a symbol of Italys unification in 1861, Florence and Ravenna continue to battle for Dante's legacy. Disputes over who has the right to claim his remains still erupt in newspapers seven centuries after his death.

Florence, so it seems, would have given up its claim by sentencing Dante to exile, his return punishable by death.

The sentence is written in a 14th-century court ledger on display through Aug. 8 as part of an exhibition on Dantes relationship with Florence at the Bargello National Museum. The museum is housed in a medieval palace that Dante would have known and visited as the seat of the highest judicial magistrate, and where he was sentenced in absentia in the same vaulted room that now displays a famous bronze of David by Renaissance sculptor Donatello.

The museum also holds a fresco of Dante, painted by his contemporary Giotto after the poets death, and also of Lucifer, depicted with Dante's own imagery  three heads and the wings of a bat.

It is very important, because it means that the iconography introduced by Dante was immediately received in Florence in the figurative arts, Bargello National Museum Director Paola DAgostino.

Another exhibit in the San Domenico Museum, near Ravenna in Forli, brings together 300 works from all over the world to tell the story of Dante through the ages, from pieces that influenced him to ones he influenced, museum director Gianfranco Brunelli said.

The exhibit, put on in conjunction with Florences Uffizi and running through July 4, includes art contemporary to Dante, elaborate manuscripts of his work, portraits of the poet and pieces inspired by his epic, monumental poem by artists such as Picasso, Giotto, Tintoretto and Michelangelo.

Brunelli said it's no surprise that Dante has continued to fascinate people through the centuries.

Dantes themes are those of heaven and earth. He speaks of salvation and pardon, of things very fundamental to human life," Brunelli said. "For this reason, art couldnt do other than return an infinite number of times to Dante and his themes.

After being sentenced to exile in 1302, Dante spent much of the rest of his life in Verona and then Ravenna, where he arrived in 1318 or 1319. He died of malaria after a diplomatic mission to the Republic of Venice, 100 kilometers (60 miles) to the north.

In Ravenna, Dante would have visited the citys ancient Byzantine basilicas and famed mosaics, and it is believed that he took inspiration for some passages of his masterpiece. Masi, on a recent tour, indicated the Procession of the Virgins inside the Basilica of SantAppolinare Nuovo, which is reflected in a verse from Purgatory, his masterpiece's second section: And they wore white-whiteness, that, in this world has never been.

For the anniversary, another notable adopted citizen of Ravenna, Riccardo Muti, plans to conduct a new orchestral musical score inspired by Purgatory and written by Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian on Sept. 12, as part of the Ravennal Festival dedicated to Dante. It will be followed by performances in Florence and Verona.

The closing festivities in September are to include an annual pilgrimage by officials from Florence, who arrive in Ravenna with an offering of oil to keep the flame above Dante's mausoleum tomb lit for another year.

Dante found his peace in this city, Muti told The Associated Press, adding that he found it a comfort to live just 200 meters (yards) from the final resting place of this extraordinary soul.

I personally feel this closeness to his bones as a privilege, as if from that tomb emerges a sense of honesty, of righteousness, of a good omen for the Italian people from Ravenna to the world, Muti said.
LONDON (AP)  Tony Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the public broadcaster's explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana, resigned Saturday as board chairman of Britain's National Gallery.

Hall, who subsequently rose to the top job at the BBC, was heavily criticized in a report this week for a botched inquiry into how journalist Martin Bashir obtained the blockbuster interview.

In a statement, the 70-year-old said his continued presence at the gallery would be a "distraction to an institution I care deeply about.

As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility, said Hall, who served as the BBCs director-general from 2013 until 2020.

John Kingman, the deputy chair of the National Gallery's board of trustees, will assume Hall's role for the time being. He said the gallery is extremely sorry to lose Hall but that "we entirely understand and respect his decision.

The 126-page report by retired Judge John Dyson, published Thursday, found the internal BBC investigation had covered up deceitful behavior by Bashir, who was little-known as a journalist when he interviewed Diana.

The BBC also has faced questions about why Bashir was rehired in 2016 as the broadcaster's religious affairs correspondent.

Dianas sons, Princes William and Harry, have excoriated the BBC since the reports publication, saying there was a direct link between the 1995 interview and their mothers death in a traffic accident two years later as she and a companion were being pursued by paparazzi.

The BBC commissioned the report after Diana's brother, Charles Spencer, complained that Bashir used false documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to grant the interview.

In the interview, Diana said her marriage to Prince Charles had failed because he was still in love with former lover Camilla Parker Bowles, whom Charles would go on to marry a decade later.

Diana, then 34, said she was devastated when she found out in 1986  five years after her marriage  that Charles had renewed his relationship with Camilla. Diana said she was so depressed that she deliberately hurt herself in a desperate bid for help.

There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded, Diana famously remarked.

The fallout from the report has raised serious doubts about the BBCs integrity, while the British government has said it would review the rules governing the oversight of the editorially independent national broadcaster.

The BBC, which was founded in 1922, is funded by a license fee payable by everyone. The rules governing its operations are set out in a royal charter that requires the corporation to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. A mid-term review of the BBCs governance is scheduled to begin next year.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP)  Three Indiana communities are getting a share of $1.4 million in federal grants to help clean up or assess pollution at properties in old industrial sites known as brownfields.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said the cities of Bloomington and Union City would get $300,000 grants and the town of Clarksville would get $800,0000. All three communities will use their EPA funding to assess and clean up abandoned industrial and commercial properties.
BEAVER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP)  An armed man was killed Saturday in western Michigan when he confronted troopers who were responding to a domestic dispute, state police said.

The shooting occurred in Beaver Township, a rural area in Newaygo County, roughly 60 miles north of Grand Rapids.
GRANDVIEW, Mo. (AP) 

A 17-year-old who was fatally shot by police in Missouri after confronting officers was holding a BB gun, authorities said.

Michael Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County prosecutors office, said Friday that the teen had a Glock 19 BB pistol equipped with a slide that reportedly looked like a firearm, the Kansas City Star reported.

Lantz Stephenson Jr., of Grandview, was shot May 16 at a park in the Kansas City suburb of Grandview, and died later that day at a hospital, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

The highway patrol had said shortly after the shooting said investigators recovered a type of handgun from the scene. On Friday, patrol spokesman Sgt. Andy Bell, told the newspaper that We stand by our original statement, the Patrol investigators recovered a type of handgun at the scene.

Stephenson told dispatchers that he was armed with a gun and wanted to confront police officers, Bell said. The BB gun he carried uses air pressure to fire small metal balls.

Three officers responded to the call. The teen then aggressively approached officers with a gun, the highway patrol reported. Two of the officers fired shots at him.

The investigation is ongoing.
MONOWI, Neb. (AP)  A building that was built in 1903 has seen faces from around the world come through its doors.

A building that is owned and operated by a population of one.

A building that is taken care of and loved by few from around the Boyd County area and a building that is standing strong.

I enjoy all of it  when you enjoy something, time flies, Monowis sole citizen Elsie Eiler said.

Elsie Eiler, 87, has owned and operated the Monowi Tavern since she was 37-years-old. She has seen thousands come through her restaurant as word has spread around the world about the restaurant in a town with a population of one.

Ive filled out six guests books  Ive had people from all 50 states and 60 foreign countries visit here, Eiler told the Norfolk Daily News.

In 2010, Larry the Cable Guy and the History Channel made an appearance to Monowi, the Monowi Tavern caught the attention of two Australian filmmakers and filmed a movie right outside of the Monowi, and even German reporters visited Eiler and Monowi in 2014.

As the Internet has evolved, word has continued to spread and Monowi along with the Monowi Tavern have brought interest to people from around the world, more than ever.

Weve received a lot of publicity, Eiler said.

Over the years, Eiler has had some help from locals when running the tavern.

Lynch resident, Rocky Wilson, have been going to the Monowi Tavern his whole life. He said Eilers restaurant is a place for locals from Lynch and Verdel to come and enjoy a meal or a drink.

Elsie is very welcoming and this is the only place there is, Rocky Wilson said. Its busy here all the time  locals fill all of the tables and barstools.

Everything lately has been going well for Eiler and the Monowi Tavern despite the hit from the floods in 2019, followed by the coronavirus in 2020.

The Monowi Tavern never closed as Eiler continued more with takeout and had a very successful fall in 2019 and summer in 2020.

This was the easiest place to get to for many farmers and families  I was very busy with carryout meals in the month of April, last year, Eiler said. With the bridge going out in 2019, to the west people had trouble with the water. It was a terrifically busy year for me.

Although it has been a fast 50 years for Eiler, she has kept the business going because of the people she has met.

Ive met an awful lot of really nice people and everyone Ive talked to has an interesting story, Eiler said.

With her 88-year birthday approaching, Eiler said there is nothing else shed rather be doing than working at the Monowi Tavern.

I never gave it a thought that I would be here 50 years later, she laughed. I really dont have any plans to do anything else right now.

The Monowi Tavern will be celebrating 50 years of business over a four-day span starting on June 24. Eiler is inviting everyone and anyone that would like to come and celebrate.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  An Ojibwe scroll lost since the late 1800s is on its way home, thanks to the efforts of two St. Paul businessmen.

Sean Blanchet and Robert Snell, owners of Revere Auctions, noticed an Ojibwe birchbark scroll with Minnesota ties pop up on a Boston auction website. Thinking it may be of cultural relevance to the local Ojibwe, Blanchet contacted the auction house and offered to buy it outright. He also reached out for help from other interested parties and donors.

He learned the business had taken the scroll out of the auction and offered it to him for purchase, a move that surprised him and pleased advocates of the Ojibwe.

Im thrilled to see it happen, said David Chang, a history professor at the University of Minnesota who assisted Blanchet in his appeal. It is really very meaningful to bring this back home. This is a sacred object, an item that is a living ancestor to practicers of the Miteiwin religion.

The four-by-four-inch scroll is composed of four sections of birchbark lashed together with hide ties. The pages are coiled and carved with images and landscapes relevant to specific and private ceremonies.

There are very, very select few people who have actually earned the right to care for them, to read them, to interpret them and use them in ceremony, explained Shawon Kinew, a member of the Ojibwe tribe and a Harvard professor. Its really a privilege thats earned over years. We consider them to be living beings, and so, to be separated from them is really a very damaging thing.

Skinner Auctioneers in Boston said the piece originated from a private collection in St. Paul. It had changed hands a few times before coming up for sale at Skinners. The auction house estimated its value to be between $1,500 to $2,500, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported.

Skinner stands alongside all indigenous peoples rights claims, and we evaluate each on a case by case basis, the company said in statement. In this particular instance, we were able to work with the consignor and affiliates (or a friend of) of the Ojibwe community to develop a solution to address and satisfy all those involved.

For the Ojibwe people, the scrolls value is immeasurable.

These scrolls are repositories and vessels of the sacred knowledge of the Ojibway, Kinew said in a letter she wrote to Skinner. We refer to them as our grandfathers. We care for them as we do biological, human ancestors  we feast and visit with them, we care for them in ceremony.

The Ojibwe name, which also can be spelled Ojibway or Ojibwa, is synonymous with Chippewa or Anishinaabe. Their territory once extended across Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and up into Canada. There are seven Chippewa reservations in the state. The scroll will find a new home in the White Earth Reservation which is located in Becker, Clearwater and Mahnomen counties in north-central Minnesota.

Jaime Arsenault, the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the White Earth Band of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, will oversee the transfer.

Auction houses, which serve as a middleman between buyers and sellers, have come under fire in the past for negotiating deals involving antiquities from countries or cultures who claim said items were stolen.

The United States has, over the past century, tried to curb these types of sales through legislation, especially relating to Native American culture.

The laws provide a process for tribes to make a claim to repatriate items they believe belong to them. The claims take time and money and, unless the items are human remains, the question of who really owns them is often disputed. A claim can also attract attention and drive up the value of the item, as it did in 2018 in southern Minnesota with a pipe owned by a Dakota chief from the late 1800s.

The Prairie Island Indian Community in Red Wing made a claim for the pipe, but was unsuccessful. Because the claim was in dispute, the donor, representing the tribes interests, was forced to bid on it. By the time it sold, the price had doubled the high estimate. To the relief of the Indian community, the buyer, who paid $40,000 for it, donated it back to Prairie Island.

Advocates, like Blanchet and Snell, would like to see auction houses give interested communities the opportunity to purchase the items before they go to auction and disappear into private collections.

The two move quickly to notify interested parties whenever they come across a culturally sensitive item.

Ideally, they would like to see the consignor donate the item back to the tribe, but in most cases, the item will need to be purchased. Revere Auction fronted the money to buy the scroll once Skinner took it out of the auction. Donors will help reimburse the costs.

Blanchet, whose parents both worked for the Indian Health Service in the medical field, said his upbringing exposed him to the Native American culture and gave him an understanding of what items, like the scroll, mean to those communities.

He and Snell learned about the role auction houses can play in advocating for the return of these items, after putting several Native American items up for auction a few years ago. They were contacted by the Association on American Indian Affairs which works to bring cultural items home.

Now we write to the tribes right away and ask, Hey, is this significant? Blanchet said. They are shocked that an auction house would care what they think.

Revere also will put a seven-day hold on items going through their business to give tribes a chance to make a claim and acquire the item, either by donation or by raising funds, before it goes to auction. In the past few years, theyve returned a pipe, a fly whisk and a ceremonial ghost dance shirt.

Blanchet suspects Skinners good-will gesture means a shift in policy.

This shows that they are signaling a more progressive leadership position in terms of the handling of sensitive cultural properties, he said.
HYDERABAD: The attempts on Saturday by the city police to strictly enforce the lockdown resulted in sudden stoppage of services by food delivery agencies that said they were pulling their staff out of the streets because of police officials preventing them from taking their delivery routes.

Two major food delivery companies, Zomato and Swiggy, said they were suspending their services as police officials were stopping their staff at check posts. This has caused a lot of inconvenience to people staying isolated because of Covid, or those needing other food delivery services, they said. Meanwhile, customers of food delivery apps in certain parts of Hyderabad received in-app notification that "as per mandate, all restaurants will remain closed from 2.45 pm to 6 am.

Later at night, minister K.T. Rama Rao said he would discuss the issue with the Director General of Police. Taking to Twitter, Rama Rao said he received several complaints on the police stopping the food delivery services & others in distress. Will discuss with TelanganaDGP and resolve asap (sic).

Following orders from Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao to enforce a stricter lockdown, the city police began implementing the lockdown with more vigour on Saturday. Accordingly, the police increased the number of checkpoints across the city and were seen stopping food delivery executives.

Cyberabad police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar, responding to the viral videos of food delivery executives belonging to Swiggy and Zomato being stopped for checks and being roughed up by some policemen at various locations, said checking and verification was happening across the city and not just in Cyberabad limits. We have come across several cases of misuse of identity of food delivery services and hence carrying out verifications. The delivery executives are not being stopped. Once their details are verified, they are allowed to leave, he said.

While the recent directive by the government allows Swiggy to operate as an essential service not just for our food deliveries but also Genie and other services, we have paused our operations due to the on-ground challenges on Saturday. We are prioritising the safety of delivery partners while we await clarity on this matter, a Swiggy spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, Zomato executives told the media that they were notified that the app would be in service till 4 pm on Saturday evening. Several delivery executives were stopped at checkpoints set up by the police as part of enforcing the lockdown. Their bikes were seized and many were fined Rs 1,000. This was an unforeseen development since the government directive allowed food delivery as an essential service. We have paused our operations till we have clarity from the authorities, keeping in mind the safety of our delivery partners, a spokesperson from Zomato said.

Asad flays police actions on delivery boys

Asaduddin Owaisi, Hyderabad MP and president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), on Saturday took strong objection to the city police stopping food delivery executives from carrying out their duties.

Reacting to the police action of stopping these executives at various locations in the city, Owaisi pointed out that the Telangana government order on lockdown had allowed free movement of food delivery executives. The GO on lockdown in Telangana clearly states that food delivery is permitted. Why are delivery personnel being detained then? They must be released along with their vehicles immediately. These are poor youths trying to get by. (sic) the MP tweeted while tagging the Telangana DGP, and heads of all the three commissionerates in his tweet.

In another tweet that tagged the Telangana chief secretary, the Hyderabad MP said, If the govt has decided to not allow food delivery, then please amend the GO. Till such an amendment is made, food delivery personnel should not be stopped.
NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP)  Geneace Williams had no interest in working for a city government, even after a friend sent her an intriguing job post for a new diversity, equity and inclusion manager in Naperville.

With years of experience as a diversity consultant, the Burr Ridge resident was hoping to expand into a full-time role in the private sector. But when information about the Naperville position appeared before her a second time, she decided to take a closer look.

She read about the citys efforts to create an inclusive community that values diversity, as is reflected in its amended mission statement. She watched Mayor Steve Chiricos state of the city address from last May, including a segment in which residents of various backgrounds and demographics described the welcoming nature of Naperville and proclaimed, I belong.

Sensing a commitment to diversity and a desire for change amid recent race-related issues in Naperville and across the nation, Williams wanted to be part of the journey.

I feel that its the perfect time because when we are at a place where there is tension, more and more people need to step up. More and more people need to have their voices heard, said Williams, who took on the role in February.

Even though its tough, we need all hands on deck, she said. I just want to be one of those sets of hands on deck.

Creating the diversity, equity and inclusion position -- for which records show Williams is earning an annual salary of $110,000 -- is among Napervilles latest steps toward advancing initiatives that celebrate diversity and denounce discrimination.

The city has suffered a black eye in recent years after multiple occasions of racism were reported at a restaurant, school and gas station. Hoping to illustrate a commitment to inclusion, council members revised Napervilles mission statement in 2019 and later adopted a formal resolution and a set of recommendations for workforce and community engagement.

The city also created a human rights and fair housing commission, for which Williams serves as co-liaison, to address complaints about discrimination in housing or public accommodations.

Other agencies throughout the suburbs have leadership roles devoted to diversity and inclusion, including Naperville Unit District 203, Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire and William Rainey Harper College in Palatine.

Elgin and Arlington Heights have both invested in consultants to push forward diversity and inclusion initiatives, and the Lake County Board has a special committee focused on related issues and practices.

While enacting government policies is a positive step, Williams said, its also important to recognize the work of community advocates who have long pushed for change. Rather than repeat their efforts, she said, she wants to find the synergies and fill the gaps.

Understanding Napervilles culture and community is a top priority for the citys newest manager, who says she has spent her first three months on the job listening. Shes received a wide array of feedback so far, she said, including from some who have never experienced issues of racism or discrimination.

But others have expressed concerns surrounding racial tensions in the city and nationwide, Williams said, pointing to protests that turned violent in downtown Naperville last summer after a police officer killed George Floyd in Minneapolis.

What I am finding is that there are a whole lot of people that are glad the city created this position and that Im here, she said. People are raising all kinds of things theyve experienced and things they want to see addressed in the city around inclusivity. ... People want to feel a sense that everybody belongs.

In her approach to tackling the new position, Williams listening phase is followed by a learning phase, where she gathers data, collects information and creates a task force to help develop a framework for the citys diversity and inclusion efforts. The third phase is leveraging, she said, which entails internal and external work to bring those initiatives to life.

Other objectives include engaging with students and youth organizations, holding cultural awareness and educational seminars, and offering opportunities for open dialogue among community members.

My biggest goal is to do the work that brings about positive change. But we, as a city, will have to confront our growing edges to (do so), Williams said. Its about all of us working together. Diversity is a journey. Its not a destination.

___

Source: (Arlington Heights) Daily Herald, https://bit.ly/3f9XQKX
BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP)  A film studio could be coming to Glynn County after commissioners approved zoning for the complex.

The Brunswick News reports plans for the studio contain three 90,000-square-foot (8,400-square-meter) buildings. The owners will also build a water tower and water treatment facility at the site north of Brunswick.
COLO, Iowa (AP)  COVID-19 closed Nilands Cafe in August, but the historic Colo diner is reopening under the new management of Danny and Abi Wilson, longtime Colo residents.

The Wilsons are starting with a smaller menu full of homemade items, including tenderloins made using their own recipe.

Were so excited. It took longer than expected to get open because of Covid, Danny Wilson said. The menu is going to be kind of limited at first. I just want to make sure that we do good food  good quality from scratch  and then add on.

Were going to make everything ourselves except a few things like onion rings and cheese balls.

The menu will also include items like burgers, roast beef, pulled pork, mashed potatoes and gravy, plenty of side dishes, pie, shakes and ice cream.

We truly hope that we can offer something with a little more heart in it, Abi Wilson told the Ames Tribune. It really is comfort food.

There will be made-from-scratch biscuits and gravy on weekends, she said. And she will be making pies and baked goods.

My dream is to make pie in the mornings and have the farmers come in for coffee. Coffee and pie is my favorite breakfast, Abi said. Thats my hope.

There are a few changes in store for patrons. The vintage Cadillac that used to be parked in the dining room has been moved next door to the gas station museum to more than double the seating to 10 areas, both booths and tables.

Situated between two other historic buildings, the Colo Motel and the gas station museum, Nilands Cafe has display cases in the front room of the cafe and historic signs throughout. The display cases were donated by Duane Pundt of State Center.

The history is so important to people, Abi said. We have so many people who come in and take photos and selfies.

The Wilsons painted the walls of the cafe along with other updates and made improvements to six rentable rooms of the Colo Motel. Rooms are $60 per night, including a mini-fridge, free Wi-Fi and cable television.

It had been about 20 years since the motel rooms have been redone, Abi Wilson said. We repainted everything and put new blinds and bedding in there.

Danny and Abi live in Colo and have five children, ages 2 to 18, in the Colo-NESCO school district, where Abi teaches. She doesnt plan to return to teaching next year, so she can focus on the cafe and motel.

Danny, who grew up in Colo, currently works for the city and has his own carpentry business on the side. Abi grew up in Adel, attended Iowa State for education, and is in her ninth year teaching at Colo-NESCO.

This is a whole new project for us, Abi said of the cafe and motel. Weve never been involved in anything quite like this, but were really excited about it.

Between me working in the school and knowing everybody  parents and students  and Dannys family (having) been around here for generations, were really trying to pull that community aspect into the cafe.

Nilands Cafe is located at the Reed-Niland Corner beside a restored gas station and Colo Motel at the junction of the Lincoln and Jefferson highways near Colo.

The buildings are owned by the Colo Development Group, and the Wilsons are leasing and managing the businesses.

In the early days of automobiles, two major roads named after former presidents, the Jefferson Highway and the Lincoln Highway, intersected just outside Colo and became known as the Reed-Niland Corner, according to a historic plaque outside Nilands Cafe.

In 1923, Colo farmer Charlie Reed began selling gasoline, and soon after that added food and lodging to his roadside services. Reed was assisted in the businesses by his nephew M. Reed Niland. Three generations of the two related families served customers for more than 70 years as the location became known unofficially as the Reed-Niland Corner or Nilands Corner.

Located at 24 Lincoln Way in Colo, Nilands Cafe is open Fridays, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Sundays, 7 a.m. to 2 p.m.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP)  The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is taking lottery applications to harvest alligators on public lands.

Applications are due by June 30 for hunts from Aug. 25 through Oct. 30.

There are a total of 431 opportunities on 19 wildlife management areas, 28 public lakes and one Army Corps of Engineers property.

Each hunter gets tags for three alligators.

The department takes only online applications, and each person may submit only one.

Program managers report that 2,278 people applied last year for 421 available opportunities, department spokesman Robert Trey Iles said.

Applications are on the department website at https://la-web.s3licensing.com/, under the Lottery Applications tab. Application and transaction fees total $7.

Applicants must be legal Louisiana residents at least 16 years old. Winners need to buy a $25 alligator hunting license plus $40 per alligator tag.

The department has posted a map of the 48 areas with a list including the number of chances and the percentage of applicants selected in 2020 at each. For instance, only 7% of the applicants got to hunt at the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area near Krotz Springs, while 63% of those who applied for Lake Bruin were able to go after gators in the state-owned Tensas Parish oxbow lake.

Sixty people will get three tags each at the Richard K. Yancey Wildlife Management Area south of Ferriday, while only two will be able to hunt in each of nine other areas.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP)  A Missouri sheriff's deputy shot and injured a man Friday while responded to a reported domestic assault call.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which is is investigating at the request of the Miller County sheriff, said two deputies responded to a home near St. Anthony Friday afternoon, the Jefferson City News-Tribune reported.

Officers attempted to detain a 35-year-old man inside the home, but he resisted, authorities said. The man then got a rifle and approached the deputies. One deputy fired his weapon, striking him. authorities said.

Deputies provided medical aid until emergency personnel arrived and he was transported by helicopter to an area hospital.

No further details were released.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)  There was one person Judy Kiser was looking for as she rolled her walker through the high school students and senior citizens celebrating together on the patio at Heritage Greens Senior Living Community last Sunday afternoon.

Shes coming; shes in the black, Sydney Smith, the teenage organizer of the gathering told her, as Smith beckoned her classmate Bridget Peck closer.

As soon as Peck bent down to ask, How are you? Kiser reached out for a hug, her keys jangling on the plastic lanyard around her wrist as they embraced.

On May 16, Grimsley High School students who have been corresponding with Heritage Greens seniors this school year got to meet their pen pals for the first time.

Smith said she started a club for students at her school to write to residents at the senior community as something to do while school was in remote learning during the pandemic.

When COVID first started I was pretty bored and my friends were pretty bored and we couldnt hang out with each other, because you know, COVID, she said.

She said she thought communicating with an older person could be interesting, and thats where the idea for the club came from. At first, she said, she started out with five of her friends. But as word spread, other students asked to join.

Smith, Peck and other students started writing to their pen pals at the beginning of this school year.

For Smith, the social isolation of the pandemic without in-person school or activities was challenging. But she said writing back and forth with her pen pal, Betty Ries, helped her.

I felt like I had another friend through COVID, she said. And in some ways, she felt freer to share her thoughts with someone not already involved in her life.

Its kind of nice talking to a stranger because you can tell them about whats going on, whats happening, and theres no repercussion, she said.

Gina Rice, the wellness director at Heritage Greens, worked with Smith to make Smiths idea of a pen pals club a reality.

Rice said some of her residents have limited vision or intellectual or memory impairments. Also, she said, some people felt self-conscious about their writing and needed encouragement to write to their pen pals.

It thrills me to see them step out of their comfort zones and share their stories, she said.

And for some residents who were no longer able to write, Rice said she helped them to at least send a card.

Meanwhile, Smith took on a mission to ensure all the Heritage Greens senior pen pals got letters, even sometimes pestering some of the Grimsley students a little to get their letters written on time, she said.

She said she would drive around to the students houses every couple of weeks to pick up or drop off letters, which proved to be a good opportunity to see classmates, catch up with them, and find out how things were going with their pen pals.

Heritage Greens has been open to visitors since February and the vast majority of the residents are vaccinated, Rice said. The party last Sunday was planned as an end-of-the-school-year opportunity for the pen pals to finally meet.

Not everyone could make it. For example, one student had to attend a family event, Smith said, and one of the Heritage Greens residents moved shortly before the gathering. Smith and her friends helped ensure that everyone got somebody to talk to at some point, even the people whose pen pals could not attend.

Ella Sharpe, a Grimsley junior, brought a purple and white flower for her pen pal, 101-year-old Helen Adamson, who handed her a recently written card.

Theyve had some similar experiences during the pandemic, including spending many months staying home and now slowly starting to go out again. Both recently went to church services again for the first time during the pandemic, with Adamson attending what she described as a beautiful Mothers Day service outdoors.

At the far side of the gathering, Peck and Kiser were also seated at metal table, getting to know each other better. Kiser told Sharpe about her past career as a math teacher and how she enjoyed seeing how much her students had improved from when they started.

Peck, a junior, told Kiser she is planning on college but is not sure yet what career she wants.

Later on in the gathering, Peck snagged a deck of cards from the games table and taught Kiser how to play gin rummy. They laughed and smiled together as they played.

I loved the letters she sent me, Kiser said. So kind. So sweet.
The Polish Genealogical Society of Michigan will install a plaque in Parisville in recognition of the township as home to the oldest Polish settlement in the state.

The ceremony unveiling the plaque will take place at 1 p.m. on June 5 at the corner of Atwater and Parisville roads where three flag poles reside, across the street from the 1876 Parisville Hotel.

Roger Laske, one of the directors of the society whose Polish ancestors were among the first to settle in Parisville, said the plaque would honor those immigrants who made the area one of the oldest Polish villages in the United States.

The immigrants that settled in the Thumb left behind governmental oppression following the Prussian (present-day Germany) Partition of Poland of the late 18th century, fleeing from the Sliwice area of northwest Poland and the southwestern villages near Boronow in Silesian Poland. They arrived in the Thumb after traveling through Canada and Pennsylvania to reach Michigan.

Most of this area was thick forest and swamps, but through hard work, they made it their new home, Laske said. They endured many hardships clearing the land and building their homesteads. They even had to suffer through devastating county-wide fires in 1871 and 1881. But they survived and created their community, centered by St. Mary Catholic Church, first church being built about 1868.

The society thanks Marv Osentoski for allowing and aiding in installing the plaque and members Jennifer Carrier, Charles Chase, James Trombly, and the late Don Susalla for their input and dedication to documenting and preserving this history.

The societys mission is to preserve the Polish heritage in the state. It currently has over 400 members.

The societys online store even sells a book Chase wrote about the Parisville and Paris Township settlements, explaining what made Poles leave their homeland for a better life in the Thumb.

Carrier is writing another book on the same topic featuring biographies of those first families who came to the Thumb, showing off their struggles and contributions to their communities.

Further information about the first Polish settlers in the Thumb, including Laskes own research, can be found in the genealogy room of the Sandusky District Library, where over 600 photos taken of the Poles from 1876 to 1930 can be found.
The Texas House and Senate have reached a compromise on a bill to allow the permitless carrying of handguns, the top negotiators said Friday, moving it even closer to Gov. Greg Abbotts desk for a likely signature.

The author of the legislation, Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, announced the deal in a statement Friday afternoon, and the Senate sponsor, Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, issued a subsequent statement also acknowledging an agreement. Details of the compromise were not immediately available.

By working together, the House and Senate will send Gov. Abbott the strongest Second Amendment legislation in Texas history, and protect the right of law-abiding Texans to carry a handgun as they exercise their God-given right to self-defense and the defense of their families, Schaefer said.

Abbott has said he would sign into law a constitutional carry proposal. Schaefers House Bill 1927 would eliminate the requirement for Texas residents to obtain a license to carry handguns if theyre not barred by state or federal law from possessing a gun.

With a deal struck, both chambers will need to approve the agreed-upon version of the measure before it heads to Abbotts desk to become law. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said in a statement that the HB 1927 compromise will become eligible for a final vote early next week.

Permitless carry, long sought by gun rights activists, saw a breakthrough in April when the House passed HB 1927. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick initially said the Senate did not have the votes for it, but he created a new committee, referred HB 1927 to it and got it to the floor, where it passed earlier this month.

Before approving the bill, though, the Senate tacked on several amendments to address concerns by law enforcement groups that have historically opposed permitless carry. Those amendments at first alarmed some supporters of the proposal, with Schaefer saying he was very concerned they could lead to procedural issues in the lower chamber.

While Rep. Chris Turner, D-Grand Prairie, raised a procedural objection  known as a point of order  against HB 1927 when it returned to the House, he ended up withdrawing it, and the House proceeded to initiate a conference committee to work out the differences between the two chambers.

It was not immediately clear Friday whether the Senate amendments survived the conference committee, though Patrick sounded optimistic in his statement that the deal would reflect law enforcement interests. He said the bill includes the thinking of national gun rights advocates and many in Texas law enforcement and affirms our commitment to protect the rights of gun owners and the safety of those in law enforcement.

Patrick also used the statement to ding those who were skeptical that the legislation would reach the finish line. Texas GOP Chairman Allen West had accused the Senate of attaching poison-pill amendments, which Patrick and his advisers, and West was questioning Patricks commitment to the cause as recently as Thursday.

Those who said HB 1927 would never pass and who perpetuated stories of a poison pill and other conspiracies willfully misled many Second Amendment supporters in Texas, Patrick said. They also underestimated how hard members of the House and Senate were working to pass this bill.

--

This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/20/texas-constitutional-carry/.
WASHINGTON - In a flyer distributed on Capitol Hill last week, Elon Musk's SpaceX warned that legislation now being considered would reward "Jeff Bezos with a $10 billion sole-source hand-out" that would tie up NASA's moon plans and hand "space leadership to China."

Bezos' Blue Origin space company countered quickly and forcefully: "Lie." "Lie." "Lie," it said of each of the allegations in SpaceX's paper. And added: "What is Elon Musk afraid of ... a little competition?" (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)

The dueling documents are the latest point of tension in a long-simmering rivalry between the world's two wealthiest men and billionaire "space barons" who have sparred on and off for years in their quest to privatize human space exploration. Musk and Bezos have fought over a launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center, battled over a patent over landing rockets and have argued over which of them actually pulled off that feat first.

Musk's SpaceX and Bezos' Amazon also are competing to put thousands of satellites in Earth orbit that could beam Internet signals to ground stations on Earth.

Now they are warring over another prize - landing the first astronauts on the lunar surface since the last Apollo mission visited there in 1972.

Last month, SpaceX won a coveted NASA contract to build a spacecraft that would ferry NASA astronauts to and from the surface of the moon as part of the space agency's Artemis program. It was a stunning victory - one virtually no one outside of NASA had anticipated, especially since Blue Origin and its "national team" of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Draper had finished first in the initial round of contracts. In the final round for the first mission to the moon, however, SpaceX not only beat out Blue Origin but also another bidder, Dynetics, an Alabama-based defense contractor.

Almost immediately, however, both losing companies cried foul, and filed protests with the Government Accountability Office, arguing the procurement was flawed. But Blue Origin went a step further, lobbying Congress to make the case that NASA should award two contracts for what's known as the Human Landing System (HLS).

And last week, Sen. Maria Cantwell, D, the chairwoman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, came to Blue Origin's aid by tacking language to another bill, now known as the "U.S. Innovation and Competition Act," requiring NASA to award a second contract and saying Congress should spend another $10 billion to fund it.

The amendment was voted out of committee and is heading to a vote in the Senate. To become law, it still must also pass the House, and appropriators would still need to allocate the $10 billion in funding - a tall ask in the middle of a pandemic. The wrangling continued in recent days, when the bill was revised to say the NASA administrator could not "modify, terminate or rescind" SpaceX's contract.

Still, Cantwell's amendment shows Bezos' growing influence in the nation's capital. Bezos' Amazon has been one of Cantwell's biggest donors during her time in the Senate. The amendment is perhaps unsurprising, given that Cantwell represents Washington state, home to both Amazon and Blue Origin.

In recent years, Blue Origin also has given its operation in the nation's capital more muscle. It spent nearly $2 million in lobbying last year, up from a little more than $400,000 in 2015, according to OpenSecrets.org, which tracks spending. The company's political action committee has amped up its donations as well, spending $320,000 in 2020 up from $22,000 in 2016.

The amendment quickly became another point of contention. SpaceX struck first: "The Cantwell amendment undermines the federal government procurement process, rewards Jeff Bezos with a $10 billion sole-source hand-out, and will throw NASA's Artemis program into years of litigation," its flyer said.

"Blue Origin and its contractors lost the HLS competition after proposing an inferior solution at more than double the price of the winning bid," it said. And it added that even though SpaceX won the competition, the amendment "creates what is effectively a sole-source [award] to Blue Origin without competition in violation of the Competition in Contracting Act."

The flyer noted that Blue Origin had received hundreds of millions of dollars in awards from NASA and the Pentagon for preliminary contracts but that the government "has chosen not to proceed with Blue Origin after every major development contract."

Bezos' company, SpaceX said, "has not produced a single rocket or spacecraft capable of reaching orbit." That was a point Musk amplified on Twitter, saying the company "can't get it up (to orbit)."

Blue Origin punched back with a flyer of its own for lawmakers. "Elon Musk repeatedly talks about the value of competition, but when it comes to NASA's Human Landing System, he wants it all to himself," it said. And it noted that Musk had sued the Air Force for the right to compete against the United Launch Alliance for Pentagon launch contracts.

The company called SpaceX's charge that the amendment is an earmark for Blue Origin a "lie," and said the amendment would allow two teams to build landers. "Two providers promote competition that ensures greater safety and mission success through a dissimilar redundancy in approaches, while at the same time also controlling costs."

It alleged that NASA's selection process "was different for each bidder," and that SpaceX was allowed to "re-price" its bid "based on new budget information supplied by NASA that was not provided to the other bidders."

NASA's bias for SpaceX didn't end there, Blue Origin said. Blue Origin accused the space agency of incorrectly downgrading several of its technical designs that the agency "has previously reviewed, approved, and accepted." It added that by picking just SpaceX "NASA risks the nation's return to the moon entirely on SpaceX's ability to deliver its proposed solution - Starship and the new Super Heavy booster - despite the 'immense complexity' and 'high risk' NASA itself documented" in the selection document.

NASA has said it wanted to award two contracts, but only had the money for one. Initially, NASA said the "current fiscal year budget did not support even a single [contract] award." As a result, SpaceX was allowed to update the payment schedule for its $2.9 billion bid so that it would fit "within NASA's current budget."

NASA noted that SpaceX's new payment schedule "did not propose an overall price reduction," and that SpaceX "was prohibited from changing content within its technical and management proposals." SpaceX also scored higher than Blue Origin on its "management rating," according to NASA.

Musk and Bezos founded their space exploration companies at about the same time - Blue Origin in 2000; SpaceX in 2002. But SpaceX has moved much faster, and has accomplished much more. It first flew a rocket to orbit in 2008, then won lucrative contracts from NASA and the Pentagon. NASA relies on the company to fly cargo and supplies to the International Space Station and since last year SpaceX has launched three missions with astronauts to the orbiting laboratory.

Blue Origin, by contrast, has moved at a slower pace, mimicking its mascot, the tortoise. While it has flown its New Shepard vehicle to space 15 times, and is getting ready to fly its first mission with humans, the rocket doesn't reach orbit; rather it touches the edge of space some 65 miles up and then falls back to Earth.

After losing out on a lucrative Pentagon contract, the company said the first flight of its massive New Glenn rocket, which would be capable of delivering payloads to orbit, would be postponed until late next year. Originally, Bezos has said it would fly by 2020.

Bezos has said he would step down as CEO of Amazon later this year, and many in the space community, including Musk, have said they hope he focuses more of his attention on Blue Origin.

Gwynne Shotwell, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, took a shot at Blue Origin's slow progress at a conference in 2019.

"I think engineers think better when they're pushed hardest to do great things in a very short period of time, with very few resources. Not when you have 20 years," Shotwell said. "I don't think there's a motivation or a drive there."

Getting to orbit has been a point of tension between the companies. In 2013, when SpaceX was in talks to lease launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center from NASA, Blue Origin stepped in to say it wanted a shot to compete for the pad.

That incensed Musk, who pointed out that Blue Origin had yet to fly a rocket to orbit. Musk said in an email to SpaceNews, "if they do somehow show up in the next 5 years with a vehicle qualified to NASA's human rating standards that can dock with the space station, which is what Pad 39A is meant to do, we will gladly accommodate their needs."

But he added: "Frankly, I think we are more likely to discover unicorns dancing in the flame duct."

The following year, Blue Origin received a patent for landing rocket boosters on ships at sea - a feat SpaceX had been working to perfect and others had conceived of as well. SpaceX challenged the patent, and won, and in an interview with The Post at the time, Musk said that "trying to patent something that people have been discussing for half a century is obviously ridiculous."

The following year, Blue Origin landed one of its New Shepard vehicles, and Bezos on Twitter called it the "rarest of beasts - a used rocket."

"Not quite 'rarest,'" Musk tweeted in reply, pointing to the fact that SpaceX had previously launched test rockets a few hundred feet into the air and landed them.

The next month, when SpaceX landed its Falcon 9 rocket for the first time, Bezos tweeted, "Welcome to the club!" Musk took it as a jab, since the Falcon 9 rocket is far more powerful than New Shepard and returned to Earth from delivering a payload to orbit.

Musk made another statement earlier this month, when SpaceX for the first time landed one of its Starship prototypes. It was the first flight of the vehicle it intends to use to fly NASA's astronauts to the moon since SpaceX won the contract - a sign of its seriousness with developing real flight hardware.

It intends to make another statement when it attempts to refly the vehicle, a test flight that Musk recently said could come "soon." It also intends to fly Starship to orbit later this year.
UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. special envoy for Libya warned the Security Council on Friday that progress on the key issue of withdrawing mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya has stalled and their continued presence is a threat not only to Libya but to the entire African region.

Jan Kubis said recent disturbing events in neighboring Chad, where rebels were blamed for last months killing of longtime president Idriss Deby Into, are a reminder of the link between the security situation in Libya and the security and stability in the region.

The high mobility of armed groups and terrorists but also economic migrants and refugees, often through channels operated by organized criminal networks and other local players across uncontrolled borders only enhances risks of furthering instability and insecurity in Libya and the region, he said.

Kubis said the U.N. mission in Libya, known as UNSMIL, reported the continuing presence of foreign elements, mercenaries and assets, thus entrenching the division of Libya.

Libya has been wracked by chaos since a NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011 and split the oil-rich North African country between a U.N.-supported government in the capital, Tripoli, and rival authorities based in the countrys east, each backed by armed groups and foreign governments.

In April 2019, east-based commander Khalifa Hifter and his forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to try and capture Tripoli. His 14-month-long campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support of the U.N.-backed government with hundreds of troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.

An October cease-fire led to the formation of a joint interim government, which took power in March, and is tasked with bringing together the divided country and steering it through presidential and parliamentary elections on Dec. 24.

As for the U.N. arms embargo against Libya, which U.N. experts reported recently has been continuously violated, Kubis said the U.N. mission continues to receive reports of cargoes of arms and military supplies arriving at military bases in the west, east and south.

UNSMIL also continues to receive reports of fortifications and defensive positions being set up along the Sirte-Jufra axis as well as air force training activities, he said.

Kubis said UNSMIL also reported that progress in opening the road from the strategic city of Sirte, the gateway to the countrys major oil fields and export terminals, is stalled.

Further delays in reopening the road work against efforts to build a trust between the two sides and could undermine efforts to advance the implementation of the cease-fire agreement, to advance the political transition, he warned.

The October cease-fire that called for mercenaries and foreign fighters to leave in 90 days continues to hold, Kubis said, but failure to get them to leave could affect Libyas political transition and the December elections.

It is therefore critical to plan and ensure an orderly departure of foreign fighters, mercenaries, and armed groups together with their disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in the countries of origin, he said.

The U.N. estimated in December that there were at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya, including Syrians, Russians, Sudanese and Chadians. But diplomats said speakers at an informal council meeting in late April said there were more than 20,000, including 13,000 Syrians and 11,000 Sudanese.

In mid-April the Security Council voted to deploy up to 60 international monitors to the U.N. political mission in Libya to monitor the cease-fire and withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters.

Kubis said the U.N. Secretariat in New York and the mission in Libya are planning for an initial deployment of just five observers to the capital, Tripoli.

He said the cease-fire agreement calls for all military units and armed groups to return to their camps, and in parallel all mercenaries and foreign fighters should depart from Libya.

Based on this, pulling back a limited number of mercenaries to Benghazi (in the east) and Tripoli (in the west) and then flying them out, can commence a balanced and sequenced withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, fighters and foreign forces, Kubis said.

He said this approach needs a plan and timelines agreed with those external forces that are associated with mercenaries and foreign forces in Libya.

Earlier this month, Najla al-Manqoush, foreign minister of Libyas interim government, called for the departure of foreign forces and mercenaries at a joint news conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Cavusoglu responded by saying that Turkish forces were in Libya as part of a training agreement reached with a previous Libya administration. There are those who equate our legal presence ... with the foreign mercenary groups that fight in this country for money, he said.

On a positive note, Kubis said the security situation in Libya has significantly improved, although clashes between armed militia groups competing for influence, access to and control of territory and resources do occur from time to time.
A child raises a Palestinian flag and cheers as spectators gather beside the rubble of the al-Jalaa building following a cease-fire reached after an 11-day war between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel, in Gaza City, Friday, May 21, 2021. (AP/John Minchillo)

NIZAMABAD: Telugu migrant workers heaved a sigh of relief after the ceasefire began between Israel and Hamas after 11 days of rocket fire by Hamas. Around 10,000 persons from Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are working in Israel as caregivers and housekeeping workers.

A few of the workers shared the good news with their family members in India on Friday. The relatives were worried for the safety of the workers.

Hundreds of youths from Nizamabad district, especially from the Armoor area, have been working in Israel for the last few years. During the conflict, the families of migrant workers regularly inquired about the well-being and safety of their kin in Israel.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, B. Maheshwar Goud, Israel Telangana Association working president, said that they were relaxed since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. Indian personnel, especially Telugus, were working even during the conflict, he said. Israel authorities provided safety for its citizens and migrant workers equally, he said. The ceasefire definitely gives us relief, he said.

Bacheva Gilath, a teacher in Ramathgan in Israel, said that the ceasefire was welcome. Speaking to Deccan Chronicle from Israel on Friday over a WhatsApp call, she said that Indian workers were polite and sincere. In housekeeping and caregiver services, Indians were the most trusted, she said.
Little things each day remind Hazel Jones of her son, Mattie.

In her apartment, dozens of stuffed and ceramic turtles decorate the walls. Hazels husband, Artrell Jones, was the first to make the connection between Mattie and the turtles. He loves the animals himself and suspects his son would have, too.

Other things, like the smell of peaches, red and black butterflies and yellow daisies all bring Mattie back to Hazel. Each of them has a significance, in one way or another. Every day without him is still a struggle, she said.

Matthew Aaron Jones was delivered stillborn. During a routine ultrasound when she was 20 weeks pregnant, the doctor told Hazel that Matties heart wasnt beating. What followed was a pain that she wouldnt wish on anybody.

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The nonprofit news outlet Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service provided this article to The Associated Press through a collaboration with Institute for Nonprofit News.

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Amid the flurry of emotions after that was a mountain of paperwork and processes for the family to go through. Medical bills began to pile up that Hazel and Artrell had no hopes of paying. Along with their older son, Robert, they experienced homelessness for about 10 months trying to pay off the bills.

What stuck with Hazel most, however, was her sons burial. The baby was only 6 inches long and weighed only 3  ounces, so the hospital did not have small enough clothes for him to wear.

Thats why Hazel decided to help those who have lost children  in Matties memory.

Hazel established the organization Matties Memory in 2012, with the goal of providing memory bags and bereavement information to hospitals throughout Southeastern Wisconsin. The bags include items for families to keep in memory of their child as well as burial gowns and other clothing for the babies themselves.

After the project was announced, she received a deluge of fabric and wedding dresses, which Hazel turns into burial gowns for the children who have gone too soon. She also makes hats, blankets and small bassinets.

Each month, she delivers donation bags to local hospitals for families that have lost a child in infancy or childbirth. The donations help address a shortage in burial gowns at the hospitals as well as provide some comfort for the bereaved, Hazel said.

I just hate to see people hurting, she said.

Hazel also puts together information for families trying to figure out whats next after losing a child. The process can be difficult and confusing, she said, and hard to navigate in grief.

In her own experience, she struggled to get a stillbirth certificate, an official document acknowledging the death of the child. In some states, a stillbirth certificate is needed to get tax credits available to parents.

If you dont know about it, the hospitals wont do it for you, she said. Theyll do your birth certificate, theyll do your death certificate, but that stillbirth certificate  you have to fight for it.

Hazel also is involved in an effort to get a tax credit for parents of stillborn children passed in the Wisconsin Legislature.

This type of support is especially important in Milwaukee, where 10 in every 1,000 pregnancies end in infant mortality, and another seven in every 1,000 end in stillbirth, according to a report from the Milwaukee Health Department on stillbirths and infant deaths from 2012 to 2015 in the city.

Wisconsin also was found to have the worst rate of infant mortality for Black children in a 2018 report covering the years 2013-15. The state had the highest rate in the nation with 14.26 in every 1,000 Black pregnancies ending in infant mortality, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Black children died at three times the rate of white children before their first birthday.

Doing the work Hazel does can be daunting, but Hazel doesnt do it by herself.

Artrell is involved with Matties Memory, providing support every step of the way.

I have to be strong for her, Artrell, known as AJ, said. I try to be tough about it, but I do grieve as well. Because it affects me, but at the time being there for her was more important than how I felt.

Their roommate, Mike Isler, also lends his artwork to the project, designing logos and graphics for the Matties Memory Facebook page and making art for giveaways.

Maggie Skovera, a volunteer with Matties Memory, works alongside Hazel crafting blankets and performing other sewing duties. Skovera knows what theyre doing makes a difference.

I know it brings comfort to just have something, she said.

Skovera also represents an important piece of the bigger picture: Community. Among those who have lost children, there is a prevailing sense of togetherness and a common pain that few others can relate to.

Its like walking through a dark tunnel and the people who get it are at the end with a light, Hazel said.

Skovera has also lost children. And Hazel said they can pick each other up when theyre down without saying a word.

Well just sit there, not do anything, just sit there quietly, Hazel said. And we dont have to ask each other whats wrong. We get it.

Though shes learned to live with it, Hazel said the grief still manifests in her day-to-day life. Sometimes a movie or a trip to the store will bring up bad feelings.

We call it the ugly shoes journey, Hazel said. Because its the ugliest pair of shoes youll wear in your life, and its the most painful.

The saying is based on a poem by an unknown author, Hazel said, that many who have endured loss can relate to.

Hazel has also found another calling as a registered doula in Milwaukee. She also offers bereavement doula services as part of Matties Memory.

Two years ago, Hazel even delivered one of Skoveras grandchildren: a little boy named Taylor, whom Hazel refers to as Squishie. Its a long way from being fearful of holding babies just a few years ago, Hazel said.

As her work continues, Hazel said the end goal is helping to provide comfort in camaraderie for those who have lost children.

Its that unity of knowing that theres somebody out there who gets it, Hazel said. We dont hear very often from families, but when we do, its normally Thank you for not making me feel alone. Thank you for being there. Thank you for understanding.
Texans aren't happy with the new abortion bill that became law in Texas on Wednesday.

Several pro-choice organizations, like Deeds Action Funds and Texas Freedom Network, are asking Texans to join its rally called "Don't Mess with Texans' Abortions!" at 11 a.m. on Saturday, May, 29 on the South Steps of the Texas Capitol.

The march is to stand against the controversial Senate Bill 8  a measure that prohibits abortions as early as six weeks, which critics of the bill argue is before some women even know they're pregnant. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the bill into law this week.

READ ALSO: 'It's a clear overreach': Texas leaders respond to Gov. Greg Abbott's recent actions

"While the Texas legislature remains fixated on banning abortions instead of using its legislative power to address Black maternal mortality, housing insecurity, expand Medicaid, and many other issues, Texans still have the power to rise up and support one another," the rally's Facebook event page read. "Join us for a powerful rally and march where we'll unite and mobilize together to let the entire state know not to mess with Texans abortions!"

The Facebook event page, which was just created on Thursday and already has more than 1,000 people interested, stated it also hopes the rally lifts up abortion funds across the state.

"(They) need our support now more than ever because abortions have always happened and they will continue to happen," the Facebook event page notes.

The route of the march will a consistent 30 minute, 0.8-mile walk and will conclude at the Governor's Mansion. For those unable to participate in the march, the pro-choice organizations are asking demonstrators to head to the Governor's Mansion for the rally.

Demonstrators are asked to wear face masks and maintain a proper distance from other attendees. Additional masks, hand sanitizer, snacks, and water will be made available to all attendees. To learn more information, visit its Facebook page by clicking here.
Minority farmers who for decades have faced systemic discrimination will begin to receive debt relief beginning in early June under what Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called Friday one of the most significant pieces of civil rights legislation in decades.

In an op-ed piece published Friday in USA Today, Vilsack also called the debt relief a major civil rights victory," saying it responds to systemic discrimination perpetrated against farmers and ranchers of color by the Agriculture Department.

It is a historic move that will symbolize that USDA actually cares and that the Biden administration is doing whatever they can to mend fences and show the minority farmers that they do care about them during his administration, said Abraham Carpenter, a 59-year-old Black farmer whose family grows fruits and vegetables on about 1,500 acres near Grady, Arkansas.

MORE WORLD NEWS: MAJOR MEXICAN TOURIST DESTINATION AT 'IMMINENT RISK' OF LOCKDOWN

Carpenter expects the debt relief will pay off about $200,000 in farm loans, freeing up money that can now be put toward farm operations like buying seed and equipment instead of making loan payments.

I know they have said it about a thousand times that they wanted to bring everybody together to make sure everybody was treated fairly. You can say it a million times., but until you show it nobody really believes it," he said. "But this action of paying off debts for the minority farmers shows they actually do care about treating everybody fairly.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Farm Service Agency announced Friday it has published the first notice of funding availability under the American Rescue Plan Act for borrowers with qualifying direct farm loans. A subsequent notice for farmers with government-guaranteed agricultural loans held by private lenders will be published within 120 days.

A provision in the pandemic relief law directs USDA to pay off the farm loans of nearly 16,000 minority farmers and begin to address racial equity challenges. It authorizes the Agriculture Department to pay up to 120% of direct and guaranteed loan outstanding balances for socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers.

Im feeling really good, said Rod Bradshaw, a 68-year-old Black farmer who raises wheat, cattle and milo on 2,000 acres near Jetmore, Kansas. We knew it was coming, we didnt know when.

Bradshaw, who has been farming since buying his first ground in 1976, has made several discrimination complaints with Agriculture Department over the years. He said he has four direct loans totaling more than $300,000 with USDA that he anticipates will be paid off under the debt relief plan.

Its going to free us up and let us halfway conduct business as usual, Bradshaw said upon learning of Friday's announcement. This has been going on for so long, this is the first step of getting Black farmers and farmers of color back to where they need to be.

The Agriculture Department said in its news release that for much of its history, socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers have faced discrimination, sometimes overt and sometimes through deeply embedded rules and policies.

USDA is recommitting itself to gaining the trust and confidence of Americas farmers and ranchers using a new set of tools provided in the American Rescue Plan to increase opportunity, advance equity and address systemic discrimination in USDA programs, Vilsack said.
As a teacher, the children taught me by their actions and words that they loved and appreciated my connection with those who were most important to them: Their parents.

It is time to pay tribute, publicly, to the parents who trusted me with their children. The following is a letter I sent parents around Thanksgiving or the end of a school year to show my appreciation for their constant support. I remember seeing the words, There are people who , and I liked that idea, so I personalized the rest of each sentence with special thanks to the parents for all they did and all they were. Each year, I changed it, depending on our activities. Here, I thank them once more. For all parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, or friends who recognize themselves in the following, I thank you, too, with all of my heart.

There Are People Who

There are people who stay up until midnight baking cupcakes or cookies for a school party or their childs birthday treat the next day.

There are people who send a paint shirt to school the first week and never complain to the teacher when their child comes home with paint on their clothes.

There are people who send extra of whatever is needed just in case it may be used not only for their child but for others, as well.

There are people who stay up far past their bedtime to wash a uniform blouse or shirt when they discover all are soiled.

There are people who hang child-made decorations during special seasons year after year and tell the children that they are the most beautiful decorations of all. Fortunately, these people realize that as the years go by and the decorations become torn and worn, they are more valuable than any others because the tiny hands that made them were filled with innocence and joy!

There are people who take time off work to attend parent/teacher conferences, read a story to the class, or monitor the classroom and playground realizing that their presence is a wonderful gift to their child, more valuable than any other.

There are people who come forth when asked, some at the last minute, then climb in a noisy car to go on a field trip  even though they know their hearing may never be the same again  because they were needed.

There are those same people who go on the field trips and act as though the material presented (solar system, nature hikes, library skills) is completely new to them  displaying much enthusiasm and excitement because they understand that the children are watching, and enthusiasm is contagious!

There are people who graciously take the phone call informing them that their child has been sent to the principals office  and support the teacher 100%, understanding that the teacher and the principal are looking after the best interests of their child.

There are people who allow their children to bring to school treasured books, pictures, and breakable items for the Super Star Board and display table, realizing that the most valuable lessons in the classroom are not found in texts, but in human interactions and relationships. It is important that their Star shines brightly.

There are people who allow the children to do a science experiment at home or repeat a favorite art activity involving messes  because they understand the value of hands on learning.

There are people who send a note of encouragement to the teacher or pass along a positive comment in person  without ever realizing that it came when the teacher needed it most.

There are people who come into the classroom with their child many mornings while chatting and teasing the children and teacher  knowing for sure that the best way to start a day is with laughter!

There are people who reinforce the chapters in a religion book, although they had no energy left after a long day, knowing for certain that faith through the eyes of a child strengthens our own!

There are people who place their most precious possession on earth in the hands of a teacher they dont know ... praying the teacher will look at their own child and recognize their gifts while finding the beautiful human within  because they are certain it truly does take a village to raise a child of dignity.

There are people who wave goodbye each day, often feeling lost and alone, giving the child independence ... knowing that in the end, the most precious gifts we give our children are roots and wings.

There are people who cheer for the University of Michigan rather than Michigan State  helping the teacher to realize that she cant have it all!

There are people called Parents. Thank you!

Sharon Capriccioso taught school at Blessed Sacrament School for more than 20 years. Here, she writes about the lessons learned from her students. Her lessons will appear on the fourth weekend of each month in the Midland Daily News.
News

County ARP plans move forward

Grant County officials are continuing to work through the process and plan of how to use nearly $13 million in anticipated federal COVID funding.

At Mondays commissioners meeting, the board officially approved an ordinance establishing a fund for the $12.7 million in American Rescue Plan (ARP) funding that the county has been allocated. Commissioner Mark Bardsley said he met with council members Shane Middlesworth and Mark Leming to make sure council was on board with the direction the county was taking with the funds before the ordinance was approved.

After discussion, we tweaked just a bit and they are satisfied with the items that we have before us now, Bardsley said. We do have to have an ordinance in order to technically go to the next plan, which will be to establish a spending plan, but we have to have this document in place in order to take that next step.

The ordinance states the spending plan for the funds will be established by commissioners with the input and consultation of council. At Wednesdays council meeting, Councilman Mark Leming said it was important to him that council be included in the discussions rather than just being asked to rubber stamp expenses after the fact.

I think my biggest thing was just trying to move Grant County ahead...and making sure that we were informed before we get the vote, Leming said. That was one of the things we talked about quite a bit, and so I think it went well and were trying to work together.

The ordinance outlines various allowable expenses the funds can be used for, including:

Responding to or mitigating the COVID-19 public health emergency and impacts, including through assistance to households, small businesses, and nonprofits or tourism, travel and hospitality industries

Offering governmental services to the extent of the reduction in revenue due to lower property or income tax receipts due to the pandemic

Improving water, sewer or broadband infrastructure

Assisting public or private transportation programs

Offering premium pay for essential county workers, or offering grants to private employers who employ essential workers

Bardsley said after discussions with council, an additional bullet point was added to the ordinance stating the county can use the funds for any other uses the U.S. Treasury Department allows if more areas are approved down the road.

Council Attorney Phil Stephenson told council members he is keeping tabs on a federal lawsuit out of Ohio challenging the provision that ARP money cannot be used to offset a reduction in taxes. He said a district court has initially ruled that it is unconstitutional for such a caveat to be tied to accepting the money, but the ruling is expected to be appealed by the federal government.

Stephenson said he is not clear on if the stipulation applies to not lowering state taxes or if it would also apply to local county taxes if eventually upheld in court. He noted Middlesworth previously proposed using ARP monies to potentially pay off bonds early.

Well if you pay down the bonds that would in fact be changing state tax because of the initial amounts that were put in there to pay off the bonds, he said. So if they rule that, Im not saying do that, but that will at least become one more possibility on the table.

Auditor Jim McWhirt said the ARP fund has been set up in the county system, but the money has not been deposited from the federal government yet. He said he initially thought it would be deposited automatically but then learned the county needs to formally request the money.

When McWhirt went to the federal government portal to request the money, he said Grant County was not initially listed, so he is waiting to hear back from officials for more details on what the county must do to request and receive the funds.

Bardsley said he will meet with Middlesworth and Leming again soon to work further on the spending plan.

In other business, both commissioners and council gave approval at their respective meetings for one additional $500 hazard payment to a single sheriffs department employee who was overlooked when the majority of county employees were compensated for working during the COVID-19 shutdown last spring.
A. Transportation. There's a strong need for a long-term mobility plan, especially on U.S. 19 and State Road 44.

B. Resiliency. Crystal River needs blueprints for the future, especially focusing on sea level rise and health of bay waters.

C. Downtown. Areas within the city's CRA need more projects like the Town Square.

D. Revitalization. Abandoned shopping centers and older structures like the mall need a makeover.

E. Residential neighborhoods. Interconnecting communities and maximizing the potential in Crystal River neighborhoods is the key to happy living.

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About 31 per cent of surveyed U.S. employers explicitly said they were expanding to Canada to hire foreign talent.

Many U.S. employers look to expand to Canada for more access to talent

Many U.S. employers look to expand to Canada for more access to talent About 31 per cent of surveyed U.S. employers explicitly said they were expanding to Canada to hire foreign talent.

Many U.S. employers look to expand to Canada for more access to talent About 31 per cent of surveyed U.S. employers explicitly said they were expanding to Canada to hire foreign talent.

Many U.S. employers look to expand to Canada for more access to talent About 31 per cent of surveyed U.S. employers explicitly said they were expanding to Canada to hire foreign talent. Shelby Thevenot Aa Accessibility Font Style Serif

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The majority of U.S. employers in a recent survey said they are either considering expanding to Canada or have already set up shop.

There are a number of reasons U.S. employers express interest in opening locations north of the border. Envoy Global, a U.S. immigration services provider, surveyed 500 human resource professionals and hiring managers across the U.S. and found that Canadas immigration system plays at least some part in its desirability.

About 57 per cent of respondents said they were either looking to expand to Canada, or already did. The primary drivers were to expand to the Canadian market and access talent regardless of origin. About 31 per cent explicitly said they were primarily considering Canada as an alternative to the U.S. for hiring foreign talent.

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Also, about 70 per cent of survey respondents said they have either sent more people to Canada, or hired more foreign nationals in the country over the past two to three years.

There has been a rise in demand for U.S. visas such as the H-1B. However, the U.S. immigration system offers fewer pathways to employment for international student graduates compared to Canada, which has over 100 economic-class immigration programs.

More than half of respondents said Canadas immigration policies were more favourable than those of the U.S. Employers often said this was because of the larger quantity of visas available, and a more pathways to permanent residency.

When travel restrictions ease, U.S. employers expect the need for employees to travel abroad for assignments will rebound. In particular, as a means of relocating talent who are unable to secure work authorization in the U.S.

Without reform, the U.S. stands to lose both employers and talent to countries with more favourable policies, such as Canada, the report says.

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Full text of Rome Declaration of Global Health Summit (Part 1)

Xinhua) 11:12, May 22, 2021

ROME, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Following is the full text of the Rome Declaration of the Global Health Summit released on Friday:

The Rome Declaration

Global Health Summit

May 21, 2021

We, Leaders of G20 and other states, in the presence of the Heads of international and regional organisations meeting at the Global Health Summit in Rome, May 21, 2021, having shared our experience of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, and welcoming relevant work in this regard, including that presented during the pre-Summit, today:

Reaffirm that the pandemic continues to be an unprecedented global health and socio-economic crisis, with disproportionate direct and indirect effects on the most vulnerable, on women, girls and children, as well as on frontline workers and the elderly. It will not be over until all countries are able to bring the disease under control and therefore, large-scale, global, safe, effective and equitable vaccination in combination with appropriate other public health measures remains our top priority, alongside a return to strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth.

Convey our condolences for lives lost and express our appreciation for healthcare and all frontline workers' vital efforts in responding to the pandemic.

Welcome the World Health Organization's (WHO) designation of 2021 as the Year of Health and Care Workers, and reaffirm our full support for the leading and coordinating role of the WHO in the COVID-19 response and the broader global health agenda.

Underline that sustained investments in global health, towards achieving Universal Health Coverage with primary healthcare at its centre, One Health, and preparedness and resilience, are broad social and macro-economic investments in global public goods, and that the cost of inaction is orders of magnitude greater.

Recognise the very damaging impact of the pandemic on progress towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). We reaffirm our commitment to achieving them to strengthen efforts to build back better (as in UNGA resolution, 11th September 2020), and to the International Health Regulations 2005 (IHR), which together will improve resilience and global health outcomes.

Strongly underline the urgent need to scale up efforts, including through synergies between the public and private sectors and multilateral efforts, to enhance timely, global and equitable access to safe, effective and affordable COVID-19 tools (vaccines, therapeutics, diagnostics, and personal protective equipment, henceforth 'tools'). Recognise the necessity to underpin these efforts with strengthened health systems, recalling the G20 extraordinary Summit of 26 March 2020.

Recognising the role of extensive COVID-19 immunisation as a global public good, we reaffirm our support for all collaborative efforts in this respect, especially the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ACT-A). We underline the importance of addressing the ACT-A funding gap, in order to help it fulfil its mandate. We note the intention to conduct a comprehensive strategic review as basis for a possible adaptation and extension of its mandate to the end of 2022. We emphasise our support for global sharing of safe, effective, quality and affordable vaccine doses including working with the ACT-A vaccines pillar (COVAX), when domestic situations permit. We welcome the June 2021 COVID-19 Vaccines Advance Market Commitment (COVAX AMC) Summit and we note the Charter for Equitable Access to COVID-19 tools.

Note the COVAX Vaccine Manufacturing Working Group, supporting the COVAX Manufacturing Task Force, led by the WHO, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), GAVI and UNICEF, that includes partners such as the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Medicines Patent Pool. We affirm our support for efforts to strengthen supply chains and boost and diversify global vaccine-manufacturing capacity, including for the materials needed to produce vaccines, including by sharing risks, and welcome the vaccines technology transfer hub launched by the WHO. We ask the Working Group and Task Force to report on their progress to the G20 in time for the Leaders' Summit in October. This report will be informed by the WTO and other international stakeholders and organisations, consistent with their mandates and decision-making rules, on how to improve equitable access in the current crisis.

Applaud the unprecedented achievement of safe and effective COVID-19 vaccines within one year, and highlight the importance of continued investment in research and innovation, including in multilateral and other collaborative efforts, to further accelerate the development of safe and effective tools.

Underline the importance of working with all relevant public and private partners rapidly to increase the equitable availability of tools and to enhance access to them. Short-term options include: sharing existing products, including of vaccines through COVAX; Diversifying production capacity; Identifying and addressing bottlenecks in production; Facilitating trade and transparency across the entire value chain; Promoting increased efficiency in the use of capacities and global distribution by cooperation and expansion of existing capacities, including by working consistently within the TRIPS agreement and the 2001 Doha Declaration on the TRIPS agreement and Public Health; and Promoting the use of tools such as voluntary licencing agreements of intellectual property, voluntary technology and know-how transfers, and patent pooling on mutually-agreed terms.

Welcome high-level political leadership for preparedness and response in relation to health emergencies. Note proposals on a possible international instrument or agreement with regards to pandemic prevention and preparedness, in the context of the WHO, and efforts by the WHO, World Organisation for Animal Health, Food and Agriculture Organisation, United Nations Environment Programme and others in relation to strengthening the implementation of the One Health approach through their One Health High-Level Expert Panel.

Beyond these statements in view of the ongoing pandemic, we set out principles and guiding commitments below. These serve as voluntary orientation for current and future action for global health to support the financing, building, and sustaining of effective health system capabilities and capacities and Universal Health Coverage to improve preparedness, early warning of, prevention, detection, coordinated response, and resilience to, and recovery from, the current pandemic and future potential public health emergencies.

These mutually reinforcing principles reconfirm our commitment to global solidarity, equity, and multilateral co-operation; to effective governance; to put people at the centre of preparedness and equip them to respond effectively; to build on science and evidence-based policies and create trust; and to promote sustained financing for global health.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
In what was, so far, the best baseball game of the week, the Jaguars pulled their 33rd win out of the fire and salvaged a gem of a start from their star pitcher.
The majority of New York City Council seats are up for grabs this year as term-limited members leave office, prompting countless candidates to compete in competitive open primaries. But in Council District 37 in northeast Brooklyn, the June primary represents something of a do-over for an election that never was last year, as a six-month incumbent attempts to hold onto her seat against a slew of candidates looking for a second shot at the seat.

The 37th Council District seat, encompassing the neighborhoods of East New York, Bushwhick, Cypress Hills and Brownsville, opened up last year when former Council Member Rafael Espinal left to lead the Freelancers Union. He stepped down in late January, before the coronavirus pandemic had its grip on the city. But when the time came to fill the seat, the pandemic was at its height and causing a lot of confusion when it came to elections. And it left the district without representation for close to a year.

A special election scheduled for April last year was postponed until June, before Gov. Andrew Cuomo ultimately decided to cancel it since the primary was happening on the same day. Due to a combination of technical mistakes and confusion over how many petition signatures were needed after Cuomo reduced the requirements, now-Council Member Darma Diaz  a former district leader supported by the Brooklyn Democratic Party  ran unopposed in the primary. Diaz allies had successfully challenged the other candidates places on the ballot, and the courts upheld the Board of Elections decision to remove them. After winning the November general election, she was sworn into office in December.

With just six months under her belt after her district went without representation for so long, Diaz now must defend her seat against the very same people her supporters were able to get kicked off the ballot. Facing a competitive election that never happened last year, Diaz expressed confidence that both her history in the community as a homelessness nonprofit leader and her short tenure in office will secure her reelection. I've gone from being a community advocate to a policymaker, Diaz said, citing eviction prevention as her top accomplishment during her months in office. Its definitely been a very busy couple of months. Diaz currently ranks second in the fundraising game with nearly $35,000 raised, has almost maxed out public matching funds and considered environmental justice among the key tenets of her current campaign.

But Diaz faces staunch competition among those looking for a rematch. Chief among them is Sandy Nurse, a community activist, carpenter and favorite of the progressive left. She won endorsements from nearly every major union in the city, including 32BJ and 1199 SEUI, as well as the Working Families Party, leftwing groups like New York Communities for Change and prominent lawmakers like state Sen. Julia Salazar and Rep. Nydia Velazquez. She leads in fundraising with over $66,000 raised and has maxed out public matching funds. Nurses platform includes progressive priorities like support for eliminating the 421-a tax abatement and divesting $3 billion from the NYPD.

Its the classic narrative of progressive insurgent vs. party machine  a characterization that Diaz vehemently opposes. After last year accusing the Brooklyn Democratic Party of colluding with the BOE to ensure Diaz ran unopposed (something both the party and Diaz have denied), Nurse is still looking to take on the party-backed candidate. This is going to be the chance for voters finally to have a say in who represents this district, Nurse said, adding that shes not overly concerned about Diazs status as an incumbent Most people don't know that anyone's even in office so I think its still very much a wide open race. Tension between Diaz and Nurse has been building in recent months, with Diaz making headlines in March for accusing Nurse  who describes herself as Afro-Latina  of switching racial identities for political clout.

Diaz is not shy about criticizing other candidates either, even if she often focuses on Nurse. In an interview with City & State, she also said that several candidates dont even live in the district. She declined to name who, although Nurse has been criticized as a transplant in the district (though she has lived in Brooklyn for over a decade), and her home address is just one block away from the district line. Diaz also accused other candidates of stealing from her campaign platform, again without providing specifics. I'm not giving them my message, Diaz said when asked about issues unique to her district that need to be addressed. They're gonna have to work as hard as I am, or harder. And last year, she told City & State her opponents are opportunist (singling out Nurse) who simply didnt work hard enough to get on the ballot and were trying to use the pandemic as an excuse.

But Nurse has also faced criticism from another candidate in the race who has taken issue with the focus on the fight between herself and Diaz in the race. Rick Echevarria, a former Department of Housing Preservation and Development official who says he was fired for being a whistleblower, said hes running after witnessing corruption firsthand, and thinks a degree of corruption is at play in this race. I feel like Im running against two machines, Echevarria, who was kicked off the primary ballot last year on a technicality, said. He said that there is a party establishment, but there is also a professional left establishment that tends to serve their own interests. He said he shares the progressive values, but feels he is the only authentic, grassroots candidacy in this election. Echevarria does not boast of any major endorsements, progressive or otherwise, on his website and currently trails well behind both Diaz and Nurse in fundraising.

Nurse defended the support she has received from prominent progressive groups. I'm incredibly proud of the coalition we built, Nurse said. I believe that the progressive left needs to continue to build power, I believe in these organizations that have been built through oftentimes by poor women of color. Diaz also pushed back against the narrative that she has been propped up as part of the Brooklyn Democratic machine, while still echoing Echevarrias criticism of Nurse. I earned the support of those that are supporting me and standing with me, Diaz said. Im not a puppet for anyone, and if anyone is getting party machine support, its Sandy Nurse.

Three other candidates are part of the race as well, including Misba Abdin, co-founder of a Bangladeshi American nonprofit. Abdin, whose campaign did not return a request for an interview, is yet another candidate looking for a rematch this year after getting kicked off last years ballot. Having raised over $27,000, the third most in the race, and maxed out on public funds, Abdin has been running an active campaign. However, he faces an uphill battle strictly based on the demographics of the district, which is nearly 90% Black or Hispanic. He shared a similar sentiment as Echevarria with the Brooklyn Paper in February, telling the outlet, I bring a fresh spirit to this campaign, I am not beholden to any party or any ultra-progressive groups.

Neither of the last two candidates running  Chris Durosinmi and Heriberto Mateo  have qualified for matching funds, with just two chances left to get public dollars before the June primary. Durosinmi, who has raised less than $9,000, said his small warchest belies what he said is growing support. I will say that we've been picking up momentum, Durosinmi said. The benefit that I have in this race is the fact that I've been working in the community for the last 16 years working on issues pertaining to housing, education and workforce development. Mateo, who has no online presence and could not be reached for comment, previously ran against Espinal in 2013, when he got 12% of the vote.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio really seems to be suffering from a case of senioritis. Last week, he decided he would eat a burger and fries for breakfast on camera because Shake Shack was giving out gift cards for vaccinations. This week, Blaz thought hed rep his Brooklyn pride and showed up to his daily press conference decked out in a Nets snapback and Nets jersey under his unbuttoned shirt. He wanted to promote the latest incentive to get the vaccine  the chance to get tickets to the Nets playoff game  but instead became an instant meme. It seems that with just a few months left in office, Hizzoner has just decided hes going to live his best life.

Keep reading for the rest of this weeks news.

Cuomos multimillion dollar book deal

After months of questions and speculation, Gov. Andrew Cuomo released the details of his deal to write a book about his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier reporting from The New York Times put the deal at about $4 million, but when Cuomo released his taxes, he revealed that he netted even more  $5 million over two years. He got about $3.1 million last year, which totaled over $1.5 million profit after taxes. He donated $500,000 to the nonprofit United Way of New York with the rest going into a trust for his daughters. Cuomo is set to receive the remaining $2 million this year, but hasnt said what he intends to do with the money. Asked about accusations that he profited off the COVID-19 pandemic that left tens of thousands dead in New York alone, Cuomo said the idea was stupid and that it was offensive to even ask the question. The governor is currently under federal investigation into whether he used tax dollars to help write the book by having state employees work on it on the clock as part of a broader inquiry into whether Cuomo withheld data on COVID-19 nursing home deaths.

Cuomo investigations move ahead

The governor isnt just getting investigated over his book. Other inquiries are moving along as well. State Attorney General Letitia James has subpoenaed several of the women who have accused Cuomo of sexual harassment or assault to testify under oath as part of her probe into the claims. Its a sign that her investigation is moving into a new phase. Meanwhile, federal prosecutors, the same ones who are looking into how Cuomo wrote his book, have expanded their inquiry to include whether the administration provided priority COVID-19 testing and rapid results to the governors friends and allies. More negative press came with a new report that Chris Cuomo, the governors brother and CNN anchor who frequently hammed it up with the governor on his show during the height of the pandemic, advised his brother on how to respond to sexual harassment allegations.

AG investigation into Trumps business goes criminal

But Cuomo isnt the only person getting bad news about investigations into misconduct the past week. The state attorney generals office announced that its probe into former president Donald Trumps family business has become criminal after previously being a civil investigation. James is now working alongside the Manhattan district attorneys office with its criminal investigation as her office continues its civil inquiry as well. And although the shift only recently came to light, the attorney generals office has been criminally investigating the chief financial officer of Trumps company for several months already.

NYC mayoral race gets nasty

Months of cordial mayoral forums between the eight leading Democratic candidates for New York City mayor are being left behind as the primary enters the home stretch and those running are not pulling any punches. After a New York Times piece calling into question Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams fundraising practices, Andrew Yang and Maya Wiley called on the Campaign Finance Board to investigate. Yang, the current front-runner, has until now largely avoided directly attacking any of his opponents, instead allowing surrogates to do it. Adams struck back by criticizing Yangs own fundraising practices and potential ethics violations from his run for president, asking the CFB to look into him instead. All the while, most leading candidates have massive super PACs supporting them funded by millionaires and billionaires all over the country as they point fingers about unethical fundraising and influence of money in politics.
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Having access to everything inside our own homes is something most of us take for granted. Simply being able to climb stairs, reach counter tops or perform basic tasks around the house is something that comes easy to most people. But for people with reduced mobility from physical or mental d
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The South American Subbasin consists of five Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSA): Sacramento Central Groundwater Authority, Northern Delta GSA, Omochumne-Hartnell Water District, Sacramento County, and the Sloughhouse Resource Conservation District.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 21)  While Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin Diokno sees how cryptocurrencies could possibly transform the way people conduct financial transactions for good, he has a word of caution for those interested in them.

"They have really the potential to revolutionize the delivery of financial services and further support of financial inclusion," Diokno told CNN Philippines' The Exchange with Rico Hizon, citing Bitcoin and Ethereum as examples.

However, the BSP chief flagged the "very high degree" of anonymity among parties conducting transactions using the virtual assets.

"Therefore it makes them very vulnerable for use in money laundering and terrorism financing. So you have to be wary about that. As a regulator, we should be wary about that," he said.

Diokno likewise cited the frequency by which the values of cryptocurrencies change.

"The value fluctuates so much so how can you make that as a medium of exchange?" he said.

CNN International anchor and correspondent Julia Chatterley told The Exchange in a separate interview that cryptocurrencies were originally made to be a medium of exchange. However, transactions are recorded in a ledger  the crypto part being the protection of data involved as much as possible.

She also noted how this "very early technology"  which utilizes blockchain  is rather "incredibly volatile."

Just this week, Bitcoin  easily the biggest cryptocurrency there is  nosedived to the $30,000 level after China ramped up its crackdown against digital coins as reported by CNN Business.

While it has already climbed above $40,000 as of Thursday, CNN Business noted that Bitcoin has lost over 30% in market capitalization since its $64,000 peak in mid-April.

"When you've got a central bank like China's that's looking at this and recognize both the benefits of a digital currency but also the threats it represents, those are regulators that aren't gonna be afraid," Chatterley said.

This is also the risk for the cryptocurrency market: other regulators stepping in and stating what can and cannot be done, she noted.

This is the case "especially when you have players like Elon Musk coming in, sending out a tweet and that sends the market up 10% one day and down 10% or 20% another day," Chatterley added.

Earlier this month, Bitcoin's value began to sink after the Tesla chief executive officer announced they are dropping plans to accept the digital currency as payment for their electric cars, according to CNN Business.

But why do people still lean towards cryptocurrencies despite their unpredictability? Chatterley said it's the size of its returns that entice people as everyone seeks ways to make money amid these trying times.

"You have to be very careful about how much money you're putting into this and you have to be willing to take on some very steep losses," CNN's First Move anchor said. "Longer term, this could be a great investment. Shorter term, you have to be buckled up and strapped in and be prepared for extreme, extreme volatility."

"Much like you would trade a stock, understand the story behind them and you'll probably better educated about investing in them," she advised.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) The National Task Force Against COVID-19 on Saturday said it has launched an investigation on the reported selling of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccination priority slots in some local government units.

In a statement, the NTF reiterated that all vaccines are free for qualified citizens, and selling priority slots is "illegal and punishable by law."

"The [NTF] is deeply concerned with reports it has received regarding the illicit selling of anti-COVID vaccines. We are investigating this matter," the task force said.

"For those who are engaged in the unauthorized sale of anti-COVID vaccines, we ask you to stop what you are doing. The long arm of the law will soon catch up on you," it warned.

Authorities in the cities of San Juan and Mandaluyong have launched their own probe into the alleged scheme. Viral reports on social media showed slots have been sold for P8,000 to P15,000, depending on the brand.

Mandaluyong Mayor Menchie Abalos on Friday said she instructed the city police chief to coordinate with the National Bureau of Investigation.

"An investigation is already underway. Through the NBI, we will know if these are real or dummy online accounts," Abalos said in a statement. "But whether real or fake, they will be answerable to the law."

San Juan Mayor Francis Zamora also vowed to act on the matter.

"We have reached out to the individual who posted this so we can take necessary actions against this person claiming to have access to our vaccination program for a fee," he said in a statement Friday, referring to the post claiming the person received an offer for vaccine access supposedly through Mandaluyong or San Juan's vaccination programs.

PNP to conduct own probe

Meanwhile, PNP chief PGen Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar said the police will also conduct a probe on the matter.

"As per directive of our SILG (Secretary of Interior and Local Government) Eduardo Ano, I have ordered the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group to identify and arrest the person or persons behind these scams," he said.

The officials urged people to come forward and disclose information on the illegal activity.

COVID-19 vaccines are only approved for emergency use and cannot be sold commercially.

DOH warns those selling COVID-19 vaccination slots

Department of Health Spokesperson Usec. Maria Rosario Vergeire said those caught selling COVID-19 vaccination slots will be penalized under the law.

Vergeire explained that COVID-19 vaccines in the country are under emergency use authorization, which means these are not commercially available, and should not be sold to anyone. She added the government paid for all the doses procured for Filipinos.

"Lahat po ng mga bakuna natin ay libre. Huwag niyo pong pakitunguhan ang mga taong nagbebenta nito," Vergeire told CNN Philippines' Newsroom Weekend on Saturday.

[Translation: All of the vaccines are free of charge. Do not patronize those selling it.]
Despite last weeks announcement by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) that those who are vaccinated against the coronavir
State College's 3/20 Youth Coalition announced Friday it will host a "Protest for Palestine" at the Allen Street Gates 2 p.m. Sunday, according to the 3/20 Coalition's Instagram.

There will be speakers and chalking to support Palestinians at the protest, which was organized by local high school students, the post said.

The IsraeliPalestinian conflict over Jerusalem, which began in 1948, has recently escalated after years of quiet, according to the New York Times, with a war between Israel and Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza strip.

In recent weeks, civil unrest in West Bank cities has led to Israeli forces killing 11 Palestinians and rockets fired from a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon toward Israel, the NYT said.

Anyone interested in speaking at the protest can directly message the 3/20 Coalition's Instagram account. However, according to the post, the event is pro-Palestine, and non-Palestinians interested in speaking are asked to "stand with and support" the youth coalition's message.

MORE BOROUGH COVERAGE

Victory Christian Fellowship brings new workspace to State College Victory Christian Fellowship opened its new workspace doors to downtown State College mid-April.
With the House and Senate both back in session this week, two Republican members of Colorado's congressional delegation found themselves near the center of a power shuffle atop the House GOP caucus, while the third landed in the national spotlight when an ex-staffer sued over his office's alleged negligent approach to COVID-19. Meanwhile, the entire delegation produced bills and called for action on a number of items.
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The world is healing, and soon you'll be able to travel the globe again, making up for lost time. As you check destinations off your list, make sure you know a little something about each of them. There are lots of facts about them you'd never expect.

1. Times Square

That big building in the middle of Times Square -- it's such a prime location, you'd think it must be one of the hottest properties in the world. Actually, it's vacant. The owner makes millions selling ad space on the facade, but inside, there's nothing.

2. Lincoln's Birthplace

Go to Hodgenville, Kentucky, and you can visit Lincoln's cabin, a preserved historical site. Except, Abraham Lincoln never actually lived here. The cabin's fake -- and through a wacky mix-up, it might be made of the wood from Jefferson Davis' cabin.

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3. The Golden Gate Bridge

The original plan for the Golden Gate Bridge was to paint it using dazzle camouflage, which meant a series of alternating stripes. The Army favored red and white, like a candy cane, while the Navy suggested yellow and black, like a bee.

4. The Eiffel Tower

When the Nazis controlled France, they turned the tower into a dystopian beacon, complete with a Nazi flag. Though, the French first cut the elevator cables, forcing the Nazis to climb by hand and giving them a lot of trouble when the first flag they hung blew away.

5. The Colosseum

The wear and tear on the Colosseum didn't just come with time. Popes ripped the arena apart, using it as a source of stone. The floor of St. Peter's is made from rose porphyry taken from the Colosseum.

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6. The Leaning Tower Of Pisa

7. Disney World

Disney World has a whole other island you don't know about. It was called Discovery Island and was used as a wildlife observatory at one point, but then Disney's Animal Kingdom left it redundant, so they abandoned it.
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As the nation slowly emerges from the deadly grip of the COVID-19 pandemic with vaccinations and declining case numbers, the Church will be needed more than ever to treat the residue of trauma left in the wake of the virus, according to megachurch leader and televangelist Bishop T.D. Jakes.

Jakes, who is senior pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas, Texas, shared his thoughts on recovering from the pandemic during an event hosted by the Ad Council Thursday called Finishing The Race! to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence among the faith community.

I borrowed this from [Bishop] Vashti McKenzie, but it really aptly describes our reality that trouble doesnt last always, but trauma lasts for a while. And I think we have to realize that as the trouble begins to dissipate that does not mean that the trauma is gone, Jakes began in response to a question about recovering from the pandemic asked by Joshua DuBois, CEO of Values Partnerships, who moderated the event.

And the Church is more needed now than ever before to treat the residue of trauma. Were seeing it in an escalation of murders. We are seeing it in an escalation of divorce. Were seeing it in an escalation of spousal abuse. Trauma takes on a lot of forms. And its one thing to hear it as a word, but when you see it in the behavior of people, sometimes we dont really associate their behavior with the isolation that preceded it, the fear and the frustration, the loss of jobs that preceded it, Jakes noted at the event which was supported by the Black Coalition Against COVID-19, Choose Healthy Life, National African American Clergy Network, National Association of Evangelicals and the National Latino Evangelical Coalition.

Source:The Christian Post
Suspected jihadists ambushed a baptism ceremony where they killed 15 Christians in northern Burkina Fasos Oudalan province near the Mali border, according to a report.

The attack occurred in the Adjarara area, about 4 miles from Tin-Akoff, on Tuesday, the Sahel regions governor, Col. Salfo Kabor, confirmed in a statement, the U.S.-based persecution watchdog International Christian Concern reported Friday.

People are shocked and many are running, Moha A.G. Agraz, a Tin-Akoff native, was quoted as saying.

The al-Qaeda and Islamic State terror groups have been launching attacks in West Africa since January, but no group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack.

Source:The Christian Post
Police in New Hampshire arrested a Sunday school teacher after she and other parents showed up at a school board meeting without masks to urge the district to lift its mask mandate.

Kate Bossi, who's also a mother of a student in the district, was arrested Thursday night from the Timberlane Regional School Boards meeting at the districts Performing Arts Center in Plaistow, The Washington Examiner reported Friday.

Some of Bossi's Sunday school students also attended the meeting and were said to have cried after seeing her arrested for disorderly conduct and escorted out of the building in handcuffs.

You are violating my rights right now. You are remiss, Bossi was quoted as telling police as they arrested her from the meeting that was to discuss the mask-wearing policy for schools, the Examiner said. The meeting was subsequently canceled and rescheduled online.

Source:The Christian Post
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CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  Nevada lawmakers passed hundreds of bills this week to reform the criminal justice system, boost funding for K-12 schools and ban ghost guns."

They're expected to work long days until May 31, when the four-month legislative session is scheduled to adjourn. The Democratic-controlled statehouse has already passed dozens of priority bills, but the fate of several major proposals  about energy infrastructure, mail-in voting and laid-off workers who want the jobs they had before the pandemic  remains up in the air.

Here are some notable measures to have passed through the state Senate and Assembly this week:

TRAFFIC TICKETS

Two bills sponsored by Assemblywoman Rochelle Nguyen that target traffic violations passed through the state Senate this week. The Las Vegas Democrat is proposing banning law enforcement agencies from requiring their officers to meet ticket quotas and issue a certain number of traffic citations over a given period of time. The bills received opposition from some police departments, but won support from libertarians, police reform advocates and police unions. It now heads to Gov. Steve Sisolak for consideration.

She also has a proposal to decriminalize traffic violations and make them civil offenses. Under current law, minor traffic violations are criminal misdemeanors and people who don't show up to their court dates or don't pay the fines can face jail time and the issues that come with having a criminal record. Supporters cited a University of Nevada, Las Vegas study that found Black and Latino drivers, as well as drivers from low income zip codes in Clark County, were more likely to be issued warrants for traffic violations. The proposal passed through the Assembly on Thursday amid opposition from municipalities that rely partially on the fines to underwrite part of their budgets. It now heads to the Senate.

Democratic lawmakers have characterized the traffic measures as part of their criminal justice reform agenda, hoping to limit unnecessary encounters with law enforcement and avoid putting people in prison for things like minor traffic violations.

RACIST MASCOTS and SUNDOWN SIRENS

A bill that would direct local school boards to adopt policies that ban racially discriminatory mascots, logos and names unless groups such as local Native American tribes consent to their use passed on Thursday through the state Senate. Assemblyman Howard Watts, the proposals sponsor, added amendments to prohibit former sundown towns from sounding sirens during the evening to herald curfew for non-white residents. Towns like Minden and Gardnerville in northern Nevada for decades had ordinances to stop Native Americans and other non-white people from being in public after sundown. The ordinances were long ago repealed, but the sirens still blare.

The amended measure now heads to back to the Assembly for approval and, if passed, will go to governor for consideration.

K-12 SCHOOL FUNDING

After years of working to alter the state's education funding formula and allocate more funding to K-12 education, lawmakers funneled an additional $502 million to schools. A measure introduced on May 10 passed through the state Senate last week and cleared the Assembly on Friday. It now heads to the governor.

The measure comes two years after lawmakers approved changes to the states education funding formula, which centralizes funding into one account and distributes it using weights that tie funding to student needs. Early in the pandemic, lawmakers feared they would lack the funding to put the changes into effect, but better-than-projected tax revenue gave lawmakers the funds to increase average per-pupil spending 22%, from $7,400 to more than $9,000 in the 2021-2022 school year.

GHOST GUNS

State senators on Friday passed an amended version of a proposal to ban build-your-own firearms without serial numbers after its sponsor added carve-outs for antique gun-owners who collect firearms produced before 1969. The ghost gun ban now heads to the governor's desk for consideration.

An initial version of the bill included provisions that would strengthen penalties against people who bring firearms to casinos that prohibit them. It was amended out amid opposition from criminal justice reform advocates but has been reintroduced as an emergency measure and is scheduled to be heard Saturday.

DECORATIVE GRASS

State senators on Friday voted unanimously for a proposal to ban non-functional turf in southern Nevada. The bill would prohibit the use of Colorado River water to irrigate grass in office parks, street medians and entrances to housing developments. It would require removal by 2026 and create an advisory committee to consider exceptions. Southern Nevada gets about 90% of its water from the over-tapped Colorado River. If signed by the governor, the legislation would make Nevada the first state to ban certain categories of grass.

SWAMP CEDARS

State senators on Monday passed a bill to protect groves of Rocky Mountain juniper trees in northeastern Nevada that the Ely and Duckwater Shoshone tribes consider sacred. The trees, known as swamp cedars, have for years been caught in the crossfire of fights over a proposed pipeline that would transport groundwater to southern Nevada and the growing areas surrounding Las Vegas. The Southern Nevada Water Authority still owns land and water rights in the rural region, but decided to indefinitely defer its pursuit of permits last year. If the governor signs the bill, it could present challenges should the agency choose to revive its plans.

___

This version corrects that a bill in the Nevada Legislature that would ban racist mascots and sundown sirens will return to the Assembly to be voted on, not head directly to the governor's desk.

___

Sam Metz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Senate Banking Committee members Tina Smith, D-Minn., and Ben Sasse, R-Neb., Thursday introduced a NAFCU-sought, bipartisan bill  the Credit Union Employee and Member Safety Act  that would improve existing language in the Federal Credit Union (FCU) Act related to expulsion in order to protect credit unions, members, and employees.

NAFCU applauds Senators Tina Smith and Ben Sasse for introducing legislation that will bolster consumer protections at credit unions to defend their employees and their members from abusive, fraudulent, and criminal activity, said NAFCU President and CEO Dan Berger. Ensuring credit unions have the ability to address illegal activity or threatening behavior at their institutions is paramount so they can continue to safely and soundly serve their members and local communities. NAFCU strongly supports this bipartisan bill, and we will continue to advocate for Congress to pass these important reforms.

Smith and Sasse also introduced the legislation last year; a similar bill has also been re-introduced in the House.

Currently, federal credit unions are required to hold a special vote and obtain two-thirds approval from all members in order to expel a member. The proposed legislation from Smith and Sasse would provide credit unions with flexibility and relief from unnecessary regulatory burden that puts the credit union, its members, and branch employees at risk.
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In the upcoming New York City mayoral primary, 60-year-old Jimmy Cheng plans to do the same thing for Andrew Yang that he did for John Liu eight years ago. Back then, he got up before sunrise and walked around the poll sites in Chinatown until they closed, passing out fliers for Liu, then the New York City comptroller and the first Chinese American on the ballot for the citys top office.

Liu was losing ground in the polls after his campaign associates were convicted of illegal fundraising practices and had little chance of winning. But Cheng, the president of the American Chinese Voters Alliance Corp, an organization aimed at increasing Chinese voter turnout, believed if voters in Chinese neighborhoods could help Liu outperform his own poll numbers, it would be valuable for the community, even if he didnt win.

It may have worked. Liu got 7 percent of the votes, three percentage points above his standing in the final Quinnipiac poll before the election. And in Manhattans Chinatown, he swept 80 percent of the vote.

This year, even with Yang ranking high in the polls, Cheng finds himself with a more challenging task. Compared to the 2013 primary, when the Chinese American community was almost unanimous in standing behind Liu, some community leaders have publicly endorsed Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, Yangs strongest rival in the race.

Ive known Adams for many years, and I have friends blaming me for not supporting him, said Cheng. But as a Chinese American, is it wrong for me to support a Chinese American candidate? Cheng is not the only person fending off criticism from his social circle. Chinese community leaders, many of whom are friends and frequently dine out together, now avoid their group lunches and dinners to avoid conflict.

William Su, a Chinatown hotel owner who backs Yang, said he was accosted by an old friend who is an Adams supporter when they bumped into each other at a dinner party. Steven Wong, president of Hotel Chinese Association, an organization providing social services to Chinese hotel workers, told Curbed that he was forced to post his endorsement of Adams on WeChat, the social-media platform popular among Chinese users, to stop being hassled by Yang-supporting friends. The two camps trade insults regularly on the platform, with people on opposing sides calling each other stupid or worse. In some WeChat groups, users have taken to calling Adamss Chinese supporters traitors to their own race.

Its rare for the Chinese American community in New York to split like this. It has a long history of rallying behind Chinese American candidates. But its already splintered by fights over the citys plan to reform specialized high-school admissions (which many fear would reduce their chance of admissions) and anxieties about rising crime rates, especially the attacks targeting Asian residents.

Asian Americans, who make up 15 percent of the citys population, now constitute about 8 percent of its voters. In a tight election like this one, in which Yang had been well ahead until Adams recently edged past him, a couple of points matter. And if results from the latest general election are any indicator, this blocs voting behavior is unpredictable. Asian New Yorkers have predominantly voted for Democrats since 2000  but in Manhattans Chinatown, Flushing, and Sunset Park, Donald Trump was seen as the pro-meritocracy and antiaffirmative action candidate by many Chinese voters, and he received a bigger share of ballots in 2020 than he had four years earlier. In one district of downtown Flushing, Trump grabbed 41 percent of the votes, 29 percentage points higher than he had in 2016.

Adams and Yang are now squaring off for these voters. Many of them consider this race one of the most important one of their lives. When Liu was running, it was right after Bloombergs administration, and New York was in good shape, said Jerry Lo, a veteran community activist who helped organize large protests against the citys specialized high-school-admissions reform and against defunding the police, two key issues that galvanize the more conservative factions of the community. Now we Chinese are facing a critical moment, and the stakes are high.

In fact, the two candidates positions on these topics are similar. Yang and Adams oppose defunding the police and support keeping the SHSAT, the entrance test for specialized high schools that Mayor de Blasio has been trying to toss out, in order to address the low admissions rates of Black and Hispanic students. Adams scores with these voters for vowing to maintain the current admissions policy, while Yang calls for the addition of other factors into the admissions process, such as teacher recommendations and personal statements. Lo, 62, once supported Yang, but has decided to back Adams instead. Do you think an Asian mayor would like to fight hard for us, and risk being deemed as against Blacks and Hispanics? he asked.

Among elected officials who have some influence over the citys Asian voters, Yang has gained the endorsement of Congresswoman Grace Meng, a major boost for his campaign, and of City Councilmember Margaret Chin. However, Peter Koo, the only other Asian American City Council member, backs Adams. John Liu, who is now a state senator, says he is still deciding. Ethnic pride is part of the equation. But Ive never seen it as the only factor in the equation, said Liu. Andrew is a very strong candidate. His disadvantage is probably that people dont know him very well, whereas people have known Eric for many years, and Eric has been working hard in the community.

Photo: Erik McGregor/LightRocket via Getty Images

Photo: Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images

Adamss track record in the Chinese community is well-known. The candidate himself likes to talk about how, when he was a New York City cop, he helped issue a reward to catch those who killed a Chinese deliveryman about 20 years ago. As the Brooklyn borough president, he promoted a project (and devoted $2 million in funds) to bring a Chinese archway from Beijing to Sunset Park. While the archway project has stalled, Adamss involvement helped him to build extensive relationships in the community. He often shows up at traditional ceremonies in the Chinese community dressed in a red silk jacket embroidered with golden dragons. Adams loves Chinese culture. He is closer to the Chinese community than Yang, said Wong, the leader of the Hotel Chinese Association, who pointed out that Yang, unlike Adams, had no involvement with the Chinese community until he ran for president. Before Yang announced his mayoral campaign in December, many community leaders were leaning toward Adams.

But Yangs Asian face alone was enough to flip some. I am closer to Eric personally, said Jimmy Li, 42, president of the Asian American Democratic Club, which endorsed Yang. But when Asians are attacked by hate crimes, and when we are told by racists to go back to your own country, Yangs election would make us visible and send out a message that we belong. He could be Asians Barack Obama.

Beyond the plain fact of his ethnicity, though, Yangs cultural ties seem, to some observers, weak. Sometimes it appears Yang doesnt understand Chinese culture as well as some non-Chinese, said John Chan, 67, president of Asian American Community Empowerment, a Sunset Parkbased organization advocating for the civil rights of Chinese Americans. When Yang posted on Twitter about his childhood memory of eating mooncakes during the Lunar New Year holiday, followers pointed out that those are traditionally for the mid-autumn festival and called him whitewashed. And in a Washington Post op-ed last April, Yang confessed he once felt ashamed of being Asian and called upon Asian Americans to show our American-ness to combat rising anti-Asian hate. This backfired badly. At a recent rally in Chinatown, a passerby asked Yang in Chinese whether he still felt ashamed, which he avoided answering.

In fact, Yangs public stances on a wide range of policy issues has repelled two poles of the Chinese American voter base. While he initially enjoyed the support of young Asian American liberals, especially at the launch of his presidential bid, hundreds of progressive Asian Americans recently signed a public letter opposing his mayoral bid. Meanwhile, his flagship campaign promise of a universal basic income (UBI)  or at least something resembling it  doesnt sit well with conservative Chinese either. To distribute free cash to people sounds to me like socialism. If I liked socialism, why did I come to the U.S.? asked Andrew Tai, 51, a registered Democrat who voted for Trump last year. Tai, who works as a private math tutor, has not only decided to vote for Adams, but has also told the parents of his students to not vote for Yang.

Adams is not above reproach either. Some Chinese American leaders were disappointed at his reaction to a Brooklyn nail-salon brawl, in 2018, between Chinese employees and Black customers, over a $5 payment. As borough president, Adams supported the district attorneys decision to drop charges against a Black customer. This year, when Yong Zheng, a Chinese Good Samaritan, was killed by a group of Black robbers in Sunset Park, Adams didnt speak out about it. I am leaning towards Adams. But I havent made a decision yet because of these incidents, said Chan of AACE.

Yangs campaign didnt reply to inquiries from Curbed. Jose Bayona, a senior adviser for Adamss campaign, said Adams will never pit one community against another  he will continue to serve as a mediator for conflict and misunderstanding as a mayor for all New Yorkers.

I dont think unity can be achieved among Chinese anytime soon, said Chan. This, of course, is not a good thing for the community. But others, like Liu, believe the most effective way for a minority voting bloc to flex its power in an election is not through unity, but with a high turnout. With the narrow margins between the candidates and the high level of anxiety about the future, that is likely to happen this year. Even those who are campaigning hard for their favored candidates agree that this is the silver lining in the division. Sharp competition between candidates is not a bad thing, as long as we all back our views with reason, said Cheng. And it drives up turnout.
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Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 69F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.
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Emporia, KS (66801)

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Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 69F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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Since 1990, Patricia R. Doxsey has been a reporter for the Freeman, covering politics, crime, and government affairs.
The following items are based on information provided by officials in law enforcement and the criminal justice system.
Diane Pineiro-Zucker has been a reporter at the Daily Freeman since April 2013. Pineiro-Zucker worked as a reporter in the Freemans Rhinebeck bureau in the early 1980s, left to become executive editor at Taconic Newspapers in Dutchess County.
Dutchess County on Saturday reported that just seven of its residents were hospitalized with the coronavirus, the lowest number since early November.
The Capitol Connection

Cuomo figures he still can beat any challengers
Matt Hancock is 'dangerous', and he's fomenting racism. At least that's the view of Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi.

Last week the Health Secretary urged everyone to 'look at what is happening in Bolton, where the majority of people in hospital with coronavirus were eligible for the jab but had chosen not yet to have it. [They] have ended up in hospital, some of them in intensive care.'

To Qureshi this was offensive to her and her constituents. 'Already you can see an element of racism coming through,' she claimed.

'This is really unhelpful. It wasn't vaccine hesitancy; it's that it wasn't rolled out well enough and this Conservative Government is blaming everyone but themselves and it causes tension.'

Matt Hancock is 'dangerous', and he's fomenting racism. At least that's the view of Bolton South East MP Yasmin Qureshi (pictured)

Last week the Health Secretary urged everyone to 'look at what is happening in Bolton, where the majority of people in hospital with coronavirus were eligible for the jab but had chosen not yet to have it. [They] have ended up in hospital, some of them in intensive care.' To Qureshi this was offensive to her and her constituents. 'Already you can see an element of racism coming through,' she claimed

She also attacked the 'shambolic' decision to leave India off the travel red list.

But Yasmin Qureshi is wrong. It isn't Matt Hancock who's acting dangerously. It's all those people who are looking at the situation in Bolton and, for reasons of misplaced political correctness, attempting to brush the truth under the carpet. With the effect that thousands of black and Asian Britons could needlessly lose their lives.

It's certainly true that Ministers were too slow to place travellers from India into quarantine. As early as April 17 there were calls for its addition to the red list. But the checks weren't introduced until a week later, and only after Boris Johnson had cancelled his own trip to India.

But that's only part of the story. Among Ministers there is mounting frustration the red list debate is distracting from the reality that, even before the new regulations were introduced, people were banned from travelling abroad but the regulations were routinely flouted.

The issue is so sensitive that within Government the figures aren't routinely published.

However, leaked documents I've seen show the scale of the problem. In the two weeks between March 3 and March 17, there were 14,978 tested arrivals into the UK from Pakistan  the country with the single highest number of travellers. Of those, 695 tested positive for Covid-19.

For comparison, over the same period there were 5,206 tested arrivals from France, of whom 29 tested positive.

Yasmin Qureshi is wrong. It isn't Matt Hancock who's acting dangerously. It's all those people who are looking at the situation in Bolton (above) and, for reasons of misplaced political correctness, attempting to brush the truth under the carpet. With the effect that thousands of black and Asian Britons could needlessly lose their lives

According to the documents, airlines flying direct to the UK have been forced to introduce stricter testing measures over 'concerns related to fraudulent test certificates'. But when Ministers moved to place Pakistan and Bangladesh on the red list, they were criticised by MPs. One of whom was Yasmin Qureshi.

On April 7 she wrote to Boris Johnson in her capacity as chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Pakistan. She said: 'Many UK citizens have travelled to those countries in accordance with the Government's guidelines. The vast majority will have travelled to visit family, including elderly relatives, whom they may not have seen in over a year. They will already have paid for return flights.'

But at that time, travel was supposed to be permitted only in exceptional circumstances. And, as we know, many people in the UK have been denied the opportunity to see relatives during the Covid crisis.

Then there is the claim that vaccine hesitancy has played no part in the situation in Bolton.

Though Mr Hancock made no mention of ethnicity, this was at the heart of the criticism aimed at him. The implication that reluctance in the black and Asian community to take the vaccine was a factor in the spike in cases.

Hard figures on ethnicity and vaccinations for Bolton are difficult to obtain, even though they are collected. NHS England, which collates national figures, could only provide me with a regional breakdown. Bolton NHS Foundation Trust told me the Bolton Clinical Commissioning Group was leading the vaccination drive. The CCG didn't return my calls.

But we have regional figures for vaccine take-up by ethnic group, and they're terrifying.

In the North West, those identifying as white British who are over 50 and have received at least one dose stands at 93.2 per cent. For black British Africans it's 67.1 per cent. For black British Caribbeans it is 67.7 per cent, and for British Pakistanis it is 73.7 per cent.

The perception over the last week is that Bolton as a whole is seeing a huge spike in cases. But the local council has identified the most heavily affected areas as Rumworth, Deane and Great Lever.

According to the local GP Federation, 'the Deane/Rumworth neighbourhood has a BME [black and minority ethnic] population of 43.1 per cent, which equates to around 21,800 people, making it one of the largest such communities in the town'.

In Great Lever, the demographic profile is similar. Further evidence of the challenges in vaccinating black and Asian communities is provided by Ms Qureshi herself. In February, she appeared on Newsnight and called for ethnic minorities to be prioritised for vaccinations, saying that 'there has to be a proactive approach of trying to approach a certain demographic'.

It's certainly true that Ministers were too slow to place travellers from India into quarantine. As early as April 17 there were calls for its addition to the red list. But the checks weren't introduced until a week later, and only after Boris Johnson had cancelled his own trip to India. But that's only part of the story. (Above, Terminal 2 this week as travellers from Covid-stricken India are seen just yards away from other flyers as they are escorted to quarantine)

It should be pointed out that Ms Qureshi is not alone in her recent attempts to play down the issue of low vaccine take-up. Caroline Noakes, Tory chairman of the Commons Equalities Committee, hit out at those she said were 'scapegoating' such communities. Which is a perfectly legitimate stance to take. But scapegoating isn't the problem here.

Back in March, I wrote how we needed to be honest about the way liberal sensitivity over vaccine hesitancy was leading us to disaster. I was accused of scaremongering and, inevitably, racism.

But now we're seeing the impact of that misplaced liberalism. Ministers know that vaccine hesitancy has directly led to hospitalisations in Bolton. According to Government officials, 90 per cent of patients there have not been fully vaccinated, even though they are eligible.

The Government wants to spread the word about this, so people will realise the dangers and get the jab. But to those blinded by multicultural idealism, this is anathema. So they would rather deflect and dissemble than give people the truth.

As a result of which, many of those at most risk won't hear this vital message, won't get vaccinated and will die.

On Wednesday, David Greenhalgh, the leader of Bolton Council, warned there could be civil unrest if his town was placed into a new local lockdown. This was immediately seized upon as evidence of how Mr Hancock's comments were placing 'community cohesion' in jeopardy.

It's not Mr Hancock's comments that are placing community cohesion in jeopardy.

What's placing community cohesion in jeopardy is people who have been offered the Covid vaccine refusing the Covid vaccine.

The Government has tried everything. TV appeals. National advertising campaigns. Mobile vaccination buses. Leafleting campaigns. Surge testing. Translators. Entreaties to faith leaders. Pop-up vaccination centres.

Enough. No more excuses. No more infantilisation of our ethnic minority communities.

In less than a month, the country is going to reopen fully. At that point Covid is going to come hunting like a vengeful vampire for anyone vulnerable who does not enjoy the protection of the vaccine. And based on current figures, tens of thousands of black and Asian Britons are going to provide it with its victims.

Last week Ms Qureshi said this: 'If you work 60 hours a week on a factory floor, six days a week, for minimum wage, without access to a car  are you really going to have time to book a vaccine appointment, take a day's holiday, and take two buses to get to the vaccination centre?'

The answer is Yes. If you need to wait half an hour on the phone to book your appointment, you should. If you have to take a day's holiday to get your jab, you must. If you need to take two buses to get an appointment, you have to.

In the 1980s, during the Aids crisis, we pledged we wouldn't let people die of ignorance.

We cannot stand back during the Covid crisis and let them die of political correctness.
According to the local tourist board, the small town of Dalby in Queensland, Australia, offers a taste of life as it used to be. Visitors are encouraged to explore by horse and cart, following a heritage trail to a museum displaying ancient farm machinery.

However, further off the beaten track is somewhere less reminiscent of a simpler past. In fact, it is a warning of a dystopian future.

Grassdale Feedlot is the largest beef farm Down Under and if the UK Government signs a controversial trade deal with Australia, meat from here could soon be on Britains dinner plates.

Cheap meat imports would undercut more ethical British farmers. As a Brexiteer, I am conflicted. After all, one of the biggest attractions of leaving the EU is the ability to strike our own trade deals

Grassdale Feedlot in Queensland, home to 78,000 cattle bred for cheap meat. Surrounded by mud, animals like this one, left, rarely see grass and meals come via a metal chute

The farm is a vast, bleak expanse of dust and mud, home to 78,000 cattle. All around are luscious green fields and woods but these animals rarely see a blade of grass. They spend most of their lives standing listlessly in what looks like an enormous car park, waiting for their next meal to arrive via a metal chute, or huddling under the drab grey awnings that provide some mercy from the scorching sun.

On a farm this size, it is very difficult to see the animals as individuals. Instead, operators describe them as standard cattle units.

The owners are eager to expand and especially keen to build the export side of their business  and doubtless would jump at the chance to send their meat to the UK without having to pay export tariffs or worry about import quotas.

That is what Trade Secretary Liz Truss is trying to achieve with a major post-Brexit trade deal.

Australia currently pays 20 per cent tariffs on all exports of beef and lamb to the UK. Under the controversial new plans, these levies would be phased out over 15 years, in an agreement widely seen as a template for a raft of other trade arrangements.

Boris Johnson urgently wants to unveil the deal at the G7 summit in Cornwall in two weeks time.

But UK farmers and many MPs are horrified, fearing it would signal the death knell for the traditional British farm.

As a Brexiteer, I am conflicted. After all, one of the biggest attractions of leaving the EU is the ability to strike our own trade deals. No longer fettered by Brussels, we can negotiate far more favourable terms with trading partners  a huge potential boost for the British economy. But as someone who cares passionately about farm animal welfare and the quality of the meat we eat, I do not want to see British farmers thrown under a bus.

British farmers take great pride in exceeding minimum food quality and animal welfare standards, even if their meat is slightly more expensive. (A display of beef on sale at Woolworths supermarket in Australia)

Standards in the UK are by no means perfect but thankfully we have very few cattle, pig and dairy mega farms of the type common in Australia, America, China, and other parts of the world.

Indeed, Grassdale Feedlot is about 25 times the size of Britains largest cattle farm.

While the average American dairy herd is 900 animals with countless farms of 10,000 or more, the average UK herd is only around 150 cows.

British farmers take great pride in exceeding minimum food quality and animal welfare standards, even if their meat is slightly more expensive.

However, cattle in farms such as the Grassdale Feedlot are pumped with hormones and antibiotics before being rendered into cheap meat for fast food chains and supermarkets. Implants under the skin at the back of the ear continually release hormone doses to speed up the animals ability to convert feed into muscle and fat.

Ms Truss hopes to sign the deal in time for next months G7 summit in Cornwall. It would offer Australia a 15-year transition to a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade pact

These are banned in the UK and the EU. Indeed, there is widespread concern about the impact on human health of such growth hormones.

I have seen the horror of such mega-farms in Argentina, another country keen to strike a free trade deal with the UK.

I visited the country while researching Farmageddon, a book I co-authored about the true cost of cheap meat.

In the belief that Argentine beef was a delicacy, I envisaged happy cattle roaming free on the pampas.

The reality could not be more different. Argentina has no shortage of land but much of it has been turned over to soy production. In place of beautiful pastures were miles of chemical-drenched yellow/brown soya, a crop exported to feed pigs and poultry.

The majority of Argentine beef comes from animals reared on fetid feedlots where they eat grain and their mountains of waste and vast water consumption are creating a environmental catastrophe. If this is the best steak in the world as smart restaurants claim, Ill give it a miss.

How, if the UK-Australia free trade deal is signed, would British consumers know if the meat they buy comes from animals reared this way? The answer is that they probably wont.

Encouragingly, food labelling rules are getting tighter, especially for beef products.

In theory, manufacturers must provide a long list of information, including an animals country of birth, where it was reared, slaughtered and where the meat was cut up. In practice, these details are almost never supplied.

Under a widely used get-out clause, if full information is not available, products can simply be labelled non UK or non EU  a catch-all that covers a multitude of sins.

Government food labelling inspectors openly admit they have a pragmatic enforcement approach.

A rush of cheap meat imports, potentially undercutting more ethical and responsible British farms, would just add to the secrecy surrounding supply chains.

No wonder Johnsons Cabinet is split. Among Ministers with grave concerns about the consequences of zero tariffs or quotas on Australian food imports are Environment Secretary George Eustace and Michael Gove, both staunch Brexiteers. They, too, have been trying to reconcile an ideological attachment to the free market with what it actually means for British producers and animals.

Much of the animal welfare legislation in Australia was written almost 40 years ago.

Also, pig and poultry standards are very rarely reviewed there  and while Britain and the EU have phased out the most confined cages, the majority of Australian eggs are still laid by battery hens. Those who opposed Brexit will crow about the uncomfortable position some of us Brexiteers now find ourselves in.

But it is vital that Ministers get it right, making it crystal clear about the food standards we expect under other trade deals.

Next up, America: the land of genetically-modified crops and chlorinated chicken from birds reared on factory farms that are among the most grotesquely overcrowded and cruel in the world.

Amid a growing outcry, Downing Street claims all imports from Australia would have to meet animal welfare and food safety standards. British farmers and consumers who are appalled by farms such as Grassdale Feedlot deserve far more than these vague undertakings.

Farmageddon: The True Cost Of Cheap Meat, by Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott, is published by Bloomsbury.
The man we can only identify as 'Arthur' isn't sure whether he should be regarded as a hero or a villain. He was certainly a spy.

'Plenty of people would describe me as a traitor, and I won't deny that,' he says.

'I entered their homes. They cooked for me, bought me drinks. They watched my back. And all the time I was trying to remember every word they said to pass on to their enemies. They would also see me as a traitor to my race.'

The 'they' he's referring to are right-wing extremists, Nazis and racists, full of hate and bent on destruction.

In the late 80s Arthur  an ordinary Londoner in his early 20s with no military background or links to official intelligence agencies  did something extraordinary.

A series of bombings by far right extremist David Copeland in 1999 are revisited in Netflix's Nail Bomber: Manhunt. Pictured: The bomber, David Copeland, after his arrest

Brixton: The image of Copeland (far left) released by police

Brick Lane: A burning car in the aftermath of the second bomb attack on April 24

He volunteered with the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight to infiltrate this dark world, outwardly supporting the extremists' vile cause. Today he calls it 'going Secret Squirrel, I was a bargain basement 007'.

He requested no payment for his work, saying he was motivated purely by disgust at the creeping influence of the Far Right. He went out canvassing with the British National Party and still remembers a fleeting but searing encounter with a black girl about his age.

'I had avoided giving her a leaflet and she asked why, so I gave her one. She had a look, then she said sadly, but defiantly, "Oh, I understand why you didn't give me one." That hurts even now, knowing I upset her.'

He went drinking with his 'mates' where 'it was quite routine for people to be talking about the race war, passing on hit lists, bomb manuals and so on...' Yet he argues that he had to be 'in', getting his hands dirty to a point.

All the while he was passing information back to his handlers to disrupt the extremists' plans.

Soho: The scene of carnage after the explosion at the Admiral Duncan pub on April 30

'It gave me a buzz to go somewhere like Birmingham with them and for the place to be crawling with anti-fascists. Then, retreating to a pub, they would wonder how they had found out where we were. Some guessed that there was a 'wrong 'un' in our midst, but others believed that MI5 or Mossad were listening to our phones.'

For 25 years, Arthur has kept quiet about his role. Even those close to him were not aware of what he did.

'I told some people, and their responses were not necessarily positive,' he says.

MORE THAN JUST A MONSTER Copeland's bedroom The show points out that today the authorities are braced for terror attacks by extremist groups, but in 1999 they were focused on the IRA. This let David Copeland pass under the radar. The film doesn't point the finger overtly at the authorities, but it does ask why the groups Arthur infiltrated were not regarded as serious threats. 'Even when he was caught, Copeland was regarded as an anomaly,' says the director of the documentary Daniel Vernon. 'The police presented it as if there was something wrong with him. They didn't really look at the infrastructure around him.' Daniel says they were careful with telling the story, and Copeland wasn't approached for an interview. 'It's important not to glamorise him,' he says. 'To some young neo-Nazis he's a folk hero. We wanted to look at what made an ordinary young man [he was 22 at the time] make the decisions he did. There is a danger in just presenting him as a monster.' Advertisement

'I think some struggled to understand how a good person could be comfortable in the company of Nazis and extreme racists, irrespective of me spying on them.'

He's now broken cover though, to a point. His life would still be in danger if he were identified, but Arthur's work  and his key part in identifying one of the most notorious right-wing extremists of our age  is highlighted in a new Netflix documentary.

Nail Bomber: Manhunt revisits the summer of 1999 when London was terrorised by a series of bombs, planted across the capital over 13 days by far right extremist David Copeland. The targets were minorities  specifically black, Asian and gay communities.

Dozens were injured in Brixton and Brick Lane, and in the most devastating final attack on the Admiral Duncan pub in Soho three people lost their lives, including a pregnant woman.

Copeland had strolled in, ordered a drink, put down his bag and left. Arthur had met him during his spy work, and it was he who eventually identified Copeland, leading to his arrest.

The film reveals just how close the authorities came to stopping the final bomb. They'd had grainy CCTV images of Copeland, who was from Hampshire, since the Brixton attack some 12 days earlier, but it was only when they were enhanced and released to the public that Arthur was able to suggest Copeland's name.

The police were on his trail when he was en route to the pub. With a few hours more, lives could have been saved.

'I'm haunted by it,' Arthur admits. 'I regret that the CCTV footage wasn't shared with us until it was enhanced. Maybe I would have made a lucky guess, and maybe they would've caught him before the Admiral Duncan attack.

'My feeling now is that Copeland is the only person to blame, plus the people who influenced his Nazi beliefs. However, I do blame myself that I didn't help to stop him sooner. There is guilt.'

Part of the spotlight falls on the survivors too, such as psychiatric nurse Gary Reid who'd come over from New Zealand two years earlier and had popped into the Admiral Duncan for a drink after work.

He hasn't worked since because of his injuries. He vividly remembers standing at the bar and can describe all the bottles lined up. He wasn't aware of an explosion, just the sensation of falling.

'There was a woman above me and I could see her mouth opening and closing,' he tells me.

'She was screaming, but I couldn't hear anything. That's the last thing I remember before I woke up in hospital.'

For weeks, it was touch and go as to whether Gary would survive. He lost a leg and part of his hand and appears in the film in his wheelchair. 'There were three of us hanging on by the skin of our teeth,' he says.

Gary Reid, who survived the bombing in Soho, hasn't worked since because of his injuries

'We kept getting infections and no one knew why. Later we discovered Copeland had stored all the nails in a garage and let rats run all over them.'

Gary spent more than a year in hospital followed by years of rehabilitation, and his parents moved over to help. He's the sort of man who manages to find the positives though.

'I didn't get on well with my father before, and that changed for the better.' He also found love, in a roundabout way.

He had split with a boyfriend before moving to London, but his father contacted his ex-partner and they came to the UK together. Gary and his partner have since reunited.

After Copeland's trial where he was given six life sentences, Gary gave an impassioned statement about how the bombings were a culmination of society unloading hate and ignorance.

He was targeted because of his sexuality, but he points out that the objects of Copeland's hate were extensive. 'He hated absolutely everybody,' Gary says today. 'I was in the wrong place at the wrong time.'

He picks up on the idea that Copeland wasn't exactly a criminal mastermind either.

'He went to Brixton, not realising there were so many white people there. He went to Brick Lane, but the market was the next day when it would be packed.

'He targeted a gay pub, but ended up killing a pregnant woman. My ultimate view is, "What a waste". What an absolute waste  of his life too.'

Nail Bomber: Manhunt, from Wednesday, Netflix.
Here in the UK, the equivalent of one in six bags of food shopping we buy or one in eight meals we make goes straight in the bin, and every year we throw away food worth almost 14 billion. But help is at hand.

Bake Off judge Prue Leith and Dr Rupy Aujla, host of hit YouTube show and bestselling book series The Doctors Kitchen, aim to transform our cooking and shopping habits and save us money in new Channel 4 series Cook Clever, Waste Less With Prue & Rupy.

Dr Rupy, 36, is a GP who started The Doctors Kitchen in 2015 as a way of teaching us how to cook our way to better health. As well as judging Bake Off, Prue, 81, is also known as the Leftover Queen because she hates throwing anything away.

Bake Off judge Prue Leith and Dr Rupy Aujla, host of hit YouTube show and bestselling book series The Doctors Kitchen, aim to transform our cooking and shopping habits and save us money in new Channel 4 series Cook Clever, Waste Less With Prue & Rupy

They do call me that, she laughs. People often say to my husband, You must be so lucky and he says, Well, I live on leftovers, because hes a bit rude. He does sometimes follow it up by saying hes hardly ever had the same thing twice and its always delicious, but by then its too late! I always remind him the leftovers started as primary ingredients though.

In the show Prue and Rupy head round the country trying to help families tackle their food waste and reduce their shopping bills. They devise meal plans and rustle up healthy new recipes using up food that would have been thrown away normally.

It really is possible to waste less, save money, eat better and improve your health, says Dr Rupy.

Here they show you how you can do it too

USE YOUR LOAF

According to Prue, she was 'horrified' to learn how much food we waste saying, the top of the list for food waste is bread

I was horrified to learn on this programme just how much food we waste, says Prue.

For example, top of the list is bread. We throw more bread away than anything else.

'I think I might write a stale-bread cookbook because there are so many things you can do with it, like make and freeze breadcrumbs.

A delicious spring panzanella salad using leftover bread (pictured)

In Yorkshire Prue and Rupy visit single mum Danielle Webster-Holmes, who all too often resorts to takeaways for her two girls.

They get her batch-cooking tasty meals, and show her how to make a delicious spring panzanella salad using leftover bread.

Prue has some other ideas of her own too.

The other day I made a bread pudding, rather like you would make bread and butter pudding except instead of buttering the bread and putting custard all over it, you smear pesto sauce all over the stale bread then layer it up with tomatoes and garlic and bake the whole thing in the oven with a crispy cheesy top made from egg yolks, milk, grated cheese, salt and pepper.

'And its so delicious  squishy and rich in the middle and crunchy on the top  but I have to say its probably not the healthiest thing you could eat!

SAVE 1,000 A YEAR!

Prue Leith, 81, and Dr Rupy Aujla, 36, aim to transform the nation's cooking and shopping habits in new Channel 4 series Cook Clever, Waste Less With Prue & Rupy. Pictured: Rupy and Prue with Sanjeev and Preeti Arora-Anand

Weve saved every family on the show a minimum of 1,000 a year, and some of them save multiples of that, says Rupy.

The question I always ask is, What are you going to do with this extra money? Just think about that as your motivating factor. And honestly, this will encourage you to meal-plan. I mass-cook food and then freeze half of it, while the rest will last for at least three or four days.

TOTALLY BANANAS, BUT IT WORKS! We throw away edible fruit and vegetables worth a horrifying 2.5 billion in the UK each year, including nearly a million bananas every day. But Prue and Rupy show how we can transform these wasteful habits. In Bristol they visit David and Nadya Parshall, who are trying to cater for their sons who have food allergies. Prue and Rupy design a food plan thats gluten and dairy-free, with recipes including a rich parsnip cake (above) and a delicious smoothie that uses up banana skins. Id never seen anybody use banana peel in anything until Rupy chopped up the skin and put it in the blender with coconut milk, peanut butter, a pinch of salt and a touch of cinnamon, and it was amazing, says Prue. I came home and made one for my husband. When I asked him what he thought it was, he said, Delicious, its a banana milkshake. So I said, No, its a banana skin milkshake!' In Bristol, Prue and Rupy design a food plan thats gluten and dairy-free for a family with food allergies, with recipes including a rich parsnip cake (pictured) Advertisement

Prue and Rupy head to Manchester where they meet busy NHS doctors Preeti and Sanjeev Arora-Anand who are struggling to juggle their hectic work lives and the multiple meal demands of their three children.

To keep everyone happy, they end up cooking three different meals a night. Prue and Rupy create a cunning plan full of delicious dishes to tickle everyones taste buds, including a super-simple chicken and cauliflower traybake.

If youre not a confident cook or a food-waste warrior, choose one meal at a time and make it simple, says Rupy. Like a one-pan meal you can knock together with a few staples, and practise that every week.

To go one step further, make sure the meal has a leftover element. So if youre making a roast dinner, for example, you can turn the extra roast vegetables into a salad the next day by just throwing some leaves in it, maybe adding some toasted sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds, and then all of a sudden youve created another meal.

PLAN, PLAN, PLAN!

Prue believes that the key to reducing food waste  and shopping bills  is to make a list and stick to it.

One of the most boring tips is to talk about good household management because nobody wants to do this, and I dont like doing it myself. But if you dont, what happens is you go to the supermarket and youre beguiled by all these things you havent thought of, like mangos. You save an enormous amount of time and money if you plan.

If you buy a whole chicken and there are two of you, you need to know what youre going to do with the rest of it. Last week I had a beautiful free-range organic chicken.

'Theyre quite expensive and I dont like to throw anything away so I cut the whole bird in half and roasted one side, which we had in the traditional manner with sausage meat stuffing.

'Then I poached the other half very gently, and we had poached chicken with tarragon and cream sauce. I made a soup from the rest of the poached chicken, plus I made stock. So you get three good meals out of one not very big chicken.

GET YOURSELF IN A PICKLE!

Making the show, Rupy was astonished at how much packaged meat was wasted. We have to be more mindful about wasting meat due to ethical considerations, he says. If you do choose to eat meat, you should really stretch it out.

In London he and Prue meet the Thompson family, who had a bad habit of cooking a nightly back-up meal for their fussy children.

So I made them a lovely Thai salad, which you can create out of leftover sandwich ham, says Rupy.

I also make kimchi, sauerkraut and other pickles because they last for ages. You just need an airtight jar.

'Try chopping onion, adding vinegar, salt and hot water, and shaking it. That way you dont waste a bag of onions. And pickled or fermented foods are probiotic, they modulate your gut microbes, improve sugar regulation and are great for digestion.

Cook Clever, Waste Less With Prue & Rupy, Monday, 8.30pm, Channel 4.
Prince Albert of Monaco appeared in great spirits as he joined his children Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques at the Formula One qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix today.

The royal father, 63, donned a sharp navy suit jacket and cream trousers while walking alongside his stylish six-year-old twins, who were kitted out in matching red sport jackets when in Monte Carlo.

It is thought Prince Albert's wife Princess Charlene, 43, would also be a guest of honour at the event - but she has been unable to return home from a recent trip to South Africa after contracting an infection, according to Hello!.

Charlene, who will also miss out on tomorrow's Monaco Grand Prix, was visiting the country where she was raised, to highlight the fight against rhino poaching - but is now battling an ENT (Ear, nose and throat) infection 'that does not allow her to travel', according to a statement from the Palace of Monaco.

Prince Albert of Monaco appeared in great spirits as he joined his children Princess Gabriella and Prince Jacques at the Formula One qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix today (pictured)

It is thought Prince Albert's wife Princess Charlene (pictured), 43, would also be a guest of honour at the event - but she has been unable to return home from a recent trip to South Africa after contracting an infection

Prince Albert looked relaxed as he was photographed walking alongside his children, sporting a red face mask and blue cap.

He completed his look with a light blue shirt and smart black shoes, while holding on to his son's hand.

Meanwhile, his children appeared more vibrant in matching red and white ensembles.

The royal father (pictured right), 63, donned a sharp navy suit jacket and cream trousers while walking alongside his stylish six-year-old twins, who were kitted out in matching red sport jackets when in Monte Carlo

Prince Jacques donned white jeans and trainers, with a matching face mask and sport jacket.

Walking in front of her father and brother, Princess Gabriella appeared confident in a red dress and white shoes, finished with a complementary floral headband.

Yesterday, the Palace of Monaco revealed Princess Charlene had extended her stay in South Africa after picking up an ENT infection 'that does not allow her to travel'.

In a statement, the palace said: 'During a trip to the African continent as part of a wildlife conservation mission, SAS Princess Charlene contracted an ENT infection that does not allow her to travel.

Prince Jacques (pictured) donned white jeans and trainers, with a matching face mask and sport jacket

'Unfortunately, she will not be able to attend the Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix. SAS The Princess Charlene sends her best wishes to the Automobile Club of Monaco, organizer of the event, as well as to the drivers and teams involved in this great automobile competition.'

Prior to the announcement, Princess Charlene had been sharing images of her conservation efforts on Instagram.

She appeared alongside a rhino that had its horns removed in a painless process to try and deter poachers, who would harm the animal for its horns.

The royal, sporting a camouflage jumper, was photographed hugging one of the rhinos while it had bandages over its eyes and ears following the procedure.
The Queen wore a brooch gifted to her by Prince Philip during a visit to the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth today.

Her Majesty, 95, paid tribute to her beloved husband of 73 years, who died on April 9 aged 99, by wearing the piece, which she teamed with a brick-red military-style cashmere coat for her appearance at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth.

The gold Scarab brooch, with ruby and diamond embellishments, was a 1966 gift from the Duke of Edinburgh.

She also wore the meaningful accessory in a portrait celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017.

The Queen wore a brooch gifted to her by Prince Philip during a visit to the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth today

Her Majesty, 95, paid tribute to her beloved husband of 73 years, who died on April 9 aged 99, by wearing the piece (pictured), which she teamed with a brick-red military-style cashmere coat for her appearance at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth

The Queen sported a red cashmere coat with a black velvet collar and buttons, over a crepe wool dress by Stewart Parvin and a Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat.

Her brooch was designed by Andrew Grima, noted as 'The Father of Modern Jewellery', and given as a personal gift from the Duke to the Queen in 1966.

She was first seen wearing it during an appearance outside Bournemouth Town Hall during that year, alongside Prince Philip. Her new brooch was pinned to a cornflower blue coat.

It appears to be a favourite of the Queen's as she's sported it several times since then, including at the start of her Golden Jubilee tour in Falmouth in 2002.

Another special occasion in which she wore the brooch was for her appearance marking the 50th anniversary of her first televised Christmas message in December 2007.

The gold Scarab brooch, with ruby and diamond embellishments, was a 1966 gift from the Duke of Edinburgh (pictured the couple together in 1966, with the Queen wearing the brooch)

Then, during a state visit to Slovenia in 2008, the Queen opted for the accessory while receiving flowers from the public.

The Queen toured Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth today in her first public appearance since Prince Harry's latest bombshell comments which accused the Royal Family of 'total neglect'.

The monarch visited the 3billion warship, which is affectionally called 'Big Lizzie', in a tumultuous week for the Firm which saw the Duke of Sussex, 36, drop another 'truth bomb' in his new Apple TV+ series with Oprah Winfrey.

The Royal Navy's flagship vessel is set to depart for Asia later on Saturday to begin a 28-week operational deployment which will see it carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, and Singapore.

Her Majesty had a chance to meet some of the 1,700 personnel on board the carrier which include Royal Navy sailors, Royal Air Force airmen and women, Royal Marines, and 250 United States personnel.

The Queen (pictured) visited Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, affectionately known as 'Big Lizzie', in her first public appearance since Prince Harry accused the Royal Family of 'total neglect' in his latest bombshell comments

Her visit followed a tour by the Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday.

It is understood that the Queen is keen to recommence more public engagements in the coming months instead of the virtual events which have taken up much of her schedule since the pandemic hit.

Captain Essenhigh said: 'It's always a great privilege to host the Queen and to have her as both our sovereign and our lady sponsor come and wish us well as we set off on a seven-month deployment is something incredibly special.'

The Queen presented a medal for 15 years' long service and good conduct to Petty Officer Matthew Ready, 38, from Gosport, Hampshire. He said: 'It was an incredible honour for me and my family.'

Engineering Technician Marine Engineering (ETME) Billie Matthews, 22, from County Durham, who was one of those who met the Queen, said: 'It was brilliant, she was very chatty, very smiley.'

The Queen was greeted by the ship's commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse (all pictured), commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG), as she arrived by helicopter at Portsmouth Naval Base

Queen Elizabeth went on to the warship's flight deck during her tour, where she stood alongside military personnel to look at a pair of F-35B Lightning II aircrafts (pictured)

Able seaman Chelsea Paterson, 24, from Chirnside, Scotland, said: 'It was incredible, an honour to see her, let alone speak to her, the highlight of my career.'

The Queen smiled and chatted with Royal Navy personnel on the warship soon after her grandson, 36, accused the royal family of 'total neglect', bullying and even a smear campaign against his wife Meghan, 39.

In his latest attack, part of a series on mental health for Apple TV+ with his friend Oprah Winfrey, the former royal suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to 'suffer' when it came to the media because of his own negative experiences.

His comments came on the five-episode The Me You Can't See series  part-televised therapy session and self-help guide, part-confessional  which was released in its entirety yesterday. It contains a number of 'truth bombs', an insider told the New York Post earlier this week.

In the documentary, Harry described how Meghan shared her darkest thoughts with him, including 'the practicalities' of how she had considered ending her life.

He said: 'I felt completely helpless. I thought my family would help  but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence or total neglect.'

Harry was billed as an executive producer alongside Miss Winfrey, who originally bagged the lucrative Apple deal. But it also included large segments of him in conversation with the chat show host, as well as interspersed footage of Harry at his mother's funeral and her being chased by paparazzi as a young woman.
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The grandson of Spain's wealthiest woman has tied the knot today in a move that will see two of the country's richest families merge as one.

Carlos Fitz-James Stuart y Solis, the Count of Osorno, wed his fiancee Belen Corsini in a glamorous ceremony at Liria Palace, in Madrid this afternoon.

Their union sees two of Spain's wealthiest families, the Albas and the Corsinis, join together til' death do them part.

Belen is the great-granddaughter of Carlos Corsini Senespleda, engineer and founder of the construction and public works company Corsan, which was sold for 325 million euros in 2004.

The Count is the youngest son of the 19th Duke of Alba, who inherited an estimated 2.2billion worth after the late Duchess of Alba passed away in November 2014.

Spanish socialites, celebrities and other high profile individuals all turned out for the couple's big day, which was only publicly announced last September.

The event marked the biggest society wedding of the last 18 months after scores of aristocrats across Europe were forced to put plans for their lavish nuptials on hold due to the pandemic.

Newly wed: Rarely pictured couple Carlos Fitz-James Stuart y Solis, the Count of Osorno, wed his fiancee Belen Corsini at the Liria Palace in Madrid today (File picture undated)

A concentrating Fernando Fitz-James Stuart and radiant Sofia Palazuelo arrive at the couple's wedding this afternoon

Breathtaking venue: The happy newly wed couple were joined in holy matrimony at Liria Palace in Madrid, which is the family seat of the Duke of Alba

Sofia Palazuelo lets out a smile from underneath a mask at the couple's stunning wedding which was held at Liria Palace, in Madrid

Alejandra Corsini (right) and Alejandro Munoz are dressed to the nines as they arrive for the family affair wedding, the first society gathering in the last 18 months

Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva (left) and Alfonso Diez walk out of the chapel after their wedding in October 2011. It was the Spanish billionaire's third wedding

The newly wed couple were joined in holy matrimony today after three years of dating, and announcing their plans back in September.

Spain's looser Covid-19 restrictions meant up to 300 guests could dance the afternoon away at today's indoor ceremony, with up to eight people per table.

A handful of Spain's biggest names flocked to the must-see event, including the Count's older brother Fernando Fitz-James Stuart and his wife Sofia Palazuelo, who wed in 2018.

When the Duke of Huescar married Ms Palazuelo at the same estate in 2018, there were 750 guests including Queen Sofia of Spain.

Hundreds of people lined the streets and took pictures of those arriving, including the Duke's niece, Brianda Fitz-James Stuart.

Belen's family were also in attendance, with Alejandra Corsini and Alejandro Munoz celebrating the family affair in the Spanish capital.

The event marked the biggest society wedding of the last 18 months, after the Covid-19 pandemic crippled socialites' plans for lavish ceremonies across Europe.

The newly wed couple spent lockdown at the family's 18th century estate Liria Palace in Madrid, with the Count's father and uncle.

Belen, who manages family businesses, is the granddaughter of Jacobo Corsini Marquina and the daughter of Juan Carlos Corsini and Monica de Lacalle Rubio.

The Corsini Munoz family are descendants of the engineer Carlos Corsini Senespleda, founder of the company Corsan construction company.

Belen then is a descendant of one of Spain's most valuable companies of the last century.

Brianda Fitz-James Stuart (L), Duke of Alba's niece, arrives to attend the wedding ceremony of Carlos Fitz-James Stuart, Duke of Alba's youngest son, and Belen Corsini

Enrique Soliis (left) and Alejandra Dominguez are pictured before the glamorous ceremony in the Spanish capital today

Ines Domecq (left) is pictured with other guests arriving in anticipation of the union of two of Spain's wealthiest families

TWICE-WIDOWED BEFORE TYING THE KNOT WITH A CLOSE FRIEND: THE THREE HUSBANDS OF THE DUCHESS OF ALBA The twice-widowed duchess first married aged 21 in 1947 to fellow aristocrat Luis Martinez de Irujo in a wedding on a scale to rival that of Britain's Princess Elizabeth later that year. The marriage, to Don Pedro Luis Martines de Irujo, son of the Duke of Sotomayor, was described by the New York Times as 'Spain's most elaborate social event since the end of the monarchy'. One thousand guests attended the formal banquet while free meals were served to another thousand needy locals. Wearing a pearl and diamond crown, she rode to Seville Cathedral in a horse-drawn carriage with thousands of well-wishers lining the streets to cheer her. The couple had six children. The duchess, who favoured an eccentric clothing style, sporting beaded anklets and fishnet tights well into her eighties, married former Catholic priest Jesus Aguirre Ortiz de Zarate six years after the death of her first husband in 1972. The marriage scandalised Spanish high society because she was marrying a former Jesuit priest, Jesus Aguirre, who was 11 years younger than her and had been her confessor. Jesus Aguirre died in 2001. Her courtship with dashing civil servant Alfonso Diez then gripped the nation, aroused disapproval from Queen Sofia and was openly opposed by her six children. Before tying the knot with 61-year-old Diez in 2011, the duchess divided her fortune between her offspring to silence their protests. Advertisement

The couple's union became the first family wedding since 2018, when Carlos' elder brother Don Fernando Juan Fitz-James-Stuart y Solis-Beaumont, to use his full name, tied the knot with girlfriend Sofia Palazuelo in a lavish ceremony at his family home.

Following the ceremony the newly weds hosted an aperitivo and long lunch on the same estate serving beer from the family's own brewery La Casa de Alba.

They performed their first dance to a waltz before their guests joined them on the dance floor and partied until the early hours.

It is no surprise that the wedding was a lavish affair with the groom being the grandson of the late Duchess of Alba, or Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva, to give her the full name.

A delighted and well dressed priest carries a bag and cracks a smile from beneath his mask as he arrives at the couple's wedding

Jacobo Martinez de Irujo (pictured) arrives by car ahead of the grand ceremony at the Liria Palace in Madrid held earlier today

Adriana Marin and Luis Martinez de Irujo arrive at the lavish ceremony which was held in the Spanish capital earlier today and marked the biggest society wedding in 18 months

Ines Domecq smiles and poses for pictures as the Albas and the Corsinis were joined together in holy matrimony in Madrid

The Count of Osorno came into serious wealth after the death of his grandmother, Maria del Rosario Cayetana Alfonsa Victoria Eugenia Francisca Fitz-James Stuart y de Silva , seven years ago.

Worth an estimated 2.2billion, the Spanish duchess was one of Europe's wealthiest aristocrats when she passed away in November 2014 at her Seville residence, Duenas Palace.

Friends, relatives and well-wishers paid their respects to the duchess, also known as 'Cayetana', after she died following a battle with pneumonia.

Her husband Alfonso Diez, who was 24 years her junior, is thought not to have received any of her fortune, which included an impressive property portfolio, 50,000 pieces of artwork and 18,000 rare books, after he signed a document renouncing any claim to her wealth prior to their marriage in October 2011.

Instead, the Duchess - who is a direct royal descent from King James II of England - left her entire estate to her six children, with them each receiving a palace, as well as thousands of acres of land. Her eight grandchildren are also said to have inherited a substantial chunk of her estate.

A relative of Winston Churchill, the duchess shared toys with England's future Queen Elizabeth while living in England as a girl.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) new guidance telling fully vaccinated Americans they can stop wearing masks indoors could inadvertently lead to an increase in infections in workplaces and elsewhere, doctors warn.

The CDC adjusted its mask guidance last week, saying that fully vaccinated individuals did not have to wear a mask indoors in most settings.

Dr Jeffrey Duchin, a member of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, criticized the order for potentially causing confusion among Americans.

'It was unexpected and lacked needed context for implementation by state and local public health community,' he said during a press briefing Thursday.

The CDC released guidance last week allowing for fully vaccinated Americans to safely remove their masks in a majority of indoor settings.

Dr Anthony Fauci (left) is among a group of doctors and health officials that have criticized recent CDC guidance, saying that its unclear nature could lead to many unvaccinated individuals ditching their masks. CDC Director Dr Rochelle Walensky (right) defended her agency's guidance on Wednesday, saying, 'We are following the science each and every day'

Dr Duchin fears that the new guidance will not be properly implemented across the country due to its hasty release, and that it will cause the virus to uncontrollably spread in some communities.

'There was no information on how to apply the guidance in practice, particularly related to the inability to verify vaccination status,' he said.

'What the CDC did though was sub-optimal and allowed for misimpression that the mask mandates have been lifted.'

Health officials believe that vaccinated people are safe to remove their masks in indoor spaces, as the vaccine has been proven effective in combating the spread of COVID-19.

The guidance from the CDC is not entirely clear, though, and some may misinterpret it as the agency saying it is safe for all Americans to remove masks, no matter their vaccine status.

The concern is that people who are not yet fully vaccinated will see others with their masks off, remove their own, and put those around them at risk - especially without the requirement of proof of vaccination.

'Now the risk of COVID-19 spread is increased in crowded indoor spaces with unvaccinated people and especially with poor ventilation,' Dr. Duchin said.

'[The guidance] could lead to increased risk in public spaces and workplaces with preventable Covid-19 spread primarily among the unvaccinated.'

Dr Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, said earlier this week that he also fears the guidance will be misinterpreted by many.

Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the CDC, defended her agency's guidance during an appearance on CNBC's The News with Shepard Smith on Wednesday.

'These issues are complex, the science is evolving, the science is moving, and we are following the science each and every day and our guidance is evolving as the science evolves,' she said.

While the CDC can release guidance for local officials and businesses across the country, individual states, municipalities and private businesses set mask mandates as they see fit.

Guidance from the CDC often informs the mask orders.

For example, after the CDC guidance, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that his state would lift mask mandates for vaccinated people before Memorial Day weekend in his state.

Some states do not have mask mandates for anyone, no matter the vaccine status.

Vaccine status is often on an honor system as well, with there being little way to prove whether or not someone has received it yet.

Many businesses and other entities may not even bother to check vaccine status.

Vaccine passports, official documentation of vaccine status a person can use to enter businesses or travel, have been a topic of contention in recent months.

Many states, like Florida, have put an outright ban on vaccine passports.

New York has launched a virtual vaccine passport, the Excelsior Pass, though its use is not mandatory in the state.

The pass is intended to be an option for organizations throwing large events, such as concerts or sporting events.

White House officials have said that there are no plans to create a federal level vaccine passport system.

Lack of an ability for businesses to verify the vaccine status of customers would make it near impossible for them to properly enforce mask mandates on only those who have are not vaccinated.

The United States seems to be beyond its worst days of COVID-19, with case rates dropping across the country.

Much of the recent success can be attributed to the vaccines.

About 60 percent of American adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine, with over a third of the country being fully vaccinated, per CDC data.

Dr. Fauci said earlier this week that future surges of the virus can be prevented once 70 percent of the country receives at least one shot of the vaccine, a target he thinks is attainable by July 4.
Some COVID-19 patients are developing a condition that causes their tongue to permanently expand so much they can not speak or eat.

Macroglossia is a condition where someone's tongue is inflamed and begins to swell.

Dr James Melville, one of the top researchers of the condition, is aware of nine cases where a COVID-19 patient developed the condition.

'It's actually a relatively common condition, but not to the degree of those patients. Those are what we consider massive or giant macroglossia and those are extremely rare,' he said.

One of the patients he treated, Anthony Jones, woke up after surviving a critical case of COVID-19 that left him on a ventilator with his tongue swollen to several times its normal size.

He has finally recovered, but Dr Melville and other doctors remain mystified over what might cause the rare complication.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT

Anthony Jones developed massive macroglossia after being hospitalized with COVID-19. The exact causes of it are unknown. He tongue became so swollen that he could not eat or speak

Dr. James Melville treated Jones' condition, and he is expected to make a full recovery. Dr. Melville is leading research into the condition, and how it may be associated with COVID-19

Dr Melville treated the first two cases of COVID-related macroglossia early in the pandemic last year.

There have been seven new cases of the condition related to COVID-19 since then, with each being the rare, massive version of the condition.

One case was that of Anthony Jones, a Houston man who developed the condition after being hospitalized with the virus.

Jones had to use a ventilator in order to handle the virus, and when he woke up after treatment, his tongue was so swollen that he could not speak or eat.

As became common practice, Jones's doctors rolled him onto his stomach to alleviate some of the strain on his lungs - but that only made his tongue worse.

Dr Melville had to perform surgery to reduce the massive size of Jones's tongue and alleviate the inflammation.

The operation was a success, but how Jones became inflicted with massive macroglossia is still unknown.

Dr Melville has a few guesses as to how it happens, though.

He thinks the inflammation is caused for the same reasons that other organs in someone's body may become inflamed and swell after contracting the virus.

There are reports that some have had their hearts, or other organs, enlarge after contracting the virus.

Patients who develop massive macroglossia require medical treatment, as the condition does not heal on its own. Eight of nine COVID-related cases in the United States have occurred among Black Americans

'We were noticing similar histological features with our COVID positive patients with other organs they were doing autopsies on, so say kidneys or lungs or heart,' he said.

'I think the [cases] we're finding, and histology is proving that COVID may be causing, are a more exaggerated inflammatory reaction in the tongue, which might be causing the tongue to get bigger, but that's all the research work that I'm doing trying to prove that.'

Dr. Melville is working to find what other factors combine with COVID-19 to cause the tongue swelling.

Typical causes of macroglossia include strokes, and laying in a prone position for a long time, as Jones was when he was in the hospital.

He believed that it was possible that patients who needed a ventilator to breathe when in the hospital with COVID-19 were sometimes turned over to their stomach to help them breathe easier.

Spending so long in that position could have cause tongue swelling.

Not all the patients Dr Melville looked at were incubated in a prone position, though.

Eight of the nine patients to develop the condition were Black, leading him to believe race may be involved, specifically angioedema.

Angioedema is a condition where parts of someone's body may begin to swell due to either an allergic reaction or hereditary causes.

Black people are more likely to develop the condition than white people.

Answers for what causes the condition at this level of severity in COVID patients are few and far between, though.

Macroglossia caused by COVID-19 will not naturally go away on its own, and requires treatment from a specialist.

Some patients have needed a stomach tube in order to eat since they could not eat food with the condition.

Jones is expected to make a full recovery, and will slowly be able to regain his ability to talk over time.
The breakthrough technology behind Pfizer's Covid jab could soon be used to create a universal cancer vaccine.

In trials, sufferers are already being given shots that can shrink tumours and potentially provide lifelong immunity against the disease, experts say.

Scientists developing the treatment have told The Mail on Sunday that NHS patients could have the cancer jab 'in the next couple of years', ushering in 'a new era of treatment'.

One of the first patients to benefit, 49-year-old Gavin Grove, says he is certain that without the vaccine he would be dead by now.

After treatment for his kidney cancer failed in 2019, the outlook was bleak, but today, thanks to the new jab, he's in remission.

The father-of-two from Essex added: 'The cancer vaccine saved my life.'

Another patient, Tina Wise, 55, from Chingford said: 'I'd never heard of a vaccine for cancer before, but I was willing to try anything.'

One of the first patients to benefit, 49-year-old Gavin Grove, says he is certain that without the vaccine he would be dead by now

Another patient, Tina Wise, 55, from Chingford said: 'I'd never heard of a vaccine for cancer before, but I was willing to try anything'

Tina was diagnosed with bladder cancer three years ago, after she noticed blood in her urine. After standard treatment failed and the cancer spread to her lungs and lymph nodes, she was enrolled on the cancer vaccine trial in 2019.

It involved nine shots over ten weeks, with a booster shot every four to five months.

The turnaround, for Tina, has been remarkable. 'Very soon after I started treatment, I got a call from the girl at the hospital. She said, 'Oh my God, you'll never guess what,' and I braced myself, because I thought she was going to give me bad news. But instead, she told me my tumours had disappeared. They couldn't see any cancer on scans.'

So-called mRNA vaccine technology is at the heart of this advance  the same technology that is used in the Pfizer and Moderna Covid jabs.

Short for messenger RNA, mRNA is found inside cells: it's the genetic code the body uses to produce proteins, molecules that form the building blocks of new cells, hormones, enzymes and other compounds.

The vaccines work by introducing man-made mRNA into the body, programmed with codes that instruct it to produce specific protein molecules. In the case of the Covid vaccines, the injected mRNA tells cells to produce versions of the spike protein that covers the outside of the Covid virus.

This is harmless, but helps prime the body's immune system to fight the infection, stimulating it to create antibodies that 'recognise' the Covid spike protein.

It means the body is ready to fight real Covid viruses, should they ever try to invade.

This is a completely new way of creating vaccines.

Conventional vaccines work by injecting parts of a virus itself to 'teach' the immune system to begin producing antibodies.

The mRNA method is both a faster and more affordable means of developing vaccines, because the vaccine doesn't require any live biological components like conventional vaccines do.

And, significantly, mRNA vaccine technology could, in theory, be used to engineer any protein the body needs to boost immunity and fight diseases such as cancer or rare genetic conditions.

The idea of a personalised cancer vaccine has long been touted by scientists, and they have been experimenting with mRNA technology for over 30 years. In the past decade it has been tried on diseases such as flu, Zika virus and rabies.

Experts believe that in the future a single mRNA vaccine could provide protection for multiple diseases, as several different mRNA codes could be placed in one jab.

Until 2020, the technology had never been licensed for use in humans. But the pandemic, and the huge international drive for a vaccine, helped push forward research and change this.

Gavin Grove, a former taxi driver, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2016, after he collapsed with a suspected heart attack

Tina was diagnosed with bladder cancer three years ago, after she noticed blood in her urine

In November, the Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine was shown to be 90 per cent effective at preventing serious illness in patients  a result far better than anyone could have expected. BioNTech, now valued at more than 14 billion, is at the helm of research to create the first universal cancer vaccine.

Dr Ozlem Tureci, co-founder and medical director of BionNTech, suggested that if all goes well in trials, tumour-fighting jabs may be ready 'in the next couple of years'.

Tumours occur when, for a variety of reasons, cells in the body go haywire and reproduce rapidly, forming a lump. Because they are made by the body, the immune system doesn't usually recognise the cancer as a threat and so doesn't attack it  which allows the disease to continue to grow.

If there was a way to help the body's immune system recognise the cancer, just as a vaccine helps it recognise viruses, it might be better able to fight off the disease  so the theory went. And mRNA technology has made this a reality.

BionNTech currently has ten mRNA cancer vaccines in varying stages of trials, but all are made in broadly the same way.

When cancer patients undergo surgery, a sample is taken from the removed tumour and sent to the BioNTech laboratory, where it is analysed. Tumour cells have their own genetic code  these vary from patient to patient, and between types of cancer. Using this code, scientists can create synthetic mRNA that stimulates the production of proteins like ones found on the tumour cells, which in turn help the immune system recognise and destroy the cancer.

Because the antibodies remain in the body even after the cancer is gone, the protective effect should be long-lasting.

At present, the BioNTech cancer vaccine is taken alongside other immune-boosting cancer drugs.

Dr Tureci said: 'This is a universal treatment where you can basically address any type of cancer.

'Our mRNA technology allows us to sequence the cancer of each patient, essentially creating a fingerprint of the cancer's genetic make-up, which we can then generate into a vaccine.'

Trials have been promising, she added. 'We've recruited over 400 patients, many of whom have had multiple treatments already, which have failed. We've learnt that the vaccines are safe, but we've also seen strong immune responses.'

In one trial, Dr Tureci says more than 30 per cent of patients with gastric cancer saw positive progress: 'We've observed patients with shrinking cancers, disappearing cancers. It appears as though in some cases the vaccine is preventing the cancer from returning.'

Professor Thomas Powles, oncologist and director of the Bart's Cancer Centre, has been leading a trial of BioNTech's vaccine for the pharmaceutical firm Roche, which is working in collaboration with the German firm. He said: 'In all likelihood cancer vaccines will trigger a move away from one-size-fits all treatments. This could mean the end of chemotherapy.'

Patient Gavin Grove, a former taxi driver, was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2016, after he collapsed with a suspected heart attack.

mRNA vaccine technology could, in theory, be used to engineer any protein the body needs to boost immunity and fight diseases such as cancer or rare genetic conditions

'I spent 12 days on the heart ward before the doctors realised my attack had been caused by a blood clot which had broken off from a tumour on my kidney,' he said.

Gavin underwent surgery at the Royal Free Hospital in North London and his kidney was removed, but nine months later scans showed the cancer had returned.

He was referred to Bart's Cancer Centre, where he was told that without any treatment he had less than a year to live.

'Even with standard treatment they said I'd still only have around two years,' he said.

In 2019, Gavin was started on the mRNA cancer vaccine. He received nine jabs over ten weeks as well as receiving immunotherapy cancer drugs intravenously every three weeks.

'After one jab, I had a really bad fever and had to be taken to hospital,' he recalled.

But more than 18 months on from starting the treatment, Gavin's tumour has shrunk by 37 per cent.

He still travels to hospital every 24 weeks for a booster vaccine and every three weeks for immunotherapy.

He's also now had both his Pfizer Covid vaccines and says it was only recently he found out it was the same technology used to make his cancer jab.

Prof Powles said that mRNA cancer vaccines still need development before they can be approved for NHS use, but added: 'We've proven that it's possible to create antibodies specific to patients' cancers. That is a major step.'

Could one day such a vaccine be given to healthy patients at risk of cancer to stop them ever developing it?

Dr Juanita Lopez, consultant oncologist at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation and The Institute of Cancer Research, said that, sadly, it's unlikely. 'With an mRNA vaccine you need to know everything about the genetics of the cancer you're targeting. These are unique to each patient, so it would be near-impossible to predict.

'You need the tumour before you can create the vaccine.'

At present, the vaccine is being trialled in patients with advanced cancer, but the next stage will be to offer it to patients earlier.

Dr Lopez said: 'It's possible giving it immediately after diagnosis will give the body a better chance of keeping the cancer in check.'

And, with more research, the jabs could provide lifelong immunity to the patient.

Dr Lopez is currently recruiting for two trials, one for patients with melanoma skin cancer and another for those with lung cancer.

'Obviously the patient wouldn't be immune to all cancers, but it's possible they could have permanent resistance to the cancer they initially had,' she explained.

For Tina Wise, the idea of knowing her cancer was gone for good would change everything. She said: 'If the doctors told me I would never have to worry about it again, I would be over the moon.'

Although her cancer has disappeared, she still has to visit hospital every three weeks for immunotherapy and for a booster jab every few months.

'I would love to be able to put it all behind me and go back to normal,' she said.
Last Wednesday was supposed to be the day of 70-year-old Moira Bygrove's long-awaited family reunion. Having shielded for the best part of a year, she'd seen her new grandchild  born in March 2020  just a handful of times.

She'd had both vaccine doses, and with families finally able to meet indoors, she would be guest of honour at her son-in-law's birthday party.

But just a few days before the get-together, a text sent to Moira's phone dashed all her hopes. It was from Test and Trace: she was told she'd been in contact with someone with Covid symptoms in the past 48 hours and must isolate for eight days.

'My first thought was, I've had two jabs  and the last one was way back in early April,' says Moira, who recently moved to Llandudno in Wales from Manchester. 'It made me wonder why I bothered even getting the jab in the first place.

'I also became anxious, worrying that this is going to keep happening and I'm never going to properly get my life back. What if I get pinged again and again?

'I was elated to get my second jab. I thought: at last  freedom is around the corner. Now I'm not so sure that's true.'

Moira is not the only one to feel baffled by this situation.

Many people who have been shielding for most of the last 12 months are still being told to isolate even after having both jabs

More than 50million Covid-19 vaccination doses have now been given in England, latest figures show

John Rosenthal, a 67-year-old transport company owner from the Isle of Wight, is currently self-isolating  despite receiving his second jab several weeks ago. A dog-walking friend tested positive and he was contacted by Test and Trace.

John, who lives alone, says: 'Obviously I can speak to people on the phone, but it's not the same as being in my office with people. But I've been vaccinated, so it all seems quite unnecessary.'

Scientists from the UK and US have begun to think the same.

Currently, the 20 million fully vaccinated Britons are subject to the same inconveniences as everyone else: ten days of self-isolation if a contact tests positive, ten days of quarantine if returning from an amber or red-list country, as well as social distancing and mask-wearing, of course.

Covid Fact On average, roughly 25million doses of the Covid jab are administered all over the world everyday, according to Our World In Data. Advertisement

In England they could even face a fine of 200 for not complying. It's vital that, while the current rules are in place, people continue to follow them. But some experts say these rules are trailing behind the science.

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday's Medical Minefield podcast, Professor Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco, says: 'I don't think this is a good idea and actually here in the US, the government has recommended otherwise.'

Meanwhile, Professor Jackie Cassell, public health expert at Brighton and Sussex Medical School, says it is almost 'inevitable' that the UK will exempt fully vaccinated people from testing and quarantine. She says: 'The effect the vaccines have on transmission is massive, way more than we ever could have expected.'

Professor Lawrence Young, a virologist from the University of Warwick, told this newspaper that while quarantine for fully vaccinated people was 'questionable,' and 'a bit extreme', it was safer to err on the side of caution for now.

Last week, the Centers for Disease Control in the US released interim guidance for fully vaccinated people, confirming that they can 'refrain from quarantine following a known exposure', 'refrain from testing following a known exposure' and 'refrain from self-quarantine' after travelling into the US from abroad.

The guidance added that they need not wear masks unless it was a requirement of individual institutions. Closer to home, the Republic of Ireland is also lifting restrictions for fully vaccinated individuals.

Health officials have launched a 'vaccine bonus' scheme  fully vaccinated people do not have to wear masks indoors or socially distance, and the Irish government is reportedly considering scrapping self-isolation and quarantine for them too.

Last week, England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, was resoundingly positive about the ever-decreasing Covid threat level, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme.

Currently, the 20 million fully vaccinated Britons are subject to the same inconveniences as everyone else, including ten days of quarantine if returning from an amber or red-list country. Pictured: Arrivals at Heathrow Airport this week

Deaths, he said, are at an 'extremely low place', and added there was nothing to suggest the jabs aren't protecting against becoming ill with the highly transmissible Indian variant.

So why isn't the UK following the US and Ireland's lead and freeing those who have been jabbed twice from restrictions? Some say there are still 'unknowns' about the extent to which Covid vaccination protects individuals from getting asymptomatic infections and therefore spreading it without knowing.

While there is concrete data to show the vaccines protect against serious illness, from all variants, there is less proof it stops low-level infection. And with cases of the Indian variant quadrupling in several areas as restrictions ease, officials have said now is not the time to take any risks.

Covid Fact Roughly three in every 100,000 Britons aged over 80 have Covid-19, according to the latest Public Health England data. Advertisement

But emerging data suggests asymptomatic transmission may, in fact, be near-impossible for those who have had two jabs.

In March, a study of US health workers found a 90 per cent reduction in asymptomatic infections among those fully vaccinated with the Pfizer jab, while studies in Israel found at least an 86 per cent reduction in these transmissions.

Other data from Israel shows that, for the small number of vaccinated people who do become infected, the amount of viral cells in their nose and throat is a quarter of those in people who are unvaccinated. The lower the viral load, the less likely they are to pass the virus on.

'The data we are seeing suggests that no one who is fully vaccinated is passing on the virus,' says Prof Gandhi. 'So it's becoming the consensus here in the US that you don't need to quarantine after you have had your vaccine.' She points to care homes, where positive cases occasionally crop up in fully vaccinated residents, but the infection fails to spread.

She said: 'If you are fully vaccinated, it's possible you can still test positive with the virus, but along with the fact you are incredibly unlikely to get sick as a result, you are also incredibly unlikely to pass it on because the viral load in your nose and throat is so low.

'The common denominator in these care home infections is always an unvaccinated, or partially vaccinated, care home worker. It is far more likely they are the source of infection as opposed to the fully vaccinated residents.'

Meanwhile, some British experts say ditching self-isolation rules could encourage more people to come forward to get jabbed. 'This could work as an incentive in areas such as Bolton and Blackburn, where take-up of the vaccines has been low,' says Prof Cassell.

'These areas have high levels of socio-economic poverty, which means people feel unable to isolate if asked because they can't afford to. So they don't get tested for fear of being quarantined and, as a result, infection rates have remained high in these areas throughout the pandemic.

'If we said to these people that they wouldn't have to isolate if they got vaccinated, and they could go about their work even after exposure, I think we'd see an increase in take-up among those who have been hesitant so far.'

Last week, England's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, was resoundingly positive about the ever-decreasing Covid threat level, thanks to the success of the vaccination programme

One of the reasons not to follow the US's lead is the lower efficacy of the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab compared to the Pfizer and Moderna  which are the two most commonly used in the US.

There is now evidence that the Pfizer jab prevents transmission in close to 100 per cent of cases, while for AstraZeneca the figure has been reported at being roughly 50 per cent, following two doses. But Prof Gandhi says this is likely to be 'a gross under-estimation'.

The studies look for the virus in swabs taken from the nose and count this as an infection  but the ultra-sensitive methods used in the AstraZeneca trials were probably picking up tiny amounts that would never have been infectious, she added.

Despite this, other experts say we must wait until the infection rate comes down even further before we take any chances.

Vaccinated... but made to isolate? Has it happened to you? Should the rules change? Let us know by writing to Health@mailonsunday.co.uk Advertisement

The percentage of those for whom the jab won't work at all is estimated to be between ten and 20 per cent. And with about 2,000 new infections every day, they say this is enough to pose a significant risk of increases in hospitalisations.

'It is likely to be a very small percentage, but when you are talking about millions of people, even a small percentage can still be a large number,' says Prof Young.

'I think levels of infection need to get much lower before we can be confident that we can get back to a more normal situation where fully vaccinated individuals are exempted from all restrictions.'

Another concern is how effective the vaccine is at stopping the Indian variant spreading.

Prof Young says there is some evidence coming from India that shows 'if you're fully vaccinated, you can still get infected and possibly spread the virus further'.

Cambridge University scientists recently found that 33 staff members of a care home in New Delhi tested positive for the Indian variant, despite having had two doses of the AstraZeneca jab. It's important to point out that none had anything more than mild symptoms.

And real-world evidence from the UK seems reassuring. Covid infections in England rose after dropping for five straight weeks, the Office for National Statistics said on Friday.

They estimated around one in 1,110 people had the virus at any time in the week to May 15. This had been primarily driven by infections in the North-West of England  although these were primarily in younger, unvaccinated groups.

In Bolton, infections have surged by more than 70 per cent over the last seven days. The rate there is 15 times higher than the national average  higher than it was during the January peak, when the country was ordered to lockdown  and continuing to rise.

There were, as of yesterday, 30 people being treated for the virus is hospital  with seven in intensive care, according to reports.

Of these, a handful were partially vaccinated having had one dose, but the majority hadn't had a jab despite being eligible.

Meanwhile, the national picture is also promising, in terms of vaccine effectiveness: infections in the over-60s, most of whom are inoculated, have remained relatively stable.

Boris Johnson has confirmed the country is still on track for lifting of all social distancing restrictions on June 21  and on Friday, jabs were being offered to those in their early 30s. Despite this, the most coherent argument for continuing to ask vaccinated people to isolate, should they be exposed, is a logistical one.

There is data to show that the immunity the vaccine provides lasts for six months  but beyond that, scientists say there's a chance it could wane, as is true for the flu vaccine.

'Duration of protection is a very important consideration. People who were vaccinated very early on, in January, could well see their protection wane by the summer,' says Professor David Salisbury, vaccine expert and former director of immunisation at the Department of Health.

'This is why there are already plans for a booster in the autumn, but it will take a while to get round to everyone.'

Experts have voiced concerns about the difficulty in keeping track of when people were vaccinated and policing their behaviour, creating even more red tape for the already stretched Test and Trace system.

Last week it was revealed that a glitch in the Test and Trace system that occurred this month meant that more than 700 Covid cases were not reported to local health teams, potentially allowing the disease to spread further.

Shockingly, more than 300 of those cases were in Blackburn with Darwen, where the Indian variant has become rife.

Prof Gandhi also suggests the US's decision to make life easier for fully jabbed individuals was an incentive, designed to tackle the growing problem of vaccine hesitancy.

Jab refusal is far more widespread in the US, compared with the UK.

In recent weeks, the uptake of vaccinations in the US has slowed and in some states, such as Iowa, the majority of counties have stopped asking for new doses.

In Georgia, only roughly a third of the population has taken at least one dose of the vaccine, yet the state has already decided to shut down its mass vaccination sites, suggesting the demand is lacking.

Some studies have suggested as many as a quarter of Americans don't want the jab.

When announcing new guidance, Dr Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centre for Disease Control, said: 'Over the past year we have spent a lot of time telling Americans what they cannot do, what they should not do. Today I'm going to tell you some of the things you can do  if you are fully vaccinated.'

Prof Gandhi agrees, saying: 'Focus groups in the US show not having to wear a mask and being around others are positive motivators for getting people to have [the jab].'

As for the situation in the UK, Prof Gandhi sees no reason why such restrictions should remain in place. 'There is no question that you have done an amazing job getting people to accept the vaccine, while we have variability across our country. You've successfully stopped the virus. In the UK, it's [no longer] an epidemic.

'Your Prime Minister was highly criticised [for being too lax] at the start of the pandemic, so now it's caution overkill.

'At some point, you have to give people their lives back.'
Going With The Boys: Six Extraordinary Women Writing From The Front Line

Judith Mackrell Picador 20

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Until the 1930s, female journalists were expected to know their place, which was mainly on the fashion or problem pages of the newspapers that employed them. But as the international situation darkened and war became imminent, a handful of remarkable women decided that they could not continue to sit in the office writing about hem lengths while the world went up in flames.

In this hugely entertaining and informative book, Judith Mackrell tells the stories of six intrepid women who demanded the right to risk their lives reporting from the front line.

Two of Mackrells subjects have been written about many times before. There is Martha Gellhorn, the hard-drinking, fast-talking American who was married to Ernest Hemingway and reporting on the war for Colliers magazine.

Lee Miller, (above, taking a bath in Adolf Hitler's Munich apartment on April 30 1945, the day after the Nazi leader committed suicide) the Hitchcock blonde

Incredibly, Hemingway, who was already famous as the author of For Whom The Bell Tolls and The Sun Also Rises, signed up to the very same magazine to produce dispatches from the closing months of the conflict.

This, inevitably, made an already rocky marriage positively combustible, with husband and wife competing for the same stories. Things came to a head in June 1944 when Allied troops landed on the beaches of Northern France and began to push back against the occupying German army.

In order to be the first reporter on the scene, Gellhorn stowed away on a hospital ship bound for Normandy and managed to scoop everyone, including her husband, by being the only war reporter to be present at D-Day.

Unsurprisingly, the Gellhorn-Hemingway marriage didnt outlast the war.

In order to be the first reporter on the scene, Martha Gellhorn (above with then husband Ernest Hemingway in Hawaii, 1941) stowed away on a hospital ship bound for Normandy

Equally well-known is Lee Miller, the Hitchcock blonde who made the unlikely transition from stunning Vogue cover girl to tough war photographer. She arrived in Normandy a month after D-Day and from there followed the American troops as they fought their way across Europe.

In early 1945 Miller accompanied Allied forces as they advanced into Germany itself. It was now that the grim discoveries were made of Nazi atrocities at Buchenwald and Dachau.

Millers photographs of the piles of corpses, bones and shoes remain some of the most iconic ever taken of the concentration camps. When she later took a bath in Hitlers Munich apartment, her boots were still caked in the dust from Dachau.

Less well known is Sigrid Schultz, who worked for the Berlin bureau of the Chicago Tribune. Despite having an American passport, Schultz had spent much of her youth in Germany, which gave her unique access to the mindset and ambitions of the Nazi Party in general, and Hitler in particular.

Indeed, so accurate were her international reports about what Germany might do next that her position started to become dangerous, especially since she was Jewish.

It got to the point where Schultz was obliged to dodge detection by writing her articles under a fictitious byline and nipping over the border to Norway or Denmark to file her pieces.

IT'S A FACT After the war, Lee Miller was haunted by her experiences. 'I could never get the stench of Dachau out of my nostrils,' she said. Advertisement

Virginia Cowles, meanwhile, was an uber-glamorous New York socialite who had started her working life writing about fashion before deciding that international politics was what really mattered.

Travelling first to Spain to report on the civil war, Cowles prided herself on her objectivity, refusing to take sides between Francos nationalist troops and the Republican opposition.

Her tone was so cool and objective that when the British politician David Lloyd George asked to meet the person who had written such excellent anonymous reports, he assumed that he was going to be introduced to a middle-aged military expert rather than a beautiful young woman in furs and lipstick.

Being Lloyd George, he soon managed to overcome his disappointment.

Mackrell rounds out her group biography with Clare Hollingworth, the British journalist who had spotted German troops massing on the Polish border and shortly afterwards broke the news that the Second World War had begun (she died only four years ago, at the age of 105), and Helen Kirkpatrick, an American who managed to report from the Allied war zone, where she was the only woman to have an access-all-areas pass, just like the men.

The author is excellent on the way that being a girl in a mans world had serious dangers  the fear of rape was constant and the possibility of being thrown in jail was always there  but also perks.

It was extraordinary what a slightly drunk army officer would tell a smart female correspondent in a hotel bar that he would never have divulged to a hard-bitten male reporter in a flak jacket.

Female combatants and refugees, too, were more likely to open up to another woman.

This is a book that manages to be both thoughtful and edge-of-your-seat thrilling.

Blood In The Water

Silver Donald Cameron Swift Press 14.99

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When not in prison, Phillip Boudreau spent his days tormenting the fishing community of Petit de Grat in Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia.

He was a trickster, a rustic Robin Hood, an agent of chaos whose nefarious exploits included poaching lobsters, stealing neighbours cars for joyrides, and vandalising fishing boats and gear.

Each winter, Boudreau would deliberately get caught by the police during some robbery or other so he could spend the colder nights in a warm bed, with the certainty of three meals a day.

He didnt fall between the cracks, it was said of Boudreau, he lived in the cracks.

Hostility towards him continued to spread among the residents of Petit de Grat over years, until he was murdered on a warm June day in 2013 by three highly respected local fishermen, who had finally snapped after Boudreau cut their lobster traps that morning.

IT'S A FACT The killers fired four shots at Boudreau, then rammed their larger boat over his speedboat to finish the job. Boudreau's body was never found. Advertisement

It is this tension that the Canadian journalist and author Silver Donald Cameron, who died in May 2020, wanted to investigate: How the criminal became a victim while the victims became criminals.

Blood In The Water is the result of his meticulous documentation of the goings-on in the court case against the three fishermen, fleshed out by interviews he conducted with those who knew Boudreau.

Camerons writing is precise and clearly well-researched. The murder provides him with the opportunity to reflect more widely on the legal system and the manner in which law is reappropriated by particular communities.

He draws upon the Acadian history of Cape Breton Island to show why those in Petit de Grat dont like to call the cops, and act out of a shared understanding of what is right, rather than keeping to a moral code enshrined in law.

Acadia was a former colony of New France in north-eastern North America, the majority of whose people were expelled in the 18th Century for failing to submit to British rule.

Though the region no longer exists, the former Acadian communities are still suspicious of the authorities and consider themselves a distinct nation. While the Acadia chapter is illuminating, the level of detail with which Cameron attends to every aspect of the case can be detrimental to the narratives momentum.

Though marketed as a true crime thriller, Blood In The Water is distinctly anti-sensational. There is a moral aspect to the writing, a didactic intention that explains the exhaustive, occasionally tedious, detail.

While the book is unlikely to reach the cult status of In Cold Blood, of which its author Truman Capote suggested his method was to treat a real event with fictional techniques, Cameron has achieved his intention in producing a comprehensive, thoughtful examination of a case wherein the root causes of the tragedy include a systematic failure of the legal system itself.

Lamorna Ash

The Bomber Mafia

Malcolm Gladwell Allen Lane 20

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The bloodbath that was the First World War caused death and destruction on a hitherto unprecedented scale and left some 37 million people dead or wounded. Was there any way that such carnage could have been avoided?

There were plenty of military theorists who thought so, and the most strident of these were the advocates of air power. The First World War was the first conflict in which aeroplanes had played a part, albeit in a supporting role.

Air force leaders around the world were determined that in any future conflict they would take centre stage.

Malcolm Gladwells story focuses on two individuals, the idealistic and quixotic Haywood Hansell, and the man who replaced him, the brutal but pragmatic Curtis LeMay (above)

In the United States the doctrine of air power was nurtured with fanatical devotion by a group of talented and ambitious young officers who became known as The Bomber Mafia.

They were convinced not only that strategic bombing alone would suffice to win future wars, but that their methods would result in minimal civilian casualties and would thus be more humane.

What happened when their theories collided with reality is the subject of Malcolm Gladwells short but fascinating book.

Gladwells story focuses on two individuals, the idealistic and quixotic Haywood Hansell, who commanded the first B-29 Superfortress raids against Japan, and the man who replaced him, the brutal but pragmatic Curtis LeMay.

When the American USAAF had joined the RAF in the air war against Germany they were dismissive of the British doctrine of area bombing, but despite their much-vaunted technology (in particular the Norden bombsight), USAAF bombing raids were woefully inaccurate.

LeMay came, saw, and changed his mind. Hansell did not, and only after he was sacked did the Americans switch to an area bombing strategy in Japan that for sheer destructiveness put the air war against Germany in the shade.

Gladwell concludes that although LeMay won the battle, Hansell won the war, a reference to the modern computer-guided weapons technology that has finally made the dream of precision targeting a reality.

Im not convinced, but, as ever, Gladwells eloquence and flair for lateral thinking make for a compelling read.

Simon Griffith
Libbi, Irving and Sparrow at Disney World Florida, 2018

After years of ill health nearly destroyed her, Libbi Mattick rediscovered her freedom thanks to her assistance dog Sparrow. She tells Kate Thompson about the amazing four-legged saviour who fetches help, brings her medicine  and does the laundry

Libbi Mattick is in her bedroom hanging up clothes. Her golden retriever Sparrow is curled up asleep on the floor nearby.

As Libbi reaches up into the cupboard, she feels the familiar surge of light-headedness and nausea. Panic clogs her throat as shapes shift in her peripheral vision and the floor rushes up to meet her. She wants to scream for help, but her heart feels like its exploding. Instead, she wrenches a black silicone band from her wrist. Go, she whispers. In the distance, she hears her partner Irvings voice. Show me, where is she?

Sparrow arrived in Libbis home in Surrey on Christmas Eve 2018. After a gruelling 13-year battle with ME, Libbi was virtually housebound; unable to venture out alone for fear of being overwhelmed by the exhaustion, headaches, panic attacks, fainting episodes and seizures which dominated her life. Aged 15, I came down with a virus called labyrinthitis and never recovered, explains Libbi. My life imploded.

I went from being a fun-loving, healthy girl, who adored ballet, to someone who needed help walking up the stairs, says Libbi, now 29.

Over the next two years Libbis body was overwhelmed by ME and a resulting eating disorder, and she marked her 18th birthday on a hospital ward. My weight had dropped by half and I began having seizures, which were diagnosed as epilepsy. It was terrifying. My education suffered as I couldnt manage full days at school, I had to give up dancing and most of my friends drifted away. It was as if my body had turned against me. I was still a teenager but I felt like a 90-year-old.

The physical trauma had a knock-on effect on Libbis mental health. I struggled with depression, anxiety and panic attacks. I also developed an obsessive-compulsive disorder. As her peers went off to university, Libbi could barely summon up the energy to wash her own hair. To add to her pain, at that time, many in the medical profession still believed that ME was a psychological condition, with sufferers frequently made to feel as though they could  and should  snap out of it.

But Libbis stay in hospital did have a positive side-effect. In outpatient treatment afterwards, I met a brilliant eating-disorder nurse who understood that ME was a massive factor in all my problems and she gave me tools to cope. The nurse taught Libbi the importance of keeping a diary to identify patterns in her illness. Through this I learned that if my ME flared up, it would often be followed by a low spell in my mental health and that the two were linked. This gave me back some feeling of control over my body.

Armed with her new coping strategies, Libbi set about trying to reclaim her life. At 24 she met Irving Walker, who played in a band and was understanding about her condition. Irv was kind. He knew that some days I didnt have the strength to watch him play, whereas other days I would feel up to trips out. He never judged me or put pressure on me.

In 2017, Libbi travelled with Irving to meet his family in Florida, and it was on a trip to Disney World that she stumbled upon a scene that would change her life. In among the whirl and the excitement of the place, Libbi noticed a golden retriever. Not only was the dog not reacting to the chaos, it was staring attentively at its owner as if she were the only person in the park. Libbi couldnt help commenting on the dogs calm behaviour and was then told that this was a dog being put through special training by a company called Expanding Intelligence Dog Training. One day, the trainer told her, this dog might become an assistance dog, as they are known, and could save someones life.

Apart from Guide Dogs for the Blind, Id never heard of dogs who could help individuals with physical and emotional problems, confesses Libbi. It was a revelatory moment. When she returned to Florida later that year, Libbi went to meet Cat Gentile and Krystal Garcia, the founders of Expanding Intelligence, to see if she too might benefit from an assistance dog. They introduced her to puppy Sparrow and her brother Fresno who were both in training. It was love at first sight, recalls Libbi of Sparrow. The bond between us was instant. She kept happily falling asleep in my arms and I didnt ever want to put her down. It might sound odd, but we have very similar personalities. Sparrow weighs things up carefully and is naturally reserved, just like me.

In March 2018, Libbi headed back to Florida and it was clear that Sparrow was a perfect match for her. The dog now started person-specific training, including learning to identify the early signs of stress and anxiety in Libbi. She also learned how to get Libbi out of a crowd and to retrieve drinks and a medication bag. When Irving and I went back in the autumn, Sparrow, then 14 months old, squeaked with excitement when we walked in. I was speechless with joy. On Christmas Eve, they brought Sparrow back to their home in Sunbury-on-Thames.

Sparrow at work

She is constantly scanning me to read the subtle signs that my body gives off, Libbi explains. When she senses my health deteriorating [changes in heart rate, breathing and cortisol levels], she will nudge or jump at me to tell me to sit before I fall, and then lie across my legs in a grounding technique called deep pressure therapy to help me recover. This helps the blood pump better around my body and calms the physiological symptoms of panic and anxiety.

If Im not aware an attack is developing, she will paw at me or lick my hand, and I know I need to manage it before it becomes an emergency. Sparrow is also trained to take a silicone band I wear on my wrist to indicate I need help if Ive collapsed or fainted. She will show it to Irving, or anyone else at home, and they then know to follow her to find me.

Sparrow can also help empty the washing machine, pick up dropped items and close cupboards on command, meaning Libbi doesnt have to bend down, an action that can trigger fainting episodes.

I never used to be able to go out alone. Now, thanks to Sparrow, I have independence.

Two years on, the bond between them has deepened: Libbi only needs to make a flicker of a movement for the dog to understand what is needed of her. In turn, Sparrow alerts Libbi to when she is overdoing things. She is her constant companion.

Libbi admits that she gets frustrated when people want to pet Sparrow even though shes wearing a vest showing she is an assistance dog. The problem, explains Libbi, is that she needs Sparrow to focus on her, and interactions with other people distract her. We dont have enough awareness of assistance dogs, she says.

Libbi would also like to see more understanding of ME and the devastating effect it can have on the UKs estimated 250,000 sufferers. Chronic illness is complex and the impact is far-reaching, Libbi says. My entire identity is bound up in an invisible illness that cloaks every area of my life. But Sparrow has enabled me to embrace the positives. She is my shadow, keeping me safe.

Go to assistancedogs.org.uk and meassociation.org.uk for more information

Dogs to the rescue

More than 7,000 disabled people in the UK rely on an assistance dog

Vision loss assistance

Guide dogs can help their blind or visually impaired owner walk around and use public transport independently and safely. They are taught to avoid obstacles and stop at kerbs, as well as find doors and seats. guidedogs.org.uk

Hearing loss assistance

A hearing dog alerts their owner to sounds such as doorbells, alarm clocks, fire alarms and smoke alarms, either leading them towards or away from the noise. hearingdogs.org.uk

Seizure alerts

While some seizure-alert dogs can recognise early warning signs, others respond to epileptic seizures by calling for help, moving their owners away from danger and positioning themselves to break the fall. supportdogs.org.uk

Disability support

These dogs can carry out tasks tailored to their owners individual needs, such as dressing and undressing, opening and closing doors, picking up objects or pressing buttons. supportdogs.org.uk

Autism assistance

Autism assistance dogs can help their human companion navigate stressful social settings and reduce behavioural outbursts, while providing comfort and companionship. supportdogs.org.uk

Diabetic assistance

Dogs are scent trained to alert handlers to a potentially dangerous drop in sugar levels. medicaldetectiondogs.co.uk.

Additional reporting: Charlotte Vossen
Stylish: Next could be a big British tech success story

The woes of the High Street have left a serious casualty count. Yet Next not only seems to have escaped much of the attrition, it is also being placed by some observers in the same winning category as Ocado.

Others maintain that the store  already the UK's biggest name in online fashion, is set to become a mini-version of Amazon  or to be Britain's answer to Shopify, supplier of online shop fronts to some 500,000 retailers.

Are these views merely hype? Or are they based on a reasoned assessment of Next's potential, raising hopes that its shares are worth a bet, although they have leapt by 80 per cent over the past 12 months?

The optimism about Next's future has largely been prompted by its reaction to the pandemic. The company adapted fast, having concluded that the shift to online was unstoppable.

Chief executive Lord Wolfson, known for his grasp of detail and ability to see the big picture (the two do not always go together) remarked: 'History has been given a shove and, having moved forward, seems unlikely to reverse.'

So effective were Next's efforts that full-price sales in the 13 weeks to the start of May were only down 1.5 per cent on the same period of 2019. The forecast for full-year profits has been increased.

During the lockdowns, Next made the most its databases and logistics, investing in these resources which have been built up over several decades.

The Next Directory catalogue appeared in 1987 under the leadership of the audacious George Davies, who later created Asda's George range and Per Una at Marks & Spencer. The move into online shopping was made in 1999. Many of Next's rivals did not have access to such capabilities  or to a slick click-and-collect offer in branches  of which the chain still has about 500, after some closures.

Another reason for the enthusiasm about Next's prospects lies in its mix of merchandise.

Through its Label online-only arm, you can choose between 200,000 or so items from other brands, including Cefinn, Samantha Cameron's label, The White Company and Reiss, the upmarket clothing chain in which Next has acquired a 25 per cent stake. Deals have also been struck with Laura Ashley and L Brands, owner of Victoria's Secret lingerie.

But Next has wider digital aspirations. Its new Total Platform division, described as 'Ocado-like', will allow other smaller brands to use all of Next's digital and other infrastructure to sell and distribute. Reiss will be among the first to be showcased on this system.

However, despite its recent achievements, you may still be doubtful whether Next can transform itself, given the size of the competition.

Amazon is mighty and wily, easily able to crush opponents.

Asos, the edgy online fashion player, has been strengthened by the acquisition of Arcadia brands.

Given the competition's muscle, you have to decide whether Next's share price already reflects the possible payback from its strategy. Russ Mould of AJ Bell thinks the shares, while not 'extremely expensive', are fairly priced at this level.

Aruna Karunathilake, manager of Fidelity UK Select's fund, which has a large holding in Next, argues the market is yet to appreciate the company's capacity for transformation.

At the close last night, the shares stood at 8000p. Goldman Sachs has raised its price target to 9400p.

Betting on a speedy return would be very risky, but it could be worth contemplating a longer-term investment if you want to back a company that's supporting the High Street and ought to be the beneficiary of some of the billions in lockdown savings.

Next may never be another Amazon. But it could be a big British tech success story
Amigo shares halved in value yesterday as its fate hung in the balance.

After a temporary suspension, the struggling firm's stock resumed trading and immediately plummeted as much as 53 per cent lower.

The guarantor lender's shares had been frozen while it awaited the outcome of a nail-biting legal battle, which it says will either save it or ruin it.

But the freeze was lifted yesterday - even though the court has not yet published its verdict.

Investors were spooked and sent the shares crashing 34,3 per cent, or 8.08p, to 15.5p at the close.

John Cronin, an analyst at Goodbody, said investors were worried 'by the fact that Amigo could fall into liquidation'.

Facing a deluge of mis-selling claims, the firm is seeking permission from the High Court to cap compensation payouts to nearly one million customers.

This would mean people who bring successful claims will only get between 10 per cent and 23 per cent of what they are owed.

The plan won unlikely support from Amigo's customers, who fear they will get nothing at all if the lender collapses.

In a dramatic twist, however, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) waded in to challenge the rescue plan at the last minute.

The watchdog argues that customers should not unfairly lose out and that Amigo's investors must step in to fund the claims in full. But the intervention has plunged the company's future into doubt, after bosses warned the lender will 'go insolvent in very short order' if the court ruling does not go their way.

The company requested that its shares be temporarily suspended on Wednesday while a court hearing took place.

But after no immediate judgment that day and no further news on Thursday, Amigo had the suspension lifted yesterday.

In its announcement, the firm stressed it was 'not aware of any inside information', had not received any judgment and did not know when one would be issued. It said it had not ruled out requesting another suspension in future depending on the circumstances when a judgment is finally issued.

Amigo, which was once branded a 'legal loan shark' by MPs, lends to customers with poor credit ratings. It charges 49.9 per cent APR and borrowers need a family member or friend to act as a guarantor. The firm was forced to set up its compensation scheme last year when rules around affordability checks changed.

Thousands of customers  helped by claims management companies (CMCs)  complained they had been given loans they were never able to repay.

The compensation bill quickly ballooned, prompting Amigo's bosses to realise it would not be able to meet the total predicted cost of 150m.

Instead, the company came up with a compensation scheme worth up to 35m.

But the plan must be approved by a High Court judge.

Arguing against its proposals, the FCA has said Amigo should tap its shareholders and bondholders for more money, so it can give customers the full amount they are due.

Amigo chief executive Gary Jennison has rubbished that suggestion, saying that with just two major institutions and 8,000 individual savers on its shareholder register it would stand little chance of success.

Amigo's troubles come after rival Provident Financial revealed it was closing its 141-year-old doorstep lending business, because its own level of complaints meant it could no longer turn a profit.

Provident Financial has proposed its own similar 50million compensation scheme for mis-selling claims.
London is set for a fresh wave of floats this summer as more companies tee up plans to go public.

Following debuts by Dr Martens, Darktrace and Deliveroo among others, restaurant chain TGI Fridays and commodities trader Marex are the latest firms to announce listings in the City.

Oxford Cannabinoid Technologies, a pain treatment firm which is backed by rapper Snoop Dogg, saw its shares soar as it made its debut yesterday.

Hot summer: London is set for a fresh wave of floats as more companies tee up plans to go public

And it emerged that financial technology star Klarna, valued at almost 22billion, and maternity clothes chain Seraphine were exploring possible floats.

Klarna boss Sebastian Siemiatkowski said his firm has been holding talks with the Government, which is trying to attract more technology businesses.

Hours later, it was reported that Seraphine's private equity owner, Mayfair Equity Partners, was set to hire bankers to look at float plans.

Siemiatkowski said the Square Mile could steal a march on rival European cities by becoming a hub for fintech innovation and good regulation.

'That is going to benefit London standing outside the EU. People expected all the banks would move away [after Brexit]. I think it's the opposite,' he told the FT.

Plans to float TGI Fridays later this year were unveiled as part of the winding down of private equity investment trust Electra. The trust told investors that it has recently valued the restaurant business at 146.2million but it could fetch a higher float price as the hospitality sector recovers from the pandemic.

Electra is also set to spin off and float footwear business Hotter Shoes on Aim, London's junior stock market, with a value of 19.2million

Meanwhile, Marex confirmed reports that it will take advantage of the commodities boom with a listing in mid-June. It did not provide a valuation but it is thought the London Metal Exchange broker could be worth 500million.
A London-listed commodities giant is facing a revolt at its mining camps in Australia after banning late night drinking sessions.

BHP has barred workers from consuming alcohol after 9.30pm and introduced a 'four standard drinks per day' rule.

The move has prompted a furious backlash, with the Western Mine Workers' Alliance union arguing the policies infringe employees' basic rights to privacy and enjoyment during the hours they are not working.

Backlash: BHP has barred workers from consuming alcohol after 9.30pm and introduced a 'four standard drinks per day' rule

'BHP workers are tired of being treated like children,' said Shane Roulstone of the Australian Workers Union.

The rules are particularly problematic for support staff such as cooks who often finish work after 9.30pm. Workers' rooms in mining villages are typically furnished with small bar fridges that stock at most four beers.

'Most people would say, that's enough, but you're working long days at high temperatures of 40 degrees to 45 degrees, and 12-hour shifts,' Roulstone said.

BHP said the policy covered workers across its Australian business and 'underscores BHP's commitment to the health and safety of its people'.
While investing in cryptocurrency has undoubtedly become more mainstream, it hasn't been possible to use it to pay for everyday goods and services in the same way you would a debit card.

Silicon Valley-based crypto platform Uphold is trying to change that. The firm says it is revolutionising the way in which consumers shop, through the introduction of a debit card that's hooked up to their bitcoin, metal and equity investments.

It means anything - from groceries to handyman services - can be paid for with a simple swipe of a debit card.

The UK is the fastest-growing market for crypto platform Uphold, as the adoption of cryptocurrency gathers pace in Europe

For investors, this avoids the hassle of first converting their crypto investments back into pounds.

Simon McLoughlin, president and chief operating officer of Uphold, says of the debit card - due to be launched in the UK this summer: 'You can "spend" Tesla stock and gold. It's giving flexibility that people have never had before.'

Although the company is headquartered in America, Uphold is rapidly expanding in the UK.

British sign-ups have increased five times in the last 12 months, with an average of 15,000 new customers a month in 2021 compared with around 2,500 last year.

Transaction volumes have also leapt 16 times during the first quarter of 2021.

McLoughlin says: 'Uphold's whole story comes down to making financial access easy to people. It takes away the technical jargon and friction that scares the average user.'

'Anything to anything' model

Uphold is a platform that allows users to buy and sell bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which is not unique.

But the people behind the crypto platform say its main selling point is its 'anything to anything' model.

McLoughlin says: 'I should point out that the vision is broader than crypto. What's special about us is that we bring together crypto, precious metals, US equities and foreign exchange currencies. You can go from Tesla stock to bitcoin or bitcoin to physical gold.

Simon McLoughlin, president and chief operating officer of Uphold, says Uphold is democratising hard to reach investments

'On other platforms it would be two trays and two sets of fees. As you'd sell bitcoin to dollars and then buy Tesla stock, for example. So, it's very easy access to a whole range of asset classes.'

Besides offering consumers the ability to use a multi-asset crypto debit card, Uphold also allow users to pay third parties digitally.

Later this year, it wants to allow people to get paid by their employer in bitcoin or choose a split.

McLoughlin explains: 'They can get paid 10 per cent in bitcoin and five per cent in gold. It becomes really interesting when you give people choices.'

McLoughlin claims Uphold is competitive on price too. It charges a spread on every transaction. Its suppliers vary, but typically users can expect to pay around one per cent  so converting 1,000 into bitcoin would cost 10.

This is still lower than the 1.5  2.5 per cent that competitors like Revolut charge for cryptocurrency exchanges (Revolut charges 1.5 percent for premium and metal users). Other advantages of using Uphold include no minimum investments or dormancy fees.

Going green

When it comes to the green issues surrounding cryptocurrency investment, Uphold has been vocal.

Just this month it has tried to address Elon Musk's concerns over the environmental impact of bitcoin, by challenging him to use their net carbon neutral version, bitcoinzero - an ERC-20 token delivering Bitcoin with net zero emissions.

Uphold, unlike many other platforms, has continued to list XRP despite the SEC's complaint, since there has been no court judgment on the issue yet and therefore no change in US law Simon McLoughlin, president and chief operating officer of Uphold Simon McLoughlin, president and chief operating officer of Uphold

It even said it would give away five new Teslas to those who convey the message to the business magnate, who appears to be trying to single-handedly burst the bitcoin bubble.

Bitcoin's value plunged more than 20 per cent after Musk tweeted: 'Tesla has suspended vehicle purchases using bitcoin.

'We are concerned about rapidly increasing use of fossil fuels for bitcoin mining and transactions, especially coal, which has the worst emissions of any fuel'.

Musk went on to say that Tesla would use bitcoin for transactions as soon as mining transitioned to more sustainable energy, and that the company would instead be looking at other cryptocurrencies that use less than one per cent of bitcoin's energy.

Uphold's crypto origins

Cryptocurrency enthusiasts are spoilt for choice, because Uphold offers a smorgasbord of options. There are more than 45 digital currencies to choose from including majors, alt coins, emerging tokens and stable coins.

Uphold says that in 2021 the top purchase for UK users by far has been XRP, which has seen eight times more dollar volume transacted than bitcoin - the top cryptocurrency bought on the platform during the first quarter of last year.

The company acknowledges that interest in XRP has grown following its issuer's contentious fight with the US' Securities and Exchange Commission. It hasn't however, resulted in Uphold shying away from XRP.

Uphold is allowing users to invest in XRP in spite of the Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint against Ripple Labs

McLoughlin explains: 'The huge increase in XRP volumes reflects the volatility introduced into the XRP price by the SEC's complaint against Ripple Labs.

'XRP has swung from a low of $0.21. to a high of $1.91 in 2021. Uphold, unlike many other platforms, has continued to list XRP despite the SEC's complaint, since there has been no court judgment on the issue yet and therefore no change in US law.'

Uphold, which was founded by American entrepreneur Halsey Minor (best known for founding media company CNET) in 2014, has certainly come a long way since its early days as a bitcoin platform operating under the name Bitreserve.

Just four years after the rebrand it attracted venture capital from Greg Kidd who entered into a $57.5million partnership with Uphold and joined its board of directors. Kidd has also invested in Ripple, Square and Coinbase.

Uphold now offers six million customers easy and cheap access into the cryptocurrency and alternative investment realms.

Investors can even grow their investments through staking (see 'What is staking?') digital currencies like Ethereum 2.0, Polkadot, Solana and Cosmos.

It doesn't mean that anything will be accepted to the platform, though. Uphold doesn't list privacy coins, for example, deeming them too much of a risk.

There's also a listing committee that investigates and approves any new crypto that's being considered for the platform.

Uphold's ambition is to democratise investments by opening up access to traditionally hard-to-reach asset classes, and it looks like it has achieved this aim.

McLoughlin says: 'Until now crypto has been something ordinary investors could afford to ignore, as it was seen as a high-risk niche activity pursued by a small proportion of sophisticated traders - but now you can't ignore it.'

But he acknowledges that Uphold can't take all credit for the hype surrounding digital currencies.

'Companies like Tesla have bought bitcoin  I think that's taken the edge off for ordinary retail investors and moved it to 'this is something I need to take a look at'.'
Neighbours have gone to war over a 'sinking suburb' that's left some owners with homes at risk of collapse and others with undamaged properties that are rapidly losing value thanks to highly-publicised coverage of the saga.

A handful of houses at Spring Farm, near Camden in Sydney's south west, are riddled with cracks and falling apart as the ground beneath them gives way, while the vast majority of properties remain unscathed.

Homeowners with damaged properties say the way the site was filled prior to the construction stage caused the land to move and led to dangerous and costly defects. However, unaffected property owners claim it's the builders' fault.

Despite most of the 3,500 homes sustaining no damage, the class action - seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages from the developers and Camden Council - is affecting all homeowners.

Dianne Markich, whose home is one of thousands not to suffer any defects, said her property has depreciated in value as a result of the controversial class action that has received significant media coverage.

'You put your heart and soul into building a house and then a couple of people start the class action and it turns into this [her home being devalued],' Ms Markich said told Daily Mail Australia.

'How are they making this a whole class action when it's just a couple of houses? There's absolutely nothing wrong with our house or anyone we've spoken to.'

A handful of houses at Spring Farm, near Camden in Sydney's south west, have started falling apart and are riddled with cracks as the ground beneath them gives way

Resident Michael Markich said his house has remained undamaged as other homes are falling apart

A tenant on Wagner Road invited Daily Mail Australia into his buckling rental property, where entire walls had shifted out of place. Pictured: The bathroom wall

The neighbouring property's roof had slanted down and caved in the middle

The man's neighbour's home had also suffered serious cracks in the side of its facade, causing bricks to become separated 5cm from each other

Ms Markich's husband Michael said: 'None of us really knew about any of it until we got the letter in the mail - that's how little a problem it is.'

The Cornish Group designed the land.

A tenant on Wagner Road invited Daily Mail Australia into his rental property where entire walls have shifted out of place, the floors slope down, and windows and doors are unable to be opened.

The wall of the laundry has lifted about 2cm from the floor tiles, causing cracks that reach the ceiling.

'The majority of houses here are okay but the certain ones that are affected are affected so badly,' the tenant, who only wished to be identified as Jamie, said.

Jamie, who has received a 'significant' rent reduction, said he would be 'right behind' the class action if he owned the home.

'You've got families where it's meant to be their forever home,' he said.

'The way Australia is in regards to affordability, how are you supposed to bust your a** and pay off a 30-year mortgage and have the stress of coming home and thinking "is my house falling down today?"

'The rich get rich and the poor get poorer.'

When Jamie moved into the three-bedroom home mid last year, cracks had already begun to show, however he says the damage has become progressively worse.

Jamie, who received a 'significant' rent reduction, said he would be 'right behind' the class action if he owned the home. Pictured: The tiles and wall in the hallway after cracking and separating

The wall of the laundry has lifted about 2cm from the floor tiles, causing cracks that reached the ceiling

When Jamie moved into the three-bedroom home mid-last year, cracks had already begun to show, however he says the damage has gotten progressively worse. Pictured: The bathroom

Jamie said the recent heavy rain and floods 'haven't helped' with the rapidly escalating problem. Pictured: The hallway ceiling

'There's only so much you can do. You can't just go buy Selleys Putty and fix the cracks up,' he said.

Jamie said the recent heavy rain and floods 'haven't helped' with the escalating problem.

'That's when it comes down to the developers to think of something like floods and heavy rain happening,' he said.

Tensions in the neighbourhood reached boiling point on Wednesday evening when Danny Massour, who has spent at least $40,000 in repairs on his cracking and splitting home, took to the street to share his anguish.

Mr Massour, the lead plaintiff in the class action, said he and his wife Marielle have been heckled by locals furious that their undamaged homes have lost value due to the saga.

'We're not the ones who wrote the f**king letter,' he screamed outside his home on Wednesday evening.

'My wife's calling me crying getting abused in the street. I want to crawl into a f**king hole'.

Daily Mail Australia are not suggesting that Mr and Mrs Markich have any involvement in the alleged abuse.

Mr Massour's brother later shared an impassioned social media plea for locals to stop 'abusing' the couple.

'To the lady that walked past and abused my brother over the situation that has been going on with the houses you are just showing why people like you don't deserve to be a part of a community,' he wrote.

Lead plaintiff Danny Moussa's house, which is just five years old, has already needed $40,000 worth of repairs. Pictured with wife Marielle

A large crack has formed on a wall outside a home in Spring Farm

Dianne Markich, whose home is one of thousands not to suffer any defects, said her property has depreciated in value as a result of the highly publicised and controversial class action

The class action has sparked wider residents concerns about the value of unaffected homes in the Spring Farm estate

'We live in this beautiful country we all call home and can't even spare a thought for the people that are struggling with families trying to pay off a home.

'Yes it's a free country, and yes you are free to speak your mind but when people start fearing for their own safety in their own community this is why I write this post.'

An elderly man, who preferred not to be identified, said he and his wife's plans to sell their house and retire have now been thrown into limbo.

Despite the vast majority of the 3,500 homes sustaining absolutely no damage, the class action - seeking tens of millions of dollars in damages from the developers and Camden Council - is affecting all homeowners. Pictured: A letter sent to homeowners

'We were only talking about selling last week and then all this happens. I don't know what we will do now but this could go on for years,' he told Daily Mail Australia.

'It's putting a stigma on everyone's houses when [the majority] are fine. Why put a stick on the whole area.'

The man said his real estate agent advised him to put his home on the market as soon as possible, but he is unsure whether to ride out the storm.

'I think this could linger on for a while,' he said.

Another neighbour, who has lived in a rental property for five years, said he would avoid committing to living in the area.

'I wouldn't buy here because it's not worth it, you listen to all the problems people have,' he said.

Joyce Petkovski said that while she has sympathy for the owners whose homes have cracked, it isn't appropriate nor fair to label the entire estate as 'Sink Farm'.

'It's not a really good thing to say when the entire Spring Farm isn't really sinking and will deter people from buying here and affect other home owners' property value,' she said.

Many homes are still being built in the suburb - which was once a combination of a quarry, a tip and a chicken farm - with much thicker and more structurally sound 'high density' concrete foundation slabs.

Locals Anne and Rod Chapman, who forked out $700,000 for their home and land, said their property is unsellable after sustaining serious damage from its sinking foundations.

Homeowners with damaged properties say the way the site was filled prior to the construction stage caused the land to move and led to dangerous and costly defects. However, unaffected property owners claim it's the builders fault.

Brett Cornish, managing director of The Cornish Group, said he was only aware of a few homes that had developed problems. Camden Council told Daily Mail Australia it has 'received no formal notice of the Supreme Court class action relating to Spring Farm' and is unable to provide further comments

The house is continuing to crack and its doors are unable to close anymore, leaving their tenant with no option but to move out.

Brett Cornish, managing director of The Cornish Group, said he was only aware of a few homes that had developed problems.

The company, which is now suing Camden Council in a separate suit, had 'not yet seen any class action and is unable to comment'.

Mr Cornish said the council 'were the prior owners of the land and we allege they undertook substantial filling works in the relevant area'.

Residents of a nearby home brought legal action against building company Firstyle, who then purchased the property back from the owners.

Camden Council told Daily Mail Australia it has 'received no formal notice of the Supreme Court class action relating to Spring Farm' and is unable to provide further comments.

'Council is making further enquiries with the Supreme Court to better understand the situation,' a spokesman said.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said she 'wished [residents] well' when asked about Spring Farm's homeowners.

'It would be horrific for anyone who's invested in their family home, in their forever home, to have to find themselves in those circumstances,' Ms Berejiklian said on Tuesday.
Kelly Wilkinson and Brian Johnston on their wedding day. Johnston, an ex-US marine, is accused of burning his ex-wife to death

A former US marine accused of murdering his ex-wife can speak again and is 'fully aware' of his charges after spending weeks in hospital in a coma.

Kelly Wilkinson, 27, was found dead in the backyard of her home in Arundel on the Gold Coast about 6.40am on April 20, having suffered severe burns.

Her ex-husband of ten years Brian Earl Johnston, a former corporal in the US military, is accused of setting Ms Wilkinson alight and breaching a domestic violence order.

Johnston is recovering from burns while under guard at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and his lawyer said he has begun speaking and his condition is 'improving'.

'His voice is back. He's very coherent in relation to understanding what's going on, he's fully aware of the charges against him,' his lawyer Chris Hannay told the Gold Coast Bulletin.

'I went up there (to the hospital) to get him to sign some documents and he was able to do that with the assistance of one of the nurses.

'It's going to be, I would probably think, two to three months away before he's in any position to be walking or in a reasonable condition.'

Johnston is recovering from burns while under guard at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital but his lawyer says one month later he's began speaking and his condition is 'improving'

Johnston had allegedly fled the home after the incident and was found nearby in a 'semiconscious' state.

He'd been granted police bail for other serious charges just nine days before the alleged attack.

Ms Wilkinson's three children aged between two and nine, who were at home at the time of the alleged attack, have since moved in with their selfless aunt Danielle Carroll, who has five children of her own.

The community has since rallied around the Carroll family with some of Australia's leading retailers, including Harvey Norman, Officeworks, and YouFoodz providing them with supplies as they adjust to their new lives.

Johnston had allegedly fled the home after the incident and was found nearby in a 'semiconscious' state

Ms Wilkinson's three children aged between two and nine, who were at home at the time of the alleged attack, have since moved in with their selfless aunt Danielle Carroll, who has five children of her own

Since their mother's death, Ms Wilkinson's three children and their five cousins - who are all under 11 - have been packed into bunk beds in the Carolls' four bedroom house, and the family has needed to upsize their car to a mini bus.

Construction company Metricon are building the family-of-ten a new home for free on a plot of land offered up by an anonymous donor.

The coroner and Police Ethical Standards Command are investigating the circumstances around Ms Wilkinson's death.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Friday that his office will lead the prosecution of a former suburban police officer who is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.

Ellison said he is reviewing the case and the evidence against former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter, raising the prospect of bringing murder charges against her.

Potter, who is white, fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old black motorist, on April 11.

The city's police chief, who has since stepped down, had said he believed Potter meant to use her Taser instead of her handgun.

'Daunte Wright's death was a tragedy. He should not have died on the day that he did. He should not have died the way that he did,' Ellison said in a statement.

Ellison said he took the case at the request of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, after another prosecutor - Washington County Attorney Pete Orput - gave the case back to Freeman's office.

Dante Wright, left, was shot dead by police on April 11. Kim Potter, right, a former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota police officer, has been charged with manslaughter. She says she was trying to shoot Wright with her Taser when she reached for her gun

Minnesota Attorney General, who successfully prosecuted Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd, has taken over the case and is reviewing the evidence, raising the prospect that Potter could yet face murder charges

Wright was shot on Sunday, April 11, after he and his girlfriend were pulled over for having an expired license plate.

A background check revealed that Wright had an outstanding warrant against him, and officers moved to make an arrest.

Bodycam video was swiftly released by the police department as the shooting was characterized by former Police Chief Gannon as an 'accidental discharge.'

In the footage Wright can be seen trying to get back into the car after botched efforts to cuff him and in an apparent attempt to flee.

Former officer Potter can be heard shouting 'Taser! Taser! Taser!' before shooting him at point blank range.

As Wright's car careered away Potter can be heard saying, 'Holy sh**. I shot him.' She then dropped her gun.

Court records showed that Wright was being sought after failing to appear in court on charges that he fled from officers and possessed a gun without a permit during an encounter with Minneapolis police in June.

Orput initially had the case under an agreement signed last year in which metro-area prosecutors said they would take each other's cases in which someone dies after an officer uses force.

After Orput charged Potter with manslaughter, he came under intense pressure from activists who called for murder charges to be filed. Protesters held demonstrations outside his home.

Orput had said publicly that he believed manslaughter was the appropriate charge. Ellison said a review of the evidence and the charges against Potter is underway, but his statement did not indicate whether murder charges would be filed.

Nekima Levy Armstrong, a civil rights attorney who was among those demonstrating outside Orput's house, said she was glad to hear Ellison's office was taking the case . However, she said she would accept nothing less than murder charges.

'The case rises to the level of murder charges,' she said. 'This is not the situation where an officer should receive a slap on the wrist.

'I don't know why anyone should accept a manslaughter charge.'

Levy Armstrong said she believes racial profiling led to Wright's initial stop by police and Potter escalated the situation.

She also said Potter's decades on the force and the fact that she should've known better as a trainer all point to reasons for more serious charges.

Wright's mother has said he was pulled over for an air freshener that was hanging from his rearview mirror; police say he was stopped for expired tabs, and then officers discovered he had a warrant for a gross misdemeanor weapons charge.

Potter fatally shot Wright seconds after he pulled away from officers as they tried to arrest him.

Jaylani Hussein, executive director of the Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, also welcomed Ellison's involvement and said he believes a third-degree murder charge should be filed.

'Obviously our next step is to see, after reviewing all of the facts, if there will be additional charges, which we think are warranted in this case,' he said.

Ellison said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, who manages the office's criminal division, will supervise the case.

Washington County Attorney Pete Orput, pictured here in July 2018, came under intense pressure to charge Potter with murder. Protestors held demonstrations outside his home

Katie and Arbuey Wright, parents of Daunte Wright, cry as they speak during funeral services of Daunte Wright at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis, Thursday, April 22, 2021

This April 22, 2021 file photo shows a mourner holding the program for the funeral services of Daunte Wright at Shiloh Temple International Ministries in Minneapolis

Frank was one of the trial attorneys in the case against Derek Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of George Floyd. Ellison will actively assist, and Freeman's office will also provide staff.

'I did not seek this prosecution and do not accept it lightly,' Ellison said. 'I have had, and continue to have, confidence in how both County Attorney Orput and County Attorney Freeman have handled this case to date.

'Prosecutors are ministers of justice. This means we must and will follow justice wherever it leads.'

When asked whether the Chauvin case would be a template for how Ellison will handle Potter's case, Ellison told the Washington Post that every case is unique.

'Our approach will be tailored to the case itself. I don't want anyone to expect that because we did one thing in one case we're going to do the same thing in another case.'

In his statement, Ellison said: 'If prosecutors ensure that prosecutions are vigorous and swift, if legislators at every level pass long-overdue reforms, if police leadership demonstrates misconduct has no place in the profession, and if community continues to keep up the cry for justice, we will break the cycle of history and establish a new standard for justice.'

Orput thanked Ellison for his leadership and said in a statement that he was grateful Ellison's office took the case, adding that he believes the review and prosecution of cases like this belong with the Attorney General's Office.

Gov. Tim Walz said he was also glad Ellison's office was taking the case. He said that he and the first lady hosted the Wright family at the Governor's Residence this week and heard their desire to have the strongest legal team to seek justice for their family.

'No verdict will bring Daunte back to his family, but I have full faith that Attorney General Ellison will build the best team possible to pursue accountability for what happened that tragic day,' Walz said.
Celebrated New York restaurateur Keith McNally has banned Graydon Carter from his restaurants, calling him a 'fancy f*****' after the former Vanity Fair editor booked a table for 12 on Wednesday and never showed up.

McNally, whose culinary empire includes Balthazar, Pastis and Minetta Tavern, wrote a furious post on Instagram, denouncing the behavior of someone he previously considered a friend.

Carter had booked for 1pm, and his assistant did not call to cancel until an hour later.

'Perhaps, being something of a social bigwig, Mr Carter thinks he is above having to cancel restaurant reservations,' wrote the London-born restaurateur.

'Perhaps. But I'll tell you one thing. The fancy f***** will never be allowed to make a reservation at one of my restaurants again. Never.'

Graydon Carter, editor of Vanity Fair from 1992 to 2017, had a lunch reservation on Wednesday

Carter's party of 12 was due at Morandi, McNally's restaurant in the Greenwich Village

McNally, 69, had previously been friends with Carter - who owns his own New York restaurant

He said that he had expected Carter, 71, who has since 2006 owned The Waverly Inn in Greenwich Village, to better understand the restaurant business.

'Because Mr Carter's a restaurateur himself, my chef, manager and floor staff were eager for the lunch to go perfectly for him,' McNally wrote.

'Extra staff were brought in to help with service, and 2 tables of 6 were meticulously set up and ready for Graydon Carter by 1pm.

'Only he didn't show up at 1pm.'

McNally said that staff at the Italian trattoria, which he opened in the West Village in 2007, were turning away other diners as Carter's large table sat empty.

McNally, 69, said that Carter had 'upset the equilibrium of the restaurant, and cost the servers money in tips.'

And he said the famed magazine editor, who now runs the weekly newsletter Air Mail, had previously done the same - once at Minetta Tavern and twice at Balthazar.

McNally has previously raised eyebrows with his Instagram comments.

In February he defended Ghislaine Maxwell, in jail awaiting trial for sex trafficking with Jeffrey Epstein, and insisted she was 'currently innocent'.

He then praised Woody Allen and Soon-Yi for appearing at Balthazar, captioning a picture of them at his restaurant: 'I've never been as happy at Balthazar as I was last night to see the beautiful Soon-Yi and her husband dining there.'

That post was covered in the May 15 issue of Air Mail, which described McNally as 'going off the menu.'

McNally was referred to as a 'sometimes dour 69-year-old with fewer than 15,000 followers on Instagram'.

Carter said in a statement to Page Six: 'My office did forget to cancel the lunch reservation until a bit after 1:30, which is wretched and we will be making a donation today to the restaurant's tip pool to cover what the staff would have made.

'As a fellow restaurateur I fully understand the implications of a large party no show.

'As for the rest of McNally's deranged rant, it is pure fiction.

'I rarely eat at his places and this all stems from the story we did about his most recent Instagram controversies in last week's Air Mail.'
Dr Charlie Teo and his model girlfriend and former patient have been spotted holidaying together at a picturesque reef.

The renowned brain surgeon went swimming with Traci Griffiths, 46, at Ningaloo Reef, off the Western Australia coast, in early May.

A gushing Ms Griffiths took to Facebook to share photos of the pair tricked out in snorkeling apparatus and swimming through the crystal clear water alongside fish and whale sharks.

The renowned brain surgeon went swimming with Traci Griffiths, 46 (pictured, right), at Ningaloo Reef, off the Western Australia coast, in early May

Dr Charlie Teo and his model girlfriend and former patient Traci Griffiths, 46, attended the Rebel Ball Reimagined at Doltone House in Sydney on May 2

Ms Griffiths is a former model and pet apparel designer who has reportedly been operated on by Dr Teo twice since they met in 2011

'What an incredible privilege it was to swim beside one of THE most majestic and peaceful creatures on earth,' Ms Griffiths wrote.

'The first one we swam with was about four meters in length and was hard to keep up with, as he went about his way in a dead straight line.

'And a BIG hug and kiss to my favourite human, Charlie, for organising such a special trip.'

Daily Mail Australia contacted Dr Teo and Ms Griffiths for comment.

Ms Griffiths is a former model, pet apparel designer and animal conservationist who promotes health and wellbeing on her social media pages.

She is a volunteer director at Zambi Wildlife Retreat and runs Miyow and Barkley - a pet designer accessory store.

Ms Griffiths was introduced to Dr Teo in 2011 and has reportedly been operated on twice by the renowned surgeon.

The pair 'grew closer' after Dr Teo ended his 30-years of marriage and split with his wife Genevieve in 2018.

They have since been spotted attending public events together, working out and wearing outrageously funny costumes for fancy-dress parties.

The pair were seen together at the Rebel Ball Reimagined at Doltone House, in Sydney, on May 2.

A gushing Ms Griffiths took to Facebook to share photos of the pair tricked out in snorkeling apparatus and swimming through the crystal clear water alongside fish and whale sharks

Ms Griffiths has reportedly been operated on twice by Dr Charlie Teo after the pair met in 2011

The black-tie charity event is organised by the Charlie Teo Foundation and raises money for crucial research into brain tumours.

Dr Teo was photographed with a loosened black bow tie and posing with his arm around a glamorously-dressed Ms Griffiths.

The pair have also shown their humorous sides after they dressed up for a fancy dress party in October.

Dr Teo traded in his surgical scrubs for a pink velvet suit and retro-styled wig to impersonate 'international man of mystery' Austin Powers.

Ms Griffiths wore a pink dress and sat on Dr Teo's shoulders to reenact an iconic scene from the smash-hit comedy.

Dr Teo traded in his surgical scrubs for a pink velvet suit and retro-styled wig to impersonate 'international man of mystery' Austin Powers

Dr Charlie Teo (right) is pictured working out with fitness fanatic Traci Griffiths

Ms Griffiths has previously shared videos of her and a shirtless Dr Teo working out and attending a wildlife retreat together.

Dr Teo is best known for operating on patients who other doctors have deemed inoperable.

One of his most well-known cases was 14-year-old Milli Lucas who became known as his 'miracle girl'.

She was diagnosed with a brain tumour and flew from Perth to Sydney to be operated on by Dr Teo in June 2019.

Doctors deemed it inoperable though Dr Teo managed to remove 98 per cent of the tumour.

Sadly her cancer returned in March 2020 and she passed away in January 2021.

One time model Traci Griffiths (pictured above) shares her love for animals to her social media accounts
The richest property developer in Australia has called bosses who let their employees work from home 'parasites'.

The founder of hotel giant Meriton Harry Triguboff slammed companies who provide flexible working arrangements at a business breakfast on Wednesday in Sydney.

The 88-year-old said employees are only 'working half the time' at home during an Urban Taskforce industry breakfast on migration.

Australia's richest property developer Harry Triguboff (pictured) slammed working from home

Poll Are you less productive working from home? YES NO Are you less productive working from home? YES 282 votes

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Property developer Mr Triguboff said remote working was wasting office space in the city, which would stall Sydney's recovery from Covid the Daily Telegraph reported.

'We have to also stop this work from home,' Mr Triguboff said.

'The bosses of the banks cannot tell me anymore that they are very careful, that nobody gets sick.

'Nobody's sick and nobody got sick in their lousy banks so, forget about that. They should stop being parasites - they have to work.'

A survey from June last year found 86 per cent of Australians want to work from home (Stock)

A survey from corporate communications firm Redback Connect from June last year found 86 per cent of Australians want to work from home at least part of the time.

Of the 1000 employees who spent at least some time working from home during the pandemic, 28 per cent never want to come back to the office.

Another 39 per cent want to work from home one or two days a week, and 20 per cent for three or four days a week.

Staff were confident they could pull it off with 73 per cent believing their employer would be open to them working from home.

Younger workers were more worried about raising the issues and with good reason - just 15 per cent of staff under 30 have been offered the option while double that number of over-50s have.
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Londoners in six boroughs are being checked for the Indian coronavirus variant amid a surge-testing blitz in the capital city as scientists sample sewage for signs of Covid in two thirds of England.

NHS Test and Trace has extended additional testing and genomic sequencing to targeted settings in Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent in west London from today, following the identification of the B1617.2 strain.

Hackney and Hounslow were also previously added to the boroughs offered surge testing and vaccinations following a rise in the Indian and South African variants.

Local authorities will shortly confirm the areas where additional testing will be offered within the four new boroughs. The cases found have been instructed to self-isolate and their contacts are being identified.

Everyone who lives, works or studies in the targeted areas and settings, including children, are being strongly encouraged to take a PCR test, whether they are showing symptoms or not.

The Department of Health and Social Care also announced on Thursday that a vaccine roll-out drive has been 'bolstered' in Bedford, Burnley, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside to protect the most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, a new 'triple mutant' strain has emerged in Yorkshire with 49 cases identified, although there is no evidence to suggest the strain is resistant to vaccines or more transmissible, according to health chiefs.

It comes as a programme to test sewage to assess the prevalence of different Covid-19 variants in different regions now covers two thirds of England's population, the Government has said.

People take Covid tests at a mobile coronavirus surge testing centre in Brockwell Park in south London last month. NHS Test and Trace has extended additional testing and genomic sequencing to targeted settings in Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent from today

People stand in line for coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common, south London, last month. Hackney and Hounslow were previously added to the boroughs offered surge testing following a rise in the Indian and South African variants

A man wearing a face mask walks past a testing centre amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in the Shoreditch area of London on May 17

Londoners in six boroughs - Harrow, Ealing, Hillington, Brent, Hackney and Hounslow - are being checked for the Indian coronavirus variant amid a surge-testing blitz in the capital city

The scheme tests samples of wastewater for traces of the virus, and positive samples are genome sequenced to identify whether it is a variant of concern, such as the India strain.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the programme had helped identify the need for surge testing in areas such as Bristol and Luton.

The programme then continues to monitor sewage after surge testing has ended, to ensure the variant is no longer circulating in the area.

The Environmental Monitoring for Health Protection (EMHP) Programme is led by the Joint Biosecurity Centre (JBC) and is part of the newly-formed UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA).

The DHSC hopes that post-pandemic, wastewater testing will help monitor other viruses such as flu, helping the NHS predict which areas are likely to be hit hardest by outbreaks.

A dedicated wastewater testing lab opened in Exeter last month, and is now receiving samples gathered by Environment Agency scientists from 500 locations across England.

It is estimated the programme now covers two-thirds of England's population.

Monitoring in a specific catchment can even pinpoint localised outbreaks, without relying on residents to come forward for swab testing, the DHSC said.

A man takes part in surge testing for the coronavirus disease in London on May 14. The DHSC hopes that post-pandemic, wastewater testing will help monitor other viruses such as flu, helping the NHS predict which areas are likely to be hit hardest by outbreaks

A man takes a swab sample from his son at a Covid surge testing site in London on May 14. Local authorities will shortly confirm the areas where additional testing will be offered within the four new boroughs

A woman walks past a banner featuring a coronavirus testing site set up at St Mary's Church Hall in the London borough of Hillingdon as part of surge testing to monitor and suppress the spread of the Indian coronavirus variant

A woman takes a swab sample for the coronavirus disease at a surge testing site in London. Local authorities will shortly confirm the areas where additional testing will be offered within the four new boroughs

People take part in Covid surge testing on Clapham Common, London, last month. It comes as a programme to test sewage to assess the prevalence of different Covid-19 variants in different regions now covers two thirds of England's population

People stand in line for coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common last month. Meanwhile, a new 'triple mutant' strain has emerged in Yorkshire with 49 cases identified, although there is no evidence to suggest the strain is resistant to vaccines or more transmissible

Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: 'Sequencing wastewater samples provides an additional detection system for variants of concern, enabling us to respond more effectively to outbreaks and better protect citizens.'

Programme lead at the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Dr Andrew Engeli, said: 'As infections fall and we head out of national restrictions, analysing wastewater to detect variants early on is important to help local authorities and NHS Test and Trace act quickly to stop variants from spreading in communities.'

Sewage testing can also be used in specific institutions, such as food manufacturing sites or prisons.

The DHSC said: 'It is not possible to trace back the samples of Covid-19 to specific individuals and no personal information is collected.'

Christina Gray, director for communities and public health at Bristol City Council, said: 'This technology helped us to be confident that the picture we were seeing through testing results was a true reflection of the spread of infection, and that there was not a pool of undetected infection that we were unaware of.'

She added: 'When we get to a stage where we wind down routine testing, this method could potentially provide an effective means of identifying rising infection and assist us in taking prompt public health action.'

It comes amid Kirklees having the fourth highest Covid-19 case rate in the country - as the new 'Yorkshire variant' is found.

Travellers returning to Britain from an amber location must quarantine at home for 10 days and take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival tests

The area has seen a sharp increase in rates in just 24 hours, according to the most recent figures. For the seven days to May 17, Kirklees had 352 new cases and a rate of 80 per 100,000.

But in the seven days to May 16, the area recorded 324 new cases and a rate of 73.7 per 100,000. This means the rate has increased by seven in just one day.

The figures, which are based on the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, suggest there could be an upward tread in the area.

Kirklees' rates means its now fourth in the country in terms of infection rates, after Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen, and Bedford.

However, the upward trajectory would be in line with the surge testing that has just been rolled out in the area. Kirklees' increase in rates also comes as another mutation of coronavirus dubbed the 'Yorkshire variant' has been detected in the UK with 49 cases found so far.

Currently categorised as VUI-21MAY-01 by Public Health England (PHE), 49 cases of the new variant mainly concentrated in the Yorkshire and Humber have been confirmed in England.

PHE explained it had been monitoring the variant, which is classed one step below the Indian variant which is a Variant of Concern, since April and that the variant is 'from a lineage which was designated a signal in monitoring on May 6, 2021 based on an unusual mutation profile'.

There is currently no evidence the variant under investigation causes a more severe disease. There is also no evidence that the new variant threatens the effectiveness of the current vaccines, according to PHE
A new video leaked this month showing US Naval personnel having a close encounter with a UFO - this time a spherical object that makes a controlled descent into the ocean.

The object was filmed by a camera aboard the USS Omaha as it sailed off the coast of San Diego in July 2019.

Two unidentified crew members could be heard exclaiming: 'Wow, it splashed,' after the ball made a controlled flight over the ocean, then splashed into the sea and disappeared underwater.

They filmed the object making a controlled flight above the water for an extended period of time before it finally entered the ocean. Investigative filmmaker Jeremy Corbell shared the footage on Friday with Mystery Wire.

It was released the same day that a US Navy pilot told of how he and his colleagues saw UFOs off the Virginia coast so regularly they grew used to the ultra-capable aircrafts' presence.

Former Navy Lieutenant Ryan Graves - who refers to UFOs as unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) - called them a threat to national security in an interview with 60 Minutes.

He and his colleagues spotted the objects hundreds of times in protected air space between 2015 and 2017, and also recorded an encounter off the coast of Jacksonville, Florida, during the same time period.

The 60 Minutes report comes as the government is expected to release a report in June on UFO sightings after unclassified videos of them were leaked to The New York Times in 2017.

Sen. Marco Rubio called for the detailed analysis after he viewed classified briefings on UAP while he was the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee and asked the Director of National Intelligence for an unclassified report.

USS Omaha in 2019 in restricted waters off the coast of southern California (leaked May 2021)

The USS Omaha filmed a round object making a controlled flight above the water for an extended period of time before it finally entered the ocean

The USS Omaha filmed a round object making a controlled flight above the water for an extended period of time before it finally entered the ocean. Investigative filmmaker Jeremy Corbell shared the footage with Mystery Wire.

Still images from that video were first released in April as the Pentagon confirmed that a set of images and videos showing unidentified flying objects buzzing over Navy warships off the coast of California in 2019 'were taken' by branch personnel.

Staff could be heard exclaiming excitedly as the object made a controlled, gradual descent into the Pacific Ocean, before disappearing with a splash.

No explanation for the spherical object has been given...

One of the images appears to be a pyramid-shaped object while others were thought to be drones or balloons; however, the Navy has listed them as unknowns.

In a statement, a Pentagon spokesperson told Mystery Wire: 'I can confirm that the referenced photos and videos were taken by Navy personnel. The UAPTF has included these incidents in their ongoing examinations.'

The confirmation came a week after Admiral Michael Gilday, the chief of naval operations, admitted that he has no idea where the swarm of mysterious Tic Tac-shaped drones that menaced four US destroyers in July 2019 originated.

Gilday led an investigation into the incident in which a group of what some have called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) chased the destroyers for up to 100 nautical miles off the coast of California.

Flight logs revealed as many as six mystery aircraft swarmed the warships close to a sensitive training area at the Channel Islands at speeds of up to 40mph and with a greater maneuverability than US military drones.

When asked directly if the Navy had confirmed the identity of the drones at a media event, Gilday responded: 'No, we have not.'

The Drive revealed in February that US Navy warships stationed off the coast of Los Angeles had encountered swarms of mysterious drones, which pursued them at high speed in low visibility.

The outlet obtained ship logbooks and internal emails from the Navy under the Freedom of Information Act, and eyewitness descriptions from the staff on board, to establish the UAVs had a far greater aeronautical capability than any previously known drones.

Former US Navy Lieutenant Ryan Graves in a F/A-18 fighter off the Virginia coast between 2015 and 2017

He said pilots for the U.S. Navy saw UFOs off the coast of Virginia so frequently they got used to them despite them 'watching us' every day

Graves' F/A-18 fighter squadron spotted the 'maneuverable' objects flying in restricted airspace near Virginia Beach almost every day from 2015 to 2017

Graves' F/A-18 fighter squadron spotted the 'maneuverable' spherical objects flying in restricted airspace near Virginia Beach almost every day from 2015 to 2017, he said.

'I am worried, frankly. You know, if these were tactical jets from another country that were hanging out up there, it would be a massive issue,' Graves told 60 Minutes.

'But because it looks slightly different, we're not willing to actually look at the problem in the face. We're happy to just ignore the fact that these are out there, watching us every day.'

He said that pilots who have witnessed what the government calls 'unidentified aerial phenomena' have speculated that they might be anything from a secret U.S. technology to an enemy spy plane.

Graves also conceded the aircraft could be something else entirely.

'This is a difficult one to explain. You have rotation, you have high altitudes. You have propulsion, right? I don't know. I don't know what it is, frankly,' Graves told 60 Minutes while viewing one of the unclassified videos.

'I would say, you know, the highest probability is it's a threat observation program.'

A color image shows one of the unidentified aerial phenomena. Their technical capabilities far exceed that of any known aircraft, sparking fears for US national security

Pilots have speculated that they might be anything from a secret U.S. technology to an enemy spy plane

The outlet noted that Graves did not rule out the possibility they could be some sort of Russian or Chinese technology.

Luis Elizondo, a former official with the Defense Department, told 60 Minutes that the UAPs appear to have 'far superior' technology to anything the United States currently has in its known inventory.

'Imagine a technology that can do 600 to 700 G-forces, that can fly 13,000 miles an hour, that, that can evade radar and can fly through air and water and possibly space,' Elizondo said.

'And oh, by the way, has no obvious signs of propulsion, no wings, no control surfaces and yet still can defy the natural effects of Earth's gravity. That's precisely what we're seeing.'

Pyramid shaped objects spotted by hovering above the USS Russell, July 2019 (footage leaked April 2021)

The outlet had also previously released video reportedly taken in July 2019 by naval officers using a night vision device, which showed pyramid shaped objects hovering 700 feet above a Navy destroyer

Footage filmed around the same time as the spherical ball sighting - but released two months earlier - showed multiple pyramid-shaped objects hovering around 700 feet above the USS Russell Navy Destroyer.

It is also believed to have been filmed off the southern California coast, although it is unclear why Mystery Wire leaked this sighting before the sphere.

The April photos were leaked from a Pentagon investigation of UFOs by the UAP Task Force, which has been gathering evidence for a report for Congress that's due in June, according to Mystery Wire.

The image show unidentified objects flying above four US destroyers, including the USS Kidd Navy destroyer.

US Navy pilot made visual contact with object on November 14, 2004

At least six Super Hornet pilots made visual or instrument contact with the UFO on November 14, 2004.

The encounters, which are documented in numerous interviews with first-hand witnesses, remain a mystery, and the object's incredible speed and movements have led to speculation that it was extraterrestrial in origin.

The original FLIR video from the USS Nimitz encounters leaked online as early as 2007.

Witnesses say that clips of the video had been circulated widely on the Navy's intranet - used to communicate between ships in the carrier group - and an unknown sailor in the group likely first leaked it.

The aircraft carrier USS Nimitz and the guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea in formation during a Strait of Hormuz transit on September 18, 2020

Navy Commander David Fravor and Lieutenant Commander Jim Slaight had been flying about 100 miles off the coast of San Diego (pictured) in each of their F/A-18F Super Hornets (pictured) when they encountered an unidentified flying object described as a 'Tic Tac'

The USS Nimitz, a US Navy aircraft carrier, was at the center of a bizarre UFO sighting saga in 2004.

The clip became one of the most-touted pieces of evidence in the UFO community when the Pentagon confirmed its authenticity in 2017.

In January, Chad Underwood, the former Navy aviator who shot the famous leaked video clip, broke his silence in an interview with New York Magazine.

He said the oblong, wingless 'Tic Tac' shaped object was spotted off the coast of Mexico over the Pacific.

He also revealed that for about two weeks, the Ticonderoga-class guided missile cruiser USS Princeton, part of Carrier Strike Group 11, had been tracking mysterious aircraft intermittently on an advanced AN/SPY-1B passive radar.

The radar contacts were so inexplicable that the system was even shut down and restarted to to check for bugs - but operators continued to track the unknown aircraft.

Then on November 14, Commander David Fravor says he was flying in an F/A-18F Super Hornet when he made visual contact with the object, which seemed to dive below the water, resurface, and speed out of sight when he tried to approach it.

As Fravor landed on the deck of the Nimitz, Underwood was just gearing up to take off on his own training run.

Fravor told Underwood about the bizarre encounter, and urged Underwood to keep his eyes open.

He recalls how he suddenly saw a blip on his radar before tracking it on his FLIR camera.

'The thing that stood out to me the most was how erratic it was behaving,' Underwood told the magazine.

'And what I mean by 'erratic' is that its changes in altitude, air speed, and aspect were just unlike things that I've ever encountered before flying against other air targets.'

Underwood said the object wasn't obeying the laws of physics and dropped from 50,000 feet altitude to 100 feet in seconds, which he says, 'isn't possible'. He added that he saw no signs of an engine heat plume or any sign of propulsion.

The pilot refuses to speculate as to whether the object is an alien spacecraft or not, however.

'That's not my job. But I saw something. And it was also seen, via eyeballs, by both my commanding officer, Dave Fravor, and the Marine Corps Hornet squadron commanding officer who was out there as well.'
China's top political advisor calls for enhancing consultative mechanism

Xinhua) 11:15, May 22, 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 National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), presides over a meeting of the Chairpersons' Council of the CPPCC National Committee in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Wang Yang has called for efforts to improve the evaluation mechanism for consultative work in a bid to raise the quality of consultations from political advisory bodies.

Wang, who is 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, made the remarks while presiding over a meeting of the Chairpersons' Council of the CPPCC National Committee on Friday.

Noting the effective role of the evaluation mechanism in shifting the focus of consultative work from quantity to quality, Wang urged efforts to make better use of the evaluation results to boost the quality and effectiveness of political advisors' consultations.

The meeting adopted the draft agenda and schedule of the 17th meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th CPPCC National Committee, and decided the meeting will be held from June 21 to 23 and focus on advancing the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and forging a new development paradigm.

The meeting also heard a report on the targeted poverty alleviation work of political advisory bodies across the country and work in the next step.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
Inclusive assemblies to replace compulsory religious worship in English schools will be considered by Parliament.

The Education (Assemblies) Bill proposes to scrap the requirement for daily mandatory collective worship in schools.

Instead, assemblies to develop the spiritual, moral, social, and cultural education of all pupils would be held.

Inclusive assemblies to replace compulsory religious worship in English schools will be considered by Parliament

The issue will be debated in the House of Lords next week although faith schools will not be affected by the new regulations

Ruth Wareham of Humanists UK said required The daily acts of Christian worship is simply not appropriate for the diverse, multi-belief society that the UK is today.

She added that faith schools, a third of those in England, would not be affected.

The Bill has been tabled by Baroness Burt, vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Humanist Group (APPHG), with support from Humanists UK.

Humanists UK education campaigns manager, Ruth Wareham, said yesterday: The requirement () to carry out daily acts of Christian worship is simply not appropriate for the diverse, multi-belief society that the UK is today.

It should be replaced with inclusive assemblies that further all childrens spiritual, moral, social, and cultural development, regardless of their background. We very much hope this Bill will help to make this positive vision a reality.

She said the Bill would not impact faith schools, which make up around a third of schools in England.

However, it would affect other schools which are mostly Christian by character unless they had a specific determination, the Times Educational Supplement (TES) reported.

The UK is the only sovereign state in the world to impose worship in all state schools, including those without a religious character.

Schools can apply for an exemption - known as a determination - from the requirement for worship to be broadly Christian which allows them to carry out worship from a different faith tradition.

However, they are not currently permitted to opt-out of worship altogether.

Last month, Schools Minister Nick Gibb said schools not providing collective worship would be investigated by the Department for Education.

Research from the TES revealed that more than half of primary schools might be at risk of a DfE investigation because they do not undertake a daily act of collective worship.

The Bill is due to have its first reading in the House of Lords on Thursday.
Facebook is refusing to remove an advert from its social media platform which claims Congresswoman Ilhan Omar has links to Hamas.

Omar's office reached out to the company to inform them the message was incorrect, with fears if could incite people to make death threats towards the lawmaker.

The advert was made by a pro-Israeli lobbyist group, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Pro-Israel lobby AIPAC ran an ad falsely linking US Rep. Ilhan Omar to Hamas, pictured above

In one ad, Omar's face can be seen superimposed onto a scene of Hamas firing rockets towards Israel. The accompanying text reads: 'When Israel targets Hamas, Rep. Omar calls it an act of terrorism.'

The ad is a twist on a tweet made by the congresswoman in which she said that Israeli airstrikes that kill civilians in Gaza was an act of terrorism.

However, Omar did not say that Israeli airstrikes that target Hamas were terrorist acts.

'Israeli air strikes killing civilians in Gaza is an act of terrorism. Palestinians deserve protection,' she wrote. 'Unlike Israel, missile defense programs, such as Iron Dome, don't exist to protect Palestinian civilians. It's unconscionable to not condemn these attacks on the week of Eid.'

The ad was a twist on a tweet made by the congresswoman in which she said that Israeli air strikes that kill civilians in Gaza was an act of terrorism

Israel has said it takes precautions to narrowly target Hamas and other militant targets in Gaza, but many civilians have been reported killed there by Israeli airstrikes, including dozens of children. Israel and Hamas on Thursday agreed to a cease-fire.

Omar's aides warned Facebook that previous images that tried to link her to Hamas resulted in her receiving death threats.

Aides told the company the ad 'peddles both hate speech and misinformation.'

'Given the number of threats of death and violence the Congresswoman receives on a near-daily basis, it's not just irresponsible - its incitement. Facebook should immediately remove these ads which blatantly peddle both anti-Muslim hate speech and disinformation, and AIPAC should apologize,' Omar's deputy communications director, Isi Baehr-Breen, said in a statement.

Facebook told Omar's office that the advert did not violate company policies after her staff warned the social media giant that she could face death threats as a result of the inaccuracy

After reviewing its content, Facebook ruled it did not violate policies on the social media platform.

The ad was widely seen, racking up an estimated 500,000 to 1 million views, and was part of a series condemning other lawmakers who opposed Israel's airstrikes, including Senator Bernie Sanders.

Spokesman for Facebook, Andy Stone, told the Washington Post the company reviewed the ads and deemed them acceptable under its policies.

Ms Omar's office told Facebook it was 'deeply concerned that Facebook would continue to profit off this hate' in an email exchange with the company.

Democratic lawmakers have claimed frequently that Facebook does a poor job of removing false and misleading information from their site.

Smoke billows from an Israeli air strike on the Hanadi compound in Gaza City, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement

Speaker of the House, Democrat Senator Nancy Pelosi criticized the platform over its decision.

'I don't agree with Congresswoman Omar's comments, but it's very disappointing to see deeply cynical and inflammatory ads twisting her words,' Pelosi said.

AIPAC has defended the ad as 'fair and accurate' in a statement.

'The ad concerning Representative Omar is completely fair and accurate,' AIPAC spokesman Marshall Wittmann said in a statement.

'It is not a personal attack but highlights her outrageous characterization of Israel's efforts at self defense as 'terrorism.' Israel targets Hamas terrorists, not civilians.'
The two Bureau of Prisons workers tasked with guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself in a New York jail have admitted they falsified records, but they will skirt any time behind bars under a deal with federal prosecutors, authorities said Friday.

The prison workers, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, were accused of sleeping and browsing the internet instead of monitoring Epstein the night he took his own life in August 2019.

They were charged with lying on prison records to make it seem as though they had made required checks on the financier before he was found in his cell.

For eight hours, between 10.30pm on August 9 and 6.30am on August 10, 2019 Epstein was not checked up on in his cell which was just 15 feet from the prison guards desk.

Michael Thomas and Tova Noel, two federal jail guards responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself will not go to prison after making a deal with prosecutors

Michael Thomas, a federal jail guard responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself has admitted he falsified records but will not face any time behind bars

An artist's sketch created inside the courtroom, where cameras were banned. Pictured in November 2019

What were the guards doing? Tova Noel and Michael Thomas sat at their desks, browsed online and moved about the common area for a substantial portion of their shift instead of completing the required checks.

Noel and Thomas also appeared to be asleep at their desks for about two hours

Noel used her computer to search for furniture sales and benefit websites during her shift

Thomas searched online for motorcycle sales and sports news briefly at 1am, 4am and 6am

The pair were only 15ft away from Epstein when he died

They found him dead when they went to serve him breakfast at 6.30am

The last time they had checked on him was at 10.30pm the night before

Noel told a supervisor: 'We did not complete the 3am and 5am rounds'.

Thomas added: 'We messed up' and 'I messed up, she's not to blame, we didn't do any rounds' Advertisement

Epstein, the financier and registered sex offender, died at age 66 in August 2019 He was found hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in downtown Manhattan

New York Citys medical examiner ruled Epsteins death a suicide.

As part of the deal with prosecutors, they will enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and will serve no time behind bars, according to a letter from federal prosecutors that was filed in court papers Friday.

Noel and Thomas would instead be subjected to supervised release, would be required to complete 100 hours of community service and would be required to fully cooperate with an ongoing probe by the Justice Departments inspector general, it says.

The two have 'admitted that they `willfully and knowingly completed materially false count and round slips regarding required counts and rounds' in the housing unit where Epstein was being held, the letter says.

Tova Noel, center in yellow blouse, a second federal jail guard responsible for monitoring Epstein also cut a deal with federal prosecutors, authorities said on Friday

Pictures of the interior of Jeffrey Epstein's jail cell are seen with bedding and prison clothing strewn throughout

Multiple nooses fashioned from the orange bedding were found on the floor of Epstein's cell

The exterior of Epstein's cell following his August 2019 suicide

Tova Noel, the female prison guard accused of neglecting her duties and then falsifying records with a colleague on the night that convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide was pictured exclusively by DailyMail.com in November 2019, above

The deal would need to be approved by a judge, which could come as soon as next week.

Prosecutors alleged that Noel and Thomas sat at their desks just 15 feet from Epstein's cell, shopped online for furniture and motorcycles, and walked around the units common area instead of making required rounds every 30 minutes.

During one two-hour period, both appeared to have been asleep, according to the indictment filed against them.

Noel and Thomas, who were assigned to Epstein's Special Housing Unit at the federal jail, failed to check on him every half-hour, as required, and fabricated log entries that claimed they had.

The two guards were required to jointly conduct institutional counts at 4pm, 10pm, 12am, 3am and 5am of the prisoners in the unit. They were supposed to walk the six levels of the unit to count every inmate.

The two prison guards - Tova Noel, 31, (right) and Michael Thomas, 41, (left) - who were responsible for checking in on Epstein the night he hanged himself were charged with falsifying records and conspiracy to which they had initially pled not guilty

In addition to that count, officers assigned to the unit Epstein was in were required to walk around every 30 minutes to ensure inmates are 'alive and accounted for', according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said surveillance video showed the pair did not conduct a single count despite them logging that they did.

Both officers who were guarding Epstein were working overtime because of staffing shortages.

One of the guards, who did not primarily work as a correctional officer, was working a fifth straight day of overtime.

Photos of Jeffrey Epstein's dead body, his cell and the noose he used to take his own life

The photos from inside his cell reveal that fragments of material were found hanging from a window, while a large strip of bedding was also looped through a hole on the top bunk bed

The two guards were allegedly shopping online for furniture and napping instead of checking on the millionaire pedophile in his jail cell just 15 feet away from them. Pictured above is the gate that separated the guards from the hallway where Epstein's cell was

After they discovered Epstein dead, the officers allegedly told a supervisor they had 'messed up' and 'didn't do any checks' in the hours before he killed himself

The other guard was working mandatory overtime, meaning a second eight-hour shift of the day.

Before they were arrested, both officers had declined a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Noel had began her employment with the Bureau of Prisons as a corrections officer at the Metropolitan Corrections Center in June 2018.

A veteran, she spent six years in the National Guard. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a Minor in Law from John Jay College of Criminal Justice.

Prior to joining the federal Bureau of Prisons, she was an assistant mail handler for the US Postal Service for around a year.

Thomas began working with the Bureau of Prisons on April 1, 2007 and had held his current position as material handler supervisor at Metropolitan Correctional Center since April 20, 2014.

Epstein's death and the revelation that he was able to kill himself while behind bars at one of the most secure jails in America was a major embarrassment for the Bureau of Prisons and cast a spotlight on the agency, which has also been besieged by serious misconduct in recent years.

Staffing shortages at the agency are so severe that guards often work overtime day after day or are forced to work mandatory double shifts.

Violence leads to regular lockdowns at federal prison compounds across the U.S. And a congressional report released in 2019 found that 'bad behavior is ignored or covered up on a regular basis.'

The falsification of records has been a problem throughout the federal prison system.

Union officials have long argued that the reduction of staff is putting both guards and inmates in danger, but theyve faced an uphill battle getting attention.

Epstein, pictured, was awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges involving underage girls

Epstein was found hanging in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, pictured, in downtown Manhattan

The body of Jeffrey Epstein is brought out by medical examiners at the lower Manhattan hospital in New York and taken to the Medical Examiners office. Pictured in August 2019
AstraZeneca's chief executive has slammed the 'armchair generals' launching attacks at his firm and insisted its vaccine could play an important role in the ongoing battle against pandemic.

Pascal Soriot, 61, told the Financial Times that attacks aimed at the organisation had been 'traumatic' and 'disheartening' and stressed his team were simply 'trying to produce a vaccine to save lives'.

He also revealed that the UK government had been guaranteed first access to the jab as part of its deal struck with Oxford University before AstraZeneca came onboard, and suggested that the EU's relatively lacklustre vaccine drive had been the result of lack of investment.

Mr Soriot went on to say the firm's vaccine still 'had a future' in the fight against coronavirus and there were many countries around the world who still wanted it.

His comments came as the Government ramped up its vaccine rollout today and said people aged 32 and 33 in England would now be able to book their first Covid jab via the NHS website from 7am.

AstraZeneca's chief executive Pascal Soriot, 61, said attacks aimed at the organisation had been 'traumatic' and 'disheartening'

Addressing the string of set-backs his firm had come under in recent months, the chief executive of AstraZeneca said its jab was only slightly less effective against the Indian variant than the Kent variant.

He also explained that the firm's booster jab had performed well against other variants in animal studies.

The firm's boss, who is now in talks with countries across the world about new contracts for booster jabs, said AstraZeneca had now delivered more than 400million doses worldwide and saved 'tens of thousands of lives'.

He told The Financial Times: 'There are many countries around the world who actually want this vaccine, so this vaccine has a future.'

Mr Soriot also stressed that two-thirds of AstraZeneca's vaccine supply was going to low and middle income countries and the slower rollout of vaccines in Europe was not the fault of the firm but because of less investment.

He continued: 'People are just trying to do their best. They're just trying to produce a vaccine to save lives. It's that simple.

'And then, to be criticised every day, sometimes fair criticism, sometimes by armchair generals who have opinions about everything, is really disheartening.'

Mr Soriot went on to say the firm's vaccine still 'had a future' in the fight against coronavirus and there were many countries around the world who still wanted it. (Stock image)

People aged 32 and 33 will now be able to book a Covid jab People aged 32 and 33 in England will be able to book their first coronavirus jab from Saturday, the NHS has said. As the Government ramps up the rollout, one million more people in their thirties will be able to book their first dose via the NHS website from 7am. This comes as NHS England is set to have delivered more than 50 million doses by Saturday, with more than 40 per cent of adults having had both jabs. People aged 33 will receive texts inviting them to book a vaccination from Saturday, and from Monday people aged 32 will receive a message. Since eligibility was widened for people under 40 just over a week ago, 2.6 million more bookings have already been made, the NHS has said. Health Secretary Matt Hancock has said extending the rollout to 32 and 33-year-olds is 'an incredible step forward in the biggest and most successful vaccination programme in NHS history' and urged people to get their jab when contacted. Mr Hancock added: 'This is truly a testament to the heroic work of our amazing NHS and care staff, volunteers and local authorities across the country who have helped deliver over 50 million jabs at lightning speed across England, keeping us on track to offer a vaccine to everyone by July. 'The vaccine has already saved thousands of lives and you are far less likely to get symptoms or be admitted to hospital if you get the jab.' NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said that over half of people aged 35 to 39 have now had their first jab. He added: 'Today, the biggest NHS vaccination programme in history hits another milestone as we pass 50 million life-saving jabs delivered across England.' GP and national medical director for primary care Dr Nikki Kanani reminded people that they can take up their offer for a jab at any time. Dr Kanani said: 'It is fantastic to see so many people come forward so quickly to get their life-saving Covid vaccine - this action means that we are protecting our communities against the virus. 'The offer doesn't go away so if you are eligible and haven't booked, please do come forward and do so. 'It is safe, effective and will protect you and those around you.' On the advice of the Government and Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), people aged 50 and over and the clinically vulnerable are also having their second doses brought forward to counter the spread of the Indian variant. People aged 39 and under who are eligible and pregnant women will be offered the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine in line with recently updated JCVI guidance. The NHS is urging everyone who is eligible to take up their jab at one of the 1,600 locations across the country. Text invitations appear as an alert from 'NHSvaccine', including a web link to the NHS website to reserve an appointment. People who cannot go online can call the service on 119 instead to book their jab. Advertisement

'And then, to be criticised every day, sometimes fair criticism, sometimes by armchair generals who have opinions about everything, is really disheartening.'

Last month, Mr Soriot hit back at the European Union in the vaccine supply row and denied over-promising as Brussels took the pharmaceutical giant to court.

Mr Soriot, who came under intense fire from the European Union over the delivery of AstraZeneca's vaccines, said the drugmaker had not overpromised on the supply of shots.

It came as the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the Anglo-Swedish drugmaker, alleging that it did not respect its contract or have a 'reliable' plan to ensure timely deliveries of coronavirus shots.

Mr Soriot said the firm did its best to deliver as many doses as possible to the EU, and while disappointed not to have delivered more, he was proud of the company's work and was 'totally committed' to increasing supply.

'We never overpromised, we communicated what we thought we would achieve at the time,' Mr Soriot told a media briefing.

Asked if he agreed that AstraZeneca had not overpromised, Irish Health Minister Stephen Donnelly told national broadcaster RTE: 'Not for a second. No, absolutely not.'

'They made very clear commitments, they have failed to deliver on those commitments and that's one of the reasons Ireland has joined the EU Commission legal case.'

The CEO also pointed to the situation in India, which is experiencing a devastating wave of Covid infections, where AstraZeneca's vaccine makes up 90 per cent of the shots available.

He added: 'Imagine without our vaccine what India would look like. Imagine if we had not stepped up, imagine if we had said no.'

'We don't regret anything because ... we have made an enormous difference.'

Yesterday it was revealed that people aged 32 and 33 in England would now be able to book their first coronavirus jab from Saturday.

The NHS said one million more people in their thirties would now be able to book their first dose via the NHS website from 7am.

This comes as NHS England is set to have delivered more than 50 million doses by Saturday, with more than 40 per cent of adults having had both jabs.

People aged 33 will receive texts inviting them to book a vaccination from Saturday, and from Monday people aged 32 will receive a message.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said extending the rollout to 32 and 33-year-olds was 'an incredible step forward in the biggest and most successful vaccination programme in NHS history' and urged people to get their jab when contacted.

He said: 'This is truly a testament to the heroic work of our amazing NHS and care staff, volunteers and local authorities across the country who have helped deliver over 50 million jabs at lightning speed across England, keeping us on track to offer a vaccine to everyone by July.

'The vaccine has already saved thousands of lives and you are far less likely to get symptoms or be admitted to hospital if you get the jab.'

Meanwhile NHS chief executive Sir Simon Stevens said that over half of people aged 35 to 39 have now had their first jab.

He added: 'Today, the biggest NHS vaccination programme in history hits another milestone as we pass 50 million life-saving jabs delivered across England.'
A teenage boy has been arrested in Surfers Paradise on the Gold Coast after he was allegedly caught with an array of dangerous weapons and drugs.

Around 6.15pm on Thursday night police allegedly found a large knife, a homemade shiv, methylamphetamine and drug utensils concealed on the 16-year-old.

Officers were on the Glitter Strip using recently introduced metal detecting wands as part of a 12 month trial to combat knife crime.

A youth from Redland Bay was arrested at the scene. He was charged with possessing a knife in a public place, possessing dangerous drugs and possessing drug utensils.

Around 6.15pm on Thursday night police allegedly found a large knife, a homemade shiv, methylamphetamine and drug utensils concealed on the 16-year-old (pictured)

A knife (pictured) was located when police searched him on Thursday night as part of a 12 month trial to reduce crime in the area

Youth crime on the Gold Coast has surged in recent years. In February, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a raft of tough new measures aimed at curbing the rise in youth crime across the Sunshine State.

'Families have been shattered and lives have been lost... that is why we are taking very strong action,' the premier said at the time.

'Forty eight per cent of youth crime in Queensland is committed by just 10 per cent of criminals.

'They have no concept of the consequences of their actions and no fear of the law.'

The youth was also allegedly carrying a home made shiv (pictured) when he was arrested on the Gold Coast

The premier confirmed her government will be implementing a number of tough measures which are aimed directly at repeat offenders.

The measures include fitting GPS electronic trackers to high risk offenders aged 16 and 17.

Police minister Mark Ryan said he was happy to support such measures.

'We have been noticing a concerning trend around young people carrying knives in public places,' he said.

'This will support police efforts, it will help to prevent crime and it will also accompany our efforts surrounding engaging young people to behave appropriately in public and to stop their offending.'
It's been a staple of British childhoods since 1938, with the antics of characters like Dennis the Menace and Roger the Dodger loved by children everywhere.

But now The Beano has decided to stop using the nickname 'Fatty' for one of its characters to prevent young readers using the name 'in a mean way'.

From this week Frederick Brown, one of the Bash Street Kids, will be referred to as Freddy - or Frederick if he is being told off by his mother.

Mike Stirling, editorial director of Beano Studios, told the Daily Telegraph they want to 'celebrate' that 'kids come in all shapes and sizes'.

From this week The Beano will stop using the nickname 'Fatty' for its character Frederick Brown

Mr Stirling said Britain's longest-running children's comic had recently received a number of letters asking why Frederick Brown was called Fatty.

He said: 'Kids come in all shapes and sizes, and we absolutely celebrate that. We don't want to risk someone using it in a mean way. The time is right to revert back to Freddy.

'Although it's always been used affectionately, and never pejoratively, we agreed it's time it changed.

'Freddy's mum - and teacher - may still sometimes address him as 'Frederick', whenever he's in trouble, which for a Bash Street Kid is not uncommon.'

Mr Stirling added that Freddy will still be drawn in the same way.

He said: 'All the characters overindulge at times, and Freddy is no different.'

Frederick Brown is drawn as an obese boy who often carries a bag of cakes and whose special talent is gymnastics.

The character is drawn as an obese boy who often carries a bag of cakes and whose special talent is gymnastics

Frederick Brown attends Bash Street School alongside fellow pupils Spotty, Danny, Toots, Sidney, Plug, 'Erbert, Wilfrid and Smiffy

According to his character profile his motto is, 'Everything is delicious'.

He attends Bash Street School alongside fellow pupils Spotty, Danny, Toots, Sidney, Plug, 'Erbert, Wilfrid and Smiffy.

The Beano was first published in 1938 by Dundee-based publishers DC Thomson.

The comic celebrated its 80th anniversary in 2018 with issue number 3945 being guest edited by comedian and children's author David Walliams.
A mother is suing a hospital after her son was born with brain damage claiming it is because doctors ignored her request to have a caesarean that he will require specialist care for the rest of his life.

Jess Ngaheu said she was told she could only have children through a c-section after breaking her pelvis in a car accident in 2006.

The mother-of-two claimed doctors ignored her request to deliver her second child Hawaiki, now 18-months-old, via caesarean delivery at Gold Coast University Hospital on November 19 in 2019.

During labour Hawaiki 'flew' out of the birth canal with such force the umbilical cord was severed and he fell head-first onto the floor. Doctors have attributed extra amniotic fluid behind him for pushing him so suddenly into the world.

Jess Ngaheu (left) is suing a Gold Coast Hospital after her son Hawaiki (right) was born with brain damage

Ms Ngaheu and her husband Merv Ngaheu said they told staff at the hospital, who managed the pregnancy from 15 weeks onwards, the birth would have to be delivered by a caesarean.

After arriving at the hospital in labour at about 37 weeks pregnant, Ms Ngaheu said she was told she would be prepped to go into theatre.

However, after being reviewed by a hospital obstetrician, she claimed she was taken to the birthing suite for a natural delivery despite protesting the decision.

'They took our power away from us. Both my husband and I told them I needed to have a caesarean but they denied us that and now our son is going to suffer for his entire life,' Ms Ngaheu said.

After the traumatic birth Hawaiki stopped breathing and was revived by the medical team.

He was then rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit to undergo an immediate blood transfusion due to bleeding from the head and six days later, an MRI revealed he had serious brain damage.

Hawaiki (pictured) has significant developmental delays, which his family believe was caused by a lack of oxygen

Ms Ngaheu said her son requires 24/7 care, including hydrotherapy, physiotherapy, occupational, and speech therapy.

'He's now 18-months-old and can't walk, can't talk, and his development is extremely delayed,' Jess said.

'He's on a Bipap machine when he sleeps, so he requires 24/7 care and will require that for the rest of his life.'

Law firm Maurice Blackburn are representing Mr and Ms Ngaheu, who claim lack of oxygen - not head trauma - caused Hawaiki's brain damage.

'We are alleging that had Hawaiki been born via caesarean delivery and at an earlier time, he would have avoided his brain injury,' said lawyer Kirsten Van Der Wal.

Ms Ngaheu (left) with her husband Merv (middle), 18-month-old son Hawaiki and daughter Vera-Rose

Ms Ngaheu believes if medical staff had listened to the couple, their son would not have sustained any brain damage.

'[I] want members of the medical profession to know what can happen if you don't listen to your patients who know their bodies and their medical history,' she said.

They are pursuing compensation to cover the impact of Hawaiki's injuries and for the treatment they said he will require for the rest of his life.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted the Gold Coast University Hospital for comment.
Joe Biden has banned the Department of Justice from seizing journalists' phone records and emails after it was claimed Donald Trump's administration had authorized officials to do so.

'Absolutely, positively, it's wrong. It's simply, simply wrong,' the president told a reporter Friday at the White House.

Biden's comments come after CNN reported Thursday that the Justice Department secretly obtained the 2017 phone records of one of their correspondents at the behest of the Trump administration.

Those records were obtained to try and track down a journalist's confidential sources in an apparent attempt to plug a White House leak, it is claimed.

President Joe Biden says he won't allow the Department of Justice to seize journalists' phone records and emails, calling the practice 'wrong'

The Washington Post also disclosed that the Justice Department had last year seized phone records belonging to three of its journalists who covered the investigation into Russian meddling.

When asked if Biden would prevent his Justice Department from seeking reporters' phone records, Biden responded: 'I won't let that happen.'

His comments, however, seem to contradict those made earlier by White House press secretary Jen Psaki when asked how the administration viewed the practice of obtaining journalists' records.

Psaki suggested that the Justice Department would use the 'Holder model,' a reference to Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder.

Biden's comments seem to contradict those made by White House press secretary Jen Psaki

Under Holder, the Justice Department announced revised guidelines for obtaining records from the news media during criminal leak investigations, removing language that news organizations said was ambiguous and requiring additional levels of review before a journalist could be subpoenaed, but it did not end the practice.

In 2013, the Justice Department secretly obtained records of a number of Associated Press journalists in a leak investigation.

The White House offered no immediate clarification of the discrepancy

Last week, CNN Pentagon learned that the prosecutors obtained the phone and email records of correspondent Barbara Starr.

Psaki suggested there would be a 'Holder model,' which involved revised guidelines for obtaining records, but not the end of the practice altogether

The records stretched across all of June and July 2017, including Starr's personal email account.

Starr was reporting on military options in North Korea, as well as ongoing conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan during the time spanning the record obtainment.

A Justice Department official claimed that Starr was not the target of an investigation.

'CNN strongly condemns the secret collection of any aspect of a journalist's correspondence, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment,' CNN president Jeff Zucker said.

Anthony Coley, who is the Department of Justice's director of public affairs, as well as a senior advisor to Attorney General Merrick Garland, said the legal process for obtaining the records was approved in 2020.

'Department leadership will soon meet with reporters to hear their concerns about recent notices and further convey Attorney General Garland's staunch support of and commitment to a free and independent press,' Coley said to CNN.

There have been three recent disclosures regarding the Trump administration utilizing the Justice Department to obtain journalists' communications

The disclosure was the third in three weeks regarding the Trump administration utilizing the Justice Department to obtain journalists' communications.

Earlier in May, the Washington Post revealed the disclosure of records obtained related to the reporting of Russia's involvement in the 2016 election.

Ellen Nakashima, Greg Miller, and former Post reporter Adam Entous were also subject to the obtaining of phone records over a three-and-a-half month period in 2017.

'We are deeply troubled by this use of government power to seek access to the communications of journalists,' said Cameron Barr, acting executive editor of the newspaper.

'The Department of Justice should immediately make clear its reasons for this intrusion into the activities of reporters doing their jobs, an activity protected under the First Amendment.'

Merrick Garland is now in charge of the Justice Department (pictured in April)

The Justice Department did not appear to obtain email records in the case of the Washington Post reporters.

A reporter who worked for BuzzFeed, Politico and The New York Times was also subject to having their phone records obtained for their reporting on the Russia investigation.

Phone records typically reveal the length and recipient of calls, but not the actual material of the conversation.

They could potentially be used to identify leakers speaking to reporters about perceived wrongdoing within the White House administration, or in a government department.
Huw Edwards has deleted a tweet complaining about the BBC being 'lectured' over lies surrounding Martin Bashir's Diana interview.

Newsreader Edwards said it is 'vexing' that 'certain parts of the media' have held the BBC to account over Lord Dyson's damning report into how the bombshell 1995 interview was obtained.

'Rogue reporter' Bashir commissioned fake bank statements to secure his interview with Princess Diana - but covered up his 'deceitful behaviour' in a 'shocking blot' on the BBC's near 100-year history.

The statements wrongly suggested Earl Spencer's ex-head of security Alan Waller was in the pay of tabloid journalists and a shadowy company linked to the security services.

The statements were shown to Earl Spencer, who then put the journalist in touch with his sister Diana.

Huw Edwards (pictured) has deleted a tweet moaning about the BBC being 'lectured' over lies surrounding Martin Bashir's Diana interview

Newsreader Edwards said it is 'vexing' that 'certain parts of the media' have held the BBC to account over Lord Dyson's damning report into how the bombshell 1995 interview was obtained

In a tweet posted in reply to a news story on the BBC report, presenter Edwards wrote: 'There is no excuse or justification for what happened in 1995.

'We are all sickened by it and the subsequent handling of it.

'For today's BBC News team  25 years on  to be lectured on probity and trust by certain parts of the media is somewhat vexing.'

Former-judge Lord Dyson said showing Earl Spencer the fake bank statements was in 'serious breach' of the BBC's producer guidelines.

Bashir's 1995 Panorama interview with the princess two month's later won the BBC multiple awards - but hastened the end of Diana's marriage to Prince Charles and saw her stripped of her HRH status just two years before her death.

'Rogue reporter' Bashir commissioned fake bank statements to secure his interview with Princess Diana - but covered up his 'deceitful behaviour' in a 'shocking blot' on the BBC's near 100-year history

Lord Dyson's report savaged Bashir and several senior BBC executives over their handling of the infamous 1995 broadcast that triggered one of the biggest crises in the Royal Family's history.

Police 'assess' report into Diana interview 'to ensure there is no significant new evidence' Detectives from the Metropolitan Police are assessing Lord Dyson's report on the BBC's 1995 Panorama interview with Diana, Princess of Wales to assess if there is any new evidence. Scotland Yard said in a statement that they had determined in March that 'it was not appropriate to begin a criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful activity in connection with a documentary broadcast in 1995, but should any significant new evidence emerge it would be assessed'. But they added yesterday: 'Following the publication of Lord Dyson's report we will assess its contents to ensure there is no significant new evidence.' During an appearance on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday it was put to the Justice Secretary that some people say the police should be involved following Lord Dyson's inquiry. Robert Buckland replied: 'That, of course, is a matter for the police and the independent prosecutorial authorities, and I'm not going to say anything to prejudge or to influence any such line of inquiry. 'But I think anybody reading the headlines and the summary of Lord Dyson's findings will be struck by his use of those words, fraud and deception and the like, and clearly those sort of issues, I'm afraid, could and do arise.' Advertisement

The findings of the 127-page document have prompted developments, with Scotland Yard - which previously said it would not launch a criminal investigation into Bashir's actions - now saying it will 'assess' the report to 'to ensure there is no significant new evidence'.

Speaking during a visit to Portsmouth yesterday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he was 'obviously concerned by the findings of Lord Dyson's report'.

He said: 'I can only imagine the feelings of the royal family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again.'

William and Harry condemned the BBC for its treatment of Diana, saying their mother's Panorama interview fuelled her 'fear, paranoia and isolation' and a wider 'culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life'.

The furious royal brothers issued scathing statements on the corporation's actions after an inquiry found the broadcaster covered up 'deceitful behaviour' used by Bashir to secure his headline-making interview with their mother in 1995.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said ministers would be looking into whether there were BBC governance issues outside of the remit of Lord Dyson's reports that needed reviewing.

Mr Buckland told ITV's Good Morning Britain: 'My colleague the Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden, has rightly said that we should look at the governance structures of the BBC.

'They have apologised, which is appropriate, but clearly the wider issues of governance and the way things are run now need to be looked at.'

In his rebuke of the BBC, the Duke of Cambridge said: 'The interview was a major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse and has since hurt countless others.

'It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC's failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her.

'But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived.

'She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions.'

Calling for the documentary never to be aired again, William, 38, said: 'In an era of fake news, public service broadcasting and a free press have never been more important. These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too.'

Away from the Panorama scandal, Harry has admitted in his new documentary series with Oprah Winfrey, the trauma of his mother's death led him to use alcohol and drugs to 'mask' his emotions and to 'feel less like I was feeling'.

The Duke of Sussex, 36, said in his statement about Diana's interview: 'Our mother was an incredible woman who dedicated her life to service. She was resilient, brave, and unquestionably honest.

Bashir mocked up these bank statements to convince Earl Spencer to help broker an interview with Diana in an extraordinary breach of BBC editorial guidelines

'The ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took her life. To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it.

'That is the first step towards justice and truth. Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these-and even worse-are still widespread today.

'Then, and now, it's bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication. Our mother lost her life because of this, and nothing has changed.

'By protecting her legacy, we protect everyone, and uphold the dignity with which she lived her life. Let's remember who she was and what she stood for.'
New York Attorney General Letitia James stood next to Eric Garner's mom as she cracked down police use of force on Friday- but a powerful union boss claims the bill will make it impossible for cops to do their job.

James announced the proposed sweeping reforms important during 'a time of racial reckoning' at press conference on Friday, according to CNBC.

'At a time of racial reckoning in this country, it's important that we reform the laws and that we provide justice for all individuals who feel that their lives do not matter,' James said.

The new seven-page bill, dubbed the Police Accountability Act, was sponsored in the State Legislature by State Sen. Kevin S. Parker and Assemblyman N. Nick Perry, both Democrats from Brooklyn.

If passed, the bill would amend the state's existing penal code concerning what justifies police use of force and mandating that police officers only use force after all other alternatives have been exhausted.

But Pat Lynch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association for the City of New York, ripped into the proposal from Attorney General Letitia James while noting that 'violent criminals' are not hesitating in using force against cops.

'This sweeping proposal would make it impossible for police officers to determine whether or not we are permitted to use force in a given situation,' said Lynch, who endorsed Donald Trump for president in the 2020 election.

Scroll down for video

James' proposal, revealed on Friday, comes after her frustrations regarding the death of Daniel Prude

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, addresses a news conference at the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James on Friday

Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, said that the criminal justice system 'is in need of drastic reform' and called the proposal 'a bold and necessary action'

New York Attorney General Letitia James has reportedly been frustrated that police who killed Daniel Prude, left, and Eric Garner, right, were not prosecuted

The Empire State's current law does not require officers to exhaust other options and police department patrol guides give officers a large amount of discretion to determine when they a lethal use of force is needed.

Officers would now also be required to first use less-lethal force alternatives and non-force tactics like verbal communication - and the deployment of specialized equipment and personnel, like mental health professionals.

Law enforcement would need to meet 'higher standards of proof' to justify their use of force, according to a press release from her office. The new bill would also let prosecutors investigate if an officer's own conduct created the need for the force.

The proposal also adds three new subsections to the penal code creating criminal penalties for cops who use force causing death or injury deemed 'grossly in excess of what is warranted'  making it easier to prosecute them, the bill reads.

Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, said that the criminal justice system 'is in need of drastic reform' and called the proposal 'a bold and necessary action' in the press release announcing the proposal.

Garner died in 2014 when former NYPD officer Daniel Pantaleo put the unarmed black man in a chokehold.

'For far too long, police officers have gotten away with putting people's lives in danger without facing consequence of any kind,' Carr said, according to the release.

'Not only is that unjust, but it's deeply painful for those of us who have lost family members to police violence.'

Pat Lynch, pictured, ripped into a proposal from Attorney General Letitia James for sweeping police reform

The Police Benevolent Association posted Pat Lynch's statement to Twitter on Friday

James' proposal, revealed on Friday, comes after her frustrations regarding the lack of prosecution after the death of Daniel Prude - the 41-year-old black man who died while he was handcuffed, naked and had a spit hood placed over his head.

'This is not going to change those split second decisions that officers must make [in life-threatening situations],' James, who is separately investigating former president Donald Trump's business practices, said at the press conference, according to CNBC.

'There are reasonable protections that officers need in situations like those. That is not what these reforms are about.'

Earlier this year, James said when announcing that the seven officers in Daniel Prude's case would not face charges that her office 'presented the strongest case possible' and she was 'extremely disappointed' by the decision not to charge them.

'The criminal justice system has frustrated efforts to hold law enforcement officers accountable for the unjustified killing of African Americans. And what binds these cases is a tragic loss of life in circumstances in which the death could have been avoided,' James said at the Aenon Missionary Baptist Church in Rochester.

She later added: 'One recognizes the influences of race, from the slave codes to Jim Crow to lynching to the war on crime to the overincarceration of people of color: Eric Garner, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd. And now Daniel Prude.'

State Attorney General Letitia James said her office 'presented the strongest case possible' in the case of Daniel Prude and she was 'extremely disappointed' by a grand jury's decision not to charge the police officers responsible for his death

The March 23 video made public on Sept. 4 was released in the wake of street demonstrations around the nation over George Floyds death. It shows Daniel Prude handcuffed and naked with a spit hood over his head

Then-U.S. Attorney General William Barr chose not to pursue charges against former NYPD officer Daniel Panteleo, right, in relation to Eric Garner's death, left

Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, holds a picture of her son during a demonstration in front of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's office on July 7, 2015 in New York City

Pat Lynch, the head of the Police Benevolent Association for the City of New York, added that: 'The only reasonable solution will be to avoid confrontations where force might become necessary. Meanwhile, violent criminals certainly aren't hesitating to use force against police officers or our communities.'

'The bottom line: more cops and more regular New Yorkers re going to get hurt,' he said.

The union was not the only voice of criticism for the bill. Dennis Kenney, a John Jay College of Criminal Justice professor, told The New York Times that the bill 'creates a great deal of unnecessary ambiguity,'

'They may more easily be able to bring charges, but they'll have more difficultly getting convictions because it's easier to create reasonable doubt,' Kenney said.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the Sergeant's Benevolent Association, another powerful police union, for additional comment.
Sterling, VA (20165)

Today

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Localized flooding is possible..

Tonight

Light rain early...then remaining cloudy with showers overnight. Low 61F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%. Localized flooding is possible.
Joe Biden has said the United States wants to see North Korea give up its nuclear weapons, taking a veiled swipe at Donald Trump and vowing not to pander to Kim Jong-un with 'international recognition'.

Speaking on Friday at a press conference with Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, Biden said he did not rule out meeting Kim.

But, he insisted, he would not replicate the efforts of the 'recent past.'

Trump met face-to-face with the dictator on three occasions and exchanged what he called 'love letters' with the leader.

'I would not give him all that he's looking for,' Biden said of Kim, namely 'international recognition.'

Moon, who had a tumultuous relationship with Trump, praised Biden for 'restoring the soul of America'.

Joe Biden on Friday hosted the president of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, at the White House

Moon Jae-in, the president of South Korea, said that he and Biden spoke 'like old friends'

Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, is seen in 2017 at a nuclear facility in the country

Moon is only the second world leader to visit the Biden White House, after Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Biden said he and Moon would work together to tackle the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

'We both are deeply concerned about the situation,' Biden said.

'Our goal is and remains complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.'

He also announced the appointment of a State Department official, Sung Kim, as special envoy for North Korea.

Donald Trump met Kim Jong-un three times, and Biden accused him of giving Kim prestige

A rocket launch is shown from North Korea on March 21, 2020

Kim is pictured watching the launch of a missile in September 2017

Biden also announced that the U.S. would vaccinate 550,000 South Korean servicemembers who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula.

This marks the first commitment by the Biden administration for what it plans to do with the 80 million vaccine doses it aims to distribute globally in the next six weeks.

Biden has said he hopes to use domestically produced vaccines as a modern-day 'arsenal of democracy,' a reference to the U.S. effort to arm allies in World War II.

At the same time, the White House has pledged not to attach policy conditions to countries receiving the doses as global vaccine diplomacy heats up.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed 'America's return' to the world stage and said both leaders pledged in their meeting to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

He said afterward he and Biden spoke 'like old friends' and emphasized the need for cooperation on security issues in the region.

'The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula,' he said.

Moon started his visit by meeting Vice President Kamala Harris, where he delivered a subtle jab at Trump.

Moon met Kamala Harris, the vice president, on Friday before meeting Biden

Joe Biden welcomes Moon Jae-in at the White House on Friday

Biden's predecessor had dismissed Moon as weak and threatened to withdraw U.S. troops from South Korea.

'My congratulations on how the Biden-Harris administration is building back better with the world's most successful vaccine deployment and fastest economic recovery, and blazing a trail for inclusiveness and unity by restoring the soul of America,' he said.

Moon, who will leave office next May, is eager to resume stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang, and between Seoul and Pyongyang.

But the Biden administration, which confirmed in March that it had made outreach efforts to the North without success, has been less enthusiastic about the idea of direct negotiations in the near term.

Biden wants Moon to take a strong stance on China's activity toward Taiwan and other provocative moves Beijing has made in the region. Biden has sought to rally Pacific allies to coordinate on China, which Biden sees as the United States' fiercest economic competitor.

South Korea could be reluctant to speak out about China, an important trading partner that it also sees as key in dealing with the North Korean government.

Moon told the press conference 'there was no pressure' on the issue from Biden in their meeting.
A mother of a four-month-old boy who drowned in a bathtub had sought professional help for her mental health earlier in the week.

The 32-year-old had visited a doctor days before she was found sitting in the bathroom next to her dead baby boy at her Seaborn Avenue home at Oran Park, in Sydney's south-west, at about 4.40pm on Thursday.

Police arrested the woman before they took her to Liverpool Hospital to be treated at a mental health facility.

No charges have been made as investigators and forensic officers say it is too early to determine how or where the child died.

A mother of a four-month-old boy who was found dead in a bathtub had sought professional help for her mental health earlier in the week (pictured, mother of four-month-old boy with her family)

A man cradled a young child in his lap outside a home in Oran Park, in Sydney's southwest, where a four-month-old baby drowned on Thursday afternoon

Pictured: A man in a grey hoodie, who was cradling the child's body, can be seen walking among police tape on Thursday afternoon

The woman had been discovered in the bathroom by her husband before he immediately called paramedics who were unable to resuscitate the baby, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Harrowing footage captured a devastated man, dressed in a grey sweatshirt and blue jeans, sitting on the ground outside of the home with a child in his arms.

He was seen rocking the child, believed to be a sibling of the deceased boy, while emergency services swarmed around him.

A medic walked over to the hoodie-wearing man and offered him a bottle of water before removing the lid so the man didn't have to let go of the child.

A neighbour revealed the 'cute family' had only moved in a week before the tragedy.

'They had just moved in last week, they seemed so lovely, two small kids... they were such a cute family, the grandparents were so nice,' they told the Daily Telegraph.

'We spoke a few times, said hi, then (on Thursday) I came out and found police everywhere  I held (the grandparents), comforted them as they took the baby away.'

The neighbour, who has only just moved into the suburb himself, said he had chosen the street to set up his own family home.

'The kids from the home are so young, I just feel for the family,' he said.

A man was seen comforting a woman as they leant on the back of a car in the residential street

Shocked neighbours gathered outside their homes as emergency response vehicles lined the street and police officers cordoned off the scene.

Another man could be seen comforting a woman as they leaned against a car in the street.

NSW police told Daily Mail Australia that the homicide squad were 'alerted' to the incident which is protocol for any 'unexplained deaths'.

Oran Park, formerly home to one of Australia's major raceways, has become a booming residential area popular with young families as more Sydneysiders move west for affordable properties.

Emergency services swarmed the home following the discovery of the four-month-old on Thursday

Emergency services were called about 4.40pm on Thursday to reports of a concern for welfare at a house in Seaborn Avenue (pictured)

Oran Park, in southwest Sydney, has become a booming residential area for young families

A neighbour said the family had only moved into the street (pictured) last week

Over the past decade, the suburb has expanded rapidly as housing developments have been pitched on the grounds of the old circuit.

Seaborn Avenue is a part of a new estate called Ascot Grove, which is touted by construction company Edgewater Homes as an 'expertly designed and built community'.

Boasting around 250 homes, which come in similar variations of brick, and dark grey and white rendering, Ascot Grove is located close to schools and is designed to be family-oriented.

'With a large central park and playground for the kids, you will feel a sense of community from the moment you arrive,' Edgewater Homes states on their website.
A young nursing student who was hospitalised with three blood clots after receiving the AstraZeneca jab has continued to back the vaccine.

Ellie Peacock, who works in a Queensland hospital, says residents should still get the jab despite her bad experience after receiving her first dose on March 31.

Ms Peacock suffered severe headaches and chest pains and was diagnosed with pneumonia before doctors finally discovered three blood clots in her lungs.

The condition, known technically as thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome, is 'very rare', according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), with the rates in Australia consistent with other countries.

Now the 18-year-old must get her blood tested every week, go in for a CT scan every month and take blood thinning medication for the next six months.

Despite all this she says residents should still get vaccinated, but to take into consideration advice from medical authorities.

'I think people should still follow the TGA guidelines,' she told A Current Affair.

'I'm not an anti-vaxxer. I've never missed a vaccine in my life. I've never had side effects to any other vaccine. This is the first one I've had a reaction to.'

Ms Peacock received her first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine on March 31 and went to the emergency department on April 18 with what she claims were 'signs of clotting'

Ms Peacock suffered severe headaches and chest pains and was diagnosed with pneumonia before doctors finally discovered three blood clots in her lungs

Ms Peacock said she had received a call from the Therapeutic Goods Administration confirming the blood clot was linked to the vaccine.

'When the information, you know, from the database comes out, yes, her case will be counted amongst them,' a TGA representative said.

The 18-year-old went to the emergency department at the Royal Brisbane Women's Hospital with severe throbbing and tightness in her calf on April 18 and what she claims were 'signs of clotting'.

But no blood clots were picked-up in an ultrasound and she was sent home where her pain subsided, the Courier-Mail reported.

The trainee nurse then started getting regular headaches and by May 7 Ms Peacock had severe pain near her collarbone while inhaling.

Two days later a chest x-ray identified she had pneumonia after she went back to hospital complaining of pain in her back and ribs.

She returned home again but on May 11, Ms Peacock was rushed to emergency at 2am after struggling to breathe.

'I was sent home within six hours without further testing done and was told that it's normal pain with pneumonia and that I need to put up with the pain until the medications start working,' she said.

Ms Peacock was sent back to hospital after visiting her doctor two days later after her oxygen levels dropped to 90 per cent.

It was then the three blood clots were discovered on her right lung, along with a low platelet count.

Nursing student Eli Peacock has just been released from hospital after it was discovered she had three blood clots on her right lung

Ms Peacock was sent back to hospital after visiting her doctor two days later after her oxygen levels dropped to 90 per cent

A timeline of Ellie Peacock's hospital visits: March 31, 2021: Trainee nurse gets her AstraZeneca jab a week before the government advised under 50s against receiving the AstraZeneca dosage. April 18: Takes herself to the hospital with severe throbbing and tightness in her calf. Had an ultrasound but no blood clots detected and she was sent home. May 7: Ms Peacock had severe pain near her collarbone while inhaling. May 9: A chest x-ray identified she had pneumonia after she went back to hospital complaining of pain in her back and ribs. She goes home once again. May 11: Ms Peacock was rushed to emergency at 2am after struggling to breathe. Is sent home within six hours. May 13: Is sent back to hospital after her oxygen levels drop to 90 per cent. Only now do doctors notice three blood clots on her lung. Advertisement

'The doctor believes the ultrasound they did on my calf back all that time, that the clot had already got to my pelvis, or, was too small to show in the ultrasound,' she wrote in an Instagram story.

'This experience has been terrifying and overwhelming but I'm on the mend. Now to focus on my health for the next six months.'

The TGA reported seven cases of a rare blood clotting condition linked to the AstraZeneca vaccine in its weekly Covid vaccine safety briefing on Thursday.

The authority said three cases were confirmed as a syndrome involving blood clots combined with a low platelet count - and four were deemed 'probable' cases.

The three confirmed cases are a 75-year-old man from Victoria, a 59-year-old man from Queensland, and a 75-year-old man from Western Australia.

The teenager now has to have regular CT scans and take blood thinning medication, along with having blood tests every four days and antibiotics for about six months

Ms Peacock took to Instagram to say the three blood clots were found only after she persisted for further testing

The TGA said two of the patients were treated and released from hospital while the third man is in a stable condition.

The four 'probable' cases are a man, 70, from NSW and three men, 65, 70 and 81, from Victoria.

Of the 1.8million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine given in Australia up to Thursday, there have been 18 confirmed blood clot cases.

Acting Chief Medical Officer Michael Kidd last week addressed concerns surrounding the vaccine.

Ms Peacock said her experience has been 'terrifying and overwhelming' but she is now on the mend and focusing on her health for the next six months

Professor Kidd said while the vaccine can cause blood clotting in people with low platelet counts he stressed that the chances of it happening are 'very small'.

'The serious risk disease and death from Covid-19, if we experience another severe outbreak is far greater than the very small potential risk of a very rare clotting disorder associated with the vaccine,' he said.

The AstraZeneca vaccine is currently only recommended for those aged over 50, who those under that age are advised to get the Pfizer jab.
A man who served on the jury during the infamous 2011 trial of Casey Anthony claims she should have been convicted of manslaughter in a new interview.

The unnamed juror, who had voted to acquit Anthony on a number of charges including first-degree murder, said his decision 'haunts' him to this day and he wishes he 'did a lot of things differently,' he told People.

'My decision haunts me to this day. I think now if I were to do it over again, I'd push harder to convict her of one of the lesser charges like aggravated manslaughter. At least that. Or child abuse,' he told the magazine.

'I didn't know what the hell I was doing, and I didn't stand up for what I believed in at the time.'

He said: 'It's traumatic to think about, and I wish I had done a lot of things differently, but it's a part of who I am. This case will stick with me for the rest of my life.'

Casey Anthony, 35, was indicted on charges for murder in the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee Anthony in 2008. She is pictured during her trial

The unnamed juror, who had voted to acquit Anthony on a number of charges including first-degree murder, said his decision 'haunts' him to this day

Caylee's body was found in a garbage bag in December2008 - months after she was last seen alive

Casey Anthony is pictured with her two-year-old daughter Caylee before her death

Casey Anthony, 35, was indicted on charges for murder in the death of her two-year-old daughter Caylee Anthony in 2008.

Caylee was last seen alive on June 16, 2008 and was reported missing to the Orange County Sheriff's Office by Casey's mother Cindy Anthony a month later on July 15.

A detective with the sheriff's office started investigating the disappearance and questioned Anthony about her daughter's disappearance. She told the detective Caylee was kidnapped by a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez.

It was determined Anthony had no nanny and that Fernandez-Gonzalez had never met her daughter, or other family and friends.

Anthony was first arrested on July 16, 2008 and charged the next day with giving false statements to law enforcement, child neglect, and obstruction of a criminal investigation and was initially denied bail by a judge.

Her bail was set at $500,000 at a bond hearing on July 22, 2008 and she was released a month later when the bond was posted by the nephew of California bail bondsman.

She was indicted by a grand jury on charges of first degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child, and four counts of providing false information to police on October 14, 2008 and arrested again.

The remains of a child were found in a trash bag on December 11, 2008 with more remains found in nearby woods, which were determined by a medical examiner to belong to Caylee on December 19, 2008.

Jury selection for the trial began on May 9, 2011 and finally ended on May 20, 2011 at the Pinellas County Criminal Justice Center in Clearwater, Florida.

Casey Anthony poses for a portrait next to a photo of her daughter, Caylee, in her West Palm Beach bedroom in 2017

Casey Anthony, then 22, smiles as she attends a court hearing at the Orange County Courthouse in Orlando, Florida in 2009

Jurors were sequestered in a hotel during the six-week trial to minimize influence from media and the public on the case.

The 12 jurors and five alternates sat through 33 days of testimony - examining more than 400 pieces of evidence while hearing from 91 witnesses - as 40 million Americans watched it all unfold on live television.

The verdict was finally announced on July 5, 2011 leaving many Americans shocked by the surprise results, as many surmised that she would be found guilty.

The jury found Anthony not guilty on one count of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated manslaughter of a child, and one count of child abuse. She was found guilty on four counts of providing false information to cops.

Anthony was given credit for time served in prison and was released on July 17, 2011.

A month after the verdict was announced, the same male juror told People that none of the jurors 'liked Casey Anthony at all.'

'She seems like a horrible person. But the prosecutors did not give us enough evidence to convict,' he said at the time.

'They gave us a lot of stuff that makes us think that she probably did something wrong, but not beyond a reasonable doubt.'

People noted that the jurors have kept a low-profile since verdict and many of them were even forced to move after they were publicly named.
Principal Amanda Bueno sent email to staff asking them to support Palestinians

A New York City school principal has come under fire after she sent an email to teachers and admin staff that saw her demand sanctions against Israel.

The email was sent during the middle of last weeks conflict between Israel and Hamas.

'If you have been watching the news in absolute horror, you are not alone,' Principal Amanda Bueno told staffers at MS 136 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.

'You can take action today by protesting, attending a vigil, making a public commitment to Palestinian Liberation, signing a petition, or calling your government officials to place sanctions on Isreal (sic),' she wrote on Wednesday.

'The time is now to take a stand for those impacted by state-sanctioned violence and crimes against the humanity of the most vulnerable in our world.'

The email included a series of links that directed those who clicked to a 'Teach Palestine' website and another about US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) who tweeted against the Israeli raid on the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem that kicked off this latest round of Hamas rocket attacks.

'You can take action today by protesting, attending a vigil, making a public commitment to Palestinian Liberation, signing a petition, or calling your government officials to place sanctions on Isreal (sic),' Principal Amanda Bueno wrote in an email on Wednesday

The email included a series of links that directed those who clicked to a 'Teach Palestine' website and encouraging staff to protest, attend a vigil or donate to Palestinian causes

Principal Amanda Bueno told staffers at MS 136 in Sunset Park, Brooklyn to support Palestine

'I opened the email and I was in shock. I felt very targeted and very attacked by her words. These resources she provided, it's propaganda,' one teacher told the New York Post.

'There was nothing in the email about Hamas rockets targeting innocent Israeli civilians.'

The email has now led to calls for Bueno to face some sort of reprimand.

'New York law forbids requesting or encouraging any public servant, city employee, or subordinate public servant/employee to engage in political activities,' wrote lawyer Inna Vernikov, who also sent a letter to the Department of Education asking for Bueno to be sanctioned.

Vernikov said she knew of teachers at MS 136 with 'close family members who live in Israel.'

One local politician felt the Bueno's email to have been insensitive given that it was known some teachers at the school had 'close family members that lived in Israel'

'The matter is being addressed internally and was referred to the special commissioner of investigation for further investigation.'

'Schools are not public forums for purposes of political expression, and staff may not use DOE resources in the furtherance of personal or political activities,' a spokesman for the Department of Education said.

Parents who spoke to the Post disagreed with the principal's approach.

'Stay in the middle. You are saying, "Support this group and not the other." That's wrong,' said one.

'She should remain neutral because in New York, you have so many different groups of people,' said another parent.
Ronald Greene is pictured in an undated photo taken before his May 2019 death after leading Louisiana State Troopers on a high-speed chase

Louisiana state troopers who tasered a black man in his car, dragged him out and tasered him again, leaving him for nine minutes face-down and handcuffed, were praised by their supervisor for doing 'a good job'.

Ronald Greene, 49, died shortly after his arrest in May 2019 near Monroe.

He had been driving erratically and shot a red light, then led troopers on a high-speed car chase.

He crashed, and the officers then violently arrested him, ending up covered in his blood in the process.

One trooper tells another, in an exchange captured on body camera footage, that he 'beat the f***' out of the handcuffed man.

Another, wiping the blood of him, says: 'I hope this guy ain't got f***ing AIDS.'

A trooper who appears to be a supervisor is seen arriving at the scene after Greene has been detained, and appears to praise the troopers, though it's not clear why or what he knew about the incident at the time.

'You all did a good job, you all called it out, did a good job,' he says.

The exchange is captured in body camera footage released by Louisiana authorities on Friday, after years of campaigning by Greene's family - who were initially told he died when his car crashed into a tree.

On Friday nine separate clips were released by state police.

Four officers - Trooper Dakota DeMoss, Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth, Master Trooper Kory York, and Lieutenant John Clary - had their body camera footage released, plus clips from some of their patrol cars.

Video taken from Trooper Dakota DeMoss' body camera shows the violent of arrest of Greene. Louisiana State Police initially reported that he had died in a car crash

Three more officers are named in a wrongful death suit filed by Greene's family in May 2020 - Captain John Peters, Sergeant Floyd McElroy, and Deputy Sheriff Christopher Harpin.

Of the seven officers named in the suit, one - Chris Hollingsworth - has since died.

York was suspended without pay in February this year for 50 hours. DeMoss was recently arrested for another brutal arrest and high-speed chase, and it was unclear whether he is facing punishment.

The status of the others was unknown.

The new details, released on Friday, added to the anger at Greene's case, and fury at what looked like a cover-up.

Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis told a news conference on Friday that he wanted to offer his 'sincere condolences' to Greene's family.

'It's unfortunate that the path to get here has taken this long,' he said.

Davis took over as superintendent of the Louisiana State Police in October 2020 - 17 months after Greene's death.

Davis said the department was releasing all the video related to the case and the ongoing criminal investigation.

State police began investigating Greene's death a few hours after he died on May 10, 2019, Davis said, adding that it remains under investigation by state and federal agencies.

The autopsy lists Greene's cause of death as 'cocaine induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury, and restraint,' according to the report, which CNN obtained from a source with knowledge of the investigation.

Greene can be heard in the footage moaning as he lies, handcuffed, face down on the ground.

'Don't you turn over! Lay on your belly! Lay on your belly!' York yells at Greene, before briefly dragging him by the chain that connects his ankle shackles.

York then kneels on Greene's back and tells him again: 'You better lay on your f****** belly like I told you to! You understand?'

'Yes, sir,' Greene replies.

A paramedic who arrives tells the troopers: 'He's not getting enough air.'

Emergency workers do not appear to be giving the dying suspect oxygen.

Greene's mother on Friday said she had watched the police bodycam footage showing his brutal killing last year, and has been 'reliving it every day'.

Mona Hardin said authorities had first told her that he was killed in a car crash after leading Louisiana state troopers on a high-speed chase, in an interview with CNN.

That narrative would later be contradicted in body camera footage, shown to Hardin last year, in which troopers are seen violently apprehending Greene.

Some of that footage was made public on Wednesday, and the remainder on Friday.

'Someone needs to pay. Someone needs to go to jail for this. This is murder what happened to my son Ronny,' she said

Greene died in an ambulance after suffering a cardiac during the arrest.

'We were told he died because of a car crash,' Hardin said. 'The detail that we got afterward was totally everything but.'

Greene's mother, Mona Hardin (left) made claims of a coverup in an interview on Friday, saying that she was initially told her son had died in a car crash. Attorney Lee Merritt (right) is representing the family in a wrongful death lawsuit

Its such a horrific level of corruption, Mona Hardin says after new evidence is revealed around the 2019 death of her son, Ronald Greene, after a pursuit by Louisiana State Police. Its in the hands of people who could make things a whole lot better and they choose not to pic.twitter.com/hxUzN7RBLL  New Day (@NewDay) May 21, 2021

The footage shows Greene, a black man, screaming 'I'm your brother, I'm scared!' while being beaten, tasered and dragged by his feet by white troopers.

She says that the, 'coverup started within hours,' after family members received word of her son's death.

She said they were told her Greene's body was being taken out of state to Arkansas for an autopsy.

When Hardin requested Greene be kept in Louisiana, she said a Louisiana coroner told her it was 'out of her hands.'

'This is a case where all of the evidence directly contradicted the narrative provided by law enforcement,' said attorney Lee Merritt, who is representing Greene's family in a wrongful death suit.

'I want to be clear that there's nothing standard about how the state troopers in Louisiana handled this arrest or the reporting on it,' he later added.

According to the suit, it would be months before Hardin was given further clarification about her son's death.

Eventually, in 2020 Louisiana authorities gave Greene's family the opportunity to view the body camera footage of his arrest.

'It's horrific hearing my son,' Hardin said of the video.

'It's horrible that everyone has to see this, but at the same moment I'm so glad that it's exposed because of [the] corruption. It's such a horrific level of corruption all the way up to the top, from day one.'

At one point Trooper Kory York grabbing the leg shackles and dragging Greene on his stomach. York was suspended without pay for 50 days

On Wednesday clips of the footage were released to the public.

They begin with Master Trooper Chris Hollingsworth and Trooper DeKota DeMoss rushing Greene's SUV, after the barber had led them on a 115-mile-per-hour chase, as he can be seen appearing to raise his hands and repeating, 'OK, OK. I'm sorry.'

Greene is also heard to say: 'I'm your brother! I'm scared! I'm scared!'

Hollingsworth shocks Greene with a stun gun within seconds through the driver's side window as both troopers demand he get out of the vehicle.

Greene exits through the passenger side as Hollingsworth appears to wrestle him to the ground, putting him in a chokehold and punching him in the face while another trooper can be heard calling him a 'stupid mother******r.'

Hollingsworth strikes Greene multiple times and appears to lie on one of his arms before he is finally handcuffed.

The troopers then leave the burly man unattended, facedown and moaning for more than nine minutes, as they use sanitizer wipes to wash blood off their hands and faces.

York was seen kicking Greene as he tried to shift from his stomach onto his side in an apparent attempt to breathe more easily.

At least six troopers were on the scene of the arrest but not all had their body cameras on.

Greene's family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit in the his death. They appear above with attorney Lee Merritt during an Oct. 7 news conference

After a several-minute stretch in which Greene is not seen on camera, he appears again, limp, unresponsive and bleeding from his head and face. He is then loaded onto an ambulance gurney, his arm cuffed to the bedrail.

Troopers initially told Greene's family he died on impact after crashing into a tree during the chase.

Later, state police released a one-page statement acknowledging only that Greene struggled with troopers and died on his way to the hospital.

Exactly what caused Greene's death remains unclear.

Union Parish Coroner Renee Smith told the Associated Press last year his death was ruled accidental and attributed to cardiac arrest.

A federal and state investigation into his death continues, with a spokesman for Louisiana State Police refusing to comment because of the ongoing probe.

Smith, who was not in office when that determination was made, said her office's file on Greene attributed his death to the car and made no mention of a struggle with state police.

The AP last year obtained a medical report showing an emergency room doctor noted Greene arrived dead at the hospital, bruised and bloodied with two stun-gun prongs in his back.

That led the doctor to question troopers' initial account that Greene had 'died on impact' after crashing into a tree.

'Does not add up,' the doctor wrote.

Hardin said on Wednesday: 'They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned.

'He didn't have a chance. Ronnie didn't have a chance. He wasn't going to live to tell about it.'

Merritt said the footage 'has some of the same hallmarks of the George Floyd video, the length of it, the sheer brutality of it.'

Greene's mother Mona Hardin (above center). 'They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned,' she said Wednesday

'He apologized in an attempt to surrender,' Merritt said.

Greene's family has filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit alleging troopers 'brutalized' Greene, and 'left him beaten, bloodied and in cardiac arrest' before covering up the cause of death.

His family has released graphic photographs of Greene's body on a gurney, showing deep bruises and cuts on his face and head.

'Police departments have got to stop putting roadblocks up to information that is, in the public's eye, questionable. They have to reveal all that they know, when they know it,' said Andrew Scott, a former Boca Raton, Florida, police chief who testifies as an expert witness in use-of-force cases.

'It suggests that you're hiding something.'

While noting Greene 'was not without fault' and appeared to resist the troopers' orders, Scott said the footage of York dragging the handcuffed man face-down by his ankle shackles was 'malicious, sadistic, completely unnecessary.'

A coroner's report said Greene died of cardiac arrest

'That should never have never happened,' he said. 'You've got the guy completely compromised. Hes not hurting anybody.'

Charles Key, another use-of-force expert and former Baltimore police lieutenant, questioned the troopers decision to leave Greene unattended, handcuffed and prone for several minutes, calling the practice 'just dead wrong.'

'You dont leave somebody lying on the ground, particularly after youve had this fight,' Key said.

'The training has been for a number of years that, as soon as you get someone under control, you put them on their side to facilitate their breathing ... and particularly this guy, because he was very heavy.'

Hollingsworth, in a separate recording made after the black man's death, could be heard telling a colleague at the office that 'he beat the ever-living f**k out of' Greene.

'Choked him and everything else trying to get him under control,' Hollingsworth is heard saying. 'He was spitting blood everywhere, and all of a sudden he just went limp.'

Hollingsworth later died in a single-vehicle highway crash that happened hours after he learned he would be fired for his role in the Greene case.

York was suspended without pay for 50 hours for the dragging and for improperly deactivating his body camera. York told investigators the device was beeping loudly and his 'mind was on other things.'

DeMoss, meanwhile, was arrested in connection with a separate police pursuit last year in which he and two other troopers allegedly used excessive force while handcuffing a motorist.

In that case, bodycam footage, showed suspect Antonio Harris, 29, immediately surrendered after leaving his vehicle, yet DeMoss hit the suspect with his knee and slapped him in the face before turning off his bodycam, according to the Advocate.

A State Police spokesman declined to comment, citing the federal investigation.

State Police brass initially argued the troopers use of force was justified - 'awful but lawful,' as ranking officials described it - and did not open an administrative investigation until 474 days after Greenes death.
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A six-year-old boy who died after being shot during a suspected road rage attack while he was sitting in his car booster seat on a Southern California freeway on Friday morning has been identified.

Aiden Leos was in the rear of the family car being driven to school by his mother when another motorist cut her off while traveling in the car pool lane of the northbound side of State Route 55, in Orange, southeast of Los Angeles.

Aiden's mother was said to have given the other driver the finger in her rear view mirror, but the gesture set off a deadly and tragic chain of events.

Six-year-old Aiden Leos was killed by a bullet while riding in the back of his mother's Chevy sedan on Friday morning

Aiden's distraught family are begging for justice with Aiden's older sister, Alexis Cloonan, pictured center, describing him and someone who was full of 'love, joy and laughter'

As she moved over to to her right, a gunman , possibly sitting in the passenger seat of the suspect's car, suddenly fired into Aiden's vehicle, striking the boy in the back.

'Mommy my tummy hurts!' the youngster is said to have cried out.

After pulling over to the side of the road, Aiden's mother picked him up and cradled him in her arms until an off-duty police office stopped to perform CPR and paramedics arrived on the scene.

'She had blood on her clothes and he started turning blue and that's when the ambulance took him and that was the last time my mom saw him alive,' said Alexis Cloonan, the boy's sister, during a tearful family press conference on Friday.

A family is asking for the publics help in identifying the suspects who shot and killed 6-year-old Aiden. The little boy was with his mother, driving to school on the 55 freeway in Orange, when they were shot at during an apparent road rage incident. https://t.co/Sr1hYV5n88 pic.twitter.com/fVvfNkfZl6  FOX 11 Los Angeles (@FOXLA) May 22, 2021

'Please help us find the people that did this to my little brother. hes only six and he was so sweet. He was a very loving boy so please help us find who did this to him,' Alexis pleaded through tears

Aiden's mother quickly pulled over to the shoulder of State Route 55 following the shooting

A single bullet hole can be clearly seen following the shooting on Friday morning

A single bullet hole can be clearly seen following the shooting on Friday morning

'Please help us find the people that did this to my little brother. He's only six and he was so sweet. He was a very loving boy so please help us find who did this to him,' Alexis pleaded through tears.

'[My mom] had to hold her little boy as he died so she is very distraught right now,' Alexis explained.

'He was a rare toddler. I just loved having him in my life,' she said as she paid tribute to the kindergartener who would often come to her room to tell her that he loved her.

A GoFundMe page set up for Aiden's mother and to help with her child's burial costs has so far managed to raise $18,000.

The horrific incident happened around 8:10am during the school run. Aiden was being taken to his kindergarten class at Calvary Chapel Yorba Linda.

Authorities are looking for a man and a woman. The male passenger is believed to have fired the fatal shot while his female accomplice was driving the vehicle, believed to be a newer model white Volkswagen wagon sedan.

Police investigators walk along the closed northbound lanes of the 55 freeway south of Chapman Avenue looking for evidence following a shooting on Friday

Police officers conducted a search along the freeway on Friday following the shooting

The California Highway Patrol closed the northbound lanes of the 55 freeway as police investigators walk the freeway looking for evidence following the shooting

'You can tell it was a cowardly way of doing it because they shot her in the back pretty much,' said the boy's uncle John Cloonan.

'You have no idea what you took from us today. You took her son away, her boy. This boy was full of love and joy and laughter,' he continued.

'I hope someone knows something and that whoever did this, I hope you can see what you've done to this family. Not that it matters much now because my nephew is dead. We're never going to be full again.'

'She [Aiden's mother] was merging to the right side to get away from this person, and as you can see if you go online and look at the photos, there's one bullet shot in the trunk that went through the trunk and right through my nephew,' Cloonan explained.

Yellow crime scene tape stretches across the northbound lanes of the 55 freeway

A 6-year-old boy seated in the backseat of his mother's car on a Southern California freeway was shot to death by another motorist on Friday

Traffic traveling northbound on the 55 freeway was diverted to the westbound 22 freeway as police investigators walked the freeway looking for evidence following the shooting

A six-year-old boy was shot and killed in what California police are calling an isolated road-rage incident that occurred on State Route 55 Friday morning

The child's mother was driving this silver Chevy sedan when she flipped off another motorist for cutting her off, as she later told Good Samaritans who stopped to help

Late Friday night, police had not released the names of any wanted suspects.

'It was an isolated road rage incident between the mom and another driver from a white sedan,' California Highway Patrol Officer Florentino Olivera told KTLA-TV at the scene.

Olivera said the deadly gunshot came from a white sedan and struck the rear of a silver Chevrolet Sonic that was traveling ahead of it.

'Unfortunately, the child that was seated in the right rear seat was struck,' he said.

Aiden was pronounced dead at Children's Hospital Orange County.

'If your vehicle has a dashcam, we're asking you, please call our CHP office in Santa Ana, provide that video,' Olivera said.

'If you were driving by, you saw something that was not right, call it in - even if it wasn't something major - call our office. We want to hear from witnesses.'

Reyes and Joanna Valdivia told Orange County Register they were taking their children to school when they saw the visibly distressed driver of the Chevrolet pull her wounded son from the backseat and collapse to the ground.

Police are pictured on the scene of the road-rage shooting, in which a bullet when through the back of the Chevy and struck the six-year-old who was in his booster seat

The freeway was shut down for hours as about a dozen investigators slowly walked the lanes looking for evidence

When the couple pulled over to offer help, Reyes said the mother, whom he described as 'hysterical,' told them she had showed the middle finger to the driver of the white sedan who cut her off in the carpool lane.

The mother told the Good Samaritans that when she veered to the right, the white sedan followed her and a gunshot went off.

The freeway was shut down for hours as about a dozen investigators slowly walked the lanes looking for evidence.

CBS Los Angeles reported that there have been nearly a dozen pellet and BB gun shootings on freeways across Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties over the past three weeks, but Olivera said Friday's road-rage killing was unrelated to those earlier incidents.

Tips may be provided by calling the CHP's Santa Ana office at (714) 567-6000.
Anthony Ragusa, 50, was arrested on Long Island for collecting more than $200,000 in disability benefits from the Social Security Administration despite allegedly not being disabled, Attorney General Letitia James (pictured) announced on Friday

A New York man was arrested for disability fraud after investigators spotted pictures of him weightlifting on his bodybuilder wife's Instagram.

Anthony Ragusa, 50, was arrested on Long Island for collecting more than $200,000 in disability benefits from the Social Security Administration despite allegedly not being disabled, Attorney General Letitia James announced on Friday.

Ragusa claimed he suffered injuries after a fall in 2013 while working as an electrician, according to his disability application form.

He alleged that his injuries were so severe that he had difficulty bending over to put on shoes, walking for more than 15 minutes, and sitting for more than 30 minutes - preventing him from working.

However, he collected the benefits until 2020 despite still owning and earning income from a limousine business in New Hyde Park on Long Island.

His wife, professional bodybuilder Loly Ragusa, has posted a number of pictures and videos of him lifting heavy weights to her social media accounts and even tagged his White Star Limousine business in them, accounts believed to belong to her show.

DailyMail.com has reached out to a private defense attorney Ragusa has retained for more information information and additional comment.

'Disability benefits exist to help those who need a safety net when their bodies cannot fulfill day-to-day obligations,' James in the press release.

Ragusa was arraigned on Friday before Suffolk County District Court (pictured) Judge Stephen Ukeiley and has been charged with one felony count of grand larceny and one felony count of offering a false instrument for filing

'While cheating the state out of thousands of dollars, Anthony Ragusa was simultaneously running a business and posing for pictures of his bodybuilding on the internet.'

James called his alleged crime 'a shameful slap in the face to those who actually live with disabilities' and 'a vast waste of taxpayer dollars.'

'My office will not hesitate to pursue those who defraud our system and saddle our state with debt,' she said.

Ragusa was arraigned on Friday before Suffolk County District Court Judge Stephen Ukeiley and has been charged with one felony count of grand larceny and one felony count of offering a false instrument for filing.
A 15-year-old boy is recovering in hospital following an abseiling accident in the NSW Blue Mountains on Saturday morning.

The teenager was airlifted to the Children's Hospital at Westmead, in Sydney's west, after he fell off a 40 metre cliff and suffered serious leg injuries.

A spokesperson from NSW Ambulance told Daily Mail Australia the high school student fell at Mitchell's Ridge lookout, in Mount Victoria, just before 11am.

Blue Mountains Police Area Command were reportedly first on the scene to to attend to the injured youngster.

Police and rescue crew on the scene (pictured) after a boy, 15, reportedly fell 40m following an abseiling accident in the NSW Blue Mountains on Saturday morning

The teenager was airlifted to the Children's Hospital in Westmead with reported serious leg injuries after falling from a cliff while abseiling on Saturday in the NSW Blue Mountains

Mitchell's Ridge lookout, in Mount Victoria (pictured), was the scene of the horrific accident in the NSW Blue Mountains around 11am on Saturday - where a boy, 15, fell when abseiling

Police Rescue, the NSW Ambulance Special Operations Unit and Rescue helicopter all attended the scene.

On their Facebook page, Blue Mountains Police Area Command confirmed the incident.

'Emergency services are at Mt Victoria having responded to an abseiling accident which has seen a teenage boy receive serious injuries,' a post read on Saturday morning.

'The Toll Ambulance Helicopter has landed and is available for air transport.'

In September last year, a man, 65, fell to his death while canyoning in the Wollemi National Park in NSWs Blue Mountains.

He was abseiling down a canyon in the Wolgan Valley, about 30km from Lithgow, when he fell onto the rocks below.
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Revellers traipsed the damp streets of the nation's cities last night on the first Friday since lockdown rules were relaxed to allow people inside pubs and bars.

Despite the wind and rain, party-goers appeared in high spirits as they swapped a night in at home to hit the numerous bars in the country's cities and prepared to celebrate with their friends into the small hours.

The scenes follows pubs and bars in England being allowed to open their indoor seating areas and welcoming back groups of up to six people, or two households.

Jubilant revellers were spotted covering their heads and donning their beer jackets as they enjoyed the first Friday night out in Manchester city centre since the latest easing of lockdown rules.

Meanwhile in Soho, central London, pub-goers sat outside the capital's numerous bars and restaurants despite the heavy downpours.

It comes amid a warning from UK Hospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls that many venues have not made it through the shutdown, which means the look of the high street will change as Covid-19 restrictions lift.

Six revellers pose for the camera as they enjoy the first weekend in Liverpool since lockdown rules were relaxed to allow people inside pubs and bars

Two people are caught out in the heavy rain, sheltering under their purse and jacket, as they move between bars on the first Friday evening that bars are open in Newcastle city centre after the latest easing of lockdown restrictions

Four revellers pose for the camera as they hit the streets of Leeds for a rainy night out on Friday evening

Huge groups of people took to the streets of London as they enjoyed a taste of normality now indoor dining and drinking is allowed

In Cardiff, another reveller was spotted using her jacket to protect herself from the elements as rain and wind continues to hit the city

In Newcastle, revellers braved the heavy downpours as they took to the city centre and prepared to celebrate with their friends

Revellers braved the wind and rain as they walking into Manchester city centre and prepared to enjoy their first Friday night since lockdown rules were relaxed to allow people inside at pubs and bars

Despite the torrential rain, revellers took to the streets of Newcastle (left) and Manchester (right) to enjoy a night out

Revellers brave the wind and rain as they take to the street in Leeds and begin celebrations for their Friday night

Women in Leeds are seen making their way along the rain-soaked streets as they enjoyed a night out

People drinking and eating in the rain in Soho, London. Two women are seen outside a bar

Revellers use umbrellas and their jackets to protect themselves from the rain as they take to the streets of Newcastle last night

A group of friends wear their face masks as they take to the streets of Newcastle city centre on Friday night

Revellers brave the elements as they take to the streets in Leeds last night after pubs and bars in England were allowed to open their indoor seating areas

A group of friends huddle underneath an umbrella as they enjoy a night out in Newcastle city centre on Friday night

She told BBC Breakfast: 'There has been a contraction of one in 10 restaurants across the UK but in our high streets it is as high as one in five, so our high streets are going to look very different - that's overall including pubs, bars, restaurants and hotels, and the contraction has been right across the board in those areas.

'All of our businesses are suffering and sadly we have lost 660,000 members of staff.

'Furlough and business support has kept those numbers as low as we can but there is a big risk as we come out of this pandemic, as these businesses are going to be very heavily in debt.

'They are much more indebted than any other sector of the economy. In particular, they have got high levels of rent debt so the shadow of Covid is going to hang over these businesses for about six months before we know that we can get them through.'

She suggested that the amount of business and premises losses, particularly among independent firms, could escalate further if the Government's road map is changed and as business support tapers off in the summer.

The latest restrictions lift also means the return of small in-home meetings and groups of up to 30 people can now meet outdoors in England and Scotland.

Hugging is also permitted between close family and friends across the UK, except in Northern Ireland, where they remain in place until at least May 24.

Other recreational venues such as cinemas, museums, theatres and concert halls will be allowed to reopen, although there will be capacity limits on large events.

A group of people took to the streets of Soho, central London, in the rain last night and enjoyed a night out

Two women were seen laughing and looking at a phone in Leeds as they enjoyed a rainy night out

Groups of people are seen laughing and talking to each other on the soggy street in Soho, central London, on Friday night

Groups are seen outside having a cigarette in Soho, central London. Restaurants and bars were packed with revellers

Two policemen are seen speaking to a group of revellers outside a pub in the rain in Soho, central London, on Friday night

Huge groups of people gathered to enjoy a meal and drink under a sheltered area in Soho, London, on Friday night

Speaking before the restrictions were eased, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged families to adopt a 'heavy dose of caution' when enjoying their new found freedom in a bid to prevent a spike in new Covid cases.

Last night, revellers cross the country were spotted braving the rain in their hordes as they enjoyed their new freedom by toasting the return of pubs and restaurants.

Pictures showed people flocking to pubs and bars while doing their best to avoid the downpours of rain with some desperately held pieces of clothing over their heads.

Drinkers also hit the streets in Newcastle, Leeds and other cities across the UK to see their friends after months of lockdown.

It came despite the Met Office issuing a yellow weather warning and predicted gusts of up to 60mph in Wales and southern England.

A group of friends take to the streets despite the heavy downpours and hundreds across the country enjoy their first Friday night since lockdown rules were relaxed to allow people inside pubs and bars

A group of friends brave the winds as they take to the streets and prepare for a Friday night out in Cardiff city centre

Queues begin to form outside a bar in Leeds city centre as hundreds of revellers decide to swap their night in to celebrate with their friends

Friends try to shelter themselves from the rain with a jacket as they take to the street of Leeds city centre

A group of friends posed for a photo as they took to the streets and prepared for a night out in Leeds

A woman uses her jacket to protect herself from the rain as she begins her Friday night out in Leeds last night

Party-goers try refuse to let the rain dampen their spirits as they take to the streets in Leeds on Friday night

Crowds of revellers stand outside in the rain as hundreds of people take to the streets of Soho in central London

People sit outside despite the wet and windy weather as hundreds take to the street to enjoy a night out

Revellers sit at outdoor tables as they meet with friends in central London's Soho and enjoy a night out

Revellers celebrated with their friends after pubs and bars in England were allowed to open their indoor seating areas and welcomed back groups of up to six people, or two households

Revellers shelter themselves from the rain in Soho, central London, as hundreds across the country enjoy their Friday night out

Pub-goers sat outside the numerous bars, pubs and restaurants in London's Soho last night despite the wind and heavy rain

A group of friends sit outside a restaurant in London as revellers in London and Manchester prepared to enjoy their first Friday night since lockdown rules were relaxed to allow people inside at pubs and bars

A woman protects herself from the rain with an umbrella as people across the capital decided to celebrate a night out

Revellers wear their jackets as they sit outside a bar in Soho, central London, and enjoyed their first Friday night out since the latest easing of lockdown rules

Despite the win and rain, pub-goers took the the capital's numerous bars and restaurants to enjoy a Friday night out

The latest restrictions lift also means the return of small in-home meetings and groups of up to 30 people can now meet outdoors in England and Scotland

Earlier today, a canoeist died after getting into difficulty in a fast-flowing river amid UK-wide weather alerts from the Met Office that warned the country faced strong winds, thunderstorms and flash floods over the weekend.

The body of a man, who has not been identified by the emergency services, was found washed up downstream from the River Ure near the village of Nunwick, in North Yorkshire.

The news came amid fresh fears that gale force winds, thunderstorms and flash floods could ensure the national weather misery continues into Saturday and Sunday.

Hundreds of homes have also been left without power as the nation was battered by 85mph gusts and will brace itself for a weekend washout and further chaos.

As the Met Office issued a yellow weather warning for strong winds on Friday in south-east England - stretching from Norwich to Southampton - the Royal National Lifeboat Institution advised people to stay out of the water after dramatic footage emerged of a Welsh surfer being rescued.
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The Globe Theatre has launched a project to 'decolonise' Shakespeare's famous plays, while experts claimed his work is 'problematic' for linking whiteness to beauty.

The London theatre, which is a reconstruction of the Elizabethan playhouse where William Shakespeare wrote his work, has begun 'anti-racist' seminars to discuss 'decolonising' Shakespeare's esteemed plays.

Experts claimed that the bard's plays are 'problematic' for linking whiteness to beauty, while an academic said all of Shakespeare's plays are 'race plays' as they all contain 'whiteness'.

During the first seminar, academics debated A Midsummer Night's Dream and said it included 'problematic gendered and racialised dynamics', the Telegraph reported.

The Globe Theatre has launched a project to 'decolonise' Shakespeare's famous plays, while experts claimed his work is 'problematic' for linking whiteness to beauty (file photo)

During the first Globe seminar, academics debated A Midsummer Night's Dream (pictured: Mark Chaundy as Lysander, Kate Valentine as Helena and Benedict Nelson as Demetrius)

The Globe's first seminar, which aims to hold 'conversations around race and diversity', also drew attention to the use of terms including 'Moor', 'tawny Tartar' and 'Ethiope', as racial epithets.

Dr Vanessa Corredera claimed the humorous and spectacular nature of A Midsummer Night's Dream can work to 'gloss over' the 'racialised dynamics' within.

She explained: 'In context with other plays and even the Sonnets, this language is all over the place, this language of dark and light there are these racialising elements.'

The associate professor of English at Andrews University in Michigan also claimed that every Shakespeare play is a 'race play' as 'whiteness' is part of all of the works.

The first line of the 1595 comedy A Midsummer Night's Dream famously opens with Thesus saying: 'Now, fair Hippolyta, our nuptial hour Draws on apace.'

But Aldo Billingslea, an actor known for American Soil, claimed the line includes 'problematic' links between whiteness and beauty, supporting the view that 'white is beautiful, fair is beautiful, dark is unattractive'.

Lysander, a handsome young man of Athens, declares in the play: 'Who would not trade a raven for a dove?', which Mr Billingslea viewed as giving 'value' to the birds 'because of their colour'.

Dr Corredera also argued that there are elements of 'Orientalism' and 'colonialism' in an argument between fairy king Oberon and his queen Titania over a voiceless Indian boy in the comedy.

One academic said there was 'Orientalism' in an argument between fairy king Oberon and his queen Titania (pictured in 2018 performance) over a voiceless Indian boy in the play

A Midsummer Night's Dream was discussed in the Globe's first seminar, but it is not obviously associated with race like in Othello (pictured: Joanna Vanderham as Desdemona and Hugh Quarshie as Othello in 2015 play)

The Globe's first seminar drew attention to terms including 'Moor', 'tawny Tartar' and 'Ethiope', as racial epithets. Pictured: Obi Abili as Aaron 'the Moor' in 2014 play at Globe Theatre

Both Mr Billingslea and Dr Corredera agreed that casting people of colour could bring new meaning to some of the language used, and said theatre professionals should decide which terms to include in performances.

Although A Midsummer Night's Dream was the topic discussed in the Globe's first seminar, it is not as obviously associated with race as other Shakespearean works, including Othello, Antony and Cleopatra and Titus Andronicus.

Meanwhile, Shakespearean scholar Sir Stanley Wells said he 'would not' represent Shakespeare as racist and argued the 'contrast of light and dark' could refer to behaviour, rather than appearance.

He added: 'There is a difference between the racism of a character and the racism of a writer.'

The Globe, which has been doing work on Shakespeare and race since 2018, has launched the seminars to hold 'conversations about race and diversity', as well as approaching genders dynamics in the bard's work.

Professor Farah Karim-Cooper, co-director of education at Shakespeare's Globe, said: 'It is really reductive to suggest we are 'assaulting' or 'canceling' Shakespeare.

'We are holding conversations about race and diversity. If you knew your Shakespeare, you'd understand that Shakespeare is robust, enduring and that he can handle this.

He's not going anywhere. We love him too and no we are not saying he was a racist!

'To suggest that we are saying Shakespeare was racist when we know actually very little about the man himself - I mean scholars are still debating as to whether he was Catholic or Protestant - is just food for a superficial culture war that frankly we are not interested in participating in.'

It comes soon after some academics began refusing to teach Shakespeare in US schools, arguing that the Bard promotes racism, white supremacy and intolerance.

In February, Amanda MacGregor, a Minnesota-based librarian, bookseller and freelance journalist, asked why teachers were continuing to include Shakespeare in their classrooms.

One Shakespearean scholar Sir Stanley Wells claimed that there was a 'difference between the racism of a character and the racism of a writer'. Pictured: William Shakespeare

Academics said casting people of colour could bring new meaning to the language used in the plays, such as Antony and Cleopatra (pictured Denis Quilley and Diana Rigg in 1992 play)

Writing in the January issue of School Library Journal, she said: 'Shakespeare's works are full of problematic, outdated ideas, with plenty of misogyny, racism, homophobia, classism, anti-Semitism and misogynoir.'

But others contended the latest woke trend is short-sighted, not taking into account the lessons that Shakespeare still can teach for today - with one New York Times best-selling author accusing schools that jettison the writer as 'flushing great literature down the drain.'

Still MacGregor contended that an increasing number of educators are 'coming to the conclusion that it's time for Shakespeare to be set aside and deemphasised to make room for modern, diverse and inclusive voices.

Others argued in the journal that it was not a question of 'either/or', and that there was space to study Shakespeare alongside other authors dealing with more modern themes.

Ayanna Thompson, professor of English at Arizona State University and president of the Shakespeare Association of America, recommended Toni Morrison, August Wilson, W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin, among others.

'There are rich global perspectives from which Shakespeare can be approached, taught, and analyzed,' she said.
The Prime Minister is set to confirm that big weddings will be permitted to take place from June 21, it emerged today.

Newlyweds in England are currently only able to share their big day with up to 30 guests following the latest relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions on May 17.

But Boris Johnson yesterday hinted that the June 21 'freedom day' will go ahead as planned, saying he does not see 'anything' in Covid data that would prevent his roadmap from going ahead.

The long-awaited fourth step will see attendance restrictions scrapped at weddings and other large-scale events, which will go ahead as planned from June 21.

Downing Street insiders told the Daily Telegraph they were confident large numbers would be permitted to attend weddings from next month.

The Prime Minister (above) is set to confirm that big weddings will be permitted to take place from June 21, it emerged today

Newlyweds in England are currently only able to share their big day with up to 30 guests following the latest relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions on May 17. Pictured: Stock image

It comes after the success of several large-scale pilot events, which saw only a handful of people test positive for Covid out of 58,000 attendees.

A source said: 'There's increasing confidence that vaccines are working against all variants and the data doesn't seem to be changing too drastically in terms of case numbers and hospitalisations.

'As long as there are no significant changes over the next few days, there is cautious optimism.'

Mr Johnson yesterday said details for the final relaxation of rules will be unveiled by the end of the month - earlier than had been feared after the Indian strain started to fuel cases in the UK.

The Prime Minister is expected provide an update into the potential relaxation of social distancing rules, including the 'one metre plus' and face mask regulations.

Speaking in Portsmouth, he said: 'I am still seeing nothing in the data that leads me to think that we're going to have to deviate from the road map  obviously we must remain cautious but I'm seeing nothing that makes me think we have to deviate.

The Prime Minister Boris Johnson sits in the cockpit of an Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier

While the Indian variant is spreading rapidly in pockets of the country, 60 per cent of local authorities in England have yet to record a case (shown in grey). But it is likely the variant has spread even further than the map suggests because the data only goes up to May 8. Experts have said they expect it to overtake the Kent strain and become dominant in the coming weeks and months

'But on June 21 and vaccine certification  or Covid status certification I should say  people should bear in mind that I don't see any prospect of certificates to go into pubs or anything else.'

Pressed on whether the public will continue to be asked to wear masks, Mr Johnson replied: 'We will let people know as much as we possibly can by the end of the month about weddings, for instance.

'All the details we'll try and let people know by the end of the month about exactly where we think we'll be on June 21, Step 4.'

It comes as there were more conflicting signals about the Indian variant on Friday as Government experts estimated England's Covid outbreak may be on the rise - despite separate data suggesting the nation's outbreak is flat.

No10's top scientists estimated the R rate  which measures the spread of the virus  is now between 0.9 and 1.1, up from the lower estimate of 0.8 last week.

Random swabbing by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) found almost 50,000 people were infected with the virus on any day last week, or the equivalent of one in every 1,110 people.

The estimate is up by 20 per cent on the previous seven-day spell.

It comes after the success of several large-scale pilot events, which saw only a handful of people test positive for Covid out of 58,000 attendees. Pictured: Stock image

Positive test figures from the Wellcome Sanger Institute  which cover only lab-analysed cases in the two weeks between April 25 and May 8  reveal the mutant Indian strain made up 50 per cent or more of all samples in 23 parts of the country by last week. Bolton and Blackburn in the North West remain the worst-hit areas with almost 600 cases between them and the variant making up 81 per cent of infections

The national body, whose estimates are watched closely by ministers, warned it was starting to see a 'potential increase'.

But its head of analytics for the Covid infection survey Sarah Crofts said 'rates remain low and it is too soon to say if this is the start of a trend'.

The figures came after two separate datasets on Thursday suggested the opposite trend, allaying fears the Indian variant was spiralling out of control.

Public Health England's weekly surveillance report found coronavirus cases had dropped in every region except the North West and in every age group except 5 to 9-year-olds.

Covid cases are only surging in three of 23 hotspots for the Indian variant  Bolton, Blackburn and Bedford  but are remaining flat in others and even falling in two  Sefton and South Northamptonshire.

Cases of a coronavirus variant first detected in India are rising in the UK, potentially threatening the lockdown-easing roadmap

WHAT DOES THE DATA SHOW ON ENGLAND'S COVID OUTBREAK? Official statistics have delivered a mixed picture on England's Covid outbreak this week. Some say it remains flat, but others suggest cases are rising. Which datasets say cases are staying flat? Public Health England suggested the Covid outbreak was flat-lining yesterday in its weekly surveillance report. They said cases were dipping in every region except the North West, which is struggling against an outbreak of the Indian variant. As many as 95 of 149 local authorities saw a drop in their cases, they added. PHE's data is based on national surveillance data on how many people are testing positive for the virus. This can't account for asymptomatic cases  thought to make up a third of all cases  and people who don't want to get tested for fear of having to self-isolate. King's College London experts also suggested Covid cases were flat, with 2,700 people being struck down with symptoms of Covid every day, which was no change on the previous week's estimate. Professor Tim Spector, the epidemiologist who leads the study, said their data suggested the Indian variant wouldn't lead to a slowdown in lockdown easings or overwhelm the NHS. Their data relies on daily reports from almost a million Britons saying whether they are feeling unwell, what symptoms they are suffering, and if they have tested positive for Covid. But it can only pick up symptomatic cases and misses those that trigger no warning signs. Which datasets say cases are rising? Office for National Statistics random swabbing hinted that cases may have risen by 20 per cent last week after it estimated there were 49,000 people infected with Covid over any day last week. For comparison, they said there were 40,800 infections in the previous week. Statisticians warned they may be seeing a 'potential rise'. But its head of analytics Sarah Crofts said 'rates remain low and it is too soon to say if this is the start of a trend'. The ONS study is seen as the gold-standard for watching the outbreak and is closely followed by ministers. This is because it relies on random swabbing of tens of thousands of Britons every week, meaning it can catch asymptomatic cases and those in individuals who do not want to get tested for fear of having to self-isolate. SAGE scientists calculating the R-rate have also suggested Covid infections could be rising in England. They say the rate is now between 0.9 and 1.1, up from the estimated 0.8 to 1.1 last week. But the top experts warn the R rate is a lagging indicator and can only show the picture of the spread of the virus from around three weeks ago. The R rate is no longer at the heart of the Government's Covid response because of the huge vaccination roll-out, and it will inevitably spike when restrictions are eased over the coming months. Test and Trace data showed Covid cases were up by 12 per cent compared to the same time last week. There were 15,202 Covid cases transferred to contact tracers last week, official data revealed, compared to 14,435 in the previous seven-day period. Department of Health figures on Covid cases in the country also show they may have started to rise. The latest figures show 2,303 infections were recorded today, up a quarter compared to last Friday. Advertisement

And separate analysis from King's College London found 2,270 Brits were developing Covid symptoms last week, barely a change from the previous seven-day spell.

But scientific advisers yesterday warned the latest coronavirus mutation may already be the dominant Covid strain in the UK after growing 'exponentially' since March.

Documents published by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies said the highly infectious B.1.617.2 strain likely made up the 'majority' of the UK's infections by mid-May.

The SPI-M subgroup modelled the variant's spread on May 12 based on how rapidly it spiralled last month, and forecast that it would account for more than 50 per cent of cases by the middle of the month.

Its finding suggests the official number of cases reported by Public Health England is an underestimate and says the variant is quickly replacing the current dominant Kent version, which triggered the second wave.

In a separate paper published yesterday, but submitted to ministers on May 11, SAGE warned cases of the Indian variant in Bolton, Bedford and Sefton were 'increasing apparently exponentially'.

The group called for 'aggressive use of asymptomatic testing, contact tracing and isolation' in hotspots and hinted at extending lockdown rules, warning the Government against waiting for more evidence before acting.

No10 has already deployed surge testing in a handful of areas where the variant is spreading quickest, including Bolton and Blackburn.

Highlighting SAGE's fear about the strain, experts wrote: 'In the face of uncertain evidence the risk of overreacting seems small compared to the potential benefit of delaying a third wave until more people are vaccinated.'

Expert advisers told the Government they believed the current reproduction 'R' rate of the Indian variant - how many people on average each patient infects - is around 1.64. They did not give an estimated R for the Kent strain.

They said the new strain appears to be spreading 40 per cent faster than the Kent version but they could not 'conclude with any certainty' cannot be certain it is biologically more transmissible.

The Joint Universities Pandemic and Epidemiological Research Group (Juniper) said it was still possible its increased infectivity could be down to superspreader events and socioeconomic factors.

For example a lot of the spread occurring in Bolton is among the town's Indian population who are statistically more likely to live in high density housing and live with multiple relatives.

It comes as Mr Johnson told Conservative MPs that the 'one-metre plus' rule for social distancing is still set to be scrapped in June.

The Prime Minister said eliminating the measure was the 'single biggest difference' the government could bring about in order to get Britain's pubs back into action, and he was eager for the rule to be scrapped by June 21, The Times reports.

As long as the rule is in force, pubs, restaurants, theatres, cinemas and other hospitality businesses remain financially unviable, having to legally keep customers separated while using their premises, industry leaders have warned.

Many have had to keep their doors closed throughout the coronavirus crisis.

More than 37million people have now received one vaccine injection  the equivalent of more than 70 per cent of all adults  and 21.2million are fully inoculated.

But the rise of the Indian Covid variant had sparked concerns that plans to end social distancing measures were in jeopardy, but on Wednesday Mr Johnson told the 1922 Committee of Tory MPs he was confident about abolishing the one-metre plus rule next month.

He said: 'We are hopeful we can do that at the end of the road map.' But Mr Johnson added that it depends on figures 'continuing in the right direction'.

One MP who was at the 1922 meeting said: 'He seemed very upbeat about removing the one-metre-plus rule next month.

'He told us he fully realises that it is the biggest difference the government can make to letting pubs serve customers in reasonably normal conditions and that means getting rid of any capacity restrictions.'
Princess Diana's brother believed that rogue reporter Martin Bashir planted a listening device in her Kensington Palace apartment to gain her confidence.

The author Sally Bedell Smith recorded the revelation in notes she made when she interviewed Earl Spencer for her 1998 biography of Diana.

Diana herself had believed a bug had been planted in her flat by the security services and had professionals in to check for listening devices.

Ms Bedell Smith's notes record Earl Spencer's belief that a device was put in Diana's apartment by Bashir to make her believe her suspicions were well-founded, according to The Times.

Earl Spencer reportedly said that he was told by members of Diana's staff that Bashir went into her apartment with his 'anti-bugging team' before pulling a device from her radio.

The notes also record that Earl Spencer said he believed Diana would have done the interview without encouragement from anyone else - but only after Bashir had 'very cleverly' fed her 'insecurities'.

The new revelation comes after Earl Spencer last night demanded that Scotland Yard investigate the BBC over her 1995 Panorama interview with Bashir.

The Metropolitan Police promised it would 'assess' any possible new evidence into former senior judge Lord Dyson's explosive report into how the interview was secured.

Princess Diana's brother believed that rogue reporter Martin Bashir planted a listening device in her Kensington Palace apartment to gain her confidence and secure his Panorama interview with her in 1995

Earl Spencer was convinced Bashir has put listening devices in Diana's apartment, according to the princess's biographer, Sally Bedell Smith

Throughout the mid-1990s, Diana's concerns about her privacy and security were crucial to her.

She believed her telephones had been bugged as part of a spying campaign against her.

According to Ms Bedell Smith, Earl Spencer said his sister was 'off on her own bat having had her various insecurities fed by Bashir very cleverly'.

'I even heard from members of her staff that he would go in with his anti-bugging team and go into a radio and produce a bug,' he added.

Earl Spencer is said to have also claimed that Bashir made his sister 'so paranoid' about her communication channels that he 'destroyed several of her friendships'.

Lord Dyson's final report did not mention these notes.

Diana herself had believed a bug had been planted in her flat and had professionals in to check for listening devices

The author Sally Bedell Smith recorded the listening device revelation in notes she made when she interviewed Earl Spencer for her 1998 biography of Diana

According to the Daily Mail's Richard Kay, Diana had experts in to check for bugs. They pulled up palace carpets and lifted floorboards.

The news comes after last night's revelation that Earl Spencer had written to Met Commissioner Cressida Dick alleging that his sister was the victim of blackmail and fraud.

The allegation will intensify the pressure on the Met for a full investigation into how Bashir persuaded Diana to agree to the bombshell broadcast.

The force promised yesterday that it would 'assess' any new evidence in Lord Dyson's report.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland also weighed in, saying that the former Master of the Rolls' findings raised 'very serious issues'.

According to Ms Bedell Smith, Earl Spencer said his sister was 'off on her own bat having had her various insecurities fed by Bashir very cleverly'

He suggested that 'fraud' and 'forgery' may have occurred.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday warned the BBC: 'Nothing like this must ever happen again.'

And Princes William and Harry accused the corporation of ruining their mother's live with the 'deceitful' interview.

According to a friend, Earl Spencer believed Bashir had established 'coercive control' over his sister.

Lord Dyson concluded in his enquiry that Bashir commissioned fake bank statements - a blatant breach of BBC rules - to convince Earl Spencer to introduce him to Diana.

It is understood that Earl Spencer first wrote to Dame Cressida in January.

He has since been in regular touch with the head of the Met's specialist crime squad, Commander Alex Murray.
This week, she told gymnasts they would 'win for your country' at the Olympics

The rhythmic gymnast has not been seen since rumours she gave birth to twins

It comes more than two-and-a-half years since Alina, 38, was last seen in public

Glamorous Alina Kabaeva, the suspected lover of Vladimir Putin, has made a rare public statement more than two-and-a-half years after she was last seen in public.

The famous Olympic gold medal-winning rhythmic gymnast, 38, has not been seen since rumours that she gave birth to twin boys in a Moscow hospital in 2019.

The star, who now heads a major media holding in Moscow, this week told Russia's women gymnastics team that they were 'ready and set to win for your country' at the Olympics.

Her statement via the Russian Gymnastics Federation came a few days after fans complained they did not know how to contact the vanished Kabaeva on her birthday.

Glamorous Alina Kabaeva, the suspected lover of Vladimir Putin (both pictured), has made a rare public statement more than two-and-a-half years after she was last seen in public

Rumours first linked her romantically to Putin in 2008 when she was a pro-Kremlin MP, while many saw her as the reason for the breakup of Putin's marriage to ex-first lady Lyudmila.

Her last known public appearance was in October 2018, when she defended her doctorate at a university in St Petersburg.

In May 2019, reports emerged that Kabaeva had given birth to twins, but a source close to her said: 'We do not comment on the rumours.'

Major newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets carried the story on its website only to suddenly delete it and wipe all mentions of the claims, including from the internet cache.

Another report said the birth had been by Caesarean.

Newspapers and TV stations in her own National Media Group - from which she is believed to earn almost 8million a year - did not mention the rumoured birth of twins.

The star, 38, (pictured) this week told Russian gymnasts they were 'ready and set to win for your country' at the Olympics in a statement via the Russian Gymnastics Federation

The famous Olympic gold medal (pictured with Vladimir Putin) winning rhythmic gymnast has not been seen since rumours she gave birth to twin boys in a Moscow hospital

Tabloid Express Gazeta recounted this week in a rare story about her: 'She literally vanished.

'After the giving-birth-to-twins reports nothing was heard about Kabaeva, as if she had disappeared.

'Alina is not giving interviews, nor attending social events, nor participating in any TV programmes.

'One can only guess what is happening in her private life.'

The report did not link her to Putin.

The Kremlin has previously denied a relationship between Putin and Kabaeva.

Kabaeva was not pictured or filmed for her new statement, but was quoted saying in a message to Russia's women gymnastics team: 'I am very glad that we have all returned to the life we used to have, with training, competitions, tournaments and the Olympic Games.

'I know that every one of you has worked and trained hard, and that now you are ready and set to win for your country, for those who support you.

'At this long-awaited and exciting moment I want you to know that you are loved, supported, that people believe in you.'

She vowed: 'I will be praying for you, and will be watching the competitions.'

She quoted famous Russian tsarist general Alexander Suvorov - a Putin hero - saying: 'Pray to God as this is where victory comes from. God is our general, God leads us.'

She stressed: 'He didn't lose a single battle.'

Putin has previously said: 'I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.'

He deplored 'those who with their snotty noses and erotic fantasies prowl into others' lives'.

Kabaeva is on record as saying she had met a man who 'I love very much', gushing: 'Sometimes you feel so happy that you even feel scared.'

Her last known public appearance (pictured) was in October 2018 when she defended her doctorate at a university in St Petersburg

Many Russians saw Alina (pictured) as the reason for the breakup of Putin's marriage to ex-first lady Lyudmila, 62, mother of his two adult daughters

Once regarded as Russia's most eligible woman, the only other suitor she has been linked to by the media was a married Georgian policeman.

This relationship petered out in 2005 amid complaints of tabloid intrusion into the sportswoman's life.

She once posed almost nude for Maxim and was described as 'full of sex' by a photographer.

There have been many reports of her wearing a wedding ring, but no records of a marriage.

She is reported to have a fleet of Maybach limousines at her disposal, and has been surrounded by a squad of machine-gun toting security guards on visits to a Moscow cafe.

Many Russians saw her as the reason for the breakup of Putin's marriage to ex-first lady Lyudmila, 62, mother of his two adult daughters.

The dictator of neighbouring Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko hinted that Putin's divorce decision came about because Kabaeva 'put pressure on the president'.
A primary school has told parents they must pick up their children by 3pm or face being reported to police and social services - sparking a fierce online debate.

Marsden State School in Logan in south-east Queensland on Thursday threatened to call authorities if parents routinely left their children hanging around school grounds 30 minutes after home time without prior approval.

'All students must be collected by 3pm,' the school said in a notice addressed to parents.

Marsden State School in Logan in south-east Queensland has said police and child safety will be called if kids are regularly left by their parents after 3pm - 30 minutes after classes end

Pictured: Marsden State School's Facebook post and follow-up comment on the problem of students being left at school long after classes end. One parent said it was 'a bit rough threatening child services'

'Parents of students left regularly on school grounds after 3pm without prior contact to the office may be reported to the police and child safety,' the post on the school's Facebook page added.

'The office is not an after-school child minding service.'

Marsden State School teaches about 1,170 students up to the age of 11.

One mum called the primary school's latest post 'alarming', while another said it was 'a bit rough threatening child services'.

'You should look up the legalities before making threats,' one parent wrote.

'It's not illegal to leave your kids unattended.'

'An hour or so after school unattended wouldn't be something that needs reporting to police or child safety, just leave the kids to wait in the pick up zone quietly.'

But another parent replied, 'this isn't the first post [about this], so it keeps happening.'

On the same day Marsden State School warned about children being left at school after teaching hours ended, it also reminded parents of the need to get kids to school before the scheduled start time 'so we can settle them'

'I don't think there is anything wrong with being strict about the child's well being, there's rules. Not hard to follow.'

In the same thread, the school followed up with a suggestion to arrange casual supervision with the local YMCA, 'If you know you are going to be one or two hours late'.

Shortly after the post about picking up children, officials also warned parents about school start times - triggering complaints about the drop-off zone.

The school said parents also needed to get their kids to school grounds before 8.20am 'so we can settle them for a calm start to the day'.

'It is best to aim for 8.15am to avoid rushing, upsets, missed messages etc. Children are LATE at 8.30am,' the school posted.

Some parents complained how difficult it was to get their kids in by 8.30am because of parking.

'Getting to school on time is difficult you'll get there early and spend up to 20mins looking for a park thus resulting in having to get a late note,' one parent said.

Another added, 'this is us constantly, it is so frustrating'.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Marsden State School for comment.
A double cold front will leave Australians shivering into the next week - as southern parts of the country brace for an icy 'polar blast'.

Southern parts of Western Australia will be the first areas to be hit with the cool temperatures, with one cold front arriving on Saturday.

A second cold front will hit the region on Sunday and is expected to bring the lowest temperatures of the year.

Temperatures are forecast to drop by as much as 9C, with the thermostat dropping to as low as 4C in Kalgoorlie in the state's Goldfields region.

A weather map for Australia on Tuesday morning shows southern parts of the country and east coast suffering a major cold front

The chilly weather will also bring rain and snow, with the latter expected to fall on Bluff Knoll in the state's south-west.

The cold air will eventually move east with those in southern Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Canberra and Hobart urged to rug up for their morning commutes next week.

Perth will reach just 19C on Sunday and 17C on Monday with no end in sight for the cold weather and heavy rainfall has also been forecasted for both days.

A Bureau of Meteorology spokesman said the wind chill will make the weather 'feel even colder'.

'Monday is forecast to be the coldest day. Katanning is expected to record the coldest temperature of 11C, with several other places in the Great Southern expected to only reach 12C,' they said.

'The coldest morning is forecast to be Tuesday. Areas in the Wheat Belt and Great Southern may only reach 2-3C overnight.'

By Tuesday afternoon that cold weather is expected to have moved into eastern states with Adelaide seeing a maximum of 19C and 16C on Wednesday.

Perth will reach just 19C on Sunday and 17C on Monday with no end in sight for the cold weather

A 'polar blast' will also bring up the chilly temperatures to parts of Australia's east coast (pictured Perisher, NSW)

Similar miserable conditions will be felt in Victoria with Melbourne already suffering its coldest day of the year on Saturday with a minimum of just 3.6C.

From Wednesday well into the weekend temperatures in the Victorian city will stay below 15C.

A frost warning has been set for the state's Gippsland areas as well as the state's north and north-east.

The sudden change in weather is a result of the polar blast coming up from Antarctica with some rain and thunderstorms also on the cards.

Sydney will be relatively warm over the next coming days but the cool is set to kick in from Thursday with a maximum of 20C forecast and just 18C on Friday.

Tasmanians will start feeling more winter-like conditions next week with temperatures dropping to as low as 7C on Thursday and 6C on Friday. Pictured: A man standing in the snow in Tasmania

Tasmanians will start feeling more winter-like conditions next week with temperatures dropping to as low as 7C on Thursday and 6C on Friday in Hobart.

Those in the nation's capital will see the worst of the cold air with minimums of 0C on Thursday and Friday in Canberra while next Saturday will be as cold as -1C.

Meanwhile Queenslanders will see the warm weather stick around for a little while longer with temperatures expected to stay in the low 20s throughout the next week.

Those in the Northern Territory can expect dry and sunny conditions for the remainder of the week.
Asghar Badshah, 39, was found inside the former Yorkshire Bank in Batley in December 2019 after being reported missing

Two women and two men have charged over the kidnap and murder of a missing man who was found dead inside the wall cavity of a locked-up former bank.

Asghar Badshah, 39, was found inside the former Yorkshire Bank in Batley, West Yorkshire, in December 2019 after being reported missing.

Police had forced entry into the Commercial Street building and found Mr Badshah's body inside a wall cavity of the bank - which had closed in 2016.

West Yorkshire Police today issued a fresh appeal for information as it emerged two men and two women were arrested in connection with the case on Thursday.

Qaisar Shah, 36, from Bradford, was charged with murder, conspiracy to kidnap and conspiracy to possess criminal property.

Sabbah Shahmuradi, 36, from Woking, is accused of murder and conspiracy to kidnap.

Sobia Syed, 37, and Zaban Syed, 60, both from Bradford, are charged with conspiracy to possess criminal property.

All four defendants will appear at Leeds Magistrates Court later today.

Detective Chief Inspector Heather Whoriskey, who is leading the investigation, said: 'A major policing investigation has been underway into Mr Badshah's kidnap and murder since 2019.

Police sealed off an area surrounding the bank in Batley, West Yorkshire in 2019 after they discovered Mr Badshah's body in a wall cavity

'We are continuing to follow a number of active lines of enquiry in what has been a long running and complex case.'

Mr Badshah was reported missing on December 4, 2019, and is understood to have last been seen in the early hours of November 30.

He was confirmed dead on December 31 after police identified a body they found inside a former bank in Batley, West Yorkshire.

In a statement, Mr Badshah's family said: 'We, as a family, are deeply shocked and devastated by the loss of our dear brother Asghar Badshah.

'His beautiful smile and charisma, as well as his generosity, will never be forgotten.

'We, as a family, please ask for privacy during our time of grief as our elderly mother is deeply upset at this time.

'We pray for justice for Asghar and appeal to the public for any assistance they can provide to the police in this investigation.'

West Yorkshire Police ask anyone with information to contact the Homicide and Major Enquiry Team on 101, referencing Operation Plumeham.
Britain's ambassador to the US 'personally' asked the interior designer behind a controversial Downing Street renovation to redo her Washington residence.

Dame Karen Pierce approached Lulu Lytle, the co-founder of Soane Britain, to redecorate her impressive home in Washington DC this year, the Times reports.

However, it has been claimed the proposed revamp was abandoned in April after a furious row emerged over the makeover of Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat.

The lavish refurbishment of 11 Downing Street, which featured gold wallpaper by interior designer Lytle, reportedly cost a six-figure sum.

But insiders say the Prime Minister has had to call in specialist decorators to rehang parts of the 840 per roll 'hand-crafted' paper - because it keeps falling down.

Dame Karen Pierce (above) approached Lulu Lytle, the co-founder of Soane Britain, to redecorate her impressive residence in Washington DC this year, reports claim

However, it has been claimed the proposed revamp was abandoned in April after a furious row emerged over the makeover of Boris Johnson's Downing Street flat. Pictured: British Embassy Residence in Washington DC

Mr Johnson's newly appointed independent adviser on ministers' interests, Lord Geidt, is carrying out an investigation into the way that the Tories tried to disguise a 58,000 payment for the refit from Conservative Party funds.

It is understood the proposed revamp of Dame Karen's home on Embassy Row by Lytle would have cost hundreds of thousands of pounds to complete.

Sources say it was scrapped due to concerns it would be considered a 'waste of public money.'

Officials in the Foreign Office asked for the procurement process to be made 'watertight' after ministers recently became aware of plans to have Soane Britain refurbish the residence, the Times claims.

A spokesman said: 'No contract for interior design works has been signed.'

However, they did not deny Lytle had been approached.

The diplomatic compound, which includes the British Embassy and British Council base, is currently undergoing significant renovations.

The lavish refurbishment of 11 Downing Street, which featured gold wallpaper by interior designer Lytle, reportedly cost a six-figure sum. Pictured: Mr Johnson and Ms Symonds

Plotting a makeover: Miss Lytle was spotted outside the flat in October

All three buildings are in need of repairs, and it is understood the overhaul of Dame Karen's home will include a newly installed kitchen, bathrooms, and the replacement of its pavements, roofs and terraces.

The attic and gym area will also reportedly be converted into flats.

The Embassy is one of the largest in Washington, employing 210 diplomats and approximately 250 additional staffers.

Dame Karen, 61, who was appointed in February 2020 after Sir Kim Darroch stepped down, has moved out of the residence for 18 months as the renovations take place.

It comes as it was claimed parts of the 'hand-crafted' wallpaper installed in Mr Johnson's 11 Downing Street flat have repeatedly fallen down.

The latest twist in the 'Wallpapergate' affair emerged as a photograph surfaced of upmarket interior designer Lytle visiting Downing Street.

Meanwhile, some of the fabrics Lytle's Soane Britain company used in the refit of Mr Johnson and fiancee Carrie Symonds's 11 Downing Street apartment were revealed.

A photograph of Miss Symonds with Wilfred  her one-year-old son with Mr Johnson  was released by Downing Street at Christmas

Dazzling choice of colours: The couples sofa is in Soane Britains Damascus Stripe

The sofa is upholstered with ruby and emerald material called Damascus Stripe. Miss Lytle says it is 'based on a 19th century Syrian original pattern woven from cotton and silk'

The sofa is upholstered with ruby and emerald material called Damascus Stripe. Miss Lytle says it is 'based on a 19th century Syrian original pattern woven from cotton and silk'.

The curtains are thought to be Soane Britain's Tendril Vine pattern, also in emerald.

Appropriately for passionate eco campaigner Miss Symonds, who oversaw the revamp, the window frames and other parts of the woodwork are painted in a matching pastel green.

A photograph of Miss Symonds with Wilfred  her one-year-old son with Mr Johnson  was released by Downing Street at Christmas.

At the time no one realised it had been taken in the No 11 flat  and the dispute over new decor for the apartment and how it was paid for did not erupt until it was revealed by this newspaper in February.

Mr Johnson's newly appointed independent adviser on ministers' interests, Lord Geidt, is carrying out an investigation into the way that the Tories tried to disguise a 58,000 payment for the refit from Conservative Party funds.

Going green: Emerald and white curtains are thought to be the firms Tendril Vine

The problem with the wallpaper is thought to derive from the heavyweight paper used by Miss Lytle, who does not employ the production-line methods used for most domestic wallpapers.

Her website proclaims that her wallpapers are 'made in British mills and workshops, employing traditional methods such as block screen printing'.

She says it is worth it to 'create high-quality modern wallpapers that capture the atmosphere of hand-crafted products'.

Hanging heavy duty wallpaper is much more difficult than cheaper, lighter mass produced versions sold in most high street furnishing stores.

As the cost of the makeover soared last year, the Prime Minister was heard railing that Miss Symonds was 'buying gold wallpaper... I can't afford it'.

As the cost of the makeover soared last year, the Prime Minister was heard railing that Miss Symonds was 'buying gold wallpaper... I can't afford it'

Lord Geidt, former private secretary to the Queen, the Prime Minister's independent adviser on ministerial ethics, plans to release the long overdue register of ministerial interests by the end of this month.

He has said he expects Mr Johnson's entry covering the renovation of his No 11 apartment, and his own advice on the issue, would be released as part of it.

In addition, the Electoral Commission announced three weeks ago that it is carrying out a formal investigation into the matter.

The watchdog said it was 'satisfied that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that an offence or offences may have occurred'.

The Commission has sweeping powers to demand documents and interview witnesses under caution. Failure to declare donations is an offence under electoral law, punishable by fines of up to 20,000.

Failure to comply or tell the truth is a criminal offence. The Commission can pass on investigations to the police if it uncovers evidence of criminal offences or believes its efforts are being frustrated.

Downing Street says Mr Johnson is co-operating fully with the inquiry, which could demand to see relevant emails and WhatsApp messages.

MailOnline has contacted Soane Britain for comment.
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Thousands of protesters have turned out at passionate pro-Palestinian rallies calling on the Morrison government to hold Israel to account for alleged ethnic cleansing and war crimes.

For the second weekend in a row, Sydney and Melbourne have hosted major protests in support of a timely two-state solution to the deadly conflict, and an end to Australia's 'one-sided support' for Israel.

As many as 15,000 demonstrators are believed to have attended the two rallies.

A fragile ceasefire is holding in Gaza after Israel and Hamas agreed to pause 11 days of bloodshed that has so far killed about 250 Palestinians, including 66 children, and 12 Israeli civilians and a soldier.

Hundreds have also been wounded on both sides after Israeli forces tried to forcibly evict Palestinians from their homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.

Up to 15,000 people have attended passionate pro-Palestinian rallies calling on the Morrison government to hold Israel to account for alleged ethnic cleansing and war crimes (pictured at Hyde Park, Sydney)

Pro-Palestinian protesters took to the streets of Sydney on Saturday amid violent tensions between Palestine and Israel

For the second weekend in a row, Sydney and Melbourne have hosted major protests in support of a timely two-state solution to the deadly conflict. Protesters are pictured in Sydney

A protester in Melbourne carries a sign reading 'We can't breathe since 1948' during the dramatic rallies over the weekend

Tensions have erupted since Israeli forces tried to forcibly evict Palestinians from their homes in the neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah and stormed the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem

A young child in Sydney is seen carrying a sign which reads 'Israel is killing children like me' during protests on Saturday

On Saturday, US President Joe Biden, whose administration worked to achieve the truce, said a two-state solution was the answer and promised a major package with other countries to help rebuild Gaza.

In Australia, the sentiment at Saturday's rallies was that Australia was holding its historical line of digging in behind Israel and not doing enough to support a solution.

In Melbourne, Palestinian educator Noura Mansour said at least 10,000 people turned out to send a clear message to the Morrison government that its policies on the conflict do not resonate with them.

She said Australians had responded to a week of devastating scenes of death and destruction, to stories of entire Palestinian families perishing in Israeli air strikes, and children being pulled from rubble with horrific injuries.

Palestine supporters are seen carrying homemade signs and flags in Sydney on Saturday. The protests were organised across Australia to rally against the recent violence in Israel and the Gaza strip

A pro-Palestinian supporter emotionally lies on the ground during rallies in Sydney on Saturday. About 250 Palestinians have been killed in 11 days of rocket attacks

In Australia, the sentiment at Saturday's rallies was that Australia was holding its historical line of digging in behind Israel and not doing enough to support a solution

Many protesters wore make-up to represent the bloodshed of the hundreds of lives lost in the violent conflict

Thousands are seen walking the streets of Sydney on Saturday. Rallies were held across Australia to protest against Israeli actions during the conflict

Emotional scenes depicting the carnage of the conflict were played out in a 'Rally for Palestine' protest in Sydney on Saturday

Children are pictured covered in paint to represent blood and surrounded by protest signs during the rallies in Sydney

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged both sides to exercise restraint, saying Israel has the right to defend itself and its people but also that Palestinians must be able to live safely

Crowds of protesters walk through the streets in Sydney. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced 11 days after deadly fighting

'It is great that we have a ceasefire but unless we end the illegal and inhumane blockade in Gaza, and stop ethnic cleansing in Jerusalem, we'll find ourselves back in this position a few months down the track,' she told AAP from the protest.

'We need to harness the forces we're seeing here today. We know the Australian people support Palestinian rights and self-determination, and that is not reflected in the Morrison government's policies.'

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged both sides to exercise restraint, saying Israel has the right to defend itself and its people but also that Palestinians must be able to live safely.

He said Australia supports a two-state solution but Australia has also said the International Criminal Court should not investigate alleged war crimes by Israel because Australia does not consider Palestine a state.

Some protesters hold a homemade coffin as they walk through the rally in Hyde Park in Sydney. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison urged both sides to exercise restraint, saying Israel has the right to defend itself

It's the second weekend in a row protests have erupted in Sydney and Melbourne

Protesters used megaphones during the rallies on Saturday in Sydney. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was announced after 11 days of fighting in the Middle East

Palestine supporters are seen leaning on a knee during emotional rallies in Sydney

A Palestine supporter holds a flare during a rally at Hyde Park on Saturday.

Similar scenes were seen in Melbourne on Saturday with thousands marching through the city's CBD

Ms Mansour accused the prime minister of bringing tension to Australia by always taking sides.

'They say they want a two-state solution but then they provide unconditional support to one of the parties, so it can continue with its aggressive policies.'

In Sydney, the Palestine Action Group's Dalia Al-Haj Qasem says its rally also drew thousands.

'The Australian government has been complicit, since 1948 they have abstained in resolutions that support the Palestinian people, or they've come out to vote against the Palestinian people,' she told AAP.

A young child carries a 'Free Palestine' sign while sitting on a man's shoulders during rallies in Melbourne on Saturday

Pro-Palestine supporters are seen outside the Library of Victoria on Saturday to protest against recent violence in Israel and the Gaza strip

Protesters are seen screaming during emotional scenes in Melbourne on Saturday as tensions continue in the Middle East

Melbourne was full of thousands of protesters on Saturday demanding an end to the violence between Israel and Hamas

'They don't recognise any of the Human Rights Watch reports, or anything that is against Israel. We want that to change.'

Earlier this week, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce said the international community wouldn't be able to do anything to halt the conflict, and Australia shouldn't even try.

He said he didn't want to see any spillover of the conflict playing out in Australia.

'I don't want to see someone else's turd in my toilet and if you come to our country ... flush it,' he told the ABC's Q&A program.

AAP has sought comment from the federal government.
Egyptian mediators today held talks to firm up a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip following a devastating 11-day conflict.

Thousands of Palestinians returned home to scenes of devastation yesterday after the temporary peacetime was agreed in the early hours of Friday.

The United Nations has since rushed to supply Gaza with food, Covid vaccines and medical supplies, with a 130-truck convoy carrying urgently needed aid from Egypt also on its way.

Since May 10, Israel has unleashed hundreds of air strikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets towards Israel.

A total of 243 Palestinians are understood to have died during the clashes, while 12 people died in Israel. Among them are 66 children.

Officials believe it will cost tens of millions and take years to reconstruct the area following catastrophic air strikes which struck the densely-populated area.

Egypt yesterday sent a delegation to Israel to discuss ways of firming up the ceasefire, which faced its first test last night when fresh clashes between Israeli security forces and Palestinians broke out around Temple Mount.

The delegates have since been shuttling between Israel and Gaza, with talks expected to continue into today.

A Palestinian child sits amid the rubble of a destroyed house after a ceasefire in the Gaze Strip

A Palestinian policeman walks on the rubble of Arafat City, Gaza's police headquarters in Gaza City, today

A Palestinian family have breakfast near their destroyed house which was hit by Israeli bombing in Gaza City

Thousands of Palestinians returned home to scenes of devastation yesterday as Egyptian mediators attempted to secure a longer-term calm between the two sides

A Palestinian woman walks past a dsetroyed building in the al-Rimal commercial district in Gaza City

A diplomat said discussions will involve implementing agreed upon measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to stop practices that led to the latest fighting.

Although he did not elaborate, it appeared he was referring to violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the eviction of Palestinian families in east Jerusalem.

Sources say the US Secretary of State will visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on the ceasefire mediated with US support.

It comes as Israeli police fired tear gas at Palestinians attending prayers at the Al-Aqsa mosque on Friday - who hurled rocks in response, following a 'victory' parade through Jerusalem in which they chanted pro-Hamas slogans.

Meanwhile, celebrations in the West Bank also turned into violent protests with Israeli security forces firing teargas at Palestinians near Bethlehem.

But despite the clashes the truce held through to Saturday morning, with no rocket or bombing attacks reported.

Both sides have declared victory and threatened to quickly resume hostilities if the situation deteriorates again - with Benjamin Netanyahu saying he is ready to respond 'with a new level of force'.

A total of 248 Palestinians are understood to have died during the clashes, while 13 people died in Israel. Among them are 66 children

Palestinians sit among the rubble of their destroyed homes during the ceasefire between Israel and Gaza militants

A Palestinian shop owner sits amongst the ruins of his store in the al-Rimal commercial district in Gaza City today

Palestinian fishermen mend their nets before setting to sea at the main port in Gaza City

Officials believe it will cost tens of millions to reconstruct the area following devastating air strikes which struck the densely-populated area over an 11-day period

Meanwhile Hamas said 'our finger is on the trigger' if Israel crosses a 'red line', pointing to violence around Al-Aqsa mosque as an example.

Netanyahu is facing criticism from his right-wing base that fighting with Hamas was ended too early, before the IDF was able to take out any of its top targets in Hamas's leadership.

But the Israeli Prime Minister hit back in a speech, saying Hamas had paid 'a heavy price' while claiming 200 fighters had been killed in Israeli airstrikes and shelling that had also destroyed 62 miles of tunnels and severely limited the group's abilities to launch rocket attacks.

He said Israel had done 'daring and new things, and this without being dragged into unnecessary adventures.' He added that Israeli forces had caused 'maximum damage to Hamas with a minimum of casualties in Israel.'

In the meantime, the truce provides both side with an opportunity to count the cost.

Palestinians have taken to the streets to celebrate the ceasefire with a child sitting on the roof of a car brandishing a gun

Both sides have declared victory and threatened to quickly resume hostilities if the situation deteriorates again - with Benjamin Netanyahu saying he is ready to respond 'with a new level of force'

Thousands of people attended funerals of Palestinians who died during the past few days of the conflict between Hamas and Israel

Mourners carried the bodies of members of teh Ezz-Al Din Al-Qassam Brigades who died during the bombing of a tunnel

The flash-points provided an early test for a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas which only came into force at 2am on Friday

In Gaza, the health authority said 248 Palestinians including 66 children have been killed, with more than 1,900 injured including 560 children. The WHO put the number of injured significantly higher, at 8,600.

In addition, another 25 Palestinians were killed in the West Bank, the Palestinian health authority said, with Israel saying five were shot after attempting to ram or stab Israeli soldiers at checkpoints.

Hamas says a total of 1,447 homes including 205 residential buildings have been hit or completely destroyed, while government buildings, water pipe, electrical cables, generators, and mosques have also been damaged.

Israel says 13 people were killed in its territory, including one Israeli child, one Arab Israeli teenager and her father, one Indian, and two Thai nationals. 357 people have been wounded by rockets.

These satellite images show the damage caused during the attacks in Gaza City following the Israeli attacks

Later images showed some of the larger buildings in the area destroyed following a series of Israeli air strikes

Israeli police fire tear gas at crowds of Palestinians gathered on Temple Mount at Al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers, following a 'victory' parade through the city to celebrate the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel

Police were also pictured firing tear gas at demonstrators near Bethlehem as impromptu celebrations turned to violence

Israeli security forces stand in position during clashes with Palestinians at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli security forces clash with Palestinians at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque, known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount

Israeli security forces and Palestinian Muslim worshippers clash in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police broke out at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, in the latest unrest at the sensitive religious site

Israeli security forces and Palestinian Muslim worshippers clash in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Of 4,070 rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups towards Israel, around 90 percent were intercepted by Israel's air defence system, the military says.

2,061 claims received for homes hit by rockets and 1,367 more for cars in southern and central Israel, according to the Israel Tax Authority, which deals with compensations.

Israel said its airstrikes destroyed more than 60 miles of Hamas tunnels, along with rocket batteries and a 'suicide submarine'. It also shot down drones and its Iron Dome defences destroyed thousands of Hamas missiles.

Like the three previous conflicts between the bitter enemies, the latest round of fighting ended inconclusively.

Netanyahu has been keen to declare victory, but is facing accusations from his base that the operation was ended too soon, before the IDF had taken out any of its top targets among Hamas's leadership.

Meanwhile Hamas failed to cause major damage to Israel due to its Irone Dome defences which took down thousands of rockets, but was able to keep up the fire despite nightly bombing raids by the IDF.

Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police broke out at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, in the latest unrest at the sensitive religious site

Israeli security forces and Palestinian Muslim worshippers clash in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Palestinians react as Israeli security forces throw stun grenade during clashes at the compound that houses Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli security forces and Palestinian Muslim worshippers clash in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Spontaneous celebrations that broke out in Jerusalem and the West Bank on Friday threatened to turn into flash-points as the day wore on, with police firing tear gas at Palestinians near Bethlehem

Photojournalists and Palestinian demonstrators run away from tear gas fired by Israeli forces in Bethlehem

The decision to call a ceasefire came mostly due to international pressure, particularly from the US and France.

President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the impending cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, saying he sees a 'genuine opportunity' toward the larger goal of building a lasting peace in the Middle East.

Biden credited the Egyptian government with playing a crucial role in brokering the cease-fire and said he and top White House aides were intensely involved in an 'hour by hour' effort to stop the bloodletting.

'I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy,' Biden said. 'My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that.'

Britain welcomed a ceasefire announced by Israel and Hamas and called on all sides to work to make it durable and 'end the unacceptable cycle of violence' in the region.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted a call for leaders in the region to 'find a durable solution' that 'prevents terrorism, ends the cycle of violence and delivers a sustainable and just peace'.

'All sides must work to make the ceasefire durable and end the unacceptable cycle of violence and loss of civilian life,' UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said on Twitter, adding that Britain supports 'efforts to bring about peace'.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi in a tweet early on Friday thanked U.S. President Joe Biden for his role in making the Egyptian initiative for a ceasefire in Gaza succeed.

Muslim worshippers wave thew Palestinian and the Hamas flag during clashes with Israeli security forces in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Muslim worshippers gather in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound ahead of Friday prayers

Fresh clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police broke out at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Friday, in the latest unrest at the sensitive religious site

Israeli police accused Palestinians of instigating the violence by throwing rocks, and said officers fired tear gas back

Palestinians hold a 'victory' parade at the Jerusalem compound which houses both the Al-Aqsa mosque and Dome of the Rock

Palestinian Muslim worshippers gather in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound for Friday prayers

Sisi said he and President Biden both saw the urgency of managing the conflict between all parties with diplomacy.

Egyptian efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israelis and Palestinians went into effect early on Friday.

Turkey has welcomed the cease-fire in Gaza but is also calling for a two-state solution to ensure a permanent end to the conflict.

A Turkish Foreign Ministry statement on Friday said Turkey expects the international community, and especially the U.N. Security Council, 'to act in order to bring a complete end to the persecution' of Palestinians.

The ministry said: 'In order to prevent the recurrence of the pain and tears in Palestine, it is necessary to ensure that Israel is made accountable internationally for its crimes and lifts the inhumane blockade imposed on Gaza.'

Israeli security forces and Palestinian Muslim worshippers clash in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Israeli security forces detain a man at the entrance of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound

Israeli security forces are pictured in Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque compound, the third holiest site of Islam

Palestinian journalist Alaa Shimali clears debris of his house, destroyed in Israeli attacks, in Gaza City as people pick up the pieces following 11 days of fighting between Israel and Hamas

Palestinians who have returned to their neighbourhood, assess the damage in their home hit by Israeli bombardment in Gaza City, after a ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and Hamas came into effect

A Palestinian family eat meal near their destroyed house after 'mutual and simultaneous' cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas reached with Egypt mediation took effect at 2am

Benjamin Netanyahu claimed victory following the fighting on Friday, saying Hamas had paid a 'heavy price' for its attacks on Israel and that he would not hesitate to attack again with 'a new level of force'

The statement also called for an end to the 'Israeli occupation' of Palestinian territories in order to achieve a lasting, fair and comprehensive solution, and added that Turkey would continue to support the Palestinians' 'just cause.'

Israel had launched hundreds of airstrikes that it says have targeted Hamas' infrastructure, including a vast tunnel network.

Hamas and other militant groups embedded in residential areas have fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli cities, with hundreds falling short and most of the rest intercepted.

PRESIDENT BIDEN WELCOMES CEASE-FIRE IN ISRAEL President Joe Biden on Thursday hailed the impending cease-fire in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, saying he sees a 'genuine opportunity' toward the larger goal of building a lasting peace in the Middle East. Biden credited the Egyptian government with playing a crucial role in brokering the cease-fire and said he and top White House aides were intensely involved in an 'hour by hour' effort to stop the bloodletting. 'I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity and democracy,' Biden said. 'My administration will continue our quiet, relentless diplomacy toward that.' The president spoke soon after Israel and Hamas announced a cease-fire would go into effect at 2 a.m. Friday, ending an 11-day war that caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and brought life in much of Israel to a halt. The fighting killed at least 227 in Gaza and 12 in Israel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said Israel accepted the Egyptian proposal after a late-night meeting of his Security Cabinet. Hamas quickly followed suit and said it would honor the deal. Biden, who spoke to Netanyahu six times in the last 11 days, said Thursday the prime minister credited the Iron Dome missile defense system with limiting the death toll inside Israel. The system is designed to intercept and destroy short-range rockets and artillery shells. Biden said he assured Netanyahu that his administration would work to quickly restock the missile defense system. Biden credited the Egyptian government with playing a crucial role in brokering the cease-fire and said he and top White House aides were intensely involved in an 'hour by hour' effort to stop the bloodletting The cease-fire was announced one day after Biden told Netanyahu in a telephone call that he expected 'significant de-escalation' of the fighting by day's end, according to the White House. But the prime minister came right back with a public declaration that he was 'determined to continue' the Gaza operation 'until its objective is achieved.' Hours before the cease-fire agreement was reached, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Israelis had 'achieved significant military objectives' in their strikes intended to degrade Hamas military capabilities and reiterated that Biden expected the Israelis to start 'winding down' their operations. 'We believe the Israelis have achieved significant military objectives that they laid out to achieve in relation to protecting their people and to responding to the thousands of rocket attacks from Hamas,' Psaki said. Biden, who studiously avoided extensive public comment about the Israeli military strikes through the 11-day conflict, was facing mounting pressure from fellow Democrats to speak out against the Israelis as the death toll climbed in Gaza and tens of thousands of Palestinians were displaced by the aerial bombardment. Throughout the crisis, Biden, in carefully-worded statements and brief exchanges with reporters, underscored Israel's right to defend itself. But as the death toll and suffering of innocent bystanders in Gaza spread, the position was becoming more difficult to sustain with his Democratic caucus and the international community. On Tuesday, while in Michigan to visit a Ford facility, Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib confronted Biden on the Detroit airport tarmac and called on him to speak out forcefully against the Israeli strikes. Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced resolutions to block the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that's already been approved by the Biden administration. As the outside calls for Biden to speak more forcefully grew, Biden and top aides privately made the case to Israeli officials that time wasn't on their side in the court of public opinion. Administration officials pointed to Hezbollah's stature rising in the region after their 34-day war with Israel in 2006 to make the case for limiting the time of the military action. Israeli officials pushed back that a slightly prolonged campaign to degrade Hamas' military capabilities was necessary and in their interest, according a person familiar with the talks who was not authorized to discuss them publicly. Hamas had sought to portray their rocket barrages as a defense of Jerusalem. Israeli officials made the case to the White House that Hamas' message lost resonance as mob violence against Arabs in mixed Israeli cities, including Lod, was tamped down. Biden, in his remarks Thursday, reiterated that United States continues to 'fully support Israel's right to defend itself against indiscriminate rocket attacks' by Hamas and other Gaza-based militants. Biden also offered condolences for Palestinian lives lost during the conflict and vowed humanitarian aid would quickly flow through the Palestinian Authority, which is in control of the West Bank but not Gaza. 'We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas ... and in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal,' Biden said. Advertisement

Rocket attacks by Hamas and allied Islamic Jihad had resumed after an eight-hour pause on Thursday, as Israel continued shelling that it said aimed to destroy the factions' military capabilities and deter them from future confrontation after the current conflict.

In a statement, Netanyahu's office said the Security Cabinet unanimously approved the proposal after recommendations from the military chief of staff and other top defense officials. The statement boasted of 'significant achievements in the operation, some of which are unprecedented' and included a veiled threat against Hamas.

'The political leaders emphasized that the reality on the ground will determine the future of the campaign,' the statement said.

Taher Nounou, a Hamas official, confirmed the deal. 'The Palestinian resistance will commit itself to this deal as long as the occupation is committed,' he said.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Thursday he would be prepared to travel to the Middle East, as he headed home from an Arctic tour overshadowed by Israeli-Palestinian fighting.

'I am prepared at any time to go to Israel, to the Middle East, if that would serve the purpose of moving beyond the violence and helping to work on improving lives for Israelis and Palestinians alike,' Blinken said at a press conference in Greenland.

He said that he had pushed for a 'de-escalation on the path to a ceasefire' in a phone call with Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict had topped journalists' questions at Blinken's public appearances in Denmark and at the Arctic Council in Iceland, where he also met his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.

He spoke to leaders on both sides, as well as from Arab nations with influence over Hamas, from hotel rooms and the aeroplane in the scramble for a ceasefire.

Now 'if there's a good time' to travel to the Middle East 'that's certainly something I intend to do,' Blinken said without naming a date

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said reports of a move toward a ceasefire were 'clearly encouraging'.

She said the US was trying 'to do everything we can to bring an end to the conflict'.

Earlier, Israel had unleashed a new wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip as Hamas fired more rockets into Israel.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he spoke to Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi by phone on Thursday during a visit to Greenland, and reiterated the message that the United States expects to see a 'de-escalation on the path to a ceasefire' between Israel and the Palestinians.

Blinken said there was a deep and shared concern around the world for the deaths of Palestinians and Israelis and Washington's goal remains to end the violence.

The public broadcaster Kan said the fighting was to halt immediately, while other TV channels said it would go into effect at 2am.

There was no immediate reaction from Hamas.

It comes after Israel had unleashed a new wave of airstrikes across the Gaza Strip on Thursday and Hamas fired more rockets into Israel, despite growing signs that the sides were close to a cease-fire that would end 11 days of heavy fighting.

In an apparent sign of progress, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened an emergency meeting of his Security Cabinet, where the issue of a cease-fire was expected to be debated.

An Egyptian official said Israel has informed his government, which is mediating a truce, that it intends to end its military operations in Gaza. Speaking on condition of anonymity because he was discussing behind-the-scenes diplomacy, he said an announcement was expected following the Security Cabinet meeting.

The official spoke shortly after Egypt's President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi talked by phone with President Joe Biden. The two leaders discussed ways to stop violence in the Palestinian Territories, el-Sissi's office said.

In Washington, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said reports of a move toward a ceasefire were 'clearly encouraging.' She said the U.S. was trying 'to do everything we can to bring an end to the conflict.'

With U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urging an immediate cease-fire, a U.N. Mideast envoy was in the Gulf state of Qatar to help with efforts to restore calm, a diplomatic official said.

Energy-rich Qatar often helps mediate between Israel and Hamas and has donated hundreds of millions of dollars for development and humanitarian projects in Gaza in recent years.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter with the media.

Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official based in Lebanon, also said he expected a cease-fire within the coming day.

Biden on Wednesday publicly pressed Netanyahu to wind down the operation. The Israeli leader initially pushed back, appearing determined to inflict maximum damage on Hamas in a war that could help save his political career.

But by Thursday evening, Israeli media were reporting that a cease-fire agreement was expected to take effect by early Friday, perhaps sooner.

Despite the signs of progress, fighting continued into the evening, with Israeli airstrikes on targets in Gaza and Palestinian militants firing rockets toward Israeli cities. In past rounds of violence, fighting has picked up in the final hours, with each side trying to eke out a final achievement before a cease-fire went into effect.

Earlier Thursday, explosions shook Gaza City and orange flares lit up the pre-dawn sky, with bombing raids also reported in the central town of Deir al-Balah and the southern town of Khan Younis.

As the sun rose, residents surveyed the rubble from at least five family homes destroyed in Khan Younis. Heavy airstrikes also hit a commercial thoroughfare in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said it struck at least three homes of Hamas commanders in Khan Younis and another in Rafah, targeting 'military infrastructure,' as well as a weapons storage unit at a home in Gaza City.

On Wednesday, Biden told Israel on Wednesday that he expected 'a significant de-escalation today on the path to a cease-fire' - but Netanyahu pushed back, saying he was 'determined to continue this operation until its aim is met.'

It marked the first public rift between the two close allies since the fighting began and posed a difficult test of the U.S.-Israel relationship early in Biden's presidency.

Since the fighting began, Gaza's infrastructure, already weakened by a 14-year blockade, has rapidly deteriorated.

Palestinians on a motorcycle pass by destroyed buildings in Gaza City as life returns to some form of normality

A security officer directs vehicles as Palestinians return to their destroyed houses following 11 days of fighting

A view of destroyed houses after 'mutual and simultaneous' cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas reached with Egypt mediation took effect at 2am

A Palestinian woman reacts as she stands on the debris of her destroyed house in Gaza City

Medical supplies, water and fuel for electricity are running low in the territory, on which Israel and Egypt imposed the blockade after Hamas seized power in 2007.

Israeli bombing has damaged over 50 schools across the territory, according to advocacy group Save the Children, completely destroying at least six. While repairs are done, education will be disrupted for nearly 42,000 children.

Israeli attacks have also damaged at least 18 hospitals and clinics and destroyed one health facility, the World Health Organization said. Nearly half of all essential drugs have run out.
Daily new COVID-19 cases rose back to above 600 in South Korea for Friday, the health authorities said Saturday, as a fourth wave of the coronavirus continues with sporadic infection clusters and the appearance of variant strains. Yonhap



Daily new COVID-19 cases here rose back above 600 for Friday, the health authorities said Saturday, as a fourth wave of the coronavirus continues with sporadic infection clusters and the appearance of variant strains.



The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 666 more COVID-19 infections, including 633 local ones, raising the total caseload to 135,344.



The new daily cases compare with 561 for Thursday, 646 for Wednesday and 554, Tuesday.



Four additional deaths were also recorded, raising the total to 1,926.



Currently, the greater Seoul area, home to more than half of the country's 52 million people, is under Level 2 social distancing measures, the third highest in the government's five-tier system, while the rest of the country is mostly subject to Level 1.5. Gatherings of five or more people are also banned nationwide in principle.



On Friday, the administration said it would extend the current distancing rules for another three weeks starting Monday, as the number of new daily average patients has not dropped below the 500 mark with more people enjoying warm weather activities.



The KDCA also noted that more than 1,000 people were infected with variant strains of COVID-19 from Britain, South Africa, Brazil and India, with southern cities, such as Ulsan, reporting the most cases.



While the government launched its vaccination program Feb. 26, it has been sluggish in inoculating South Koreans amid a tight supply of vaccines.



As of Friday, 1.7 million people, or 3.3 percent of the country's population, had been fully vaccinated, receiving both doses of a two-part regimen.



A total of 3.79 million people, or 7.4 percent, have received their first shots, up 13,764 from a day earlier.



The AstraZeneca vaccine has been given to 2.06 million people, while 1.73 million have received that from Pfizer.



Under the country's vaccination blueprint, South Korea aims to inoculate 13 million people by the end of June and achieve herd immunity by November.



Of the locally transmitted cases, 205 came from Seoul, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province accounted for 163.



The number of people released from quarantine after making a recovery was 874. (Yonhap)


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The Queen has visited Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth in her first public appearance since Prince Harry's latest bombshell comments which accused the Royal Family of 'total neglect'.

The monarch, 95, toured the 3billion warship, which is affectionally called 'Big Lizzie', on Saturday in a tumultuous week for the Royal Family which saw Prince Harry drop another 'truth bomb' in an Apple TV+ series.

The Royal Navy's flagship vessel is set to depart for Asia later on Saturday to begin a 28-week operational deployment which will see it carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, and Singapore.

Meanwhile, Prince William visited the General Assembly in Edinburgh soon after launching an attack on the BBC where he slammed them for ruining Princess Diana's life after her Panorama interview with 'rogue reporter' Martin Bashir in 1995.

Despite the eventful week, the Queen returned to work she chatted with the ship's commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG), as she arrived by helicopter at Portsmouth Naval Base.

The Queen is still mourning the loss of her beloved husband of 73 years, who sadly passed away on April 9 aged 99, and paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh on Saturday by wearing a scarab brooch which was gifted to her by him.

She was also left 'devastated' after her five-month-old puppy Dorgi, Fergus, who was 'bought by Prince Andrew' to help her cope while the Duke of Edinburgh was recovering from heart surgery in hospital, died this month.

It came five weeks after the Queen said goodbye to her 'strength and stay' and Britain's longest-serving consort Prince Philip in St George's Chapel.

The Queen has visited (pictured) Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth, affectionately known as 'Big Lizzie', in her first public appearance since Prince Harry accused the Royal Family of 'total neglect' in his latest bombshell comments

The monarch wore a rouge button-up jacket with a matching bowler hat for the visit as well as a scarab brooch (pictured), which was gifted to her by her late husband Duke of Edinburgh

The Queen was greeted by the ship's commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse (all pictured), commander of the UK Carrier Strike Group (CSG), as she arrived by helicopter at Portsmouth Naval Base

Queen Elizabeth went on to the warship's flight deck during her tour, where she stood alongside military personnel to look at a pair of F-35B Lightning II aircrafts (pictured)

Meanwhile, Prince William visited the General Assembly in Edinburgh today (pictured) after launching an attack on the BBC where he slammed them for ruining Princess Diana's life after her Panorama interview with Martin Bashir in 1995

The Queen was seen smiling as she spoke with Royal Navy personnel during a tour of the HMS Queen Elizabeth on Saturday

But the Queen put on a brave face during her tour of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, where she cut a sophisticated figure in a rouge military style cashmere jacket and a matching bowler hat, which was embellished with a stunning floral piece.

As well as touring the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the monarch also presented the 15 years long service and good conduct medal to Petty Officer Matthew Ready, 38, from Gosport, Hampshire.

He said: 'It was an incredible honour for me and my family.'

He said that the Queen remembered sailing past his previous ship, HMS Illustrious, in the royal yacht in Istanbul in 2008, at the moment the carrier was at risk of losing a Merlin helicopter overboard.

The father-of-two said: 'She asked if I had anything to do with it and I answered that I didn't, and if I had I wouldn't be getting my medal.'

Engineering Technician Marine Engineering (ETME) Morgan Brookes and his father, Chief Petty Officer Paul Brookes, both work in the same department ensuring the smooth running of the 3billion warship.

The father and son, from Gosport, Hampshire, both said they were thrilled to meet the Queen as she visited the carrier at Portsmouth Naval Base.

Morgan, 20, who has been in the navy for two years, said: 'It was quite incredible, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, she is just an amazing woman.'

Paul, originally from West Bromwich, and who has been in the navy for 23 years, said: 'She said how lovely it was that we were working together and she had quite a cheeky smile as she asked us about it.'

Captain Essenhigh said: 'It's always a great privilege to host the Queen and to have her as both our sovereign and our lady sponsor come and wish us well as we set off on a seven-month deployment is something incredibly special.'

This is the route the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will take, reaching Japan this summer after travelling via a number of hotspots that will upset Russia and China

During the voyage, the Navy will avoid the Taiwan Strait as Big Lizzie sails towards Japan in the final leg of the trip to avoid provoking China

Captain Essenhigh (pictured) said it was a 'great privilege to host the Queen' on the HMS Queen Elizabeth as well as saying that having her 'wish us well as we set off on a seven-month deployment is something incredibly special'

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commander UK CSG, said the Queen (pictured) was looking forward to some peace and quiet, as the F35B jets based near her home in Sandringham would be away on the deployment for seven months

Engineering technician marine engineering (ETME) Billie Matthews, 22, from County Durham, who was one of those who met the Queen (pictured greeting members of aviation assets), said the Queen was 'very chatty, very smiley'

Commodore Steve Moorhouse said morale was 'fantastic' ahead of sailing and added: 'The smiles on the faces is as much to meet her majesty but also knowing we will get away'. Pictured: Queen in front of a 5th generation F-35 Lightning fighter jet

The Queen wears scarab brooch gifted to her by the Duke of Edinburgh in touching tribute to him as she visits namesake aircraft carrier The Queen wore a brooch gifted to her by Prince Philip during a visit to the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth today By Jessica Green for MailOnline The Queen wore a brooch gifted to her by Prince Philip during a visit to the Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth today. Her Majesty, 95, paid tribute to her beloved husband of 73 years, who died on April 9 aged 99, by wearing the piece, which she teamed with a brick-red military-style cashmere coat for her appearance at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth. The gold Scarab brooch, with ruby and diamond embellishments, was a 1966 gift from the Duke of Edinburgh. She also wore the meaningful accessory in a portrait celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017. The Queen sported a red cashmere coat with a black velvet collar and buttons, over a crepe wool dress by Stewart Parvin and a Rachel Trevor-Morgan hat. Her brooch was designed by Andrew Grima, noted as 'The Father of Modern Jewellery', and given as a personal gift from the Duke to the Queen in 1966. She was first seen wearing it during an appearance outside Bournemouth Town Hall during that year, alongside Prince Philip. Her new brooch was pinned to a cornflower blue coat. It appears to be a favourite of the Queen's as she's sported it several times since then, including at the start of her Golden Jubilee tour in Falmouth in 2002. Another special occasion in which she wore the brooch was for her appearance marking the 50th anniversary of her first televised Christmas message in December 2007. Then, during a state visit to Slovenia in 2008, the Queen opted for the accessory while receiving flowers from the public. Advertisement

Commodore Steve Moorhouse, commander UK CSG, said the Queen was looking forward to some peace and quiet, as the F35B jets based near her home in Sandringham would be away on the deployment for seven months.

He said: 'It wasn't lost on her they are from Marham, just down the road from Sandringham, so she hears them regularly, so she was just relieved to see them go to sea and get a little peace over her.'

He added: 'It was an absolute privilege to host her majesty on her flagship, she was really fascinated and interested in where we were going and was particularly struck not just by where the carrier was going but where the frigates and destroyers are going and the variety of the trip.'

He said morale was 'fantastic' ahead of sailing and added: 'The smiles on the faces is as much to meet her majesty but also knowing we will get away.'

While engineering technician marine engineering (ETME) Billie Matthews, 22, from County Durham, who was one of those who met the Queen, said: 'It was brilliant, she was very chatty, very smiley.'

The Queen stepped on-board the warship just one day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the flagship.

Able seaman Chelsea Paterson, 24, from Chirnside, Scotland, said of meeting the Queen: 'It was incredible, an honour to see her, let alone speak to her, the highlight of my career.'

The deployment of the fleet of ships, named the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

The deployment has been organised as part of the 'UK's tilt to the Indo-Pacific region' in a bid to 'bolster deep defence partnerships' as well as to take part in an exercise to mark the 50th anniversary of the Five Powers Defence Agreement with Malaysia, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

The CSG will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean.

The carrier had not been expected to return to Portsmouth after taking part in a major exercise off the coast of Scotland while the CSG had been expected to gather in the Solent prior to departure.

But heavy winds led to the unscheduled stop in the naval base in Portsmouth with most of the other ships waiting at Devonport to regroup before sailing for the Mediterranean.

Accompanying HMS Queen Elizabeth will be a surface fleet made up of Type 45 destroyers HMS Defender and HMS Diamond, Type 23 anti-submarine frigates HMS Kent and HMS Richmond, and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary's RFA Fort Victoria and RFA Tidespring.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the deployment 'will be flying the flag for Global Britain - projecting our influence, signalling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow'.

The Queen smiled and chatted with Royal Navy personnel on the warship soon after her grandson, 36, accused the royal family of 'total neglect', bullying and even a smear campaign against his wife Meghan, 39.

The Queen is still mourning the loss of her beloved husband of 73 years, who sadly passed away on April 9 aged 99, and paid tribute to the Duke of Edinburgh on Saturday by wearing a scarab brooch (pictured) which was gifted to her by him

The Queen's visit came before Royal Navy's flagship vessel is set to depart for Asia later on Saturday to begin a 28-week operational deployment which will see it carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, and Singapore

Royal Navy Merlin helicopters were seen on the flight deck during Queen Elizabeth II's visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, ahead of the warship's deployment on Saturday

Despite the eventful week, the Queen put on a brave face as she smiled and chatted with Royal Navy personnel on the warship (pictured) during her tour of the warship ahead of its 28-week operational deployment to Asia

The monarch smiled as she greeted Royal Navy personnel during a visit to HM Naval Base, Portsmouth, dressed stylishly in a vibrant red military style coat and a matching bowler hat, embellished with a stunning floral piece

As well as touring the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the monarch also presented the 15 years long service and good conduct medal to Petty Officer Matthew Ready (pictured)

The warship, with F-35B Lightning II jets (above) on board, will depart from Portsmouth this afternoon for a 28-week deployment, accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the warship's deployment 'will be flying the flag for Global Britain - projecting our influence, signalling our power'. Pictured: Queen visits the HMS Queen Elizabeth on Saturday

The ship will visit 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean. Pictured: Queen greets personnel during tour

The Queen put on a brave face after she was left 'devastated' after her five-month-old puppy Fergus, who was 'bought by Prince Andrew' to help her cope while the Duke of Edinburgh was recovering from heart surgery, died this month

In his latest attack, part of a series on mental health for Apple TV+ with his friend Oprah Winfrey, the former royal suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to 'suffer' when it came to the media because of his own negative experiences.

His comments came on the five-episode The Me You Can't See series  part-televised therapy session and self-help guide, part-confessional  which was released in its entirety yesterday. It contains a number of 'truth bombs', an insider told the New York Post earlier this week.

In the documentary, Harry described how Meghan shared her darkest thoughts with him, including 'the practicalities' of how she had considered ending her life.

He said: 'I felt completely helpless. I thought my family would help  but every single ask, request, warning, whatever it is, just got met with total silence or total neglect.'

Harry was billed as an executive producer alongside Miss Winfrey, who originally bagged the lucrative Apple deal. But it also included large segments of him in conversation with the chat show host, as well as interspersed footage of Harry at his mother's funeral and her being chased by paparazzi as a young woman.

It set the tone for what was another slew of accusations against the Royal Family, the monarchy and the British media.

Harry told how frightened he was by Meghan's 'clarity of thought' about how she wanted to kill herself when she was six months pregnant with their son Archie. Going back to his childhood, the prince talked in moving terms of how much he had been scarred by the loss of his mother.

The Duke of Sussex was just 12 when Diana, Princess of Wales, died in August 1997 in a car crash while being pursued by the press in Paris.

In the first three episodes of Apple TV's The Me You Can't See, the royal addressed traumatic memories from his childhood including the moment he was famously photographed with his brother, father, uncle and grandfather walking behind Diana's coffin at her funeral.

The Queen also presented the 15 years long service and good conduct medal to Petty Officer Matthew Ready (pictured) while she was visiting the HMS Queen Elizabeth on Saturday

The Queen stepped on-board the HMS Queen Elizabeth (pictured greeting personnel) just one day after Prime Minister Boris Johnson visited the flagship, which is set to depart for Asia later on Saturday

The monarch joined Royal Navy personnel Captain Angus Essenhigh (centre left), and Commodore Steve Moorhouse (centre right) during her visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base

During her tour of the HMS Queen Elizabeth, the monarch cut a sophisticated figure in a rouge military style cashmere jacket and a matching bowler hat, which was embellished with a stunning floral piece

The Queen (above) is seen going on to the flight deck, with a pair of F-35B Lightning II aircraft on either side, during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base

The 95-year-old monarch appeared to be in good spirits on Saturday afternoon as she visited the HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM naval base in Portsmouth

The HMS Queen Elizabeth was set to deploy to Asia for 28 weeks with a number of military aircrafts on board, including the F-35B aircrafts (pictured)

She appeared to be in a social manner as she greeted crowds of Royal Navy personnel, who were preparing for the warship's departure from Portsmouth later that same day

The Queen's visit to the warship (pictured) was her first public appearance since Prince Harry accused the monarchy and the media of attempting to 'smear' his wife, 'total neglect' and even bullying

He said it was his wife who persuaded him, after a row in which she said he had regressed back to his 12-year-old self  the age at which he lost his mother  to seek professional help. This included Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR).

The fear of losing his wife and raising Archie alone 'was one of the biggest reasons to leave the UK', he added.

Harry also claimed that 'forces were working against us' as they attempted to quit as working royals, but that he and Meghan were proud of what they had achieved and 'had no regrets'.

He said at the time that he was 'feeling trapped and feeling controlled through fear both by the media and by the system itself, which never encouraged the talking about this kind of trauma... But certainly now I will never be bullied into silence.'

Harry, referring to the racism he believed Meghan experienced in the UK, also suggested his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, had been hounded to death because she was dating 'someone that wasn't white'  Dodi Fayed. Buckingham Palace and Clarence House were last night retaining what sources described as a 'dignified silence' on the claims.

An exasperated insider recently told the Mail the Royal Family appeared to be at the end of their tether over Harry's never-ending forays from across the Atlantic and that relationships were hanging by a thread.

They said: 'Everyone is struggling to understand what he gets from, or hopes to achieve, by interventions like this. It is perfectly possible to campaign effectively on the issue of mental health without talking in such intimate detail about his own experiences.'

In a series on mental health for Apple TV+ with Oprah Winfrey, Prince Harry (pictured) suggested his father, Prince Charles, had allowed his children to 'suffer' when it came to the media because of his own negative experiences

Harry, referring to the racism he believed Meghan experienced in the UK, also suggested his mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, (pictured in 1995) had been hounded to death because she was dating 'someone that wasn't white'  Dodi Fayed

In the series, the royal addressed traumatic memories from his childhood including the moment he was famously photographed (pictured) with his brother, father, uncle and grandfather walking behind Diana's coffin at her funeral

Meanwhile, Prince William slammed the BBC this week for ruining Princess Diana's life after her Panorama interview with 'rogue reporter' Martin Bashir in 1995. Pictured: The royal family watch the RAF flypast in 2018

The Apple TV series was released in full online just four hours after his brother Prince William, 38, issued an extraordinary attack on the BBC for ruining Princess Diana's life after her Panorama interview with 'rogue reporter' Martin Bashir in 1995.

The Duke of Cambridge said Bashir's deceit in obtaining his 1995 interview with Princess Diana hastened his parents' divorce and 'hurt countless others' in an unprecedented broadside against the shamed BBC.

His brother Prince Harry - who is based in California - also responded to Lord Dyson's damning report into how the interview was obtained, saying his mother 'lost her life because of this'.

The Duke of Sussex thanked those who took 'some form of accountability' for 'owning it', but said 'the ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices ultimately took [Diana's] life'.

In a recent statement, Prince William laid bare his 'indescribable sadness' that his precious final years with his mother had been marred by the isolation the historic Panorama interview caused.

What 'saddens' him the most was that should a 1996 investigation into claims Diana was hoodwinked by Bashir have been conducted 'properly', the princess would have known she was 'deceived' prior to her death in 1997, he claimed.

He said the interview now held 'no legitimacy', had established a 'false narrative' for 25 years, and the BBC's failings had let his mother, his family and the public down.
San Diego cops have shared bodycam footage showing a homeless man being punched by a police officer while he and his colleague arrested the vagrant for peeing in the street.

Jesse Evans, 34, was arrested on May 12, with video quickly appearing from a witness who recorded a portion of the arrest. San Diego PD has since released its own bodycam footage from the encounter.

The bystander video, which was also released by San Diego PD, appeared to show an officer putting the man in a headlock before punching him repeatedly in the face after he hit the ground. Police said Evans was punched while resisting arrest.

The second officer was filmed restraining Evans, but was not shown throwing any punches. At one point, a walkie talkie seemingly belonging to the cops gets flung across the street, likely by Evans.

WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO

After bystander video of a controversial arrest appeared, the San Diego Police Department released their own bodycam footage on Friday

Throughout the video, there are sporadic moments where the police punch Evans again in the leg. By the end of the video, there are at least eight cops responding to the incident.

In the bodycam footage released by the police on Friday, officers can be seen pursuing Evans after they allegedly saw him urinating in public around 4pm the day of his arrest, which isn't shown on the video.

'You cant urinate in public, my man. People have to walk by here and watch you urinate? Thats not cool, man,' an officer says.

After police tell Evans he can't pee in public, he shouts 'I'm going to p*** my pants' and 'Do you want me to p*** my pants?' before yelling more and walking away.

The footage sees officers approach Jesse Evans, 34, after they believe to see him urinating

Evans tells officers he doesn't want to pee his pants before beginning to walk away

'Relax. Relax, boss,' one officer says as Evans walks away.

Officers decide that they're going to further pursue the man and detain him for urinating in public.

'Leave me the f*** alone,' Evans says as the cops accuse him of resisting. It appears Evans may throw a few punches of his own, but only the officers' initial punches are shown.

Throughout the arrest, police tell Evans to stop resisting while Evans continues to repeat that he needed to pee.

Much of the body camera footage is at such a tight angle that the arrest itself can be heard, but not seen.

Eventually, police catch up to Evans down the road and try to arrest the homeless man

Over the course of the arrest, Evans appears to throw at least one punch at an officer

As the struggle continues, another police officer arrives and says that he has Evans' arm.

One of the two officers' body cameras were deactivated during the arrest, only filming the aftermath of the arrest after it was picked up from the ground, without audio.

It is unclear why the device stopped working.

The bodycam footage largely does not show the repeated punches to Evans, which the witness' footage does.

The two officers involved in the arrest haven't been identified, but an internal affairs investigation into the arrest is underway.

According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, the arresting officers were from the Neighborhood Policing Division, which is designed to help homeless people connect to services aimed at helping them.

The San Diego Police Department said Evans 'would not stop to speak with officers therefore an officer held the man to detain him' after the arrest

The San Diego Police Department said Evans 'would not stop to speak with officers therefore an officer held the man to detain him' after the arrest.

'Despite the officers repeatedly telling the man to 'stop resisting,' the man would not comply,' the SDPD added.

In a press conference after his arrest, Evans admitted to unclasping his pants to pee, but didn't even have a chance before officers arrived.

As a result, Evans was not charged with public urination.

'I hope I'm the last victim of such nonsense,' Evans said during his press conference, according to 10News.

'I hope that we can hire reasonable individuals to look out for us and protect and serve our greater good in a better way, represent us in a better way as a community, as a nation,' he continued.

After being taken to the hospital for evaluation, Evans was booked on suspicion of resisting arrest, as well as battery on a police officer.

Witness video showed officers repeatedly punch Evans, though that isn't clear in the police video

The Times of San Diego reports that the Peoples Association of Justice Advocate has hired an attorney to represent Evans.

Meanwhile, calls for accountability of the police from the community continued after the bodycam footage's release.

'The SDPD has a de-escalation policy that requires you to use time and space to defuse a situation, rather than immediately move to force,' Francine Maxwell, president of the San Diego NAACP branch, wrote in a letter to Police Chief David Nisleit.

'It seems to us that there was ample space to de-escalate. Why didnt they? We want to know if this is how the SDPD envisions de-escalation. Did it really require eight police officers to subdue this barefoot homeless man?'

After being taken to the hospital for evaluation, Evans was booked on suspicion of resisting arrest, as well as battery on a police officer

Homeless advocate Michael McConnell also called out the police.

'Jesse Evans is a perfect example of why police should not be on the front lines of [the homelessness] issue,' he told the Union-Tribune.

'I think when he repeatedly asked the officers, 'What is wrong with you?' that sums it up  what is wrong with San Diego police? It's not just those officers, weve seen this mistreatment for years.'

A GoFundMe to raise money for legal fees and an emergency hotel stay for Evans has raised almost $10,000 as of Saturday morning.

There's no timeline for when the internal investigation into the police conduct from the arrest will be completed.
A Maryland school district has been condemned for spending $450,000 in taxpayers' money on a 'claptrap' anti-racism audit.

Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest school district in Maryland, approved the $454,000 'anti-racist system audit' in November 2020.

On Wednesday, Conservative activist group Judicial Watch released nearly 700 pages of records related to the audit and critical race theory classes.

The documents gave a closer look at specific curriculum and lesson plans students were learning about, which included the topics of white privilege and intersectionality.

Students at Thomas Pyle Middle School in Bethesda, are being taught in their social justice classes that Donald Trump's 'Make America Great Again' slogan is an example of 'covert white supremacy,' as well as the 'denial of White privilege,' 'celebration of Columbus Day,' 'colorblindness' and the idea that 'we're just one human family,' documents showed.

The district hired The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium to conduct the audit, which list it's mission as promoting 'excellence and equity in education to achieve social justice'

Students in Thomas Pyle Middle School's social justice classes were taught that 'Make America Great Again' is an example of 'covert white supremacy

A slide presented to students read: 'Dominant narratives about race (family, media, society) coupled with racialized structural arrangements and differential outcomes by race all prime us to believe that people of color are inferior to white people.'

Also uncovered by the Judicial Review, was a class slide titled 'Implicit Bias, Structural Racism' that states: 'Race is created to justify enslaving people from Africa (economic engine of country).'

The students were asked 'What is White Privilege?' and were instructed that white privilege includes having 'a positive relationship with the police, generally;', 'soaking in media blatantly biased toward my race;' and 'living ignorant of the dire state of racism today,' Judicial Watch documents revealed.

In another slide titled 'What is Intersectionality?' the students were told it is defined as: 'Exposing one's multiple identities can help clarify the ways in which a person can simultaneously experience privilege and oppression.'

Montgomery County Public Schools, the largest school district in Maryland, approved the $454,000 'anti-racist system audit' in November 2020

Students at Thomas Pyle Middle School (pictured) in Bethesda are being taught critical race theory

The curriculum is facing some backlash and being labeled 'dangerous.'

'The racist, revolutionary claptrap in these documents should be nowhere near a school classroom.' Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton said.

'These documents show that extremists have access to our schools and are willing to abuse this access to children in order to advance a dangerous, divisive, and likely illegal agenda,' he added.

But there are some who defend the teaching of critical race theory in schools.

'In every aspect of our lives, we encounter race,' Jane Bolgatz, the associate dean for academic affairs at Fordham University Graduate School of Education told ABC News.

'If we aren't talking about race, we aren't noticing the ways in which society pushes white people forward. And so then we're not noticing the fact that these winds are not only pushing them forward but pushing people of color backward.' she added.

Nearly a dozen states-including Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Arkansas, South Dakota, and Arizona- are considering legislation to ban critical race theory in public schools.

In September 2020, former president Donald Trump ordered federal agencies to stop funding training on topics including 'critical race theory' and 'white privilege' with taxpayer dollars.

President Joe Biden revoked the order.

The district hired The Mid-Atlantic Equity Consortium to conduct the audit, which list it's mission as promoting 'excellence and equity in education to achieve social justice.'

'The Anti-racist System Audit will provide an opportunity to examine the district's systems, practices, and policies that do not create access, opportunities, and equitable outcomes for every student's academic and social emotional well-being,' it added.
Cardinal George Pell has admitted he was 'excessively optimistic' he would be granted bail after being wrongly convicted of child sex abuse charges.

Australia's highest-ranking Catholic official was convicted in December 2018 of five counts of sexually abusing two 13-year-old choirboys at Melbourne's St Patrick's Cathedral in 1996.

He spent 404 days behind bars before his six-year jail sentence was overturned in a final appeal to the High Court in April 2020.

Pell, who turns 80 next month, has since returned to his life in Rome having left his job as prefect of the Vatican's economy ministry in 2017 to face the charges.

'Looking back, I was probably excessively optimistic that I'd get bail,' Pell said during a candid interview from his flat in the Italian city.

Cardinal George Pell has admitted he was 'excessively optimistic' he'd be granted bail despite having been convicted of child sex abuse charges that would later be quashed

Pell leaves the Supreme Court of Victoria in Melbourne in June 2019 while appealing his conviction for sexually abusing two choirboys

The 79-year-old was granted bail after the wrongful conviction in December 2018 to undergo knee surgery.

He didn't spend his first night behind bars until the end of February, 2019 ahead of being sentenced the following month.

Pell's comments come ahead of the release of the second volume of his jailhouse memoir, 'Prison Journal, Volume 2,' chronicling the middle four months of his term.

The book charts his emotional low after the appeals court upheld his initial conviction, and ends with a sign of hope after Australia's High Court agreed to hear his case.

Pell still has many detractors - he freely uses the term 'enemies' - who think him guilty.

But in Rome, even many of his critics believed in his innocence, and since returning in September he has enjoyed a well-publicised papal audience and participates regularly in Vatican events.

Pell returned to Rome in September not with the intention to stay but has now returned to his previous life in the Italian city

Pell had returned to Rome to clean out his apartment, intending to make Sydney his permanent home but he never left, now saying he's become 'very Italian' - and has made checking the country's Covid-19 statistics every morning a priority.

Earlier this week, the cardinal revealed the 'humiliating' strip searches were the worst part of his stint in prison.

'Jail is undignified, you're at the bottom of the pit, you're humiliated, but by and large I was treated decently,' he said during a radio interview with Irish reporter Colm Flynn on the BBC World Service.

'The worst single thing I suppose were the strip searches, the brief humiliating... the ignominy of it is probably the worst of it.

Pell has spent time in some of Victoria's most dangerous prisons, including Barwon Prison near Geelong (pictured)

Pell is seen at a consistory ceremony at St Peter's Basilica at the Vatican in November last year

'I wasn't too uncomfortable. [I had] a firm base for a bed, a hot shower and that's very important to Australians. The food, there was too much of it.

Pell's 13-month spell in jail was spent in Barwon Prison, near Geelong, and the Melbourne Assessment Prison.

'One of the lessons from my time in jail is that the Christian package works,' he said.

'If you believe there is a God, if you believe that ultimately all things will be well, that ultimately in the afterlife there will be peace and harmony and justice, if you really believe that, (it doesn't) matter what terrible thing might happen to you here.'
PepsiCo have released a statement in support of a former janitor who claimed he invented their Flamin' Hot Cheetos flavor - just days after they admitted he had nothing to do with the creation of the product.

Richard Montanez, 62, began working as a janitor for Frito Lay - a company owned by PepsiCo - back in 1976. He has long claimed that he pitched the idea for the Flamin' Hot Cheetos flavor by boldly calling up company execs in 1990.

Since that time, Montanez- a Mexican-American who was raised in a California migrant camp - has become revered as an immigrant success story. He went on to become vice president of multicultural sales & community promotions for PepsiCo and spent four decades at the company.

He has additionally written a best-selling book about his remarkable tale, and he commands up to $50,000 for motivational speeches, which include regular references what he claims is his role in creating the cult spicy chip. A biopic of his life, Flamin' Hot, is currently in the works and is set to be directed by Eva Longoria.

But last week, a bombshell report from The Los Angeles Times alleged that Montanez had made up most of his story. The paper spoke with multiple sources who disputed that the former janitor invented the popular product.

Frito Lay is quoted in the report as saying: 'None of our records show that Montanez was involved in any capacity in the Flamin' Hot test market.

'We have interviewed multiple personnel who were involved in the test market, and all of them indicate that he was not involved in any capacity... The facts do not support the urban legend.'

Montanez subsequently spoke with Variety saying he was disappointed that Frito Lay publicly doubted his story.

'I was their greatest ambassador,' he stated. 'But I will say this, you're going to love your company more than they will ever love you, keep that in perspective.

However, on Friday, Frito Lay's parent company PepsiCo released a new statement, praising Montanez for his contribution to their business - while not disputing their earlier claim that he hadn't been involved in creating Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

'A great deal has been recently discussed about the origin of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. The information we shared with the media has been misconstrued by some, which resulted in confusion around where we stand, a range of emotions among our employees and consumers and a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montanez and the Latino community,' the statement read.

PepsiCo have released a statement in support of a former janitor Richard Montanez, who claimed he invented their Flamin' Hot Cheetos flavor - just days after they said he was not at all involved in the creation of the product. He is pictured in 2017

Montanez- a Mexican-American who was raised in a California migrant camp - has become revered as an immigrant success story. A second book about his rags-to-riches tale is set to be released next month (poctured)

'Far from being an urban legend, Montanez had a remarkable 40-plus-year career at PepsiCo and made an incredible impact on our business and employees and continues to serve as an inspiration today,' the statement continued.

'His insights and ideas on how to better serve Hispanic consumers were invaluable and directly resulted in the success of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand, and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders.'

The statement additionally claimed that there were 'different work streams tackling the same product without interacting' and that Montanez may possibly have had some part in the invention of Flamin' Hot Cheetos without their awareness.

Eva Longoria and others involved in Montanez's biopic are similarly standing by him without being able to verify whether or not he actually invented Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

The film's screenwriter, Lewis Colick, told Variety that 'enough' of the story seems true.

'We're not in the documentary business,' he stated, defending his film project.

Longoria also retweeted a post from a Latino civil rights advocate which stated: 'A big thank you to @PepsiCo for their strong statement on how our friend Richard Montanez' inspired, influenced and invigorated the company for more than four decades. Our stories matter and Richard's is a special one. #FlaminHotFacts'.

However, the LA Times are doubling down on their initial report.

'Frito Lay parent PepsiCo has a new statement responding to our story about the origins of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. It affirms our reporting,' the paper's deputy business editor Jeff Bercovici tweeted.

The original LA Times story - titled 'The man who didn't invent Flamin' Hot Cheetos' - was published last weekend with the paper speaking with former colleagues and executives at Frito Lay, who called into question Montanez's story.

In particular, one woman, Lynne Greenfeld, said that she was put in charge of developing the brand and came up with the Flamin' Hot name and product idea.

'It is disappointing that 20 years later, someone who played no role in this project would begin to claim our experience as his own and then personally profit from it,' she told the paper.

Flamin' Hot - the biopic of Montanez's rags-to-riches tale - is currently in the works and is set to be directed by Eva Longoria

Montanez subsequently spoke with Variety saying he was disappointed that Frito Lay publicly doubted his story

Montanez has claimed that, as a janitor, he rang the chief executive and pitched the idea for Flamin' Hot Cheetos.

Yet Frito Lay said its records show he was not a janitor when Flamin' Hot was born. He had been promoted to machinist operator by October 1977, shortly after his hiring.

Greenfeld joined the company in 1989, and was tasked with finding a product that appealed to spicier tastes and could rival the flavor-filled snacks that were selling well in the mid West.

Six of the former employees remember inspiration coming from the corner stores of Chicago and Detroit - not from California, where Montanez worked.

Fred Lindsay, a salesman for the Chicago region, remembers clearly working to develop the snack.

'The funny thing is, I heard maybe a year ago that some guy from California was taking credit for developing hot Cheetos, which is crazy,' Lindsay told The LA Times.

'I'm not trying to take credit; I'm just trying to set the record straight.'

By August 1990, test versions of Flamin' Hot were launched in Chicago, Detroit and Houston in response to local spicy chip brands that Frito Lay workers noticed would fly off shelves. By early 1992, they were on sale nationwide.

Montanez's version of events does not fit the timeline.

Montanez's tale is that he felt empowered to invent Flamin' Hot Cheetos after watching a motivational video from Roger Enrico, the CEO of the company, that encouraged all Frito-Lay workers to 'act like owners' and take charge of the business.

Yet Enrico did not start work until the beginning of 1991 - by which point the product had already been invented, and tested.

Montanez claims that he called Enrico to pitch the idea and that Enrico flew out to Rancho Cucamonga, California, weeks later to witness his pitch in person.

Enrico died in June 2016, aged 71, in a snorkeling accident in the Cayman Islands.

Al Carey, the only senior executive to support Montanez's version of events, conceded that there were issues with some details, and said that Enrico was not in attendance at the infamous meeting.

'Of course stories grow, and the longer we get away from the date the stories evolve,' Carey said.

But, he insisted, Montanez did invent Flamin' Hot.

'I'll bet Richard's added a little flavor to it,' Carey said.

'The product that we know today as Flamin' Hot Cheetos was definitely not out in the market' before his meeting with Montanez, Carey said.

'That product was developed by those guys in the plant.'

While Frito Lay said Montanez was not involved in the creation of the Flamin' Hot, parent company PepsiCo are now defending him

Montanez and his wife are pictured at a 2014 gala celebrating the contributions of Latinos

Yet the LA Times spoke with 20 people who worked at the Frito Lay divisions responsible for new product development 32 years ago, and none recall Montanez's meeting with Enrico and coming up with the mega-selling product.

'If that story existed, believe me, we would have heard about it,' said Ken Lukaska, who worked as a product manager for the core Cheetos brand when Flamin' Hots were rolling out nationally.

'This guy should run for office if he's that good at fooling everyone.'

Montanez certainly played a role in marketing for the company, and enjoyed an impressive professional trajectory that ultimately saw him become a director at the brand.

Montanez began telling his Flamin' Hot story in the early 2000s, and retired in 2019

Roberto Siewczynski worked on the Sabrositas test market in 1994 as an outside consultant, and remembers Montanez being deeply involved in the process.

He said Sabrositas' marketing campaign aligns with what Montanez describes in his memoir for Flamin' Hot, and concludes that the two stories became intertwined.

'I did go to Rancho Cucamonga,' said Siewczynski.

He told The LA Times he was surprised to learn that the Sabrositas project was being led by production and distribution workers, not the marketing department, as a community-driven campaign focused on the Latino market in Los Angeles.

'It was, 'Hey, the plant really wants to do this; Richard really wants to do this,' and they cut out a lot of the traditional management.'

Montanez began telling his story in the early 2000s, and Greenfeld heard of it in 2018.

She was asked by the company's lawyers about the Flamin' Hot name, and told them she definitively came up with it herself.

In 2019, when Longoria's film was in early discussion, Frito Lay got in touch with the production company to warn them Montanez's story was not quite as it seemed.

Longoria is proceeding with the film, however, and casting has been completed.

Jesse Garcia, star of Quinceanera, who has also appeared in Jarhead and Narcos, is playing Montanez and filming will take place this summer in New Mexico.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out to condemn violent attacks on Jews in the streets of America, days after she was accused of anti-Semitism for branding Israel an 'apartheid state'.

'We will never, ever tolerate antisemitism here in NY or anywhere in the world. The recent surge in attacks is horrifying. We stand with our Jewish communities in condemning this violence,' tweeted Ocasio-Cortez on Friday.

She spoke after a fragile cease-fire was declared between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in the Gaza strip, following an 11-day conflict that left more than 250 dead, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

Last Saturday, Ocasio-Cortez drew criticism from some quarters after she and her 'Squad' of left-wing House Democrats tweeted in apparent reference to Israel: 'Apartheid states are not democracies.'

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has spoken out to condemn violent attacks on Jews in the streets of America, days after drawing criticism of Israel

'I have defended you often from Republican attacks. However, shame on you,' tweeted Fred Guttenberg, the gun-control activist and father of a student killed in the Parkland school massacre.

'You are wrong and either showing a lack of understanding or something more intentional veering on anti Semitism,' he added in response to Ocasio-Cortez's 'apartheid' tweet.'

The New York Congresswoman's remarks condemning violence follow a disturbing increase in street violence targeting US-based Jews in recent days.

On Thursday, a Jewish man was beaten by a pro-Palestinian mob in Times Square as he tried to make his way to a pro-Israel rally.

Joseph Borgen, 29, an accountant who lives on the Upper East Side, was wearing a grey kippa and walking toward Times Square around 6:30pm Thursday when he was chased down, beaten and pepper sprayed.

'I thought I was going to die. I thought I was really going to die,' he told DailyMail.com on Friday.

On Thursday, a Jewish man was beaten by a pro-Palestinian mob in Times Square as he tried to make his way to a pro-Israel rally

Joseph Borgen, 29, spoke to DailyMail.com one day after he was left bruised and battered by a group of pro-Palestinian men in Midtown Manhattan on Thursday

Borgen said there were eight to 10 people taking part in the beatdown and they were shouting anti-Semitic slurs such as: 'You filthy Jew. We're going to f*****g kill you. Go back to Israel. Hamas is going to kill you.'

A suspect in the assault, 23-year-old Waseem Awawdeh, of Brooklyn, was arrested on Friday night, the NYPD said.

In Los Angeles, pro-Palestinian protesters were spotted brawling with LA restaurant diners after allegedly asking if any of them were Jewish.

Footage of the incident, recorded on Tuesday night, showed kicks and punches exchanged, as well as bottles being thrown and a velvet rope being swung outside Sushi Fumi in Beverly Grove.

Onlookers said the violence erupted after the Palestine supporters asked if any of the diners were Jews, with some responding that they were.

The Los Angeles Times reported that a witness, who asked to remain anonymous for safety reasons, said some people from the convoy of cars threw bottles and chanted 'death to Jews' and 'free Palestine.'

The Los Angeles Police Department said on Wednesday that the incident is being investigated as a hate crime.

A car convoy flying Palestinian flags is pictured rolling through the Beverly Grove section of LA on Tuesday. Witnesses said members of the caravan yelled 'death to Jews' and 'free Palestine'

As the conflict in Israel inspired ugly violence in the U.S., Ocasio-Cortez was outspoken in condemning the Biden administration's support for Israel, co-sponsoring a resolution with Senator Bernie Sanders to block the sale of $735 million in military weaponry to Israel that's already been approved.

She also ripped President Joe Biden on the House floor for comments he made about the latest conflict in which he said that 'Israel has a right to defend itself' from Hamas, the militant group that rules the Gaza Strip.

'The president stated that Israel has a right to self-defense. Do Palestinians have a right to survive?' said Ocasio-Cortez.

It is not the first time that Ocasio-Cortez's positions have drawn criticism from supporters of Israel.

Last fall, pro-Israel group were dismayed after she pulled out of an event honoring Yitzhak Rabin, the Israeli prime minister who was assassinated.

On Saturday, Egyptian mediators were called it to try to firm up the ceasefire in Israel.

Palestinians are seen among damaged or destroyed buildings following cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas reached with Egypt mediation took effect at 2am Friday

Palestinians clear debris from their shops, which were damaged in Israeli attacks, in Gaza City, Gaza on Saturday

As the hostilities eased, thousands of Palestinians returned home to scenes of devastation after the temporary peacetime was agreed in the early hours of Friday.

Since May 10, Israel has unleashed hundreds of air strikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets towards Israel.

A total of 243 Palestinians are understood to have died during the clashes, while 12 people died in Israel. Among them are 66 children.

Officials believe it will cost tens of millions and take years to reconstruct Gaza following catastrophic air strikes which struck the densely-populated area.

Sources say the US Secretary of State will visit Israel and the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on the ceasefire mediated with US support.
Joe Biden mistakenly branded Korean President Moon Jae-in 'prime minister' a day after he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'president.'

When President Biden, 78, presented 94-year-old Korean War veteran Ralph Puckett with the Medal of Honor on Friday, he said, 'The people in the Republic of Korea haven't forgotten, as evidenced by the fact that the prime minister of Korea is here for this ceremony,' The New York Post reported.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Biden referred to Netanyahu as 'President Netanyahu' during his speech celebrating an Israel-Hamas cease-fire, according to The Post.

The mix-ups are the latest in a string of gaffes that have provided Biden's critics with punchlines about the oldest president in the United States' history.

Joe Biden mistakenly called Korean President Moon Jae-in a 'prime minister' a day after he called called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'president'

Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during the May 21 groundbreaking ceremony for the Wall of Remembrance

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on during a briefing to ambassadors to Israel at the Hakirya military base in Tel Aviv, Israel, on May 19

Twice in March, he tripped up the steps to Air Force One. Both times, he recovered, laughed it off and saluted to photographers and reporters.

He also took heat for his comment at the end of an April press conference about the CDC mask guidelines.

'This is the last question I'll take, and I'm really gonna be in trouble,' he said.

It wasn't clear what Biden meant by being 'in trouble,' but critics took to Twitter to mock the president by asking who the leader of the free world could be in trouble with.

Biden's opponents opponents have also denigrated the president as a 'puppet' of his staffers, and questioned why he is discouraged from off-the-cuff interactions with journalists, which his predecessor Donald Trump appeared to enjoy.

During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump's supporters made fun of Biden, saying he will be confined to the 'basement' for fear that being out on the trail would make voters realize he was too old and frail for the White House.

But Biden's low-key strategy ultimately paid off, with President Trump unable to overcome claims he'd badly mishandled the initial months of the COVID-19 crisis.

Trump, 74, himself faced repeated questions about his mental wellbeing over his own frequent blunders.

He was repeatedly filmed lifting a class of water to his mouth with two hands, struggling to walk down a ramp at a US Army graduation in 2020, and making a series of bizarre pronouncements, both in real life and on Twitter.

Biden has repeatedly shot down rumors about his cognitive health, and highlighted that he has suffered from a stutter throughout his life.

Throughout his political career, which includes stint as a senator from Delaware as well as vice president in the Obama administration, Biden has gained a reputation for verbal slippages and gaffes.
Farmers left at breaking point by the endless plagues of mice ravaging their properties fear they face a second wave of the pests on the other side of winter.

Regional parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have suffered debilitating mice infestations over the past few months - destroying crops, houses and the livelihoods of Australia's regional workers.

Helpless residents have said they've been bitten in the night by the rodents, while others have felt them crawling across their faces while they slept.

Though some farmers are hopeful the winter cold will make their land inhospitable to the mice, others worry that if they don't receive enough heavy rainfall and frost the animals will start breeding again - paving the way for an even worse plague in spring.

Sam Sparkes from Tullamore in central NSW said the unwanted guests have even crawled up the legs of her tracksuit pants and bitten her.

Farmers at breaking point with the endless plagues of mice fear they could be hit with a second wave of rodents once the cold winter conditions ease up (pictured in NSW)

'We feel like burning the house down it has got so bad,' she told A Current Affair.

'Numerous times we've been bitten, on the hand, leg, face.

'One night I had my toe eaten, they had actually ripped down into a few layers of my skin, my toes were just bleeding. It was extremely painful and made me feel really sick.'

Shockingly, her experiences aren't uncommon.

Many Australians have been forced to come up with their own methods for baiting after supermarket shelves were stripped bare of the traps.

Craig Bennett from Dunedoo, NSW, spends hours everyday creating his own traps which kill up to 600 mice every night.

He said he suffered a condition called encephalitis from mice 13 years ago which left him temporarily paralysed.

Regional parts of New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria have been hit with countless masses of mice which are destroying crops, houses and the livelihoods of many

Sarah Pye, from Dubbo in central New South Wales, setup a ramp inside one of her shipping containers to force the masses of mice to fall into a large tub of water and drown

He's terrified he may become ill again as his home continues to be overrun by rodents.

Many have resorted to trapping the mice in bins and then drowning them, with farmers sharing their grim methods on social media.

Sarah Pye, from Dubbo, set up a ramp inside one of her shipping containers to force the mice to fall into a large tub of water and drown.

Sharing the footage of her 'mouse trap', thousands of rodents were seen struggling to make it out of the tub.

Another farmer in Dubbo, Tracey Jones, earlier told Daily Mail Australia she and her husband were struggling to sleep due to the constant scampering of mice in their walls.

Pictured is the pantry of one struggling family who have had their home overrun with mice

In NSW alone there's been an estimated $100million worth of damage to crops and grain

'People out here are struggling badly with them in our houses,' she said.

'My 90-year-old mother in law is living out of an esky because it's the only way she can mouse-proof her food.

'Mice are in everything, roofs and walls eating wiring, cupboards and pantries eating, nesting in and soiling in food and clothing, in cars and machinery chewing through wiring.

The NSW government recently announced a $50 million relief package to address the plague.

In NSW alone there's been an estimated $100million worth of damage to crops and grain.
The kidnapped daughter of the ruler of Dubai has been seen in public for the first time in almost three years.

Three months after shocking videos recorded by Princess Latifa al Maktoum were released she was photographed at a shopping mall with her friends.

Dubai authorities sanctioned the release of the photo after campaigners backed by the UN demanded 'proof of life' following the release of videos and fears for her life.

Campaigners described the latest move as 'highly significant' and are hoping it could lead to her being allowed to leave the United Arab Emirates.

Latifa, 34 has now been photographed with two friends at the Emirates Mall in Dubai. She was seen (centre) with women identified as Lynda Bouchikhi (right) and Sioned Taylor (left)

Three months after shocking videos recorded by Princess Latifa al Maktoum were released she was photographed at a shopping mall with her friends

Dubai's ruler, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, on Derby day in 2017 with his estranged wife Princess Haya

Timeline: Princess Latifa's escape and capture December 1985: Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is born. August 2000: Her father, the ruler of Dubai, orders Latifa's sister Shamsa abducted from the UK. Latifa says she has not been allowed to leave Dubai since this date. June 2002: The teenage Latifa makes her first escape attempt, but is captured on the UAE's border with Oman and returned to Dubai on her father's orders. She says she was subsequently held in prison until 2005. 2010: Latifa meets Tiina Jauhiainen, a Finnish martial arts instructor. They become close friends, and the princess later confides in her about her earlier escape attempt and what had happened to Shamsa. 2017: The pair begin plotting their escape with clandestine discussions at the glitzy Dubai Mall. Tiina travels to the Philippines to meet a French former spy and naval officer, Herve Jaubert, who had written a book called Escape from Dubai. February 24, 2018: Latifa and Tiina drive for six hours to reach Oman, where they boarded a dinghy to reach international waters before using jet skis to board the US-flagged boat Nostromo, captained by Jaubert. March 4, 2018: The Nostromo is intercepted by commando units, allegedly including Indian special forces, who kidnap Latifa and take her back to the UAE. December 2019: A UK judge finds that the allegations of abduction are proved to be true. He also rules that the sheikh subjected his estranged wife Princess Haya to a campaign of fear and intimidation. March 2020: The judge's rulings are made public after the Supreme Court denies the sheikh's final appeal. February 2021: New videos come to light in which Latifa, speaking from a 'villa jail', describes how her father's henchmen foiled her escape attempt and says she is being held 'hostage'. Advertisement

Latifa, 34, was photographed with two friends at the Emirates Mall in Dubai some time in the last week.

The picture was posted on an Instagram account of one of her companions, known to a friend for a number of years.

Supporters of the Free Latifa campaign said the two women with the Princess were friends of hers for many years.

In the background a cinema can be see advertising the film Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. The film was released in the UAE on May 13.

Friends of Latifa are convinced the photograph is genuine and was not taken under any duress.

One of the women with her was identified as Lynda Bouchikhi and was uploaded to her instagram account this week.

She posted the message 'Lovely evening at MoE with friends.'

The photo would only have been released with the permission of the ruler of Dubai.

The other woman in the photograph is maths teacher Sioned Taylor who is based in Dubai.

She posted the photo to her Instagram account which is under the name Shinny Brynn.

Taylor is a former skydiving instructor and has been friends with Latifa for a number of years though the daredevil sport.

She has also taken part in ironman challengers and is originally from Liverpool

Campaigners hope it is the first step into allowing her to leave the UAE to start a new life.

It is the first time she has been seen in public since a staged 'photo' with former Irish President Mary Robinson in December 2018.

Former French spy Herve Jaubert, who helped mastermind Princess Latifa's escape in 2018 aboard his yacht Nostromo, welcomed the release of the photo.

He said: If true, I am so relieved to hear this wonderful news. Princess Latifa looks straight to the camera and seems to be herself and happy.'

Radha Stirling, founder of Detained in Dubai and the person Latifa first contacted after her 2018 escape, also said the photo was a step in the right direction.

She said: 'We are seeking clarification from Dubai and remain hopeful that Latifa is safe and well.

'If the photo is genuine, it would indicate that the UAE intends to perhaps allow Latifa to return to public life as mentioned in their last statement.

'After Latifa's latest video messages were broadcast, the Maktoum family is even more determined to keep Latifa within the city of Dubai.

'From their perspective, they have seen what happens to British royals when family members start airing their dirty laundry in public.

'They don't want to see Latifa end up on Oprah. The family still maintains that Latifa has mental health problems which they do not intend to make a spectacle of.

'The Maktoums see many of the people calling for Latifa's release as self interested.

'They're not going to release Latifa into the hands of those who may use and manipulate her, and they don't want to see her as an adverse witness in the British courtroom drama surrounding Princess Haya.

'Through understanding the UAE's perspective, there is a higher chance for Latifa to be finally freed. We are hopeful that may involve a diplomatically arranged alternative whereby Latifa were permitted to conditionally live in the United States.

'In the interim, we are hopeful that Latifa will return to public life and enjoy increased freedom within the Emirates.'

The complaint was filed in April after UN experts demanded the UAE provide information about his daughter and release her, two months after the BBC aired a video it said was of Princess Latifa (pictured) describing herself as a hostage in a villa

The Queen with Sheikh Mohammed on Derby day in 2011

A diagram showing Latifa's daring escape plan from the seas around the United Arab Emirates

Earlier this year Latifa smuggled a series of haunting videos out of captivity, describing herself as being held 'hostage' by her father Shekh Mohammed al Maktoum.

Speaking publicly for the first time in three years, the 34-year-old royal prisoner described in vivid detail how her dramatic 2018 escape attempt involving jet skis and a yacht ended in her brutal recapture and forcible repatriation.

In the most damming video filmed after her failed escape, the Princess says: 'I'm a hostage.'

She continues: 'And this villa has been converted into a jail. All the windows are barred shut.

'There's five policemen outside and two policewomen inside. I can't even go out to get fresh air. So basically, I'm a hostage.'

Latifa escaped Dubai in February 2018 after recording a disturbing video in which she revealed her troubled relationship with her father.

She was captured on a yacht off the coast of India and forcibly returned to Dubai where she was 'imprisoned' in a villa and guarded round the clock

After the release of the February 2021 videos the United Nations demanded to see proof of life and called for Latifa to be freed.

The Free Latifa campaign have recently demanded sanctions be placed on the Dubai ruler over his failure to release his daughter and comply with the UN demands.

David Haigh from the campaign said: 'We confirm that there have been several potentially significant and positive developments in the campaign.

'We do not intend to comment further at this stage, a further statement will be issued at the appropriate time.'

Last month UN experts demanded the UAE provide information about his daughter and release her.

The UAE said on February 19 Latifa was being cared for at home, after the UN human rights office headed by Michelle Bachelet asked it for proof she was alive.

'We are alarmed that, following the public release in February of footage in which Sheikha Latifa reported being deprived of her liberty against her will, and the subsequent official request for further information on her situation, no concrete information has been provided by the authorities,' the independent UN human rights experts said in joint statement.

'The statement issued by the Emirates authorities merely indicating that she was being 'cared for at home' is not sufficient at this stage,' added the experts, who include the UN investigators on torture and on violence against women.

The joint statement said the experts called 'for independent verification of the conditions under which she is being held, and for her immediate release'.

A spokesman for Bachelet's office said earlier last month it had not received a requested 'proof of life' for Sheikha Latifa from the United Arab Emirates.

Senior UN officials sought a meeting with the UAE ambassador in Geneva about Latifa, which in principle has been agreed, the spokeswoman said at the time.

The fate of Latifa and her tempestuous relationship with her father, who is also a vice-president of the UAE, has cast a new spotlight on his family affairs.

Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed al-Maktoum drew international attention in 2018 when a human rights group released a video made by her in which she described an attempt to escape Dubai.

Princess Latifa and her best friend Tiina Jauhiainen in a selfie on the road to Oman on the first leg of their journey in 2018

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum (pictured), who only visits the Inverinate retreat in Wester Ross a few weeks of the year, is extending the plot to around a quarter of a mile

Stage-managed photos taken in 2018 showed Latifa posing with the former Irish president and UN high commissioner for human rights Mary Robinson

In the most damming video filmed after her failed escape, the Princess says: 'I'm a hostage. And this villa has been converted into a jail. All the windows are barred shut.

'There's five policemen outside and two policewomen inside. I can't even go out to get fresh air. So basically, I'm a hostage.'

In the video, Latifa accused him of jailing her for three years in 2002 when she tried to escape what she called his 'repressive control'.

The princess said she was drugged and tortured on the orders of her father. She said was not allowed to drive, had no passport and was followed by a team of guards.

Latifa also claimed her older sister Shamsa is being kept against her will in Dubai after she tried to escape the kingdom and was abducted from the UK in 2000.

Latifa, who is one of the Sheikh's 30 children by his six wives, fled Dubai by jet ski to rendezvous with a yacht waiting to sail to India.

After eight days at sea, the yacht she was travelling on was boarded by Indian commandos off the coast of Goa and she was returned to the custody of her father in Dubai.

Latifa hoped to travel to India and then the United States to seek asylum.

The sheikh says Latifa was tricked into escaping by criminals who wanted money and that returning her to Dubai was a rescue mission.

He has been the subject of allegations that have come from a number of members of his family.

As well as Latifa and one of her sisters, two former wives claim he abused them. The sheikh denies the claims.

Since then UN experts have raised concerns with the Emirati government about her 'alleged enforced disappearance and incommunicado detention', they said in Tuesday's statement.

'Her continued incommunicado detention can have harmful physical and psychological consequences and may amount to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment,' they said.
Dozens of climbers and staff on Mount Everest have tested positive for coronavirus following an outbreak of the virus on the world's highest summit, reports claim.

Lukas Furtenbach, an expert climbing guide from Austria, has estimated there could be upwards of 100 active cases of Covid-19 at Everest's South Base Camp in Nepal.

However, Nepalese officials have denied this is the case, insisting there has not been an outbreak at the site where some 1,500 people are currently located.

They instead blamed any symptoms on other illnesses such as altitude sickness.

Mr Furtenbach, who is the only prominent guide to have axed his expedition due to virus fears, says one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpas tested positive.

He estimated there are 'at least 100 people, minimum' who are positive for Covid in South Base Camp, adding: 'The numbers might be something like 150 or 200'.

Elsewhere, it was reported some 77 Sherpas have tested positive for the virus, according to local health section coordinator Artimaya Tamang.

Climbers and staff on Mount Everest have tested positive for coronavirus following an outbreak of the virus on the world's highest summit, reports claim. Pictured: South Base Camp

Lukas Furtenbach, an expert climbing guide from Austria, has estimated there could be upwards of 100 active cases of Covid-19 at Everest's South Base Camp in Nepal

South Base Camp in Nepal (pictured) currently has 1,500 occupants who are awaiting fine weather to make the final push to the top of Everest

Speaking from Kathmandu, Mr Furtenbach said: 'I think with all the confirmed cases we know now - confirmed from [rescue] pilots, from insurance, from doctors, from expedition leaders.

'I have the positive tests, so we can prove this.'

He said it was obvious there were many cases at the Everest Base Camp because he could visibly see people who were sick and hear people coughing in their tents.

Mr Furtenbach runs Furtenbach Adventures, which boasts a 100 per cent success rate on Everest and 20 years of expedition experience on the mountain.

A total of 408 foreign climbers were issued permits to climb Everest this season, aided by several hundred Sherpa guides and support staff who have been stationed at base camp since April.

Tour groups must quarantine for three days on arrival in Nepal and take an RT-PCR test for Covid-19 before leaving for Everest Base Camp, the Telegraph reported.

However, it was alleged this is not being enforced and around half the 43 expedition groups on the mountain were not tested before leaving Kathmandu.

Nepalese officials earlier denied there are any active cases among climbers and support staff this season at all base camps for the country's Himalayan mountains.

Other climbing teams have not confirmed any Covid-19 infections among their members or staff.

Mr Furtenbach runs Furtenbach Adventures, which boasts a 100 per cent success rate on Everest and 20 years of expedition experience on the mountain. Pictured: Mount Everest

Expedition tents are seen at Everest South Base Camp near Solukhumbu, Nepal

However, several climbers have reported testing positive for the virus after they were brought down from Everest South Base Camp.

Mr Furtenbach stressed that most teams on the mountain were not carrying testing kits, adding his team had helped conduct tests and confirmed two cases ahead of returning home.

Most teams are reportedly still at Base Camp, hoping for clear weather so they can make a final push to the summit before climbing season ends next month.

Last month, a Norwegian climber became the first to test positive at the camp.

He was flown by helicopter to Kathmandu, where it was confirmed he contracted Covid-19. He later returned home.

Mr Furtenbach, who is the only prominent guide to have axed his expedition due to virus fears, says one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpas tested positive

Pictured: The Sherpa village of Namche Bazaar, along the trail to Mount Everest

Nepal is currently experiencing a surge in cases, with 8,607 new infections and 177 deaths reported on Friday.

This brings the nation's totals to 497,000 cases and 6,024 deaths.

China last week cancelled climbing from its side of Mount Everest due to fears the virus could be spread from the Nepalese side.

Earlier this month, Nepal made an urgent plea for 1.6million AstraZeneca vaccine doses as the infection rate soared.

'People who have already got the first dose will be in difficulty if they don't receive their second dose within the stipulated time,' said Samir Adhikari, a senior official.

Nepal, between China and India, has already vaccinated more than two million people with the AstraZeneca vaccine provided by India and China's Sinopharm.

But authorities were forced to suspend the vaccination programme in April after the country failed to secure fresh dispatches of vaccine.

'I would like to request our neighbours, friendly countries and international organisations to help us with vaccines and critical care medicines ...to support ongoing efforts to combat the pandemic,' Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli said.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with President Moon Jae-in, in the East Room of the White House, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap



U.S. President Joe Biden said Friday (local time) that his country will provide full COVID-19 vaccinations for all 550,000 of South Korea's troops, and enter a partnership with Seoul on global vaccine supply.



Biden made the announcement at a joint press conference with President Moon Jae-in at the White House following their bilateral summit.



"There are 550,000 Korean soldiers, sailors, airmen who work in close contact with the American forces in Korea," the U.S. president said. "We'll provide full vaccinations for all 550,000 of those Korean forces engaging with American forces on a regular basis, both for their sake, as well as the sake of the American forces."



Some 28,500 American troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korean aggression.



Moon thanked Biden for the pledge, calling it a meaningful step demonstrating the special history of the bilateral alliance.






A trio of teenagers were condemned for a 'disturbing and disgusting' re-enactment of George Floyd's death that saw one boy pose in blackface with a white student's knee on his neck.

The shocking image was taken on the grounds of Mead High School in Colorado, which the three teens attend, and posted on Snapchat.

It shows one student in blackface lying on the ground, while another student presses their knee into his neck and the third kneels on his back - the very same position black 46-year-old Floyd was forced into during his murder by white cop Derek Chauvin.

The third teen appeared to be pretending to hold the boy in blackface down on the ground. Their photo was captioned: 'Bye bye seniors.'

The blond-haired student on the other teen's neck is white. Their re-enactment was first shared via a Change.org petition on Wednesday. It is unclear when the snap was taken, although Mead High School's graduation took place around two weeks ago.

Protests erupted outside the school Friday over the image while a Change.org petition demanding an end to racism at the campus had reached close to 8,000 signatures Saturday morning.

An investigation has been launched into a 'disturbing and disgusting' photo of three students - including one in blackface - re-enacting George Floyd's murder on Colorado school grounds. The shocking image above

The teens in the photo take on the same position the black 46-year-old was forced into during his murder by white cop Derek Chauvin in May 2020 (above)

Dozens of students staged a walkout Friday in protest over the photo demanding the teens involved face expulsion, reported CBS Local.

Many protesters Black Lives Matter signs and chanted, as they accused school officials of failing to properly discipline the teens behind the racially charged image.

The three students have reportedly been suspended for five days each.

Some protesters said the incident marked just the latest in a string of racist incidents at the school, although they did not offer further details.

Sarah Steere, a 16-year-old sophomore who attended the protest, told CBS Local she 'wasn't surprised' by the 'disgusting' photo.

'I screenshotted (the photo) and sent it to the principal. I was disgusted, embarrassed but wasn't surprised,' she said.

'I want to see it come from the parents first because they're teaching their kids to act like this.'

Kara Bee, a 16-year-old sophomore, said she is one of the only black students in the largely white school and wants action to be taken about the incident.

'As one of the only black people here, I think it's important to speak up about these issues and not just kick them under the rug,' Bee said.

'The picture was disgusting. I was shocked. I didn't think people were like that anymore. That was murder they're making fun of.'

A Change.org petition 'Bringing the racial profiling discrimination that occurs at MHS to notice' was set up Wednesday and had more than 7,900 signatures Saturday morning.

'Its unbelievable that there are still people acting so immature towards racism,' the petition reads.

'Everyone in our school represents Mead and having such students re-created a humiliating death, as they dishonor themselves is sad.'

The shocking image was taken on the grounds of Mead High School in Colorado, which the three teens attend, and posted on Snapchat. Teens protest outside the school Friday

Dozens of students staged a walkout Friday in protest over the photo demanding the teens involved face expulsion

Many carried Black Lives Matter signs and chanted, as they accused school officials of failing to properly discipline the teens behind the racially charged image

The photo came to light this week, with some students sending it on to the school administration in disgust.

Mead High School Principal Rachael Ayers sent a message to parents Wednesday saying the school was aware of the incident and takes 'this type of conduct very seriously and have begun an investigation into the matter.'

'If you or your student saw this social media post and would like to process any feelings it may have brought forward, our counseling staff is prepared to provide additional support,' she said.

The St. Vrain Valley School District launched an investigation alongside local police.

District Superintendent Don Haddad issued a statement Thursday blasting the actions of the students involved as 'disturbing and disgusting' and said the district has a zero tolerance approach to racist behavior.

A Change.org petition demanding an end to racism at the campus had reached more than 7,000 signatures Saturday morning

Mead High School above. The St. Vrain Valley School District and local police are investigating the incident

'It was brought to my attention that a disturbing and disgusting social media post depicting the re-enactment of the murder of George Floyd was made by a group of students from Mead High School,' he said in a post on the district's website Thursday.

'We in the St. Vrain Valley Schools strongly condemn, and have no tolerance for, racism in any form and will be addressing this extremely serious matter immediately and accordingly.

'Our district reaffirms its commitment to diversity and equality in our schools and in our operations.'

Haddad did not share what disciplinary action had been taken against the students behind the stunt.

Meanwhile, Ayers said in a letter to parents Thursday that the school had received a threat in connection to the racist photo.

The student responsible for the threat was identified and there was 'no ongoing threat to the school community,' Ayers said.

The nature of the threat was not clear.

Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Chauvin during an arrest over a $20 counterfeit bill on May 25

Chauvin is led away in handcuffs after being found guilty of Floyd's murder last month

The racist incident comes less than two weeks after graduation at the high school.

It is also just days before the one-year anniversary of Floyd's Memorial Day murder.

Floyd was murdered by Minneapolis police officer Chauvin during an arrest over a $20 counterfeit bill on May 25.

The cop knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes while he begged for air saying 'I can't breathe.'

Chauvin was found guilty of murder in April and is awaiting sentencing. The trial of the three other officers involved in Floyd's death is set for March 2022.

All four officers also face federal hate crime charges over Floyd's death.
A grandmother accused of being part of an alleged paedophile ring has been found dead - six months after fellow suspect died.

The body of Maureen McLellan, who was also known as Goudie, was found last week in unexplained circumstances in a property in Glasgow.

According to The Sun, police launched an investigation into the sudden death of the suspect, 50.

She was facing five sex offence charges - including of the rape of a small child.

Her death comes after her co-accused, Robert Brown, 51, died a few days after being hounded out of his home by protesters.

Mother-of-two McLellan's body was found on May 13, six months after she was committed for trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court.

She made no plea when she appeared on October 21 with another female co-accused facing the same allegations.

A grandmother accused of being part of an alleged paedophile ring has been found dead - six months after fellow suspect died. The body of Maureen McLellan, who was also known as Goudie, was found last week in unexplained circumstances in a property in Glasgow

A source told The Sun that McLellan had not been seen for a few days and had 'long-standing problems with drink and drugs'.

They added: 'They are facing the most serious allegations but now two of the accused have died.

'It's a tragic and worrying outcome for everyone concerned.'

Her death comes after Robert Brown, 51, died in November last year, days after furious locals gathered outside his block of flats.

McLellan was facing five sex offence charges - including of the rape of a small child

He was escorted by police from the property, in Townhead, Glasgow, before being moved to separate accommodation.

Jut weeks before, he had been charged with five sex offences, including raping a child under the age of 13.

Brown appeared at the city's sheriff court in October along with eight men and five women.

According to The Sun, one of the other men in the alleged paedophile ring faces 13 charges, including three of raping a child.

Mother-of-two McLellan's body was found on May 13, six months after she was committed for trial at Glasgow Sheriff Court

Another woman and three men aged 43, 47 and 54 face five charges.

A Crown Office spokesman said: 'The Procurator Fiscal has received a report in connection with the death of a 50-year-old woman in Glasgow on May 13, 2021.

'The investigation into the death, under the direction of Scottish Fatalities Investigation Unit (SFIU), was completed and after careful consideration of the facts and circumstances of the case, the Procurator Fiscal concluded that no further action was required.

'The family have been informed of this decision.'

A Police Scotland spokesperson said: 'On Thursday, May 13, 2021, police received a report of the sudden death of a 50-year-old woman in Glasgow.

'The death is not being treated as suspicious and a report has been submitted to the Procurator Fiscal.'
Fears of a gonorrhoea epidemic are on the rise in Australia amid a warning by global health experts the sexually-transmitted disease is becoming resistant to antibiotics.

Gonorrhoea infections in Melbourne spiked by 45 per cent between 2015 and 2018, figures compiled by the Department of Health showed.

The data also showed a 220 per cent increase in gonorrhoea infections among women during that period.

In Queensland, the Mackay Hospital and Health Service region on the state's central coast recorded 893 gonorrhoea infections in 2020 - its highest total ever.

Epidemiologist Catherine Bennett said those contracting the disease were also missing the warning signs they had been infected.

Melbourne and parts of Queensland have seen big increases in gonorrhoea, while the STI is considered a big problem in the United Kingdom and South Africa

'While socialising was restricted over the last 12 months, dating sites havent been restricted in the same way  theyve become a little more important in terms of linking up with others,' the Deakin University expert said.

Monash University epidemiologist associate professor Eric Chow said notified cases of gonorrhoea are on the rise globally, news.com.au reported.

'Globally we are seeing an increase in STIs and gonorrhoea,' he said.

Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria and affects the genitalia, rectum or throat.

The condition can lead to infertility in men and women if untreated.

Symptoms of gonorrhoea differ in men and women.

Gonorrhoea is most common in gay and bisexual men but it is also on the increase in heterosexual men.

The figures showed a 129 per cent rise in infections in heterosexual men.

Men may experience a burning sensation while urinating and sometimes discharge. Swollen and painful testicles are also common, especially without treatment.

Gonorrhoea is a sexually transmitted infection (STI) caused by the Neisseria gonorrhoeae bacteria and affects the genitalia, rectum or throat

Women with gonorrhoea often experience no symptoms, or in some cases pain during urination and/or sex. Discharge is also a possible symptom of gonorrhoea for women.

Experts warn sexual behaviour driven by the use of dating apps is behind the rise of STIs.

The increase in gonorrhoea infections follows data showing big increases in syphilis in Melbourne.

Health authorities are struggling to combat a syphilis outbreak that is ravaging Melbourne's outer suburbs, with experts saying there is no single cause.

Professor Deborah Williamson said online dating apps, such as Tinder, Hinge and Grindr, a reduced fear of HIV and less access to treatments is driving the surge

The dangerous sexually transmitted disease had almost been consigned to the history books but has made an aggressive comeback in the Victorian capital, with statistics compiled by the Melbourne Sexual Health Centre revealing there is a spiralling number of cases on the city's fringes.

More than 1400 cases of syphilis were recorded in Victoria in 2020, and already 560 so far this year.

Professor of microbiology at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Deborah Williamson, said there was no single identifiable cause of the surge, but rather a 'complex suite' of factors.

Casual sex increases the likelihood of contracting and STI but condoms remain the best protection

Professor Williamson said the availability of casual sex through online dating apps such as Tinder, Hinge and Grindr had played a part, along with HIV becoming a manageable illness which could encourage more people to have unprotected sex.

Melbourne's syphilis hotspot was Brimbank in the western suburbs, which recorded 56 cases last year, followed by the western satellite suburb of Melton with 46 infections and Casey in the outer southeast with 42 detected.

Symptoms could include a high temperature, tiredness, swollen glands, hair loss, and a painless sore at the points of sexual contact.

National records of chlamydia, gonorrhoea and syphilis diagnoses between 2000 and 2018 have revealed that the biggest rise in infection rates was among 55 to 74-year-old females.

While infections in that demographic are lower than in females in their teens, 20s and 30s, the rate of increase showed the disease needs to be monitored among older women, a University of Melbourne study said.

Use of condoms are considered the best protection against the spread of STIs.
Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings has given $3 million California Governor Gavin Newsom's anti-recall effort - the biggest donation it has received so far.

Hastings made the donation to the Stop The Republican Recall fund on Thursday, Politico reported. The streaming chief has not commented on his donation, but has long been a Democrat donor.

Last month the campaign to recall Newsom - which could see him ousted from office - passed the 1,495,709 signatures required to qualify for the ballot.

A recall vote will take place on an as-yet unannounced date this year. It will see voters asked whether they wish to recall Newsom. If more than 50 per cent of voters say yes, he will be replaced.

Voters will also be asked who they want to replace him, with the candidate who receives the most votes then replacing Newsom as governor.

Hastings has previously donated up to $7 million to advance the agenda of charter schools in California, Politico reported.

He is just one of many high-profile California Democrats opening up their wallets to help Newsom defeat a recall effort the governor has claimed is driven by right wing extremists.

Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings (pictured) donated $3 million to an anti-recall campaign for California governor Gavin Newsom

The recall movement against Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom (pictured) has mostly centered around his handling of the pandemic

The 'Stop the Republican Recall' fund says it 'stands with Gavin Newsom and is opposed to the Republican recall'

The recall movement has mostly centered around Newsom's handling of the pandemic.

Critics have panned Newsom's restrictive lockdown measures on schools and businesses during the pandemic.

They claim California did no better with COVID cases, hospitalization and deaths than Republican states including Texas and California which had far less restrictive measures.

Newsom was also publicly slammed after he was seen dining at luxurious French Laundry restaurant in November 2020, where he and a party of 10 or more people were seen without face masks and none were practicing social distancing.

At the time, the state had a ban on indoor dining, with the governor urging Californians to stay at home.

Newsom currently has a financial advantage over his challengers due to a state law that allows him to raise unlimited amounts of money to try and save his governorship.

His challengers are limited to $32,400 in their direct accounts because of campaign laws. They must abide by regular campaign finance laws, but Newsom doesn't have to, because the recall effort is considered a ballot issue, rather than an election campaign, for a sitting governor.

A February filing showed Hastings also donated $32,400 and $29,600 to Newsom's campaign. His wife matched his donations.

Newsom was publicly slammed after he was seen dining at luxurious French Laundry restaurant in November 2020, where he and a party of 10 or more people (pictured) were seen without face masks and none were practicing social distancing

Republican challengers to Newsom include John Cox and former gold medal winning Olympian and reality television star Caitlin Jenner (pictured)

Newsom has also received six-figure donations prominent individuals and industries including billionaire couple Stewart and Lynda Resnick, San Francisco 49ers CEO Jed York and multiple law firms and labor unions, Politico reported.

Recent donors to the fund include director JJ Abrams and Katie McGrath, who each contributed $32,400, Deadline reported.

Newsom himself has dubbed the recall effort a 'partisan, Republican recall' backed by right wing extremist groups like QAnon and the Proud Boys.

The 'Stop the Republican Recall' fund says it 'stands with Gavin Newsom and is opposed to the Republican recall.'

'Instead of helping fight the pandemic, these (Republican) partisan forces are pulling a page from the Trump playbook and attacking Californians,' the site claims.

Republican challengers to Newsom include John Cox and former gold medal winning Olympian, as well as reality television star Caitlin Jenner.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was condemned for comparing Nancy Pelosi's new House of Representatives rule on face masks to the Holocaust.

The conspiracy-endorsing Republican congresswoman said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to require proof of vaccination before members are allowed to take their masks off to the 'Gold Star' Jewish people were forced to wear during the Holocaust.

'You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany,' Greene told David Brody on his Christian Broadcasting Network podcast 'The Water Cooler.'

Scroll down for video.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene compared a House of Representatives mask-wearing rule to the Holocaust on David Brody's podcast 'The Water Cooler'

Jewish groups, like the American Jewish Congress, and many others quickly condemned the comments on social media

MTG says Speaker Pelosi wanting Members of Congress to get vaccinated and if not to wear masks is exactly the type of abuse as murdering Jews in gas chambers during the Holocaust and David Brody nods along. No follow up. pic.twitter.com/inXfD8UBiG  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 22, 2021

Former Representative Denver Riggleman was among those who condemned Taylor-Greene, tweeting: 'Comparing wearing masks to the abuse of the Holocaust is a not so subtle diminution of the horrors experienced by millions.

'Its a grotesque idiocy mixed with a neurotic lack of self awareness. What do you expect from a truther, Q believer, and gaslighting conspiracy theorist?'

Political scientist Jasmin Mujanovic wrote: 'This is antisemitism of a most despicable and deranged sort.

'This is a woman whose own politics can credibly be described as fascist trivializing the actual, historical facts of the Holocaust.

'And I repeat my prediction: shes a front runner for the 2024 GOP nomination.'

And Rhode Island Congressman David Cilline said: 'The Holocaust: The systematic murder of 6 million Jews. Mask-wearing: A simple act that costs you nothing and saves lives. Marjorie Taylor Greene: A troubled person who is unfit to serve in Congress.'

Jewish groups, like the American Jewish Congress, and many others quickly condemned the comments on social media as diminishing the six million Jewish people who died during the Holocaust.

'You can never compare health-related restrictions with yellow stars, gas chambers and other Nazi atrocities,' The American Jewish Congress tweeted on Friday. 'Such comparisons demean the Holocaust and contaminate American political speech.'

The group called for a retraction and apology from Greene, which she hasn't done to date.

Former Representative Denver Riggleman said this on Twitter in reaction to Greene's comments

Political scientist Jasmin Mujanovic responds to Greene's comments

Rhode Island congressman man responds to Greene's comments

The American Jewish Congress' response to Greene's comments

Meanwhile, Greene took to Twitter Saturday morning to accuse fellow Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of supporting anti-Semitism.

She also branded AOC a 'terrorist' for supporting a cease in military funding for the Israeli government.

'.@AOC you're responsible for attacks on Jewish people bc of your hate-Israel stance against Israel's right to defend itself from from terrorists Hamas, calling Israel an apartheid state, & supporting terrorists groups. Aligning yourself with terrorists means your [sic] a terrorist,' Greene said in the tweet.

At the bottom of the tweet, Greene shared an image of AOC's call to end antisemitism next to a headline about her resolution that would cut funding for Israeli bombs.

Greene shot to fame for pushing a series of bizarre QAnon conspiracy theories before she was elected as a represenative for Georgia's 14th congressional district in November 2020.

In a 2018 Facebook post, she claimed a 'Jewish space later' controlled by the Rothschild banking family had been used to ignite California wildfires.
President Joe Biden will host George Floyd's family at the White House on Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of the black security guard's murder at the hands of cops.

The news was confirmed by a White House official on Saturday, although they did not disclose which family members would fly in to Washington, DC for the event.

Floyd died on May 25 last year after being arrested by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin over the use of a counterfeit bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, during which time Floyd lost consciousness.

Last month, Chauvin was found guilty of second-degree unintentional murder, third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter. He is facing up to 40 years behind bars.

President Joe Biden will host George Floyd's family at the White House next Friday to mark one year since the unarmed black man's death at the hands of police. He is pictured meeting Floyd's six-year-old daughter Gianna (center right) last June in Houston

Joe Biden met with the family of George Floyd in Houston last June: From left: Congressman Cedric Richmond, Rev. Al Sharpton, Joe Biden, Attorney Ben Crump and Roger Floyd, George Floyd's uncle

Floyd died on May 28 last year after being arrested by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin over the use of a counterfeit bill. Chauvin knelt on Floyd's neck for more than nine minutes, during which time Floyd lost consciousness

Biden - who has previously met with members of Floyd's family - praised the jury's verdict last month.

He spoke over the phone with some of Floyd's relatives after the verdict was handed down, saying: 'You're an incredible family. I wish I were there  just [to] put my arms around you'.

He added: 'We've been watching every second of this, and the vice president, all of us. We were all so relieved, not just one verdict but all three.'

'Nothing is going to make it all better. But at least, God, now there's some justice.'

Biden met with Floyd's uncle, Roger, and Floyd's young daughter, Gianna, during a trip to Houston last June.

'They're an incredible family, his little daughter was there, the one who said 'daddy's going to change the world,' and I think her daddy is going to change the world,' he stated after the meeting.

'I think what happened here is one of the great inflection points in American history, for real, in terms of civil liberties, civil rights and just treating people with dignity.'

He also appeared via videolink at Floyd's funeral, and vowed that the security guard's death would not be in vain.

Biden's plans to host Floyd's family come, however, as talks focused on the police reform bill named after Floyd - the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act - have stalled on Capitol Hill. Biden had previously set the anniversary of Floyd's death as the deadline for the bill's passage, and left much of the negotiations up to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but there's been little movement on the legislation in recent weeks

Psaki said Friday that the White House is 'in close touch' with the negotiators and 'they still feel there's progress being made,' but they've acknowledged it's 'unlikely' they'll pass a bill by Biden's deadline.

The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would ban chokeholds by federal officers and end qualified immunity for law enforcement against civil lawsuits, as well as create national standards for policing in a bid to bolster accountability.

Biden is pictured outside the White House on Saturday morning
It follows virologists in Yorkshire probing new 'triple mutant' Covid variant with 'strange' gene combination

A total of 50,246,402 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England from December 8 to May 21, data shows

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Covid cases have creeped up from last week with a further 2,694 people testing positive for the infection today - a rise of 33 per cent on last week.

Today's case total - 667 more than the 2,027 recorded last Saturday - comes as England passes its 50million coronavirus jabs milestone.

A total of 50,246,402 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and May 21, according to NHS England data, including first and second doses, which is a rise of 563,468 on the previous day.

Britain's death toll stands at six today, a decrease of one on the seven recorded this day last week.

It comes as a new 'triple mutant' Covid variant with a 'strange combination' of genes is probed by virologists in Yorkshire - as England's R rate creeps up to 0.9 amid the spread of the Indian strain.

Londoners in six boroughs are also being checked for the Indian variant amid a surge-testing blitz in the capital, with NHS Test and Trace extending additional testing and genomic sequencing to targeted settings in Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent in west London from today, following the identification of the B1617.2 strain.

Hackney and Hounslow were also previously added to the boroughs offered surge testing and vaccinations following a rise in the Indian and South African variants.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) further announced on Thursday that a vaccine roll-out drive has been 'bolstered' in Bedford, Burnley, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside to protect the most vulnerable.

Meanwhile, a programme to test sewage to assess the prevalence of different Covid-19 variants in different regions now covers two thirds of England's population, the Government has said.

But Boris Johnson delivered a bullish message two days ago over the prospect for relaxing restrictions after a week of anxiety about whether the Indian variant will derail plans, saying he still does not see 'anything' in the data that would prevent the easing of lockdown from going ahead as planned.

Today's case total of 2,694 - 667 more than the 2,027 recorded last Saturday - comes as England passes its 50million coronavirus jabs milestone

Britain's death toll stands at six today, a decrease of one on the seven recorded this day last week. It comes as a new 'triple mutant' Covid variant with a 'strange combination' of genes is probed by virologists in Yorkshire

More than 50million Covid-19 vaccination doses have now been given in England, latest figures show (pictured: James Forster from Hexham receives the Pfizer vaccine on May 13)

A total of 50,246,402 Covid-19 vaccinations took place in England between December 8 and May 21, according to NHS England data (a lengthy queue is pictured above for a mass vaccination centre in Plymouth)

The healthcare provider's lead for the NHS Covid vaccination programme, Dr Emily Lawson, hailed the milestone as 'outstanding' and praised NHS teams, local partners and volunteers (file photo of AstraZeneca vaccine vials)

The healthcare provider's lead for the NHS Covid vaccination programme, Dr Emily Lawson, today hailed the vaccination milestone as 'outstanding' and praised NHS teams, local partners and volunteers.

She said: 'Today the biggest NHS vaccination programme in history hit another outstanding milestone, with more than 50million life-saving jabs being administered across the country in six months, and the roll out continuing at pace with tens of thousands of 34 and 35 year olds quick to act on their invites this week, ahead of the next age groups able to book today.

'This success is the result of the tireless efforts of NHS teams, alongside local partners and volunteers, who are determined to protect their patients, families and communities.

'Despite this we must take nothing for granted so if you are invited please book your appointment  and along with millions of others get vital protection against coronavirus.'

No10's top scientists yesterday estimated the R rate  which measures the spread of the virus  is between 0.9 and 1.1, up from the lower estimate of 0.8 last week. It is the closest the reproduction rate has been to one since the peak of the second wave in January.

It comes as a sewage testing scheme is inspecting samples of wastewater for traces of the virus, and positive samples are genome sequenced to identify whether it is a variant of concern, such as the India strain.

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said the programme had helped identify the need for surge testing in areas such as Bristol and Luton.

The programme then continues to monitor sewage after surge testing has ended, to ensure the variant is no longer circulating in the area.

Londoners in six boroughs - Harrow, Ealing, Hillington, Brent, Hackney and Hounslow - are being checked for the Indian coronavirus variant amid a surge-testing blitz in the capital city

People take Covid tests at a mobile coronavirus surge testing centre in Brockwell Park in south London last month. NHS Test and Trace has extended additional testing and genomic sequencing to targeted settings in Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent from today

People stand in line for coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common, south London, last month. Hackney and Hounslow were previously added to the boroughs offered surge testing following a rise in the Indian and South African variants

A man wearing a face mask walks past a testing centre amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease in the Shoreditch area of London on May 17

A man takes part in surge testing for the coronavirus disease in London on May 14. The DHSC hopes that post-pandemic, wastewater testing will help monitor other viruses such as flu, helping the NHS predict which areas are likely to be hit hardest by outbreaks

A man takes a swab sample from his son at a Covid surge testing site in London on May 14. Local authorities will shortly confirm the areas where additional testing will be offered within the four new boroughs

A woman walks past a banner featuring a coronavirus testing site set up at St Mary's Church Hall in the London borough of Hillingdon as part of surge testing to monitor and suppress the spread of the Indian coronavirus variant

A woman takes a swab sample for the coronavirus disease at a surge testing site in London. Local authorities will shortly confirm the areas where additional testing will be offered within the four new boroughs

People take part in Covid surge testing on Clapham Common, London, last month. It comes as a programme to test sewage to assess the prevalence of different Covid-19 variants in different regions now covers two thirds of England's population

People stand in line for coronavirus surge testing on Clapham Common last month. Meanwhile, a new 'triple mutant' strain has emerged in Yorkshire with 49 cases identified, although there is no evidence to suggest the strain is resistant to vaccines or more transmissible

The DHSC hopes that post-pandemic, wastewater testing will help monitor other viruses such as flu, helping the NHS predict which areas are likely to be hit hardest by outbreaks.

A dedicated wastewater testing lab opened in Exeter last month, and is now receiving samples gathered by Environment Agency scientists from 500 locations across England.

It is estimated the programme now covers two-thirds of England's population.

Monitoring in a specific catchment can even pinpoint localised outbreaks, without relying on residents to come forward for swab testing, the DHSC said.

Dr Jenny Harries, chief executive of the UK Health Security Agency, said: 'Sequencing wastewater samples provides an additional detection system for variants of concern, enabling us to respond more effectively to outbreaks and better protect citizens.'

Programme lead at the Joint Biosecurity Centre, Dr Andrew Engeli, said: 'As infections fall and we head out of national restrictions, analysing wastewater to detect variants early on is important to help local authorities and NHS Test and Trace act quickly to stop variants from spreading in communities.'

Sewage testing can also be used in specific institutions, such as food manufacturing sites or prisons.

The DHSC said: 'It is not possible to trace back the samples of Covid-19 to specific individuals and no personal information is collected.'

Travellers returning to Britain from an amber location must quarantine at home for 10 days and take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival tests

Christina Gray, director for communities and public health at Bristol City Council, said: 'This technology helped us to be confident that the picture we were seeing through testing results was a true reflection of the spread of infection, and that there was not a pool of undetected infection that we were unaware of.'

She added: 'When we get to a stage where we wind down routine testing, this method could potentially provide an effective means of identifying rising infection and assist us in taking prompt public health action.'

It comes amid Kirklees having the fourth highest Covid-19 case rate in the country - as the new 'Yorkshire variant' is found.

The area has seen a sharp increase in rates in just 24 hours, according to the most recent figures. For the seven days to May 17, Kirklees had 352 new cases and a rate of 80 per 100,000.

But in the seven days to May 16, the area recorded 324 new cases and a rate of 73.7 per 100,000. This means the rate has increased by seven in just one day.

The figures, which are based on the number of people who have tested positive for Covid-19 in either a lab-reported or rapid lateral flow test, suggest there could be an upward tread in the area.

Kirklees' rates means its now fourth in the country in terms of infection rates, after Bolton, Blackburn with Darwen, and Bedford.

However, the upward trajectory would be in line with the surge testing that has just been rolled out in the area. Kirklees' increase in rates also comes as another mutation of coronavirus dubbed the 'Yorkshire variant' has been detected in the UK with 49 cases found so far.

Currently categorised as VUI-21MAY-01 by Public Health England (PHE), 49 cases of the new variant mainly concentrated in the Yorkshire and Humber have been confirmed in England.

PHE explained it had been monitoring the variant, which is classed one step below the Indian variant which is a Variant of Concern, since April and that the variant is 'from a lineage which was designated a signal in monitoring on May 6, 2021 based on an unusual mutation profile'.

There is currently no evidence the variant under investigation causes a more severe disease. There is also no evidence that the new variant threatens the effectiveness of the current vaccines, according to PHE
Far-right extremist Ammon Bundy has entered the race to become governor of Idaho, even though he's banned from setting foot inside the state capitol.

The anti-government militiaman filed the initial paperwork Friday to run in the 2022 gubernatorial primary, according to the Idaho Secretary of States office.

Campaign documents reveal he will run as a Republican, pitting him against several other GOP candidates who have already entered the race including current Governor Brad Little and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin.

Bundy is best known for leading an armed standoff at an Oregon wildlife refuge that left one man dead back in 2016.

He is currently awaiting trial in two trespassing cases, after he invaded the state Capitol in Boise last year to protest against COVID-19 restrictions put in place by Little.

Far-right extremist Ammon Bundy (pictured) has entered the race to become governor of Idaho, even though he's banned from setting foot inside the state capitol

Campaign documents reveal he will run as a Republican, pitting him against several other GOP candidates who have already entered the race including current Governor Brad Little (left) and Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (right)

Now, he is planning to take on Little on the political stage.

But, the race may be over for Bundy before it's even begun as state election officials revealed his paperwork is invalid, reported CBS2.

In the filing, Bundy has listed himself as campaign treasurer - a role in which the individual must be registered to vote.

State officials told the outlet Bundy is currently not registered to vote.

They said Bundy had been made aware of the error in his filing.

He must now either register to vote and refile the documents or find a different campaign treasurer who is registered to vote and then refile the documents.

Six other Republican candidates have already filed to run for governor.

These are Jeff Cotton, Edward Humphreys, Lisa Marie, Cody Usabel, McGeachin and Little.

So far, there are no Democratic candidates in the race for the red state.

Bundy being wheeled into an elevator in a chair following his arrest at the Idaho Statehouse in Boise, Idaho on August 25. He was banned from the statehouse

Bundy being taken to a patrol car following his arrest for trespassing. He was arrested twice in two days in August for trespassing at the state Capitol to protest against COVID-19 restrictions

Little was elected governor in January 2019. But in the last year, he has faced criticism from other members of his party over his handling of the pandemic with McGeachin publicly slamming his April 2020 stay-at-home order.

McGeachin, who is Idaho's first female lieutenant governor, announced her run for governor Thursday.

Bundy has been a vocal critic of the state's COVID-19 restrictions and has had many brushes with the law.

He is currently banned from the Idaho Statehouse and its grounds for a year.

Just last month, he was arrested twice in the space of two hours on suspicion of trespassing at the government building.

Police said he had trespassed on the government building on April 8 and was arrested and jailed.

He then returned to the Capitol building soon after bailing out of jail on the first arrest and was arrested again.

It marked the fourth and fifth times he has been arrested in Boise since August, with all but one occurring at the Statehouse.

In March Bundy was arrested for failing to appear in court after he was banned from entering the courtroom when he refused to wear a mask. Pictured protesters in support of him at the Ada County Courthouse

Right-wing anti-government activist Ammon Bundy (pictured in a cowboy hat) was denied entry and then protested outside his own trespassing trial

In August, Bundy led dozens of protesters - many of them members of his People's Rights organization - to the Statehouse to protest against measures put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

The state's Republican-controlled legislature was convening a special session to address coronavirus-related bills.

In one of the protests, armed, unmasked rioters shattered a glass door and forced their way into the House gallery.

The next day, more than 100 protesters returned and forced lawmakers from a session where they were debating a bill to protect businesses from pandemic-related liability.

Bundy was arrested for trespassing when he wouldn't leave the room and was banned from the building for a year.

Bundy ignored the ban and returned the next day. He was arrested and charged with trespassing for the second time in two days.

The militiaman was uncooperative with officers and was seen being wheeled from the building on an office chair.

He was banned from the government building for a year following his arrests.

Bundy shot to notoriety in 2016 when he led a group of armed activists in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to protest the federal control of public lands. Bundy in the center speaking to the media during the standoff

The standoff lasted for 41 days. During this time, one man from his group LaVoy Finicum was shot and killed

Bundy, who is representing himself in the cases, was supposed to appear for trial in March but was banned from entering the court when he refused to wear a face mask.

Anyone entering a state courthouse is required to wear a protective covering.

Bundy refused and was denied entry. Instead, he protested outside the building against the mask requirements with two dozen other demonstrators.

He was then arrested for failing to appear in court.

Bundy shot to notoriety in 2016 when he led a group of armed activists in the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to protest the federal control of public lands.

The standoff lasted for 41 days. During this time, one man from his group, LaVoy Finicum, was shot and killed.

Bundy was arrested along with several others on conspiracy and firearms charges but was later acquitted.
One TikToker took her break-up to the next level, traveling almost 6,000 miles to remove a padlock she left on a tourist attraction with an ex as a testament to their love.

Kassie Yeung documented her journey on social media, which took the 23-year-old from Los Angeles to Seoul, South Korea. The two cities are 5,953 miles apart.

'I am one petty MF, idc what anyone says,' a caption in Yeung's TikTok says.

Her TikTok videos show Yeung on a flight to South Korea, then in an airport before she goes to purchase wire cutters from a store.

One TikToker is going viral after she traveled to South Korea to cut a love lock off a fence

Kassie Yeung's video shows her traveling to South Korea, arriving at the airport

She then went and purchased some wire cutters for her excursion

'Snip snip,' an automated voice says in the video. 'Time to snip.'

She is seen carrying her wire cutters across the city before getting on a bus, buying a ticket, and hopping in a cable car to take her up to the top of the N Seoul Tower, sometimes known as the Namsan Tower.

At the top of the tower are a number of locks for lovers, reminiscent of the old Pont des Arts bridge in Paris.

Couples attach the locks to its railings, then leave them there as a symbol of their relationship.

But Yeung decided it was time to cut hers off after her relationship with the partner she visited the romantic spot with ended.

Yeung did not offer further details on who her ex was, or why they split up - but her extravagant act of symbolism caused a sensation online.

The South Korean government says, 'N Seoul Tower is one of the iconic symbols of Seoul. This place has now become a popular date spot for couples.'

Yeung is then seen traveling to the N Seoul Tower with her wire cutters in hand

She has to take a cable car up to the top of the tower to complete her goal

Finally, she reaches the top of the tower and begins looking for her old love lock

Yeung searches for the lock she shared with her ex while rocking a mask a couple takes a selfie nearby.

Finally, she finds the lock after around 30 minutes and celebrates after cutting it off, showing it off and saying 'F yeah.'

Yeung posted the video on TikTok on May 11, where it has since generated over 7.8 million views and counting.

Yeung told Insider that she initially put the lock on one of the fences of the tower in the summer of 2019 before her return to cut it off almost two years later.

One comment read, 'I mean this with the utmost respect when I say this but I fear you.'

It took Yeung, 23, around 30 minutes before she was able to find the hidden lock

Yeung is then seen celebrating after successfully finding her lock and cutting it off

Another said, 'The dedication. Because I don't even know where my one is.'

While her video has racked up plenty of views, the destruction of the love lock wasn't the primary reason for her trip to South Korea.

Instead, she was pursuing a career as a backup dancer when she decided to return to the tower to break off the lock.

Nevertheless, she was happy to make a video that could connect to her followers.

'It is relevant in the sense that everyone goes through relationships, breakups, and possibly having love locks with ex-lovers,' Yeung told Insider.
As the guilty verdict was announced, Jennifer screamed. Beating the glass screen that surrounded the dock in desperation, she looked into the eyes of the jurors who had convicted her of causing horrific injuries to her baby son in the hope of finding a trace of sympathy  and found none.

'I didn't do it,' she wailed as a prison officer dragged her away to the cells, but it was too late.

Sentencing her to six years, the judge  and the jury members who found her guilty  went away believing justice had been done.

But The Mail on Sunday can reveal that Jennifer, whose identity we are protecting, will soon go the Court of Appeal in a bid to clear her name.

She will be armed with evidence detailing a unimaginable life of terror at the hands of her partner, a man who stood beside her in the dock but was cleared and walked free. If successful, Jennifer's case will have significant implications for how the legal system deals with victims of domestic abuse and, in particular, coercive and controlling behaviour.

The mother-of-three will argue that it was her partner, not her, whose actions led to the child's injuries.

As the guilty verdict was announced, Jennifer screamed. Beating the glass screen that surrounded the dock in desperation, she looked into the eyes of the jurors who had convicted her of causing horrific injuries to her baby son in the hope of finding a trace of sympathy  and found none. Sentencing her to six years, the judge  and the jury members who found her guilty  went away believing justice had been done. But MoS can reveal that Jennifer, whose identity we are protecting, will soon go the Court of Appeal in a bid to clear her name

That man  outwardly charming and a pillar of the local community  was, according to Jennifer, a sadistic bully behind closed doors whose hold over her was so all-consuming that she could not tell the truth in court.

Doing so, Jennifer knew, would put her family and children in danger. Such was her partner's domination that as she was questioned by police at their home  the moment she had an opportunity to spare herself  she froze because he was in earshot, 'standing between the hallway and the living room'.

Even in the courtroom, he exerted control, monitoring her every move and, it seemed to Jennifer, her thoughts too. 'All he would need to do was a look or a movement and I would know what he was saying I had to be careful,' she says.

Though it meant sacrificing herself, she stuck to his version of events and told the court she dropped the baby after catching her cardigan on a cupboard while preparing her son's feed.

It did not wash with the jury. His life-threatening injuries seemed too severe to be accidental and the prosecution argued that Jennifer deliberately squeezed him before throwing or dropping him on a concrete floor.

The truth, says Jennifer today, is that the baby did fall, but only after her partner  high on crack cocaine  punched her in the face. While prison offered protection from her abuser, it triggered terrifying flashbacks of the violence.

After counselling for post-traumatic stress disorder and hearing the experiences of other abuse survivors, she finally felt able to tell the horrifying truth. A psychologist later said it amounted to torture and 'one of the worst histories of domestic violence'.

Now Jennifer is fighting to clear her name. Fresh evidence backing her claims has been lodged with the Appeal Court and, damningly, it suggests repeated signs of abuse were missed by those who should have protected her.

In the documents, Jennifer claims she was deprived of food and sleep, locked in the house and urinated on. On one occasion her partner stripped her naked and held her at knifepoint. On another, she threw herself from a first-floor window to escape him.

Details of the harrowing case emerged days after the Government announced it would double the maximum jail term from five to ten years for perpetrators of coercive and controlling behaviour. But campaigners warn the penalty will be effective only if the authorities have the ability to spot dangerous patterns of offending.

He was so charming - but behind closed doors he was a sadistic bully

Naima Sakande, from the legal charity Appeal, which is representing Jennifer, says: 'This case is essentially about a woman who was too afraid to tell the truth and act in her own best interest at a moment of crisis when her liberty and her access to her children were on the line.

'The authorities couldn't assure her she would be protected and it is a damning indictment of our system that prison was the first time she felt able to tell the truth.'

Jennifer, who was released from jail on licence last spring after serving three years of her sentence, says she would like to finally bring her violent partner to justice and help protect other abused women.

'The fact my son nearly lost his life and that even then my partner continued with the abuse is unforgivable,' she says. 'At the time there was nothing I could say or do  I was under his spell.'

Her barrister Emma Torr adds: 'Jennifer was victimised by her partner and then victimised by the courts. She was let down twice. This appeal is a chance to put that right.'

Court documents reveal there was substantial contemporaneous evidence to show Jennifer's ex-partner had punched her, and it was this that caused the baby to fall. However, these leads were not properly explored.

The authorities also missed or turned a blind eye to many other indications of abuse, according to evidence prepared for the case.

Jennifer met her abusive partner in 2014 shortly after separating from the father of her two young children. It was a happy time. She was starting her own business and studying at university, and the new man in her life seemed 'charming and lovely'. But not for long.

Now Jennifer is fighting to clear her name. Fresh evidence backing her claims has been lodged with the Appeal Court and, damningly, it suggests repeated signs of abuse were missed by those who should have protected her. In the documents, Jennifer claims she was deprived of food and sleep, locked in the house and urinated on. On one occasion her partner stripped her naked and held her at knifepoint. On another, she threw herself from a first-floor window to escape him

Obsessively jealous, he began demanding to check her phone and social media accounts. Often he turned up unannounced in the middle of the night. His behaviour followed a familiar pattern: screamed insults gave way to violence, followed by remorse. 'Afterwards he would cry, asking for another chance,' recalls Jennifer. 'Unfortunately I fell for it.'

Two of his previous girlfriends even warned her that he was 'dangerous' and took crack cocaine.

'They said I should try to get away,' she says. 'But by then it was too late. He threatened to kill me countless times and said my children would be taken away, or he would hurt other members of my family.'

Isolated from those she loved, her life fell apart. She dropped out of university, her business failed and, unable to pay rent, she lost her home. 'He had control over my finances and I was left with no option but to move into one of his properties,' she says.

Jennifer claims she was regularly locked up, sometimes for days, occasionally without food. She says she was raped and beaten.

On one occasion her partner called her a 'whore' and threw her and the children out of the house, forcing them to sleep in the car.

Police records obtained by her lawyers reveal officers were often called to reports of arguments and violence at their home in the 18 months before their son was born. And medical records show she was seven weeks pregnant when she went to her GP with injuries consistent with being punched in the face and stomach.

Terrified of incurring his wrath again, Jennifer said she was attacked in the street by strangers. Twice she told doctors her bruises were caused by falling down the stairs.

Jennifer says these injuries were visible to the police called to their home, but she was only ever questioned within earshot of her abuser. In a statement from May 2020, she claimed her partner 'used to beat me if I spoke to the police when they turned up. I was afraid if I said anything, he would harm me, the children or my family'.

Even during the trial the abuse continued. By this point Jennifer had moved into her own flat but one night, she says, her partner broke in and attacked her. She wasn't even safe in hospital following the birth of their baby, where she was assaulted while her partner was high on drugs.

At the time there was nothing I could say or do - I was under his spell

It was against this background that Jennifer went along with his version of events after the incident in 2016 for which Jennifer was jailed. Her partner walked free, acquitted of cruelty to a child.

The baby suffered fractured ribs, skull fractures and bleeding on the brain, but went on to make a full recovery. At that point, Jennifer had not disclosed her abuse to her legal team. She says: 'The hardest thing is to say, 'I'm being abused'. I wanted someone to help me without having to say that.'

Eventually, however, she made a new statement. It says: 'At around 1.30am [the baby] began to cry. I made my way downstairs and I entered the kitchen. I was holding the baby making the bottle when [her ex] punched me on my head. I don't recall exactly how I fell or how he got out of my arms but we both fell to the floor.'

Ms Sakande insists the Appeal Court should note from Jennifer's case that the impact of coercive control can make it almost impossible for survivors to be open with their defence team.

'They are under the control of their abuser,' she explains. 'What is also striking is that all the warning signs were there in plain sight.

'The evidence was there at the time of the offence. The missing ingredient was safety, and until you can be safe you can't tell the truth.'

According to new evidence to be put before the court, police logs show statements given to officers on the night in question support Jennifer's later account that her partner had hit her, causing the baby's injuries. A neighbour told officers she heard Jennifer say: 'I haven't dropped the baby, I was feeding the child, you hit me and that is how the baby dropped.'

Her barrister says: 'This evidence is now in the hands of the Court of Appeal which has the power to right the wrongs committed in this case.'

Jennifer feels she was let down by the police and hopes lessons will be learned. 'I don't think the police are fully aware of how to spot coercive control and I do think they need training on this. It's not just the police  it's the courts too.

'Coercive control was criminalised in 2015, but they are still not recognising it. Something needs to change.'

Last night, a spokesman for the National Police Chiefs' Council said: 'The police response to domestic abuse has improved dramatically in recent years. Officers receive training to spot the signs of coercive and controlling behaviour and to provide the best possible support to victims.

'Our understanding of the devastating impact of living within an abusive relationship is developing all the time and we always seek to learn from any previous incidents.'

Reliving what happened is still traumatic for Jennifer. It shocks her sometimes that she survived it. After all, it caused her to lose everything, including custody of her children.

She is now permitted limited contact with them since being released from prison on licence. 'The only way I can describe it is just being completely numb. You are overcome with so much pain as a mother being taken away from your baby,' she says.

'It's a different kind of pain, especially when you know that they need you. It was wrong how it happened. I felt tricked.'

It plays on her mind that her partner is still out there and could hurt someone else. Nevertheless, she is now looking forward to brighter times.

'My children mean the world to me,' she says. 'After everything that has happened, we just want to start rebuilding our lives.'

If you or someone you know is experiencing abuse, please reach out to the 24 hour National Domestic Abuse freephone, on 0808 2000 247, or contact Womens Aid. In an emergency, call 999.
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference with President Moon Jae-in, in the East Room of the White House, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap



The United States is willing to engage diplomatically with North Korea to take practical steps toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, President Joe Biden said Friday (local time), announcing the appointment of former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Sung Kim as his special envoy for Pyongyang.



Biden also said he could meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but only if Kim makes a serious commitment to discuss giving up his nuclear ambitions, which will also have to be verified in pre-meeting negotiations.



"Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said at a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.



Moon and Biden held their first bilateral summit in Washington, Friday, which marked Biden's second in-person meeting with a foreign leader since taking office Jan. 20.



Biden said he and Moon made "important progress" on a range of issues, including North Korea.






Horrified nursing home staff heard blood-curdling screams as an 87 year-old man with dementia brutally murdered his 83 year-old care home neighbor, it is claimed.

Clifton Bourne is said to have repeatedly whacked 83 year-old Lloyd Godfrey's head against concrete inside their nursing home in the Bronx on Friday.

The New York Post reported that Godfrey was found lying face down inside the Pinnacle Multicare Nursing & Rehabilitation Center, with Bourne - who was soaked in his alleged victim's blood - arrested and charged with murder shortly afterwards.

Bourne's dementia diagnosis was shared with the Daily News by police sources.

'There's no clear and concise reason' for the attack, an NYPD spokesman told The Post on Saturday.

Bourne's ex-wife Elise Freeman said she was struggling to believe he could have murdered someone.

She told the Post: 'I know him very well. There is no way, no way he would have done something like that. He is scared of his own shadow.

'They are putting this on him. He is a peacemaker. Where were the workers? Nobody saw anything?'

Police found Lloyd Godfrey, 83, dead in this Bronx nursing home Friday evening

The suspect, Clifton Bourne, 87, was also a patient in the nursing home and is said to suffer from dementia. Police arrested him and charged him with murder

The spokesperson said an investigation is ongoing, and it is unclear if charges against Bourne may be modified or dropped due to his alleged medical condition.

The Alzheimer's Society said aggressiveness is a byproduct of dementia.

'People with dementia have the same needs we all have. These include the need to be comfortable and free from pain, able to interact with other people, to feel engaged and stimulated and to feel well in ourselves,' the society said on its website.

But people who suffer from dementia may not be able to recognize their needs or let others know what they need, the Alzheimer's society said.

Their needs can be physical - including pain or discomfort from something as simple as constipation, medication side effects, or hallucinations or delusions.

Other needs could by psychological or social - including frustration because they can't do what they normally could do or they aren't being listened to, misunderstanding caregivers' intentions, or feeling isolated.

'This may cause them to act in ways that others might find challenging, including aggressively. The aggressive behavior might be the person's way of trying to achieve what they need. It may be a sign of a need that isn't being met or an attempt to communicate it,' according to their website.
Three men have been charged with the murder of a 24-year-old student who was found dead in a disused building, police have said.

Billy Henham, from Henfield, West Sussex was found by police at a disused building in Brighton on January 2, 2020.

The student, who was studying at Ravensbourne University in London, was last seen at a New Year's Eve party, just three days earlier.

Four men were arrested in connection with the murder by the Surrey and Sussex Major Crime Team on May 20 this year, but one was later released without any further action.

Alize Spence, 18, from Ealing, Lamech Gordon-Carew, 19, from Hampton and Gregory Hawley, 28, of no fixed address, have now been charged with murder.

Billy Henham (left and right), from Henfield, West Sussex, was found by police at a disused building in Brighton on January 2, 2020

The three men appeared at Brighton Magistrates Court on Friday morning.

They confirmed their names and addresses and were not asked to enter pleas.

Mr Henham was found dead in Brighton after officers attended the property following a report of concerns for a person.

Police are still appealing for help to find Dushane Meikle, 27, in connection with the investigation.

Mr Meikle from Hove has links to the city and London and should not be approached by the public.

Detective Superintendent Alex Geldart said: 'We are urging anyone who sees Dushane Meikle or has information on his whereabouts to dial 999 immediately. Please do not approach him.'

In a statement released after Mr Henham was found, his family said: 'Our son Billy was a man who walked his own beat, creative and independent.

'His gentle demeanour and belief that the world was a friendly place meant he made himself vulnerable at times.

'His guardian angel who had looked after him on so many other occasions sadly lost sight of him on New Year's Eve.

'He was killed for reasons that we cannot fathom.

Sussex Police are still appealing for help to find Dushane Meikle, 27, in connection with the investigation

'He was a kind and peaceful man who would happily talk and listen to those he came across in life.

'We will remember Billy's life with a smile and miss his gentle ways, smiling face and auburn hair.

'His death has left a huge hole in our family.'

The three accused will appear again at Lewes Crown Court on Monday.
Former employees of the influential Republican pollster and strategist Frank Luntz say that his methods are a 'scam', according to a new report.

Three former Luntz employees, including Chris Ingram, a former senior vice president at the Luntz Research Company, spoke out about the pollster's practices in interviews with Salon.

Ingram, who worked for Luntz from 1997 through the early 2000s, said that Luntz's claim to deliver objective data is a 'total shtick and a scam' and called his methods 'quite frankly bulls**t.'

Luntz did not immediately respond to a request for comment from DailyMail.com on Saturday.

Former employees of the influential Republican pollster and strategist Frank Luntz say that his methods a 'scam'. Pictured: Luntz is spotted in Los Angeles in February 2020

Luntz is an influential GOP pollster and strategist, as well as close friend and roommate of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Though he runs a Republican polling and communications company, in January declared that he no longer felt able to call himself a Republican.

In recent days, his focus group work has been featured on The Daily Show and the New York Times opinion section, and he makes regular appearances on MSNBC.

Chris Ingram, a former senior vice president at the Luntz Research Company, ripped the methods of his old boss

'The clowns at MSNBC didn't have a clue about how the focus groups or panels worked, or what Frank what was doing,' Ingram told Salon.

'The actions were basically contrived: He screened out anybody that isn't going to give the viewers the opinion that Frank, on behalf of his client, is looking for. Somehow, he is able to bulls**t people,' he added.

Ingram said that Luntz tried to manipulate his focus groups using 'dial testing,' in which participants turn knobs on a dial to indicate their reactions in real time.

'Frank, when he would be hired by clients, whether they would be corporate or political, would sit in that room yelling, 'Keep turning the dials! Keep turning the dials!'' Ingram said.

He said that Luntz was mainly concerned with results that would yield more 'compelling' data for the client, rather than accuracy.

Luntz speaks during the 2018 Milken Institute Women Leaders' Summit in Singapore

Two other former Luntz employees told Salon similar stories on the condition that they not be named. One called Luntz a 'slimeball' and remarked on his lavish lifestyle.

Another said that negative experiences working with Luntz were 'widespread' in Washington DC.

Luntz was recently the target of withering attacks earlier this month from Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who accused him of lobbying on behalf of 'liberal' causes.

Carlson said senior Republicans were disconnected from their supporters partly because they listen to 'conventional liberals' like Luntz, whom he accused of serving 'left-wing corporations'.

The commentator said that Luntz, who is not a registered lobbyist, 'lobbies on behalf of the world's most left-wing companies,' citing Google, Nike and Delta airlines.

'In real life, his views bear no resemblance whatsoever to the views of actual Republican voters,' said Carlson.

'So the question is - how did someone like this wind up with so much influence in the Republican Party? Why do they listen to someone like Frank Luntz, rather than their own voters?'

Carlson said that Luntz was 'effectively a Democrat', who was advising Republican leaders

It was recently revealed that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is renting out space in Luntz's lavish 12-bedroom penthouse in DC

According to online records, Luntz is the registered owner of four apartments in this Penn Quarter building, which The Washington Post said had been combined to create a penthouse

He then played a clip of an interview with Luntz in which the pollster says that Trump supporters are in favor of providing a path to citizenship to so-called DREAM-ers.

Carlson accused Luntz of taking the same position on immigration as that of Google, and that his views were applauded by open borders activists.

In a follow-up segment, Carlson revealed that McCarthy is renting out space in Luntz's luxury 12-bedroom penthouse in DC.

McCarthy's arrangement in Washington appears unusual, but his spokesman said he paid the going rate, to avoid conflict-of-interest charges.

Carlson ripped the arrangement, saying: 'The top Republican in the House lives with a Google lobbyist? Come on.

'Even by the sleazy and corrupt standards of politics in Washington, that didn't seem possible. In fact, it sounded like a joke.'
A depraved sexual predator who abused three girls over four decades has been jailed for 22 years after he was caught sending an explicit photo to a schoolgirl.

Russell Yeomans, 58, sent the indecent image to the child in 2019, setting in place a chain of events that would eventually see him brought to justice.

Nottingham Crown Court heard the victim was encouraged to speak to support staff at her school after the picture was discovered on her phone.

She then revealed several harrowing incidents of sexual abuse at an address in Nottinghamshire.

Detectives launched an investigation and later received additional complaints from two further victims.

The women, now adults, said Yeomans abused them in the 1970s and 80s.

'Manipulative sexual predator' Russell Yeomans has been jailed for 22 years after being convicted at Nottingham Crown Court

One of the victims revealed a pattern of sexual abuse starting when she was a seven-year-old and she was raped three times as a teenager.

Yeomans, of Wilford, Nottingham, refused to comment in his first police interview and denied all the allegations against him.

He later admitted to sending the explicit image, one count of causing a child to watch / look at an image of sexual activity and inciting a girl under 16 to engage in sexual activity.

He was convicted by a jury of a total of 14 further offences following a two week trial at Nottingham Crown Court.

They included two sexual assault of a child under 13, eight indecent assaults on a child under 14, three rapes and one act of gross indecency with a child under 14.

Yeomans was jailed for 22 years on Friday and will also have to serve a further five years on licence when he is released.

Detective Constable Paula Wilson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: 'Yeomans is a manipulative sexual predator whose shocking abuse was finally exposed after he sent an explicit image of himself to one of his victims.

'By doing this he unwittingly set in place a chain of events that have quite rightly culminated in a very lengthy custodial sentence.

The case was heard at Nottingham Crown Court (pictured)

'The picture he sent to the victim proved to be the catalyst for three separate victims to come forward independently with very detailed allegations of abuse - much of which happened a very long time ago.

'Their bravery and determination was absolutely crucial to the success of this prosecution and I am delighted that they have now received justice.

'I would also like to pay tribute to the professionalism and good practice displayed by staff at the latest victim's school, who followed safeguarding procedures to the letter and allowed us to gather very compelling evidence at an early stage.

'Taking into account Yeoman's pattern of behaviour over a very long period of time I have no doubt that his campaign of abuse would have continued had he not been exposed and convicted for his appalling crimes.

'To any other victims of historic sexual assault I would like to say this - it is never too later to come forward.

'Regardless of how long ago things happened we will listen to you, we will investigate and we will do our very best to get justice for you.'
Richard Branson shared his delight after his space tourism firm Virgin Galactic made reached orbit for the first time since moving to its New Mexico Spaceport.

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo spacecraft successfully made its first rocket-powered spaceflight in two years after lifting off from New Mexico's Spaceport America.

In a video posted to Twitter, Branson could be seen celebrating the successful space flight from the New Mexico launch site, which replaced Virgin Galactic's previous HQ in the Mohave Desert.

'Delighted to be on the flightline to watch @VirginGalactic's first human spaceflight from the majestic Spaceport America @Spaceport_NM #UNITY21,' he tweeted.

The spaceflight brings Virgin Galactic closer to offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere.

Virgin Galactic announced the firing of VSS Unity's rocket motor to hurtle the ship and two pilots toward space.

British billionaire and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson confirmed in a Twitter post that the two pilots and a research payload belonging to NASA had reached space.

The spaceflight, the first in two years, brings Virgin Galactic closer to offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo spacecraft successfully made its first rocket-powered spaceflight from New Mexico's Spaceport America

'Delighted to be on the flightline to watch @VirginGalactic's first human spaceflight from the majestic Spaceport America @Spaceport_NM #UNITY21,' Branson tweeted

VSS Unity, was carried up to an altitude of about 44,000 feet by a carrier aircraft called VMS Eve.

VMS Eve released VSS Unity which fired its rocket engine and accelerated to more than three times the speed of sound, CNBC reported.

After performing a slow backflip in microgravity at the edge of space, the spacecraft returned through the atmosphere in a glide, landing back in New Mexico, CNBC reported.

'VMS Eve has landed safely. Thanks to our pilots Kelly Latimer and Michael Masucci for flying the mothership today and their vital role in helping VSS Unity complete today's spaceflight,' Virgin Galactic tweeted an hour after VSS Unity reached space.

Virgin Galactic is aiming for commercial operations to begin next year following testing and several months of downtime for maintenance and other upgrades. That testing will include a flight that will take Branson to the edge of space later this year.

The first powered test in New Mexico from Spaceport America was delayed repeatedly before Saturday's launch. In December 2020, computer trouble caused by electromagnetic interference prevented the spaceships rocket from firing properly. Instead of soaring toward space, the ship and its two pilots were forced to make an immediate landing.

VMS Eve released VSS Unity which fired its rocket engine and accelerated to more than three times the speed of sound

'VMS Eve has landed safely. Thanks to our pilots Kelly Latimer and Michael Masucci for flying the mothership today and their vital role in helping VSS Unity complete today's spaceflight,' Virgin Galactic tweeted an hour after VSS Unity reached space

The company's spacecraft, named VSS Unity, was carried up to an altitude of about 44,000 feet by a carrier aircraft called VMS Eve

British billionaire and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson (pictured) confirmed in a Twitter post on Saturday that the two pilots and a research payload belonging to NASA had reached space

The rocket was carrying both human operators and research payloads in partnership with NASA's Flight Opportunities program.

Virgin Galactic is one of a few companies looking to cash in on customers with an interest in space.

The company has about 600 reservations for future flights on VSS Unity, with tickets sold at prices between $200,000 and $250,000 each, CNBC reported.

Celebrities that have already nabbed the exclusive tickets include singer Katy Perry, actor Tom Hanks, and Justin Bieber.

The spacecraft can hold up to six passengers along with the two pilots.

Elon Musks SpaceX will launch a billionaire and his sweepstakes winners in September. That should be followed in January 2022 by a flight by three businessmen to the International Space Station.

Jeff Bezos Blue Origin launched a new capsule in January as part of testing as it aims to get its program for tourists, scientists and professional astronauts off the ground. Its planning for liftoff of its first crewed flight on July 20, the date of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Virgin Galactic has reached space twice before.

First from California in December 2018 and then again last June when the company marked its second successful glide flight over New Mexico.

In 2014, Virgin Galactic's VSS Enterprise crashed in the Mojave Desert in California following an in-flight anomaly during a test flight.

Co-pilot Michael Alsbury, 39 was killed in the crash and pilot Peter Siebold was seriously injured.

Investigations later revealed that the disaster was caused by Alsbury's premature unlocking of the air brake device used for atmospheric re-entry.

Preparations for the latest attempt included a maintenance review of the special carrier plane that flies the six-passenger spacecraft to a high altitude, where it is released so it can fire its rocket motor and make the final push to space.

The flights are designed to reach an altitude of at least 50 miles before the rocket motor is turned off and the crew prepares to reenter the atmosphere and glide to a landing.

As part of the return trip, a feathering system slows and stabilizes the craft as it re-enters the atmosphere.

While Virgin Galactics stock price ticked up this week with the announcement of the latest test being scheduled for Saturday, it wasnt enough to overcome the losses seen since a peak in February. Some analysts have cautioned that it could be a while before the company sees profits as the exact start of commercial operations is still up in the air.
Police have made five arrests including a teenage boy after a vigil for a recently-deceased resident descended into scenes of rioting this week.

The event was held in the Mayhill area of Swansea, south Wales when the situation became violent and police were called.

South Wales Police urged residents to stay inside amid scenes of a car being torched.

Video footage also showed a group of people rolling a car down a hill towards the burning vehicle.

The scene in the Mayhill area of Swansea on Thursday evening when cars were set alight

Police have arrested four men and a teenage boy in connection with the night of violence.

A statement said: 'The local males aged 36, 20, 18 and 16 have been arrested on suspicion of unlawful violence and remain in police custody.

'There have been no further incidents of violence or disorder since Thursday night and increased patrols will continue over the weekend.

'Officers wish to thank those residents who have already come forward and provided witness statements and video footage. However, they are also appealing for more information.'

Police have called on people who witnessed the carnage to get in contact with possible identities

Seven police officers were injured in the disturbance.

Detective Superintendent Gareth Morgan, who is leading the investigation for South Wales Police called on people in the community to come forward with names of those involved.

He added: 'There are many residents who were present at the scene during the disturbance and will no doubt know the identity of those who caused damage and threatened violence.

'I urge the public not to protect those who showed such disregard for the community of Mayhill and to give us the names of those who can be seen on social media footage.

The shells of two burned out cars in the Mayhill area of Swansea on Thursday are seen in this picture

Two cars are seen with severe fire damage on the street. The tarmac has also been damaged with the heat of the blaze

'We have a dedicated team of detectives who are carrying out extensive inquiries to identify those involved and we are ready to act upon any information received.

'Detectives and uniform officers will be present and visible in the community over the coming days and weeks with further arrests expected.

'Those that want to hand themselves in can do so at Swansea Central Police Station.'
A modified sedan whose driver is said to have been speeding plowed into a skateboard ramp and flew 20 feet through the air before landing in a creek, killing all three men inside.

The tragic accident unfolded around 4:45 am Saturday morning on Borden Avenue right underneath the Long Island Expressway in Long Island City.

A witness told the New York Post they saw the 'souped-up black sedan with a modified exhaust' was speeding along the dead-end street, before the driver lost control of the vehicle.

They said the car veered sideways over the concrete ramp, soared over the fence and flew another 20 feet out before landing in Newtown Creek.

Police divers dragged three men from the water and rushed them to hospital but they were all pronounced dead.

The victims are a 30-year-old male, 25-year-old male and a third male who has not been identified.

Three men have been killed in a horror car crash in New York City after their 'speeding' car reportedly plowed into a skateboarding ramp, cleared a 15 feet fence and plunged into a creek. Pictured the scene

Divers on the scene of the tragic accident which unfolded around 4:45 am Saturday morning on Borden Avenue right underneath the Long Island Expressway in Long Island City

Divers are seen dragging three men from the water. They were rushed to hospital but were all pronounced dead. The victims are a 30-year-old male, 25-year-old male and an unidentified male

Police responded to a 911 call at 4:46 am from a caller reporting they had seen a vehicle plunge into the creek.

FDNY divers searched the water and discovered the submerged 2016 black Honda Civic with the three men inside.

They were pulled out of the creek unconscious and unresponsive, said police.

FDNY Deputy Chief Fred Mallett told NBC New York the emergency crews were on the scene in about five minutes, had divers in the water within 10 minutes and had pulled two of the men from the water in another 10 minutes.

The 30-year-old man was taken to Cornell Hospital and the other two men to Mount Sinai, Queens.

All three were pronounced dead at hospital.

NYPD spokesman Detective Hubert Reyes told DailyMail.com their identities will be released once the families have been notified.

A witness told the New York Post they saw the 'souped-up black sedan with a modified exhaust' speeding along the dead-end street, before the driver lost control of the vehicle

They said the car veered sideways over the concrete ramp (seen above), soared over the fence and flew another 20 feet out before landing in Newtown Creek

The car was still submerged in the creek Saturday afternoon as law enforcement teams work to pull the wreckage from the water.

Reyes said it was not clear what caused the accident or whether speed was a factor. The investigation is still ongoing.

Mallett the car appeared to be 'flying down' the road before it crashed into the ramp.

'Looks like a car was flying down, hit a ramp at the end of the street, went into the water,' Mallett said.

The witness told The Post they saw the car 'speeding' before it 'dropped gear' and attempted to make a right turn.

At this point the car went 'sideways' over the ramp and into the creek.

The witness said they would often see drag racers in the area.
Geraldo Rivera says a member of his wife's family branded him 'disgusting' after he slammed Israel amid the latest eruption of violence in the Middle East.

The 77-year-old pundit made the claim on Twitter Friday, writing: 'Wild attacks since I made clear my feelings: Innocent Palestinians-including kids-disproportionately victimized by current violence.

'My aunt-in-law just called me disgusting. Many supporters of Israel believe it's disloyal even to mention Palestinian suffering. Too bad. Peace now.'

Rivera, who is Jewish, has been married to Erica Michelle Levy, 46, since 2003. He raised eyebrows earlier this week after supporting hard-left 'Squad' congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Fox News.

Earlier this week, Rivera harshly criticized Israel in a series of segments on Fox News. Rivera's views may surprise some, given that he is both conservative and Jewish. Conservative Jews across the US are among the groups most likely to be supportive of Israel's military actions.

In one appearance he became embroiled in a screaming match with co-star Dan Bongino, saying it was 'abhorrent' that Palestinians were dying at 20 times the numbers of Israelis.

In another appearance, he accused Israel of 'crimes against humanity' and threw his support behind Tlaib who is Palestinian-American, and who has called on the US to halt the sale of weapons to the Jewish state.

Geraldo Rivera says a member of his wife's family has branded him 'disgusting' after he slammed Israel and voiced his support for Palestine amid the latest eruption of violence in the Middle East. Rivera and his wife Erica Michelle Levy are pictured together in 2017. They are both Jewish

The 77-year-old pundit - who is Jewish - made the claim on Twitter Friday

On Wednesday, Rivera told Bongino that he 'demanded a cease fire' and said he was concerned for the welfare of Palestinian children.

Bongino - who is pro-Israel - shot back: 'Geraldo, you do this every time and it is such garbage. You play this emotional game with the audience and use your position of responsibility to put out misinformation.'

'This is not about me,' Rivera replied. 'You didn't come here to attack me. I'm sick of you, Bongino. You're a punk.'

The discussion quickly descended into farce as the pair traded insults and shouted over one another.

Rivera screwed up a piece of paper and hurled it at the monitor from his remote location.

Bongino burst into laughter and called him an 'out-of-control lunatic'.

'I'm an out of control lunatic?' Rivera responds. 'I'm a ten-time Emmy winner.'

On Wednesday, Rivera told Bongino that he 'demanded a cease fire' and said he was concerned for the welfare of Palestinian children

Rivera, a veteran war correspondent, said it was 'abhorrent' that Palestinian children were dying at a rate 20 times higher than Israelis

Rivera said he was concerned for the welfare of Palestinian children. A Palestinian girl is seen being pulled from the rubble of a destroyed building in Gaza on May 16

In a separate segment, Rivera told Fox's Martha MacCallum that Israel was committing 'crimes against humanity' by bombing Palestinian civilians.

He also threw his support behind Tlaib, who opposes the $735-million sale of U.S. weapons to Israel.

'The fact that the United States of America is providing Israel many of the weapons they are using today to kill Palestinian civilians without demanding a cease-fire, [shows] Tlaib is right,' he stated.

'That makes us complicit in an ongoing crime against humanity.'

Rivera, who has worked as a war correspondent, has visited Palestine and described it as 'one of the most menacing places on Earth'.

'Everyone and everything going into and out of Gaza is controlled by Israel,' he stated.

'Electricity, fuel, airspace, ports, cell phone service, even who gets to farm those meager fields. It's effectively one of the world's largest prison camps and it is being bombed with bombs supplied by the United States.

'It's outrageous that we gave Israel these hundreds of millions of dollars worth of weapons without insisting on a ceasefire now.'

Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire on Thursday after 15 days of violence that left 11 Israeli civilians and 248 Palestinian civilians and militants dead.
A man visiting New York from North Carolina was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver while crossing a Brooklyn street - amid claims people were drag-racing nearby.

The victim, identified as Wayne Reed, 52, was struck on Bedford Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant just before 10:30pm on Friday night.

The driver allegedly sped off after hitting Reed and remains at-large as of Saturday, according to the New York Daily News.

A preliminary investigation suggests the victim was trying to cross westbound on the street when a northbound vehicle struck him. Further details of the vehicle that struck Reed have not been shared.

A fatal hit-and-run encounter on Friday night left a North Carolina man dead in Brooklyn

The incident happened just before 10:30pm on Friday night in Bedford-Stuyvesant

Unconfirmed reports suggest cars were drag-racing in the area at the time, although it is unclear if the car that hit Reed was involved in this.

DailyMail.com has reached out to the NYPD for comment.

According to WABC, the Fayetteville native was found unconscious and unresponsive with trauma to his head.

EMS took him to Interfaith Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

The NYPD Highway Collision Investigation Squad is investigating the deadly incident, the second fatal hit-and-run in the borough this week.

On Tuesday night, public school teacher Matthew Jensen, 58, was fatally struck by a Rolls Royce while crossing a street around midnight.

The victim, identified as Wayne Reed, 52, was struck on Bedford Avenue (scene pictured)

Police have not released any information about the vehicle that hit Reed, nor the driver

'He just had a smile that would light up a room,' Erica Young, president of his school's PTA, told Gothamist. 'Even if your child didn't work with him, he knew your child.'

No arrests have been made in that hit-and-run at this point in time either.

The hit-and-runs come as crime rates have increased in the city over the past two years.

Crime statistics show that violent crimes, including felonies and felony assaults, have risen dramatically in the first few months of 2021.

Murders on the subway system have been up 25 percent since 2019. Statistics show that there have been 119 felony assaults on New York City's subway system since January - the highest number for the first three months of the year since 1998.

There are reports that there may have been cars drag racing in the area

Crime statistics show that violent crimes, including felonies and felony assaults, have risen dramatically in the first few months of 2021

Meanwhile, felonies - serious crimes including murders, rapes and assaults - saw a steep 53.7 percent increase over the last two years.

NYPD data also shows an increase in murders. For the week of May 5 to May 9, there were nine murders in New York City  compared to two in 2020, marking a 350 percent increase year-over-year.

There have been a total of 146 murders in New York City in 2021 as of May 9 compared to 115 by the same date in 2020, a 27 percent increase.

The data shows that there have been a whopping 43 shooting victims that week compared to 16 that same week in 2020, marking a 168 percent increase.

Those 43 victims last week were shot in a total of 36 shooting incidents, indicating an uptick in mass shootings versus individual shootings. Last year, there were 16 shooting victims at 15 shooting incidents, the data shows.

There have been a total of 505 shooting victims in New York City as of May 9, nearly double the number of 275 by the same date in 2020.

Hit-and-run incidents are also on the rise from a year ago. There were 23 in the first quarter of 2021 compared to 13 in 2020, a 76 percent increase.

Gothamist obtained 311 data about drag racing in New York City, with complaints up 194 percent from a year ago.

There have been 893 drag racing complaints this year, including 261 in Queens, 213 in Manhattan, 168 in Brooklyn, 147 in the Bronx, and 31 on Staten Island.
When Mohammed Khans small travel agency in Bolton began receiving calls from India and Pakistan from people desperate to fly home in early April, he realised something was badly wrong.

About 1,500 residents of the Lancashire town are thought to have travelled to South Asia in February and March after months of lockdown.

Many of them, believes Mr Khan, were flouting Government rules on non-essential travel.

But weeks later, as India began to see an explosion of coronavirus cases, those families were rushing to get back to the UK before Pakistan and India were put on the Governments red list, requiring them to quarantine in a UK hotel for ten days at a cost of 1,750.

Locals believe this rush to return may have brought the so-called Indian variant to the town, made worse by the refusal of some to self-isolate at home for ten days.

Mr Khan  not his real name  is angry at the behaviour of that minority.

About 1,500 residents of the Lancashire town are thought to have travelled to South Asia in February and March after months of lockdown

Its very selfish. People just think about themselves and their own pleasure.

'Just because you cant go to a restaurant or a cinema for a few months, you want to go to a completely different country, he says.

Coronavirus has taken a heavy toll on Bolton, once among the biggest textile producers in the world, but now, in some parts, facing chronic deprivation.

There have been 780 Covid-related deaths in Bolton and in the week to May 16 there were 982 positive tests, 438 more than the previous week.

The towns infection rate is now 384.6 per 100,000 residents, compared with the England average of 20.6  with more than 90 per cent of those having the Indian variant, according to leaked analysis by public health officials.

For much of last week, the mutant viruss surge threatened Britains route out of lockdown. Yet an investigation by The Mail on Sunday suggests Bolton is an exception.

The Indian strain was found in three neighbourhoods to the south-west of Boltons town centre that collectively make up the BL3 postcode  Deane, Rumworth and Great Lever  during the last week of April.

These bustling areas of tightly packed, red-brick terraced houses are home to almost 33,000 people and 13,000 households.

About 43 per cent of the population are from an ethnic minority, predominantly British Indian or British Pakistani.

However, experts believe that it is poverty, dense housing and multi-generational homes in the areas, rather than ethnicity, that lies behind the surge of the Indian variant.

Manufacturing and wholesale retail make up about one third of the local economy, equivalent to 36,000 jobs that cannot be done from home.

More than a quarter of households live in poverty and one in eight families lives in overcrowded conditions, some with three generations in the same property.

Around here there could be between two and eight in a two-bedroom house, says John Openshaw, 73, a lifelong resident of Deane.

If you are talking about those numbers and Covid kicks off in a house, it is going to spread and spread.

But why did the Indian variant kick off in Bolton in the first place?

Mr Khan, who runs one of the many independent travel agencies in BL3, is certain it was seeded by those residents who rushed back in early April.

Pakistan and Bangladesh were added to the red list on April 2, but the rules were not implemented until April 9.

India joined them on April 19, but travellers had until April 23 to fly home.

Travel website Skyscanner reported a 250 per cent leap in searches for flights from India to the UK in the days before the new restrictions were imposed.

A lot of people came back before the red zones were introduced, says Mr Khan.

There are people who were due to come back in June or August who I now see around here. Im like, Hold on a minute, youre not supposed to be back for months.

Mr Khan was so incensed by the behaviour of some of his customers that he told them there were no seats available on flights home, even though there were.

He says: When people started calling me for new tickets or ticket changes so they didnt have to do [hotel] quarantine. I said, No, sorry, I cant, there are no flights. I thought if they came back and didnt follow the rules, I was going to go into lockdown again.

Whats the point of me following the rules and staying at home and keeping my distance while they go to Pakistan and India and do whatever they want?

Of the estimated 1,500 people Mr Khan believes travelled to South Asia, he thinks fewer than 100 managed to get back in time.

According to a community leader, one man in his 50s paid 2,000 for a flight to avoid hotel quarantine. Once back, most stayed indoors for ten days, but others didnt.

At a barbers shop near the derelict Swan Lane Mills, a vast former cotton factory that looms over Rumworth and Great Lever, staff and customers despair at those who flouted the rules.

I think in the first lockdown, people were abiding by the rules, says a shopkeeper waiting for his beard trim. They were staying at home if they had symptoms.

But they are sick of it now. People have been coming out when they should have been isolating. Asked how many had broken the rules, he replies: Plenty.

The 36-year-old owner of the barbers shop recalls shouting last week at a man whose wife and children have tested positive for Covid-19.

Mr Khan was so incensed by the behaviour of some of his customers that he told them there were no seats available on flights home, even though there were

I saw the guy yesterday walking in the road. I said, Dont come to my shop. Why are you coming out? The Government has no control. People are not listening.

Boltons vaccination rate of 88.9 per cent by May 9 for those aged 40 or over is in line with national figures, but it is notably lower in some areas of the town. In Rumworth South, for example, it was reportedly only 79.4 per cent.

Yasmin Qureshi, the Labour MP for Bolton South East, insisted last week that there has been no vaccine hesitancy but some residents have delayed their vaccinations and even a handful of influential community leaders say they havent had their jabs.

Waiting in his car outside Quebec Hall, a vaccination centre in Deane, a 49-year-old business manager, admits delaying his visit until he heard the Pfizer vaccine was available.

I got fearful when I was supposed to have the AstraZeneca vaccine and I put it back deliberately because we heard Italy, Spain, Germany were going to put it on hold with the blood clots, he says. I wanted the Pfizer one.

Half a mile away on Derby Street, the Zakariyya mosque has spent 11,000 on face masks and has installed sanitiser dispensers and social-distancing signs.

The Indian strain was found in three neighbourhoods to the south-west of Boltons town centre that collectively make up the BL3 postcode  Deane, Rumworth and Great Lever  during the last week of April. Pictured: A warning sign in Bolton, May 17

Its president, Edris Musa, says the Government should have acted a lot earlier in shutting down people coming in from India but admits that he has not been vaccinated  although he does not tell others to shun the jab.

The vaccine is at an experimental stage, he claims. Someone in my position, if I took the vaccination and, God forbid, something happened to me, what would happen to this place? Should I take that risk?

An NHS source said most of Boltons mosques had embraced vaccination, but others were reluctant, adding: There are 49 mosques in Bolton and we have got good relationships with a large majority and then we have quite a few that wont put any of our messages out.

Encouragingly, local health bosses appear to be winning the race to bolster the towns defences against the Indian variant.

Analysis by this newspaper shows that by last Sunday, between 82 and 85 per cent of over-40s in Rumworth and Great Lever and 87 per cent of over-40s in Deane had been vaccinated.

Crucially, cases have not translated into a major surge of hospital admissions and deaths.

As he seeks to rebuild his travel business, Mr Khan says: I dont want a third lockdown.

Its a team effort. We all have to be in it together.
President Moon Jae-in listens as President Joe Biden speaks during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap



President Moon Jae-in announced a joint decision with the United States, Friday, to terminate U.S. guidelines that have long restricted Seoul's development of missiles.



He was speaking right after a summit with President Joe Biden at the White House.



"I am pleased to announce the termination of the missile guidelines," Moon told reporters, with Biden standing next to him.



Moon described it as a "symbolic and substantive" measure demonstrating the robustness of the alliance along with a recent deal on sharing the cost for American troops stationed on the peninsula.






A thug has been jailed for six years and five months for dragging a mum from her car and driving away with her three screaming kids still on the back seat. The woman's daughters, aged four, five, and seven, cried out in terror as cocaine addict Ryan Fraser, 27, sped off in the black Ford Kuga. Fraser spotted the 40-year-old getting out of her car outside a hairdresser's in Armley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, at 9am on Saturday, October 3. He dragged her away from the motor, screaming in her face and shoved her across the pavement onto the ground. The children were crying out in the back of the car as she was dragged away by the ankles. Somehow the brave mum got back on her feet and tried to stop the car from being driven away by holding onto the driver's door for as long as she could. Fraser 'drove erratically and repeatedly told the children to shut up', Leeds Crown Court heard. Accomplice Andrew Hall, in the passenger seat, pleaded with Fraser to pull over and let the children out.
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The Italian band Maneskin leaped for joy as they triumphed at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands tonight - while Britain's James Newman finished bottom of the leaderboard with zero points for the second time in a row.

The pop-rock group, who won with scored 524 points in the grand final, beamed with excitement as they waved to the crowds and were confirmed as this year's 2021 winners at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena in the Netherlands tonight.

Gold glitter rained from the ceiling as the group climbed back on stage to lift the trophy and were invited to perform their winning song Zitti E Buoni in front of excited crowds once more.

The scenes of celebration came after the UK's Eurovision hopeful James Newman, who donned a stylish striped leather jacket as he sang his song Embers in front of the 3,500 fans at the arena, tonight smiled to the crowds after receiving zero points from the public vote.

The BRIT award singer had been given odds of just 200/1 by Betfair to win the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest.

But the artist did not let the poor odds deter him as he performed his lively track in front of a sea of excited Eurovision fans earlier tonight.

Prior to his performance, host Graham Norton, who is once again anchoring the contest on BBC One, encouraged fans 'to raise a glass to Sir Terry Wogan, who was and always will be the voice of Eurovision'.

Newman, who is the older brother of pop star John Newman, had been ready to perform the ballad My Last Breath at the 2020 contest before it was cancelled due to the pandemic. In 2019, UK contestant Michael Rice also socred zero points.

Although this is far from the first time Britain has scored zero points, Eurovision viewers took to social media to blame Brexit for the UK's results, with one fan saying: 'If this doesn't convince you what impact Brexit has had, I don't know what will.'

The song contest kicked off tonight with a performance from Cyprus' Elena Tsagrinou who sang her dance song El Diablo in a glamorous dress that featured silver sequins.

The Italian band Maneskin leaped for joy as they triumphed at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest in the Netherlands tonight

The group, who won with scored 524 points in the grand final, beamed with excitement as they waved to the crowds and were confirmed as this year's 2021 winners

The UK's Eurovision hopeful James Newman, 35, took to the stage at the socially-distanced venue in the Netherlands tonight

The BRIT award winner donned a stylish striped black jacket and trousers as sang his song Embers in front of the live audience

Prior to his performance he waved to the jubilant crowds as he made appearance at the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest tonight

Maneskin from Italy perform their song 'Zitti E Buoni' during the grand final at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena

The contest kicked off tonight with a performance from Cyprus' Elena Tsagrinou who sang her dance song El Diablo

Jendrik Sigwart from Germany performed his song 'I Don't Feel Hate' during the Grand Final of the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest

Contestant's Blind Channel of Finland donned black outfits as they took to the stage during the final of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam

Natalia Gordienko from Moldova performs Sugar at the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Rotterdam arena

Gjon Muharremaj of Switzerland takes to the stage in front of the live audience durinf the 65th Eurovision Song Contest

Scores of fans sats down to watch the grand final inside the Ahoy Arena in Rotterdam in the Netherlands tonight

Italy's group, Maneskin, who are the favourites among bookmakers, wave to the live audience as they are welcomed on stage

Presenters Jan Smit, Chantal Janzen and Edsilia Rombley during the 65th Eurovision Song Contest tonight

Contestant Stefania Liberakakis of Greece walks on stage and greets the crowds as the final kicks off in Rotterdam

Contestant Eden Alene of Israel performs during the final of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam

Elene Tsagrinou from Cyprus with the song 'El Diablo' performs during the Grand Final of the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest

Stefania from Greece performs her song 'Last Dance' during the grand final aof the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest

Contestant Blas Canto of Spain performs during the final of the 2021 Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam tonight

Crowds applauded the band Go_A lo_from the Ukraine as they say their song Shum during the song contest tonight

Tusse from Sweden take to the stage in front of the live audience in Rotterdam and perform their song Voices

American rapper Flo Rida and Senhit from San Marino perform together in front of thousands of fans at the arena

The results of the Eurovision song contest 2021 Italy - 524 France- 499 Switzerland - 432 Iceland- 378 Ukraine- 364 Finaland - 301 Malta - 255 Lithuania - 220 Russia - 204 Greece - 170 Bulgaria - 170 Portugal - 153 Moldova - 115 Sweden - 109 Serbia - 109 Serbia - 102 Cyprus- 94 Israel - 93 Norway - 75 Belgium - 74 Azerbaijan - 65 Albania - 57 San Marino - 50 Netherlands - 11 Spain - 6 Germany - 3 United Kingdom - 0 Advertisement

The performance came after crowds of Eurovision fans waved their flags in the air and beamed with excitement as they flocked to the venue in the Netherlands ahead of the upcoming final and prepared to watch the nations competing for the trophy.

Scores of jubilant fans descended upon the Rotterdam Ahoy arena, in Rotterdam, as they geared up for the highly-anticipated contest.

After more than a week of rehearsals, two semi-finals and 53,000 Covid tests for fans, staff and performers, the Eurovision Song Contest that was cancelled last year because of the pandemic went live tonight in front of 3,500 fans and a global television audience.

This year's theme is 'Open Up', and the Dutch government-backed coronavirus restrictions could be a model for events like Euro 2020 and the Tokyo Olympics as the world slowly emerges from lockdown.

The scenes of celebration come after Eurovision Song Contest bosses banned alcohol from being consumed at the upcoming final in Rotterdam.

Speaking outside the arena, one fan, Saskia Scharree, 51, said: 'I think it's the beginning of a new start. When something as big as this happens in Holland, you're going to join in.'

Meanwhile Finnish fan Oona Sainio, 27, said she and her family had come to soak up the atmosphere despite not having tickets.

She said: 'We're big Eurovision fans and we wanted to be close to the action.'

The run-up has been dominated by coronavirus scares, with Iceland's hotly-tipped entry Dadi og Gagnamagnid ruled out of performing live when a band member tested positive for Covid.

Dutch 2019 winner Duncan Laurence meanwhile is also unable to perform his new song live in tonight's final after coming down with symptoms of the disease during rehearsals this week.

Now, the favourite among bookmakers is Italy's Maneskin with their song Zitti e Buoni but their vote could be split by the similarly heavy metal sounds of Finland's Blind Channel with their song Dark Side.

French chanteuse Barbara Pravi is also hoping to end her country's 44-year losing streak with her song 'Voila'.

Speaking outside the area, Milo Mateo, from the Italian band Maneskin, said: 'If we win, it will be very, very nice, because the next year will be in Italy. That's very good. Let's hope. Fingers crossed.'

Ahead of their performance Victoria de Angelis of Italian group Maneskin also said the contest should send 'a message of hope for the rest of Europe'.

This week, the UK's Eurovision 2021 hopeful James Newman looked on form as he rehearsed for the second of two semi-final shows for the song contest.

The BRIT award winner, 35, was full of confidence as he belted out his track Embers while working the stage during the first dress rehearsal show at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena.

Betfair spokesperson Sam Rosbottom said of his chances: 'Brit hopeful James Newman has gone from 125/1 to 200/1 to win the Eurovision Song Contest following some strong semi-final performances, meaning victory for the United Kingdom looks out of reach for another year.'

At the 2019 contest the UK came in last place with Michael Rice's Bigger Than Us, continuing a run of poor results, while the Netherlands came top with Duncan Laurence's Arcade.

Those in charge of the highly-anticipated event in the Netherlands have taken the decision to prohibit drinking at all hotels and venues taking part in this year's competition.

Jeangu Macrooy from the Netherlands sings Birth of a New Age as he performs during the Grand Final of the Eurovision contest

Andreas Haukeland 'TIX' of Norway donned angle wings as he performed at the 65th Eurovision Song Contest

Samira Efendi of Azerbaijan performs with her dancers during the 65th Eurovision Song Contest grand final held at Rotterdam

Destiny Chukunyere from Malta with sings Je Me Casse during tonight's grand final of the Eurovision contest

Serbia's Hurricane performs during the final of the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest 2021

Manizha Dalerovna Sangin, from Russia, sings her song in front of the live audience in Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Greece's Stefania performs during the final of the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam

Anxhela Peristeri from Albania donned a glamours silver dress as she took to the stage and competed with the other nations

The band Hooverphonic from Belgium perform their song The Wrong Place during the grand final tonight

Elena Tsagrinou from Cyprus performs her song El Diablo in front of a live audience in Rotterdam tonight

French singer Barbara Pravi is hoping to end her country's 44-year losing streak with her song 'Voila'

Lithuania's The Roop performs during the final of the 65th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest this year

The Portuguese band The Black Mamba perform their song Love Is On My Side at the arena in the Netherlands tonight

Although they were unable to take to the stage, Iceland's Dai og Gagnamagni was put up on a screen for the audience at the arena

Victoria Georgieva from Bulgaria performed the song 'Growing Up Is Getting Old' during the Grand Final tonight

Elene Tsagrinou from Cyprus takes to the stage with her backing dancers during the Eurovision final tonight

Presenters Edsilia Rombley, Chantal Janzen, Jan Smit and Nikkie de Jager during the grand final tonight

Fans donned flags across their shoulders as they flocked to the socially-distanced venue in the Netherlands ahead of the upcoming final

Fans prepare to watch the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest at the Rotterdam Ahoy arena tonight

After the results, Eurovision viewers took to social media to claim the UK's poor results were a direct result of Brexit

According to reports, organisers felt that allowing drinking would risk spreading the disease, and could impact strict social distancing measures that are in place.

A source in Rotterdam told The Sun: 'The decision to ban alcohol has gone down like a lead balloon. There were already strict social-distancing measures in place. Having a drink was at least one enjoyable part of being out here - but now that's gone too.

'Lots of the artists are absolutely furious that this has happened. They don't believe the virus incident in the Icelandic team had anything to do with alcohol being consumed.'

The decision has reportedly sparked anger among some performers, with the Russian team making a complaint.

Before the decision, contestants and staff could drink alcohol at designated venues and hotels until midnight.

This week, Iceland's Dai og Gagnamagni star Dai Freyr admitted that his group, one of the favourites to win the competition, were 'disappointed' after being forced to pull out of the competition after a member tested positive for Covid-19.

Speaking on Friday's episode of Lorraine, the musician, 28, said that they are trying to 'make the best' of the situation as they remain in the hotel.

It came after 2019 Eurovision Song Contest winner Duncan Laurence tested positive for coronavirus and will also be unable to perform live at Saturday's grand final in Rotterdam.

Dai explained their decision not to perform without their sixth member Johann Sigurur Johannsson, who tested positive, as it 'doesn't really work'.

He said: 'The song is written for the band as a six member thing and the performance, the song is written for the performance, one member missing doesn't really work.'

Following their performance, Italy's Maneskin were flooded with praise by Eurovision viewers on social media. Meanwhile Germany was met with a series of comical responses

A group of fans pose for photo as they arrive to the socially-distanced venue ahead of the highly-anticipated final tonight

The scenes after Eurovision Song Contest bosses reportedly banned alcohol from being consumed at the upcoming final in Rotterdam

Those in charge of the highly-anticipated event in the Netherlands have taken the decision to prohibit drinking at all hotels and venues

Fans wait in queues and have their tickets checked as they arrive to the Eurovision song contest in the Netherlands

A fan poses for a picture as they arrive to the Rotterdam Ahoy arena, in Rotterdam, and gear up for the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest tonight

Fans carry their flags and wear face masks as they arrive to the Rotterdam Ahoy arena and prepare for the final

Crowds of fans wear face masks as they have their tickets check outside the Dutch venue ahead of the final tonight

An artist performs on stage at The Clapham Grand night club in London as thousands of music fans prepare to watch the final

Performers take to the stage at The Clapham Grand as the nation gears up for the 65th annual Eurovision Song Contest
Colleagues of a policewoman who publicly supported Palestinians during a demonstration believe she may escape dismissal because officers who took the knee during Black Lives Matter protests last year faced no sanctions.

PC Nusheen Jan was recorded shouting, Free, Free Palestine, while on duty at a rally in Central London last weekend.

Senior officers are now considering whether to bring a gross misconduct charge against the 20-year-old, who is from South-East London and of Iraqi origin.

PC Nusheen Jan was recorded shouting, Free, Free Palestine, while on duty at a rally in Central London last weekend

One Met Police officer said: A lot of officers have no patience for it but how can they sack her when officers were taking the knee at BLM protests last year?

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: Officers know they are not to participate in demonstrations or adopt political positions.

In footage taken at the protest last weekend, the policewoman was shown holding the hand of an activist having been handed a white rose.

She then embraced the woman before starting to chant, sparking cheers from the thousands of people walking to the protest at the Israeli embassy.

PC Jan raised her fist in the air and joined in with protesters (pictured hugging one) outside the Israeli embassy in Kensington, west London, last weekend

She held the protester's hand while clutching a white rose in the film that has sparked a Met investigation

It was there that nine Met officers were injured after being pelted with bottles and eggs last weekend.

The clip sparked outrage on social media, especially among British Jews.

The incident came after Met officers were criticised for taking the knee during BLM protests in London in 2020.

Bosses had then given them the green light saying it was down to their 'discretion' to do so.
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Thousands of demonstrators are taking to the streets in New York City holding 'Abolish Israel' signs to show their support for Palestinians, with protests also planned in other US cities following intense demonstrations around the world.

The 'Rally to Defend Palestine' on Saturday afternoon in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens was organized by the New York group Within Our Lifetime (WOL).

It comes after nearly two weeks of violent conflict between Israel and Palestinian militant groups left at least 250 people dead, most of them Palestinians, and as the residents of Gaza survey the damage after heavy Israeli bombardment.

In Queens, one car displayed a poster branding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu 'the biggest terrorist in the world!'

Marchers were pictured holding various flags, including one that appears to show a red target over Israel's flag - though the meaning of the flag was not entirely clear. Another man held a sign that called to 'Abolish Israel' while another protester held a sign that reads 'End the Ongoing Nekba', a reference to the day Israel became a nation.

Other demonstrators carried signs reading 'End all U.S. aid to Israel', 'Free Palestine' and 'Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine' while marchers chanted 'From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free' and 'Say it loud, say it clear, we don't want no Zionists here.'

After gathering under the 7 Line viaduct, the group marched through the streets chanting, their numbers swelling to the thousands, video shows.

A protester is seen on top of a street light waving a Palestinian flag while a car is surrounded by smoke during a pro-Palestine march in New York City

People are seen walking with red and green smoke bombs indicating Palestinian colors during a march in New York City

Dozens of Muslims are pictured kneeling in prayer toward Mecca while on a street in New York City on Saturday

A man sits on top of a car with a sign indicating support for Palestine during a march in New York City on Saturday

Police block entrances to the freeway as people attend a pro-Palestine protest in Queens, New York on Saturday

A man is surrounded in white smoke from a smoke bomb while protesting in support of Palestine in New York City on Saturday

Pro-Palestinian protesters demonstrate in New York City on Saturday. After gathering under the 7 Line viaduct, the group marched through the streets chanting, their numbers swelling to the thousands

Protesters are seen gathering in the Sunnyside neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City on Saturday

Demonstrators pile into the back of a Uhaul truck to shout slogans and wave flags as they attend a 'rally for Palestine' in the Queens borough of New York City

People hold flags during a pro-Palestinian rally in the Queens borough of New York City on Saturday, one of which appears to show a red target over Israel's flag - though the meaning of the flag was not entirely clear

A woman waves as she participates in a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday in the Queens borough of New York City

A man holds a sign that reads 'End the Ongoing Nekba', a reference to the day Israel became a nation - displacing the people of Palestine - while another man holds an 'Abolish Israel' sign in New York City

Demonstrators shout slogans and wave flags as they attend a 'rally for Palestine' in the Queens borough of New York City

A car in New York City displays a poster of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branding him a terrorist

People attend a pro-Palestinian protest in the New York City neighborhood of Sunnyside, Queens on Saturday

The 'Rally to Defend Palestine' on Saturday afternoon in Queens was organized by the group Within Our Lifetime

Demonstrators carried signs reading 'End all U.S. aid to Israel', 'Free Palestine' and 'Jerusalem is the Capital of Palestine'

Hundreds attended Saturday's rally in Queens, including some sporting the garb of Orthodox Jews

Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire in Gaza, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce which ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade

People participate in a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday in the Queens borough of New York City stand on top of vehicles while waving flags

Members of the Jewish community in New York City protest against Israel in a pro-Palestinian march on Saturday

WOL previously organized a pro-Palestinian demonstration in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn last weekend.

'People have been reaching out to us for a while now from Queens, from Staten Island, from the Bronx asking to bring the Palestinian cause to their neighborhood,' Nerdeen Kiswani, the Chair and Co-founder of WOL, told the Queens Post.

'Especially Queens the most diverse place in the world  and it's always been the people of the world who support Palestine, so we know there'll be massive support for people there.'

Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire in Gaza, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce which ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade.

Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the groups top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants' 11-day war with Israel.

In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel.

Palestinian woman look at the rubble of the destroyed Al-Shorouq tower on Friday following a ceasefire between Israel and Gaza fighters, in Beit Hanun, northern Gaza Strip

A woman attends the protest on Saturday in Queens, held to show solidarity with the Palestinian people

Thousands marched through the streets of New York showing support for Palestinians following the 11-day war

Thousands of people participate in a pro-Palestinian rally on Saturday in the Queens borough of New York City with signs that read 'Israel is not a democracy' and 'stop genocide'

A man waves the flags of Palestinians and of Yemen at the protest in Queens on Saturday

The demonstration in Queens (above) followed a similar one last weekend in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn

Western Queens is especially diverse, including sections that are represented by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the US on Saturday followed earlier protests held in major European cities

Pro-Palestinian demonstrations were also held in major European cities on Saturday.

In London, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered for a second weekend in a row as they called for an 'urgent' resolution to the Israeli-Palestine conflict.

Cars were smashed up by protesters, with pictures showing a traffic cone shoved through the rear window of one parked vehicle surrounded by activists waving Palestinian flags.

Loud chants of 'Israel is a terrorist state' could be heard as the activists weaved their way through the capital, setting off flares and blocking traffic in the process.

The large group, situated close to Victoria Embankment, stretched across the surrounding roads as dozens of police officers watched on.

Several thousands also marched on Saturday in Paris and other French cities in support of Palestinians.

London: Protestors set fire to an Israeli flag outside of the country's embassy in South Kensington on Saturday

Protesters walk past a London bus in Kensington, after a march in solidarity with the people of Palestine. Flares were set off

'A ceasefire does not resolve the question. This fight concerns all those who are attached to the values of justice, dignity and law,' said Bertrand Heilbronn, president of the France Palestine Solidarity Association which organised the Paris rally and other demonstrations.

The capital marchers shouted slogans such as 'Palestine will live, Palestine will win', 'Israel assassin, Macron accomplice', 'and We are all Palestinians.'

The CGT trade union said up to 4,000 people attended the Paris rally.

'Even if the bombings have ended, the occupier is still there. The residents of Sheikh Jarrah are still facing the threat of expulsion and the Gaza Strip is blockaded,' said Wael, a 28-year-old marcher with a Palestinian flag draped around his shoulders.

Other protests were held in the eastern French city of Strasbourg, northern Lille and Toulouse and Montpellier in the south.

'Palestinians have a right to live in peace and have a state. Israel has deprived us of our rights and of our houses. I am Palestinian but I no longer have the right to go there, my family has lost everything,' said Imad Deaibis in Strasbourg.

Paris: People take part in a protest in support of Palestinians on Saturday following a flare-up of Israeli-Palestinian violence

People gather at Rebuplique Square in Paris on Saturday for a demonstration in solidarity with Palestinians

Protesters hold Palestinian flags in Paris on Saturday as they take part in a rally supporting Palestinians

In Gaza City, residents began assessing damage on Saturday following 11 days of heavy bombardment.

One of Gaza City's busiest commercial areas, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed cars and twisted metal after a 13-floor building in its center was flattened in an Israeli airstrike.

Merchandise was covered in soot and strewn inside smashed stores and on the pavement. Municipal workers swept broken glass and twisted metal from streets and sidewalks.

'We really didnt expect this amount of damage,' said Ashour Subeih, who sells baby clothes. 'We thought the strike was a bit further from us. But as you can see not an area of the shop is intact.' Having been in business for one year, Subeih estimated his losses were double what he has made so far.

Drone video and photos showed some city blocks reduced to rubble, in between homes and businesses left standing.

Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory.

On Saturday, hundreds of Hamas fighters wearing military camouflage paraded past the mourning tent for Bassem Issa, a senior commander killed in the fighting.

The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, paid his respects in his first public appearance since the war began.

Gaza City: Members of Al-Qassam brigades, the armed wing of Palestinian Hamas group march on Saturday in commemoration of Senior Hamas Commander Bassem Issa who was killed along others in Israeli airstrikes

Children stand with Hamas militants as they parade through the streets of Gaza City on Saturday

Hamas militants parade through the streets of Gaza City on Saturday. Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory in the war

Israel bombed the house of Sinwar, along with that of other senior Hamas figures, as part of its attack on what it said was the group's military infrastructure. Israel's defense minister, Benny Gantz, has said Israel delivered a punishing blow to Hamas, and that top Hamas figures remained targets.

Still, there was a widespread expectation that the cease-fire would stick for now, even if another round of fighting at some point seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, that is choking Gaza's more than 2 million residents and a refusal by the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm.

The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

The war has further sidelined Hamas' main political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas' popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.

Palestinian woman holds a girl near the rubble of buildings on Saturday in Gaza following the cease-fire deal. Due to the attacks, 1,800 houses were destroyed in the Gaza Strip, while 6,800 houses were partially damaged

Palestinian security forces work on neutralizing an unexploded ordnance remaining in Gaza Strip on Saturday

On Friday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. 'Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out,' they shouted, and 'The people want the president to leave.'

It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years.

Despite his weakened status, Abbas will be the point of contact for any renewed U.S. diplomacy, since Israel and the West, including the United States, consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week. Abbas is expected to raise demands that any Gaza reconstruction plans go through the Palestinian Authority to avoid strengthening Hamas.

Abbas met Saturday with Egyptian mediators, discussing the rebuilding of Gaza and internal Palestinian relations, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

An Egyptian diplomat said that two teams of mediators were in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a cease-fire deal and securing long-term calm.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she wears the Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police unanimous vote of no-confidence as a 'badge of honor.'

The controversial city leader defended herself after being blasted by union president John Catanzara.

Lightfoot, who hit the headlines earlier this week for refusing to do one-on-one interviews with white journalists, said: 'Getting a vote of no confidence from that guy is a badge of honor, and I accept it,

'There are always going to be critics; that goes with the territory. But what I'm focused on is the working my tail off for the residents of this city.'

The Windy City's police union President John Catanzara previously said the main reason for Wednesday's no-confidence vote is officer burnout.

Catanzara said the department's move from 8.5-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts in preparation for unrest and canceled days off created poor working conditions.

He also cited the second consecutive cancellation of the St. Judge memorial march honoring the city's fallen officers as part of the reason, calling it 'a slap in the face.'

Officials insist the parade has been cancelled because of COVID-19 safety measures.

'The basis for this no-confidence vote is pretty simple, it's two-fold,' Catanzara said in a video message uploaded to YouTube. 'It's a lack of respect for the Gold Star families and the cancellation of the St. Jude parade.

'And it's the lack of consideration for family life and social life. Too many officers have work extended hours, not voluntarily but forced, but the department doesn't give a damn,' Catanzara said.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot is pictured responding to Chicago's Fraternal Order of Police union's vote of no confidence in her leadership of the Windy City

Union President John Catanzara, pictured, cited long hours and the repeated cancellation of a parade to honor fallen officers as reasons for the vote

People gathered to protest Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's policies near her home on the two-year anniversary of her inauguration on Thursday

The long hours have created mental health problems for some officers, problems at home because the spouse is left to raise the kids on their own.

They have also triggered alcoholism in some officers, as well as a lack of morale, he said.

The police union represents about 8,000 of the city's 12,405 sworn officers.

The Chicago mayor hit back during a Friday press conference, saying Catanzara is costing his members 'tens of thousands of dollars' in backpay because he refuses to negotiate a new contract, which expired four years ago.

The vote of no confidence comes at a time when violent crime, including homicides and aggravated assaults - are on the rise across Chicago.

Violent crimes, such as homicide and aggravated assault, jumped four per cent since the start of the year, according to the latest crime statistic released in beginning of May, The Chicago Sun Times reported.

Violent crime rates for April 2021 are 20 per cent higher compared to April 2020.

The first four months of 2021, Chicago police reported 997 shooting victims and 187 murders, compared to 718 victims and 156 murders during the same period in 2020, the Chicago paper reported.

In April 2021, 299 people were shot, and 53 of them died. That is 74 more shootings than there were in April 2020, although five fewer fatalities than during the same month in 2020.

She has faced a steady flow of questions about 'defunding the police,' which she rejected at first as 'irresponsible,' although her attitude has softened over time.

Lightfoot has repeatedly stoked controversy during her two year tenure in charge of Chicago.

On the anniversary of her second year as mayor last week, Lightfoot - who is the city's first female black mayor - said she would only talk one-on-one to black and brown reporters.

Journalists complained fiercely in the wake of the news, with some saying the mayor was racist for using a reporter's race to determine whether or not to grant an interview. Meanwhile, a city alderman said: 'This should be corrected.'

A Pulitzer Prize finalist who is a contributing writer for the New Yorker magazine and the New York Times suggested the move was simply a way to draw attention from the mayor's failures, chief among them the increasing crime numbers.

'Such astonishing mastery of deflection and distraction ... always hiding from her disastrous record of boldly upholding the status quo in Chicago,' Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, who also is a professor at Princeton University, posted on Twitter.

The news first emerged on Tuesday when NBC Chicago's political reporter Mary Ann Ahern, who is white, tweeted that only black and brown reporters would be given one-on-one interviews

Gregory Pratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter who is Latino, said he was among those who been granted an interview but the newspaper decided to cancel it when Lightfoot refused to lift her ban on other reporters

Gregory Pratt, a Chicago Tribune reporter who is Latino, revealed he was among those who had been granted an interview but the newspaper decided to cancel it when Lightfoot refused to lift her ban on other reporters.

'I am a Latino reporter @chicagotribune whose interview request was granted for today. However, I asked the mayor's office to lift its condition on others and when they said no, we respectfully canceled,' Pratt tweeted.

'Politicians don't get to choose who covers them.'
CNN has cut ties with conservative commentator Rick Santorum after the former senator caused an uproar with Native Americans by claiming there was nothing in America before settlers arrived.

The network 'quietly' terminated its contract with the senior political commentator this week, the Huffington Post reported on Saturday.

But CNN has been accused of double-standards for failing to take action against primetime star Chris Cuomo, who admitted advising his brother New York governor Andrew on how to handle media attention during his sexual harassment scandal.

Santorum, a former Republican presidential candidate and senator for Pennsylvania, made the statements during a speech at the Young America's Foundation, a conservative youth group, on April 18.

'We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here,' Santorum told students. 'I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isn't much Native American culture in American culture.'

Rick Santorum, (pictured) a former Republican presidential candidate and senator for Pennsylvania, made his controversial statements about Native Americans during a speech at the Young America's Foundation, a conservative youth group, on April 18

'I was talking about - and I misspoke in this respect - I was talking about the founding and the principles embodied in the founding,' Santorum (right) told Cuomo (left) on May 3

The comments sparked outrage from prominent Indigenous-led organizations.

It also led to an on-air bashing from CNN host Don Lemon after Santorum appeared on Chris Cuomo's CNN show where he told the host he 'misspoke.'

'I was talking about - and I misspoke in this respect - I was talking about the founding and the principles embodied in the founding,' he told Cuomo on May 3.

'I would never - and people said I'm trying to dismiss what we did to the Native Americans, far from it.'

Following Rick Santorum's (pictured top) April comments where he told students 'there isn't much Native American culture in American culture,' CNN host Don Lemon (bottom left) tore into Santorum for not apologizing during an appearance on Chris Cuomo's (bottom right) 'Cuomo Prime Time,'

CNN has been accused of hypocrisy for failing to take action against Chris Cuomo, right, who admitted taking part in strategy calls to help his brother Andrew, left, deal with the fallout from his sexual harassment scandal

Lemon was not impressed and tore into Santorum for not apologizing for his 'insulting' statements.

'I cannot believe the first words out of his mouth weren't ''I'm sorry. I said something ignorant, I need to learn about the history of this country.'' No contrition, didn't talk about the suffering that Native Americans have had to deal with in this country. It was, I mean, Rick Santorum, really?' Lemon told host Chris Cuomo after the interview.

'Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed?' Lemon asked, exasperated. 'I mean, it was horrible. It was horrible and insulting, and I apologize to the viewers who were insulted by it, because I was sitting in my office, furious, because he's done it so many times. So many times, and it's just, I'm sorry, it was just so egregious and insulting,'

Media observers suggested CNN may have fired Santorum to distract attention from Chris Cuomo, who was forced to apologize after he was found to have joined strategy calls to help his brother deal with the fallout from his sexual harassment scandal.

'Santorum being fired now, in late May, for comments he made in April that CNN tried to scuttle outrage over via apologetic appearances on other network shows is nothing more than a distraction from the news it won't punish Chris Cuomo for secretly strategizing with his brother,' commentator Jordan Uhl wrote on Twitter.

On his Thursday show, Cuomo admitted that it was a 'mistake' to join the calls, but appeared to minimize his actions, saying that 'of course' he would give his brother advice.

'I'm family first, job second,' he said.

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who was fired from the New Yorker after exposing himself on a Zoom call, is also thought to still be employed by the network.

A CNN senior executive told the Huffington Post that the decision to cut ties with Santorum came after his lackluster explanation for his comments on 'Cuomo Prime Time.'

The executive, who requested anonymity to speak openly to Huffington Post, said 'he blew it' and that no one at the network wanted to keep Santorum around.

'Leadership wasn't particularly satisfied with that appearance. None of the anchors wanted to book him,' the executive said. 'So he was essentially benched anyway.'

CNN host Don Lemon (left) was not impressed and tore into Santorum on 'Cuomo Prime Time' for not apologizing for his 'insulting' statements

The network was facing pressure from indigenous rights group like the National Congress of American Indians to fire Santorum.

'Rick Santorum is an unhinged and embarrassing racist who disgraces CNN and any other media company that provides him a platform,' NCAI president Fawn Sharp said in a statement last month.

'Televising someone with his views on Native American genocide is fundamentally no different than putting an outright Nazi on television to justify the Holocaust. Any mainstream media organization should fire him or face a boycott from more than 500 tribal nations and our allies from across the country and worldwide.'

On Thursday, Indigenous-led groups held a 'day of action' to pressure CNN to fire Santorum where they tweeted the hashtag #RemoveRick, and held a Twitter chat with Native journalists to talk about the impact of Native erasure in the media, Huffington Post reported.

They also circulated an open letter to CNN executives with more than 120 signatures from Native American leaders and Hollywood actors like Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Helms, Mark Ruffalo, Piper Perabo and Sarah Silverman.
Two respected academics have revealed the shocking reality of cancel culture on British campuses after being silenced for questioning whether transgender activists were stifling free speech.

Professor Jo Phoenixs harrowing ordeal included being targeted by trans rights extremists who produced a flyer listing her crimes alongside an image of a gun and the words: Shut the f*** up.

Essex University last week finally apologised to the Open University criminologist for the cancellation of her talk about trans rights and prison placements, which sparked accusations that she was transphobic before it was even made.

The climbdown followed an inquiry that concluded the move had amounted to a breach of Prof Phoenixs right to freedom of expression and contributed to a culture of fear at the university.

Professor Jo Phoenixs harrowing ordeal included being targeted by trans rights extremists who produced a flyer listing her crimes

Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Prof Phoenix welcomed the apology but said the experience had taken an appalling toll on her personal and professional life.

The origin of her nightmare was a decision to join other lecturers in signing two open letters in which concerns were raised that trans activists were curtailing academic freedoms.

One claimed that LGBT charity Stonewall was restricting debate by advising universities against inviting speakers who deny that transgender people are the gender they are, although Stonewall says that is not true.

During a speech at a feminist meeting in 2019, Prof Phoenix also criticised the idea that men who identify as women should be allowed to serve their sentences in female prisons because they are the same as women.

I knew that I was sticking my head above the parapet, she said. But what I did not realise is how quickly it could get shot off.

She was quickly labelled a TERF (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist). I was accused of being part of an anti-trans social movement simply for raising a question about Stonewalls influence on universities, Prof Phoenix, 57, said.

Professor Phoenix was booked to give a talk at the University of Essex (pictured)

All we were saying was, hang on a second, these sets of ideas about gender and gender identity are open to question, and if we dont question them were actually looking at the curtailment of academic freedom.

I thought that was relatively uncontroversial. How naive was I?

In December 2019, just hours before she was due to talk about trans rights, imprisonment and the criminal justice system at Essex University, Prof Phoenix realised the dangers of challenging transgender ideology.

One of the universitys lecturers had posted a tweet accusing her of dog whistle transphobia and urging a push back against her talk. Online criticism exploded to the point where the university was facing a full-blown staff and student protest.

I was furious that I was being judged without anyone even taking the time to talk to me about what it was I was going to say, Prof Phoenix said. More chilling was a poster which was circulating on campus. It was a cartoon character holding a pointed gun at the reader, saying Shut the f*** up, TERF on it and then a list of my crimes, if you like.

She told university chiefs that she could attend only if security measures were put in place. What if somebody  not even an Essex student  actually decided to be violent. Im a lecturer, for goodness sake, not a boxer.

The university said security could not be arranged at short notice and the event would be temporarily cancelled. A week later, however, she was told the cancellation was permanent and she was not welcome on the Essex campus at all.

She was told the ban was due to a strong contingent of people who say that your mere presence on the campus is sufficient to cause people to feel unsafe.

Professor Rosa Freedman was trolled and threatened after a debate on transgender issues

Prof Phoenix, who is 5ft 3in, said that she found the suggestion almost laughable.

In a separate case, Rosa Freedman, professor of law, conflict and global development at Reading University, also received an apology from Essex University over an attempt to silence her.

She had been assured in December 2019 that she would be invited to speak at the university on Holocaust Memorial Day about a report she helped to write on antisemitism and human rights. But the university found that complaints had been made about her views on sex and gender.

Prof Freedman had also signed the letter raising concerns about Stonewall and been labelled as transphobic. Her invitation was later reinstated but the universitys inquiry found that, had this not happened, she would have been subjected to an interference with her right to freedom of expression.

Prof Freedman said she felt vindicated, adding: They were trying to cancel me from having a platform, on a subject where I am a world-leading expert and which is of deep personal significance, because of my views on sex and gender.

Despite their ordeals, both academics praised Essex University for ordering the independent investigation which found it had broken its own freedom of speech and academic freedom policy and recommended that its relationship with Stonewall was re-evaluated.

Stonewall chief executive Nancy Kelley said: Stonewall was not involved in any discussions with Essex University about the cancellation of academic talks.
Boris Johnson has been accused of swapping Brussels for Brisbane by signing a trade deal with Australia that will open up British markets to farmers down under.

The row broke out after The Mail on Sunday revealed last weekend that International Trade Secretary Liz Truss was on the brink of signing a deal that could see tariff-free beef from Australian ranches flooding the UK market.

The exclusive story was the latest in a series of agenda-setting reports on Britains trade deal negotiations as part of our Save Our Family Farms campaign, and our article sparked a number of newspaper stories last week.

The Prime Minister threw his weight behind Ms Truss by arguing that it represented a fantastic opportunity. (A display of beef on sale at Woolworths supermarket in Australia)

Minette Batters, President of the National Farmers Union, wrote that she was increasingly concerned that Ms Truss was negotiating a deal which would make it all but impossible for British family farms to compete with vast volumes of imports from the Southern Hemisphere produced in a very different manner.

Despite objections to the proposed deal from Environment Secretary George Eustice and Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Michael Gove, the Prime Minister threw his weight behind Ms Truss by arguing that it represented a fantastic opportunity for British farmers to exploit new post-Brexit markets overseas.

As it currently stands, the deal  which Ms Truss hopes to sign in time for next months G7 summit in Cornwall  would offer Australia a 15-year transition to a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade pact.

It comes as trade talks continue with other countries, including discussions about a mega-deal with President Bidens new administration in Washington.

Last night, Ms Batters hit back by saying that she was at a loss to explain why the Government was sprinting ahead with this deal and sacrificing so much for what appears to be so little in return for Great Britain.

She said that she was concerned that Britains post-Brexit future could lead to EU rules being swapped for those dictated by new trading rules.

She added: There has been much criticism of Brussels dictating all the rules.

It would now appear that Australia is calling all the shots. We dont want to swap Brussels for Brisbane.

Ms Batters added: It will set a precedent, and other countries will expect the same.

I know from my conversations with New Zealand, American, Canada and Argentina that they see the UK as the most prized food market in the world, yet the Government has given away the most prized weapon in their trading armoury.

Mr Johnson argues that the trade deals should be seen not as threats but as opportunities, saying: I do think that free-trade deals present a fantastic opportunity for our farmers, for businesses of all kinds, and for manufacturers.

I think it is vital that as a great historic free-trading nation that grew to prosperity thanks to free trade, and thanks indeed to the Royal Navy, that we see these new openings not as threats but as opportunities.

A zero-tariff deal is also opposed by Unionists in Northern Ireland who fear that it presents a high risk to farmers in the province.

Ms Truss hopes to sign the deal in time for next months G7 summit in Cornwall. It would offer Australia a 15-year transition to a zero-tariff, zero-quota trade pact

A Department for International Trade source said: The Aussie deal wont set a precedent for future deals  each agreement is different and negotiated on its own merits.

Liz loves British food  she is fighting hard to open up new opportunities for farmers in the worlds fastest-growing markets in Asia-Pacific.

As the PM said, we should be optimistic not fearful about the future. Any deal we do sign will include protections for the industry and wont undermine British farmings high standards.

We are crystal clear about that. Aussie food will come here only in low volumes, and at high quality.

The deal proves a vital pathway for Britain into Asia-Pacific, opening new opportunities for farmers to sell to the growing middle classes in that part of the world.

No 10 said that talks were still ongoing with the Australian Government, and that any deal must work for British businesses, producers and consumers.
What did Martin Bashir say in response to damning BBC report into Diana interview? On Princess Diana: 'I never wanted to harm Diana in any way and I don't believe we did. 'Everything we did in terms of the interview was as she wanted, from when she wanted to alert the palace, to when it was broadcast, to its contents ... My family and I loved her.' 'I dont feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life, and complex issues surrounding those decisions. 'I can understand the motivation but to channel the tragedy, the difficult relationship between the Royal Family and the media, purely on to my shoulders feels a little unreasonable. 'The suggestion I am singularly responsible I think is unreasonable and unfair.' 'She was a pioneering princess. When you think about her expressions of grief in her marriage, when you think about the admission of psychiatric illness - just extraordinary! And her sons have gone on to champion mental health. On Lord Dyson's report: 'I don't understand what the purpose of this is ultimately? OK, maybe you want to destroy me, but outside of this, what's the point? 'I did something wrong... but for pity's sake, acknowledge something of the relationship we had and something of what she contributed through that interview. 'One of the saddest things about all of this has been the way the content of what she said has almost been ignored.' On William and Harry: He said he is 'deeply sorry'. 'I can't imagine what their family must feel each day, although I know a little of that myself having lost a brother and father prematurely.' On Diana visiting his wife in hospital after she gave birth to their third child: 'We were friends. She was spectacular. 'She said to me: "You must let me know the moment the baby arrives," and an hour later, there was a knock on the delivery room and in she walked.' On showing Earl Spencer the forged bank statements: 'Obviously I regret it, it was wrong. But it had no bearing on anything. It had no bearing on [Diana], it had no bearing on the interview.' On failing to approach graphic designer Matt Wiessler who made the forgeries: 'I don't think I did, no. I am sorry about that.' Advertisement

Shamed reporter Martin Bashir has insisted his 1995 Panorama interview with Princess Diana 'was as she wanted it' - but admitted he was 'wrong' to forge bank statements.

The journalist's reputation is in tatters following Lord Dyson's report that he used 'deceitful behaviour' to land his world exclusive scoop.

But breaking his interview silence following the bombshell review, Bashir told The Sunday Times that Diana was never unhappy about the content of the interview and they continued to be friends after the broadcast.

He said he 'never wanted to harm' the princess , claiming: 'I loved her.'

Addressing the princesses' sons Princes William and Harry - both of whom issued statements blasting the deceit and the BBC's cover up - Bashir said he is 'deeply sorry'.

He said he 'can't imagine what their family must feel each day, although I know a little of that myself having lost a brother and father prematurely'.

But the journalist disputed the Duke of Cambridge's charge that he fuelled Diana's isolation and paranoia, saying: 'Even in the early 1990s, there were stories and secretly recorded phone calls.

'I wasn't the source of any of that.'

He also denied responsibility for his death, saying: 'I dont feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life, and complex issues surrounding those decisions.

'I can understand the motivation but to channel the tragedy, the difficult relationship between the Royal Family and the media, purely on to my shoulders feels a little unreasonable.

'The suggestion I am singularly responsible I think is unreasonable and unfair.'

While Bashir failed to apologise for what Lord Dyson dubbed 'devious and dishonest' behaviour, he did say he was sorry for showing forged bank statements he commissioned to Earl Spencer.

'Obviously I regret it, it was wrong. But it had no bearing on anything. It had no bearing on [Diana], it had no bearing on the interview.'

It was these statements - some of which wrongly suggested Earl Spencer's ex-head of security Alan Waller was in the pay of tabloid journalists - that got him in contact with Diana.

Graphic designer Matt Wiessler - who made the forgeries - blew the whistle on Bashir and was subsequently banned from the BBC.

The shamed reporter apologised for not approaching Mr Wiessler after he got the sack, saying: 'I am sorry about that.'

He told the newspaper: 'I never wanted to harm Diana in any way and I don't believe we did.

'Everything we did in terms of the interview was as she wanted, from when she wanted to alert the palace, to when it was broadcast, to its contents ... My family and I loved her.'

Bashir said he and his family remained close to Diana after the interview.

He shared a picture of the princess visiting St George's hospital in Tooting, south London, on the day Bashir's wife Deborah gave birth to the couple's third child, Eliza.

He told The Sunday Times: 'We were friends. She was spectacular.

'She said to me: "You must let me know the moment the baby arrives," and an hour later, there was a knock on the delivery room and in she walked.'

Shamed reporter Martin Bashir (pictured) has insisted he 'never wanted to harm' Princess Diana with his bombshell 1995 Panorama interview

The journalist's reputation is in tatters following Lord Dyson's report that he used 'deceitful behaviour' to land his world exclusive scoop (the interview, pictured)

Bashir said he is 'deeply sorry' to Prince William and Prince Harry, but disputes the Duke of Cambridge's charge that he fuelled her isolation and paranoia. Pictured: Diana with her sons

Lord Dyson was commissioned six months ago to examine whether Princess Diana would have given the historic 1995 interview had it not been for Mr Bashir's underhand tactics

Diana's brother Earl Spencer has said he 'draws a line' between the 1995 interview and his sister's death in Paris in 1997, claiming Bashir's actions led her to give up her royal security detail.

Showing a remarkable lack of remorse, he said: 'I don't feel I can be held responsible for many of the other things that were going on in her life, and the complex issues surrounding those decisions.'

He admitted that he understood Earl Spencer's anger but rejected as 'a little unreasonable' his attempts to channel his sister's death and the relationship between the Royal family and the media on to his shoulders.

'The suggestion I am singularly responsible I think is unreasonable and unfair,' he said.

Bashir commissioned documents purporting to show payments into the bank accounts of members of the royal household and showed them to Earl Spencer, according to Lord Dyson.

He said: 'Obviously I regret it, it was wrong. But it had no bearing on anything. It had no bearing on [Diana], it had no bearing on the interview.'

He said he is now concerned the scandal will overshadow the content of what Diana said in the interview.

'She was a pioneering princess. When you think about her expressions of grief in her marriage, when you think about the admission of psychiatric illness - just extraordinary! And her sons have gone on to champion mental health,' he said.

Diana's brother Earl Spencer (pictured) has said he 'draws a line' between the interview and his sister's death, claiming Bashir's actions led her to give up her royal security detail

'I don't understand what the purpose of this is ultimately? OK, maybe you want to destroy me, but outside of this, what's the point?

'I did something wrong... but for pity's sake, acknowledge something of the relationship we had and something of what she contributed through that interview.

'One of the saddest things about all of this has been the way the content of what she said has almost been ignored.'

Bashir's comments come after former BBC director-general Lord Tony Hall quit as chairman of the National Gallery after he was heavily criticised in the Dyson report for his botched inquiry into how the interview was obtained.

His resignation comes after another former BBC executive involved in the 1996 internal investigation, Tim Suter, announced on Friday that he was stepping down from his board role with media watchdog Ofcom.

Earl Spencer is reported to have written to Metropolitan Police Commissioner Dame Cressida Dick asking her to investigate the BBC.

The Duke of Cambridge said Martin Bashir's deceit in obtaining his 1995 interview with Princess Diana hastened his parents' divorce and 'hurt countless others' in unprecedented broadside against the shamed BBC

Scotland Yard has already said that it will assess Lord Dyson's findings to determine whether they contain any 'significant new evidence'.

Lord Hall - who in 1996 was director of BBC news and current affairs - led the investigation which exonerated Bashir, even though he had previously admitted lying about the fake documents he used in obtaining the interview.

He was director-general when Bashir was controversially rehired by the BBC as religious affairs correspondent in 2016 and later promoted to religion editor.

Chairman of the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee Julian Knight has called on current director-general Tim Davie to provide a full explanation as to how Bashir came to be re-employed.

Mr Knight said that some people may suspect that the journalist was given the religion job as a way of keeping quiet about what exactly he knew.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the BBC should now consider paying compensation to 'whistleblowers' who had had their careers damaged after raising concerns about the way Bashir had operated.

Mr Knight said there was a need for further reform at the BBC, and he called for a strengthening of editorial policy within the corporation.

Mr Davie wrote to BBC staff on Friday saying: 'I know that we now have significantly stronger processes and governance in place to ensure that an event like this doesn't happen again. However we must also learn lessons and keep improving.'
As the unseasonal May rain lashes against his office window, Nadhim Zahawi bubbles with enthusiasm over the news from Government scientists: our vaccines work against the Indian variant of Covid.

It is looking pretty good, beams Mr Zahawi.

Barring a sudden deterioration in the data, the country now looks on course to celebrate freedom day on June 21, as planned.

The Vaccines Minister has proved to be one of the stars of the Governments handling of the pandemic, quietly working 19-hour days to deliver a jabs roll-out matched by few other countries.

Voters are starting to notice.

With private polling putting his approval ratings above the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, Iraqi-born Mr Zahawi is being tipped for promotion to the Cabinet at the next reshuffle.

As well as the news that vaccines offer the same protection against infection, transmission and hospitalisation involving the Indian variant as they do against the dominant Kent variant, Britain will today pass another major landmark of injecting a total of 60 million first and second doses of the vaccine.

The Vaccines Minister has proved to be one of the stars of the Governments handling of the pandemic, quietly working 19-hour days to deliver a jabs roll-out matched by few other countries

Mr Zahawi credits the achievement to the Dunkirk spirit of the British people.

Experts have also concluded fears that the new variant could be as much as 50 per cent more contagious than the Kent one were overblown.

Mr Zahawi suggests it is a much more manageable 20 or 30 per cent.

Framed by sweeping views of a sodden London from the top floor of the Health Department, Mr Zahawi declares: The vaccines already offer protection against the dominant Kent variant.

'What scientists at Porton Down [the Government research centre] are now saying is that the double dose does the same thing against the Indian variant.

'The important message is get your second vaccine, because if we can get people double-vaccinated rapidly then this is going to be manageable.

Mr Zahawi, 53, admits to being initially alarmed by the spread of the Indian variant, particularly in the hotspots of Blackburn and Bolton, and the threat it posed to the Prime Ministers roadmap out of lockdown.

Now he is cautiously optimistic that Boris Johnson will be able to announce on June 14 the end of social distancing a week later.

Mr Zahawi, who arrived in the UK aged 11 and unable to speak English, addresses head-on the problem of vaccine hesitancy in ethnic minority communities

Mr Zahawi, who arrived in the UK aged 11 and unable to speak English, addresses head-on the problem of vaccine hesitancy in ethnic minority communities.

That is down to a combination of factors, he says. Some of it is down to how accessible it is to people, some of it is a historic suspicion of medicines.

But buoyed by a five-fold increase in uptake among Bangladeshis following a concerted push to target them, he says: Now we are looking at doing the same thing in those postcodes where we see lower uptake, especially among different communities.

He also says it is looking better in the hotspots after weeks of surge testing and vaccination drives in the areas of lowest take-up.

Once every adult over 18 has been offered the vaccine by the end of July, the Governments efforts will switch to managing the virus.

All of these are part of the foundations were laying so that were in a place where we are able to manage it as we would manage flu next year, Mr Zahawi said.

Weve probably got one of the best detection systems now in the world in terms of geographical coverage.

Seventy per cent of waste water in the country now gets effectively analysed so we can see how this virus is behaving.

However successful the vaccination drive has been, the Minister explains that even the double-vaccinated cant escape the dreaded ping from the NHS Covid app, telling them to self-isolate if they have been in contact with someone who has tested positive.

Why? Because those people can still spread the virus even if theyre protected from serious illness by the vaccines.

With private polling putting his approval ratings above the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, Iraqi-born Mr Zahawi is being tipped for promotion to the Cabinet at the next reshuffle

Even if youve had both jabs, whether its Pfizer or AstraZeneca  and I have recently had it in my own family  you can still get infected, he explains.

The vaccines protect you, but you might still get the virus and transmit it.

Mr Zahawi was already a well-known figure at Westminster as a Business Minister before Boris Johnson picked him for the high-profile role of running the vaccines programme last November.

He appears non-plussed when asked why he was chosen, suggesting it may be because PM knew he had a track record as a deliverer in his previous business career, including co-founding polling firm YouGov.

That has made him one of the wealthiest MPs in the Commons, and was part of a varied business career that also once saw him selling Teletubbies merchandise  T-shirts and pyjamas  to Marks & Spencer.

But it was his polling firm which first put him on Mr Johnsons radar, when the PM was editor of The Spectator magazine.

When Saddam Husseins statue fell, we got a phone call from Boris saying, Can you do a survey of Baghdadis? I want to know what they think. 

It led to Mr Zahawi heading back to the country of his birth via Kuwait to make polling history by conducting the first piece of proper research among Baghdadis.

Did he have any hesitation when Mr Johnson asked him to take on the vaccines role?

I couldnt say no because in many ways this is the equivalent of the Second World War, he says. Our country has been hit by this extraordinary invisible enemy.

Mr Zahawi betrays just a hint of emotion as he explains he is also giving something back to the country which gave his family sanctuary.

My family came here in 1978. I couldnt speak a word of English when I arrived on these shores. The teacher thought I had learning difficulties because I was a proud kid.

'I sat in the back of the class, trying to string words together in my head, to join in, but by the time I had made the sentence up, the subject matter had moved on.

But within eight months, I picked up the language, as kids do.

And then you find this country is the best country because when you share your aspirations and your hopes and your dreams with people, theyll help you.

Mr Zahawis public face during the vaccine drive has been one of cheery optimism.

But he freely admits to moments of fear all the time, all the time. At moments, he even asked himself: What if it [the vaccine] doesnt work? Weve got to be ready. Imagine a world where the variant was more lethal.

Entering the lions den  for a Conservative Minister  of BBC1s Question Time last week, Mr Zahawi came in for a mauling over foreign travel rules.

The Government has been accused of sowing confusion and chaos by not making clear that people should only be travelling to amber-list countries in exceptional circumstances  not for holidays, which are reserved for green-list destinations such as Portugal.

Mr Zahawi rejects the chaos criticism, suggesting the British public understood the rules. This is an abnormal year, he says.

And I think actually people understand that. Now, you need to have a system in place that looks at infection rates, vaccination rates, variants...

So the green list is limited at the moment. But I think its the right thing to place most countries on the amber list or obviously the ones of real concern on the red list.

As for himself, I havent yet decided to go on holiday. I would enjoy one, but until I complete this target, I just wouldnt feel right.

That target is the Governments stated aim of vaccinating every adult by the end of July.

Despite supply problems  including five million AstraZeneca doses from Indias Serum Institute, which will now not arrive this year  he insists that goal will be met, thanks to most peoples willingness to be vaccinated.

Its because actually the British people get it, he says. Its that Dunkirk spirit.

His Tory MP colleagues may speculate that a Cabinet promotion awaits but, for now, Mr Zahawi wants to get the vaccine drive done  working towards his dream of a world where one day, a Government vaccines tsar will no longer be necessary.,

Id like to put myself out of a job, if thats what you mean, he laughs before adding  not for the first time  that this will be a long battle, not least because as well as Covid, the Government is guarding against a flu epidemic this winter.

Its really important that we protect against both Covid and flu, he says.

The worst of all worlds is you think youve done really well on Covid and then you get blindsided by a really bad flu season for the NHS. We will have to live with this virus.
Figure1President Moon Jae-in speaks as U.S. President Joe Biden listens during a joint news conference in the East Room of the White House, Washington, D.C., Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap



Korea-US missile guidelines abolished



By Nam Hyun-woo, Joint Press Corps



SEOUL/WASHINGTON  President Moon Jae-in and his U.S. counterpart Joe Biden have reaffirmed their commitment to engage in talks with North Korea for denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, with the latter appointing a special envoy to Pyongyang.



Also, the two leaders decided to end U.S. guidelines on South Korea's missile development programs, as well as establishing a comprehensive vaccine partnership that includes Korean biologics firms manufacturing approved U.S. vaccines.



The agreements came after a summit at the White House, Friday (local time), which marked Biden's second in-person meeting with a head of state since taking office in January.



"President Biden and I discussed the commitments made between the two Koreas, and the U.S. and North Korea that are essential for creating a peaceful Korean Peninsula," Moon said during a press conference after the summit. "President Biden also expressed support for inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. In close cooperation with the U.S., we will work to facilitate progress in inter-Korean relations so as to achieve a virtuous cycle in U.S.-North Korea dialogue."



Moon said the "most urgent common task" for the two countries was achieving complete denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula. He added that the Biden administration has promptly completed its North Korea policy review, and this showed the U.S. considers its policy toward Pyongyang "as one of its priorities," noting that there were no differences between the two countries regarding a time schedule for the denuclearization.



Biden said he agreed with Moon's remarks that the two countries goal "remains complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula" and he wanted to make "practical progress and increase the security for the U.S. and our allies."



"Our two nations also shared a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK to take pragmatic steps to reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Biden said, referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.



In the joint statement released after the press conference, the two nations reaffirmed that their diplomacy and dialogue will be based on previous inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea agreements, including the 2018 Panmunjeom Declaration between Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and the Singapore Joint Statement between Kim and Biden's predecessor Donald Trump.



In that context, Biden announced his appointment of former U.S. Ambassador to Seoul Sung Kim as a special envoy to North Korea.



Kim served as special envoy to the multilateral six-party talks with North Korea during the Barack Obama administration, and contributed to the 2018 Singapore statement while serving as U.S. ambassador to the Philippines.





Moon leaves US after visit for summit with Biden Crab cakes served as main lunch course for Moon and Biden Full text of joint statement of South Korean, US presidents First Moon-Biden summit [PHOTOS] The U.S. statement of its intention to support inter-Korean dialogue and previous commitments comes as a breakthrough for Moon's efforts to promote a "peace mood" for better inter-Korean relations, which have been stalemated since a 2019 U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi ended in failure.



While supporting Moon's efforts to engage with Pyongyang, however, Biden said he would not meet North Korean leader Kim without his commitment to discuss the North's nuclear arsenal.



"If he made any commitment, I would meet with him.  And the commitment has to be that there's discussion about his nuclear arsenal," Biden said. "I would not do what we have done in the recent past. I would not give him all he is looking for  international recognition as legitimate, and give him what allowed him to move in a direction of appearing to be more serious about what he wasn't at all serious about."



U.S. President Joe Biden and President Moon Jae-in depart the East Room of the White House after a joint news conference, Friday (local time). AP-Yonhap

During the press conference, Biden also mentioned that he and Moon addressed issues of stronger cooperation with regional partners including the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) members, and trilateral cooperation with Japan, which are thorny issues for South Korea.



The Quad is a U.S.-led unofficial strategic network for cooperation between U.S. Australia, India and Japan, and is widely seen to as being designed to contain an assertive China, despite U.S. denials. Seoul's relations with Tokyo remain chilly following disputes over a series of historical issues.



Missile guidelines lifted; vaccine cooperation agreed



The two leaders additionally agreed to fully lift U.S. restrictions on South Korea's missile development programs. "I am pleased to announce the termination of the missile guidelines," Moon told reporters.



The missile programs have been limited for the past 42 years, after the guidelines were established in 1979. Seoul agreed to bring in or develop missiles under U.S. control, in order to gain related technologies. But that decision curbed the maximum capabilities of South Korea's missiles to a range of 180 kilometers with a payload of 500 kilograms. Since then, Seoul and Washington have been engaged in a series of negotiations to ease the limits.



Also at the press conference, Moon and Biden announced that the U.S. will provide COVID-19 vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean troops and participate in a comprehensive KORUS Global Vaccine Partnership with Seoul.



"We'll provide full vaccinations for all 550,000 of those Korean forces engaging with American forces on a regular basis, both for their sake, as well as the sake of the American forces," Biden said.



Through the partnership, Moon said U.S. vaccine technology will create synergy with South Korea's manufacturing capability, which will accelerate the supply of vaccines for the world.



Regarding South Korean companies' investments in the U.S., Biden applauded them, saying, the "new investments are going to create thousands of good paying jobs and jobs in the future right here in the United States," and "they are going to help fortify and secure the supply chains for things like semiconductors and electric batteries."



Hours before the summit, South Korean companies announced plans to invest $39.4 billion in various chip and EV battery projects in the United States.




On November 14, 1995, I was on a Panorama assignment in Wales when I heard on my portable radio the news that Martin Bashir had secured a world-wide scoop. I had no mobile on me so I got off the train at the next station and phoned him from a call box to offer my sincere congratulations.

Bashirs magnificent coup, an interview with Princess Diana, led to nothing but high praise from all of us reporters and producers on the show. We bathed in the glory, we all grew ten feet tall. The adrenaline and the champagne flowed, for a short time at least.

Today, it remains beyond belief that  according to all the evidence I have seen  the Diana scoop would eventually lead the BBC, the worlds greatest broadcaster and the gold standard for global truth, to mount a grubby cover-up. And then smear four of its own employees in a desperate attempt to protect the reputation of the senior managers responsible for this fiasco.

On November 14, 1995, I was on a Panorama assignment in Wales when I heard on my portable radio the news that Martin Bashir had secured a world-wide scoop

Today, it remains beyond belief that  according to all the evidence I have seen  the Diana scoop would eventually lead the BBC, the worlds greatest broadcaster and the gold standard for global truth, to mount a grubby cover-up

Not only were Bashir and Steve Hewlett protected, but so was the entire chain of command that led up to and included Tony Hall and John Birt, the director-general, pictured

I was one of the four victims of that rearguard action  collateral damage after nearly half a centurys impeccable service to the Corporation. Im glad the scandal has finally been acknowledged, even if it is 25 years too late. But its the deceit that makes it so particularly painful.

In my 40 years on Panorama, I investigated several global corporations, including two big pharmaceutical companies which fought back with lies, more lies and dissembling. The BBCs behaviour on Bashirgate resembled these commercial giants at their worst.

I would go further.

Bashir is taking a great deal of criticism, and correctly. But it is pointless to pin the blame on a single scoundrel when the combined weight and intelligence of his superiors totally failed to catch him out.

Bashirs bosses were not twerps. I worked for all of them. They were the creme de la creme. Oxbridge graduates and all that. The finest that broadcasting could hire. If their investigations of Bashirs skulduggery failed, I believe that could only have been because they hoped and prayed they would fail.

In my 40 years on Panorama, I investigated several global corporations, including two big pharmaceutical companies which fought back with lies, more lies and dissembling. The BBCs behaviour on Bashirgate resembled these commercial giants at their worst

For the BBC to deliberately use forgeries in that way was a serious offence, but when I approached Bashir for an explanation, he rudely told me to talk to the programme editor, the late Steve Hewlett

I am the opposite of a conspiracy theorist but, today, I can only conclude that what I lived through was a carefully crafted attempt to divert attention from the truth, a disgraceful high-level plot.

For an organisation supposedly committed to the very highest standards of openness, it should be a matter of the deepest shame.

The doubts set in no sooner had the interview been broadcast on November 20, 1995. I was told in great confidence that Bashir had instructed Panoramas graphic designer to produce fake bank statements, and that these statements had been used via Earl Spencer, the Princesss brother, to help persuade Diana to take part.

The statements appeared to show that her close friends had been paid to leak stories to the press. An extraordinary claim.

For the BBC to deliberately use forgeries in that way was a serious offence, but when I approached Bashir for an explanation, he rudely told me to talk to the programme editor, the late Steve Hewlett.

After much thought, I did as he suggested, along with Mark Killick, the senior producer who had first warned me about Bashirs chicanery, and Harry Dean, a recently appointed deputy editor of Panorama.

We decided that it would be too dangerous not to inform Hewlett as there was every reason to believe he knew nothing about Bashirs behaviour.

But when the three of us knocked on Hewletts office door, his immediate response was: This is none of your f****** business.

In an extraordinary statement to the BBC board of governors, Tony Hall, the then head of current affairs, claimed that Bashirs forgeries had played no part in gaining the interview

In the course of the short and brutal meeting that followed, Killick suggested Hewlett speak to Charles Spencer to check whether the allegation about the use of forged documents was true. Hewlett never did, an omission described by Lord Dysons new report on the affair as a catastrophic failure of duty.

Then, straight after the meeting  and this is key  Hewlett told his then deputy editor that the three of us with doubts were merely jealous colleagues. It was the first of many BBC lies, but an effective one. And so the pattern was set.

The first major test came six months later when The Mail on Sunday revealed to the public the existence of the forged bank statements  rigorous journalism which is praised in Dysons report  and called Bashirs methods into doubt.

It seems that a small group of senior BBC managers then reacted with supersonic speed. It was decided to mount a cover-up that would protect Bashir and others, and that the blame would instead be heaped on a cabal of Panorama journalists  ie, the three of us who had been to see Hewlett.

Thanks to Dysons report, we know how this smear was achieved, if not who ordered it.

Alison Kelly, Panoramas publicity officer, told Dyson that she remembered briefing journalists that the story about faked bank statements had probably been leaked by jealous colleagues.

It wouldnt have been Steve Hewletts style [to order that], he wouldnt have done that to me I dont think, she told Lord Dyson. I dont know who did it but I do remember doing it and I remember it being quite awful.

Dyson concluded that: I am certain Kellys account was true.

Diana wrote this letter, pictured, absolving Martin Bashir of all responsibility

The BBC even lied to itself. The day after The Mail on Sunday revelation, this message was sent to all BBC internal computer screens: If anyone asks about Bashir, the official line is, Its not interesting.

Damn the truth. Create imaginary scapegoats. Divert, divert, divert. Classic BBC. Next, in an extraordinary statement to the BBC board of governors, Tony Hall, the then head of current affairs, claimed that Bashirs forgeries had played no part in gaining the interview.

He also said that the fake bank statements, while unwise, could be forgiven because Bashir wasnt thinking but was an honest and honourable man and was contrite. So thats all right then.

In contrast, Matt Wiessler, the wholly innocent freelance designer who had been ordered by Bashir to create the fakes, will not work for the BBC again.

In this same deeply deceitful briefing, Hall promoted the growing fiction that disgruntled colleagues were behind The Mail on Sunday story.

Between now and summer, he thundered, we will work to deal with leakers and remove persistent troublemakers. Every one, it seems, was guilty apart from the actual perpetrators of the fraud.

In the end, Hall did mount a formal investigation. You might expect the key witnesses to have included Earl Spencer, who was first shown the documents by Bashir. Sadly for the truth, he was not consulted.

Hall was overwhelmed by Bashirs heartfelt protests of complete innocence. The worst Hall could bring himself to say about Bashir was that he was unwise and incautious. Halls recall of this crucial meeting was feeble, but he did remember Bashir crying at the end of it

Surely, then, Matt Wiessler, the man who had been instructed to create the fake bank statements would be interviewed.

Er no. Not him, either.

There was just one witness to Tony Halls inquiry and that was Bashir himself. I personally know both Hall and Bashir, and the investigation must have been like the Vicar of Dibley trying to grill Del Boy.

Hall was overwhelmed by Bashirs heartfelt protests of complete innocence. The worst Hall could bring himself to say about Bashir was that he was unwise and incautious. Halls recall of this crucial meeting was feeble, but he did remember Bashir crying at the end of it. Seriously.

Dysons verdict on Halls inquiry is blistering. Woefully ineffective, he concludes.

It seems that everyone was desperate to believe Bashirs pathological lies without checking a single one of them.

In the event, the smears worked a treat. Within 48 hours of The Mail on Sunday revelation, the daily papers were asking: Could a rival be out to get Bashir?

The Times claimed: The BBC is investigating claims that envious colleagues have been involved in a smear campaign against Martin Bashir. The heavyweight Guardian bet the house on its story: A senior BBC source said Bashir had earned the jealousy of many BBC people including some within Panorama The BBC dismissed The Mail on Sundays story which relied on the sour grapes of BBC employees.

The source for this wasnt even disguised. It was the BBC itself. As we know now  and as many of us knew back then  The Mail on Sunday revelation was 100 per cent true. Today, it seems beyond doubt that, once senior managers knew the truth, there could be no fessing up, no turning back.

And so, terrified, they colluded in a hastily conceived cover-up.

What a shameful failure! And what a terrible wound to the BBC today.

Not only were Bashir and Hewlett protected, but so was the entire chain of command that led up to and included Tony Hall and John Birt, the director-general.

Bashir was feted as honest and honourable if a wee bit misguided.

Instead, innocent colleagues were offered up as scalps for the tomahawks of a marauding press. Then the executives circled the BBC wagons and hunkered down.

Welcome as Dysons report has been, too many questions remain.

Who, for example, was behind the press office lies?

Tony Hall denies any part in the campaign of deceit, although he certainly might be seen as having a preconceived opinion of what had happened.

Well before the scandal broke in The Mail on Sunday, hed lavished praise on the main protagonists.

You handled [the programme] with skill, sensitivity and excellent judgment, he told Bashir. There were many pitfalls awaiting us  you avoided them all.

Then, with unintended irony, he concluded: You have changed the way we report the Monarchy.

To Bashirs editor, Steve Hewlett, he said: Congratulations on a brilliant scoop there were many mantraps awaiting us and you were vital in helping us avoid them.

Another question: how high up the chain of command did the cover-up go? Was John Birt himself aware?

Remember, the BBC has a transparent and very direct chain of editorial command from lowly producer all the way up to the director-general, the boss of the entire BBC. The buck stops with him. Dyson gently chastises Birt, whose naive faith in Bashir continued long after the allegations first surfaced. As head of all BBC News, his lack of awareness of what was going on strikes me as bizarre.

Id also like to know how it came about that Princess Diana wrote a letter to the programme absolving Bashir of any blame?

What were the circumstances behind the appearance of such a fortuitous note?

It is salutary to remember that the BBC and its managers would have got clean away with it had Earl Spencer not decided to end a quarter of a centurys dignified silence.

Bashir went on to much greater things, of course. John Birt is now a Sir; Tony Hall, now a Lord, went on to become director-general of the BBC himself, standing down only last year. The four of us innocents didnt fare quite so well. Matt Wiessler was sacked on the spot and has been forced to find a new career. Harry Dean, a popular and canny senior manager on his way up the BBC ladder, was personally warned by Hewlett that he had done himself no good.

Bashir was re-hired by the BBC in 2016 in the highly sensitive post of Religion Editor, the man trusted to interview the Pope. This incredible appointment came despite Bashirs chequered career after the BBC, which was mired in criticism and further allegations of unedifying behaviour

Mark Killick one of the programmes most talented and senior producers, was eventually elbowed off the programme.

I, too, fared badly. A future editor of Panorama, one who had been deeply involved with the Diana coup  no doubt a coincidence  called me into his office on his first day, and advised me that I had no future on the programme. I was let go and a shame-faced BBC paid me peanuts as compensation.

Then there is the other obvious scandal about the BBCs relationship with Bashir, one that Dyson was not allowed to address.

Bashir was re-hired by the BBC in 2016 in the highly sensitive post of Religion Editor, the man trusted to interview the Pope.

This incredible appointment came despite Bashirs chequered career after the BBC, which was mired in criticism and further allegations of unedifying behaviour.

Why on Earth did the BBC choose to ignore his track record?

Why did BBCs current head of newsgathering, Jonathan Munro, say on Bashirs rejoining: Martins track record in enterprising journalism is well-known and respected in the industry and amongst our audiences?

Ive spent most of my adult life working for the BBC and I have loved it in that time.

But I fear Dyson may just be the start of this. Theres clearly much more to come.

lTom Mangold spent nearly half a century as a BBC TV reporter, most of that time on Panorama as its senior journalist.
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A volcano has erupted in the Democratic Republic of Congo, spewing red fumes into the night sky and sending residents fleeing for their lives into neighbouring Rwanda.

People frantically grabbed mattresses and other belongings and fled towards the frontier, while power was cut and phone lines were jam-packed in large parts of Goma.

Despite the panic caused by the eruption of the Nyiragongo at around 7pm, a volcanologist said the city did not appear to be in danger.

A United Nations source said a reconnaissance flight by a U.N. helicopter appeared to show lava was not flowing towards Goma or any major population centres.

The military governor of North Kivu province, General Constant Ndima, appealed for calm, saying: 'Investigations are underway and people must follow the guidance of civil protection units'.

The volcano sits in the country's Virunga National Park, which is also home to endangered mountain gorillas.

The Mount Nyiragongo volcano erupted on Saturday, spewing red fumes into the night sky over the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern city of Goma and sparking an exodus to neighbouring Rwanda

Power was cut in large parts of the city and hundreds of residents began leaving their homes and heading towards the nearby border with Rwanda

The eruption has turned the sky red over the city of Goma, in the Democratic Republic of Congo

A Congolese woman, carrying possessions on her head, flees from Mount Nyiragongo volcano as it erupts over Goma

A general view shows smoke and flames of the volcanic eruption near Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

'The sky has turned red,' one resident, Carine Mbala, told AFP by telephone.

'There is a smell of sulphur. In the distance you can see giant flames coming out of the mountain.

'But there has not been any earthquake,' she added.

'People are leaving or preparing to leave,' another resident told AFP, as the streets began filling up, some carrying as many of their belongings as they could.

'The people are leaving or preparing to leave,' an inhabitant said.

'I am taking the children and getting into the car. There is a risk that the lava will flow on Goma,' another said.

But for the moment, there is no sign of a flow of lava from the city, the correspondent said.

But the last time Nyiragongo erupted was January 17, 2002, killing more than a hundred people and covering almost all of the eastern part of Goma with lava, including half of the airport's landing strip.

Hundreds of thousands fled the city.

The deadliest eruption of the 3,000-metre high volcano was in 1977, when more than 600 died.

Volcanologists at the Goma Volcano Observatory, which monitors Nyiragongo, have struggled to make basic checks on a regular basis since the World Bank cut funding amid embezzlement allegations.

In a bulletin on May 10, the observatory said there had been increased seismic activity at Nyiragongo earlier in the month.

Goma sits on the mountain's southern flank and overlooks Lake Kivu.

The Goma region, which lies in North Kivu province, bordering Rwanda and Uganda, has six volcanoes, all higher than 3,000 metres.

People in the street as the Mount Nyiragongo volcano burst into activity, spewing red fumes into the night sky

Flames are seen in the outskirts of the city of Goma from the activity of the Nyiragongo volcano

Civilians watch the smoke and flames of the volcanic eruption near Goma, Democratic Republic of Congo

Goma residents are seen leaving the city following a sudden activity of the Nyiragongo volcano
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Boris Johnsons roadmap to freedom was back on track last night after scientists dismissed fears that Covid vaccinations might be ineffective against the new Indian variant.

Experts at the Governments world-renowned Porton Down research centre have concluded that the jabs work to stop infection, transmission and hospitalisation in the same way as they do with the dominant Kent strain.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday, Vaccines Minister Nadhim Zahawi said that the scientists analysis found the variant caused only a minimal reduction in vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease, and was expected to provide high levels of protection against hospitalisation and death.

Meanwhile, Britain is today expected to pass the landmark figure of 60 million first and second doses administered.

Experts at the Governments world-renowned Porton Down research centre have concluded that jabs work effectively against the Indian variant, handing a boost to Boris Johnson's (seen on HMS Queen Elizabeth on May 21) reopening programme

1.3m sign up for NHS vaccine app By Brendan Carlin for Mail On Sunday More than a million extra people have signed up to the NHS app since Covid vaccine status was added just two weeks ago. The move will be seen as a vote of confidence in using the app to prove vaccination, despite critics fearing that it amounts to an ID card in disguise. Since May 7, users of the NHS app  which could already be used to book appointments and get repeat prescriptions  have been able to see their Covid-19 status. It can display a barcode showing they have been vaccinated if needed for travel. Department of Health officials said it was one of the worlds first internationally compliant systems to demonstrate vaccine status, and had been designed in line with World Health Organisation guidance. They added that 1.3 million extra people had signed up for the app since the Covid status was introduced, bringing the total number to over 4.8 million. Advertisement

As of last night, 37.7 million people, or 71.6 per cent of all UK adults, had received their first jab and 22.1 million, or 41.9 per cent, had received both.

The good news on vaccines combating the Indian variant will boost expectations that Mr Johnson will be able to announce the end of social distancing as hoped on freedom day, June 21.

Concerns have also been allayed that the Indian strain could be 50 per cent more transmissible than the Kent one, with experts now believing it to be closer to a manageable 20 or 30 per cent.

The scientists concluded that the Pfizer vaccine was 88 per cent effective against the Indian variant in preventing symptomatic disease after two doses, compared with 93 per cent against the Kent variant.

AstraZeneca is 60 per cent effective, compared with 66 per cent against the Kent variant.

Experts said the difference between the two jabs could be down to the fact that the rollout of second doses of AstraZeneca has been later than that for Pfizer, and it takes longer to reach maximum effectiveness.

The data also showed the importance of having two doses, as both vaccines were only 33 per cent effective against the Indian variant three weeks after just the first jab, compared with 50 per cent protection against the Kent variant.

Mr Zahawi said: The vaccines offer protections against the dominant Kent variant.

What Porton Down are now saying is that the double dose does the same thing against the Indian variant.

The important message is to get your second vaccine, because if we can get people double-vaccinated rapidly then this is going to be manageable.

More than 50million Covid-19 vaccination doses have now been given in England, latest figures show (pictured: James Forster from Hexham receives the Pfizer vaccine on May 13)

Britain's death toll stands at six today, a decrease of one on the seven recorded this day last week. It comes as a new 'triple mutant' Covid variant with a 'strange combination' of genes is probed by virologists in Yorkshire

Today's case total of 2,694 - 667 more than the 2,027 recorded last Saturday - comes as England passes its 50million coronavirus jabs milestone

In other developments yesterday:

The daily number of deaths attributed to Covid fell to six, a drop of 43 per cent over the past week, while hospital admissions were down 7 per cent to 122;

More than 1.3 million extra people were revealed have signed up to the NHS app since it was updated on May 7 to show the users vaccination status;

Former No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings  who will give evidence on the handling of the pandemic to MPs on Wednesday  accused the Government of causing unnecessary deaths by embarking on a policy of herd immunity and then trying to deny it.

He also claimed lockdowns could have been avoided if wed had competent people in charge;

It was revealed that Mr Johnson fought off advisers calls to delay relaxing the restrictions on indoor hospitality last Monday, especially in areas of North-West England hit hardest by the Indian variant;

The Scottish Government said it was working to fix a security flaw which could allow people to edit their vaccination status certificates using popular software.

Last night, in response to the news about the vaccines effectiveness, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: This new evidence is groundbreaking  and proves just how valuable our vaccination programme is in protecting the people we love.

We can now be confident that over 20 million people  more than one in three  have significant protection against this new variant, and that number is growing by the hundreds of thousands every day as more and more people get that vital second dose.

I want to thank the scientists and clinicians who have been working around the clock to produce this research.

'Its clear how important the second dose is to secure the strongest possible protection against Covid-19 and its variants  and I urge everyone to book in their jab when offered.

JONATHAN SUMPTION: Find your backbone, Boris, and free us from the joyless clipboard bullies on June 21

The fuss about whether the Government should stick to its roadmap has brought some interesting creatures to the fore. We have seen them before, but never so clearly in their true plumage.

There is a powerful body of medical opinion which would like to see a new relationship between the State and the citizen.

It consists of public health professionals interested only in public health and blind to most things that make good health worth having.

The decision about June 21 will be a major test of the Prime Ministers backbone, writes Jonathan Sumption

They seem indifferent to mass unemployment, recession and educational disaster. They care not a fig for basic social needs and daily human pleasures.

Hence the present fuss about the Indian variant.

For years, these people have been frustrated by the fact that not everyone shares their priorities or suffers their special brand of tunnel vision.

Why do so many of us not feel a thing with the first AZ jab? By Jonathan Bucks for the Mail On Sunday When Boris Johnson received his first dose of the AstraZeneca jab in March, he proudly declared that he didnt feel a thing  and it seems others had a similar experience. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many people barely notice their first jab being administered, but are much more aware of the needle going in for their second dose. The phenomenon is unrelated to side effects, which have been forensically monitored, and has not been properly studied. But one man in his 40s from Epping, Essex, said: I usually turn my head away when I have an injection because I dont like seeing the needle go in, but when I had my first AstraZeneca jab I had to look at my arm since I hadnt felt a thing. It was different for the second dose when I felt a little scratch, like any other injection. A few friends have mentioned the same happened to them. Its all rather mysterious. A 58-year-old man from Brighton added: I was still sitting, waiting for my first jab when I was told it had been done and I could go. I hadnt felt even the tiniest scratch. The second time around, I was definitely aware of the needle going in, although it didnt hurt. Almost everyone I know has said the same thing. On the other hand, I havent had any side effects since the second vaccine  after feeling headachey and under the weather for three days after the first. Similar experiences have been reported on social media. Second vaccine update  no real side effects other than the painful arm. It is a LOT more painful than jab one, said one. Just got my second dose of vaccine, it was a little bit more painful than first one, wrote another. And a third said of her second jab: I felt the actual needle more. She had to give it a good shove. According to research published in medical journal The Lancet last month, 19 per cent of people receiving their first AZ jab recorded pain as a local side effect at the injection site, compared to 29 per cent and 34 per cent for the first and second doses of Pfizer respectively. But at the time of the study, not enough people had received the second AZ jab to be included. Of the more serious after-effects  most commonly headaches and flu-like symptoms  experts believe the second dose may pack more of a punch because the body responds more robustly to the vaccine after recognising it from the first jab. Advertisement

They have lectured us about being too fat, too thin, not taking enough exercise, or too fond of drink, sugar, tobacco or sunshine for our own good.

We have listened but continued to make our own decisions, not always to their liking.

With Covid-19, these health fascists have come into their own. They have had a chance to strut across the stage, giving us orders rather than just advice. They have welcomed a world in which experts can compel us to do what they regard as good for us.

But their vision of what is good for us is a wretched thing: a narrow, colourless and impoverished vision with little room for human fellowship, culture or any of the collective activities that give value to our lives.

They never ask themselves whether the risk of living with Covid may be better than the certainty of distress, impoverishment and destruction provoked by their plan for suppressing it.

They must suppress risk, even if it means suppressing life itself.

Every day, some professor is wheeled out on radio or TV to say we should have even less liberty, in order to serve their joyless agenda.

They produce terrifying statistical models which are no more meaningful than the assumptions that they have built into them.

They give us bossy five-part instructions on how to hug people (not too often, outdoors only, make it quick, dont look people in the face, then get tested). They tell us that Ministers latest piece of legislative bullying should have been introduced earlier or be kept in place for longer.

The political version of this mentality is called the precautionary principle. The precautionary principle is designed to protect politicians from being criticised in hindsight. It involves acting without evidence just in case it later turns out to be a good idea.

Sometimes the precautionary principle may be sound policy. But depriving people of their liberty simply because the government doesnt know whether it is necessary should surely have no place in a civilised society.

India is a big country with poor public health facilities and a slow vaccination rollout. Its 1.4 billion population is 20 times bigger than ours. Big absolute numbers of sick and dying there tell us very little.

Adjusted for population size, the impact of the Indian variant is small even in India.

According to Johns Hopkins University, Indias death toll peaked at 0.3 Covid deaths per 100,000 people and is now flatlining. This is far below the UK peak of 1.85 in late January.

Whereas India has administered 13 vaccine doses per 100 residents, Britain has administered 86, the highest figure in the world except for Israel and some small islands.

Everyone in Britain over 40 or in vulnerable health categories has been vaccinated at least once, except for refuseniks.

The remaining unvaccinated groups are at minuscule risk of death or serious illness. For people aged 20-50, the Infection Fatality Rate (the proportion of infected people who die) is estimated to be somewhere between 0.03 and 0.05 per cent.

Although the Indian variant is reported to be more infectious than the currently dominant variants, it is no more mortal and there is no evidence that it evades the vaccines. Confirmed cases have surged in Bolton, but the number of deaths and hospitalisations there is tiny.

The situation may change, but the latest NHS figures show that in the week to May 19, just two people died in Bolton within 28 days of a positive test. This, says the website portentously, is 100 per cent up on the week before. But with figures as small as these, such percentages are meaningless.

There is a powerful body of medical opinion which would like to see a new relationship between the State and the citizen. It consists of public health professionals interested only in public health and blind to most things that make good health worth having

As I write this, the Bolton NHS Trust reports 23 people in hospital with Covid, of whom three are in critical care.

We need to bring some sense of proportion to this issue.

Daily deaths within 28 days of a positive Covid test are currently in single figures across the UK and falling.

Over the past 15 months, dementia and Alzheimers have killed many more people than Covid-19. About 1,000 people are diagnosed with cancer every day, many of whom will die. In a normal year, more than 10,000 people a week die of something.

One point stands out from all of this. We have repeatedly been told that vaccination is the way out of the Governments restrictions on our lives. If in the UK, with one of the most successful vaccination programmes in the world, Ministers roadmap can be pushed off course by the India variant, against which vaccines are just as effective, then there is no hope for us.

The logic of scientists who want to keep the current controls in place is that they must stay in place for ever. This is because viruses mutate all the time.

Some variants will be more infectious than others. There is nothing we can do about that.

By the time a new variant is identified and sequenced and its impact analysed, it is usually too late to stop it spreading.

Border controls are useless against domestically generated variants like the Kent one.

Quarantine can retard the spread of imported variants, but not for long.

The Kent variant went all the way round Europe and America in no time. The World Health Organisation reckons that the India variant is already present in at least 50 countries, including many with tough border controls.

That persistent bandwagon-jumper Sir Keir Starmer (pictured) accused Boris Johnson of muddled messaging, because the PM was lifting the restrictions on holidays in amber list countries at the same time as advising people not to go to them

The moral is that we either learn to live with variants or we say goodbye for good to basic freedoms.

There was a revealing exchange last week at Prime Ministers Questions.

That persistent bandwagon-jumper Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson of muddled messaging, because the PM was lifting the restrictions on holidays in amber list countries at the same time as advising people not to go to them.

The Governments insistence on a lot of expensive testing is unfairly stopping families going abroad on holiday. But there is nothing muddled or irrational about giving people advice but leaving them to make their own decision.

Leaving people to make their own decisions is something the Government should have done months ago. It should be doing more of it now. Sir Keir seems to think that what government disapproves of should be banned by law. Is that really the sort of country he wants to live in?

The final stage of the roadmap is due on June 21. Many people are counting on that happening. They are fed up with being told how to live their lives. They want an end to all this control freakery.

The decision about June 21 will be a major test of the Prime Ministers backbone. Will he stand up to the public health bullies and clipboard-waving modellers who will not look at the whole issue but only at their own little corner of it?

Or is he just another frightened politician running away from risk in case he has to carry the can?
Britons who have had their Covid jabs should be allowed to go on holiday to countries on the Governments amber list without facing any restrictions, one of the most senior figures in the airline industry has said.

Willie Walsh, former boss of British Airways and its parent company IAG, called the Governments traffic light system for restarting overseas travel a farce and said most European holiday destinations including Greece and Spain are perfectly safe to visit.

In a rare and outspoken interview, Mr Walsh said that passengers should be allowed to use their common sense to assess the risk of flying abroad, adding that all quarantine and testing rules for green and amber countries should be scrapped for passengers who have had Covid-19 vaccinations.

Mr Walsh, now the director general of airline industry group IATA, which represents the worlds major airlines, told The Mail on Sunday: People were promised the benefit of being vaccinated  a vaccine dividend  and they should be given it.

Willie Walsh (above), former boss of British Airways and its parent company IAG, called the Governments traffic light system for restarting overseas travel a farce

'I think if youve had both shots then theres no argument you can make to say those restrictions can remain in place, and people should be free to decide for themselves if they see any risk in travelling to a green or amber country.

He added: If you have been vaccinated, everywhere should be green  unless it is red [because it is extremely risky].

'The vaccine has been a great success, and the evidence is very clear that it is effective, even against variants.

Mr Walsh said passengers who have yet to be vaccinated should be allowed to travel overseas by following sensible testing requirements, with rapid antigen tests accepted instead of expensive PCR tests, which typically cost around 150 each.

Currently, most passengers flying to amber list countries are required to take a minimum of four tests each, potentially adding hundreds or even thousands of pounds to the cost of a family holiday.

Boris Johnson last week urged Britons not to travel to amber-list countries, except for what the Prime Minister described as some pressing family or urgent business reason.

In a stinging riposte, Mr Walsh said: It boils down to this  are you going to take advice from Boris Johnson? Im not. And Im sure theres a lot of people in the UK who wont.

Mr Walsh said that holiday destinations such as the Balearic and Canary islands, Greece and Italy are absolutely safe for travel and could be opened up from June.

There are some areas around Europe you might be concerned about, he said.

But the traditional holiday destinations that UK travellers go to  I think the vast majority of those are absolutely safe and shouldnt pose any concerns.

In a rare and outspoken interview, Mr Walsh said that passengers should be allowed to use their common sense to assess the risk of flying abroad

He added: The UK Government should have a much closer look [at the green list] and it would be sensible to open up a lot of destinations across Europe.

'Obviously if governments say certain countries are banned, well, then they are banned. But if youve been fully vaccinated, then green and amber should be a sensible decision for people to make themselves.

Mr Walsh, 59, also blasted the EUs fragmented guidance on travel but reserved his most vehement criticism for the UK, saying: The UK has been a farce  the big announcement on May 17 and now total confusion afterwards about what that announcement meant.
Families are ignoring the Governments advice to avoid booking holidays to countries on the amber list, Ryanairs boss has revealed.

Michael OLeary told The Mail on Sunday that his airline had seen a huge surge in demand for summer holidays over the past two weeks.

He said Ryanair had already taken 1.75 million bookings for this summer and into September, despite the Government flip-flopping over UK travel restrictions.

In the last couple of weeks, we have seen UK families booking their summer holidays even if its on an amber list and theres some uncertainty, OLeary said.

Most customers are now ignoring the Governments mixed messages and just booking their flights.

Michael OLeary told The Mail on Sunday that Ryanair had seen a huge surge in demand for summer holidays over the past two weeks

'Everybody realises the restrictions are going to be gone by the time you get to the end of June and into July and August, he added.

Ryanair expects to carry 1.7 million passengers in May, rising to five million in June and eight or even ten million by July.

We are looking at going from 15 per cent [of capacity] to 90 per cent over the space of four or five months, chief executive Mr OLeary said.

The Government is struggling to stop people booking trips to amber destinations after Spain on Friday joined Italy, Greece and Portugal in lifting bans on non-essential travel from the UK.

From Monday, Spain will allow visitors from the UK to enter the country without a negative PCR test.

The Government is struggling to stop people booking trips to amber destinations after Spain on Friday joined Italy, Greece and Portugal in lifting bans on non-essential travel from the UK

Mr OLeary said: Much as we think Bognor Regis is wonderful, and so is Blackpool, it really doesnt compare to the beaches of Spain, Italy and Greece.

Everybody is now booking for the school holidays.

Mr OLeary said air fares could rise by between ten and 20 per cent next summer and again in summer 2023. But he insisted the days of low-cost travel are far from over.
Prince Charles has told friends he wants the BBC to stop showing clips of the Panorama interview.

While he has decided not to follow his sons by issuing a public statement, Charles has told aides he is frustrated that  despite the damning report by Lord Dyson  the Corporation persists in airing segments of Martin Bashirs interview with Princess Diana in news reports.

He believes that in doing so, it is failing to live up to the spirit of its promise not to broadcast the interview again.

Prince Charles believes the BBC should stop showing clips of the Panorama interview with Princess Diana

A friend said: There is time needed to think about this, but there is a feeling that the BBC shouldnt be showing any footage at all from the interview.

The source added that Charles had fully supported Williams decision to issue a statement attacking the BBC in the wake of the report. William also informed the Queen before making his bombshell public remarks last week.

Outside Kensington Palace, he told of his indescribable sadness at learning that the BBCs failures had contributed to the fear, paranoia and isolation felt by his mother in her final years.

The interview, he added, also altered the course of his parents relationship and has since hurt countless others.

Charles has told aides he is frustrated that the Corporation persists in airing segments of Martin Bashir (pictured) s interview

From his home in California, Prince Harry issued a statement which said: To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it.

In the wake of the Dyson report, the BBC wrote to members of the Royal Family and others affected by scandal.
Kevin Spacey is set to make a dramatic comeback to the big screen, three years after a series of sexual harassment and abuse allegations were made against him.

The House of Cards star is reportedly being lined up to play a detective who investigates a wrongly-accused paedophile in Luomo che disegno Dio (The Man who drew God).

The movie will also star Vanessa Redgrave, and be directed by her husband, the prestigious Italian filmmaker, Franco Nero.

It comes after Spacey's career collapsed following a string of sexual misconduct claims were made by underage men.

Kevin Spacey is set to make a dramatic comeback to the big screen, three years after a series of sexual harassment and abuse allegations were made against him

The plot sees Nero himself play a blind artist, who is able to use people's voices to draw their exact physical features.

But as his fame and popularity grows, he wrongly becomes accused of sex abuse.

Spacey could begin filming for the production shortly, according to the Telegraph, in what would be his first major performance since the abuse scandal erupted.

Spacey had been one of Hollywood's biggest stars but faced scandal after claims he sexually assaulted Star Trek actor Antony Rapp, who was 14 at the time.

It sparked accusations by other men about his behaviour but none have ever reached court and have been denied.

Rapp's public comments about him prompted Spacey to come out as gay in 2017.

He said he did not remember such an encounter with Rapp but apologised if the allegations were true.

Last year he compared his fall from grace to the coronavirus pandemic, and complained about losing his job following the accusations.

Spacey described his 'painful' journey three years after he was accused of assault by a string of men and said he could relate to workers who had been laid off during the Covid-19 spread.

In comments for an interview for the Bits & Pretzels podcast, said: 'I don't think it will come as a surprise for anyone to say that my world completely changed in the fall of 2017.

'My job, many of my relationships, my standing in my own industry were all gone in just a matter of hours.'

The movie will also star Vanessa Redgrave (pictured), and be directed by her husband, the prestigious Italian filmmaker, Franco Nero

Not only did he get fired from Netflix hit House Of Cards, he was also removed from the completed movie All The Money In The World, which was reshot with actor Christopher Plummer in his role.

Spacey, who has not appeared in a professional movie or series since the accusations were made, said: 'I don't often like to tell people that I can relate to their situation because I think it undermines the experience that they may be having which is their own unique and very personal experience.'

Spacey added: 'But in this instance I feel as though I can relate to what it feels like to have your world suddenly stop.

'And so while we may have found ourselves in similar situations, albeit for very different reasons and circumstances, I still believe that some of the emotional struggles are very much the same.

'And so I do have empathy for what it feels like to suddenly be told that you can't go back to work or that you might lose your job and that it's a situation that you have absolutely no control over.'
The Government last night faced growing calls to curb the cost of rip-off PCR tests for travellers to amber-list countries.

Former BA boss Willie Walsh said the Government should provide PCR tests for free, and blasted firms that have been profiteering from the health crisis.

The tests are being mandated for health reasons, therefore they should be provided free of charge by the health authorities, he said.

Current rules state that UK travellers to amber countries should take four tests.

Based on the average price of 150 per test, this adds 2,400 to the cost of a trip for a family of four.

Former BA boss Willie Walsh (above) said the Government should provide PCR tests for free, and blasted firms that have been profiteering from the health crisis

By contrast, French citizens get free PCR tests, paid for by the French government, which is extending free tests to overseas visitors this summer.

The Mail on Sunday was told this weekend that the Greek island of Sifnos is flooded with French tourists because they dont have to pay for testing.

Mr Walsh said: The idea that people should have to pay for these tests is wrong.

He added that he has taken ten PCR tests in the past ten months and the average cost has been 120.

But seven private clinics on the Governments list of 322 testing providers are charging over 300.

Mail on Sunday has learned this weekend that the Greek island of Sifnos (pictured) is flooded with French tourists because they dont have to pay for testing

Current rules state that UK travellers to amber countries should take four tests. Based on the average price of 150 per test, this adds 2,400 to the cost of a trip for a family of four

The most expensive clinic says on its website that its prices for amber-list tests on day two and eight of quarantine start at 399, although that does include a home visit if required.

Mr Walsh accused firms of price gouging. He said: All you have to look at is the number of people who have gone into the PCR testing business in the last few months.

'Its clear that people see this as an opportunity to profit from a health crisis.

He also criticised the Government for charging VAT on PCR tests.

He said: We have been very critical where governments are forcing people to take these tests and then they are charging VAT.
Reality TV star Brynne Edelsten has declared she is innocent after she was charged with trafficking ice.

The 38-year-old, who will appear in Channel 7's upcoming SAS Australia, said she will fight the charges brought against her after police executed a search warrant at a Hazelwood Road property at Boronia, east of Melbourne, on May 11.

Victoria Police allege they found magic mushrooms, methylamphetamine, prescription drugs and a stolen electric bike.

Officers arrested a 39-year-old man and spoke with Ms Edelston, who had allegedly been visiting the property, before letting her go.

They later arrested the Melbourne socialite and charged her with four offences after making further inquiries.

Brynne Edelsten has declared she is innocent after she and another man were charged with trafficking ice

Edelsten was granted bail and says she intends to fight the charges at her upcoming appearance at Ringwood Magistrates Court on October 8

She was charged with trafficking methylamphetamine, possessing methylamphetamine, using methylamphetamine and dealing in property suspected of being the proceeds of crime.

Edelsten was granted bail and says she intends to fight the charges at her upcoming appearance at Ringwood Magistrates Court on October 8.

'Earlier this month I was charged with criminal charges,' she told Herald Sun.

'I am shocked and saddened by these events and will be vigorously fighting all charges.

'I am very thankful for the support of the team around me and will not be making any further comment.'

The 39-year-old man was charged with trafficking methylamphetamine, attempting to traffic prazolam, possessing methylamphetamine, possessing schedule four poison and dealing in property suspected of being proceeds of crime.

Edelsten is a well-known reality TV star who has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Splash and My Bedazzled

She made headlines after publicly announcing her engagement to Geoffrey Edelsten on at Melbournes Crown Casino New Years Eve in 2008

He has already appeared before court and was remanded in custody until his next appearance on August 3.

Edelsten is a well-known reality TV star who has appeared on Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Splash and My Bedazzled.

She made headlines after publicly announcing her engagement to Geoffrey Edelsten at Melbourne's Crown Casino on New Year's Eve in 2008.

The pair married one year later before they split in 2014.

The unpaid legal fees from the messy divorce led Edelsten to bankruptcy in 2016.
A tragedy has unfolded in Melbourne's north-west after a daughter discovered her mother's mutilated body in the kitchen.

Thanh Truong, 48, was found dead in her Andrea Street home, in St Albans, about 7.20pm on Thursday.

Her former partner Juan Gonzalez, 76, was charged with her murder on Friday night.

He appeared at Melbourne Magistrates' Court that evening where he did not apply for bail and was remanded in custody.

Thanh Truong, 48, was found dead in her Andrea Street (pictured) home, in St Albans, about 7.20pm on Thursday

Next-door neighbour David said Ms Truong's distressed daughter called police after finding her mother's body when she returned home from shopping, the Herald Sun reports.

Ms Truong's current partner Lanh Buong, 58, said he found out she had died after visiting her home when numerous contact attempts failed.

'Before I rang [her] many times  no answer, and then I knew something was wrong after I looked at [her] street at about 11pm and police were there,' he said.

Mr Buong, who had known Ms Truong for eight years before they recently started dating, said he was heartbroken by her death.

They worked together every day at the Bertocchi factory, in Melton, where Ms Truong was a food processor, and had been discussing getting married.

'I feel very sad now, I feel very upset,' he said.

Neighbours said Ms Truong's daughter found her body in the kitchen after returning home from shopping (stock)

'She asked me [to get married], she loved me very much and she said she would like to get married.'

Ms Truong moved to Australia from Hanoi, Vietnam, with her two children and was described by loved ones and colleagues as 'hardworking'.

She had a second job at Bertocchi Thomastown factory, where she cleaned on the weekends to earn extra money to support her kids.

Mr Gonzalez is due to reappear in court on September 24.
President Moon Jae-in met Saturday with the archbishop of Washington, D.C., Wilton Gregory, the first African American cardinal in Catholic history. Yonhap



South Korean President Moon Jae-in met Saturday with the archbishop of Washington, D.C., Wilton Gregory, the first African American cardinal in Catholic history.



They talked about peace on the Korean Peninsula, racial harmony, the COVID-19 pandemic and other issues during the meeting at a hotel in the U.S. capital.



"The Catholic Church in South Korea has shown great spiritual leadership in areas such as human rights, welfare, and inter-Korean reunification," Moon said.



The president added that he is a baptized Catholic himself.






Veteran newsreader Alastair Stewart has blasted the political correctness brigade and vowed to ignore no-go areas in his new presenting job after 40 years at ITV.

In an exclusive interview with The Mail on Sunday to mark his new role on anti-woke channel GB News, the 69-year-old promised to deliver free speech and honest debate to its target audience of ordinary people.

Founded by former BBC presenter Andrew Neil, GB News aims to be the antidote to the woke agendas driving other broadcasters  and Stewart is definitely on board.

Political correctness is not something to be adhered to, he said. It is to be respected and broken through. I have a real thing about political correctness. It makes political discourse like walking on eggshells. Youre having a really good conversation with people, but its a public conversation, and people pick and choose their words so its not sexist, its not misogynist or this, that or the other.

News industry heavyweights including Simon McCoy (l) and Alastair Stewart (r) will join the brand new channel

The website for GB news features it's log and a brief message stating only that 'GB News is coming soon'

The legendary broadcaster added: So long as you respect everybody, you can talk openly and freely. Thats what we will be doing at GB News. What the BBC and ITN choose to do is a matter for them. They will do what they wish to do, but there will be no no-go areas for us.

The creation of GB News has triggered such outrage on the Left that channel bosses are trying to keep the location of its headquarters a secret for as long as possible amid fears it could be targeted by militants.

It will start with eggs, and then who knows, said one source at the channel. There are lots of people who think GB News is Fox News.

The American news channel is frequently criticised for its controversial Right-wing views. Stewart dismissed such claims as unfounded and pointed to the diversity of opinion and backgrounds among GB Newss presenters, who include former Labour MP Gloria De Piero, BBC broadcaster Simon McCoy and ex-Sky journalist Colin Brazier.

Stewart said he was thrilled to be fronting Alastair And Friends on the start-up channel. His new job comes 16 months after his shock departure from ITV News after a distinguished career. He left after a social media spat in which he sent a Shakespeare quote including the phrase angry ape to a black Twitter user.

Despite the television industrys relentless drive for diversity, Stewart insisted that he never felt threatened by those seeking to remove anyone white, male, pale and stale from high-profile jobs.

He said: As a white man, I have never felt at risk, never at all. But I think women felt more vulnerable about being eased out when they reached a certain age because audience research suggested they were more comfortable with an older man than an older woman.

Founded by former BBC presenter Andrew Neil (pictured), GB News aims to be the antidote to the woke agendas driving other broadcasters

I think thats absolutely bloody outrageous. I am an absolute and total meritocrat.

Despite social media jibes to the contrary, Stewart said GB News was heaving with diversity. He said that out of the 19 presenters, nine were women, three of whom were black. And there was no box ticking, he added.

Stewart said he was emotional at the prospect of starting his new job but always knew he would work again after his departure from ITV.

Meanwhile, Mercy Muroki, the Kenyan-born journalist who will team up with Colin Brazier for her first-ever broadcast job, said that mainstream news channels make people feel like they are being sneered at.

She said: People say that other channels are woke. Im not convinced the world knows what that word even means any more. We want people to be able to say what they think and give people some grace if they dont say something as they meant to.
The Queen is to lead a Royal charm offensive to help persuade Scotland to resist the demands of nationalists for independence  with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge expected to play a key supporting role.

The strategy, which is being discreetly backed by Downing Street, received its effective launch yesterday when the Duke gave a deeply personal speech in which he described the special place that Scotland had in his heart, a country which he said held both some of his happiest memories and his saddest.

It was at Balmoral where he learned of the death of his mother Diana, in 1997. And it was at St Andrews where he met and fell in love with Kate Middleton.

She will join him in Scotland tomorrow as they embark on a week-long tour to win hearts and minds.

Meanwhile, Her Majesty was welcomed on board Royal Navy flagship HMS Queen Elizabeth ahead of its operational deployment to the Indo-Pacific region

Pressure for a second independence referendum has increased after the Scottish National Party narrowly missed winning a majority in the Scottish Parliament. Public opinion about independence is on a knife edge according to polls and First Minister Nicola Sturgeon wants a vote before the end of 2023.

Officials at No 10 have held discussions about how to emphasise cultural bonds  with the Royal Family seen as one of the most powerful weapons in the armoury.

However, some pro-union supporters have expressed concern that Aberdonian Michael Gove, the Cabinet Office Minister given responsibility by Boris Johnson for brainstorming ideas for combating independence, does not seem fully focused on the issue.

Did she help win the 2014 referendum? The Queen is impartial in constitutional matters but she made a rare political intervention four days before the Scottish independence referendum in 2014. As she left a Sunday service at Crathie Kirk, near her Balmoral estate, a well-wisher joked that they would not mention the imminent vote. I hope people will think very carefully about the future, the Queen responded. Her comment was interpreted as favourable for the pro-union argument, which won with 55 per cent of the vote. David Cameron was caught on camera days after the referendum talking about how the Queen purred down the line when he phoned her with the result. And last year, the former editor of the Financial Times, Lionel Barber, alleged that he was told by Prince Andrew that the Queens intervention was part of a plan to deter people from voting for independence after a poll put the yes campaign ahead. The Palace said at the time that it was categorically wrong to suggest the Queen was seeking to influence the outcome. Advertisement

The Queen is passionate about the union and spends her annual summer break at Balmoral.

Her subtle comment about the independence referendum in 2014  asking people to think carefully about the future  while staying at Balmoral, was credited with influencing the vote to remain.

In his address yesterday to the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in Edinburgh, Prince William not only touched upon some of the most private aspects of his life, but also struck a conciliatory tone.

It is my duty today to speak, but equally I am here to listen, he said. In Scotland this week I will have my eyes and ears permanently open. Along with listening this week, there is something I do want to tell you.

Scotland is incredibly important to me and will always have a special place in my heart.

William, 38, who is known as the Earl of Strathearn in Scotland, was speaking in his role as Lord High Commissioner to the General Assembly, a ceremonial appointment dating back to the 16th Century. He spoke of his happy time at St Andrews university as a student and training as a pilot in Inverness, adding: Scotland is the source of some of my happiest memories. But also my saddest.

In what was interpreted as a nod to longevity, he referred to his children including Prince George, who is third in line to the throne. George, Charlotte and Louis already know how dear Scotland is to both of us, and they are starting to build their own happy memories here too, he said. We have no doubt they will grow up shar-ing our love and connection to Scotland from the Highlands to the Central Belt, from the Islands to the Borders.

The Queen, who yesterday visited the crew of the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth, made her own apparent comment about a United Kingdom in a letter to the Church of Scotland which was read out by her chaplain in Scotland, the Rev Dr George Whyte.

In reference to changes that have taken place during the coronavirus pandemic, she wrote: New bonds have been forged in times of emergency but they will serve us all well in the future as the United Kingdom seeks to rebuild and reshape community life.

The Queen is making plans for her traditional Holyrood Week in early summer. Aides say there will be several high-profile events where Her Majesty will be seen out and about. The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall will also be involved but the decision to send the Cambridges ahead was a clear part of the PR strategy. A source said: Its about opening a dialogue  listening and talking. All members of the Royal Family have a strong affinity with Scotland.

Her tour follows a visit by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Friday. The 28-week deployment will cover 26,000 nautical miles travelling through the Mediterranean to the Red Sea, then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea

Prince William, The Duke of Cambridge arrives for the opening ceremony of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland yesterday

One former Downing Street insider said there had been discussions about how the popularity of senior Royals could be used to help bolster support for the Union.

People are well aware of the popularity of the Royal Family. If you look at polling, especially on the Queen, its a very positive thing for the Union, the source said. Its something that needs careful deployment, but its certainly recognised that the Queen and in particular William and Kate are popular figures north of the border.

Ahead of the 2014 referendum, an SNP White Paper proposed that the Queen would remain head of state if the country voted for independence. That was partly influenced by realism  at the time 54 per cent of Scots wanted to keep the Royal Family, even if they left the UK.

Even among SNP supporters, there was a healthy majority in support of the Queen.
A high-level probe into Chinese spies working in British universities could lead to arrests within weeks, The Mail on Sunday has been told.

Specialists at the Foreign Office, Special Branch and HMRC have drawn up a list of academics suspected of passing sensitive information to Beijing, including pioneering British technology that could be used to aid the repression of minorities and dissidents.

Investigators are understood to have established a correlation between universities which earn significant income from students from China and the activities of staff which have prompted suspicion.

Universities under scrutiny include Manchester and Imperial College, which earn 26 per cent of their income from students from China; Liverpool and Sheffield (28 per cent); and Oxford and Cambridge (10 per cent).

Government specialists have drawn up a list of academics suspected of passing sensitive information to Beijing, including pioneering British technology that could be used to aid the repression of minorities and dissidents

There is no suggestion any of the institutions are aware of, or complicit in, any wrongdoing.

Last year it was revealed that a third of non-EU university students in the UK come from China, with 120,000 paying a total of 2.1 billion in fees.

The investigation was launched amid fears academics were engaged in a gold rush to strike deals with the Communist state over scientific breakthroughs.

In February, The Mail on Sunday revealed MI6 officers, seconded to the Foreign Office, were leading an investigation into more than a dozen universities for potential breach of export controls.

It also emerged that almost 200 British academics were being investigated on suspicion of unwittingly helping the Chinese government build weapons of mass destruction.

Anyone found in breach of the 2008 Export Control Order faces a maximum of ten years in prison.

Earlier this year, Manchester University cancelled an agreement with a Chinese military technology company after it was warned it had supplied apps used by Beijings security forces in the mass surveillance of Uighurs.

The university said it was unaware of China Electronics Technology Corporations alleged role in the persecution of Muslims until it received a letter highlighting the links from the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

Manchester co-operates with Chinese funders to exploit graphene, a revolutionary material that is seen as having huge military potential because of its immense strength and flexibility.

Meanwhile, Queen Mary University of London has established a collaborative partnership with Chinas Northwestern Polytechnical University, which specialises in military technology.

Universities under scrutiny include Manchester (above) and Imperial College, which earn 26 per cent of their income from students from China; Liverpool and Sheffield (28 per cent); and Oxford and Cambridge (10 per cent)

In February, a report by the think-tank Civitas accused 14 of the UKs top 24 universities of having ties with Chinese weapons conglomerates and military-linked research centres.

It claimed breakthroughs by British universities risked boosting Chinas drive for military supremacy through the development of hypersonic missiles, radar jamming systems, robotics, spacecraft and stealth vehicles.

Earlier this year, a survey of students by the Henry Jackson Society think-tank discovered that 899 Chinese nationals were studying militarily sensitive subjects in the UK, including nuclear physics, aerospace engineering and high-tech material science.

The Foreign Office has previously said it would be tightening vetting rules for advanced overseas students of technology.
The truly strange thing about Liverpool's league season is that for two-thirds of it they showed champion form.

From the 14 league games that began their season (nine wins, four draws and one defeat) and the nine games that have immediately preceded Sunday's conclusion against Crystal Palace (seven wins and two draws) Liverpool have averaged enough points to have defended their title.

Sadly for Jurgen Klopp and his players, it is what happened in between that has left them scrambling for respectability at Anfield on Sunday.

Liverpool have shown champion form for two-thirds of the Premier League campaign

But for Jurgen Klopp and his players, they somehow find themselves in the top-four battle

The state of play in the race for the Champions League places ahead of the clubs' final game

Sometimes, it is worth looking back at that run of games between December 27 and March 7 just to remind ourselves that it actually happened. Liverpool, a team who almost forgot how to lose in winning the league just a season earlier, took just 12 points from 42 during a miserable winter that included home defeats by Burnley, Brighton, Manchester City, Everton and Fulham.

Statistically, that was almost relegation form and it is only now that manager Jurgen Klopp can look back with some kind of perspective as he approaches a game that must be won on Sunday to ensure qualification for the Champions League.

'The thing about a season is you cannot cut off the negative parts from the positive parts and say that we are nearly there,' said Klopp on Friday.

'When we lost our centre halves to injury, we broke our leg but we could still win games. But then later we had to make midfielders into centre halves and that broke our spine.

'So we needed that time to settle again and obviously we found our way out, which is absolutely great. Whatever happens on Sunday, we found our way out to bring us to this situation and this is really good.'

Reds took just 12 points from 42 during a miserable winter which included defeat by Everton

Liverpool's run at the top-four places has been impressive. They are a team with momentum, and, given where they have come from, a top-four finish would feel a little like a win.

For that to happen, there has to be a casualty, most probably Brendan Rodgers' Leicester.

Victories on Sunday for Liverpool and Chelsea, who are at Aston Villa, would see Leicester edged out unless they put an absolute hatful past Tottenham at the King Power. Already, that feels cruel. Leicester have been in the top four virtually all season and went top when they beat Chelsea at home in January.

But a combination of injuries and FA Cup commitments contributed to uncertain form down the stretch. In a mirror of last season  when they succumbed on the final day to Manchester United  they head into Sunday's game with an awful lot to lose.

'I don't think it is over yet and I have that optimism and belief,' said Rodgers on Friday.

Brendan Rodgers' Leicester are the most likely casualty if the Reds do make the top four

'We'll be really disappointed if we don't do it, but we will fight to the very end. If I look at the injuries we've had, with really influential players missing, it's testament to how we've worked to be up there. If it doesn't happen then we'll all come back in the summer and be even more motivated and have an even greater incentive to push on next season.

'But let's see what Chelsea do at Villa. Villa had a great performance to win at Tottenham and are always a very dangerous team.'

If Rodgers believes a spirited Villa performance against a team who have a Champions League final on their mind represents his team's best chance then he may be right.

It may be the way he would choose it, too, after a little residual bad blood from last week's FA Cup final at Wembley spilled over into Chelsea's defeat of his team in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge three days later. Certainly it is hard to see Liverpool failing against Palace. There will be 10,000 fans inside Anfield and that will help the home team. Ditto at Villa Park.

'Are we in danger?' Chelsea manager Thomas Tuchel asked on Friday. 'Of course. But, listen, there is a big difference between fear and danger.

But Chelsea will face a spirited Aston Villa and have a Champions League final on their minds

'Are we in fear? No we are not. Why? Because we trust our skills. Top four was the maximum target when I stepped in here. Honestly, it was the maximum target. It was not the minimum target.

'But I will not hide. We know. I am very, very poor at mathematics but I know what can happen if we lose.'

It was that Chelsea defeat at Leicester on January 19 that prompted Roman Abramovich to sack Frank Lampard.

The club were eighth after that game and Tuchel's work since then  won 11, drawn five, lost two  has been impressive enough to expect him to receive the backing of his capricious owner in the transfer market this summer no matter what happens over the course of the next two games.

Tuchel expressed interest in Tottenham's Harry Kane on Friday, which was bold. His team certainly needs a goalscorer.

Blues boss Thomas Tuchel admitted Chelsea were in danger but do not fear the task at hand

That has not been Liverpool's problem over the last eight months, quite the opposite.

Watching young defender Nat Phillips play so well in Liverpool's win at Burnley on Wednesday night, the importance of centre half play was abundantly clear.

On Friday Klopp was categorical. 'With the amount of injuries we have had, it was not the year to become champions,' he added.

'No chance. For nobody. As good as they are, if Manchester City have their three centre halves out, no. Three centre halves of United, no.

'For the whole season pretty much too, that is how it is. But we have fought back a bit. If we win on Sunday, and if we qualify for the Champions League then we have made the best of it.

'It means as much to me as reaching a big final. But we still have to play the final, don't forget that.'
Unsettled midfielder Naby Keita wants Atletico Madrid to end his disappointing spell at Liverpool, according to reports in Spain.

The 26-year-old has been linked with a move to the LaLiga leaders after failing to hold down a regular first-team role at Liverpool since joining from RB Leipzig for 52million in 2018.

AS reports that Keita is eager to leave this summer because he does not get along with boss Jurgen Klopp and has offered himself to Atletico.

Naby Keita (above) wants Atletico Madrid to end his disappointing spell at Liverpool

The Spanish outlet also claims Diego Simeone is a long-term admirer of the Guinea international but they are not convinced about making a move.

Keita has made just nine starts in total for the Reds this season, leading to speculation regarding his future.

Klopp has insisted that Naby Keita's future is at Liverpool.

'Naby trains really well in the moment, I have to say. Klopp told reporters.

The 26-year-old has failed to hold down a regular first-team role since his 52m arrival

'He trains really well, like a lot of other players, and looks really good in training. But this year now we need stability.

'We will make changes from time to time definitely, but it's not like we pick now seven, eight, nine players to change and say, 'Maybe we can win it like this.

'The long-term future of Naby Keita, from my point of view, is here, yes.'
Filming is currently under way for Netflix's controversial new show Byron Baes.

And the newest stars confirmed for the docu-soap, which follows the lives of Byron Bay's hottest influencers, are glamorous sisters Jessica and Lauren Johansen Bell.

Having their own Baywatch moment, the genetically blessed duo stripped down to skimpy swimwear as they ran across the sand and frolicked in the surf in scenes filmed earlier this month.

Bae-watch! Sisters Jessica and Lauren Johansen Bell stripped down to skimpy bikinis as they filmed scenes for Netflix's new docu-series Byron Baes earlier this month. Pictured: Lauren

Lauren, who is represented by Que Models and has more than 11,000 Instagram followers, showed off her washboard stomach and trim pins in a black bandeau bikini top and G-string briefs.

She ran one manicured hand flirtatiously through her blonde tresses and smiled for the camera, as she dashed across the sand and splashed about in the surf.

The Norwegian-Australian beauty ensured she was primped to perfection, opting for glamorous makeup.

Model figure: Lauren, who is represented by Que Models, showed off her washboard stomach and trim pins in a black bandeau bikini top and G-string briefs

Ready for her close-up! The Norwegian-Australian beauty ensured she was primped to perfection, with glossy blonde tresses and a full face of makeup

Splish splash: Lauren, who has over 11,000 Instagram followers, splashed about in the surf

After drying off with a towel, Lauren changed into a casual ensemble consisting of ripped denim shorts and a paperboy cap, and kept hydrated with a cool drink.

Lauren's sister Jessica was close by, filming scenes in a white one-piece swimsuit and denim shorts.

Her long brunette locks flowed in the breeze and, like her sister, her makeup was ultra glamorous.

In her element: Lauren looked sensational as she filmed scenes for the docu-soap

A pro: At one stage, she fixed her skimpy briefs, preventing a possible wardrobe malfunction

Production: Crew captured every moment for the show, which has attracted much criticism

Soaking it all in: Lauren gazed out into the distance during filming

Jessica, who has just over 5,000 Instagram followers, happily chatted with the crew.

Despite her rather modest Instagram following, Jessica's star is slowly but surely on the rise.

She has her own fashion label, Johansen, and two of her dresses have been worn by none other than reality star and billionaire cosmetics mogul Kylie Jenner.

In 2018, Kylie wore The Corset Jumper dress in white as well as The Silk Cha Dress in shade latte while testing out a new lip shade from her Kylie Cosmetics collection.

Locals: Lauren beamed as she ran across the sand while locals watched on

In action: She pulled a number of playful poses as cameramen continued filming

Jessica previously told Daily Mail Australia: 'It's not about the clothes, it's about who is wearing them.'

Her sartorial achievements are all the more impressive given the young creative is entirely self-taught.

'I started unofficially designing when I was 16, always cutting up my own clothes and altering them,' she told FEMAIL.

Siblings: Also pictured filming scenes was Lauren's sister Jessica (left), who chatted with a crew member

Drying off: Lauren dried off after filming scenes for the show that will no doubt propel her to fame

Lean: Lauren's skimpy swimwear ensured all eyes were on her figure

Genetically blessed pair: Jessica, who has her own fashion label called Johansen, accentuated her trim figure in a white one-piece swimsuit and denim shorts

Just eight months after starting the label, she opened her own store in Byron Bay.

Also confirmed to appear on the show are former reality stars Nathan Favro, who rose to fame on The Bachelorette, and Elias Chigros, who appeared on Love Island.

Co-creative director of local boutique BISQUE Hannah Brauer will also appear, alongside Byron Bay couple Dave Frim and Saskia Wotton.

Thirsty work: Jessica chatted happily with the crew and kept hydrated with a cool drink

Passionate about fashion: 'I started unofficially designing when I was 16, always cutting up my own clothes and altering them,' she previously told Daily Mail Australia

Others in the cast include influencer Jade Kevin Foster, glamorous musician St James and spiritualistic therapist Simba Ali.

Rounding out the gang is Kyle Sandilands' former assistant-turned-manager Alex Reid.

The unveiling of the cast comes after Netflix was recently forced to apologise to the stars of the show for describing them as 'influencers' and 'hot Instagrammers'.

Famous fan: In 2018, Kylie Jenner wore The Corset Jumper dress (pictured) from Jessica's label in white, as well as The Silk Cha Dress in shade latte

A day's work: Jessica and Lauren were pictured leaving the shoot, carrying all their belongings

Chic: Lauren draped a towel around her waist and added a chic paperboy cap to her ensemble

Netflix's Director of Originals in Australia, Que Minh Luu, confirmed the cast 'hated' a recent press release about the upcoming series.

'They are artists, musicians, entrepreneurs, business owners, models, on a spiritual journey and more,' Ms Luu said, apologising for the wording.

'Most of them hated the press release too! Did a lot of apologising that week. Fired the PR team (lol joking about firing, we're all learning together).'
Karlie Kloss is back to experimenting with fashion after giving birth to her baby boy Levi in March.

The 28-year-old supermodel took to the streets of New York City in an eye-catching beige sweater and matching trousers on Thursday.

She looked like she was strutting down a runway as she sported sandals and a lunch box-style purse for the daytime stroll.

Stylish: Karlie Kloss, 28, is back to her stylish self after giving birth to her baby boy Levi in March, taking to the streets of New York City in a chic beige sweater and trousers on Thursday

The philanthropist's top featured a distractingly large collar that was tied up on both sides of her neck.

Her hip-hugging pants were tapered at the ankles to keep from dragging on the dirty Manhattan sidewalks.

But the dirty streets didn't keep the star from the risk of getting her feet dirty in the casual flats, letting her toes enjoy the warm springtime weather.

Her signature blonde locks were pulled back in a tight bun and she accessorized with a large gold chain bracelet and small hoop earrings.

Strutting: The supermodel looked like she was strutting down a runway as she sported sandals and a lunch box-style purse for the daytime stroll

Collar: The philanthropist's top featured a distractingly large collar that was tied up on both sides of her neck, while her hip-hugging pants were tapered at the ankles to keep from dragging on the dirty Manhattan sidewalks

Karlie heled onto her matching beige face mask, which she left off because of the CDC's relaxed face covering guidance amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The sighting comes one day after she offered fans an intimate look into her pregnancy and her life as a new mom in an Instagram post.

She shared a never-before-seen photo of her gently touching her pregnant belly while clad in just shorts and a bra.

'My heart is full,' Karlie captioned the carousel of pictures, which also included an image of Kloss with baby Levi.

Special: The sighting comes one day after she offered fans an intimate look into her pregnancy and her life as a new mom in an Instagram post

Happy mama: 'My heart is full,' she captioned the carousel of pictures, which also included an image of Kloss with baby Levi

The St. Louis native beamed in the snapshot, where she leaned her chin on her little one's head while pulling him close to her chest.

While mom was cozy in a crochet sweater, Levi looked sweet in a panda bear pajama set.

Sharing one of the more mundane parts of motherhood, Karlie offered up a first person look at her breastmilk pumping routine.

Karlie and her husband of four years Joshua Kushner, 35, welcomed their firstborn on March 11.

Pump it up! Sharing one of the more mundane parts of motherhood, Karlie offered up a first person look at her breastmilk pumping routine

Newborn: Karlie and her husband of four years Joshua Kushner, 35, welcomed their firstborn on March 11

It would not be until over a month later that Karlie would reveal that she and Joshua had named their son Levi Joseph.

She made the announcement via Instagram by sharing a photo of herself holding onto Levi's small hand as she wore a 'Mama' ring on her finger.

She reportedly announced that he was called Levi Joseph after a yeshiva in Israel accidentally leaked the name and sex.

Karlie announced her pregnancy this past November with an Instagram video in which she showed off her bump in lingerie.

'Good morning! Hello, baby!' she cooed in the sweet clip which since it was posted has racked up more than a million views.
Travis Barker's teenage daughter Alabama claimed that her mother Shanna Moakler hadn't been in contact with her in more than half a year on Friday.

The 15-year-old celebrity child said that Moakler, 46, hadn't seen or called her in seven months in a short Instagram Live video in which she shut down people telling her to respect her mother.

The somber recording comes amid a report that her father's girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian has become a 'huge support system' in her life.

Isolated: Travis Barker's 15-year-old daughter Alabama claimed she hadn't seen her mother Shanna Moakler in seven months in an Instagram video shared by Perez Hilton on Friday

Alabama filmed the low-key video in a black graphic shirt while wearing hoop earrings and using a filter that put a jewel on her forehead.

In a clip posted by Perez Hilton, she replies to one user's comment as 'so stupid,' before expanding on her strained relationship with her mother.

'If you guys support [Moakler], you can't  you're saying, "Don't disrespect the person who gave you life," but the woman that gave me life isn't in my life,' she explained.

'She asked to see me maybe once  I've gone seven months without seeing my mom and her not calling me once. So if you guys support that, go for it, support it, I don't care.'

Not having it: In a clip posted by Perez Hilton, she replies to one user's comment as 'so stupid,' before expanding on her strained relationship with her mother; Moakler seen in 2019 in LA

New relationship: Alabama seems to have become involved in feuding between her mother and her father Travis, who has been dating Kourtney Kardashian, 42, since early this year; seen in December 2020

Alabama capped off the short clip by urging her fans not to speak about their relationship without hearing all sides.

'Don't come on my Live talking bad about me just because you believe in her more than me. My mom is not  I'm not out here disrespecting my mom. I just have an opinion, and I'm gonna say my opinion,' she said.

Friday's video provides more details from Alabama about how she severed ties with family amid her ongoing feud with her mother.

On Monday, she captioned a TikTok video with, ''I cut off family too. They do you the dirtiest.'

The 15-year-old no longer follows her mother on Instagram, though she still follows Travis.

However, Shanna still follows her daughter.

Abandoned: 'If you guys support [Moakler], you can't  you're saying, "Don't disrespect the person who gave you life," but the woman that gave me life isn't in my life,' Alabama explained

Little communication: 'She asked to see me maybe once  I've gone seven months without seeing my mom and her not calling me once. So if you guys support that, go for it, support it, I don't care'

Cut out: Alabama previously hinted that she's cut off her mom Shanna Moakler amid their social media feud

It comes after Alabama and her brother Landon, 17, accused their mother of being an absent parent.

'My mom has never completely been in my life. Can you guys stop painting her out to be an amazing mom?' Alabama posted on Instagram after sharing a message, reportedly from Shanna to another Instagram user about Alabama.

'Did your moms ask to see you on Mothers Day [because] mine didnt? Im done keeping it a secret, reality shows.'

Meanwhile, E! News reported that things were better than ever between Alabama and her father's girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian.

A source close to the Keeping Up With The Kardashians star told the outlet: 'Kourtney has become very close with Travis' kids recently, especially when it comes to Alabama.'

Heartbreak: 'My mom has never completely been in my life. Can you guys stop painting her out to be an amazing mom?' Alabama previously posted on Instagram; seen with Travis in 2018

New bond: Meanwhile, E! News reported that things were better than ever between Alabama and her father's girlfriend Kourtney Kardashian, as they have become 'very close'

In addition to his two biological children, Travis also co-parents Shanna's 21-year-old daughter Atiana from her previous relationship with boxer Oscar De La Hoya.

Despite their short-lived relationship, the reality star has become a 'huge support system' for the teenagers.

Shanna has fired back at her daughter's suggestions that she's been an absent parent.

'Co-parenting is hard, but I have always and will continue to prioritize my children's happiness and well-being,' she said in a statement to People.

On Wednesday, Travis' ex-wife complained to Us Weekly that Kourtney and the rest of the KardashianJenner clan were 'putting a wedge' in her relationship with her children.

Defending herself: 'Co-parenting is hard, but I have always and will continue to prioritize my children's happiness and well-being,' Shanna said in a statement to People; seen with Travis in 2007

'The Kardashians are buying my kids Prada every other day,' the former Miss USA claimed.

'They're going on lavish trips. They're doing all these things, which is fine. I think it's nice that they're being kind to my kids. I want that for my children.'

But she also noted the newfound distance between herself and her children.

'I don't think it's great when they put a wedge in between their biological mother.'

Barker and Moakler were married in 2004, though he filed for divorce in 2006. They later reconciled, but a divorce was finalized in 2008.

Kourtney has her own family with her children Mason, 11, Penelope, eight, and Reign, six, from her relationship with Scott Disick, whom she was with from 2005 to 2015.
Australian journalist Sarah Williamson has unveiled her shocking injuries after being involved in an accident in Tel Aviv, where she is covering the Israel-Palestine crisis.

On Saturday, the 30-year-old shared a gut-wrenching image of her bloodied arm, which required '24 stitches' and a 'stupid amount' of glass to be removed after she crashed on her scooter following riots in the area.

Sarah, whose glamorous looks have captured the attention of viewers in recent months, explained that she lost control of her scooter at around 1am after debris from a bus was left in the middle of the road.

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GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Australian journalist Sarah Williamson has unveiled her shocking injuries after being involved in an accident in Tel Aviv, where she is covering the Israel-Palestine crisis

'I was in a street where the street lights were out,' she began.

'During those incredibly charming riots that we've had on the streets of Israel as of late, a bus had been torched and the windows completely shattered, and the bus had been pulled apart.'

She went on to say that the destruction caused a large piece of debris to fall in the middle of the road - causing her to crash.

'I did a very long skid in some very hectic glass, and ended up had to go to hospital getting 24 stitched as a stupid amount of glass removed from my body,' she said.

Nightmare: On Saturday, the 30-year-old showed a shocking image of her bloodied arm, which required '24 stitches' after she crashed into debris on her scooter following riots in the area

Horror: 'I did a very long skid in some very hectic glass, and ended up had to go to hospital getting 24 stitched as a stupid amount of glass removed from my body,' she said

Speaking out: Sarah spoke out about her trauma in a video shared with her thousands of followers

After sharing a picture of her injury online, she added: 'A stellar end to the day. You can spend the whole day on the Gaza border and come out completely unscathed, yet slip into the shattered glass from bus windows 20 metres away from your house.'

She later told fans she was doing OK, and thanked them for their messages of support.

While Sarah's journalistic career is truly thriving, fans may recognise her for a number of reasons.

Sarah also works as a bikini model, is an aspiring actress and has even appeared in a major campaign for an Israeli footwear brand.

The former law student has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in political science and government.

Success: The former law student has a Bachelor of Arts majoring in political science and government. She currently works for Israeli news channel i24 News

Multi-talented: When she's not reporting on world conflicts, Sarah works as a bikini model

Model: Sarah is also an aspiring actress and has even appeared in a major campaign for an Israeli footwear brand

She was a producer on Channel Nine's A Current Affair for four years before relocating to Tel Aviv to work at Israeli news channel i24 News.

'Being obsessed with documentaries and watching international news channels every single day, it was pretty clear to me that working in world news and current affairs was something I needed to do for a living,' she told Thrive Global in 2017.

Sarah currently hosts the i24 News program Israel Business Weekly.

She also works as a senior producer and news anchor for the network.
As Emma Stone prepares for the release of her latest film, she and her husband are both working hard on getting their pre-baby bodies back.

The Oscar-winning actress, 32, was spotted with hubby Dave McCary as they arrived for a couples gym session in Los Angeles on Friday.

The sighting comes two months after the pair welcomed their first child, a baby girl whose name has yet to be revealed.

Workout: As Emma Stone prepares for the release of her latest film, she and her husband are both working hard on getting their pre-baby bodies back

The La La Land star wore a casual pink sweatshirt for the outing, as well as a chic pair of tortoise-shell sunglasses.

She kept her bright red locks pulled back into a messy ponytail as she exited the couple's car for the workout.

Her unmade face could be seen as the pair tried to sneak in and out of the gym, skipping the mask as CDC guidance on face coverings has relaxed amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Zombieland performer held on tight to her black Louis Vuitton purse and iPhone, which was clad in a green case, to keep her necessities close.

Gym time: The Oscar-winning actress, 32, was spotted with hubby Dave McCary as they arrived for a couples gym session in Los Angeles on Friday

Driving: The La La Land star kept her bright red locks pulled back into a messy ponytail as she exited the couple's car for the workout

Dave, a comedian, writer and segment director for Saturday Night Live, sported a relaxed striped long-sleeve polo shirt for the day.

His messy brown hair and scruffy face could be seen as he checked the car after Emma parked it in a nearby lot.

He wore a pair of glasses as he pulled out a jacket from the front seat.

The couple first met on the sketch comedy series, and it was at the show's offices at 30 Rock that Dave proposed to her in 2019.

Her favorite gem: Stone got engaged to the SNL writer and director in December 2019 when he presented her with a custom ring featuring a large pearl surrounded by tiny diamonds

Cute couple: Emma and Dave quickly expanded their family after welcoming their first child, a baby daughter, in March of this year

Emma and Dave quickly expanded their family after welcoming their first child, a baby daughter, in March of this year.

So far, they've kept the baby girl's name a secret.

On Tuesday night, the starlet appeared to relish being back on a red carpet at the world premiere of her latest project Cruella in Hollywood.

She looked flawless in a black tailored suit by Louis Vuitton with gold buttons and gold chain embellishments.

Red carpet return: On Tuesday night, the starlet appeared to relish being back on a red carpet at the world premiere of her latest project Cruella in Hollywood

Flawless: She looked flawless in a black tailored suit by Louis Vuitton with gold buttons and gold chain embellishments

Stone paired her outfit with a white blouse featuring a pussy bow.

She added inches with black stiletto heels and wore her long hair loose with an off-center parting.

The star carried a bright red purse and sported scarlet red lip color and she accessorized with statement earrings.

The premiere was the first high-profile event for Stone since she became a mom.

Lead role: The film is a prequel to Disney's 101 Dalmatians and follows aspiring fashion designer Estella de Vil in 1970s London. The plot centers on how she became the ruthless villain Cruella

The film is a prequel to Disney's 101 Dalmatians and follows a young Estella de Vil, an aspiring fashion designer in 1970s London.

The plot centers on how Estella became the ruthless villain Cruella.

The movie is directed by I, Tonya's Craig Gillespie and the supporting cast includes Emma Thompson, Mark Strong, Paul Walter Hauser, Joel Fry and Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

It opens in theatres on May 28 and becomes available as premium video on demand on streaming service Disney+ the same day.
The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin holds a memorandum of understanding signed between the English daily and Nicaraguan television Canal 6 and newspaper El 19 Digital, with the Nicaraguan Ambassador to Korea Rodrigo Coronel Kinloch during a ceremony at the headquarters of The Korea Times in central Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk



By Kwon Mee-yoo



The Korea Times signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Nicaraguan media Canal 6 and El 19 Digital to promote content exchange.



Presided over by Nicaraguan Ambassador to Korea Rodrigo Coronel Kinloch, an MOU signing ceremony was held at the headquarters of The Korea Times in central Seoul, Friday, with the Nicaraguan counterparts participating via Zoom.



Ambassador Coronel congratulated the agreement, hoping that The Korea Times would find more things in common with its Nicaraguan partners.



"They say the world is getting smaller thanks to connectivity, but I beg to disagree, considering that the peoples of Korea and Nicaragua don't know much about each other," The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin said.



"I hope our agreement will pave the way for a greater understanding of each other, in the process of making the world truly smaller and the people of the two countries closer."





The Korea Times President-Publisher Oh Young-jin and Nicaraguan Ambassador to Korea Rodrigo Coronel Kinloch participate in the signing ceremony for a memorandum of understanding between The Korea Times and Nicaraguan media Canal 6 and El 19 Digital, at the headquarters of The Korea Times in central Seoul, Friday. Officials from the two Nicaraguan companies are seen on screen, right, taking part via Zoom. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk
She recently revealed she's dating someone new after months of rumours around her close friendship with Wayne Lineker.

And it's easy to see why Chloe Ferry caught her new suitor's eye, as she shared a jaw-dropping lingerie snap to her Instagram page on Friday night.

The Geordie Shore star, 25, showcased her incredible curves in barely-there semi-sheer black lingerie, which highlighted her surgically-enhanced assets.

Wow! it's easy to see why Chloe Ferry caught her new suitor's eye, as she shared a jaw-dropping lingerie snap to her Instagram page on Friday night

Suggestive: Appearing to reference her new romance, Chloe captioned the snap: 'He call me big purr'

Chloe teamed her bra with a tiny matching thong, while posing at the bottom of her staircase in a sultry position for the camera.

The reality personality kept her look glamorous as she styled her brunette locks in bouncy waves and sported a full pallet of make-up.

Appearing to reference her new romance, Chloe captioned the snap: 'He call me big purr.'

Not single anymore! Chloe Ferry has revealed she's dating someone new after months of rumours around her close friendship with Wayne Lineker

In a new interview, Chloe recently said that while she and Wayne are just 'good friends,' her mystery beau has landed her family's seal of approval.

It came as Chloe also took to Instagram to celebrate the further easing of lockdown restrictions on Monday by heading out for cocktails with her mum Liz, 58.

Chloe told Heat Magazine: 'Me and Wayne are just very, very good friends. But I am seeing someone at the minute.'

She added: 'My whole family do love Wayne... My 80-year-old auntie was trying to get a date with him!'

While Chloe was tight-lipped on details surrounding the identity of her new beau, she did reveal he's already had her family's seal of approval.

It's not him! In a new interview, Chloe said that while she and Wayne are just 'good friends,' her mystery beau has landed her family's seal of approval

'Happiness to me is seeing my mam smile': It came as Chloe also took to Instagram to celebrate the easing of lockdown restrictions on Monday by enjoying cocktails with her mum Liz, 58

It comes as Chloe also treated herself to a few drinks with her mother Liz as they celebrated the easing of lockdown restrictions.

'Happiness to me is seeing my mam smile I love you my queen,' wrote the Geordie Shore star sweetly alongside the flawless photo with Liz that she shared on Instagram.

Treating her mum to a glass of champagne in the sunshine, Chloe looked sensational as she posed in a plunging white cami vest.

Chloe paired the tiny top with a ribbed brown midi skirt and gazed into the distance as she raised her passionfruit cocktail to cheers her youthful mum.

Congratulations! The pair have every reason to celebrate after Liz announced her engagement to 'Mr Right' at the end of April

Liz donned a pair of ripped black skinny jeans for the outing as she proudly posed alongside her daughter, wrapping up in a fluffy white coat.

The pair have every reason to celebrate after Liz announced her engagement to 'Mr Right' at the end of April.

Taking to Instagram to share the happy news with her followers at the time, Chloe wrote: 'CONGRATULATIONS to my mam and her partner.

'It's been a really tough week for my her but it's so nice to see her smiling through these tough times that she's going through atm. Love you you deserve the world my rock,' the doting daughter gushed.

'It's so nice to see her smiling': Liz - who looks more like Chloe's sister than her mother - has been treated to spa days and meals out by her doting daughter to celebrate the happy news

It comes after Chloe pranked the public with some engagement news of her own recently.

The Geordie Shore star staged a photo with her fellow Celebs Go Dating contestant Wayne Lineker, 57, that appeared to show they were getting married.

Wayne later explained the prank on Fubar Radio, saying: 'Me and Chloe just have a laugh all the time. We're in the mansion and she had a wedding ring.

She went, 'Come on, Wayne, let's pretend we're getting married'. And we took all the pictures and everything and we didn't end up doing it, we just forgot about it.

'And she phoned me up last week. Because, I mean, we are seeing each other a little bit and having a bit of flirtatious banter and we'll see what happens in the summer.

'But she said, 'Come on let's post it! Let's have a laugh!' I said, 'You know it's going to go viral don't you?' She went, 'Yeah of course I do!'

'But yeah, me and Chloe are really tight. She came on my podcast last week, No Excuse for Abuse, and she was amazing you know. But yeah, we're really really close and she's coming to Ibiza for the summer. And so, we'll see what happens. '

Bobby then asked: 'So Wayne, when you say 'seeing each other', what? Romantically?'

To which Wayne replied: 'We're always flirting, Bobby.'

The nightclub owner additionally revealed to The Sun last week that Chloe would be moving to Ibiza this summer so that they can spend some time together.

He said: 'We're going to spend a bit of time together. We do like each other, but we're not getting engaged, let's put it that way.

'But we still see each other, and we'll see what happens in the future. She's a good girl Chlo. I love her to bits.'
She jetted off to The Kimberley earlier in the week to celebrate her 25th birthday alongside her pals and doting boyfriend, Liam Hemsworth.

And it appears the celebrations are continuing for Gabriella Brooks, who shared a string of photos on Friday at the same destination - looking absolutely sensational in a skimpy polka dot bikini.

The model was seen lapping up the Western Australia sunshine in the classy two piece, which showed off her washboard abs and muscular arms to perfection.

Stone cold stunner! Gabriella Brooks flaunted her washboard abs in The Kimberley on Friday, after celebrating her 25th birthday days earlier

Following a brief cruise around the mountain gorges on the back of a boat, the make-up free beauty took a dip in a lake before clambering onto one of the rocks for an adorable posed shot.

After another swim with her pals in the picturesque surroundings, Gabriella slicked her hair into a tight bun - before backflipping into the ocean during a photoshoot with photographer Ilona Hamer.

Liam wasn't present in any of the photos on Friday, but he did confirm his place on the trip earlier in the week.

Like butter wouldn't melt: She went completely make-up free as she took a dip in a lake, before clambering on one of the rocks for an adorable posed shot

All smiles: Gabriella was then seen enjoying a sunset boat ride with two of her pals

Gabriella's friend April Munro shared an image with the birthday girl on a boat on Tuesday - and Liam was seen peeking in the background.

'Last week we finally went back to The Kimberley. It's taken days to process everything we did and the things we felt and saw,' the wife of pro surfer Luke Munro captioned the post.

'It's a spiritual place for us, and aside from home, the place we want to be the most. I like waterfalls a lot, so here we are with lots of waterfalls.'

The group was believed to have visited the famed Horizontal Falls in Western Australia.

Birthday break: Gabriella shared this photo on Tuesday, as she celebrated her 25th birthday

Group getaway: The Australian model was joined by her boyfriend Liam Hemsworth (back)

Making memories: Gabriella's friend, April Munro, also shared a series of photos and videos from the trip on her Instagram page on Tuesday

They were also joined by former model Michele Merkin, with the 45-year-old sharing a photo on Instagram from their recent holiday.

Liam and Gabriella have been dating since December 2019.

The relationship came shortly after his highly publicised split from ex-wife Miley Cyrus in August that same year.
Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon were seen visiting the Santa Fe Building in downtown while out running a few errands together on Friday.

As the lovebirds, who wed in 2007, strolled down the street they both made sure to carry bottled water to ensure they stayed hydrated on the warm afternoon.

For their outing, the 43-year-old Silicon Valley star wore a blue t-shirt, cuffed jeans and a pair of burgundy sneakers.

Kumail Nanjiani and his wife Emily Gordon were seen visiting the Santa Fe Building in downtown while out running a few errands together on Friday afternoon

Meanwhile, Gordon cut a stylish figure in a chic, black and white polka dot dress and sneakers.

She completed her look with a pair of wide-brim silver glasses, a black tote bag on her shoulder and her light blonde hair in loose waves.

The comedianturnedaction star, who recently wrapped production on his upcoming Marvel film The Eternals, has been committed to fitness under quarantine.

As the lovebirds, who wed in 2007, strolled down the street they both made sure to carry bottled water to ensure they stayed hydrated on the warm afternoon

Additionally, Kumail has been particularly vigilant with masking and social distancing throughout the ongoing pandemic as his wife is immunocompromised due to having Still's disease, a rare auto-inflammatory disease.

According to the CDC, fully vaccinated people can now go mask-free in all situations, though they'll still need to wear them on public transportation and in health care settings, and they'll also need to follow local rules that are more strict.

Kumail and Emily cowrote the 2017 dramedy The Big Sick, which dramatized the early months of their relationships and her illness.

For their outing, the 43-year-old Silicon Valley star wore a blue t-shirt, cuffed jeans and a pair of burgundy sneakers

Kumail starred as a version of himself, while Emily was portrayed by Zoe Kazan.

While they were still a new couple, she became seriously ill and had to be put into a medically induced coma before doctors were able to properly diagnose her and treat the illness.

The couple married only three months after she recovered.

True to life: They dramatized the early months of their relationship, when she was put into a medically induced coma due to the disease, with the 2017 film The Big Sick, with Kumail starring opposite Zoe Kazan as his future wife

Following his 2020 Netflix comedy The Lovebirds, Kumail will return to the big screen in early November to appear in the Marvel superhero film Eternals, which also stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden, Kit Harington, Gemma Chan, Brian Tyree Henry and Salma Hayek, among others.

The film follows a group of immortal aliens living in disguise among humans on Earth who have secretly protected them throughout the ages, though they're forced to return to the job when another alien species threatens humanity.

Chloe Zhao, best known for her deliberately paced art film The Rider and her critical hit Nomadland, directed the film.

Although plenty of fans have been wowed by Kumail's intense physical transformation for his role in Eternals, others have critiqued Marvel Studios and its parent company Disney for requiring their male actors to achieve Olympian looks that can't be achieved without intense training sessions and various supplements.

Mixed reviews: Some fans have ripped Marvel Studios and parent company Disney for requiring Kumail and other male stars to achieve unnatural levels of musculature for their superhero films

In a March interview with Men's Health, Kumail explain that when he was approached by the producers of The Eternals about taking a role in the movie, he told them that he was only interested in a leading role.

'I was like, 'I don't want to be just part of a Marvel movie; I want to be a Marvel superhero.''

Since he wanted to completely change his physique for the film, he had to change his thinking about working out in order to cope with the intensity of his new fitness sessions.

Coming soon: In an interview with Men's Health, Kumail explain that when he was approached by the producers of The Eternals about taking a role in the movie, he told them that he was only interested in a leading role

'I had to change my relationship to pain. You're so designed to avoid it, but in that situation you really have to be okay with it. You have to want it. It's almost trying to rewire your brain,' he said.

The film also stars Angelina Jolie, Richard Madden and Gemma Chan, among others.

Although Eternals is already in post-production, he may be keeping up the workout routine to star in his next Disney project, the Star War Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries.

Coming soon: The actor and comedian will join a stacked cast in the Star Wars Obi-Wan Kenobi miniseries for Disney+

The limited show will be released on the company's streamer, Disney+, and features an all-star cast that brings back Ewan McGregor as the wise Jedi knight, along with Hayden Christensen, who will presumably be playing some version of Darth Vader after playing Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels.

Joel Edgerton will also reprise his role as Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen, while newcomers include The Queen's Gambit star Moses Ingram, Indira Varma, Rupert Friend, O'Shea Jackson Jr. and Benny Safdie, best known as half of the directing team responsible for Good Time and Uncut Gems.

So far, Kumail's role hasn't been revealed.
Some of the musical gear that belonged to Ozzy Osbourne's late and legendary guitarist Randy Rhoads has been recovered, nearly a year-and-a-half after it was stolen.

The guitar hero's first electric guitar, a 1963 Harmony Rocket, and a prototype of his rare signature Marshall Amplifiers head, were turned into police and then given back to the Rhoads family this week.

While the family is ecstatic the gear was returned to the rightful owner, several more prized family possessions are still missing.

Break in case! Two pieces of stolen musical gear once owned by Ozzy Osbourne's late guitarist Randy Rhoads has been recovered and returned to the Rhoads family this week

While investigation into the theft continues, TMZ is reporting that someone walked into a police station and turned in the gear.

That person did not request to cash in on the $25,000 reward offered up by Osbourne for 'information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for stealing the gear and/or return of the stolen items.'

The guitar and amplifier were among music gear and memorabilia looted from the Musonia School Of Music in North Hollywood back in November 2019.

Founded in 1948, Rhoads famously taught guitar at the school, which since his tragic passing in 1982 has served a dual role as a music school and Randy Rhoads museum.

Returned! Someone returned Rhoads' first electric guitar, a 1963 Harmony Rocket, to police in Southern California without requesting the $25,000 reward offered up by Ozzy Osbourne

Returned! Another previously stolen item, a prototype of Rhoads' rare signature Marshall Amplifiers head, was also handed back over to the Rhoads family

Still missing! A Great Depression-era trumpet, once owned by Rhoads' late mother, is among the items still missing following the theft in November 2019

Rhoads' sister, Kathy Rhoads D'Argenzio, shared the happy news on Instagram on Wednesday, along with three photos, including one of the guitar and amp that were returned.

'YES!!!! It's OFFICIAL!!! . And You heard it CORRECT!!!!! It's BACK. It's been a CRAZY 'Randy week' for sure..but this is Beyond Awesome as well!!!!!!! I am so thankful for this . No words,' she wrote in the caption, which also included a reference to the announcement that her brother will be one of three recipients of the Musical Excellence Award at the 2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Foundation ceremony.

'I CANNOT answer ANY Questions, as this is an 'ON GOING INVESTIGATION'. So Don't ask!!!!' she added in regards to people asking about the theft.

'Wow!! Absolutely AMAZING!!!!! But trust meI will 'follow up' when I can!! Thanks everyone for all your concerns and love. The Rhoads Family.'

She concluded by reminding people that there are 'still missing items', and offering thanks to the North Hollywood Police Department.

Family ecstatic: Rhoads' sister, Kathy Rhoads D'Argenzio, shared the news of the two pieces of music gear being returned to the family on Instagram on Wednesday

Cherished guitar: Rhoads' sister also shared a snap of their mother posing with her late son's guitar that had been missing until recently

Tribute: The guitar was among items stolen from the Musonia School Of Music in North Hollywood back in November 2019, which also serves as a Randy Rhoads museum

Thieves made off with at least six items that were owned by Randy Rhoads or the family at one point.

A Great Depression-era trumpet, owned by the Crazy Train guitarist's late mother, is among the stuff still missing.

So far police have not made any arrests in connection to the case.

Rhoads joined up with Osbourne after the frontman left his previous band, Black Sabbath, and began his solo career in 1979.

With Ozzy's iconic vocals and Randy's wizardry on guitar, the duo riveted rock fans all over the world on the studio albums: Blizzard Of Oz (1980) and Diary Of A Madman (1981).

Guitar hero: Randy Rhoads is widely considered among the most influential rock guitarists

Iconic: Rhoads teamed with Ozzy Osbourne for two studio albums: Blizzard Of Oz (1980) and Diary Of A Madman (1981), before he was tragically killed in a plane crash in March 1982

But tragedy would cut their collaboration and friendship far too short. Rhoads and two others were killed on March 19, 1982 when the small plane they were flying in struck Osbourne's tour bus and then crashed into a mansion in Leesburg, Virginia.

He was just 25-years-old, and already on the path as being recognized as one of rock's great and influential guitarists.

Upon the news that her brother would be honored at the upcoming Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame induction, Rhoads D'Argenzio took to Instagram to acknowledge his legion of fans.

'I am overwhelmed with love for my brother!.... Thank you ALL from my heart.... YOU KEEP his memory and music alive!!! SO GRATEFUL to all of "Randy's" Followers.... you are AMAZING!!!!'
Oprah Winfrey gave viewers her best Australian accent during her only TV interview Down Under for her brand new series with Prince Harry on Apple TV+.

'Great to see you mate, good to see you my favourite Aussie mate,' the 67-year-old American TV host said on Weekend Today, on Saturday.

During the chat she discussed The Me You Can't See, her series on mental health and emotional well-being which she collaborated on with the former senior royal.

Giving it a go! Oprah Winfrey gave the Australian accent a crack on Weekend Today on Saturday during an interview. 'Great to see you mate, good to see you my favourite Aussie mate,' the 67-year-old American TV host said

In the conversation, Oprah spoke about the role of technology in connecting people with each other during the pandemic and how technology helped make the series.

She said: 'Zoom saved us... Technology has allowed to us remain at least in sync with one another.'

'One of the things the way has been so meaningful in preparing this great series... is the way we were able to produce that across the seas and all of the different across the seas and stay connected,' she added.

Elsewhere, Oprah was praised the global production team that helped bring the series together amidst the pandemic.

Breaking down barriers: Oprah new Apple TV+ series, The Me You Can't See, explores mental health and emotional well-being. She collaborated with Prince Harry who discussed in upbringing and mental health struggles

'There's a whole team, Harpo, Radical, all of us, working together, crews around the world who had to stop in the middle of filming because of Covid, and not being allowed into certain countries,' she said.

'The series would've been out a year ago, had it not been for Covid,' she added.

'The nature of these interviews and the conversations and vulnerability that all of our participants - whether it be Glenn Close and her family, or (Lady) Gaga, those are people you know, or all the people whose names you didn't know - the nature of being cinema verite in their space was very important,' Oprah explained.

'If you see somebody on camera, that's because a camera is front of them,' she added.

Vulnerable: Oprah praised the global production team that helped bring the series together amidst the pandemic. She praised the team for capturing 'the conversations and vulnerability that all of our participants,' including that of actress Glenn Close (pictured) and her family

In candid interviews with Oprah on his new show, Prince Harry discussed his failure to process the grief from the death of his mother; the helplessness he felt to protect her; his dependence on drugs and alcohol to numb the pain; his anxiety and sense of being trapped in the palace; and how therapy helped him 'break the cycle.'

'For me, therapy has equipped me to be able to take on anything,' he said.

When asked if he has any regrets, he says it is not taking a stand earlier in his relationship with Meghan Markle.

'Eventually when I made that decision for my family, I was still told, "You can't do this," Harry recounted to Oprah. 'And it's like, "Well how bad does it have to get until I am allowed to do this?" She [Markle] was going to end her life. It shouldn't have to get to that.'

The Me You Can't See will be available to stream on Apple TV+.
His former fiancee Jennifer Lopez has reportedly been staying in Los Angeles more often to spend more time with him.

But Ben Affleck showed he was just as committed as ever to his children on Friday when he spent time with his nine-year-old son Samuel in LA's Brentwood neighborhood.

The 48-year-old Academy Award winner was spotted dropping Samuel off for his practice and coming back to pick him up afterward.

Fatherson bonding: Ben Affleck, 48, spent some quality time with his son Samuel, nine, as he took him to his swimming practice in LA's Brentwood neighborhood on Friday

Ben rocked a casual look with a black zip-up hoodie and matching black jeans.

He wore a purple graphic T-shirt underneath and wore pricey black Golden Goose sneakers.

Samuel was dressed in a one-piece ruddy blue swimsuit with a long-sleeve white shirt on underneath.

He sported a shaggy pandemic hairdo and wore blue Adidas slides that matched his suit.

Low key: Ben rocked a casual look with a black zip-up hoodie and matching black jeans. He wore a purple graphic T-shirt underneath and wore pricey black Golden Goose sneakers

Kind: The Armageddon star showed himself to be gracious after he dropped Samuel off when he ran into a group of autograph seekers and stopped to sign their memorabilia

Both Ben and his son wore blue masks as they headed to the pool.

The Armageddon star showed himself to be gracious after he dropped Samuel off when he ran into a group of autograph seekers and stopped to sign their memorabilia.

He headed back to the car, but returned once Samuel finished up practice.

Ben looked totally absorbed in what his son had to say as they had an animated conversation on the way back to his SUV.

Suited up: Samuel was dressed in a one-piece ruddy blue swimsuit with a long-sleeve white shirt on underneath and sported a shaggy pandemic hairdo

Catching up: Ben looked totally absorbed in what his son had to say as they had an animated conversation on the way back to his SUV

Ben also has two older daughters from his marriage to Jennifer Garner: 15-year-old Violet and 12-year-old Seraphina.

He and Jennifer, 49, struck up their relationship in 2004 and married in 2005 in a ceremony in the Turks and Caicos Islands.

But the couple announced their separation in 2015, with the divorce being finalized in 2018 amid Ben's ongoing struggles with alcohol addiction.

In recent weeks, the actor-turned-director has been getting closer to an old flame, his former fiancee Jennifer Lopez.

He reportedly began corresponding with her via email in the final days of her engagement to retired Yankees star Alex Rodriguez, and he was spotted allegedly getting picked up and taken to her LA home in her SUV multiple times.

The couple were then seen in Montana at the conclusion of a week-long trip together where he owns a chalet.

Family: Ben also has two older daughters from his marriage to Jennifer Garner: 15-year-old Violet and 12-year-old Seraphina

The ex: He and Jennifer married in 2005 but separated a decade later before finalizing their divorce in 2018

On Thursday, a source told People that Lopez, 51, had returned to Los Angeles from her home in Miami to spend more time with Ben.

'Jennifer was just in Los Angeles for a couple of days,' the source said. 'She spent time with Ben. They have kept in touch every day since their Montana trip.'

Ben's top priority is staying near his children in LA, but he's seemingly trying to make a long-distance relationship feasible.

'It's a tricky situation since they live so far from each other, but they both seem committed to making things work,' the insider added.

With him: On Thursday, a source told People that Lopez, 51, had returned to Los Angeles from her home in Miami to spend more time with Ben

The If You Had My Love songstress is reportedly 'very excited' about the directing the budding reunion is taking.

TMZ previously reported that Ben had been sending Lopez emails dating back to February, when she filming her upcoming comedy film in the Dominican Republic.

The emails weren't merely friendly, though, but apparently were filled with longing for the Hustlers star.

He reportedly wrote about wishing her could join her and complimented her beauty, though he was busy himself in Boston where he was filming The Tender Bar with his friend George Clooney.

Ben also reportedly referenced Lopez's love of his writing and wrote that he could 'own her heart' with his pen.

Getting serious: 'Jennifer was just in Los Angeles for a couple of days. She spent time with Ben. They have kept in touch every day since their Montana trip,' a source told People; seen together in 2003

The actors first met in 2001 on the set of their box-office bomb Gigli, and they made their relationship official the following year, shortly after Jennifer divorced her second husband.

They got engaged later in 2002 and scheduled their wedding for September 2003 but called it off with only a few days notice.

Ben and Jennifer then split in early 2004, but reportedly remained friends afterward, which may have helped them get close again.
They've been working in the music industry since they were 19 years old.

And this week, now 34-year-old twins Lisa and Jess Origliasso - also known as The Veronicas - have spoken out about their experiences of being young women in the spotlight in a candid interview with Stellar.

The Brisbane-born band said that the majority of their experiences happened when they were signed to a label in the US - and while the pair did achieve worldwide success, it wasn't quite the positive journey they had in mind.

Speaking out: Lisa and Jess Origliasso - also known as The Veronicas - have spoken out about their experiences of being young women in the spotlight, in a candid interview with Sunday's Stellar magazine

'As young women in the industry we encountered all kinds of behaviour and people,' Lisa recalled. 'You grow up very quickly, and realise quickly who you can and can't trust.'

Jess added that she's happy to see visible changes are now happening to fight against the toxic treatment of women in the Australian music industry.

This includes an Instagram page called Beneath The Glass Ceiling - where people can share any of their own experiences anonymously online - and a music industry summit discussing the issue, which will take place in Sydney on Monday.

'As young women in the industry we encountered all kinds of behaviour and people  you grow up very quickly and realise quickly who you can and can't trust,' Lisa said. Pictured: The Veronicas in 2005

'We cannot allow anyone to continue to abuse their power or use it in a way that is harmful to people, especially young women,' she said.

The pair are set to release their new album, Godzilla, on Friday and will embark on a tour in June.

The duo are also set to play before the first State of Origin game at the MCG on June 9.

Coming soon: The pair are set to release their new album, Godzilla, on Friday and will embark on a tour in June

Their discussion comes as both Jess and Lisa prepare for a stint on Celebrity Apprentice, with their first episode airing on Sunday night.

They will be up against the likes of Michelle Bridges, Martha Kalifatidis and Survivor star David Genat.

The Celebrity Apprentice premieres on Channel Nine on Sunday at 7.30pm.
Naomi Watts looked absolutely fantastic in a flowing red skirt after indulging in some light retail therapy at Nike with a pal and her rescue dog Izzy on Thursday.

During her outing, the 52-year-old British actress was seen strutting down the street in white sneakers, which she accessorized with a black blazer and white t-shirt.

The Loudest Voice star wore her wavy blonde bob just above her shoulders and rocked a pair of oversized sunglasses as she enjoyed the sunny afternoon in New York City.

Stylish: Naomi Watts looked absolutely fantastic in a flowing red skirt after indulging in some light retail therapy at Nike with a friend and her rescue dog Izzy on Thursday

Meanwhile, her friend, Rebecca Rigg, sported a white t-shirt, matching FRANKiE4 sneakers and a straw tote bag.

Before the duo met up, Watts kept her mouth and nose under a black face mask and listened to her music.

Naomi shares her two sons, Sasha, 13, and Kai, 12, with her ex-partner Liev Schreiber, 52, and is currently dating Billy Crudup.

During her outing, the 52-year-old British actress was seen strutting down the street in a pair of white sneakers, which she accessorized with a black blazer and white t-shirt

Strolling: The Loudest Voice star wore her wavy blonde bob just above her shoulders and rocked a pair of oversized sunglasses as she enjoyed the sunny afternoon in New York City

She and Schreiber split in 2016 after 11 years together, and are committed to amicably co-parenting their children.

Naomi has been dating her current beau since 2017 when they met on the set of the film Gypsy, while Liev has moved on to date the much younger actress Taylor Neisen, 27.

The actress, who began her career Down Under, lives in New York with her children.

Friendly: Meanwhile, her pal, Rebecca Rigg, sported a white t-shirt, matching FRANKiE4 sneakers and a straw tote bag

Out with her pup: Before the duo met up, Watts kept her mouth and nose under a black face mask and listened to her music

In April, news broke that she is set to lead the cast of the English-language remake of the Austrian Horror film, Goodnight Mommy.

The Australian actress will star and executive produce the Amazon Studios take on the psychological thriller, which was released back in 2014 and has gone on to become a cult hit.

The movie follows two twin brothers who, when sent to stay with their mother, are shocked to find her covered in bandages following a recent procedure.

Upcoming: In April, news broke that she is set to lead the cast of the English-language remake of the Austrian Horror film, Goodnight Mommy

As her behavior becomes increasingly erratic and unusual, the brothers become convinced that she is an impostor.

The boys' suspicion sets off a roller-coaster of emotional mind games and misunderstandings between the mother and her children that eventually explodes with irreparable and heartbreaking consequences.

The English-language remake will be directed by Matt Sobel from a script written by Kyle Warren.
She's been accused of ripping off an Austin-based tequila company that shares a similar brand name, design and logo with her new 818 product, which is even made at the same Mexican distillery.

But on Friday, Kendall Jenner was spotted smiling ear to ear as she ran errands in West Hollywood.

The 25-year-old supermodel wore high-waisted black jeans with a knitted top for her day out.

Stylish: She's been accused of ripping off an Austin-based tequila company that shares a similar brand name, design and logo with her new 818 product, which is even made at the same Mexican distillery. But on Friday, Kendall Jenner was spotted smiling ear to ear as she ran errands in West Hollywood

The tequila entrepreneur made the sidewalk her runway in her straight-leg denim bottoms, adding matching black heeled sandals.

Kendall flashed her midsection in the cream top, which featured two buttons; the vest was made out of a creamy knitted material.

Kendall added small framed sunglasses in a brown tone with gold earrings, opting to leave her hair center parted and in slight waves.

The cover girl kept her makeup to a minimum, later popping on a nude face mask.

Looking good: The 25-year-old supermodel wore high-waisted black jeans with a knitted top for her day out

Grabbing a cold beverage: Kendall flashed her midsection in the cream top, which featured two buttons; the vest was made out of a creamy knitted material

Day out: Kendall added small framed sunglasses in a brown town with gold earrings, opting to leave her hair center parted and in slight waves

Her outing comes just days after being accused of ripping off an Austin-based tequila company that shares a similar brand name, design and logo with her new 818 product, which is even made at the same Mexican distillery.

The accusation comes amid growing backlash faced by the Keeping Up with the Kardashian star over cultural appropriation claims, for naming her tequila label after her Calabasas area code 818, overlooking the spirit's deep-rooted Mexican legacy.

818 Tequila by Kendall is marketed as being a twice-distilled blanco that retails at $44.99, while Austin's Tequila 512 - that launched in 2012 - is a triple-distilled blanco and is priced lower at $26.99.

The alcoholic beverage company called out Kendall directly on Wednesday, when they posted about the supposed similarities to their product on their official Instagram page.

They claimed that while their product is distilled three times, Kendall's is only distilled twice, yet she is charging twice the price of their bottles, both made in Jalisco, Mexico.

Controversy: Her outing comes just days after being accused of ripping off an Austin-based tequila company that shares a similar brand name, design and logo with her new 818 product, which is even made at the same Mexican distillery

Drama: The accusation comes amid growing backlash faced by the Keeping Up with the Kardashian star over cultural appropriation claims, for naming her tequila label after her Calabasas area code 818, overlooking the spirit's deep-rooted Mexican legacy

Focused: 818 Tequila by Kendall, 25, is marketed as being a twice-distilled blanco that retails at $44.99, while Austin's Tequila 512 - that launched in 2012 - is a triple-distilled blanco and is priced lower at $26.99

On the move: The alcoholic beverage company called out Kendall directly on Wednesday, when they posted about the supposed similarities to their product on their official Instagram page

'You may have seen that @kendalljenner released a "new" tequila today,' the post began. 'Note the similarities, including the color, the name and it is made at the same distillery in Tequila Mexico as ours.'

The statement went on: 'Their batches are being distilled twice. Ours three times. Yet she is charging twice as much per bottle. And here we are getting messages like the one in this post image. Doesn't seem very cool. What do you think?'

The image on Instagram compared the two bottles, which someone had sent to them asking the question, 'Is that you or did someone copy you?'

Not much to cheers about: They claimed that while their product is distilled three times, Kendall's is only distilled twice, yet she is charging twice the price of their bottles, both made in Jalisco, Mexico

Called out: The alcoholic beverage company Tequila 512 called Kendall directly on Wednesday, when they posted about the striking similarities to their product

Tequila 512 CEO Nick Matzorkis told KXAN that his company does not share any ownership ties with Kendall's brand, and that the products are completely separate.

'To be clear the post does not accuse them of "stealing our idea," but does point out obvious undeniable similarities that in their entirety makes a worthy point on the face of it,' Matzorkis told the outlet.

Tequila 512 has been around in liquor stores since 2012, and has won industry awards for its taste.

However, with just 27.5k following on Instagram, it certainly doesn't have the same influence as megastar Kendall, who has a staggering 164m followers.

Backlash: Kendall has also faced cultural appropriation claims, for naming her tequila label after her Calabasas area code 818, overlooking the spirit's deep-rooted Mexican legacy

Kendall launched the alcoholic beverage in Los Angeles this week, making a series of promotional appearances around town, wearing her 818 branding.

But the Keeping Up with the Kardashian star caught backlash for naming her spirit after the Calabasas area code and appearing to overlook tequila's deep-rooted Mexican legacy.

Though many have pointed out that there have been male celebrities - including George Clooney and Rande Gerber - who have done the same without getting criticism.

Cheers: Kendall Jenner roamed through fields of agave on horseback to announce the launch of her 818 tequila brand in California with moody visuals shared to Instagram on Monday

Authentic? Kendall's new line includes an Anejo, Blanco and Reposado from agave plants grown in Jalisco, Mexico

Kendall's new line includes an Anejo, Blanco and Reposado from agave plants grown in Jalisco, Mexico.

One Twitter user went so far as to say: 'Kendall Jenner coming out with her "own" tequila is ultimate modern day colonizer vibes.'

Earlier this week, Kendall made sure to turn off comments to her 164million followers on Instagram after facing cultural appropriation backlash for having no real affiliation to Mexico, having grown up in her affluent community just outside of LA.

Angry: Social media users hit out this week in response to the campaign

In hiding: Kendall made sure to turn off comments to her 164million followers after facing cultural appropriation backlash for having no real affiliation to Mexico

In the promotional video, Kendall presented herself as the perfect ranch hand as she walked side-by-side a horse while touring the grounds of her agave fields.

'What an incredible experience I have had thus far, learning about this beautiful place, it's beautiful culture, and the beautiful people,' she captioned the series.

'@818tequila has launched in California... we will be rolling out to the rest of the US all summer long, keep a look out!!!'

Campaign: Kendall presented herself as the perfect ranch hand as she walked side-by-side a horse while touring the grounds of her agave fields, in the promo

But fans have been less than impressed on social media, after some Twitter users questioned why she has started her own tequila brand.

It has also been questioned how involved the reality star really is in the brand, as 818 comes from a distillery called NOM 1137 that is said to be used by various tequila brands.

Lucas Assis, an L.A.-based tequila expert, told InStyle this week: 'Basically they just make barrels and barrels and barrels of tequila, and celebrities come in and literally pick a barrel. So there might be a little bit of a difference [between brands], like this one is aged in French oak and this one is aged in American oak.'

Assis added: 'But essentially, it's exactly the same bottle, and the celebrity just buys that, and then they just use their marketing and their branding to sell it to you. What you're paying for is the celebrity affiliation, and not the quality of tequila.'
Ian Somerhalder opened up about how his wife Nikki Reed helped rescue him out of a 'true nightmare' following 'a terrible business situation' that put him in debt by at least $10million.

In a belated birthday message to Reed on Instagram, The actor revealed he invested heavily in an effort to build an 'important company' while still shooting The Vampire Diaries (2009-2017), before he got together with his wife.

'This mama. This human. I owe you such gratitude for it all,' the actor, 42, began in the post, before adding that Reed is the reason he was able to start up his company - Brother's Bond Bourbon - with his TVD on-screen brother, Paul Wesley.

High praise: Ian Somerhalder took to Instagram to credit his wife, Nikki Reed, with rescuing him from serious financial problems in connection to investments he made into a company before they were married in April 2015

'I've never disclosed this publicly, but this woman worked selflessly for 2yrs to build me out of a terrible business situation I got myself into', he wrote alongside a photo Reed snuggled up to her husband as he held up a glass of his brand's bourbon.

'I invested heavily, I made huge personal guarantees to banks. However due to greed and fraud within that company and fraudulent activities from our biggest customer, not to mention the temporary collapse of the oil and gas industry - I was left in an EIGHT- FIGURE hole.'

While never revealing the name of the business or any of the people involved, Somerhalder did share how the fallout from his 'awful' investments became 'a true nightmare day in and day out.'

'I had to travel the world weekly to pay for massive monthly six-figure bank notes and ended up in the hospital 4 times in 2 years,' he recalled.

Taking charge: The former Vampire Diaries star maintained Reed put in two-years worth of effort to help him recover from debt that mounted to at least $10 million

It turns out Reed, who's best known for playing Rosalie Hale in the Twilight film franchise (2008-2012), was able to put a financial plan in place, but not without paying a price with her own well-being.

'This woman here decided that she didn't want to see her husband ruin his body/mind/spirit and pulled up her bootstraps and got down in the trenches assembling a team to get to the negotiating table to find a way out. She devoted her life to getting me out of that mess and it almost killed her along the way,' he confessed.

'I am where I am BECAUSE of this woman. Brothers Bond Bourbon is actually here today because of this woman. I was able to start my life over because of this woman.'

Grateful: Somerhalder, 42, declared his Brothers Bond Bourbon company with TVD co-star Paul Wesley, would not exists today if it weren't for his wife's efforts

Confession: 'I was able to start my life over because of [my wife]' the actor explained

In retrospect, the Lost star described the ordeal as being 'the most eye opening and truly humbling experience' of his life.

'Painful as hell but as a family SHE got us through. It's unreal. I owe her my health, my life and my sanity.

After sharing some of the motivation for starting Brothers Bond Bourbon, he directed his praise back to Reed, who celebrated her 33rd birthday on May 17.

'I honor this woman and appreciate her more than anyone I could ever imagine. Happy 33 you incredible angel of a person. The light you radiate into our household and this planet is beyond inspiring. You are a superwoman. You made it possible for me to live and build my dreams and to start my life over. The world needs people like you. Love, Ian aka Baby Daddy,' he concluded the post.

The couple reported started dating in mid-1024, and eventually went on to wed in April 2015.

They welcomed their three-and-a-half-year-old daughter, Bodhi, in July 2017.
EU's unjustified sanctions strain China-EU relations: FM spokesperson

Xinhua) 13:24, May 22, 2021

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- China is unwilling to see the current difficulties in China-European Union (EU) relations caused by EU's unjustified sanctions and the responsibility does not lie with China, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Friday, adding it is hoped that the EU side will make serious reflections.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks at a press briefing in response to a query on the European Parliament's resolution demanding China lifts sanctions on European lawmakers before the China-Europe investment deal can move forward.

Despite China's solemn position and strong opposition, the EU disregarded facts, twisted right and wrong, and stubbornly made a wrong decision of unilateral sanctions based on lies and disinformation, Zhao said, adding what the EU has done constitutes a gross interference in China's internal affairs, brazenly violates international laws and the basic norms of international relations, and severely undermines China-EU relations.

"China's decision to sanction relevant EU entities and individuals who maliciously spread Xinjiang-related lies and disinformation and severely harmed China's sovereignty and interests, is out of the need to safeguard its own interests. This is a necessary and legitimate reaction to the EU's moves of imposing sanctions and seeking confrontation," the spokesperson added.

China has the sincerity to advance China-EU relations, but will staunchly safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests, Zhao said, adding that sanction and confrontation will not be conducive to solving problems, and is not the way how comprehensive strategic partners should treat each other. "Dialogue and cooperation is the right way forward."

He said the EU side should immediately stop interfering in China's internal affairs, abandon confrontational actions, properly manage differences through dialogue and communication, to overcome current difficulties and promote China-EU relations back to the right path of dialogue and cooperation.

Stressing the China-EU investment agreement is a balanced and win-win deal, rather than a "gift" bestowed by one side to the other, Zhao said China is sincere about advancing bilateral relations.

"We hope the EU side will work toward the same direction as China, and make the right decision that conforms to its own interests by relying more on rational thinking, rather than emotion," he added.

In a brief response to media query regarding the issue, China's Ministry of Commerce said the EU's "freezing" of the ratification of the agreement does not conform to the common interests of both parties.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
President Moon Jae-in and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin look at a replica of a section of the Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, Friday (local time), during a groundbreaking ceremony. The Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall of Remembrance is a long-planned addition to the existing Korean War Veterans Memorial and will display the names of the U.S. military and Korean Augmentation to the United States Army personnel who gave their lives defending South Koreans and ensuring their freedom. AP-Yonhap
They all starred on the first winter series of Love Island in South Africa last January.

And Shaughna Phillips, Paige Turley and Molly Smith were proving they are all still close as they enjoyed a wild night out together at Sexy Fish in London on Friday.

Reality star Shaughna, 26, series winner Paige, 23, and Molly, 25, looked giddy as they left the swanky eatery before hopping into cabs to head home.

Pals: Love Islanders Shaughna Phillips (right), Paige Turley (left) and Molly Smith were proving they are all still close as they enjoyed a wild night out together at Sexy Fish in London on Friday night

Shaughna looked casually stylish in a khaki padded coat, ripped jeans and a statement Louis Vuitton handbag as she held Paige's hand after the dinner.

Blonde beauty Paige wrapped up warm for rainy London in a brown fur coat, black jeans and chunky boots.

Meanwhile Molly looked typically stylish in black leather trousers, a black bomber jacket and carried a pale blue bag with her.

Good night? Reality star Shaughna, 26, series winner Paige, 23, and Molly, 25, looked giddy as they left the swanky eatery before hopping into cabs to head home

Style: Molly looked typically stylish in black leather trousers, a black bomber jacket and carried a pale blue bag with her for the night out.

She wore her light tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look.

The group were also joined by Eva Zapico and her boyfriend Nas Majeed who looked very giddy leaving the restaurant.

The stars all featured on last January's series of Love Island in South Africa just before the pandemic hit.

And now it has been revealed that the winter version of the popular ITV dating show has been scrapped.

Home time: Shaughna looked casually stylish in a khaki padded coat, ripped jeans and a statement Louis Vuitton handbag as she held Paige's hand after the dinner

Radiant: She wore her light tresses in loose waves over her shoulders and opted for a typically glamorous makeup look

A TV insider told MailOnline: 'Winter Love Island has been 'indefinitely postponed' as bosses put all their energy until the summer series.'

The show, presented by Laura Whitmore, 35, wasn't as successful ratings-wise after the launch episode attracted 800,000 fewer viewers than the 2019 summer series.

Last week ITV's Kevin Lygo admitted filming in South Africa was a 'challenge' as the 'weather wasn't great and they were quite cold and it wasn't sunny every day.'

Winter Love Island was also hit by the tragic loss of host Caroline Flack, who had presented the dating series since 2015, after she passed weeks before it aired.

Calling it a night: Molly hopped in a cab with Eva and the pair then headed home after the dinner

Having fun: The group were also joined by Eva Zapico and her boyfriend Nas Majeed who looked very giddy leaving the restaurant

Meanwhile, last month it was revealed that the launch date of Love Island 2021 has been delayed by three weeks due to overseas travel restrictions as ITV confirmed they plan to base the show in Majorca.

Love Island's 2019 summer season started on June 3 but this year the crew will not fly out to the Spanish Island until the end of the month  with ITV intending to air the show for a duration of eight weeks.

Show bosses also have Jersey on standby if a new strain of Covid-19 hits.
Travis Scott stepped out for Kendall Jenner's star-studded 818 tequila launch party at The Nice Guy in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Friday.

It comes after on-off girlfriend Kylie Jenner denied that she is in an 'open relationship' with the rapper, 29, who she shares three-year-old daughter Stormi with, earlier in the day.

Travis joined a slew of celebrities at the glitzy event, which included Kylie, 23, and her famous siblings - Kendall, 25, Kim Kardashian, 40, and Khloe, 36.

Stepping out: Travis Scott stepped out for Kendall Jenner's star-studded 818 tequila launch party at The Nice Guy in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, on Friday

The rapper looked stylish for the event in a pair of beige trousers, a brown embroidered denim jacket and matching Nike trainers.

Travis finished his look with a collection of eye-catching diamond and statement jewellery.

Kendall's 818 tequila officially hit shelves on Monday, May 17, with bottles appearing across stories in California.

The new line includes an Anejo, Blanco and Reposado from agave plants grown in Jalisco, Mexico.

Denial: It comes after Kylie Jenner denied that she is in an 'open relationship' with the rapper, 29, who she shares three-year-old daughter Stormi with (Kylie pictured at the same event)

Star-studded: Travis joined a slew of celebrities at the glitzy event, which included Kylie, 23, and her famous siblings - Kendall, 25, Kim Kardashian, 40, and Khloe, 36

Stylish: The rapper looked stylish for the event in a pair of beige trousers, a brown embroidered denim jacket and matching Nike trainers

Other attendees at the star-studded event including the likes of Hailey and Justin Bieber, Drake and Jaden Smith as well as Vegas showman Jeff Beacher and restaurant impresario Scott Sartiano.

Travis' appearance comes after Kylie denied that she is in an 'open relationship' with the rapper after it was claimed by TMZ that they are a couple again but are allegedly allowing freedom to see other people.

The 23-year-old took to Twitter later that day to set the record straight, writing: 'I'm not discrediting anyone who is in an open relationship but it's just careless and disrespectful to throw this narrative out there without knowing what's true'.

Ahead of publication, MailOnline immediately contacted representatives for Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott for comment on TMZ's report, but received no reply.

Launch: Kendall's 818 tequila officially hit shelves on Monday, May 17, with bottles appearing across stories in California

Denial: Travis' appearance comes after Kylie denied that she is in an 'open relationship' with the rapper after it was claimed by TMZ that they are a couple again but are allegedly allowing freedom to see other people (pictured in 2019)

In her denial tweet, she didn't clarify the exact status of their relationship.

A report published by People magazine after Kylie's Twitter post echoed TMZ's claims that the romance is back on and they 'love each other', but they are not entirely exclusive.

'They are not exclusive, but Kylie isn't seeing anyone else, either,' a source told the magazine. The source didn't address if Travis is dating other women.

Kylie has been fuelling speculation of a renewed relationship with the rapper with the pair being seen on multiple outings.

In recent days, the pair were spotted together as they enjoyed a family trip to Disneyland in Anaheim, California.

Both parents took to their respective Instagram accounts to share images of their time at the hugely popular resort, including snaps of their daughter, Stormi.

And they did little to quell reconciliation rumours as they flew home together on Kylie's private jet earlier this month after celebrating Travis' birthday in Miami.

After spending the weekend partying it up, billionaire makeup mogul Kylie and rapper Travis were seen boarding the same flight.

We are family: The couple have remained close despite their split (pictured in 2019 with their daughter Stormi, now three)

The photogenic twosome were seen wearing the same outfits as they disembarked the jet after touching down in Los Angeles.

The youngest member of the Kardashian-Jenner family documented their travels on her Instagram Story, including snapping a photo of a white Hermes blanket on her seat.

'Oh you wanna know where i'm at?' she captioned a slideshow, which included a view of the city from up in the air and photos of her wearing a patterned yellow crop top and jeans.

Despite looking 'very close and affectionate' as they flirted away at club LIV earlier this month, People reported they are 'not fully back together'.

'Even after they split, they always spent a lot of time together,' says the source. 'They are great co-parents and love hanging out. They share a fun life with Stormi, but have separate homes.'

The insider continued: 'They haven't dated anyone else seriously since they split though. It always seemed possible that they would get back together.'

While dining at Komodo in Miami ahead of Travis' birthday performance at nightclub LIV, they enjoyed some VIP treatment at one of the 'birds nest tables'.

The two later partied it up together for his birthday celebration at LIV where they were seen in a romantic embrace in the dance floor.

A romantic reconciliation between the duo would not be surprising as they have remained amicable since their September 2019 break-up.
Sam Frost was hard at work filming scenes for Home and Away on Sydney's Palm Beach on Wednesday.

The 32-year-old was all smiles as she jogged along the beach wearing skin-tight activewear.

The former Bachelorette showed off her taut abs in a black and white crop top from the Nike brand.

Work it: Sam Frost (pictured) was hard at work filming scenes for Home and Away on Sydney's Palm Beach on Wednesday

She paired the top with a pair of leggings which featured an eye-catching floral pattern in pastel tones.

Sam wore her hair pulled back off her face in a ponytail, and had on glowing, natural makeup.

The actress filmed scenes alongside her co-star Nicholas Cartwright, who was dressed in a police uniform.

Looking good: The 32-year-old was all smiles as she jogged along the beach wearing skin-tight activewear

Details: The former Bachelorette showed off her taut abs in a black and white crop top from the Nike brand

Blooming: She paired the top with a pair of leggings which featured an eye-catching floral pattern in pastel tones

Stunner: Sam wore her hair pulled back off her face in a ponytail

The pair were joined by another co-star, Jacqui Purvis, as they shared a kiss during a beach scene.

According to Home and Away's fan website Back to the Bay, Nicholas portrays Senior Constable Cash Newman.

Sam, who plays Jasmine Delaney on the soap, gets up close and personal with the newcomer to the series.

Co-stars: Sam was joined by another co-star, Jacqui Purvis, during a beach scene

Fresh: The actress had on glowing, natural makeup

Fit! Sam showed off her gym-honed figure as she ran along the beach

Up the hill! Sam ran in from the beach up a small set of stairs

The pair of soap stars have been filming extensive scenes together over the past few months.

It comes after Sam made headlines last year for uploading - and quickly deleting - two Instagram photos of herself posing in a tiny striped bikini.

A day after deleting the photos, Sam uploaded an essay to her website.

Kiss kiss! The actress filmed scenes alongside her co-star Nicholas Cartwright (left), who was dressed in a police uniform, and the pair shared a kiss

Cop it: According to Home snd Away's fan website Back to the Bay, Nicholas portrays Senior Constable Cash Newman

Romance: Sam, who plays Jasmine Delaney on the soap, gets up close and personal with the newcomer to the series

She wrote: 'It was just easier to [delete the photos], than deal with people's judgment about my body or their opinions about what I should or shouldn't be posting.'

Earlier in the essay, the blonde shared details of her decade-long battle with body confidence.

'I spent my twenties hiding under a black cap, wearing baggy clothes,' she wrote.

Fears: It comes after Sam made headlines last year for uploading - and quickly deleting - two Instagram photos of herself posing in a tiny striped bikini

Thoughts: A day after deleting the photos, Sam uploaded an essay to her website

She wrote: 'It was just easier to [delete the photos], than deal with people's judgment about my body or their opinions about what I should or shouldn't be posting'

Concerns: Earlier in the essay, the blonde shared details of her decade-long battle with body confidence. 'I spent my twenties hiding under a black cap, wearing baggy clothes,' she wrote

'I was wearing clothes like that because I felt extremely insecure about my body,' Sam added in the essay.

'I felt ashamed and uncomfortable,' she concluded.

Sam rose to fame on on second season of The Bachelor Australia in 2014, before starring in the first season of The Bachelorette Australia in 2015.
Jacqui Purvis was turning heads on the set of Home and Away in Palm Beach on Wednesday.

The newcomer, who previously starred on Neighbours, showed off her incredible figure in a green bikini.

The one-shoulder top clung to her bust and showcased her taut abs as she enjoyed the sunny weather.

Wow! Jacqui Purvis (pictured) was turning heads on the set of Home And Away in Palm Beach on Wednesday

She also wore a pair of trendy, high-cut bottoms in the same tone, the fetching swimwear flattering her statuesque figure.

The actress did a 'Baywatch run' across the beach and into the waves, her gym-honed physique on display.

One in the water, Jacqui seductively pulled her long, drenched hair back off her face.

A look: The newcomer showed off her incredible figure in a green bikini

Stunner: The one-shoulder top clung to her bust and showcased her taut abs

Looking good: She wore her blonde hair down around her face

Sun kissed: The actress looked pleasantly tanned as she walked along the beach

Her arms raised to her head, the beauty channelled 1990s superstar Pamela Anderson.

The blonde opted for natural makeup with a nude lip and glowing bronzer, her long hair down around her shoulders.

She recently shot steamy scenes opposite co-star Ethan Browne, who plays Tane Parata.

Run run run: The actress did a 'Baywatch run' across the beach and into the waves, her gym-honed physique on display

Woah! One in the water, Jacqui seductively pulled her long, drenched hair back off her face

Watch out Pam: Her arms raised to her head, the beauty channelled 1990s superstar Pamela Anderson

Pretty: The blonde opted for natural makeup with a nude lip and glowing bronzer

Romance: She recently shot steamy scenes opposite co-star Ethan Browne, who plays Tane Parata

The actors were recently pictured getting hot and heavy under the Sydney sun wearing nothing but skimpy swim gear.

Her character, whose name has not yet been revealed, will strike up a romance with Ethan's character Tane in upcoming storylines for the iconic soap.

Earlier, the actress filmed scenes alongside her co-star Nicholas Cartwright, who was dressed in a police uniform.

Plot: The actors were recently pictured getting hot and heavy under the Sydney sun wearing nothing but skimpy swim gear

Love match: Her character, whose name has not yet been revealed, will strike up a romance with Ethan's character Tane in upcoming storylines for the iconic soap

Swim fan: Jacqui appeared to be enjoying her dip in the ocean

She also shot scenes with Sam Frost, the pair seen chatting during beach scenes.

Jacqui stood alongside Sam, who plays Jasmine Delaney on the soap, as she got up close and personal with Nicholas' character Senior Constable Cash Newman.

According to IMBD, Jacqui previously played Melissa Lohan in Neighbours in 2019 for 18 episodes.
Phillip Scofield made a surprise cameo in Prince Harry's Apple TV+ mental health series with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can't See.

In a segment from Friday's episode, the Duke of Sussex, 36, was driving his car while Phillip, 59, could be heard in a voiceover.

In an audio clip taken from This Morning in March, the morning after Harry and his wife Meghan Markle's sit down interview with Oprah aired, he addressed viewers, saying: 'We are starting today with a story dominating headlines around the world this morning.'

Surprise: Phillip Scofield, 59, made a surprise cameo in Prince Harry's Apple TV+ mental health series with Oprah Winfrey, The Me You Can't See

He continued: 'Last night after weeks of speculation, we finally got to hear Harry and Meghan's story as they sat down with Oprah for a tell-all interview.'

Phillip has not addressed his cameo on social media.

However, the veteran presenter will no doubt touch upon the subject during Monday's installment of This Morning.

Last Monday, Phillip revealed he is not a fan of American actor Dax Shepard's interviewing skills, branding him a 'dreadful interviewer'.

Voiceover: In a segment from Friday's episode, the Duke of Sussex, 36, was driving his car while Phillip could be heard in a voiceover

Speaking on This Morning about Prince Harry's recent appearance on 46-year-old Dax's Armchair Expert podcast, Phillip, 59, suggested the Without A Paddle actor spoke over Harry too much.

'I thought the podcast was dreadfully done. They're shocking interviewers. Just shut up and let him speak. I didn't think that was any good,' Phillip said of Dax's approach.

Earlier in May, Harry appeared on Armchair Expert where he promoted his mental health series.

Not a fan: Phillip revealed he is not a fan of US actor Dax Shepard's interviewing skills, branding him a 'dreadful interviewer' on Monday's This Morning

Harry, who is expecting a daughter with Meghan, 39, this summer, suggested Charles had 'suffered' because of his upbringing by the Queen and Prince Philip, and the Prince of Wales had 'treated me the way he was treated', calling it 'genetic pain'.

The Duke of Sussex did not hold back during the wide-ranging interview lasting 90 minutes.

He said: 'I don't think we should be pointing the finger or blaming anybody, but certainly when it comes to parenting, if I've experienced some form of pain or suffering because of the pain or suffering that perhaps my father or my parents had suffered, I'm going to make sure I break that cycle so that I don't pass it on, basically.'

High profile: Last week, Dax, 46, was joined by Prince Harry on his popular Armchair Expert podcast

Honest: The Duke of Sussex did not hold back during the wide-ranging interview lasting 90 minutes

The podcast saw both men share their experiences of past trauma - and Dax, who is married to Frozen star Kristen Bell, spoke about his own addiction to smoking crack and alcohol. Harry asked him what it was like to take a 's***load' of drugs when he was young after suffering sexual abuse as a child - while also speaking about his own experience of 'pain' as a senior royal.

Harry asked him if he had 'an awareness' whether his abuse of drink and cocaine was fuelled by his childhood, saying: 'For you it was your upbringing and everything that happened to you - the trauma, pain and suffering. All of a sudden you find yourself doing a s***load of drugs and partying hard'.

The Duke described how he started therapy after Meghan 'saw he was angry', and when asked if he felt 'in a cage' while in royal duties, he said: 'It's the job right? Grin and bear it. Get on with it.'

Harry also called royal life 'a mixture between The Truman Show and being in a zoo' and said he quit last year to put his family and mental health 'first'.

Candid: Dax, who is married to Kristen Bell, spoke about his own addiction to smoking crack and alcohol. Harry asked him what it was like to take a 's***load' of drugs when he was young
Imogen Thomas has said that her late friend Nikki Grahame 'made her laugh even til the end' and that 'not a day goes by that she doesn't think about her' in a new post.

On Friday the model, 38, - who met the reality icon on Big Brother in 2006 - reflected on their best memories together after her death last month following a battle with anorexia.

Taking to her Instagram Story Imogen said that the pair 'got along amazingly' and always 'had each other's backs' before adding that she 'misses her so much'.

Missing her: Imogen Thomas has said that her late friend Nikki Grahame 'made her laugh even till the end' and that 'not a day goes by that she doesn't think about her' in a new post

Her words came in response to a question from a fan during a Q&A which read: 'Favourite memory of Nikki during BB 2006? You and her got along great from the start'.

Imogen replied saying: 'Omg I have so many. But during the house time she was the star. We got along amazing we both had each other's backs. Loves all her one liners she always made me laugh even til the end.

'God I miss her so much. Not a day goes by that I don't think about her. Miss our daily chats. But I take comfort in knowing she's at peace now prob with an espresso martini in hand. RIP my beautiful girl.'

Close: On Friday the model, 38, - who met the reality icon on Big Brother in 2006 (pictured) - reflected on their best memories together after her death last month following a battle with anorexia

Nikki's body was discovered on April 10 in her London home, a day after she was discharged from Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester after a three week stay to treat her for anorexia.

Imogen's new post comes after last month she paid tribute to the tragic star on what would have been her 39th birthday.

Imogen shared a montage of poignant photos of the pair, writing: 'Happy birthday my angel.

'I hope you're having a ball sipping espresso martinis singing and dancing to eastside.

Sad: Taking to her Instagram Story Imogen said that the pair 'got along amazingly' and always 'had each other's backs' before adding that she 'misses her so much' (pictured together)

'I feel blessed to have had you as a friend and I will cherish our memories. Thank you May your spirit shine forever. Miss you and love u always Nik'.

Nikki shot to fame on the 2006 series of Big Brother and gained an army of fans with her iconic phrase 'who is she?'.

She was pictured with Big Brother winner Pete Bennett in one of her final images, as she cuddled up to her ex-boyfriend in the poignant snap.

Nikki had struggled with anorexia for much of her life and was first admitted to a psychiatric hospital at age 12.

Icon: Nikki shot to fame on the 2006 series of Big Brother and gained an army of fans with her iconic phrase 'who is she?' (pictured with Imogen)

Earlier this month, Nikki's friends reactivated her fundraiser to help her heartbroken family pay for her funeral and help others with eating disorders.

The fundraiser was initially set up a month ago by Nikki's friends and raised 65,000 for the Big Brother star to have specialist treatment for her eating disorder.

Health chiefs recently launched an investigation into Nikki's death, after claims by her family that she was released too early from hospital, having weighed just five stone when she died.

And sources close to Nikki later claimed the star would 'still be alive today if she wasn't discharged too soon'.

Upset: Imogen's new post comes after last month she paid tribute to the tragic star on what would have been her 39th birthday

Now Dorset County Hospital Foundation Trust, the trust which runs the hospital where the star had received treatment prior to her death, have launched a review into the case, according to the Sun.

A spokesperson for the hospital told the paper: 'Staff at the Trust were deeply saddened to learn of the death of Miss Grahame, and our thoughts are with the family and friends of Miss Grahame at this very difficult time.

'A full internal investigation into the circumstances of Miss Grahame's death is currently underway. This is in line with standard procedures following any sudden death.'
Penny Lancaster and her husband Rod Stewart stepped out for a double date with pals Ronnie Wood and wife Sally Humphreys after lockdown restrictions were eased this week.

The model, 50, looked typically glamorous in a flowery dress and black leather jacket as she joined husband Rod, 76, for dinner at the The Arts Club in London's Mayfair.

Meanwhile Sally, 43, caught the eye in a green jacket as she held hands with her love Ronnie, 73, leaving the swanky eatery.

Back together: Penny Lancaster and her husband Rod Stewart stepped out for a double date with pals Ronnie Wood and wife Sally Humphreys after lockdown restrictions were eased this week

The group looked like they had had a great time as indoor dining returned as they beamed while heading home from the restaurant.

Penny completed her going-out look with shiny black heels and wore her blonde tresses in loose waves over her shoulders while opting for a natural makeup look.

Meanwhile Rod looked dapper in a long black coat, white shirt and black loafers with a skull and cross bone design.

Beaming: The model, 50, looked typically glamorous in a flowery dress and black leather jacket as she joined husband Rod, 76, for dinner at the The Arts Club in London's Mayfair

Sally teamed her green jacket with black jeans and a black top while adding a pop of colour to her ensemble with a a slick of bright red lip.

Ronnie opted for a more casual look wearing a hoodie under his black suit along with dark jeans and shoes.

The group took to their Instagram earlier in the week to share with fans snaps from their reunion as Ronnie and Rod and Sally and Penny hugged outside the restaurant.

Reunion: Meanwhile Sally, 43, caught the eye in a green jacket as she held hands with her love Ronnie, 73, leaving the swanky eatery

Ronnie and Sally Wood's night out with Rod and Penny comes after Sally candidly detailed her husband's secret cancer battle, saying the couple 'tried to keep as positive as possible'.

The actress also praised the Rolling Stones guitarist in a new interview with Hello! magazine, saying he has 'incredible strength and determination'.

It was revealed last month that Ronnie, had been given the all-clear after being diagnosed with small cell cancer in lockdown. He also battled lung cancer in 2017.

Pals: Rod looked dapper in a long black coat and white shirt as she chatted to his old friend Ronnie as they left

Restrictions easing: The group took to their Instagram earlier in the week to share with fans snaps from their reunion as Ronnie and Rod and Sally and Penny hugged outside the restaurant

Speaking with Hello!, Sally said: 'We tried to keep as positive as possible and put our trust in the doctors and followed their instructions and advice.

'We can't thank the doctors enough for everything they did and all the support they gave us.'

She added: 'You have to be as positive as you can and believe that everything will be OK. Ronnie's an amazing person with incredible strength and determination.'

All together again: The rockers wasted no time in posing for a glamorous photo with their stunning wives

'Couldn't be happier': Penny shared her delight at being able to catch up with Ronnie and Sally earlier this week

Sally and Ronnie married in 2012 and since welcomed twin girls in 2016 - Gracie Jane and Alice Rose, now four.

Ronnie revealed he secretly battled cancer for the second time during lockdown last month after being diagnosed with small cell cancer.

Announcing the news, the star explained that he's since 'come through with the all-clear'.

It is the second time Ronnie has beaten cancer after previously being diagnosed with lung cancer in 2017, resulting in part of his lung being removed during a five-hour operation.
Lisa and Jess Origliasso of pop duo The Veronicas have opened up their mother Colleen's battle with dementia in a candid new interview.

Speaking to Stellar magazine, the twin sisters revealed that they put their music career on hold to care for their ailing mum.

'Were so close with our mummy, shes our best friend. Shes been our greatest rock, support and foundation,' Jess told the publication.

Vulnerable: Lisa and Jess Origliasso of pop duo The Veronicas have opened up their mother Colleen's battle with dementia in a candid new interview with Stellar magazine

'When she became sick, we made a commitment to each other and to her that wed be there for her, no matter what,' she continued.

'Our love for music isnt going to go anywhere. We needed to prioritise our commitment to her and our love for her. It was the easiest decision weve made in our career.'

Back in January, Lisa shared a rare video showing her caring for Colleen, who was diagnosed with Lewy body dementia three years ago.

Heartbreak: Speaking to Stellar magazine, the twin sisters revealed that they put their music career on hold to care for their ailing mum

In the short clip, she tenderly brushes away her mother's hair from her face, who is lying in bed with a drink.

Last year, Lisa and Jess spoke about their mother's harrowing health battle.

Speaking out for National Carers Week, the twins shared just how 'difficult' their mum's battle with the illness has been.

In an emotional interview with Brisbane's B105 FM, Jess and Lisa said caring for the 71-year-old was the least they could do for their 'absolute hero' and 'best friend'.

Family: Last year, Lisa and her sister and bandmate, Jessica, spoke about their mother's health battle. All pictured

'We are in awe every day of this woman. Just our absolute hero, and to be able to care for her, give back to her even a tiny bit of the love she has thrown us throughout our lives is an absolute honour... but it is incredibly difficult work,' they confessed.

'It's heartbreaking. You're grieving. Your best friend, your mummy... and you know the statistics. There are 2.6 million unpaid carers in Australia and a lot of them don't even realise they are carers.

'We're just here to say that if you are someone who is caring for a loved one - a friend or family member - that we see you and thank you for everything you're doing.'

Lewy body dementia is a debilitating disease which causes a sufferer's thinking, memory and movement to slowly deteriorate.
They recently enjoyed a trip to Disneyland in California where they blended their families together for a fun day out.

And Travis Barker called Kourtney Kardashian the 'love of his life' on Friday as he shared sweet snaps from their visit to the amusement park.

The Blink-182 rocker, 45, posted a sweet picture of himself holding the KUWTK star's, 42, hand while on a carousel.

Sweet: Travis Barker called Kourtney Kardashian the 'love of his life' on Friday as he shared sweet snaps from their visit to Disneyland in California

Travis captioned the picture with: 'Happiest Place On Earth,' to which Kourtney replied with: 'Happiest .'

Declaring his love for the blogger, the rocker responded with: 'With the love of my life.'

Travis also shared a sweet picture of his two children, Alabama, 15, and Landon, 17, and stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 22, who he shares with ex-wife Shanna Moakler.

The rocker and Kourtney were seen enjoying a trip to Disneyland on Wednesday where they were also joined by the reality star's children Penelope, eight, and Mason, 11, from her previous relationship to Scott Disick. They also share son Reign, six.

Declaration: The Blink-182 rocker, 45, posted a sweet picture of himself holding the KUWTK star's, 42, hand while on a carousel

Smitten: Kourtney and Travis started dating earlier this year and have been almost inseparable since (pictured in March)

Kourtney and Travis started dating earlier this year and only recently it was reported that the KUWTK star is like a 'second mother' to the rocker's daughter Alabama.

A source close to the brunette beauty told E! News: 'Kourtney has become very close with Travis' kids recently, especially when it comes to Alabama.'

Even though they have only been dating for a few months, Kourtney has already proven to be a 'huge support system' for Alabama.

Only recently, Alabama discussed her relationship with mother Shanna in a candid post on social media, suggesting she's not an 'amazing mom.'

Doting father: Travis also shared a sweet picture of his two children, Alabama, 15, pictured, and Landon, 17, and stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 22, who he shares with ex Shanna Moakler

Children: Landon, 17, and stepdaughter Atiana De La Hoya, 22, pictured at the amusement park

She wrote on Instagram: 'My mom has never completely been in my life. Can you guys stop painting her out to be an amazing mom?'

But Shanna, 46, subsequently hit back at the suggestion, insisting she's doing her best for her children amid difficult circumstances.

She said in a statement to People: 'Co-parenting is hard, but I have always and will continue to prioritize my children's happiness and well-being.'

Cute: Kourtney and Travis started dating earlier this year and only recently it was reported that the KUWTK star is like a 'second mother' to the rocker's daughter Alabama (pictured in 2018)

Mother: Alabama recently discussed her relationship with Shanna in a candid post on social media, suggesting she's not an 'amazing mom' - Shanna hit back at the claim

Shanna also claimed she's been the victim of a 'vindictive parenting competition,' but she ultimately hopes that her kids with 'see through the fame and money machine.'

She explained: 'I refuse to involve them in a vindictive parenting competition where feelings are bound to get hurt. Encouraging relationships with both parents is a duty on both mother and father.

'I know one day my children will see through the fame and money machine they have been thrust into and realize their mother loves and will always be there for them.'

Travis and Kourtney have been inseparable since making things official in January, with the Blink 182 even showing off a new tattoo of her name scrawled on his chest before letting Kourtney take over the tattoo gun and personally ink his hand.
Ita Buttrose has defended her decision to move flagship ABC show Q&A from Monday to Thursday nights.

The ABC chairwomen stood by her choice, despite the political program suffering its lowest-ever ratings after the move.

'It always takes time to bed in a new program and very rarely are changes like this an instant success,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

Standing firm: Ita Buttrose (pictured) has defended her decision to move flagship ABC show Q&A from Monday to Thursday nights. The ABC chairwomen stood by her choice, despite the political program suffering its lowest-ever ratings after the move

In April, the show continued to slide, reaching just 224,000 viewers across five major capital cities.

It comes after the host of Q&A, Hamish Macdonald, was accused by the Greens of allowing an oil company director to 'mock' and 'patronise' one of their senators.

Aramco director and former Dow Chemical CEO Andrew Liveris clashed with Greens senator Sarah Hanson Young during a heated discussion about fossil fuels on Thursday night's show.

Wait: 'It always takes time to bed in a new program and very rarely are changes like this an instant success,' she told The Daily Telegraph. In April, the show continued to slide, reaching just 224,000 viewers across five major capital cities

During the exchange Ms Hanson-Young called Mr Liveris 'patronising' while he accused her of 'yelling' at him during the debate, prompting her party to criticise host Hamish for not taking her side.

The panel discussed Australia's commitment to reducing cardon dioxide emissions following the announcement by the US that it wanted to halve its emissions by 2030.

Mr Liveris accused Ms Hanson-Young of yelling at him after host Hamish McDonald asked panellists to 'try and keep it respectful.'

Drama: It comes after the host of Q&A, Hamish Macdonald (pictured) was accused by the Greens of allowing an oil company director to 'mock' and 'patronise' one of their senators

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull accused Mr Liveris of sexism during a disagreement on how many jobs were provided by industries who use gas as feed stock.

The Queensland branch of the Greens also emphasized the gender issue in a tweet which called Mr Liveris 'appalling' and accused Hamish Macdonald of staying silent.

'Women should be able to appear on @QandA & speak without being spoken down to, interrupted, mocked, patronised, have a finger pointed at them and spoken over the top of,' the party tweeted from an official account.
Scholars and critics participate in a forum organized by a group of experts in support of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, at Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Friday. Yonhap



By Kim Rahn



Dozens of academic and legal experts have launched an organization to support former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who is said to be a leading potential presidential contender from the opposition bloc.



While many ruling and opposition presidential hopefuls have been launching think tanks or support groups ahead of the presidential election slated for next March, Yoon has maintained a low profile despite his lead in public opinion polls. It remains to be seen whether the support organization will facilitate his political activity.



The group, whose Korean name can be roughly translated into "national coalition for recovery of fairness and common sense," held a forum in Seoul as an inaugural event, Friday, to discuss Yoon's "potential and limitations for presidency."



Seoul National University professor emeritus and former International Criminal Court President Song Sang-hyun, who was one of Yoon's teachers in university, said during a congratulatory speech at the forum that populist politicians believe they are the only people having moral superiority.



"When populists take power, they come up with a topic of reform, distort or belittle democratic procedure under the name of reform, and try to remodel the state according to their own ideal," Song said.



He said populists in power "suppress media, civic groups and political parties that are critical of them" and "fix the prosecution, the judiciary and intelligence agency."



These comments seem to criticize the Moon Jae-in administration's push for prosecutorial reform, over which Yoon has been at odds with key Moon aides, including former Justice Ministers Cho Kuk and Choo Mi-ae. Yoon resigned from the top prosecutor position in March following a series of conflicts with them over the reform measures and the prosecution's investigation into key ruling bloc figures such as Cho.



Yoon has not taken any steps signaling a shift to a political career since his resignation, but he has reportedly had meetings with professors and experts in various fields, such as labor, welfare, security and economy, at least once a week  a move which many say indicates he is laying the groundwork to prepare campaign pledges for a presidential bid.


Tom Holland looked dapper as he attended the F1 Grand Prix qualifying in Monaco on Saturday.

The actor, 24, cut a casual figure in a pink T-shirt and black jeans as he spent the day chatting to friends on a boat and visiting the pit lane.

Throwing out a thumbs up to onlookers, the Spider-Man star looked effortlessly cool in a pair of black wayfarers and a matching face mask.

Stylish: Tom Holland looked dapper as he attended the F1 Grand Prix qualifiers in Monaco on Saturday

Tom completed his laidback look with a pair of white converses with signature red details.

He accessorised with a large square faced watch with a black leather strap and sported his F1 wristband for easy access to the event.

The actor is in town for the annual Monaco Grand Prix, which is set to take place on the Circuit de Monaco on Sunday at 2pm.

Fun: The actor cut a casual figure in a pink T-shirt and black jeans as he spent the day chatting to friends on a boat and visiting the pit lane

And there was a dramatic end to the qualifiers on Saturday as Charles Leclerc took pole position before crashing his Ferrari.

The Monaco resident clipped a barrier on the Swimming Pool exit and came to a thudding halt with 16 seconds remaining of qualifying.

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton will face almost an impossible task in the upcoming race after he finished in seventh place on Saturday.

Tom's stylish outing at the sporting event comes after he revealed earlier this year that he would love to play James Bond.

Laid back: The Spider-Man star looked effortlessly cool in a pair of black wayfarers and a matching face mask

Speaking on the Variety's Awards Circuit podcast, he admitted that he's very keen on bagging the coveted role.

Tom admitted: 'I mean, ultimately, as a young British lad who loves cinema, I'd love to be James Bond.

'So, you know, I'm just putting that out there. I look pretty good in a suit,' he added.

Best foot forward: Tom completed his laidback look with a pair of white converses with signature red details

Several big names have been tipped for the role since the announcement that Daniel Craig will be stepping down.

Stars including Idris Elba, Outlander's Sam Heughan, James Norton, Tom Hardy and Bridgerton hunk Rege-Jean Page have all been suggested as contenders for the part.

'I'd be like a really short James Bond' quipped the 5ft 6in Spider-Man star.

Racing ready: He accessorised with a large square faced watch with a black leather strap and sported his F1 wristband for easy access to the event

Contrastingly, Tom's Spider-Man co-star Zendaya, 24, has been gifted with model pins and stands at 5ft 10in.

And the lofty actress recently revealed she was worried about their height difference when they went for a 'chemistry read' for the superhero franchise.

She said: 'I was worried because he's so much shorter than me. I was like, 'Damn it! It's going to be weird because I'm super tall.' '

However, they did the audition sitting down, and producers were convinced that she was right for the part after all.

Spectator: The actor is in town for the annual Monaco Grand Prix, which is set to take place on the Circuit de Monaco on Sunday

Collision: There was a dramatic end to the qualifiers on Saturday as Charles Leclerc took pole position before crashing his Ferrari

Goals: The outing at the sporting event comes after he revealed earlier this year that he would love to play James Bond

Romance wise, Tom has reportedly matched with the Danish model Philine Roepstorff, 28, on the exclusive dating app Raya this week.

Dubbed the 'celebrity Tinder' the elite members-only dating app also plays cupid for Ben Affleck and Cara Delavingne among other A-listers.

Tom's latest match Philine was previously dating the former Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner before swiping for the Spider-man actor.

007: Tom recently admitted: 'I mean, ultimately, as a young British lad who loves cinema, I'd love to be James Bond'

Car fan: Tom chatted to a male pal as they watched the qualifying session

Cheering them on: The actor looked engrossed in the racing as he watched from the sidelines

Speaking on their Danish reality show Bendtner & Philine, the model revealed: 'Ive downloaded Raya, and Ive just matched with Spider-Man  Tom Holland.

'He is my biggest crush. In 2018 Nicklas had a go at me because I wrote, I love you, to him, because I just love him. And now hes written to me.

'I really like Spider-Man, but think hes a bit short for me. I just Googled him, and he is 5ft 7 inches, so it might not work.

Flirty: Romance wise, Tom has reportedly matched with the Danish model Philine Roepstorff on the exclusive dating app Raya this week

She continued: 'Im a little too tall. I am 5ft 10 inches, so if I put on high heels its going to be a little weird.'

'I dont think that I have to find love on the Raya app, but I dont have a job or a college where I meet people.

'Instagram and Raya are all the places where I can connect with boys.'
Kim Kardashian showed off her assets in a plunging skintight mini-dress to pose up a storm on Instagram this week.

The 40-year-old reality TV bombshell was surrounded by a group of girlfriends she has known since she was growing up.

In the caption of her leggy Instagram post Kim declared this group of five of her friends to be her 'LIFERS.'

Longtime pals: Kim Kardsahian posed on her Instagram page this week with five girlfriends she has known since she was growing up and calls her 'LIFERS'

One of the women in the picture was Allison Statter who has known Kim since elementary school and whose mother is pals with Kris Jenner.

Another of the women was Sarah Meyer Michaelson whose father is the former NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer.

Zoe Winkler, whose father is the Happy Days actor Henry Winkler, was also one of the pals Kim included in the picture.

Kim was also joined by her old friend Simone Harouche whom she has known at least since they were in high school.

Side by side: The showbiz titan is currently in the process of divorcing her third husband Kanye West whom she married in Florence in 2014

Her babies: They have reportedly agreed on split custody of the four children they have together - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, Psalm, two

The showbiz titan is currently in the process of divorcing her third husband Kanye West whom she married in Florence in 2014.

They have reportedly agreed on split custody of the four children they have together - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, Psalm, two.

Kim recently revealed on the final season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that she is nervous of her children finding out about Kris Humphries.

Tough talk: Kim recently revealed on the final season of Keeping Up With The Kardashians that she is nervous of her children finding out about Kris Humphries

The way they were: Kris was Kim's smoldering second husband and they were infamously married for just 72 days before their separation

Kris was Kim's smoldering second husband and they were infamously married for just 72 days before their separation.

Kim brought up the subject of telling her children about Kris Humphries to Scott Disick, the father of her sister Kourtney Kardashian's children.

'That is your life, that is your past, and at some point they're going to be interested in seeing everything. They're either going to do it without us or with us,' Scott said.
Filming for the eagerly-awaited movie Luther - which follows on from the hit BBC series - will begin in September, Idris Elba has revealed.

The actor, 48, who plays the lead role in the BBC crime drama, confirmed he is 'so excited' to dive into the new project and he expects 'bolder' storylines which will span across the globe.

He said to Variety on Friday: 'We go into production, fingers crossed, in September.

Silver screen: Filming for the eagerly-awaited movie Luther - which follows on from the hit BBC series - will begin in September, Idris Elba has revealed

'I'm so excited about it, it's been a long time coming. We're very, very close to pulling the green light on production.'

Idris has been keen to take the BBC show to the silver screen for some time as he discussed the spin-off movie in an interview last year.

Speaking to reporters at the BAFTA TV Awards in July, he said: 'I've maintained that I'd like to see [Luther] come to a film. That's what I think we're headed towards, is a film. I'm looking forward to making that happen... It is happening!

'With film, the sky is the limit. You can be a little bit more bold with the storylines, and a little bit more international, and a little more up the scale. But John Luther is always going to be John Luther.'

Ready to make an impact: The actor, 48, confirmed he is 'so excited' to dive into the new project and he expects 'bolder' storylines which will span across the globe

In another interview last month, Idris confirmed once more that a Luther film is 'definitely coming', while admitting his mum still believes he will take on the role of James Bond.

The actor has been repeatedly linked with the coveted role following Daniel Craig's confirmation that he will not return following the delayed release of No Time To Die - his sixth film as Bond.

But while Idris has previously admitted his chances of becoming the next 007 are remote, his mum Eve remains quietly optimistic.

He said on Capital XTRA: 'The Luther film is definitely coming, Im very excited. For the fans that have watched five seasons of Luther, I owe it to them to take it to the next level, and thats where the film comes in.

Anticipation: He said: 'We go into production, fingers crossed, in September. I'm so excited about it, it's been a long time coming' (pictured in character as the DCI)

'I know the rumours about Bond have always chased me. Listen, my poor mum is like, one day youre going to get it! I was like, "mum, Im good, Ive got Luther". Im definitely doing that.'

Looking ahead to his latest projects, he added: 'Ive got Suicide Squad coming out this year, thats a good look. Im really excited about that. Shout out to James Garner who directed that, and his whole team.

'And then Im definitely doing more music. Ive got a tune thats coming that I think is gonna be the biggest tune of the summer  just putting it out there, just saying. And Im just having fun with the creativity.'

Speaking to Vanity Fair in 2019, Elba conceded he was not in the running to become the first black Bond in the franchise's 59 year history.

He said: 'Of course, if someone said to me "Do you want to play James Bond?", I'd be like, Yeah! That's fascinating to me.

'But it's not something I've expressed, like, Yeah, I wanna be the black James Bond.'
Emily Ratajkowski called her newborn Sylvester aka Sly her 'tiny angel,' as she enjoyed a family outing at a park in NYC on Saturday.

The 29-year-old model continued to show off her incredible post-baby body in a form fitting mini dress as she cradled the almost three-month old in a snap.

She and husband Sebastian Bear-McClard announced the birth of their son on March 8 with a caption that read that their child had joined them 'earth side.' She has yet to reveal his face on social media.

Angel baby: Emily Ratajkowski cradles her 'tiny angel,' Sylvester as she enjoys a family outing at a park in NYC on Saturday

In the photo Emily sat perched at the park in a lime green mini dress with white sneakers and stylish tortoise shell sunglasses.

She softly smiled as she held Sly over her shoulder, and looked to be gently burping her 'tiny angel' who was dressed in a onesie with blue unicorns on it.

Also present was her fur baby Colombo, and the model looked at ease to be in the company of her family on a beautiful spring weekend in the city.

And though she has continued to share glimpses of her life as a first time mom, she has yet to reveal her baby's face on social media  following the likes of Gigi Hadid.

Mom life: The model has been seen strolling around the city with Sly in recent weeks; pictured May 15

Privacy: Emily has yet to reveal Sly's face to the world following the likes of Gigi Hadid

After announcing her pregnancy through Vogue in October, she had very progressively said that they wouldn't know the baby's gender until he or she was 18.

They had a gender neutral baby shower that was space themed for their 'Bearata,' and just weeks later she welcome Sylvester, sharing that his birth was the 'most surreal, beautiful, and love-filled morning of [her] life.'

And though she may not ever share his face with the world, she has certainly been showing off her post-baby body which has garnered outrage from some fans.

In recent weeks she has been slipping her body into her Inamorata bathing suits to promote the product ahead of bikini season, but many have accused her of setting 'unrealistic standards.'

Post-baby figure: In recent weeks she has been slipping her body into her Inamorata bathing suits to promote the product ahead of bikini season, but many have accused her of setting 'unrealistic standards'

Recently Emily sold a photo of herself standing in front of a canvas with her bikini-clad image on it  a work that was appropriated by artist Richard Prince for one of his own exhibits in 2014.

She purchased the piece with an ex-boyfriend for $80K shortly after the exhibit and in trying to use it as a sort of cultural capital, made the decision to auction it off as an NFT.

The conceptual piece was sold at Christie's on May 14 as a non-fungible token  a kind of digital asset which uses blockchain technology and cryptocurrency channels for verification and ownership  and it sold for $175K after bidding began at $2K.

'The digital terrain should be a place where women can share their likeness as they choose, controlling the usage of their image and receiving whatever potential capital attached,' she said of the decision to auction the work.
Naomi Campbell turned 51 on May 22, and received birthday tributes from some old and new friends, before posting a baby picture of herself.

The famed supermodel  who announced she had welcomed her first child on Tuesday  may have gotten the early birthday gift of motherhood, but she also got well wishes from some of Hollywood's best and brightest.

Cindy Crawford and Kim Kardashian were just a few to pay to tribute to their iconic friend on her special day, as both took to social media to share some moments in time with the British-born beauty.

51 years young: Naomi Campbell celebrated 51 years around the sun on May 22 and received glowing birthday tributes from some of Hollywood's best and brightest; pictured 2019

Naomi posted a photo of herself as baby with the caption 'BLESSED AND GRATEFUL,' tagging her mom Valerie Morris-Campbell in the post.

And veteran supermodel pal Cindy Crawford led the charge on friend tributes, as she shared a photo of the two from their early modeling days backstage at a fashion show.

'Happy birthday to this beauty and new mom! Looks like you already got the best present ever!,' she wrote.

And Kim Kardashian shared a photo of the two at Diddy's 50th birthday where they sported elegant gowns, wishing her a simple 'Happy Birthday.'

'Blessed and grateful': She shared a throwback photo of her as a child with the caption 'blessed and grateful'

Old friends: Veteran supermodel pal Cindy Crawford led the charge as she shared a photo of the two from their early modeling days backstage at a fashion show

Glamorous memories: Kim shared a photo of the two at Diddy's 50th birthday where they sported elegant gowns, wishing her a simple 'Happy Birthday'

Nickname basis: Donatella revealed her nickname for the model 'Omi' in her tribute

Other tributes she received included Lionel Richie, Irina Shayk, and Donatella Versace who all had their own messages for the legendary fashion vet.

Donatella revealed her nickname for the model 'Omi' in her tribute. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Your first birthday as a mamma!! I hope you have the best day with your little angel. I love you!,' the Italian powerhouse wrote.

And Irina referred to Campbell as a 'hot mama,' while posting a photo of the two from a night out.

The crooning father of Sofia Richie also came through with a gushing message as he called her a 'trailblazer' and teased 'can't wait to see the baby'.

'You are a trailblazer on and off the runway, a true pioneer! Happy Birthday & Congrats on the very special journey of motherhood you're about to embark on...can't wait to see the baby.'

'Hot mama': Irina referred to Campbell as a 'hot mama,' while posting a photo of the two from a night out

Trailblazer: Lionel called her a 'trailblazer' and teased 'can't wait to see the baby'

And Lenny Kravitz wrote 'A new life is on the horizon. Love you sis. Xxx'

As many of the birthday tributes nodded at, Naomi confirmed she had become a first time mom just this week.

She coyly shared a photo of her hand holding two little feet and called her daughter a 'beautiful blessing.'

'A beautiful little blessing has chosen me to be her mother, So honoured to have this gentle soul in my life there are no words to describe the lifelong bond that I now share with you my angel. There is no greater love.'

A source told People that she had wanted to become a mom for over a decade. 'She's wanted a baby for a long time, more than 10 years.'

New mom: The supermodel shared that she had welcomed a baby girl on Tuesday as she called her a 'beautiful blessing'

The insider added: 'Anyone who's surprised Naomi is having a baby on her own, her own way, and on her own timetable doesn't know Naomi Campbell. Hasn't she redefined everything she's ever touched?'

Over the course of her career Naomi has enjoyed a string of relationships including an engagement to Flavio Briatore before she ended things after four years in 2002.

She had her longest relationship with Billionaire businessman Vladislav Doronin, dating him from 2008 to 2013. He filed a lawsuit against her in September 2020 after claiming she owed him money that she refused to pay back per TMZ.

After she shared her baby news this week a source at The Sun claimed she's had a secret boyfriend since 2019 who may have aided in her childbearing.

Others have speculated that she used a sperm donor or a surrogate based on her age, and she recently walked in a Michael Kors fashion show just last month where she was seen sans-bump.
Kristen Bell congratulated her eldest daughter Lincoln for her 'beautiful' performance in a play in a sweet post on Saturday.

On Instagram the 40-year-old actress shared a snap of her kissing her eight-year-old daughter's cheek after her performance, along with a photo of her husband, Dax Shepard, embracing the girl.

'Congrats LBS on your second ever play! First one via zoom! Most beautiful crab performance I've ever witnessed. We are so proud of all the work you put into it!'

Special occasion: Kristen Bell congratulated her eldest daughter, Lincoln, on completing her second play on Saturday

Bell kept it casual in her photo, as she wore a sleeveless lime green top above a slightly loose-fitting pair of blue jeans.

Her typically flowing blonde hair was pulled back into a bun for the mother-daughter photoshoot.

The actress' 46-year-old husband was pictured wearing a tank top and a pair of gray Under Armor sweat-shorts in the second photo.

In addition to Lincoln, the happy parents also share a younger daughter named Delta, aged six.

Getting in on the fun: The actress' second shot showed her husband, Dax Shepard, congratulating Lincoln on her performance

Bell and Shepard first met at a dinner party in 2007 and did not immediately hit it off with each other, although they grew closer over time.

Prior to becoming romantically involved with the Idiocracy actor, the actress was previously engaged to Kevin Mann, although they eventually broke things off.

The now-married couple went on to begin a relationship, although things between them were unstable at first, and they separated for a few months before reconciling during the early years of their time together.

In 2009, the two costarred in the romantic comedy film When In Rome, and they went on to announce their engagement the following year.

Going strong: Bell and Shepard first met in 2007 and were initially apprehensive towards each other; they are pictured at the 76th Annual Golden Globe Awards in 2019

Moving fast: After costarring in 2009's When In Rome, the two announced their engagement the following year; they are seen in 2019

The pair waited until 2013, when same-sex marriage was legalized in California, to tie the knot, and they welcomed Lincoln the same year.

Bell and Shepard added Delta to their family in 2014, and they have been sporadically seen in each other's projects ever since then.

The actress spoke about her relationship with her children during an interview with Self, where she expressed that she takes special care to remind them about the privilege they were raised with.

Adding to the mix: The couple welcomed their youngest daughter, Delta, a year after they tied the knot in 2013

She noted, 'I say to [my kids] all the time, "I'm not saying you can't complain. You're allowed to have any feeling you want...But when you're done, I just need you to remember, we have the luckiest life you have ever heard of."'

The performer also spoke about her marriage to Shepard during the sit-down and expressed that they are constantly working to improve their relationship.

Specifically, Bell expressed that 'relationships aren't a puzzle. You cannot pick them up and put them down.'
She recently landed in Mexico for a getaway with her twin sister Jess.

And Eve Gale set pulses racing as she took to Instagram to post a sizzling snap in a baby blue bikini on Saturday.

The Love Island star, 22, flaunted her famous curves as she posed on her knees for the camera in the skimpy swimwear.

Sizzling snap: Eve Gale set pulses racing as she took to Instagram to post a sizzling snap in a baby blue bikini in Mexico on Saturday

The blonde bombshell accentuated her assets in the plunging aqua bikini and looked coyly to the left for the sizzling snap.

She paired the swimwear with a stylish long-sleeved mesh marble-print top, which rode up above her chest as she sat on her heels in front of the ocean.

Eve looked glamorous in the seaside snap and donned a full face of makeup for her day at the beach, including lashings of lipgloss and eyelash extensions.

The reality star showed off her derriere in the blue thong swimwear and flaunted her enviable golden tan.

Eye-popping: The reality star showed off her derriere in the blue thong swimwear and flaunted her famous curves as she posed on her knees

Eve's Mexico holiday comes after she and Jess recently returned to the UK following their 'work trip' to the UAE.

The TV twins were just two of many celebrities who jetted to Dubai throughout the pandemic.

They joined many other Love Islanders including Joanna Chimonides, Hayley Hughes and Francesca Allen.

After Dubai joined UK's travel ban list, celebrities then began flocking to Mexico's bars and beaches as it established itself as the next COVID getaway destination.

Many stars insisted their trips were for 'work purposes' after criticism from Home Secretary Priti Patel.

Twin trip: Their Mexico holiday comes after Jess and Eve recently returned to the UK following their 'work trip' to the UAE

Several influencers were forced to hit back at fans after they were criticised for jetting off on holiday during the global pandemic.

Jess and Eve rose to fame on the first ever series of winter Love Island back in 2020.

While Eve was booted off after less than a week, Jess made it to the final with Ched Uzor - with the pair going their separate ways shortly afterwards.
Andrew O'Keefe has sold his apartment in Sydney's Paddington for $731,000 at its scheduled auction.

The Channel Seven star, 49, managed to secure a buyer for the property, which had been collecting $590-a-week in rent.

The Art Deco flat, which is located in a boutique building of 12 apartments, boasts two bedrooms and a recently renovated bathroom.

It's a deal! TV star Andrew O'Keefe, 49, (pictured) has sold his Paddington apartment for $731,000 at auction after his rehab stint following alleged assault of his doctor ex-girlfriend

The space features hardwood floors, and is described as having 'light filled' open dining and living spaces.

There is also plenty of storage as the bedrooms include built-in wardrobes, and there is additionally a large linen cupboard.

The sale comes after the axed Chase host was accused of assaulting his girlfriend Orly Lavee in Kangaroo Valley, south of Sydney, on January 20.

Investment property: The Channel Seven star managed to secure a buyer for the property, which had been collecting $590-a-week in rent

The assault occurred just after 6.30am that Wednesday, police say.

O'Keefe was arrested in the early hours of the morning on January 31 in Randwick after what is alleged to have been a night of escalating violence against Ms Lavee, a haematologist.

He has already indicated guilty pleas to two charges - a common assault, then an assault occasioning actual bodily harm - over the Randwick incident.

Modern: The space features hardwood floors, and is described as having 'light filled' open dining and living spaces

The new charge was mentioned at Waverley Local Court in April.

O'Keefe was excused from appearing because he was an in-patient at the Sydney Clinic, a private mental health hospital, magistrate Ross Hudson said.

The former Weekend Sunrise host hasn't entered a plea on the fresh charge.

His case is due back at Waverley Local Court on June 25 for an application for it to be dealt with under mental health legislation.

Fresh: The chic kitchen includes stainless steel appliances

A domestic violence order protecting Ms Lavee will remain in place until at least that date.

O'Keefe's lawyer told the court in February he had been an involuntary in-patient at Prince of Wales Hospital since his January 31 arrest.

The star broke his silence to Daily Mail Australia in February, declaring 'all is well' after 'experimenting with mental health drugs' during his stay in the facility.

'I decided to do some time just to bed things down. I had some experimentation with the mental health drugs, the regimen, and all is well,' he said.

Charges: The sale comes after the axed host of The Chase was accused of assaulting his girlfriend Orly Lavee (left)

'I spent some time in the Sydney Clinic (in the Eastern beaches) and all is well.'

The Sydney Clinic has previously hosted a who's who of celebrities including Olympian Grant Hackett and footy player Greg Inglis.

The star and his wife Eleanor divorced in 2019 and he made headlines that year for swatting a photographer away with a folder.

Seven confirmed that his The Chase contract wasn't renewed at the end of last year and O'Keefe is 'no longer with the network'.

For confidential crisis support, contact Lifeline on 13 11 14. For domestic violence support, call 1800 RESPECT. Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467
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Courtesy of Jeanne Menjoulet



By David A. Tizzard




Seattle, WA (98195)

Today

Periods of rain. High 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Considerable cloudiness with occasional rain showers. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
ATLANTA (AP)  When voters in Florida and Georgia want to vote by mail in next years races for governor, they will have to make sure they take one more step to ensure they receive a ballot: providing their identification.

Just two states had ID requirements in 2020 for voters requesting a mailed ballot. This year, Republicans across the country have zeroed in on mail voting and enacted new limits on a process that exploded in popularity during the coronavirus pandemic.

In addition to Florida and Georgia, legislation to require additional identification for mail voting was introduced in Arizona, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, South Carolina and Texas, according to information compiled by the Voting Rights Lab, which advocates for expanded voter access.

Republicans, seizing on false claims by former President Donald Trump of widespread fraud in last year's White House election, say identification is needed for mailed ballots to deter fraud and improve confidence in elections. There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election. Courts rejected multiple claims by Trump and his allies, a coalition of federal, state and local election officials called it the most secure election in U.S. history, and Trumps own attorney general said he had seen nothing that would change the outcome.

Critics say adding ID requirements to request a mailed ballot is not only unnecessary but creates one more opportunity for voters to make a mistake that could leave them unable to vote absentee. Identification, they say, is already required when registering to vote and when voting in person for the first time.

When ID also is required to cast a mailed ballot, as is now the case in Georgia, critics say it will only result in more ballots being rejected. It also is expected to disproportionally affect poor, minority and college-age voters -- groups more likely not to have an ID or to have one with a different address.

Every additional requirement you add will lead to more ballot rejections, people who inadvertently fail to comply or dont comply correctly with those requirements, said Wendy Weiser, director of the democracy program at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYUs School of Law, which supports expanded voter access.

A Republican proposal in Michigan has drawn particular concern from Democrats because it would require voters to submit a printed copy of their ID when requesting a mailed ballot. Although the states governor, a Democrat, is likely to veto any voting restriction, the state has a unique process that could allow this and other voting bills to become law if enough citizens petition for it and the GOP-controlled Legislature passes it.

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, has pushed back against GOP claims that IDs are more secure than the current process, which relies on matching a voter's signature on ballot applications or return envelopes to the signature on file at the election office.

There is no evidence this change reduces or deters fraud, Benson said. It actually makes it harder to detect fraud because those seeking to fraudulently request an absentee ballot need only to submit a copy of a fake ID to do so, whereas its much more difficult to forge a signature.

The Michigan Senate's majority leader, Republican Mike Shirkey, has said voters favor ID requirements and that it was important to ensure registered voters are Michigan residents. The best way to do that is through a state-issued ID, he said.

Benson noted that 130,000 of some 7 million registered voters in Michigan dont have a state ID or drivers license. Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, a Democrat, said that one-quarter of Black residents in his city dont own a car and many dont have printers at home.

If your family has got a car, has got a personal computer, has got a printer copier at home, these bills are not so bad, Duggan said. This is what is wrong: They have constructed a series of bills that a poorer family without computers, without a car, has a far harder time voting than the other families. This is voter suppression at its core.

Voter ID requirements have long been a flashpoint in the battle over voting, with past efforts focused on rules surrounding in-person voting. As of 2020, 36 states had ID requirements for voting at polling places, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Most allow a wide range of nonphoto identification such as a bank or utility statement. Many states allow voters to sign an affidavit under penalty of perjury that they are who they say they are.

Democrats have said they are not opposed to ID requirements as long as multiple forms of identification are accepted and there is an option for voters to sign an affidavit should they not have an ID or forget to bring it to the polls. Federal legislation being pushed this year by Democrats in Congress would make an affidavit mandatory in any state with a voter ID law.

Whats new this year are the additional ID requirements to request or submit mailed ballots. Previously, only Alabama and Wisconsin required identification to request a mailed ballot.

Under a recently signed law, Florida voters will have to provide their drivers license number, state ID number or last four digits of their Social Security number to request a mailed ballot. In South Dakota, those seeking to vote by mail must submit a copy of a photo ID or a notarized oath.

Georgia's new elections law requires voters to provide their name, date of birth, address and drivers license or state ID card number when requesting an absentee ballot and when returning it.

Georgia state Sen. Brian Strickland, a Republican whose district is south of Atlanta, told reporters last month that the goal of the requirement was to move away from having to rely on local election officials to match voter signatures on file to applications and ballots, which he described as not a workable process.

This was a big complaint we heard from both sides, Strickland said.

Georgia's secretary of state, Republican Brad Raffensperger, said he has long supported an ID requirement. He said he has faced lawsuits from both Democrats and Republicans over signature matching, and said the process is subjective.

"When you go to photo ID, its very objective, he said.

In response to challenges by Democrats, legal settlements in several states have assured voters they will have an opportunity to fix problems that arise with a missing or mismatched signature.

The Georgia law already is facing multiple court challenges, including one claiming the ID requirement creates the potential for fraud and identity theft. The required personal identification information can be easily stolen, creating the possibility for ballots to be requested and cast using voters names and information without their knowledge, according to a federal lawsuit filed by a group of county election board members, voters and others.

Georgia state Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democrat who represents a metro Atlanta district, said the legislation was built on lies spread by Trump and his allies and will end up harming voters.

At the end of the day, we cant ignore the origins of the bill, the intent behind it and how a lot of these new provisions can be used to invalidate the will of the voter, Jordan said.

___

Associated Press writers Kate Brumback in Atlanta and David Eggert in Lansing, Michigan, contributed to this report.
In 2019, my definition of racism revolved around groups such as the Ku-Klux-Klan and their persistent attempts to alienate non-white races. Now, in 2021, I can name hundreds of instances of racism in the world and in my community. There wasnt an uptick in the amount of murders targeted at people of color. However, there was a simple shift in the media  racist crimes committed now had the worlds attention.

We cried silent tears as George Floyd was suffocated to death and watched with bated breath as Derek Chauvin was deemed guilty on three charges. Though Floyds life can never be revived, we can at least go to sleep knowing his murderer is facing several criminal charges.

The Black Lives Matter movement began in July 2013, but it wasnt widely publicized in the media until last year. Now reference to the movement is strewn across social media like confetti, from TikTok stars to nonprofit groups. Thats great and all, but why were we so unaware of the evil that already existed in our world before 2020? This injustice was right under our noses but most of us didnt recognize it because it didnt affect us on a daily basis.

The good thing is that, due to recent events, most of us have realized that racism does exist in our everyday lives. This raises the question  what can we do to solve the issue of racism? While racism cannot be completely eradicated, there are several steps we can take to ensure that we keep this systemic issue at bay.

1. We can educate ourselves.

We will first have to eliminate the preexisting biases in our mind relating to race. This includes implicit bias and stereotypes that have been marinating in our mind for years. It wont be all smooth sailing; to achieve this, we must recognize what our biases are and work to detach them from our mind. It doesnt help that certain forms of media steer us in another direction. According to Dr. Travis L. Dixon, who specializes in investigating the prevalence of stereotypes in the mass media, Black families represent 59 percent of the poor portrayed in the media, but account for just 27 percent of Americans in poverty. For young and impressionable minds, this could cause their line of thinking to be inaccurate or stereotypical.

2. We can stop making assumptions.

Im Asian-American, of Indian descent, and a common stereotype relating to people from my country is that we are smart and especially good at math. That is a backhanded compliment, though it may not seem like it on the surface. Compliments and insults are seen as polar opposites, but there is a gray line between them that can be crossed. Previously, when I received a comment along these lines, I would feign enthusiasm and smile. Although a comment like this isnt on the same level as murder or physical brutality, if it intensifies a few notches, it can reach that point. The reason that this comment worries me so much is that people are slowly connecting races to certain attributes. White to rich. Asian to smart. African-American to poor. If we keep up this inaction and keep making assumptions, our nation wont move forward.

3. Teach others about this issue and talk about racism.

On April 30, I presented to Eastern Middle School (my school), along with a friend from Central Middle School named Nicole Naidoo, about my personal experiences combating racism and our ideas to solve this threat to our community. We made a presentation, and shared it live with our whole grade. We explained the difference between empathy and sympathy, and how we should strive to be empathetic and act on the racist matters within our community. In addition, we interviewed a collection of students from all three public middle schools in Greenwich to showcase their opinions about racism and its relevance in our society. We thought that if there were other students perspectives, it would be more engaging and interesting for our classmates. This was a result of me writing an article about microaggressions I face on a daily basis in March.

I understand racism is a sensitive topic, and one that many people disagree on. Although its hard, if we erase the taboo surrounding racism and have brave conversations about whats going on, it will help us succeed in removing our universal biases. I hope that soon, our community wont need educating about these issues, but that we are taking tangible steps toward eliminating racism in our world!

Shreya Prabhu is an eighth-grader at Eastern Middle School in Greenwich.
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There have been numerous complaints since March this year about crematoria collecting huge amounts, sometimes ranging from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh, for cremating those who die after contracting Coronavirus. (Representational Photo: PTI)

HYDERABAD: It took Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Raos admonishment for Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) officials to finally issue instructions to graveyards about collecting only the stipulated user charges from families for performing the last rites of their dead, whether the cause of death is Covid-19 or otherwise.

There have been numerous complaints since March this year about crematoria collecting huge amounts, sometimes ranging from Rs 80,000 to Rs 1.2 lakh, for cremating those who die after contracting Coronavirus.

Families felt this was atrocious, particularly after they have already paid huge amounts to hospitals while trying to save their kin. Numerous complaints had been lodge through various platforms but GHMC officials remained oblivious to what is happening.

It all changed after the Chief Minister held a review meeting on Friday after visiting the MGM Hospital in Warangal. At the meeting, he pulled up officials of GHMC, including commissioner Lokesh Kumar, as well as those of municipal administration and urban development (MA&UD) department over the state of affairs. The Chief Minister instructed them to act immediately and regulate user charges at graveyards and crematoriums.

This led to a cascading effect, with GHMC zonal commissioners asked to inspect graveyards and crematoriums and ensure that user charges are being collected as per norms. Zonal commissioners have carried out inspections and posed for a few pictures too at the crematoriums.

However, Deccan Chronicle has found that user charges at all major crematoriums and graveyards remained the same on Saturday too, with no relief to kin of the deceased.

Commenting on the issue, a senior GHMC official, requesting anonymity, said government has fixed cremation rates as Rs 8,000 for cremating a dead body on wooden pyre and Rs 4,000 in case they are disposed of in electric crematoriums. User charges will be the same whether bodies are of Covid-19 or non-Covid-19 deceased. However, if the body is that of a Coronavirus patient, crematoria staff will have to follow the Covid-19 protocol of hand hygiene and using PPEs while handling bodies.

The official said if managements of graveyards and crematoriums collect any additional charges, corporation officials would book criminal cases against such people.
The universities have been functioning without VCs for nearly two years after they retired in July 2019. (DC file image)

HYDERABAD: Universities in Telangana state finally got Vice-Chancellors (VCs) after nearly two years. The state government on Saturday issued orders appointing VCs for 10 state universities.

The orders were issued after Governor and Chancellor of Universities, Dr Tamilisai Soundararajan gave her nod on Saturday to the names referred by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for approval.

Only one woman figures in the list of VCs. While six from OC category made it to the selection list, there are two from BCs and one each from SC and ST categories. The Vice-Chancellors of Osmania and Kakatiya universities belong to the BC communities, Satavahana University belong to the SC Mala community and Palamuru University to the ST community.

The universities have been functioning without VCs for nearly two years after they retired in July 2019 and the state government failing to take up appointments due to various reasons.

The search committees constituted on the instructions of the Chief Minister undertook the process in tune with the UGC guidelines and recommended the names. "Though there was some delay due to the Corona pandemic, the names were finalised and sent to the Governor for approval. The Governor gave her assent to the appointments on Saturday," said a release issued by the CMO.

New VCs appointed to various varsities

Osmania University: Prof. D. Ravinder Yadav

Kakatiya University: Prof. T. Ramesh

Telangana University (Nizamabad): Prof. D. Ravinder

Dr B R Ambedkar Open University (Hyderabad): Prof. Sitarama Rao

Potti Sriramulu Telugu University (Hyderabad): Prof. T. Kishan Rao

Palamuru University (Mahbubnagar): Prof. Laxmikanth Rathode

Mahatma Gandhi University (Nalgonda): Prof. Ch Gopal Reddy

Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University: Prof. Katta

Narsimha Reddy

Satavahana university, Karimnagar: Prof. Mallesham

Jawaharlal Nehru Architecture and Fine Arts University: Kavita Daryani
Swarthmore, PA (19081)

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Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low near 60F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

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Showers early, then cloudy overnight. Low near 60F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
A vial of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine / AFP-Yonhap



Samsung Biologics, a South Korean biopharmaceutical firm, signed a deal Saturday to manufacture Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine at its local factory.



Under the agreement, Samsung will provide the U.S. drugmaker with contract manufacturing organization (CMO) services for its mRNA vaccine. It means that some of the Moderna vaccine would be produced in South Korea.



The two sides signed the contract during a South Korea-U.S. vaccine partnership event held in Washington, D.C., with President Moon Jae in attendance.



The deal is expected to contribute to the stable and speedy supply of the Moderna vaccine in South Korea, according to Moon's office, Cheong Wa Dae.






CRIME

Former Delco man gets slammer for child-porn offenses
A number of events will be held in Derry next week to mark the first anniversary of the death of George Floyd.

Mr Floyd, a 46 -year-old black man, died on May 25 last year while being restrained by a police officer Derek Chauvin.

His death sparked worldwide protests in support of the Black Lives Matter campaign.

Chauvin was recently found guilty of second-degree murder and is awaiting sentenced.

The North West Migrants Forum (NWMF) is marking the first anniversary of Mrs Floyd's death with a series of events in Derry.

The event schedule includes the launch of an online book of remembrance and an online memorial service that is taking place on May 25 from 7.30pm to 9pm.

The service will be live-streamed through the NWMF Facebook page.

Confirmed guest speakers for the memorial service include: Bishop of Derry Donal McKeown; Dr Umar Al-Qadir, chair of the Irish Muslim Peace and Integration Council; Colum Eastwood, leader of the SDLP; and Brian Tierney, Mayor of Derry City and Strabane District Council.

NWMF is also asking members of the public to light a candle at 9.25pm after the online memorial service and display it on their windows in memory of Mr Floyd.

They are then encouraged to share a photo of their candle on social media, tagging the NWMF and using the hashtag #uniteaganistracism.

Lilian Seenoi-Barr, Director of Programmes at the North West Migrants Forum, said: Its hard to believe that it has been a year since the brutal murder of George Floyd in America, a tragedy that should never have happened.

We must continue to work together to stamp out racism and hold accountable the structures and systems that have allowed such heinous acts to continue to occur.

This includes the PSNI and the NI executive just as much as the powers that be in USA. So let us connect, unite and be the change that we want to see within our communities, towns and cities."
Sohum Shah Opens Up About Tumbbad 2, Reveals He Is Making A Horror Anthology

Actor-producer Sohum Shah, known for films like "Tumbbad" and "Ship of Theseus", said his next project is a horror anthology of ten movies. The actor, who was recently seen in Abhishek Bachchan-starrer "The Big Bull", will also feature in the untitled anthology, which has so far completed shoot on three films.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Sohum Shah (@shah_sohum)

"I am making an anthology of ten films. It is a horror. We are making it for OTT but no platform has been locked yet. Of the ten films, we have shot three of them; the remaining are yet to be shot. Things have got stuck because of the lockdown," Shah told PTI.

The actor, who will produce the anthology through his company Recyclewala Films, is simultaneously working on two web series.

"The first is a sci-fi-comedy series and it has an interesting story. There is also a series based on Bihar and it is again a comedy. Besides these two projects, we are also working on few films," he added.

When asked about the sequel to his 2018 critically-acclaimed film "Tumbbad", Shah said there are a few ideas for the follow-up but the team is yet to begin work on the script. The mythological horror film, directed by Rahi Anil Barve, featured Shah as a man in search of a hidden treasure in the 20th century British India village of Tumbbad, Maharashtra.

"I believe in destiny. When we were making 'Tumbbad' we thought we would make it in 2012 and had planned to release it in April 2013. But it took seven years to make. 'Tumbbad 2' will have its own destiny. It will be made only when it is destined to. We have three-four ideas but nothing concrete for developing the script," Shah said.

The actor, who hails from Rajasthan, is currently awaiting the release of his web series "Maharani", headlined by Huma Qureshi. Directed by Subhash Kapoor, the political drama is set in 1990's Bihar and will feature Shah as a politician. Also starring Amit Sial, Kani Kusruti, and Vineet Kumar, the show will start streaming on SonyLIV from May 28.
Douglasville, GA (30134)

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Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

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Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Duncan, OK (73533)

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Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SE at 15 to 25 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Louth Fianna Fail Senator Erin McGreehan is calling for a ban on the import of honeybees to prevent the importation of diseases and parasites.

The Senator made her calls on International Bee Day on Thursday.

Senator McGreehan said: International Bee Day calls for the protection of bees, it aims to highlight the integral role that bees play in our ecosystem.

"The greatest contribution of bees and other pollinators is that they pollinate nearly three quarters of the plants that produce 90% of the world's food.

A third of the world's food production depends on bees, so we owe a lot to that little bee.

"We all agree that this micro species existence is reliant on its environment around them.

"It has taken billions of years for them to adapt to their environment. This is why native bees need native flora to thrive.

I have been asking the Department of Agriculture to ban the import of honeybees to prevent the importation of diseases and parasites.

"One of these is the Small Hive Beetle that quickly colonises and destroys a honeybee colony. It is integral that we protect our native bee who has perfectly adapted to our environment where they will thrive.

The Senator explained that the locally adapted honeybees have long been known by experienced beekeepers to consistently perform better than exotic imports.

This was confirmed in 2014 with the publishing of a substantial Europe-wide study aimed to identify how to optimise sustainable productivity.

Senator McGreehan added:  The experts in this area, the bee keepers, both north and south, wish to stop the import - taking into consideration our All-Ireland Pollinator plan we should be progressing with banning the import of honeybees to protect the integrity of the native Irish bee.


DaVita Inc. (Brentwood, TN) seeks a Senior ECM Developer (job code KBBWT12120-2) to develop/support complex/complicated software solutions/systems across a broad spectrum of business processes directly supporting Kidney Care activities in areas of Patient Care and/or Revenue Operations. Resp. for developing/supporting custom ECM solutions, through configuration/customization of software applications and creation/maintenance of custom applications or utilities. Reqs: Min of a Bachelors degree or foreign equiv. in Electronics Eng. or Computer Eng. or related field & 5 yrs. of exp. in the job or performing similar job duties. Mail resume W/job code & Title to Andrea Koivisto, Group Recruiting Manager, 3 W. Hawthorn Pkwy, Suite 410, Vernon Hills, IL 60061-1446.

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Funding has been made available to improve rural roads and laneways in Louth.

The Government has allocated 270,000 for the upgrade of rural roads and laneways in the county.

It is part of 10.5 million funding for repairs and improvement works on non-public roads in rural communities across the country, announced by the Minister for Rural and Community Development Heather Humphreys last Friday.

The funding, announced under the Local Improvement Scheme, will improve access to rural homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers, mountains and beaches.

Louth Fine Gael Senator welcomed the announcement saying: "This is great news for local communities in County Louth, as the funding announced under the Local Improvement Scheme will improve access to rural homes and farms, as well as outdoor amenities such as lakes, rivers, mountains and beaches.

The focus of the scheme, which is part of the Government's Our Rural Future project, is to support the continued improvement of rural roads and laneways in County Louth that are not normally maintained by local authorities, but which represent a vital piece of infrastructure for rural residents.

Since the scheme was re-introduced in 2017, almost 2,400 roads have been funded for repair works across the country.

"This has made a real difference to the lives of over 10,000 landowners and residents in rural Ireland.

Minister Humphreys said: I know there is a significant demand for funding under the Local Improvement Scheme right across the country.

"That is why I am announcing increased funding for every county under the scheme; however, I am acutely aware that more is needed.

"I am working to identify if additional funding can be provided for LIS in 2021 and I would therefore urge each local authority to utilise the funding announced and complete the repair works on the selected roads, as soon as possible.
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Claremont, NH (03743)

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Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

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Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 53F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
Artist Robert Seaman holds up the 365th daily doodle sketch in his room at an assisted living facility Monday, May 10, 2021, in Westmoreland, N.H. Seaman, who moved into the facility weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown his outside world in 2020, recently completed his 365th daily sketch, or what he calls his Covid Doodles, since being isolated due to the virus outbreak.
Vehicles wait in lines along the perimeter of the Sheetz in Raleigh, N.C., as a tanker truck finishes delivering a 9000 gallon load of fuel Thursday, May 13, 2021. Operators of the Colonial Pipeline say they began the process of moving fuel through the pipeline again on Wednesday, six days after it was shut down because of a cyberattack.


HR Manager Department: Operations Location: Bellingham, WA Employment type: Full-time/exempt Professional Level: Subject Matter Expert/Managerial Salary Range: $57K-$71K About the Operations Team: The Operations team is all about keeping the Non-GMO Project plane flying. From recruiting to internal policy, finance to legal, business intelligence to facility management, everything we do comes from the belief that the wellbeing of our people matters, the integrity of our systems is critical, and the health and vibrancy of our workplace culture is paramount. We are number crunchers, strategic organizers, team builders, human resource facilitators, talent seekers, question askers, party planners, and information analysts. If youre interested in working with a team of service-minded individuals who can juggle competing priorities, spearhead process improvements and facilitate fluid, behind the scenes staff support, then the Operations team is for you. About the Non-GMO Project The Non-GMO Project is a non-profit organization offering rigorous product verification and trustworthy education that empowers people to care for themselves, the planet and future generations. The work culture at the Project is informed by our values. Were passionate about what were doing as an organization, but also about who were being and becoming through our everyday actions. We endeavor to be open-hearted collaborators, creatively and intelligently impacting the world we live in with our individual and collective choices. As an equal opportunity employer, the Non-GMO Project embraces the pursuit of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of our work as critical to our mission. We do not discriminate against any employee or applicant on the basis of race, national origin, color, gender (including gender identity), sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, family, marital or parental status, religious affiliation, creed, the presence of any physical, mental or sensory impairment, immigrant status, age, personal appearance, veteran status or any other protected class in accordance with all applicable federal, state and local laws. We collectively uphold this commitment. What Youll Do In this position, youll be responsible for representing our values and mission-aligned culture to new and existing staff. Growth and development are at the core of what we do and this role will help continue to bring shape to development pathways and performance management processes. The ideal candidate enjoys making people feel welcome and supported, is a diplomatic and discretionary problem solver, and has a demonstrated ability to coordinate competing priorities and deadlines. This is a great opportunity if you are passionate about our mission and want to make a significant contribution to the way we shape and maintain our staff support systems and work culture. Demonstrate our behavioral values in action, serving as a cultural ambassador on behalf of the HR/Ops team

Support the delivery of our org wide Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion initiatives

Support the Director of Operations in executing on strategically significant HR needs

Annually update the Employee Handbook

Assist in the development and implementation of policies and procedures to support the internal ecosystem of the organization

Oversee the Recruiting Coordinator role, including ensuring the successful delivery of full-cycle recruiting, orientation and onboarding of new staff

Support the design and delivery of our total rewards program, including assisting with annual benefit open enrollment, working with outside benefit vendors and analyzing trends in compensation and benefits

Oversee the successful delivery of staff events, collaborate on staff engagement and appreciation initiatives

Track and report out employee engagement metrics

Maintain HRIS system and employee records

Refine, implement and maintain internal learning and development programs

Play an active role in designing and implementing the next iteration of our performance management process, including facilitating annual salary review calendar

Ensure compliance with federal and state employment law

Serve as the point person for resolution management, including termination and investigation Who You Are The ideal candidate for this role is: Experienced in or excited about a Learning Organization culture

Aligned with and commitment to Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion as a guiding HR principle Service-minded and relationship-focused

Committed to learning and growing in service of the mission of the Non-GMO Project

Able to manage multiple, competing tasks while meeting deadlines

Comfortable with change management and an agile approach towards day to day work and strategy

A diplomatic problem-solver

Competent handling confidential or sensitive information with sound judgment and discretion

Trustworthy, reliable and organized

Excellent at written and oral communication skills

Able to work on-site in Bellingham, WA at least 2 days a week Experience You Bring We appreciate and recognize a broad range of professional and educational experience, and we also place a lot of value on lived experience and passion for what we do. We encourage applicants to speak to experience in cover letters so we can get to know you as best we can during the application process. 5+ years of professional experience in human resources or relevant administrative positions

Familiar with Microsoft Office Suite, Adobe Acrobat, Google Drive, Smartsheets, Quickbooks, or a demonstrated ability to learn new software and systems

Management of HRIS systems

Recruiting/talent acquisition experience or exposure

Change Management skills Current Benefit Package Health, vision, and dental insurance (80% of employee premiums covered for HSA and PPO Plans, 100% of employee premium paid for HSA plan)

Paid time off: 10 paid holidays, your birthday, 8 care days, paid vacation starting at 10 days and accruing up to 25 days a year

$1500/year employee training & development budget

401k Retirement Option

Annual Variable Pay (per person bonus)

$30 Monthly Commuter/WFH benefit

Flexible schedule and semi-remote work arrangements About Your Application To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume. Your cover letter should address your interest in working with the Non-GMO Project and any particular skills or strengths you feel would qualify you for this role. We are committed to reviewing your application, and hold ourselves accountable to creating an equitable process for each candidate. Please note, our office is currently closed and our employees are working remotely due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, all applicants should be prepared to work on-site in our Bellingham office at least 2 days a week upon our eventual office reopening. Reasonable Accommodations Please reach out to accommodations@nongmoproject.org for specific accommodation requests

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North Andover, MA (01845)

Today

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
North Andover, MA (01845)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

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Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.


Senior Software Engineer - Maps Service (Places Team) Santa Clara Valley (Cupertino) , California , United States Software and Services Summary

Posted: May 20, 2021 Weekly Hours: 40 Role Number: 200247022 Are you passionate about building software that will be used by millions of people worldwide? Are you passionate about devising simple, elegant solutions to complex technical problems? Then we are looking for you! Maps Places is a core service powering several features across the Apple ecosystem, including Maps, Siri, Photos and Wallet. We collaborate with product, design, data and client teams to build features for users. We also develop the platform to support these features, including Hadoop/Spark data build pipelines, Kafka streaming, high volume low latency serving stack, a high performant distributed data layer. Key Qualifications 7+ years of experience in software development in Java.

Experience in building high volume, low latency, scalable distributed systems.

Experience with one of more of java multi-threading / async programming / messaging, stream processing / big data technologies.

Experience leading software design and architecture.

Excellent communication skills and a strong desire to work with both technical and non-technical audiences. Description As a member of this team you will be contributing to both the platform and the product. You will have opportunities to shape the next new feature in Maps, and to innovate on the platform/infrastructure to build elegant solutions in distributed systems. You will work with an extraordinary team of engineers across several teams to build solutions that work seamlessly across the entire Apple ecosystem. The work environment is fast-paced and dynamic, but with a good work-life balance. Education & Experience BS / MS in Computer Science or equivalent work experience.


Washington, MO (63090)

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A few clouds with an isolated thunderstorm possible after midnight. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

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A few clouds with an isolated thunderstorm possible after midnight. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Athens, AL (35611)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

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Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Companies are learning first-hand about the challenges of building quiet supersonic jets. Both Florida Today and CNBC report that Aerion Supersonic is suddenly shutting down. The would-be maker of quiet supersonic business aircraft said it had trouble securing funding in the "current financial environment" and was going through the "appropriate steps" in light of the situation.

The company had focused its attention on the AS2, billed as the first privately-designed supersonic business jet. It was meant to cruise at speeds over 1,000MPH without the sonic booms and cabin noise that plagued aircraft like the Concorde. It was supposed to fly by 2024 and enter service by 2026. Aerion had a number of high-profile partners, including Boeing and GE, and garnered praise from Florida's governor when it unveiled plans to build a factory at the Orlando Melbourne International Airport.

Aerion didn't say what would happen to the company's assets following the shutdown. The company had been touting new developments as recently as late April.

This isn't the end to private supersonic air travel. Boom Supersonic is still developing its Overture airliner with hopes of passenger flights by 2029.

However, it's also not a surprising outcome. Aircraft design is expensive by nature, and that's particularly true for cutting-edge technology like this  Aerion said it would take $4 billion to develop AS2. And while the COVID-19 pandemic appears to be easing, air travel is far from a certain investment between public reluctance and companies that increasingly work from home. The audience for these jets just isn't as large as it was a couple of years ago, and it might not be for a while to come.
Air India just suffered one of the larger (though not largest) airline data breaches in recent memory. The Times of India reports Air India has revealed that a breach compromised about 4.5 million passengers whose data was registered at system provider SITA between August 2011 and late February 2021. The intruders couldn't obtain passwords, but they had access to names, contact info, tickets and frequent flyer info (including for Star Alliance).

The perpetrators also had access to credit card info, although the usefulness of that data might be limited as the CVV/CVC numbers weren't included.

The airline said it first learned of the incident on February 25th (and issued a warning on March 19th), but that it only learned the identities of affected passengers on March 25th and May 4th. It was already investigating the breach and had locked down the affected servers, including resetting passwords for its frequent flyer program.

It's not clear who was responsible for the breach. However, the damage isn't limited to one airline. STIA told BleepingComputer in a statement that customers from several airlines were victims, including travelers who flew with Air New Zealand, Cathay Pacific, Finnair, Jeju Air, Lufthansa, Malaysia Airlines, SAS and Singapore Airlines. While this isn't as large as the 2018 Cathay Pacific breach that touched up to 9.4 million customers, the repercussions could be felt worldwide for a while to come.
Friday was the last day of testimony in the trial between Epic and Apple, and it featured the most anticipated person to take the stand  Apple CEO Tim Cook. Karissa Bell covered all the important details, including some very pointed questions from US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, focusing on the often-rocky relationship Apple has with third-party developers.

Epic Games

If you were hoping to find out secrets about its business, then theres not a lot to work with, but it is worth hearing what Apples leader has to say under oath about free apps, China and Google. For a more surprising revelation, try this Xbox OG Easter Egg that stayed hidden for 20 years .

 Richard Lawler

The White House has teamed up with Tinder, OkCupid and seven other dating sites.

Well, now your weekend plans are sorted.

Continue reading.

$100 off Apple's Mac Mini M1 and more.

Apple

The Mac Mini M1 returned to a record-low price while some of the latest gadgets from Roku, including the Streambar and the Roku Ultra , were deeply discounted. Also, Apple's new, colorful iMac got a $40 discount on Amazon while Jabra's excellent Elite 85t wireless earbuds returned to an all-time low .

Here are all the best deals from the week that you can still snag today, and remember to follow @EngadgetDeals on Twitter for more updates.

Continue reading.

Tesla racked up 250k Cybertruck pre-orders in five days in 2019.

Ford

On Wednesday night Ford revealed its first electric truck, and CEO Jim Farley says over 45,000 people pre-ordered one within the first 48 hours of availability. The F-150 Lightning boasts up to 563 horsepower and 775 lb.-ft. of torque, as well as fast charging. Ford is aiming for an EPA-estimated range of 230 miles as standard and 300 miles with the extended model.

Continue reading.

All about Google I/O and Apple's M1 iPad Pro/iMac

This week, Cherlynn and Devindra chat with Senior Mobile Editor Chris Velazco about the slew of news from Google I/O , including the new Material You design and Googles team-up with Samsung in smartwatches . Also, Chris tells us why he thinks the iPad Pro is one of the best devices Apple has ever made (its just too bad the software cant keep up). And Devindra explains why the new iMac M1 is actually a radical portable desktop .

Listen on Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Spotify , Pocket Casts or Stitcher .

Continue reading.

Meet the portable desktop.

Engadget / Devindra Hardawar

Now that Apple has plugged its M1 processor into an all-in-one desktop computer, the new iMac is thinner and lighter than ever before. Devindra Hardawar found it makes for an ideal family PC, with quick switching enabled by Touch ID, fast performance, an impressive 24-inch display and a design that flashes personality.

Of course, there are some compromises, with a limited number of ports available and specs that fall short of what professionals are looking for. It also doesnt come cheap, and bumping up the RAM or storage gets expensive quickly, but without many strong PC competitors, this iMac stands alone.

Continue reading.

But wait, theres more...

China's first Mars rover has rolled onto the planet's surface

Android 12 Beta hands-on: A fresh look with few major changes for now

iPad Pro (2021) review: Apple's hardware may have outpaced its software

Here's why AirPods Max don't support Apple Music Lossless

How Apple built the new iPad Pro's Liquid Retina XDR display

Apple TV 4K can use HDMI eARC to play any TV audio on your HomePod

Twitch adds a dedicated 'Hot Tubs' category

Fujifilm GFX 100S Review: Medium format power in a smaller body

PornHub used AI to remaster the oldest erotic films in 4K

'Hocus Pocus 2' will premiere on Disney+ in fall 2022

Roku jailbreak gives users control over what channels they install
A week after the China National Space Administration reported its Tianwen-1 mission had achieved a safe landing on Mars, the Zhurong rover has rolled off of its platform and onto the planet's surface. As you can see in the animated GIF below, a series of still images from the rover's camera shows its short drive down to Utopia Planitia, the area where it landed.

Watch: #Zhurong, China's first #Mars Rover, has sent back its first footage from the Red Planet, showing it rolling off the ramp to begin its mobile mission pic.twitter.com/Z8V0AUmWIy  CGTN (@CGTNOfficial) May 22, 2021

Only the US has other working robots on the Martian surface, while a Soviet Union craft landed in the 70s, it stopped transmitting shortly after arrival. Now Zhurong will use its high-res terrain camera and other instruments to study the soil and atmosphere, as well as look water or ice below the surface while relying on solar power.
The COVID pandemic has damaged us all. Perhaps not directly, not physically, but the isolation, the anxiety and uncertainty we have endured over the past year has left an indelible mark on our collectively psyche. And it is only one of a litany of traumas, catastrophes at both the global and individual scale, inflicted upon us daily. In her latest book, All My Friends Live in My Computer: Trauma, Tactical Media, and Meaning, Director of Technology Influenced Practice at the University of Colorado, Boulder, Dr. Samira Rajabi combines personal essays from three distinct American viewpoints with media studies to explore what happens when those who have been hurt address those traumas online, connecting to others with similar experiences and working towards their personal recoveries.

Rutgers University Press

Excerpted from All My Friends Live in My Computer: Trauma, Tactical Media, and Meaning by Samira Rajabi with permission from Rutgers University Press. Copyright  2021 by Samira Rajabi.

Suffering demands to be seen. When locked away, trauma seeps out, insidiously injecting itself into the suffering subjects everyday life and even the most mundane experiences. The confronting nature of trauma, combined with the pervasive need to presence oneself in digital space to constitute a curated identity (Couldry 2012, 51), leads to the widespread mediation of trauma. The current mediatic moment, constituted through capitalism and driven by technology, leads those who suffer to negotiate their experience online. It is in digital space that trauma sufferers contend with the central dialectic of trauma: the visceral need to share ones suffering and the simultaneous impulse to deny its gravity (Herman 1997, 1). Knowledge is produced through actively engaging with the world; everyday experience functions as a teacher to suffering subjects who must learn to remake meaning. When people experience trauma, they become epistemically privileged in some crucial respect because of what theyve felt and experienced (Wylie 2003, 339). Suffering bodies become privy to this epistemic privilege, therefore triggering a re-evaluation of the various schema by which life is led and, by extension, mediated.

Sufferers lives become instantaneously governed and defined by the pain, uneven memories, and up-and-down experiences informed by a sense of victimhood. Understandings of victimization come from received social and cultural frameworks, frequently told through media. These encounters with received culture force suffering material bodies to situate themselves in their symbolic universe, often necessitating a reorientation of the symbolic. Digital media enable one negotiative space through which these new circumstances can be articulated, mediated, re-mediated, and contested or resisted. Trauma, in changing the everyday lives of its sufferers, then shifts the everyday media produced using digital technology to account for lifes various contingencies  contingencies informed by the clash between ones material reality and a new and changing recognition of the symbolic world. Mediation, for many, is an alternative or addendum to more conventional, therapeutic forms of coping with trauma, indicating that trauma is a useful optic through which to examine why and how media capture human imagination and participation when suffering is prolific. The what, why, and how of posting online, as well as the who, exactly, sufferers are posting for, become markers of identity that negotiate, resist, and re-mediate conceptualizations of the sick, the sufferer, and the victim as they seek legibility within a globalized circulation of meanings and ideas.

Digital media are spaces where stories are shared and meaning is made. This space is a bastion for resistive discourse while still being a massive, ideologically inflected marketing machine intent on reinforcing the most oppressive expressions of society. Recent events, from the suspicions of election tampering to the battle cry of women to be taken seriously as victims in the #metoo movement, have highlighted the varying shades of the possibility and refusal inherent in digital space. In all of this, one thing has remained consistent: digital space is an important place for the articulation, contestation, and negotiation of both personal and public life. Approximately 70 percent of Americans use social media, and some estimates count at least half of the worlds population to be online (Smith and Anderson 2018). What binds many of the current online movements and debates is the stories that underlie them. Le Guin (2004) says that, in stories, as dominant narratives become imbedded in society, they become internalized, yet imagination and an ability to envision alternatives to the present reality help overcome oppression. Though digital tools may reify dominant discourses around material bodies, as spaces for stories, they provide users a way to imagine alternate possibilities. Le Guin is deeply in favor of telling stories and making meaning: The exercise of imagination is dangerous to those who profit from the way things are because it has the power to show that the way things are is not permanent, not universal, not necessary. Having that real though limited power to put established institutions into question, imaginative literature has also the responsibility of power. The storyteller is the truthteller (Le Guin 2004). Trauma causes an inherent questioning of the way things are or perhaps the way things have always been. Though suffering ensues, there is a space for the construction of alternative meanings.

Invisibly marked bodily experience comes to light in digital media because of platform-enabled testimony. This book uncovers how much of this trauma testimony is part of a careful dance of creativity and testimony alongside the co-optation and commodification of suffering. In this dance, meaning making is a mundane but resistive act, any analysis of which must bridge social and cultural context with the individual deployment of technology and media, positioning politics at the heart of the experience of suffering. The cases that make up the empirical argument in this book highlight the dual possibilities inherent in mediation of traumathe reinscription of oppression on already marked and erased bodies, and the alternative resistance and subversion of norms around what it is to be a victim in the modern social imaginary, as it is cultivated and constructed online.

Digital users who come to the Internet after trauma engage digital media to reorient themselves and their shifting physical, mental, and emotional landscapes to the world around them. This move can be tactical and subversive in the way that it creates small shifts in the discursive conceptions of trauma and the traumatized subject, as well as how the traumatized subject recognizes and inhabits the world. Conversations around the resistive possibility of the Internet have perpetuated in the last decade of scholarship. In this book, I offer a unique epistemic position that recognizes the importance of everyday mediation and the primacy of the individual in social media while recognizing and accounting for the systemic forces that inform, influence, and complicate digital life. The data note that social space online allows for expression of public imagination and thus accordant meanings to slowly shift, take hold, or be cemented. A post-structural feminist framework lends itself to an examination of discursive possibility among digital communities of sufferers. The digital acts of sharing, of being seen, of being made legible, and of expressing voice are subsequently explored. Ultimately, this book is less about trauma than it is about media. Trauma, in this study, serves as a catalyst through which to explore how digital media operate for users during contingent life moments. Primarily, this is an exploration of how media studies can account for the way mediation and re-mediation work online to foster identity exploration and production, and how digital media enable users to express ideas about their bodies in spaces that dont require physical mediation but have consequences for material life.
Toyota is making it possible for some owners of its plug-in hybrid vehicles to reduce their carbon footprint even further. The automaker has launched a new initiative called the Clean Assist Program, which enables Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime owners in California to match 100 percent of their charging activity with renewable electricity.

As Toyota explains, plugging a vehicle in means getting energy from the grid. And while the grid does pull some energy from solar farms and wind converters, it still mostly gets energy from coal and other fossil fuel-based sources. The Clean Assist Program gives people a way to offset their electricity use whether they're plugged in at home, at their workplace or anywhere else.

It won't cost Prius Prime and RAV4 Prime owners to participate in the initiative, but they'd have to opt in through the Toyota app. That's because the automaker will use the app to track the amount of electricity participants use during charging, so it can generate or buy an equivalent amount of California-sourced Renewable Energy Certificates. These RECs are part of an EPA program certifying that a vehicle is charged using renewable energy.

Toyota sends evidence that the charging activity is matched with zero-carbon electricity to the California Air Resources Board to earn Low Carbon Fuel Standard credits that can be sold. The revenue will then used to promote vehicle electrification and to purchase more RECs. Clean Assist's goal is "to reduce California transportation GHG emissions, including through the use of renewable electricity to charge EVs," the automaker said in its release. While the program comes at no cost to the owner, they can opt out anytime they want for any reason.

Those intrerested can watch Toyota's video explainer for Clean Assist below, courtesy of Autoblog.
Enid, OK (73701)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 70F. SE winds shifting to N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Partly cloudy skies after midnight. Low near 70F. SE winds shifting to N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 60%.


Job Description: Westchester Community College seeks non-credit health adjuncts to teach a contextualized Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) course. Adjuncts may teach all or part of the lecture and laboratory practice training, and will assist with delivery of the clinical training in the student supervised clinical work experience located in the long-term care setting. Requirements: QUALIFICATIONS: New York State Registered Nurse with 2 years of experience caring for the elderly and/ or chronically ill; AND

Demonstrated competency to teach adult learners as documented by at least one of the following : Certification to teach Nurse Aide or Practical Nursing; OR Completion of the NYS approved "Train the Trainer" program; OR Two years of experience teaching nurse aides in a residential health care facility; OR Three years of experience teaching nursing or nursing related programs to adults in an academic setting approved by the NYS Commissioner of Education. Experience working with diverse populations; demonstrated knowledge of internet navigation; and email & computer skills are also required. Additional Information: HOURLY RATE OF PAY: $82.57 per hour. No benefits.

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Fox News and Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Jedediah Bila are parting ways.

Reported firstly by People, Bila co-hosted "Fox & Friends Weekend" with Pete Hegseth and Will Cain. Initially, she first came to Fox News as a contributor in 2013, appearing regularly on "Outnumbered" and "The Five."

Before that, she was a high school academic dean and Spanish teacher at a private New York City school and had taught middle school, high school, and college students. She is a graduate of Wagner College and received her Master of Arts from Columbia University.

She left to co-host ABC's "The View" for the 2017-2018 season but rejoined Fox before it became "Fox & Friends Weekend" as a contributor in 2018 then became a co-host in 2019.

Recalling Jedediah Bila Blasts Donald Trump For Chris Wallace Criticism

On Fox & Friends Weekend, the TV personality was frequently critical of former President Donald Trump, which made her memorable. When Trump publicly called out Fox News Sunday anchor Chris Wallace, Bila defended her workmate on Twitter.

Enough with the 3rd grade name-calling. Chris is doing his job. The news should not be any presidents friend, ally, or buddy. If it bothered you when Obama complained about Fox News, but youre silent on this complete nonsense, then just stop. Seriously. Enough. https://t.co/uW1Dw275Or  Jedediah Bila (@JedediahBila) April 12, 2020

Later, when Trump initially refused to concede the November election to now-President Joe Biden, Bila said on Fox & Friends that it was "incumbent upon" Trump to acknowledge his loss.

"It's going to fall on him. With great power comes great responsibility to say, 'You know what? The process is done. This is the verdict. Let's move on,'" she said, according to The Wrap.

READ ALSO: Jedediah Bila Talks Marriage, Millennials, Parkland, And 'The View' In An Exclusive Conversation

Jedediah Bila's Thanks Fox News + Future Endeavors Working on Her Second Book

As of her website, Bila is currently working on her second book, scheduled to hit shelves this fall, working hard after her first, #DoNotDisturb: How I Ghosted My Cell Phone to Take Back My Life, was published in 2018.

Fox News has also released their statement about Bila's leave, "We have mutually and amicably parted ways with Jedediah Bila and wish her all the best." They proceeded to announce the new co-host for Fox & Friends Weekend soon, Emily Compagno, a co-host of the weekday program, "Outnumbered," starting Saturday, May 22.

As she leaves, she also left has a message to say for those who supported her throughout her stay.

"Thank you to the Fox News reporters, anchors, contributors, and producers who have been an absolute pleasure to work with these last few years. To the viewers who supported me throughout my journey there - I'm deeply grateful for you and hopeful you'll join me on my next adventure. I'm really excited for what's to come."

READ MORE: 'The View' Cast: Will Another Co-Host Join Whoopi, Joy, Paula, Sara, Sunny & Jedediah?

See Now: Famous Actors Who Turned Down Iconic Movie Roles
Saturday, May 22, 2021

I can't wait until September. Alecia Long's new book, Cruising for Conspirators: How a New Orleans DA Prosecuted the Kennedy Assassination as a Sex Crime, will be published in mid-September.

Alecia Long is a Professor of History at Louisiana State University. I am very fortunate that Alecia gave me a manuscript to read, and I can assure you that this book belongs in your library.

Here is my short review (a longer one will be posted in September):

"Alecia Long breaks new ground in her important book, Cruising for Conspirators, by demonstrating the role of sexuality in understanding the assassination of JFK. Long dissects Jim Garrison's prosecution of an innocent gay man, Clay Shaw, with steady hands and shows how the entire affair needs to have its own place in LGBT history. This incredibly well-written book deserves to be in every major library in the country, and academics would be well-advised to use it in their classrooms."

You can order the book here for a very nice discount.

Here is the description of the book:

New Orleans district attorney Jim Garrisons decision to arrest Clay Shaw on March 1, 1967, set off a chain of events that culminated in the only prosecution undertaken in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. In the decades since Garrison captured headlines with this high-profile legal spectacle, historians, conspiracy advocates, and Hollywood directors alike have fixated on how a New Orleansbased assassination conspiracy might have worked. Cruising for Conspirators settles the debate for good, conclusively showing that the Shaw prosecution was not based in fact but was a product of the criminal justice systems long-standing preoccupation with homosexuality.

Tapping into the publics willingness to take seriously conspiratorial explanations of the Kennedy assassination, Garrison drew on the copious files the New Orleans police had accumulated as they surveilled, harassed, and arrested increasingly large numbers of gay men in the early 1960s. He blended unfounded accusations with homophobia to produce a salacious story of a New Orleans-based scheme to assassinate JFK that would become a national phenomenon.

At once a dramatic courtroom narrative and a deeper meditation on the enduring power of homophobia, Cruising for Conspirators shows how the same dynamics that promoted Garrisons unjust prosecution continue to inform conspiratorial thinking to this day.

Here are some of the blurbs:

This shocking narrative uncovers how decades of police surveillance in New Orleans created a vast paper trail that set the stage for a corrupt district attorney to frame the only man to face prosecution for John F. Kennedys assassination, creating a lasting homophobic conspiracy theory in the process. With keen historical sensitivity, Alecia Long reveals the longer patterns and plots that frame this must-read story.  Jim Downs, author of Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation

"Exposing the corrupt world of New Orleans policing and the complex gay subculture that thrived in the citys shadow, Longs book features an intriguing cast of characters, including ambitious prosecutor Jim Garrison and closeted businessman Clay Shaw. More importantly, it uncovers how cultural notions of gay men as criminal sexual psychopaths came to permeate JFK conspiracy theories and American culture more generally."  David K. Johnson, author of The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government

In Cruising for Conspirators Alecia Long offers us a fresh new perspective on an endlessly enthralling subjectthe alleged conspiracy behind the assassination of John F. Kennedyrevealing how a pervasive cultural and institutional homophobia shaped the prosecution of the only person ever tried in the affair. This is an engrossing and important book, meticulously researched and profoundly relevant to our countrys ongoing attempts to grapple with the deep-rooted inequities of its past. Gary Krist, author of The Mirage Factory and Empire of Sin

Do me a favor - buy one copy for yourself and one for a friend.


The County of Ellsworth, KS is seeking a Director of the Emergency Medical Services. The Director provides overall direction for the prompt and efficient response of ambulance personnel to transport, providing the highest level of care and customer service. The Director will need to work with the Ellsworth County Commissioners to meet budget guidelines. The Applicant needs experience in working with rural ambulance service operations and experience in supervision of individuals. Please obtain an application at ellsworthcounty.org and return along with your resume, to Ellsworth County Clerks Office 210 N. Kansas Ave., Suite 6, Ellsworth KS, 67439. For a full job description, please contact the County Clerks Office at 785-472-4161. Qualified applicants must have a valid Drivers License and pass a drug screening. Applications will be accepted until position is filled. EOE

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Since she lost her job as a customer service coordinator at a department store, Mary Baker has cut down on everything she can to make ends meet while she searches for a new job.

The San Antonio resident has unsubscribed from cable, stopped paying for some of her medications and cut down significantly on her air conditioning. But her roughly $3,000 monthly unemployment payments still dont stretch far enough.

And theyre about to get smaller.

Baker is one of the many jobless Texans who will lose a significant portion of their unemployment benefits in June as they continue trying to get back on their feet in a state still recovering from the pandemic.

In an effort to connect unemployed people with work instead of unemployment assistance, Gov. Greg Abbott said on Monday that Texas will opt out of all federal unemployment assistance programs after June 26, including an extra $300-per-week federal benefit Congress approved earlier this year.

Abbott also is planning to withdraw from Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, which provides aid to gig workers, self-employed people and others who arent traditionally covered by unemployment insurance. That June 26 cut-off for Texans comes months earlier than many expected when Congress authorized or extended programs to run as late as early September.

For Baker, that means shell likely have to stop buying her insulin, and cut back on groceries next month.

When I heard Abbotts announcement on the TV the other night, I got a knot in the pit of my stomach because I just dont know how Im going to make it work, Baker said. I cant just go take a $12 an hour job. Thats going to stop the unemployment, but its still not going to pay my bills.

Critics of Abbotts move say tens of thousands of desperate Texans shouldnt have to choose between scrambling to find a job in the next few weeks or living with $1,200 less getting deposited into their bank accounts every month. Many jobless Texans say they are still facing difficulties reentering the workforce and are relying on federal unemployment to get by.

Abbotts office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.

The unemployment rate in Texas was 6.7% in April. That is far below the record-high rate of 12.9% for April 2020, when much of the states businesses were shut down. But it is nearly double the record low of 3.4% in May and June 2019.

The Texas Workforce Commission didnt answer how many people are currently receiving the federal benefits. But according to data compiled by University of Texas at Austin economics professor Julia Coronado, approximately 344,000 Texans were receiving assistance through the PUA program as of April 30.

Abbotts decision comes amid a wave of Republican governors announcing plans to cut benefits in order to encourage people to return to work and after pressure from business groups. In his announcement, Abbott said there are more than a million job openings in Texas, and many employers across the state are hiring for jobs that pay well above the minimum wage of $7.25.

Abbott said there are nearly 60% more listed jobs open in Texas today compared to February 2020. According to the Texas Workforce Commission, approximately 76% of posted jobs pay more than $11.50 an hour, and 2% of posted jobs pay around the minimum wage.

But multiple Texans on federal unemployment said that those numbers dont tell the full story.

Jobless Texans told The Texas Tribune theyre desperate to return to work, but they havent had any luck when applying to multiple jobs every month. For some, one month isnt enough time to apply for and find a job, and others say that the income from the available jobs at places like retail stores and restaurants just isnt enough to pay for their rent, food and other expenses.

Labor economists said its unclear how Abbotts decision will immediately affect unemployment or the return of people back to work. More people may seek out food assistance, free health care and temporary housing, or they may be motivated  or forced  to find a job.

We would expect some people who have been on the fence about going back to work to take the leap, said Belinda Roman, an assistant professor of economics at St. Marys University. However, there are those who simply will not (be) able to return to the labor market for any number of reasons, and this type of change can only make it more difficult for them during the hot Texas summer.

In Marble Falls, Glen Bird, a former driver for Uber and Lyft, said he has spent the pandemic getting a college education to improve his future job prospects and trying to start his own small business making theatrical costumes and props. But without the federal unemployment assistance, he said the future of his business is in jeopardy, and he has no idea how he is going to keep the bills paid starting next month.

Ive got a month to just try to figure out what Im going to do because since Im an independent contractor on unemployment, its not a case of Im just losing the $300 federal benefit, Bird said. After June 26, Im going to be without any source of income, unless I can drum something up really fast.

Bird, a 40-year-old, said he recently started studying theater at Texas State University to help him get a job teaching theater or working as an artistic director. He said he also recently rented a small one-room office, which he was planning to use as a space to make and sell costumes and props before he learned Abbott was withdrawing from federal unemployment assistance.

I hear all the time about how Texas supports small businesses, Bird said. By cutting off the pandemic unemployment insurance early, thats putting me in a spot now where Im going to have to start chasing my tail again, not only to pay bills, but to keep the rent paid for my new office space. And thats going to be less time Ill have available to invest in trying to grow this into a business.

Some Texans are also struggling to find a job that accommodates their child care responsibilities, especially if their children are learning virtually or need to be home-schooled. Other Texans still have fears of going back to work in-person and catching COVID-19 themselves or spreading it to their high-risk friends and family members.

Gabrielle Mcginnis, a server and bartender in San Antonio, said she has had to home school her son, who has autism and is non-verbal, when he faced difficulties learning remotely. She said shed like to get a job working from home, but shes been unable to find one that pays enough to cover her bills and works with her sons schedule.

Im definitely getting less on unemployment compared to when I was working. Ive had to cut back a lot and just make do with what we got. Were not starving, but our quality of life has gone down for sure, Mcginnis said. Next month, its gonna be really bad because my partner just got laid off from his job, too. Im not really sure what were gonna do.

Mcginnis said shes gone back to being a bartender for one night a week, but she said customers can be rude and she is now looking for other opportunities. While she is vaccinated, she said she is still nervous about getting sick and infecting her vulnerable family members with the coronavirus, not all of whom are vaccinated yet.

My mother is elderly, and shes high-risk. My son is high risk. I want to go back to work, but how can I replace them if something happens to them? I cant, Mcginnis said. So I would rather struggle a little bit than lose people that I care about deeply. Like to me, its not even a question.

After working to start his own business while taking classes during a pandemic, Bird said he wants to push back against the narrative that people on unemployment are lazy. He said the federal aid has been a lifesaver that allowed him to remain financially stable while he survives the pandemic and works to recover.

Were on unemployment because we were unable to work due to this pandemic. Its not like we were fired from jobs, where we werent doing a good job. It was a case of This was meant to keep people financially secure and stable during a time where businesses are closing, because of the pandemic where people have lost their jobs, Bird said.

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
In a jarring outburst of violence in the historic King William district, a day laborer shot and critically injured another worker after an argument, then carjacked a Mercedes-Benz from an elderly couple, police said.

The suspect was arrested on the South Side after wrecking the stolen car.

Police Chief William McManus said police received a 911 call shortly after 11 a.m. Friday about a shooting in the 300 block of King William Street. The normally sedate area south of downtown is known for its shade trees, flower beds and gracious Victorian, Greek Revival and Italianate homes.

A homeowner had hired the two laborers through a contractor to work on the foundation of his home. Friday morning, the two men began to argue. McManus said he did not know what the dispute was about.

One of the workers was in his 50s, the other in his 20s, McManus said. The younger man was not known very well to the contractor, the chief said.

As the argument escalated, the younger man pulled out a gun and shot the other worker in the back of the head, McManus said. Police did not identify either man.

The homeowner heard the argument, rushed outside and performed CPR on the wounded man until paramedics arrived, McManus said.

The victim was transported to a hospital, where he was reported in critical but stable condition.

The shooter fled the scene and ran a block east to Madison Street. Seeing an elderly couple in their Mercedes, he seized the car at gunpoint. McManus said the couple were uninjured.

Police said the man drove to the South Side and crashed into another vehicle on the access road serving north Interstate 35, near Burbank High School.

He then ran west across a pedestrian bridge above the highway and continued into the 600 block of Recio Street, an area of modest homes, many of them surrounded by chain-link fences or equipped with security gates.

Police said K-9 dogs followed the suspects scent across the bridge. Officers arrested him in an empty lot. McManus did not say whether the man was armed.

He had been hiding beneath what appeared to be an old food truck surrounded by tall grass, according to officers on the scene.

Juan Chavez, 57, who lives nearby, said police banged on his door and said a man might be hiding in his backyard. He said K-9 units searched behind houses all along Recio.

All the front here was full of cops, Chavez said.

He said police pursuits in the neighborhood are not uncommon and are the reason he keeps his doors locked.

Yajaira Garanzuay, 35, who lives two doors down from the lot where the suspect was arrested, said police were on the scene for about two hours.

We didnt know what was going on, she said.

Back in King William, the house where the shooting occurred appeared undisturbed, surrounded by a lush lawn and white picket fence.

taylor.pettaway@express-news.net
Two San Antonio men have been indicted on capital murder charges in connection with the shooting of an East Side convenience store owner who died more than a year after the robbery attempt.

The case involving Armando Eric Narvaez and Zion Michael Talavera was among the 219 felony indictments handed down by two Bexar County grand juries, the District Attorneys Office said Friday.

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Narvaez, Talavera and a third suspect, Cami Payton, all 18 at the time, were arrested July 31, 2019, on robbery charges the day after Gemunu Gamarachchilage was shot multiple times at his store, DMJ Groceries at 815 N. New Braunfels Ave.

He died Dec. 17 at his Wilson County home from his gunshot injuries. Gamarachchilage was 58.

In November, weeks earlier, Payton, now 20, pleaded no contest to robbery and was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

On ExpressNews.com: Men accused in 2019 robbery, shooting at East Side store charged with capital murder after owner dies

Narvaez and Talavera, also 20, were charged with capital murder on Feb. 28.

If convicted, each will face either the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole. It is unclear whether the DAs Office will seek the death penalty.

On ExpressNews.com: Officials ID 15-year-old girl killed on Southwest Side by hit-and-run driver

Also indicted this week was Miguel Barbosa, who is charged with failure to stop and render aid resulting in the death of Marissa Danielle Duran, 15.

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San Antonio police said the teen was walking across Medina Base Road near Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland on Feb. 18 when she was hit by a 2011 Honda Pilot, which kept going.

A witness pulled over to try and help the teen, but she died from her injuries, officials said.

Authorities found the vehicle parked in a driveway about a half mile from the scene of the hit-and-run crash and arrested Barbosa, 39. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

On ExpressNews.com: 19-year-old shoots, kills stepfather during domestic dispute, police say

Also among the indictments was that of Jarren Diego Garcia, 19, charged with murder in the death of his stepfather, Mark Ramos, 49, on March 5 in the 100 block of Alvarez Place.

Police who responded to a report of a domestic dispute said Garcia told them he shot his stepfather multiple times because the man was threatening his mother. If convicted of murder, Garcia faces up to life in prison.

ezavala@express-news.net | Twitter: @elizabeth2863
The Texas House of Representatives has such great timing.

As the world watches a nation face a racial reckoning in alternating fits and starts, the state House passed a bill restricting teachers from talking about racism in the classroom.

On Wednesday, the Texas Senate moved the Houses version of the bill out of committee. Its headed to the full floor for a vote.

The measures were priorities for Republican Gov. Greg Abbott  as important as regulating the bodies of Texas women and making abortions unsafe.

The bills, which seek to abolish critical race theory, were more important than expanding Medicaid; maintaining federal unemployment benefits; enlisting more Texans to get COVID-19 vaccinations; or overhauling the states electric power grid.

The bills are also part of a backlash against growing efforts to bring more accuracy and inclusion to historical texts and a wider movement to whitewash U.S. history.

Old, racist approaches to education are new again.

It came in the same month as the 100th anniversary of the Tulsa race massacre and as a congressional panel heard riveting testimony from three survivors of the single worse incident of racial violence in U.S. history.

For decades, the massacre lived only in memories and nightmares, unspoken in classrooms.

San Antonio will play a substantive role in the Oklahoma commemoration.

This month, Trinity University Press published the most essential book on the topic. It was written by Mary E. Jones Parrish, a young Black woman who lived in the enclave called Greenwood where the massacre took place.

As Greenwood burned, Parrish collected eyewitness accounts. Experts say while her book was published, only a limited number were printed. It was never a part of the official record.

The book strives to document the violent attacks spurred by an event on an elevator. It involved a white woman and a black man wrongly accused of raping her.

A white mob organized to lynch him. Black veterans of WWII organized to stop it, appealing for justice.

Police deputized and armed some of the men in the white mob. Members of the Ku Klux Klan were there.

An estimated 300 Black residents were killed in Greenwood, an area of Tulsa whose business district was called the Black Wall Street.

The district was prosperous until it was set on fire, destroying more than 12,000 homes and 190 businesses.

An estimated 10,000 people were left homeless. A school, hospital, library and dozens of churches were burned down.

Parrishs book was published as The Nation Must Awake: My Witness to the Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921. Its the first time her account and those of other eyewitnesses have been made available to a wider audience.

A Trinity panel on Facebook this week hosted Parrishs great-granddaughter, writer Anneliese M. Bruner; and Scott Ellsworth, author of two books on the massacre.

His latest, The Ground Breaking: An American City and its Search for Justice, was published this week. He has been among those leading an effort to uncover the unmarked, mass graves of the massacres victims.

Bruner said shell travel to Tulsa this week for the first time.

The massacre wasnt discussed in her family until she was 35. Her father gave her one of the few copies then in existence of Parrishs book.

No one went to prison for the crimes committed in 1921 in Tulsa.

Insurance companies denied claims. Racial segregation, discriminatory policies and structural racism hurt Black Tulsans for generations, impacting their descendants and others.

City and state governments blocked rebuilding efforts, and the story itself was actively suppressed for 50 years, Ellsworth said.

Actively.

Just like Texas is actively attempting to whitewash race and racism from the states social studies classes.

Three survivors of the massacre testified before a congressional panel this week.

They showed how each suffered post-traumatic stress disorder and their efforts to seek justice.

I still smell smoke and see fire, said Viola Fletcher, 107. Our country may forget this history, but I cannot.

Reparations are long overdue, but not just to the descendants of Greenwood, who lost so much generational wealth; but to others who descend from slaves; whose ancestors were lynched by Texas Rangers; whose lands were stolen; whose communities were red-lined.

There are other ways to repay such damage: Put a copy of The Nation Must Awake in every school library.

eayala@express-news.net
When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down racial segregation in public schools 67 years ago in Brown v. Board of Education, it recognized the incredibly important role that education plays as the very foundation of good citizenship.

Yet despite the force of law and relentless efforts of civil rights advocates, a series of modern-day Jim Crow tactics, coupled with recalcitrant courts in Texas and across the nation, have reverted schools to separate and unequal for many Black and other historically marginalized students.

With no prospects coming from the Texas Legislature and a Texas Supreme Court with little regard for equity and opportunity, its high time Congress provide a new set of tools to directly challenge these evil acts perpetuating inequality, beginning with a 21st-century educational civil rights act.

Ten years after Brown v. Board, Congress passed Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to help eliminate discrimination in public institutions. While imperfect, over the next two decades, Title VI helped communities advance educational opportunities and led to more racially integrated schools.

Then came a series of court decisions that dealt a severe blow to Title VI enforcement. Those rulings held that private litigants could not bring disparate impact claims under Title VI when challenging policies that merely harmed students of color. Instead, they had to prove that the policy was written to discriminate. And over the years, state and local policymakers have learned to disguise their true intentions behind purported race-blind policies and practices.

Today, these policies are locking many students of color out of selective K-12 schools in Texas and beyond due to biased entrance exams. They are frequently overlooked for advanced coursework and gifted programs, disciplined more harshly for the same offenses as white students, and arrested at much higher rates. Their schools are often under-resourced based on unfair school funding systems tied to local property values and discriminatory redlining housing practices.

While some school districts are finally reckoning with their past discriminatory policies and practices by introducing more diverse curriculum such as the 1619 Project and bias training for educators, other states  like Texas  are seeking to prevent and undo those efforts with a series of proposed Jim Crow-like laws and regulations targeting such educational reforms.

Cary Clack: To sanitize 1619 is to deny Americas history

Opportunities in higher education dont fare any better. For students outside the top 10 percent of their class, the state flagship universities continue to rely heavily on scores from standardized tests such as the SAT, which has its own discriminatory origins, for admissions. As a result, selective state institutions enroll on average only 5 percent of Black students, though they comprise about 13 percent of students in Texas schools.

Black, Latino and Asian American students and communities have joined forces with other allies to counter such exclusionary policies. But their toolkit is often limited by hostile courts and a lack of state civil rights acts. Federal agencies can challenge disparate impact policies through their Title VI regulations, but they are under-resourced and understaffed.

It doesnt have to be this way. Long overdue federal reforms in the criminal justice system and in voting must be paralleled with educational reforms fit to meet the challenges of today if Browns promise of educational opportunity is to ever fulfill its role as the foundation of good citizenship.

Twenty-one years into the 21st century, Congress must give communities a civil rights act they can use to prevent, challenge and defeat Jim Crow tactics for good. This legislation must protect students from discrimination and harassment based on race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, gender, sexual orientation and disability. It must ensure that private litigants can pursue disparate impact claims in court.

And it must tear down protections that provide too much cover for irresponsible individuals and negligent state and local entities.

Congress owes it to the many plaintiffs in states across the nation and to countless activists who risked their lives seeking to strike down the so-called separate but equal policy in 1954 and the generations that followed. And Congress owes it to America to ensure equal educational opportunity is a reality for all children.

As the late U.S. Rep. John Lewis reminded us all: If not us, then who? If not now, then when?

David Hinojosa is an attorney and the director of the Educational Opportunities Project at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law.
SOUTH WINDSOR  While there were no major updates in the disappearance of Jessica Edwards on Wednesday morning, police officials said investigators continue their search for information as they pour over nearby surveillance footage.

Sgt. Mark Cleverdon said investigators continue to work diligently to locate Edwards, and stressed that police are still asking the public to provide any information that they might have on her disappearance.

Edwards, described as about 5-foot-3 and 150 pounds, was last seen leaving her South Windsor home around 7 a.m. on May 10. She called out of her clinical training in Hartford. Police said they believe Edwards left her home with an unknown person.

We have not had any luck tracking down the person Jessica is believed to have left the house with, nor was there a description of the vehicle or the person who she supposedly left with, Cleverdon said on Wednesday.

He said police are currently reviewing area surveillance footage to try to gather any additional information on Edwards leaving her home.

Cleverdon said as far as investigators know, Edwards does not have ties to any other state or part of Connecticut other than the Hartford area. He said there has been no activity on her cellphone, social media or financial records.

Our detectives are doing a substantial amount of work behind the scene to establish any and all information regarding Jessicas disappearance, Cleverdon said.

Edwards family and friends have taken to social media to plea for her safe return. A hashtag #FindJessicaEdwards has garnered hundreds of posts across social media sites.

Police have previously said that the missing mothers friends and family have been cooperative with investigators. Various friends and family have been adamant that Edwards, who has a 7-month-old son, would not have left on her own free will. Police said they are looking into every angle.

Last week, investigators served a search warrant at Edwards home and for three vehicles while state police dogs canvassed the area around Edwards home. Local community groups and leaders have worked with members of Edwards family to conduct their own searches.

Anyone with information on her disappearance, or information that could help investigators, is asked to call 860-644-2551. Anonymous tips can be submitted at southwindsorct.gov/police or by calling 860-648-6226.
MISSOULA  A new episode of the awarding-winning MontanaPBS series Backroads of Montana will premiere at 8 p.m. Monday, May 24.

Family, friends and community are the themes of this program, said host and Montana native William Marcus. Theres something for every Montanan in this episode, which is titled Eureka to Big Sandy.

Near the town of Big Sandy, Backroads heads to a ranch that still works on horseback. For five generations and counting, Tom and Rene Browns family has lived near the Bear Paw Mountains. During that time they have developed a special relationship with an unusual breed of horse.

Every Friday from Labor Day to Memorial Day, a group of Eureka women create and repair quilts to raise funds to maintain the Tobacco Valley Historical Village. Friendship and love of local history bring these ladies together one stitch at a time.

By 1913, the automobile was becoming very popular in Montana. As a result, old wagon roads needed to be widened and improved. Some of that construction was done by convicts from the Montana State Prison. Near Springdale, Backroads tours a few of those roads and sees evidence of their work  work so effective, it hasnt been improved upon in over 100 years.

Montanas hard-water fishing season brings dozens of families out to a frozen Smith Lake west of Kalispell for the Sunriser Lions family ice fishing derby. Backroads follows a Montana family from wake-up to weigh-in during the popular community event. From the biggest to smallest pike and perch, viewers will experience what gets the next generation of anglers hooked on the sport.

Marcus, the Backroads of Montana host, will take viewers on a tour of the historic Moss Mansion in Billings, which celebrates the influential entrepreneurial accomplishments of P.B. Moss and his family.

The program will have repeat airings at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 27, and 5 p.m. Saturday, May 29. Marcus, Gus Chambers, John Twiggs, Ray Ekness, Breanna McCabe and Anna Rau produce Backroads of Montana for MontanaPBS through the University of Montana Broadcast Media Center.

Backroads is made possible with support from the Greater Montana Foundation, a Big Sky Film Grant and UM. The program has received multiple awards, including being named the Montana Broadcasters Association noncommercial television program of the year numerous times.

MontanaPBS (KUFM-TV in Missoula, KUSM-TV in Bozeman, KUKL-TV in Kalispell, KBGS-TV in Billings, KUGF-TV in Great Falls and KUHM-TV in Helena) is a service of UM and Montana State University. For more information, visit http://www.montanapbs.org. UM News Service
A pair of lawsuits filed in the Montana Supreme Court aims to challenge recent laws impacting higher education passed by the Montana Legislature this session.

Two suits were filed in the states high court on May 20, both accusing the state Legislature of overreach by infringing on the Montana Board of Regents powers to manage campuses in the university system.

The Board of Regents filed one of the suits after its members voted unanimously on May 19 to challenge a law that allows gun carry on campuses.

The regents asked the Supreme Court to block House Bill 102 from going into effect on campuses while the case is considered. Although Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed the law on Feb. 18, the portion affecting public universities is set for implementation on June 1.

With a looming deadline, the complaint asks for expedited consideration by the justices in determining who has constitutional authority to set polices on university system campuses.

The Montana Constitutions says the Board of Regents will have full power, responsibility, and authority to manage the university system.

HB 102 invades the sole and full authority of the Board of Regents to supervise, coordinate, manage and control the Montana university system By enacting HB 102 the 2021 Montana Legislature has impermissibly curtailed BORs authority to determine the best polices to ensure the health and stability of the MUS, the suit states.

The constitutional delegates crafted a framework for creating polices and programs for the university system free of political interferences, the suit says.

The complaint names the state of Montana through Attorney General Austin Knudsen as the defendant.

HB 102s sponsor Rep. Seth Berglee, R-Joliet, released a statement on May 19 criticizing the boards decision to challenge the law and saying, they think their authority is so absolute that they can deny a students constitutionally-protected rights.

When voting to take legal action, the regents said they had received thousands of comments from the public related to HB 102, which helped them in deciding what course of action to take.

A second lawsuit filed on May 20 by a coalition of higher education leaders, university representatives and students takes a broader approach at challenging four laws that were passed by the Montana Legislature this session.

Although the line between the Regents power and the authority of the Legislature is not always clear, the challenged measures are beyond the pale, the lawsuit states.

The complaint accuses the Legislature of overreach and infringing on the constitutional authority of the Board of Regents in passing House bills 349, 112 and 102 and Senate Bill 319.

HB 349 creates new guidelines for anti-harassment and free speech polices on campuses. HB 112 bans transgender athletes from participating in womens sports. SB 319 restricts organizations from being able to register students to vote in dorms and dining facilities.

The state of Montana and Gianforte are named as defendants in the suit. A spokesperson for the governor said his office generally does not comment on ongoing litigation, but will staunchly defend the constitutionality of these laws.

The suit says it is not attempting to challenge the specifics of the contested bills but to vindicate the Regents authority to manage and set policies for the university system.

Theres a dividing line between the authority of the Legislature and that of the Regents and its important that we maintain the viability and integrity of that line, said Jim Goetz, a Bozeman-based attorney representing members of the coalition.

Goetz said while the Legislature allocates funding to the university system it was important to maintain that dividing line to avoid politicization of the higher education system.

The plaintiffs include ex-regents, a previous commissioner of higher education, Montana State Universitys Faculty Senate, the Montana Federation of Public Employees, university student groups, individual university faculty members and individual students.

MSUs Faculty Senate voted to join the lawsuit on May 13, with many of the members saying it was time to speak out as a collective faculty voice. Montana University System Faculty Association Representatives, a 16-member committee representing the eight campus Faculty Senates, also joined the suit.

One of the individual faculty members in the suit is Franke Wilmer, a political science professor at MSU. Wilmer also served in the Montana House of Representatives from 2007-2013.

Three students from MSU also joined the suit saying they fear what will happen on the MSU campus if guns are allowed, as provided in HB 102.

The petition was in the works for a number of weeks but had been delayed in hopes that the regents would file a lawsuit of their own. The complaint leaves open the possibility of consolidating with the regents filing but acknowledges that it is broader than the regents petition because it raises challenges to bills other than HB 102.

Goetz said its possible the cases could be consolidated or the Supreme Court could move to join them. He said he anticipates there could be an answer to the case by the end of the summer.

I think its good that the regents finally voted on Wednesday to sue, Goetz said, adding his clients support the motion to block the implementation of HB 102.
The NFU has called on the government to issue 'urgent answers' on any UK-Australia trade deal amid fears over lower-standard agri-imports.

The union has outlined five key questions regarding the UK's future trade policy and the ongoing negotiations on a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Australia.

This follows reports suggesting the government is set to offer Australia a trade deal that includes a 15-year transition to zero-tariffs and zero-quotas.

The NFU's questions include: What specific meaningful safeguards for domestic agriculture will be included in FTAs?

What is the governments plan to continually review the impact of FTAs as they are implemented and through the lifetime of the agreements?

The union has also asked: Where is the comprehensive and cross-government strategy to improve productivity and competitiveness and to provide adjustment assistance for farming in respect to the changing market conditions resulting from new FTAs?

It added: Where is the governments response to the Trade and Agriculture Commissions report in March 2021 and why has the new statutory Trade and Agriculture Commission that will need to scrutinise trade deals before they are signed not yet been set up?

Lastly, the NFU asked: What precedent does the government expect will be set by each FTA and where is the detailed economic assessment of the cumulative impact on domestic UK agriculture of all the UKs current and future FTAs?

The union's president Minette Batters said it was 'incredibly disappointing 'to hear news of the UK's trade strategy from 'sources other than the government themselves'.

There remains a huge amount of unanswered questions about exactly how decisions regarding trade policy have been made, on what basis and how it will operate in the future."

She added: It is also incredibly concerning that the government is in a sprint to sign up to a trade deal with Australia that would have serious implications for British farming and would seemingly offer incredibly little benefit to the economy.

We continue to maintain that a tariff-free trade deal with Australia will jeopardise our own farming industry and could cause the demise of many, many beef and sheep farms throughout the UK.

"This is true whether tariffs are dropped immediately or in 15 years time," Mrs Batters said.

The Country Land and Business Association (CLA), an organisation representing 28,000 land managers and rural businesses, argued that the UK was right to seek a comprehensive agreement with Australia.

However, it called for provisions to guarantee imports will meet the same environmental and animal welfare standards as in the UK, and TRQs (tariff rate quotas) for sensitive agricultural products.

CLA president Mark Bridgeman said that a 'false narrative had emerged' that being pro-free trade and supporting British farming were mutually exclusive.

British food producers can look with excitement at selling their world class products to new markets  and government should be unrelenting in championing their interests in breaking down barriers to growing UK exports.

But we should also accept that it is perfectly normal for certain protections to be in place for key industries.

"Even the most liberal free trading nations place some restrictions on imports, and to do otherwise would make us a global outlier  making us appear a touch naive in the process."

He added: Zero tariffs and zero quotas on agricultural imports would not just leave British farmers exposed, it shows that the UK Government doesnt understand one of our biggest strengths.

The UK has some of the highest environmental and animal welfare standards in the world."
Biden, Moon voice willingness to engage with DPRK

Xinhua) 13:27, May 22, 2021

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday expressed a shared willingness to engage with Pyongyang, reaffirming the goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Moon is the second foreign leader, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in April, to make an official working visit to the White House during the Biden administration.

During a joint press conference at the White House following their meeting, Biden said he and Moon discussed the shared approach to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK, to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"We're under no illusions how difficult this is, none whatsoever," Biden told reporters. "And the past four administrations have not achieved the objective. It's an incredibly difficult objective."

Biden announced that career diplomat Sung Kim will act as the U.S. Special Envoy for the DPRK to drive diplomatic efforts.

Moon, in his remarks, called achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula as the "most urgent common task" that the two allies must undertake.

He noted that Biden expressed support for the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. "Under close cooperation with the U.S., we will work to facilitate progress in inter-Korean relations, so as to achieve a virtuous cycle with U.S.-DPRK dialogue."

Biden did not rule out a meeting with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, but stressed a precondition of the meeting would be Pyongyang's commitment to discussing its nuclear weapons.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation on issues of regional security, emerging technology, climate change, and COVID-19 vaccines. The two countries agree to establish a comprehensive vaccine partnership, and the United States will provide vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean troops working in close contact with American forces.

The Biden administration at the end of April completed its policy review towards the DPRK. The White House said that it had reached out to Pyongyang through several channels but had not yet received any response.

Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump held their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing on a complete denuclearization of and a lasting peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
Kansas Ethanol, LLC in Lyons, KS is looking for qualified people to join our team in the following full-time positions:Process Engineer.

Candidates interested in Process Engineer must have a bachelors degree in mechanical or chemical engineering and proven experience in the engineering field. Industrial plant knowledge is preferred but not required. Candidates must be able to demonstrate problem solving and mechanical aptitude, interpret data for improvement in efficiencies, and optimize current processes. Strong communication and computer skills are required.

Dependable people with a solid work background and applicable experience are encouraged to apply. Applications can be found online at www.kansasethanol.net and returned at HR@kansasethanol.net or at 1630 Avenue Q, Lyons, KS 67554.

Seeking motivated applicants to grow with us! Experience in an industrial plant is preferred but not required. Motivated, dependable people with a solid work background and proven commitment to safety are encouraged to apply. We offer competitive pay with great benefits including signon bonus, health/dental insurance, 401(k), paid holidays, PTO, and much more

Applications may be found at www.kansasethanol.net. Equal Opportunity Employer

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Image: Facebook







This past year and a half has been difficult for students and jobseekers, thanks to the pandemic. In such a bleak-looking scenario, comes a story of success. Deepthi Narkuti from Hyderabad, Telangana got selected during her campus interview at the University Of Florida, USA by Microsoft for their Seattle office. She will be joining as a Software Development Engineer Grade II with a whopping salary of Rs 2 crore per annum!



Narkuti is among the 300 candidates offered the job at Microsoft and has received many offers from well-rated companies in the US while she was still studying for her post-graduation, including Goldman Sachs and Amazon Inc.





Image: Facebook

This isnt the first time she is working with Microsoft though. Her LinkedIn profile states that she worked as a Microsoft Student Associate in 2014-2015 for a year. After her BE in Computer Science from University College of Engineering, Osmania in India, she first interned at Research Center Imarat in Hyderabad followed by an internship at JP Morgan Chase & Co. She later worked there full time for three years before heading to the US for her MS in Computer Science at the University of Florida. There she also worked as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for two subjects  Math for Intelligent Systems and Machine Learning.







Image: Facebook





Its not just her educational and vocational work that sets her apart. Narkuti has volunteered in 2018 with the non-profit organisation I & Eye to develop an app to aid visually challenged students in finding scribes in time to write their exams. She also volunteered at the Grace Hopper Conference for Women in Technology last year. Back in 2017, she developed a Student Management System App for Ashray Akruthi Non-Profit Organization where the app was used to share curriculum, report cards, as also a professor and student details. In her LinkedIn summary, she states, During free time, I like working on personal projects providing creative solutions to day to day problems.





According to an online publication, she also received job offers from Goldman Sachs and Amazon. The campus interview had 300 students participating and many top companies interviewing, with Narkuti getting the highest package. Her father, Dr Venkanna is a forensic expert with the Hyderabad Police Commissionerate.



Also read: Future Calling: Machine Learning Is The Next Big Thing!


Sonu Sood caught the attention of many last year when he helped migrant workers reach back home safely during the pandemic. He became a messiah almost overnight because of his applause-worthy efforts. However, the actor did not stop there, he kept working for the people to bring COVID relief in India. He also set up his own foundation to help as many people as possible with medical aid.







Today, the actor took to Twitter to reveal that the first set of oxygen plants he planned to set up will be done in the month of June. He wrote, "Very happy to announce that the first set of my oxygen plants will be set up at Kurnool Government Hospital and one at District Hospital, Atmakur, Nellore, AP in the month of June! This would be followed by setting more plants in the other needy states! Time to support rural India. Kudos to you Sonu!
Calgary, Alberta and Denver, Colorado--(Newsfile Corp. - May 21, 2021) - INDVR Brands Inc. (CSE: IDVR) (the "Company" or "INDVR Brands" or "INDVR"), a premier cannabis brand, consolidator and edibles retailer, announced today it has extended the exercise period of a total of 5,800,558 share purchase warrants ("Warrants"), all of which are exercisable at $0.25 per share. The Warrants were issued in connection with a pre-RTO capital raise in October 2018. The new expiry date for the Warrants has been extended by one (1) year, and accordingly, the new expiry date will be April 17, 2022.

All other terms and conditions of the Warrants will remain unchanged. The Warrant extension is subject to the approval of the CSE.

The Company has also issued 1,000,000 Class B shares (the "Shares") as partial settlement on an outstanding lawsuit claim to an arm's length party. The Shares issued on this settlement will be restricted from trading for up to 24 months from the date of issue.

The Company also announces that Mr. Darcy Campbell has resigned as CFO due to personal reasons. Mr. Campbell has agreed to work under a contract basis in the interim until his successor is found. We thank Mr. Campbell for his hard work and dedication while with INDVR.

About INDVR Brands Inc.

INDVR is focused on aggregating and optimizing popular cannabis brands throughout North America. We are committed to the pursuit of becoming a premier, globally recognized "House of Brands," holding a client portfolio of award-winning products with an extensive market footprint. For consumers, INDVR seeks to become the definitive source for unparalleled product selection, a tireless commitment to quality, exceptional craftsmanship and lifestyle. Whatever the occasion, INDVR's has an inspired cannabis product tailored to meet every taste. INDVR's management team brings expertise in operations, cannabis cultivation and mergers and acquisitions to support its U.S. expansion through accretive acquisitions and organic growth.

Additional Information

Additional information regarding INDVR is available under INDVR's SEDAR profile at www.sedar.com.This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy securities.

Investor Information

Company Contact:

Scott Koyich,

Investor Relations

Scott@briscocapital.com

Phone: +1 (403) 619-2200

Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events or future performance. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "could", "intend", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "potential", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on the parties' current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to the following the closing of the Offering, closing of future tranches of the Offering, the use of proceeds of the Offering and the benefit of the Offering to the Company. These statements are only predictions. Readers are cautioned that the assumptions used in the preparation of such information, although considered reasonable at the time of preparation, may prove to be imprecise and, as such, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable law.

The forward-looking information contained in this release is made as of the date hereof and the parties are not obligated to update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. Because of the risks, uncertainties and assumptions contained herein, investors should not place undue reliance on forward looking information. The foregoing statements expressly qualify any forward-looking information contained herein.

To the extent any forward-looking information in this press release constitutes "future-oriented financial information" or "financial outlooks" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws, such information is being provided to demonstrate the anticipated product sales of the Company and the reader is cautioned that this information may not be appropriate for any other purpose and the reader should not place undue reliance on such future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks. Future-oriented financial information and financial outlooks, as with forward-looking information generally, are, without limitation, based on the assumptions and subject to the risks set out above under the heading "Disclaimer and Forward-Looking Information".

Cannabis is legal in certain States in the United States ("U.S."), however cannabis remains illegal under U.S. federal laws. INDVR Brands intends to conduct its U.S. cannabis operations in a manner consistent with the applicable State laws and in compliance with regulatory and licensing requirements applicable in the applicable State. However, the readers should be aware that any change in federal guidance on enforcement actions could adversely affect INDVR Brand's ability to access private and public capital required in order to support continuing operations and its ability to operate in the U.S.

Unlike in Canada which has Federal legislation uniformly governing the cultivation, distribution, sale and possession of cannabis under the Cannabis Act (Federal), readers are cautioned that in the U.S., cannabis is largely regulated at the State level. Notwithstanding the permissive regulatory environment of medical cannabis at the State level, cannabis continues to be categorized as a controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act in the U.S. and as such, cannabis-related practices or activities, including without limitation, the manufacture, importation, possession, use or distribution of cannabis are illegal under U.S. Federal law. Strict compliance with State laws with respect to cannabis will neither absolve INDVR Brands of liability under the U.S. Federal law, nor will it provide a defense to any Federal proceeding, which may be brought against INDVR Brands. Any such proceedings brought against INDVR Brands may materially adversely affect its operations and financial performance in the U.S. market.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/84895
BEIJING, May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping attended the Global Health Summit and delivered a speech via video link in Beijing on Friday.

The summit was co-hosted by Italy, rotating presidency of G20, and the European Commission.

In his speech, Xi urged the international community to put the people and their lives first and demonstrate a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and make extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge.

No effort must be spared to attend every case, save every patient, and truly respect the value and dignity of every human life, and it is also important to minimize the potential impact on people's life and maintain general order in our society, Xi said.

Members of the G20 should adopt responsible macroeconomic policies to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain, while continuing to support developing countries, he said.

Noting that the pandemic is yet another reminder that humanity rise and fall together with a shared future, Xi said that political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response, and it would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world.

Calling for countries to abstain from vaccine nationalism, Xi called for the promotion of fair distribution of vaccines and items' accessibility and affordability in developing countries. Major vaccine-developing and producing countries need to take up their responsibility to provide more vaccines to developing countries in urgent need.

It is important to strengthen and leverage the role of the UN and the WHO and uphold the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, Xi said.

China will provide an additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries, Xi said.

China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability, he said.

China supports its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them, he said.

"Let us join hands and stand shoulder to shoulder with each other to firmly advance international cooperation against COVID-19, build a global community of health for all, and work for a healthier and brighter future for humanity!" said Xi.

Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qf_v-f-kKF0
HiberCell, a NYC-based biotechnology company developing therapeutics focused on preventing cancer relapse and metastasis, completed a Series B financing round for gross proceeds of $67.4m.

Concurrent to this financing, the company closed on a $30m debt facility with Hercules Capital, Inc. (NYSE: HTGC).

The Series B round included new investors Huizenga Capital Management, Monashee Investment Management, funds managed by Tekla Capital Management LLC, Hercules Capital, Mount Sinai Innovation Partners and other undisclosed investors. Returning investors, including ARCH Venture Partners, Magnetic Ventures, Bristol Myers Squibb, Trinitas Capital, and others from the Series A syndicate, also participated in the round.

The company will use the proceeds of the Series B financing and debt facility to support the clinical development of novel therapeutics targeting stress biology and innate immunity to address the role these play in prevention of cancer recurrence and metastasis.

Led by Alan Rigby, Ph.D., Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer, HiberCell is biotechnology company dedicated to developing therapeutic molecules that overcome foundational scientific barriers that prevent patients from living longer, cancer-free lives. The company views cancer as a chronic disease and is working to develop novel therapies that address relapse and metastasis.

To that end, HiberCell is developing HC-5404-FU, the first therapeutic candidate from the stress modulator platform that has direct anti-tumor activity while simultaneously reprogramming the immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment that is foundational to cancer cell survival.

FinSMEs

22/05/2021
Magic Data Tech, a Beijing, China-based global provider of AI datasets, completed its Series B funding round with tens of millions of RMB.

The round was led by Vantron Capital.

The company intends to use the funds to to build a global open-source community MagicHub (https://magichub.io/) for AI developers, to design and develop datasets for conversational AI, as well as to research and develop the SaaS platform for data collection and annotation.

Magic Data Tech provides clients worldwide with professional AI data solutions, covering data processing solution design, training/testing datasets, data labeling, and the private deployment of data processing systems, among others.

Magic Data Tech provides massive training datasets to clients and the AI market, with more than 130,000 hours of speech corpora in type of reading and conversation and others, covering more than 50 languages, such as English, Japanese, Malay, Thai, Indonesian and others.

Previously, Magic Data Tech obtained Pre Series-A Funding from Future Capital in 2017, Series-A Funding from Ceyuan Ventures and Plum Ventures in 2018, and investment from Ceyuan Ventures and Fuzhuo Investment in 2019.
Kevin Redman, CTO and Richard Nelson, CEO, Co-founders of Roofr.

Roofr, a San Francisco, CA-based sales platform for roofing contractors, closed a $4.25m post-seed funding round.

The round was led by Bullpen Capital, with participation from Avidbank and Crosslink Capital. In conjunction with the funding, Ann Lai, General Partner, Bullpen Capital, joined Roofrs board of directors.

The company, which brought total amount raised to date to $8.25m, intends to use the funds to expand operations and to build out the platform.

Co-founded by Kevin Redman, CTO, and Richard Nelson, CEO, Roofr is a SaaS sales toolbox for roofing contractors to save time, money, and close more business. They offer aerial images to generate accurate measurement reports, create estimates in minutes and generate proposals that customers can e-sign quickly.

FinSMEs

22/05/2021
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SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHERS Are you a NJ licensed teacher? Opportunities available in Special Education at Yeshiva Ktana of Passaic girls division. Send resumes PRESCHOOL In the preschool, every lesson is utilized as a valuable opportunity to inculcate our children with our priceless heritage. Yiddishkeit is strengthened during story time and playtime as well during the exciting lessons prepared by moros who understand that transmitting our mesorah is one of their primary goals. A positive self-image is another important goal for YKP, and we are proud of our moros who reinforce this by warmly applauding each youngsters social and scholastic achievements. Yeshiva Ktana preschool is a professional preschool designed to maximize the learning experience of each youngster in our program. Because our moros attend regular workshops led by nationally acclaimed professionals in the fields of early childhood and special education, they are always aware of emerging classroom trends. This translates into enhanced teaching methods designed to promote excitement in the classrooms. We use a child-centered experiential approach, promoting hands-on learning. Our different learning centers focus on building skills in fine and gross motor development, and bolstering cognitive, language, physical, social and emotional development. Language skills are promoted through our literacy center; math and science learning programs encourage critical thinking skills; and the childrens imaginations are boosted during Story time and Open-ended Art activities. Music and Movement and Wall-Climbing programs are fun and energetic ways to reinforce gross motor skills and muscle tone. Our emergent writing center spurs fine motor development, as well as reinforcing the verbal skills acquired in the literacy center. Moros also gently guide the social and emotional intelligence of the children through independent learning opportunities. Bnos Bracha Bnos Bracha, the Girls Division of Yeshiva Ktana of Passaic, is a place where every child can succeed. In the Religious Studies department, our enthusiastic teachers present wonderful lessons in large, airy classrooms. Beginning with Pre1A, our curriculum focuses on skill-based learning. Understanding that reading is the foundation for all knowledge, our young students are guided to recognize the letters and blend them together with the vowels. Through fun group activities and one on one practice, the children gain mastery over this basic skill and will use it the rest of their lives. Text-based Bible studies, which commence in 1st grade, have a similar goal. Students recognize familiar words from previous exposure and are able to use decoding techniques to determine the exact meaning of each occurrence. The classes are far from pure grammatical exercises as each lesson contains an educational purpose as well as an integral connection to our moral lives. Courses on Jewish law and practices are interconnected throughout the grades as each year builds upon the knowledge learned previously. Our Hebrew language curriculum uses the highly acclaimed Safa Neima series to lay a solid foundation in speaking Hebrew, and to develop more fluency and understanding each subsequent year. Extracurricular activities such as the 8th grade production and special series including the Bas Mitzvah syllabus and performance, help develop and recognize the unique qualities every student possesses. Our devoted instructors are all role models who can pass on the beauty of our heritage to the next generation in a loving and nurturing environment. The General Studies department at Bnos Bracha prepares our students for academic excellence. Our professional educators use a variety of methods to expose the youngsters to reading readiness. Each skill is reinforced and mastered before the next skill is introduced. With the study of reading and literature, our children develop their critical thinking as they delve not only as to what happened but why. The math curriculum encourages students to practice concepts until they are perfected and then progress to the next level. Science instruction is hands on as our teachers lead experiments in which every child participates and learns. History comes alive as the connections between the past and the present are articulated. Junior High students take advantage of our fully equipped technology labs to perfect their keyboarding skills and learn the popular applications. Special projects and activities are a synthesis of many disciplines as the children research a topic and present their findings and conclusions. Core curriculum milestones are achieved and exceeded, while our devoted staff ensures that no child is left behind. Bais Yaakov of Passaic Bais Yaakov of Passaic boasts a comprehensive curriculum, consisting of four years each of English, history, computer science, and foreign language and a minimum of three years each of math and science. Students education is rounded out with courses in public speaking, studio art, culinary arts, sewing, physical education, and health education. Seniors choose from electives such as accounting, advanced biology, and psychology. Bais Yaakov of Passaic participates with Fairleigh Dickinson University in a program that enables eleventh and twelfth graders the opportunity to earn as many as twenty seven college credits for many of their high school courses. Highly motivated tenth, eleventh, and twelfth graders who display the requisite advanced skills are invited to participate in rigorous AP courses, such as U.S. History, U.S. Government and Politics, and Computer Science. The Hebrew Studies curriculum, comprehensive and challenging, covers Bible, Prophets, Scriptures, Judaic Law, Hebrew Language, Prayer Texts, Jewish History, Jewish Philosophy, Core Concepts, and Holocaust Studies. In addition to the academic curriculum, Bais Yaakov of Passaic offers a wealth of extra- and co-curricular activities, such as the yearly school production and the weekend learning retreat. They are part and parcel of the entire learning process. It is through these activities that each student discovers and develops her individual strengths and talents; memories of these precious moments stay with her forever. Ultimately, each student will flourish, growing into a serenely confident young woman, taking her rightful place in the world. Mkor Baruch Yeshiva Mkor Boruch, the Boys Division of Yeshiva Ktana of Passaic, is renowned for its Religious Studies Program. Our instructors, all acclaimed educators, impart the timeless lessons of our heritage using effective pedagogical methods. With awareness that the impact on their students will transcend the ten months of the school year, our teachers reach each child, encouraging his academic growth and nurturing his fealty to our tradition. As role models in both scholarship and exemplary character, our staff maintains a connection to their students long after leaving the classroom. Our graduates are committed to their legacy and well prepared for the advance Torah learning that the Mesivtos will demand. The General Studies Division of Yeshiva Mkor Boruch has set a goal of academic excellence. Using the latest proven educational methods, our professional teachers instill knowledge and awareness to their students. Critical thinking aptitude is encouraged using a variety of modalities and styles. A school wide objective to develop enhanced writing skills ensures effective communication. Fully equipped computer labs and instruction give our students the technological prowess needed to compete and succeed in todays world.

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Paxton, IL (60957)

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A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph..

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A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds NW at 5 to 10 mph.
Other than frontline workers, I dont think it should be required

It should never be required

It should be required by private employers in almost all cases

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Keep the conversation about local news & events going by joining us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Recent updates from The News-Post and also from News-Post staff members are compiled below.


CGI, Inc. has immediate openings for:



FINISHING OPERATOR



Job Summary:

Operates all finishing dept. equipment to perform various machining/finishing functions



Functions:

Reads and interprets blueprints and related technical data

Can prepare, pre-set, and install some tooling

Can set some work piece fixtures

Loads/unloads and inspects production parts

Adjusts machine to maintain or correct part tolerances

Other duties as assigned



Knowledge, skills, and abilities:

Some experience in machining techniques

Strong communication skills (verbal and written)



Swing and Day Shifts Available



Excellent Benefits including:

Paid Vacation, Holidays & Sick

Medical, Dental & Vision Insurance

401K Plan, Tuition Reimbursement

Tool Purchasing Program, Weekly Payroll





CGI, A Great Place to Work!



About us

Founded in 1976, CGI is among the largest IT and business consulting services firms in the world. We are insights-driven and outcome-based to help accelerate returns on your IT and business investments.

In all we do, our goal is to build trusted relationships through client proximity, providing industry and technology expertise to help you meet the needs of your customers and citizens.

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Have any questions? Please give us a call at 907-352-2250
Galveston, TX (77553)

Today

Mainly clear. Low near 80F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

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Mainly clear. Low near 80F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph.
Dean Paula M. Crone, DO, gave thanks to the Lebanon community for its support of COMP-NW. She also recognized several individuals who have now passed but who were crucial in helping the medical school along the way, including former Lebanon Mayor Ken Toomb, longtime Chamber of Commerce leader Shelly Garrett, and Linn County Commissioner John Lindsey.

To all of our Lebanon community friends and supporters, including our one-of-a-kind Lebanon medical bag ladies, with our Tools of the Trade program, we are able to do something truly special because of this incredible connection we have with our community. I am forever grateful, Crone said.

The featured speaker was Dr. David M. Carlisle, the president and CEO of Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science, which is based in Los Angeles. Before Carlisle spoke, he was presented with an honorary doctorate of humane letters from President Wilson on behalf of Western University of Health Sciences.


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Wyoming Downs is a favorite place for locals to participate in historic horse racing. Friday may be the off-track betting and simulcasting racing site will have to close that part of its business beginning Saturday after a judge denied an injunction against Campbell County challenging an ordinance that gives exclusive rights to off-track betting to the area's live horse racing operator. In Gillette, that's 307 Horse Racing.
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Tampa Bay Times (St. Petersburg, Fla.).


Sensors SQA Automation Engineer San Diego , California , United States Hardware Summary

Posted: May 20, 2021 Weekly Hours: 40 Role Number: 200248912 Would you like to join a critical Systems team that influences the quality of future Apple products? We are the Sensors Systems QA team, and we are searching for enthusiastic and experienced automation engineers with technical observation and excellent problem-solving skills. In this role, you will help us define the overall test focus for new biometric technologies and then refine the scope into test cases with high impact. You should have experience running the testing and championing impactful issues. You will work with a diverse and multi-disciplinary group of highly hardworking engineers across different organizations. We are looking for candidates with a good aptitude for learning new technologies and a strong automation background. Come join our team! Key Qualifications Committed to quality and passionate about customer experience

Experience in automation using scripting or other languages (preferably Python, Swift)

Experience using Robotics to build automated solutions

Strong attention to detail and strive for product excellence

Ability to make decisions based on data analysis on a regular basis

Deep understanding of QA methodologies & practices

Solid debugging expertise and ability to investigate and triage complex problems

Excellent written and verbal communication skills and experience presenting data to cross-functional teams and/or management

Strong interpersonal skills; ability to collaborate and influence cross-functionally Description Our team focuses on validating biometric sensors and related features we use on Apple products. You'll have the opportunity to work with engineering groups from every layer of the software stack as you write and run tests and then call out and drive top issues. You'll also automate tests when appropriate to enhance the test coverage and give depth to the issues we find. - Own a technical area, develop test plans and other test documentation required for sensor validation and features utilizing sensors - Review existing test coverage and identify areas for improvement - Identify, reproduce and report issues with crisp data - Provide project managers and cross-functional teams with detailed status and progress throughout the hardware/software development cycle - Design, build and maintain automated test solutions for sensor validation - Evaluate existing tools and opportunities to incorporate new tools into the testing process Education & Experience BS EE/CE/CS or equivalent experience Additional Requirements - Knowledge of Biometrics, Ambient light sensor, and Motion sensing technologies.

- Experience with test automation frameworks and languages

- Experience with testing consumer electronics

- Ability to design user studies and perform qualitative and quantitative analysis






Gloucester, MA (01930)

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Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 55F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

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Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low around 55F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Goshen, IN (46526)

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Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable..

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Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable.
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Governor Northam Announces Administration Appointments

RICHMONDGovernor Ralph Northam announced additional appointments to his Administration today.



Secretariat of the Agriculture and Forestry

Brad Copenhaver, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services

Brad Copenhaver has been appointed Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. He has served as Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry since May 2018, where he led the Northam Administrations legislative efforts to legalize cannabis for adult use, regulate hemp-derived oils intended for human consumption, maintain federal produce safety compliance, and meet Virginias Chesapeake Bay cleanup commitments with regard to urban fertilizer application.

Brad grew up on his familys beef cattle and burley tobacco farm in Washington County. After working on Capitol Hill as a legislative correspondent for Congressman H. Morgan Griffith, he was the Director of Government Affairs at the Virginia Agribusiness Council, where he worked closely with the General Assembly and Virginia congressional delegation on a variety of issues including animal welfare, food safety and labeling, the environment and water quality, and international trade. Brad was a Pamplin Scholar at Virginia Tech and graduated with degrees in political science and agricultural economics and completed his Master of Business Administration degree at the University of Washington. During his education career, Brad has served as a National Beef Ambassador, Virginia 4-H President, and treasurer of the UW Graduate and Professional Student Senate, and he spent summers working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Meat Export Federation in Tokyo, and Bryant Christie, Inc., an agricultural exports consulting firm in Seattle.



Heidi Hertz, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry

Heidi Hertz has been appointed Deputy Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry. She has served as Assistant Secretary of Agriculture and Forestry since May 2018, leading multisector collaborations to increase access to healthy food and end hunger in the Commonwealth. Prior to joining the Northam Administration, Heidi held roles in the Office of the First Lady of Virginia Dorothy McAuliffe, the Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth, and the Virginia Department of Health. Heidi serves on the Alumni Board of the Virginia Tech College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and is a member of the Shalom Farms program committee. She holds a Bachelor of Science degree from College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Virginia Tech and a Master of Science degree from James Madison University. She is a native of Lunenburg County and a resident of the City of Richmond.





Secretariat of the Commonwealth

Board Appointments

Board of Education

The Honorable Anne Holton* of Richmond, Professor of Education Policy, George Mason University and former Virginia Secretary of Education

of Richmond, Professor of Education Policy, George Mason University and former Virginia Secretary of Education Jamelle Smith Wilson* of Hanover, Dean, School of Professional and Continuing Studies, University of Richmond





Board of Trustees of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation

Chief Stephen Adkins* of Charles City, Chief, Chickahominy Indian Tribe

of Charles City, Chief, Chickahominy Indian Tribe A. E. Dick Howard* of Charlottesville, Warner-Booker Distinguished Professor of International Law, University of Virginia

of Charlottesville, Warner-Booker Distinguished Professor of International Law, University of Virginia Cassandra L. Newby-Alexander, PhD* of Chesapeake, Professor of History and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts, Norfolk State University





State Board of Behavioral Health and Developmental Services

Moira Mazzi* of Alexandria, Teacher, Fairfax County Public Schools

of Alexandria, Teacher, Fairfax County Public Schools Sandra Price-Stroble, MEd* of Harrisonburg, Retired Teacher and School Counselor and Chair, City of Harrisonburg Electoral Board





Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Authority

Gregory F. Holland* of Midlothian, Attorney, The Holland Law Firm





Virginia Gas and Oil Board

David Spears of Dillwyn, Professional Geologist, Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy





Virginia Small Grains Board

Ray Keating* of Norfolk, Head International Merchandiser, Perdue Agribusiness

of Norfolk, Head International Merchandiser, Perdue Agribusiness Floyd S. Childress, III* of Christiansburg, Producer of Grain and Beef Cattle





*denotes reappointment

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A positive outlook on life

Courtesy photo Sam Pranger poses with his father, Scott, after graduating from Central Michigan University on May 8, 2021. Courtesy photo Sam Pranger became a cadet at West Point in 2016. He is shown here with his father, Scott. Courtesy photo Sam Pranger poses with his mother, Cathleen, who was suffering from ALS. She died in 2015, just months before Sam graduated from high school. Courtesy photo Sam Prager graduates from Spring Lake High School.

Sam Pranger said that life is all about attitude and it takes time to figure that out.

Now 23, the recent Central Michigan University graduate and Spring Lake resident said he sometimes feels like a 50-year-old man with all that life has thrown at him over the years.

I have a lot, he says pointing at the waterfront view out the window. But I had to grow up fast.

Pranger said he did go through some rough patches when he was younger and that hes had to work hard to keep a positive attitude.

But that attitude, and the family and friends supporting him over the years, have made a big difference in his outlook.

Prangers mother, Cathleen, died in November 2015, just months before the teenager graduated from Spring Lake High School. She had battled ALS (Lou Gehrigs disease) for 14 years.

I have no memories of her walking, he said, noting that he was only 3 or 4 years old when his mother was diagnosed with the disease.

He didnt realize that this was not a normal situation until he started school and saw other childrens mothers interacting with them.

Pranger said he was an angry child at times, not understanding the situation.

Eventually, I realized it was OK to be different, he said.

Because caring for an ALS patient is very costly, Pranger said that his father, Scott, left a good job and started a business to make more money for the family.

He started his business on a leap of faith, Pranger said.

Fortunately, the business did well, but it required his father to travel out of country a lot.

Scott also suffers from a nerve issue (not ALS) and Pranger wonders if his dad contracted something that evolved into this during one of his many trips to China.

Still, the family persevered with the help of several caretakers for Cathleen and second moms for Sam.

Mom also had a lot of friends that would help out, Sam said.

Because of that Pranger was able to excel in academics and sports. He also was involved in student government and community service. With the sponsorship of Congressman Bill Huizenga he was able to get into the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Thats when another of lifes flukes struck.

Pranger was participating in some training drills in August 2016 when he suffered a life-threatening event.

I woke to do early training, he said. The last thing I remember is leaving my room.

The information he was given later was that he was doing sprints with other cadets and collapsed.

Pranger said he was told that some senior cadets responded and did CPR for about 20 minutes when paramedics arrived. He was airlifted to a New York hospital.

The former cadet believes antibiotics he was taking for a bad cough may have contributed to his cardiac arrest.

Yes, the antibiotics are not proven to have done it, but it was just my thought that it could have been the likely culprit with possible other factors, he said.

It could have been many things, he said.

Pranger recovered and went to Walter Reed for tests. The following year he went to the Mayo Clinic.

Nothing was found to show that he had any prior heart problems.

Pranger said that doctors have since cleared him to live life as normally as he can.

I do have some restrictions regarding the antibiotic and a few others like it out of an abundance of caution, he said.

But even though it seemed to be a fluke event, West Point treated it as a near death event, which resulted in his medical release from the Academy.

It was quite disappointing because that was my dream for many years, Pranger said. It took me a few years to understand that its OK. Theres other things I can do to be successful and to give back.

During his year off, Pranger wrestled with what he wanted to do next, but since engineering was what he was hoping to pursue through West Point, he decided to continue with that at Central Michigan University  the same school his father attended.

He interned at a Grand Rapids company that summer. Then, in the fall of 2017, started classes at CMU. Once there, he switched to a business curriculum and graduated May 8 with a degree in business finance. He never did take any engineering classes.

On hand for the occasion were his father, his grandmother and his second mom, Kimberly Parsons and her husband David.

After a year of COVID-19 restrictions, Pranger said he was glad family could be in person to view the ceremony.

Now that hes graduated, Pranger plans to stay in Spring Lake for now and learn the ropes in his new job as one of the finance guys for the Cherette Group, a local commercial real estate business.

Pranger said that his father taught him to be independent as well as the importance of giving back.

Right now I feel comfortable with the job I have, he said. I always liked living here. Its a very friendly community.

Pranger said hes still trying to figure out his future.

For now, what he wants is to be successful, gain stability and follow in his dads footsteps with his kind of charitable giving.
Information in this post was accurate at the time of its posting. Due to the fluid nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientific understanding, along with guidelines and recommendations, may have changed since the original publication date.
Carlos Sainz does not expect a red car to be on pole position at Monaco, even though Ferrari dominated Thursday practice on the fabled streets.

Alfa Romeo driver and Ferrari academy member Antonio Giovinazzi says he was not surprised by the sudden surge in form by the Maranello team at Monaco.

"No, we already saw in Barcelona that in the last sector - the slowest one - they were very fast," he told Sky Italia.

"I am a Ferrari driver and I'm very happy with what I have seen here so far."

Ferrari driver Sainz, however, warns that Mercedes and Red Bull remain the fastest teams in 2021 - but he is not ruling out a shock result.

"As we say in Spain, dreaming is free," he said.

"Tonight I will go to bed dreaming but still aware that it will not be easy. Mercedes and Red Bull have better cars and if they find the performance from Thursday to Saturday then they should be ahead.

"But who knows - we will continue to work and we'll see where we are."

However, Red Bull's Max Verstappen is also worried about his pace around the Principality, admitting to Ziggo Sport that the car is "not yet good enough for pole".

"We really have to find something in the car to be able to beat Ferrari and Mercedes," he said.

(GMM)
As the Monaco layout stands today, the most prestigious race on the Formula 1 calendar "will never be exciting for the fans".

That is the view of seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton, referring to the fact that the ultra-fast and high-downforce cars of today have outgrown the fabled and twisty street circuit.

"It's the best venue," Hamilton is quoted by DPA news agency. "It's the most beautiful place here. But you know beforehand that it will never be exciting for the fans."

The Mercedes driver says overtaking is now basically impossible at Monaco, adding: "I don't think the fans enjoy it.

"It's been going on for years and I think we have to change that," Hamilton, 36, added.

The Briton admitted he isn't sure what the solution to the problem is, but said: "I hope it will be more exciting for people in the generations to come."

(GMM)
Greene County historian Tim Massey is an award-winning writer for Civil War News with more than 40 photos featured on various magazine covers. He has served on various boards and held positions in several historic organizations. He can be reached at horses319@comcast.net.
The Boys and Girls Club of Magnolia will host the 2021 Arkansas Babe Ruth State Softball Championship.
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Theres a story from last week I cant get out of my head: A Palestinian family takes a taxi to their daughters home in Gaza City, five minutes away, on the last day of Ramadan, because they thought theyd be safer from the ongoing Israeli airstrikes. Theyre unpacking the car when suddenly a military drone strikes, killing the taxi driver, the father, the mother, and wounding the son, 28. For many American Jews who were raised to see Palestinians as the enemy, it might come as a shock to recognize the Israeli military as the aggressor in this situation, or to mourn the victims of that strike. But this week, I mourn.

I was raised to unequivocally support Israel. As a second-generation American Jew and granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, I never questioned Israels existence, actions, and connection to the United States  not because debate wasnt encouraged in my house, but because I never even thought to ask.

Four days after Israeli police invaded Al-Aqsa Mosque, a Muslim holy site in East Jerusalem, the questions and the words finally came to me and I took to Twitter to share my newly crystallized feelings to see if they would resonate. Being an American Jew is a mindfuck, the now-viral thread began; it goes on to describe how American Jews are raised to believe in the infallibility of Israel, how the intergenerational trauma of the Holocaust shapes our view of the region, and how our history of oppression should make us even more empathetic to the displacement and killing of Palestinians.

Sharing even the most benign opinions online is terrifying, so I was particularly worried about how something so personal would be received. Thats why I was surprised and humbled by the overwhelmingly affirmative response, with fellow American Jews publicly and privately agreeing theyre no longer able to accept the party line on Israel-U.S. relations. Theyve been grappling with the version of Israel presented on trips organized by groups like Birthright versus what theyve seen unfold on the ground, how to square their love for their people and history with their commitment to racial and social justice, and how Israels actions in Palestine seem to fly in the face of tikkun olam  the Jewish principle of improving the world through action.

Jeremy Slevin also saw his Twitter thread on the intrinsic tie between Jewish American identity and Israel touted widely, with more than 18,000 (and counting) retweets. The 33-year-old senior communications director for Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) wrote, In truth, Israel is a state, like many others, founded on the displacement of others. Its Jewish exclusivity is predicated on the exclusion of millions who continue to live on that land. Political exclusion based on religion, by definition, leads to hatred, repression, and eventually ethnic cleansing. Jews should know this more than anyone.

He described to me his ability to separate his Jewish American identity from Israel as a gradual process, bolstered by his work for Congresswoman Omar. Seeing the demonization, threats, and hate speech she has faced for criticizing the occupation has clarified my commitment to decoupling blanket support for the Israeli government from my Judaism.

Slevin recognizes that engaging on such an emotional topic publicly on social media may not be for everyone, but added I do think its important to have these difficult conversations with people who might disagree with you, to get their perspectives and share yours. Continuing to shy away from this issue and avoid healthy debate serves no one.

Samantha Cyrulnik-Dercher, a 32-year-old civil rights advocate in Washington, D.C., recently had one of these difficult conversations with her Jewish family, which she called really scary and also really liberating. The granddaughter of three Holocaust survivors said, Two weeks ago if youd asked me if you could interview me for this piece I would have said no, I dont really know enough to talk about something so complicated. So just the fact that I feel empowered to speak about this at all is a very big change in a very short time.

While many of us have felt isolated in our views, by speaking out, were finding solidarity. Over the past 15 years, the an anti-occupation Jewish left in America has been growing, with organizations like IfNotNow and JStreet leading the charge. But because the conflict has so often been boiled down to a binary  you either support Israel or you support its destruction  for many of us it felt like a betrayal to even consider the other side. Even now with strength in numbers, there is still a genuine fear of using words and phrases like apartheid and ethnic cleansing, even if theyre applicable. There is an instinct to retreat.

Libby Lenkinski, a Brooklyn-based veteran in the progressive American-Israeli activism space and vice president for public engagement at the New Israel Fund, sees the emergence of a new perspective on Israel as young American Jews reinterpreting what it means to live a Jewish life, and cautions older Jews not to mischaracterize changing opinions on Israel as a rejection of our values: This may not be the engagement you dreamed of, but they havent turned away, they just turned in a different direction.

Lenkinski, 42, sees a noticeable shift in American perception since the last major conflict in Gaza, in 2014. A theme thats relatively new is that its simple. Its been described for decades as too complicated, but now people are realizing its actually not that complicated, Lenkinski told me. Its a moral issue. Its right or wrong. Theres something positive about it, but I hope it doesnt end there, stressing that American Jews need to go beyond tweets and Instagram memes to understand the intertwined systems of oppression at play.

Of the at least 60 children killed by airstrikes in Gaza this week, 11 were participating in a program focused on trauma run by the Norwegian Refugee Council. As their organizations secretary general wrote, They are now gone, killed with their families, buried with their dreams and the nightmares that haunted them. Though a cease-fire is now in effect, violence continues at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, where the fighting of the past two weeks arguably began.

Growing up in the shadow of the Holocaust and the intergenerational trauma of descending from survivors of genocide, I cant help but see my family in their faces, as Cyrulnik-Dercher put it. The near annihilation of the Jewish people four decades before I was born still courses through my veins, and it is this visceral feeling of violence and oppression that has made me feel certain that speaking out now is the right thing to do  and already too little too late.

The truth is that causing trauma to another group will never ease our own. Killing more that 200 Palestinians in two weeks wont bring back our ancestors who perished in the Holocaust, and it certainly wont bring us closer to a lasting peace. Until we recognize that no one is safe until were all safe, the cycle of oppression will play on.

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GREENWICH  In early 2020, Guy Stanley Philoche was riding a wave of success.

After years of struggling, the New York-based artist had just had a sold-out solo exhibition in Chelsea. Philoche could barely produce enough works to meet the demand of his growing list of collectors, which by then included Fortune 500 companies and celebrities.

His plan, at the time, was to buy a $20,000 Rolex watch with his earnings. In hindsight, he acknowledged that the purchase might seem self-indulgent. But it felt like a sign to Philoche, 44, who was born in Haiti and immigrated to Connecticut as a child, that he had really made it.

But the watch was never purchased. In March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck, decimating New York City and disrupting the art world that had nurtured Philoche for more than two decades. His peers struggled to support themselves as galleries and museums closed and sales of art slumped considerably.

Newly prosperous and gaining momentum, Philoche made the surprising decision to share the wealth.

Now that Im in the room, and even better, now that I actually have a seat at the table, Im looking around and Im like, Guys, theres a lot of room here, he said. Theres a lot of room for people to eat. So why are we being so stingy with it?

Philoche began an initiative to purchase art from local artists, which earned him a bevy of national press. In the last year, he has spent more than $100,000 and bought more than 300 pieces of art, some from artists who had previously never made a sale. More recently, he also launched a partnership with Vans and the Fairfield Comedy Club to sell custom-designed sneakers. The profits will support comedians who have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.

His new purchases overran his house and spilled into a storage space, where Philoche keeps all the paintings, sculpture and works in other mediums that he has acquired.

Hes really become a philanthropist here, said Ron Cavalier, owner of the Cavalier Ebanks Gallery in Greenwich, where Philoche has a new exhibition that opened Saturday. And its very unusual for an artist to support other artists. Particularly in this field its just incredibly competitive. And very few can make a living at it. But that didnt matter to him. What mattered to him was taking care of other people.

Cavalier has been a champion of Philoches work since they met four years ago. He has exhibited Philoches paintings in Greenwich and also at his galleries in Chelsea and Florida. Cavalier has encouraged the artists philanthropic endeavors and creative growth, even as Philoche moved away from the abstract and modernist paintings that had gained him fame.

Especially if youre selling, the gallery doesnt want you to stop painting the same narrative over and over and over, Philoche said. You get stuck in a bubble.

More Information The Cavalier Ebanks Gallery, 175 Greenwich Ave., will host an opening reception for Guy Stanley Philoche's "Love" and "Revolution" serires, Saturday, May 22, from 3 to 5 p.m. For more information on Guy Stanley Philoche, visit http://www.philochestudios.com/bio.html For more information on the Cavalier Ebanks Gallery, visit cavaliergalleries.com. See More Collapse

For Philoche  whom Cavalier called tireless  stagnating was not an option. During the COVID-19 pandemic, while amassing a sizable art collection, he painted prolifically.

In quarantine, Philoche began working on a new series of paintings he collectively titled Love and rEVOLution, some of which will be on display at the Cavalier Gallery. Its Philoches first pop art show and a break from his earlier color field influences. His earlier work is reminiscent of Barnett Newman and, especially, Mark Rothko.

Art supplies were difficult to come by at the height of the pandemic, Philoche said, so many of the works were painted on masonite board fastened to two-by-fours. The result? His heaviest and most figurative works to date.

Many of the pieces feature Peanuts characters, including Snoopy, Franklin and Lucy, along-side Banksy-esque scrawling of the words Love and Revolution. There are certain Philoche hallmarks that remain, according to Cavalier. His heavy use of impasto and bisecting lines are present, as are his frequent references to New York City. But in general, the new works represent a conscious move away from more serious subject matter by Philoche.

There was a lot of artists who have been painting some amazing, important works about the pandemic, Philoche said. But I just think that people want to smile again, you know?

So he returned to simpler times, when he was eating cereal and watching cartoons in his parents home as a child.

Those memories and, more generally, his experiences growing up the son of immigrants in a series of Fairfield County towns and cities, have had a profound impact on Philoches life and work.

It wasnt an easy path to become a working artist. Growing up, his siblings and cousins, all exceptional athletes, expected Philoche to play sports. But he could neither catch nor dribble a ball.

His parents, too, made sacrifices to ensure that their children would be secure in America, and they had particular ideas about his career.

For them, it was all about pursuing the American dream, Philoche said. It was either getting a government job with a pension, you know, or becoming a lawyer or a doctor. I remember telling my parents, Listen, Im going to go to art school. I will never forget, my mom said, I scrubbed enough toilets so you never have to. I am not paying for to go to art school.

They made good on the promise.

Philoche moved out at 17, paid his own way through art school and lived, for a long time, as a struggling artist in New York City.

Early on, he printed out cheap fliers of his work and stuck them in copies of the Village Voice  the now-defunct but legendary alt-weekly  under cover of night every Wednesday when it would hit the newsstands. When Philoche finally got his first solo show, he couldnt afford a U-Haul to transport his artwork. So Philoche, who lives in Harlem, strapped as much of his artwork as he could to a dolly and made several, long trips to the Lower Manhattan gallery where his paintings would be shown.

Those days of transporting art are not that far in Philoches past. And in his philanthropic work, as well as in his recent art work, past is present.

It just made me it just made me work harder and stay focused, Philoche said. And for that I thank them so much. Because I think if they had given me help then I wouldnt have taken it seriously. I would maybe be a hobbyist painter. But the fact that failure wasnt an option, I had no choice but to succeed.

justin.papp@scni.com; @justinjpapp1; 203-842-2586
ROME (AP)  Cardinal George Pell is enjoying his first Roman spring since being exonerated of sex abuse charges in his native Australia: He receives visitors to his Vatican flat, sips midday Aperol spritzes at the outdoor cafe downstairs and keeps up religiously with news of a Holy See financial scandal that he suspected years ago.

Pell, who turns 80 in June, is buoyed by the perks of being a retired Vatican cardinal even as he tries to put back together a life and career that were upended by his criminal trials and 404 days spent in solitary confinement in a Melbourne lockup.

Ive become very Italian, Pell tells a visitor one morning, referring to his daily routine checking coronavirus cases in Italy. I check the stats every day. But Im regional: I go immediately to Lazio, which surrounds Rome.

Pell left his job as prefect of the Vaticans economy ministry in 2017 to return home to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996.

After a first jury deadlocked, a second convicted him and he was sentenced to six years in prison. The conviction was upheld on appeal only to be thrown out by Australias High Court, which in April 2020 found there was reasonable doubt in the testimony of his lone accuser.

Pell and his supporters strongly denied the charges and believe he was scapegoated for all the crimes of the Australian Catholic Churchs botched response to clergy sexual abuse. Yet victims and critics say Pell epitomizes everything wrong with how the church has dealt with the sex abuse problem and have denounced his exoneration.

Pell spoke to The Associated Press ahead of the U.S. release of the second volume of his jailhouse memoir, Prison Journal, Volume 2, chronicling the middle four months of his term. The book charts his emotional low after the appeals court upheld his initial conviction, and ends with a sign of hope after Australias High Court agreed to hear his case.

Looking back, I was probably excessively optimistic that Id get bail, Pell says now, crediting his glass half-full attitude to his Christian faith.

Pell still has many detractors  he freely uses the term enemies"  who think him guilty. But in Rome, even many of his critics believed in his innocence, and since returning in September he has enjoyed a well-publicized papal audience and participates regularly in Vatican events.

Pell had returned to Rome to clean out his apartment, intending to make Sydney his permanent home.

But he never left. As Italy's COVID-19 resurgence hit, Pell spent the winter watching as the scandal over Vatican corruption and incompetence that he tried to uncover as Pope Francis finance czar exploded publicly in ways he admits he never saw coming.

For the three years that Pell was in charge of the Vaticans finances, he tried to get a handle on just how much money the Secretariat of State had in its asset portfolio, what its investments were and what it did with the tens of millions of dollars in donations to the pope from the faithful.

He largely failed, as his nemesis in the Secretariat of State, Cardinal Angelo Becciu, blocked his efforts to impose international accounting and auditing standards. But now Becciu has been sacked, Francis has stripped the secretariat of its ability to manage the money and Vatican prosecutors are investigating the office's 350 million euro investment in a London real estate venture.

No indictments have been handed down after two years of investigation. But in court documents, prosecutors have accused an Italian broker involved in the London deal of trying to extort the Holy See of 15 million euros in fees, and they have accused a handful of Vatican officials of involvement.

Those same court documents, however, have made clear the entire venture was approved by top officials in the Secretariat of State, and witnesses say Francis himself approved a just compensation for the broker. Yet only low-ranking Vatican officials and external businessmen are known to be under investigation.

Pell said he is heartened that Vatican prosecutors are on the case, given the tens of millions of euros that were lost in the deal. But he expressed concerns about possible problems in the investigation and wondered if the truth will ever come out.

He noted a British judge recently issued a devastating ruling against the Vatican in a related asset seizure case against the broker, Gianluigi Torzi. The judge said Vatican prosecutors had made appalling omissions and misrepresentations in their request for judicial assistance, and his ruling essentially dismantled much of their case against Torzi.

He used the word appalling about the level of competence, Pell said. The issues flagged in the British ruling are a matter for concern, said Pell, for whom matters of due process are particularly dear.

Its a matter of basic competence and justice," Pell said. We must act within the norms of justice.
GREENWICH  When it comes to vaccinations, Riverside appears to have the rest of Greenwich beat.

Data released by the state Department of Public Health shows some pockets of the town  including Riverside  have high vaccination rates and identifies other areas that are lagging behind in the fight against COVID-19.

Riverside is split into two census tracts: In the eastern portion, 93 percent of residents age 16 and older have received at least the first dose of the vaccine, as of May 11. In the much smaller, more western part of the neighborhood, 75 percent of eligible residents have received at least their first dose, according to the data.

Greenwichs Midcountry, just south of the Merritt Parkway, also had high vaccination numbers. About 85 percent of residents older than 16, on the eastern side of the neighborhood, were at least partially vaccinated. And 81 percent of eligible residents in its western side have a least one dose under their belts.

A third neighborhood  Old Greenwich  had similarly high overall numbers: 81 percent.

The data, broken down by census tract, can help communities determine which sections are behind in getting the vaccine to residents, DPH spokesperson Maura Fitzgerald said.

Providing vaccine data by census tract is a very granular way of looking at the data in order to focus local efforts to increase vaccine rates, she said.

John Midy, clinical director at Family Centers Health Care, said he has been trying to find vaccination data that is broken down by neighborhood.

In addition to Family Centers two vaccination clinics at 90 Harding Road and at Wilbur Peck, a public housing complex in town, it has also hosted dozens of pop-up vaccine events. Rather than setting a particular schedule, the pop-ups are based on inquiries and where officials believe there would be interest. The sites have included schools, nursing homes, public housing complexes, and at places of employment.

Now, Midy said, Family Centers can use the state data to help pinpoint future efforts.

According to the data, Byram, Chickahominy, downtown Greenwich, and a census tract comprising both Glenville and Pemberwick, had lower vaccination rates in comparison to other neighborhoods in town.

Chickahominy, at 59 percent, clocked in as the neighborhood in town with the lowest amount of its eligible population with at least one dose of vaccine.

Byram also had low overall numbers, with 66 percent. However, 100 percent of seniors, age 65 and older, had received at least their first jab.

The same can be seen in Riverside and eastern Cos Cob, where all seniors have had at least one shot. And the western part of Cos Cob is in good shape, too, clocking in at 86 percent of those over age 65.

In 10 of the 16 census tracts in Greenwich, more than 80 percent of older adults had received at least their first dose of the vaccine. The occurrence reflects the massive effort that occurred earlier this year to get seniors vaccinated first, said Stephanie Paulmeno, a vaccinator for Greenwich Health Departments clinics and a public health specialist for the town.

People went out in force to vaccinate in that group  the governor participated in a contractual agreement with CVS and Walgreens to get nursing home residents and staff vaccinated, she said.

And many of them were more frightened because they were dying at such alarming numbers, she said of older adults facing the coronavirus.

Now, health officials are targeting members of the younger population who arent as concerned about contracting COVID-19 and seem to feel immortal, Paulmeno said.

More also needs to be done to get vaccines to people of color, people who speak other languages and members of vulnerable groups who distrust of the vaccine, or who dont have the same access to the shot, and are therefore, less likely to receive it, she said.

Through her vaccination work in town, Paulmeno said she has encountered undocumented individuals, for example, who ask how they might be impacted if they receive the vaccine.

And I say, they should be coming in for their vaccinations, Paulmeno said. Theres nothing that we ask in terms of filling out the information for someone to get vaccinated that asks you what your status is.

Two census tracts that represent downtown Greenwich have lower vaccination rates for the overall eligible population. In census tract 107, the northern part of downtown, 63 percent of those 16 and older were at least partially vaccinated. In census tract 106, the southern part of downtown, it was 77 percent .

In census tract 104, which comprises Glenville and Pemberwick, 61 percent of the eligible 16 and older population is at least partially vaccinated. In the 16 to 44 age group, only 40 percent of residents are vaccinated there, according to the data.

In downtown Greenwich, residency and data could be more transient in that urban area, said state Rep. Steve Meskers, D-150 District, which includes Old Greenwich, Riverside, Cos Cob and Byram.

Meskers said Byram, with its 66 percent overall number, is an area of concern. He said he encourages town leaders to review the DPH numbers and suggested hosting vaccination clinics in Greenwich neighborhoods where vaccination numbers are lower.

In nearby Stamford, community health workers are knocking on doors to educate residents about the vaccine, said Midy, from Family Centers. In Greenwich, however, there may be less emphasis on similar outreach approaches.

But Midy said marketing to communities where vaccination rates are lower is also important. Using community health workers to knock on doors is one strategy. Posting signs on buses and street corners, is another option, he said. Social media is another avenue to reach the younger population, he said.

The more you market to a place, the more theyre aware of what access they have, he said. And sometimes the more educated they become, the more open they are to receiving the care.

tatiana.flowers@thehour.com @TATIANADFLOWERS
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China to continue supporting Bangladesh in fighting COVID-19 pandemic: FM

Xinhua) 13:28, May 22, 2021

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China stands ready to continue supporting Bangladesh in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Friday in a phone conversation with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen.

Wang said that in March this year, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a video speech to an event held by Bangladesh in commemoration of the centenary of its founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birth, also in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the country's independence, which injected strong impetus into the development of China-Bangladesh relations.

China and Bangladesh firmly support each other on issues of core interests, said Wang, noting that China will continue to support Bangladesh's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Wang hoped that the two countries will make solid progress in promoting Belt and Road cooperation, ensure an early completion of major projects, expand cooperation in such fields as information, communications and digital economy, and open up new prospects for mutually beneficial cooperation between the two sides.

Noting that the COVID-19 pandemic is a common enemy of mankind, Wang said that neighbouring countries should lend more support to each other to overcome difficulties.

South Asia is facing severe challenges brought by a new wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, Wang added, noting that China, as a good neighbor, a good partner and a good friend of South Asian countries, is ready to stand together firmly with the people of countries including Bangladesh, until the virus is eventually defeated.

China will continue to provide support to Bangladesh in its fight against COVID-19 and is ready to actively promote the discussion on vaccine-filling cooperation between enterprises of both countries, he said.

Momen expressed his congratulation on the successful landing of China's probe on Mars and thanked China for its invaluable support and strong assistance with Bangladesh's fight against the pandemic.

Bangladesh always adheres to the one-China policy and will continue to firmly support China on issues related to Hong Kong, Taiwan and human rights, said the top Bangladeshi diplomat, adding that his country is willing to join hands with China to strengthen cooperation in fighting the pandemic and promoting economic recovery, and jointly push the Bangladesh-China strategic cooperative partnership to a new height.

Momen also highly appreciated the positive role China has been playing on the Palestinian issue.

The two sides also exchanged views on the Rakhine state issue. The Bangladeshi side expressed its hope for a quick restart of dialogue and communication as well as an early repatriation of refugees.

Wang said that China fully understands the reasonable concerns of Bangladesh, and supports Bangladesh and Myanmar in properly addressing the issue via friendly consultation, so as to initiate the repatriation process as soon as possible.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
Members of the South African BDS Coalition, its affiliates and other partner organisations and trade unions will converge on the Durban Esplanade and Durban port on Friday, 21 May, to protest the docking of an Israeli ship, and in celebration of the decision by members of the South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (SATAWU) to boycott the offloading of the ship.

The decision by SATAWU and the BDS Coalition follows a call by the Palestine General Federation of Trade Unions (PGFTU) on workers and trade unions to refuse to unload [Israeli] ships and goods from sea and airports. The PGFTU call is one of many actions of boycotts, divestment and sanctions called for by Palestinians  a consequence of the barbaric Israeli onslaught on Gaza, the killings of Palestinians in the West Bank, the pogroms in Haifa Lyddia, Haifa, Jaffa and other town and cities and the ethnic cleansing in Occupied Jerusalem. More than 230 people have been killed, most of them civilians, including about 70 children, as well as the wholesale destruction by Apartheid Israel of infrastructure in Gaza, and a 14-year medieval-like siege of the territory.

The Zim Shanghai, owned by Israeli state-owned company Zim Lines, docked in Durban last night, 19 May 2021. The action against the ship is part of a global set of actions against Zim Lines. The protests also target Transnet, demanding that the parastatal not allow goods to or from Israel to pass through South African ports. Earlier this week, workers in the Italian city of Livorno refused to load an arms shipment onto the Asiatic Island, another Zim Lines ship. Their union, LUnione Sindacale di Base (USB) said, The port of Livorno will not be an accomplice in the massacre of the Palestinian people. The cargo, USB said, contained weapons and explosives that will serve to kill the Palestinian population.

In the port of Oakland, USA, trade union and Palestinian solidarity activists are preparing to prevent the offloading of another Zim Lines ship that is due to dock there soon, in a campign called Block the Boat. In 2014, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union refused to offload a Zim Lines ship in Oakland, and this will be the first Zim ship to dock in the port since then.

South African workers are not newcomers to action against Zim Lines. In February 2009, SATAWU members in Durban refused to offload a Zim Lines ship in protest against the 2008-2009 Israeli attack on Gaza. Workers and solidarity activists have planned two actions in Durban this week in response to the docking of the Zim Shanghai:

Workers will refuse to offload the ship and handle the ships cargo, which is due to start on Friday, 21 May.

SATAWU has already informed Transnet of their refusal to offload the cargo. Activists will hold a protest on the Durban Esplanade at 7am on Friday.

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Haiti - Sensitive files : The Embassy of Haiti tries to have explanations with the Chancellor of Bahamian





Anthony Brutus, Charge d'Affaires a.i. of the Embassy of Haiti in the Bahamas recently met with Chancellor of Bahamas Darren Henfield regarding several sensitive issues between Haiti and the Bahamas, in order to have official explanations.



Extension of restrictions on travel from Haiti :

Henfield explained the need for the Government of the Bahamas to extend the suspension of travel or transit from Haiti, linking this decision by the Bahamas to the global effort to reduce the spread of Covid-19. He said the Bahamas, like the majority of countries in the region, was actively implementing a vaccination program to ensure the safe travel of Bahamians, residents and tourists, as well as the reopening of the national economy.



Anthony Brutus said he would consult his Government on the means by which Haiti would join the Bahamas in this effort and allow the return to normal of flights between the two countries.



Review of obtaining visas for Haitian nationals :

Regarding Haiti's concerns about obtaining visas for the Bahamas using the current visa process, Henfield informed that there were a number of technical issues with the online process that needed to be corrected but that the process would resume thereafter.



Anthony Brutus proposed a review of the facilitation for Haitian nationals holding Canadian, Schengen (Europe), British and American visas, which would allow a beneficial increase in the travel of Haitian tourists to the Bahamas. Henfield said he will have this proposal reviewed.



Regarding the demolition of unregulated housing on Abaco :

Chancellor Henfield reiterated the position of the Government of the Bahamas with regard to its laws on ownership and use of land, including the parameters of housing construction and reiterated its adherence to the courts judgment and government policy in construction of unregulated housing. He recalled that the demolition actions undertaken by the government had been made public before their execution, in particular on the need for the joint support of the Department of Social Services, the non-governmental organizations concerned and the well-established Haitian community. He asked Brutus to appeal to the most extensive ties of his Embassy to safeguard the interests of the Haitian diaspora in the Bahamas and to ensure their well-being.



Anthony Brutus is committed to working closely with Henfield and the Government of The Bahamas to bring the necessary and desired attention to these issues.



Derogatory statement on living and social conditions in Haiti :



Regarding recent statements Desmond Bannister Deputy Prime Minister Banameen and Minister of Public Works who said Haiti had "dirt, garbage [and] shanty houses all over the place" Henfield admitted that the views expressed were unfortunate, but that they undoubtedly reflected the close relations between the Bahamas and Haitians, at the family and social levels. He expressed his regret. For these words and asked Brutus to transmit them to the Haitian authorities.



The meeting ended with the promise of renewed reflection on examples of other areas conducive to the enrichment of bilateral relations



HL/ HaitiLibre


















By Panos Kotzathanasis | Published on 2021/05/21

As I have mentioned before, the "Chunhyangjeon" is one of Korea's most iconic epic stories, and has been adapted more than a dozen times on cinema. Shin Sang-ok's version was one of the first films in color cinemascope in Korean cinema, along with Hong Seong-ki's version of the same story, which also screened the same year.

Wol-mae is a retired gisaeng living in Namwon, whose daughter, Chun-hyang, is famous for her beauty in the area. Lee Mong-ryong, the son of the local magistrate, is smitten by her beauty and sends his servant, Bang-ja, to ask from her to meet. Her servant, however, Hyang-dan, chases him away, forcing Mong-ryong to visit himself. Soon, the two youths finds themselves attracted to each other, and spending the night in Wol-mae's house, after a series of shenanigans of the two males that end up with Mong-ryong taking Chun-hyang as his fiance. While the visits continue, Bang-ja also flirts with Hyang-dan shamelessly, and another relationship, parallel to the main one, begins.

Soon, however, tragedy hits the couple, as Lee's disgruntled father leaves the area along with the local governor, and the young man is obliged to follow him in order to study for the state exam. Both Chun-hyang and Wol-mae are inconsolable, since the girl cannot follow her husband, and soon she detracts from the world, constantly staying in her room. Her fate becomes even worse when the new governor arrives, Byeon Hak-do, a man known for his sadistic tendencies and his overall cruelty. Hak-do is searching for a gisaeng for him in the area and the only woman he likes is Chung-hyang. The girl however, refuses his orders to serve him and soon finds herself under torture and eventually, in prison.

Shin Sang-ok directs a film that is split in two parts, which are rather different in their narrative approach. The first one unfolds much like a romantic comedy, with Mong-ryong and Chun-hyang taking care of the first part, and Bang-ja and Hyang-dan the second. The approach here is light, cheerful, and the characters filled with smiles. Do Kum-bong as the lady servant and Heo Jang-kang as the man servant give great performances here, with their cheekiness and somewhat competing flirting being one of the most entertaining parts of the whole film.

After Mong-ryong's departure, however, the movie turns to Shin Sang-ok's most typical genre, the melodrama, which takes the largest part of the narrative. Chun-hyang's despair and Wol-mae's effort to protect her in her sadness become the central focus here, but the tragedy really begins upon the arrival of Byeon Hak-do, who, along with his despicable entourage, proceeds on making fun of the weak to entertain themselves and torture anyone who comes their way. Their arrival and the calling for all courtesans of the area may be somewhat funny, particularly through the interaction with the elderly one who pretends to be 16-years-old, but upon Chun-hyang's appearance in front of the court, the story becomes a true tragedy. Her harsh imprisonment, particularly due to the wooden plank she carries around her neck, and the frequent torturing due to her continuous denial to betray her fiance, are rather brutal, to the point that the movie borders on the exploitation on occasion. The constant laughter of Byeon Hak-do's crew, make a rather nightmarish antithesis with Chun-hyang's yelling and crying, that also highlight the excellent use of sound in the movie, and the equal editing by Kim Young-hee-II. At the same time, however, both this part, and the last arc that involves the return of Mong-ryong, lag significantly, with a number of repetitive scenes that seem unnecessary or at least intensely prolonged for no apparent reason.

At the same time, however, they serve the purpose of showing how awful the new local lord is, and how the locals consider Chun-hyang a hero, and Mong-ryong a coward who abandoned her. The aforementioned last arc seems to be so lengthy in order to show how he has changed, with this aspect justifying the duration, to a point at least.

Choi Eun-hee's performance is one of the greatest of her career, in a rather demanding role, both physically, considering the torture her characters suffers through, and in terms of acting, since she has to utter her lines with an intense theatricality, all the while exhibiting a series of different sentiments that range from happiness to utter despair. Kim Jin-kyu is convincing in his transformation to a hero as Mong-ryong, but definitively on a lower level than Choi. Lee Ye-chun as Byeon Hak-do is great in the archetypical role of the majestic villain, with his laughter essentially providing the soundtrack of the movie.

Technically, the movie obviously had a big budget, which was implemented excellently by Shin Sang-ok, in order to present images of extreme beauty. The costumes and the sets are impeccably presented by Lee Jeong-su and Gang Seong-beom respectively, while Lee Hyung-pyo's cinematography has captured every detail with a very high level of artistry, including the very fittingly extravagant coloring. The battle in the end could have been a bit better planned and shot, but succeeds in highlighting the agony and the Deus-ex-Machina element quite nicely.

Despite its lagging and the occasionally excessive melodrama, "Seong Chun-hyang" is an impressive film that benefits the most by the direction, the acting and the production values and is quite entertaining to watch, even today.

Review by Panos Kotzathanasis

___________

"Seong Chun-hyang" is directed by Shin Sang-ok, and features Choi Eun-hee, Kim Jin-kyu, Do Kum-bong, Heo Jang-kang, Lee Ye-chun, Han Eun-jin. Release date in Korea: 1961/01/28.
Published on 2021/05/22 | Source

Korean movie "Stay" added to HanCinema database



"Stay" (2021)



Directed by Lee Seung-jin-II



With Oh Ji-ho, Oh Cho-hee, Lee Jae-yong-I, Lee Yong-nyeo,...



Starts filming: 2021/06/15

Synopsis

A crime action movie about Taek-dong, who used to be called Tazza in online gambling, jumping into a real gambling court to get revenge for his friend.



Release date in Korea : 2021
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Published on 2021/05/21 | Source

New stills added for the upcoming Korean movie "The Eve" (2021)



Directed by Kim Sang-min



With Seo Han-gyeol, Hong Ah-reum, Park Yun, Kim Jung-woon, Park Sun-im, Ji Hye-in,...



Synopsis

No one involved in this matter is forgiven!



Jeong-woo, who grew up with Han-na under their adoptive mother, goes abroad to contribute to a difficult family environment.



However, after hearing the news of the death of his adoptive mother in a hit-and-run traffic accident, he returns to Korea, and found out that Cheol-jin, a member of the local organization Taechangpa, and former classmate of Han-na was involved.



Meanwhile, Taechangpa joined hands with the Japanese yakuza organization to expand its power. They kidnapped Han-na to catch Jeong-woo, who was tightening them up. This makes Jeong-woo even angrier.



The anger of a man who lost everything explodes!



Release date in Korea : 2021/06/03
Wine & More offers a variety of spirits from its 1.5-year-old neighbor, Insurrection Distillery, including blood orange vodka and violet American dry gin, along with an array of IPAs, lagers and other beers  on tap and in cans  from Cave Brewing Co., a 5-year-old nanobrewery that closed its taproom at the South Mall last summer due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Mary Lou Montgomery, retired as editor of the Hannibal (Mo.) Courier-Post in 2014. She researches and writes narrative-style stories about the people who served as building blocks for this regions foundation. Books available on Amazon.com by this author: "The Notorious Madam Shaw," "Pioneers in Medicine from Northeast Missouri," and "The Historic Murphy House, Hannibal, Mo., Circa 1870." She can be reached at Montgomery.editor@yahoo.com Her collective works can be found at www.maryloumontgomery.com
A Senate panel voted Wednesday to give themselves and their colleagues a big increase in their allowance  and do it as soon as possible.

You voted:
Thursday, May 13, a grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony was held for TVS Cable's new Broadband Store in Hazard. TVS Cable and their parent company, Thacker-Grigsby Communications, announced the grand opening of their new Broadband Store, located in the Daniel Boone Plaza last week, and said the TVS Cable company realizes Broadband has become a necessity and therefore sees the need to be more available to their customers.

At the new Broadband Store, TVS Cable officials said, they will have customer service reps available to take applications for service, explain all services available, make any changes to a service, take payments, or just answer any questions customers may have.

Local community leaders attended the ceremony and grand opening, and said they are grateful to have a partnership with TVS Cable.

We really appreciate (TVS) being a great community partner. We're so excited to have (them) here in the shopping center, said Perry County Judge-Executive Scott Alexander. Hazard Mayor Donald "Happy" Mobelini, also the principal of Hazard High School, agreed, and stated that the company has always supported both the city and the school system. TVS has always supported all of our schools, said Mobelini.

Janet Smith, president of the Hazard-Perry County Chamber of Commerce, said the chamber and community welcomes TVS Cable's expansion to that area of Hazard.

We welcome TVS Cable to our part of the neighborhood. He said they have 108 employees total so we'll have some of those employees here in Perry County, said Smith.

Officials said the company has been working for the past few years to meet the growing demands for Broadband by building Fiber to the Home throughout the City of Hazard.

We've been here 41 years now, said Archie Everage, of TVS Cable. We're proud to have a fiber rope system in the City of Hazard.

Fiber to the Home is currently the most reliable and dependable method of delivering internet, video and phone service, said officials. They continued, adding that the company is also getting prepared to build out to other areas of the county while continuously upgrading equipment on the existing cable to meet the needs of their customers. As a result of the growing needs, TVS Cable said they have several speed packages available in all of our service areas, that can meet anyone's needs.

As a part of the store's opening, TVS Cable officials said they felt it was also important to be there and help their customers take advantage of the new Emergency Broadband Benefit (EBB) program. The EBB program is a temporary emergency federal government benefit program operated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) that is intended to reduce a customer's broadband internet access service bill by up to $50 per month for a limited time.

Households can qualify for the EBB program by showing that at least one member of their household meets one of the following criteria:

 qualifies for the FCC's Lifeline program by having a household income that is at or below 135 percent of the Federal Poverty Guidelines or by someone in the household participating in the federal assistance programs Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Federal Public Housing Assistance (FPHA) or the Veterans Pension and Survivors Benefit;

 is approved for the free or reduced price school breakfast/lunch program, including through the USDA Community Eligibility Provision in the 2019-2020 or 2020-2021 school year;

 experienced substantial documented loss of income since Feb. 29, 2020 with a total household income in 2020 below $99,000 for single filers and below $198,000 for joint filers;

 or received a federal Pell grant in the current award year.

For more information about the EBB program, visit, https://www.fcc.gov/broadbandbenefit. TVS Cable and Thacker-Grigsby Communications are both participating in this program and can help anyone interested in signing up.
Henderson, NC (27536)

Today

Thunderstorms this evening with a few showers possible overnight. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms this evening with a few showers possible overnight. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 30%.
Why are Democrats AWOL on publics right to know?

With no meaningful state law giving North Carolinians the right to see disciplinary records of those they employ in state and local government jobs, how will we ever know?

How will we know about the public school teacher who molested students in numerous mountain schools? About the superintendent of schools in the Piedmont who was fired and paid $250,000 to leave, without so much as a reason? Or about six city police officers who were suspended without pay, leaving the public with a vague explanation that the officers solicited prostitution?

We would know, if the Legislature enacts a law opening up personnel records. A bill filed in the North Carolina Senate this legislative session would result in the strongest improvement in decades in the peoples right to know in our state.

Theres plenty of room for positive strides in the category. North Carolina ranks near the bottom in the records citizens can access about the job performance their tax dollars fund. The Government Transparency Act of 2021, sponsored by Sen. Norman Sanderson and two other high-ranking Senate Republicans, would allow the public to see the reason for hirings, firings, demotions and promotions, opening a window into the management of public personnel and the decisions around their job performance.

Such an open records law sounds like unequivocally sound public policy, which is how its regarded in more than 35 states where that information is available. Opponents in their efforts to derail Senate Bill 355 have nonetheless mounted a campaign based on misinformation and alarmist scenarios.

The State Employees Association of North Carolina, the North Carolina Association of Educators, the Teamsters Union and the N.C. Justice Center have flooded senators inboxes with a letter declaring the bill unconstitutional and they persist in the false portrayal even after sponsors agreed to an amendment addressing their due process concerns.

The aggressive opposition raises several questions. What is there to hide? What is the public policy interest in keeping public employee performance records hidden from the public?

The NCAE asserts that SB 355 expands public access to personnel records of public employees to an inappropriate level far beyond what is expected in any other state. This too is baloney, given that 36 other states have codified access to employee records and in many cases require disclosure of personnel actions that go beyond the Government Transparency Act.

Fortunately, the Senate leadership has signaled that it wont be cowed by the drama from the teachers and state employee organizations.

The question that dogs us is where is the leadership of Gov. Roy Cooper and the Democratic senators? Cooper has always been a good-government advocate and a friend of the publics right to know. In fact, Senate Bill 355 is similar to a bill Cooper sponsored as a state senator in 1997  the Discipline Disclosure Act.

Everyone knows that the SEANC and the NCAE wield power in the Democratic Party but that is no reason for Democrats to choose secrecy over their constituents best interest.

Cooper should call out Democratic leaders and the partys rank and file for going AWOL on a significant public policy improvement for North Carolina, in support of principles of openness that ought to be more bipartisan than almost anything the Legislature will take up this year.

Cooper and the Democratic Party are welcome to support schoolteachers, state employees, law officers and other public sector employees when it comes to pay, benefits and other priorities. They ought to part ways with the SEANC and NCAE when public employees Raleigh lobbyists urge them to torpedo a bill that would immensely improve openness and transparency to the benefit of all North Carolinians.

* * * * *

Paul Mauney, President, APG Media of TN/NC/VA, is president of the North Carolina Press Association. Bill Moss, editor and publisher of the Hendersonville Lightning, is chair of the NCPA Legislative Committee.
Huntington, WV (25701)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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Development was the key driver in South Whitehall, where momentum for change began several years ago when the largest mixed-use development in the townships history came before township leaders. A group of citizens formed South Whitehall Concerned Citizens to oppose the development and call for more moderate growth. One of its founders successfully ran for commissioner in 2019; another co-founder was one of two moderate-growth newcomer candidates who swept the Republican primary and defeated Morgan by a margin of more than 2-1.
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The few gifts of note came largely before the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Pennsylvania in early March. Senate President Pro Tempore Jake Corman (R., Centre), for instance, reported receiving just over $8,500 to attend conferences, including $3,828 from the Pennsylvania Bar Association to go to its mid-year meeting in the Bahamas in late January.
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North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un has prohibited Chinese-made medicines at major hospitals in the country's capital after the death of a "trusted" official. He also ordered to stop testing COVID-19 vaccines from China and instead urged health officials to produce their own.

The prohibition was prompted when a high-profile government official who was part of North Korea's economic bureaucracy died previously this May upon receiving a shot of cocarboxylase, a Chinese-produced medicine.

Kim Jong Un Bans China-made Drugs in Pyongyang Hospitals

The senior bureaucrat abruptly passed away after receiving an injection of cocarboxylase imported from China. He had reportedly been experiencing heart-related illnesses alongside high blood pressure. He was being treated at the Pyongyang Medical College Hospital.

Cocarboxylase is regularly used to help patients experiencing fatigue. However, in North Korea, it serves as a "cure-all" to treat high blood pressure, lung disease, and even severe infections. The North Korean leader was reportedly angry upon hearing of his trusted official's death, reported Newshere.

The unidentified official had worked in North Korea's economic sector since the country was under the tenure of Kim's father, Kim Jong Il. It was unclear if the official's death was due to a cocarboxylase injection.

Kim Jong Un Also Ordered to End Testing of Chinese-made COVID-19 Vaccines

Kim reportedly expressed sadness over the loss of such a "talented official." He immediately released an order for all China's medicines to be removed from Pyongyang hospitals, reported Express.

The ban involved an order that all Chinese-made novel coronavirus vaccines must be removed from the ongoing analysis. Instead, according to Kim, research activities should now target producing North Korea's own coronavirus vaccine.

Simultaneously, Kim ordered scientists to halt their test trials of Chinese COVID-19 vaccines. They should reportedly concentrate on producing a domestic vaccine in turn.

Read Also: North Korea Mole: Meet the Danish Chef Who Spied for 10 Years

This is not the first time that Kim has acted arbitrarily to impose prohibitions. He recently implemented new laws outlawing "non-socialist" hairstyles, including the mullet.

Dyed and spikey hair was also ruled out in the strange crackdown. The provincial Youth League issued an order on adequate hairstyles.

The document indicated mullets and other unauthorized hairstyles are part of the "yellow wind of capitalism" and "anti-socialist behavior." Western-style clothing, including sloganed T-shirts, skinny or ripped jeans, and nose and lip piercings, have also been prohibited.

North Korea has already been experiencing a shortage of food and medicine imports. It has rigidly closed its borders in 2020 with the onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although Beijing has historically been the country's closest foreign partner, its trade with China diminished by an estimated 80 percent in 2020 after the nation sealed its borders.

According to Jiro Ishimaru, who leads the Osaka, Japan-based Asia Press website and oversees a network of North Korean journalists, "The North Korean economy is on the brink of a huge recession. A lot of people are suffering. I have spoken to contacts who say there are more people begging for food and money at markets, and a rise in the number of homeless people. There is also a desperate need for antibiotics and other medicines," reported Newsweek.

Related Article: North Korea To Citizens: Stay Home, Dust From China May Spread COVID-19

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Efforts to reach a compromise agreement on an infrastructure bill are in jeopardy after Senate Republicans refused President Joe Biden's $1.7 trillion counteroffer on Friday, highlighting significant holes in the talks. The rejection, which comes after weeks of negotiations that have escalated in recent days, casts serious doubt on Biden's objective of passing a broad infrastructure bill with bipartisan support.

Republicans quickly reject Biden's Infrastructure bill offer

Biden offered modest compromises to reduce funds for research and development, supply chains, construction, and small companies in his counteroffer, cut from an initial $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan. Nonetheless, it will maintain tax hikes that Republicans have said they would oppose in all conditions.

Other reforms in Biden's American Jobs Plan counter-proposal include reducing funding for highways and bridges from $100 billion to $65 billion, reflecting the sum proposed in a $586 billion plan from Senate Republicans. Republicans quickly shot down the counter-proposal, USA Today reported.

The initiative is currently above the threshold of what would reach Congress with bipartisan support, according to a spokeswoman for Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., who is overseeing Republican talks with the Biden administration. Capito's communications officer, Kelley Moore, said the two parties are further apart today than after meeting with Biden last week.

During a conference call with a group of six Republican senators headed by Capito on Friday, senior White House officials, including Steve Ricchetti, adviser to the president, announced the counteroffer. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo were both parts of the White House delegation. On Tuesday, the same groups gathered.

Republicans will be turned off by Biden's counteroffer, which holds the president's plan to lift income rates to 28 percent over the next decade to pay for new spending. Senator Mitch McConnell, a Republican, drew a "red line" last week, saying he would oppose any bill that would reverse former President Donald Trump's 2017 tax cuts by raising the corporate tax rate.

Biden's counteroffer, including the small compromises, holds other expenditures that Republicans condemn. McConnell and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy have stated that they want the package to focus only on physical infrastructures, such as roads, bridges, airports, and broadband extensions. Rather than on electric cars, home caregiving, and other "human infrastructure" items suggested by Biden.

Read Also: President Joe Biden Signs Anti-Asian Hate Crimes Bill Into Law; Denounces Racial Discrimination

GOP senators directly hit Biden's American Jobs Plan

On top of conventional highway infrastructure, Biden's American Jobs Plan will provide billions for elderly and disabled services, the expansion of hybrid cars, and other investments. He also wants to spend $1.8 trillion on families and children.

Per The Hill, the direct hit at White House staff mirrors Republican senators' criticisms of Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which was based on pandemic relief, during the unsuccessful negotiations. The ten Republicans who discussed COVID-19 relief with Biden earlier this year said that Biden appeared open to their proposals during a February 1 Oval Office meeting. But White House advisers, including White House chief of staff Ron Klain, later reigned in the negotiations.

The GOP will review the White House counteroffer, said a spokeswoman for Capito, and participate in discussions with the administration. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts), a prominent progressive, seized on the lack of momentum at Friday's meeting to urge Democratic lawmakers to swiftly act on a significant infrastructure project requiring special protection under the budget reconciliation mechanism to avoid a GOP filibuster.

If the negotiations have not broken down, the negative assumption will likely raise new concerns among Democrats that time runs out to reach an agreement. The president's office is working against a Memorial Day deadline to see if a consensus can be achieved. The lack of substantial progress away from Biden's $2.3 trillion proposal or the GOP's planned $568 billion solution had sparked skepticism on both sides.

"This plan demonstrates a desire to downsize," White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, announcing the latest bid as negotiations between key Cabinet secretaries and GOP senators were ongoing at a critical point toward a settlement, KIMT reported.

Related Article: US House Democrats Propose to Block $735 Million Israel Weapons Sale Amid Gaza Conflict

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Nearly 600 migrant children at a military base in West Texas had spent 40 days or longer in reportedly poor conditions. The United States government has converted the military base into an emergency site for unaccompanied minors. Over 50 children had been confined at the Fort Bliss US Army base for longer than 45 days.

Makeshift government shelters not suitable for children

Another makeshift government shelter is a Houston warehouse that has been shuttered. It has poor living conditions, including soiled clothes, limited access to showers, and undercooked food. Unchaperoned children confined at the two Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) emergency housing facilities, which are not licensed for the caring of minors, also reported feeling desperate and sad while in the custody of the US government. Attorney Leecia Welch cited this from her recent interviews with over 30 migrant boys and girls.

Overall, almost 1,700 unaccompanied boys and girls had been confined at the West Texas military base for at least a month as of May 14. This government data was shared with attorneys representing migrant minors in a landmark court case, reported Yahoo News.

Democrat Congresswoman Veronica Escobar, who toured Fort Bliss on Friday, spoke to several migrant children who had spent 48 days at the military installation. The military installation is the largest of over a dozen emergency facilities the HHS has set up to house unaccompanied migrant young people.

Escobar represents the El Paso district where Fort Bliss is located. She called the prolonged duration of their housing "alarming." Escobar stated, "I'm not a fan of the mega-sites. I think that they are not conducive to what we need to be doing for kids. I acknowledge these are emergency intake facilities but there are children who have been in there for long periods of time," reported CBS News.

Read Also: Joe Biden Wavers on Restricting Refugee Entry

According to Welch, numerous migrant children reported talk of self-harm and suicidal thoughts among several young migrants in the Houston warehouse. She expounded on severe mental health deterioration among some minors she interviewed, reported GWN.

Fort Bliss is holding approximately 4,500 unaccompanied minors on Friday, Escobar stated. It has come under mounting criticism from advocates for migrant children. Unlike traditional HHS shelters for migrant youth, the military base and other emergency sites have lower standards of care and are not licensed by state authorities to care for minors.

As of late last week, over 13,000 of the 20,000 migrant children in HHS care were being confined in the 13 emergency facilities the department has set up in convention centers, military bases, camps for oil workers, and other sites, as indicated by internal documents.

President Joe Biden's administration has already been prompted to abruptly close two emergency sites. Over 300 migrant boys, as of late April, had spent more than 50 days at a Dallas convention center, another HHS emergency site without access to the outdoors, according to government data shared with attorneys representing migrant children in the court case over the landmark Flores agreement. The agreement governs the care of minors in United States immigration custody.

Related Article: Biden Staffer Blocks Ted Cruz from Taking Video at Texas Border Facility

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The US and South Korea pledged strong cooperation on a host of other diplomatic fronts, extending from Myanmar to the South China Sea. They attempted complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. US President Joe Biden used the opportunity to confirm the naming of Sung Kim, a career diplomat and former US ambassador to South Korea, as Washington's new special envoy to North Korea, while speaking to reporters at the end of a leaders' summit at the White House.

President Joe Biden hosts South Korea's Moon Jae-in

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who spoke alongside Biden, interpreted the selection to reflect the US' strong commitment to diplomacy and preparation for talks with North Korea. Moon, speaking via an interpreter, said of Kim, "I have strong hopes. All the more so, such a high-caliber person with expertise in Korean Peninsula issues has been appointed," SCMP reported.

During the Obama administration, Kim held the same position for two years before moving on to other diplomatic roles, including ambassadorships to the Philippines and Indonesia. Both the US and South Korea are concerned about North Korea, said Biden, who expressed a readiness to take pragmatic measures to alleviate tensions.

When asked whether potential moves would include a leadership summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Biden did not rule it out. But he said any talks would have to be predicated on Kim's readiness to talk about his country's nuclear arsenal.

Last month, the White House reported that it had concluded an analysis of North Korea's strategy. Biden would depart from Trump's and Obama's approaches, dismissing both Trump's intensely personal attempt to win over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Obama's more hands-off approach. However, the administration is yet to reveal the details of its third-way approach to persuade North Korea to drop its nuclear program.

Read Also: North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong Un Bans Skinny Jeans, Mullet Hairdos

Moon began his day with a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top Biden advisers at the White House complex. South Korea's Moon also attended a Medal of Honor ceremony for Ralph Puckett; a 94-year-old Army veteran honored more than 70 years ago for his bravery during the Korean War. "Without the sacrifice of veterans like Colonel Puckett, the freedom and prosperity we have today in Korea would not have blossomed," Moon said, hailing Puckett as a real hero, as per WCNC.

The South Korean leader, who is set to leave office in May, wants to restart suspended talks between Washington and Pyongyang and between Seoul and Pyongyang. However, the Biden administration has been less optimistic about direct talks in the near term, having stated in March that it had made unsuccessful outreach attempts to the North.

Jen Psaki, Biden's press secretary, declined to say whether Biden was open to direct talks with Kim Jong Un, as Former President Donald Trump has done twice.

Moon, who is just the second world leader to visit the Biden White House, stated that they would work closely to address North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Biden said at a joint news conference, "We are all deeply concerned about the situation."

Biden prays for Gaza ceasefire to hold

Meanwhile, President Biden said Friday that he was hoping for the 11-day ceasefire between Hamas and Israel to hold and that there would be no peace until the country recognized Israel's right to live. Despite urging the Israeli military to de-escalate its attacks, he mentioned he remains loyal to Israel, although the truce in Gaza is less than a day old.

Per Daily Mail, Biden said at a press conference in the East Room of the White House, "I'm hoping this ceasefire will last." Within his group, Biden was under pressure to do more to help Palestinians.

When the 11-day crisis progressed, he shifted his public support for Israel's right to protect itself from Hamas missiles to ask Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to de-escalate attacks and drive toward a ceasefire.

On Friday, he attempted to balance the two positions, denying that the Democratic Party was abandoning its long-standing support for Israel.

Related Article: US House Democrats Propose to Block $735 Million Israel Weapons Sale Amid Gaza Conflict

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The University of Minnesota runs the first trial in the United States of an infamous anti-parasite treatment that has gone rabid and widespread in the country's black market as a treatment for COVID-19. Ivermectin is being applied to an ongoing study. University of Utah researchers expect to discover a rare outpatient treatment that can avoid hospitalization, long-term complications, or death from infection with the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

US runs the first trial of Ivermectin as a COVID-19 drug

The research comes as COVID-19 pandemic transmission in Minnesota decreases, with vaccines helping to reduce daily infections by half in the last two weeks and hospitalizations falling below 400 for the first time since late March. Treatments, however, are required in areas of the world where vaccine coverage is restricted and in pockets of the US and Minnesota where refusal to get vaccines could result in localized outbreaks, said the researchers.

"The vaccine is not affordable to all, while these drugs are now FDA-approved generics and can be found in most pharmacies around the world," said Dr. Carolyn Bramante, a U internal medicine expert who is heading the national trial, StarTribune reported. "If we see proof of value, ivermectin may be used right away everywhere," added Bramante.

Metformin, typically used to treat diabetes, has also been shown to reduce COVID-19 disease and mortality in women in studies conducted at the University of Utah. However, they will now equate its efficacy to that of Ivermectin and fluvoxamine, an antidepressant.

Last week, the University of Utah began enrolling up to 1,100 patients aged 30 and up to undergo one of the medications, either alone or in combination with metformin or a non-medicating placebo as a control. The effectiveness of the treatment can be determined solely by whether or not patients experience hypoxia or extreme oxygen deprivation.

There has been a shortage of proven COVID-19 drugs, especially those used on an outpatient basis to avoid serious illness. The U was one of the first to research hydroxychloroquine, an antiviral promoted by former President Donald Trump and backers last year, only to find that it did not significantly reduce infection or symptom onset.

In the absence of vaccines, a few medical associations and believers in the United States and those in India, South Africa, and other nations have called for the use of Ivermectin. However, no significant clinical trials have shown efficacy, and the drug's manufacturer, Merck, released a warning in February discouraging its use in COVID-19 trials. The FDA also advised against using the medication outside of a clinical trial.

Read Also: Mixing COVID-19 Vaccines Is Link to More Side Effects, New Study Shows

Online interest in ivermectin surges; experts urge caution

Ivermectin, an antiparasitic drug, is gaining popularity online, with some seeing it as a possible COVID-19 treatment. But, as with other common unproven treatments, including hydroxychloroquine, medical professionals and global health organizations have cautioned that the medication's use is not supported by sufficient evidence.

Data from Google Trends shows a sharp rise in Google searches for the word "Ivermectin" over the last 12 months, with existing interest levels above the peak. The medication has sparked particular interest in Slovakia, where the government has approved its use in COVID-19 patients. In South Africa, a pack of 10-pills can be found on the black market for 15 times the average $4 price, amid local health authorities' warnings.

Ivermectin supporters argue that clinical trials prove the medication reduces mortality in COVID-19 patients. Still, health authorities such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) have warned against its use outside of controlled clinical trials due to a lack of sufficient data. Merck & Co., which makes Ivermectin, said in a statement released in February that its research found "no statistical basis for a possible therapeutic effect against COVID-19 and "no meaningful evidence for clinical intervention or clinical effectiveness in patients with COVID-19," as per Forbes.

According to Republic World, Goa's Health Minister Vishwajit Rane said Ivermectin 12mg tablet would be available in all district, sub-district, PHCs, CHCs, sub-health centers rural dispensaries. People can collect and begin care immediately, regardless of symptoms or anything. Rane said that he had issued orders for prophylaxis treatment to be implemented "immediately."

However, he added that one should not have a "false sense of confidence and complacency" and strictly observe all precautionary steps and SOPs. The treatment, according to Rane, would not prevent COVID-19, although it will serve to lessen the seriousness of the disease.

Related Article: WHO, Others, Warn Using Ivermectin as Treatment to COVID-19

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A Georgia judge had ruled on Friday that election absentee ballots for 2020 in Fulton, the state's most populous county, could be unsealed and evaluated by a group of voters claiming that fraudulent ballots were included in the counting.

According to Superior Court Judge Brian Amero, petitioners would only be allowed to inspect and scan the said ballots following practices and protocols set forth by further order of the Court.

Unsealing of Georgia Ballots

Fulton County was ordered to allow a voting group to inspect and scan absentee ballots cast last year in the presidential election. Judge Amero wrote that Fulton County election officials need to let the plaintiffs assess the ballots.

The opening of the ballots is part of an evaluation of the 2020 election. One of the plaintiffs appealing for an audit of Fulton County's results is Garland Favorito. He is the co-founder of a group named Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia, reported Insider.

The ruling is rooted in a lawsuit against the county that claimed improper counting and fraudulent ballots. According to the judge, he will order county officials to scan and procure high-resolution photos, reported The Star.

The review of Fulton County's absentee ballots is not slated to commence until the judge evaluates the terms of the audit. The order comes as conservatives have clamored for election audits in some states in the wake of former President Donald Trump's loss in the presidential election. The allegation that there was prevalent fraud has persisted among several Republicans, reported CNN.

Read Also: Atlanta Spa Shootings Suspect Gets Arraigned for Hate Crime Charges, Possibly Gets Death Penalty

The plaintiffs are looking to use the photos to determine whether the ballots were completed by machine or hand to determine their legitimacy. The plaintiffs are nine Georgia voters who will pay for the auditing.

Favorito is the co-founder of the group Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia and is now soliciting donations via social media to fund the effort.

Judge Amero is looking to issue an order soon to move forward protocols governing a fresh scanning of the ballots. County workers will do it while experts and petitioners observe. One group of voters filed a petition in 2020 appealing for a forensic inspection of mail-in ballots that were sent in for the November presidential election last year.

The group is not looking for a particular election result but instead wants to guarantee the open and honest truth regarding what transpired in Fulton County on the evening of the election, as indicated in court documents. The group claimed in court documents, as stated in affidavits from four election auditors, that there were "counterfeit ballots" in Fulton County.

The judge indicated that the time and place of the assessment would be determined later. According to Fulton County, it would adhere to the order.

Related Article: Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter Account Suspended for Second Time

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So the next time theres a flood, or a blizzard, or a tornado hits in Philadelphia or Allentown or Scranton or any other predominantly Democratic region of the state, GOP legislators who represent other parts of the state and cant be held accountable by the impacted parties will have the ability to terminate a disaster declaration at any time and not provide any additional support to that area.
You bet - Ill be there all weekend.

I plan to be there at least part of the time.

Im still a little leary because of the crowds.

Vote

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The Archdiocese of Cincinnati is celebrating 200 years, and as part of that anniversary, a special statue of Mary is being carried throughout the state. This Marian pilgrimage began in Russells Point on Sunday.
Multimedia Video Journalist

Buffalo native trying to get her news on! Im a Multimedia Journalist here at Your Hometown Stations and I love what I do. Have a cool story idea? Im in! Just email me at ashelton@wlio.com or message my Facebook page.
Click here to find out where to get a COVID-19 vaccine or test.

To find out how many local residents have been vaccinated for COVID-19, click here. Use the map to find numbers for individual counties.

Find detailed statistics about COVID-19 tests, cases and deaths by county and for the state as a whole on the Indiana State Department of Health's online dashboard.
The Katy Education Foundation has continued its effort to fill in funding for teachers, doling out hundreds of thousands of dollars to teachers within Katy ISD this year alone.

According to the Foundation, this year it gave out $256,508 in teacher grants to 256 teachers at 42 different Katy ISD campuses. This years funds brings its nine-year total of grants awarded to teachers to nearly $2.3 million.

For more information on the Katy Education Foundation go to https://katyisdeducationfoundation.org.

The purpose of many education foundations is to fill in funding gaps caused in part by a 1993 Texas Supreme Court ruling. In its decision, the court mandated equitable school financing for Texas school districts. Since school funding relies heavily on property taxes, it meant that property tax rich districts previously had more money to spend on its students. The so-called Robin Hood act reallocated property tax money from more affluent school districts to poorer ones, leaving districts like Katy ISD needing to cut programs in order to balance budgets.

Education foundations oftentimes help teachers with grants to advance in-class programs and lessons.

According to the latest figures from Katy ISD via its public dashboard, the district has less than $1.01 billion in revenues and expenditures of $1.03 billion. About 62 percent of the districts revenues comes from local sources and more than 71.5 percent of the districts expenditures come in the form of payroll.

The current tax rate in Katy ISD is $1.3888 per $100 valuation, which includes $0.9988 for the General Fund and $0.39 for debt service. Without exemptions, that means a property worth $250,000 would have a $3,472 Katy ISD tax bill.

The years 2021-22 grant recipients from the Katy Education Foundation include:

Campus Collaborative Team of Two Grants  Three or more campuses for up to $5,000

Katy High School, Bryant Elementary, Katy Elementary, Hutsell Elementary and Wolman Elementary Read Alouds: Building Literacy and Building Communities, led by Michelle Tuttle (Katy High School)

Individual Grants  One teacher for up to $1,000

Creech Elementary: Ec(h)o-tecture, led by Sarah Clark Hayes Elementary: Dynamic Rhythms Unite Musical Souls, led by Kimberly Peterson Katy Elementary: Blast Off Expedition, led by Rose Sager King Elementary: We can do hard things!, led by Sarah Western

Team of Two Grants  Two teachers for up to $2,500

Adams Junior High: Uke-Create, led by Jennifer Agbu Cimarron Elementary: Monarch Migration Station, led by Brett Baca Haskett Junior High: Growing Collaborative PE, led by Shanna Canales Nottingham Country Elementary: STEAM Driven, led by Michael Ho Rhoads Elementary: Strumming Up Fun, led by Rebecca Osawa Shafer Elementary: Music in Motion in Music: Active Listening in the Elementary Music Classroom, led by Melanie Braddy Stockdick Junior High: Design, Build, Refine, Repeat!, led by Katie Beard Tompkins High School: Honey, I Blew up the Evidence., led by Bob Holder Wilson Elementary: Sounds Walls. Have you HEARD of them?, led by Christine Cipresso; and Sing a Song; Strum Along!, led by Brooke Yubaile WoodCreek Elementary: Away We Go with Xylophones! Reinforcing Aural Discrimination; and Through Scientific Observation, led by Bonnie McSpadden

Team Grants  Three or more teachers for up to $5,000
The enthusiasm continues to mount for the Rotary Club of Conroes Pancake Supper as interesting prizes are added to the raffle that will accompany the June 8 event at Honor Cafe. Rather than one big prize, there will be a plethora of them for the winning ticket holders.

About to have a childs birthday party? Then a bouncy house/moonwalk just might be perfect for you. Sports fan? There are Astros tickets. Have you always wanted to be a police officer? You can be a Police Officer For A Day or do a Conroe Police Ride Along. Those Raffle tickets are $20 each or 6 for $100. Winners need not be present to win.

A crew of Celebrity Waiters will be on hand to entertain and of course, they will be looking for tips from guests, all for charity of course. Confirmed so far are Conroe Mayor Jody Czajkoski, Congressional Candidate Morgan Luttrell, and Texas State Representative Will Metcalf. The Rotary Club of Lake Conroe, who will attend together in lieu of their regular Tuesday evening meeting, will elect a waiter from their membership - that will be attention-grabbing I am sure, as the lake folks are known for their innovative ideas and fun nature.

Check out the RCC website and Facebook page for updates as the event solidifies. Tickets are available from any Conroe Rotarian, at Honor Cafe, or contact me. Adult tickets are $25, kids are $15 and a portion of each ticket goes directly to RCC Foundation charities, and 100 percent of the raffle ticket proceeds and waiter tips do too. A worthwhile evening of fun, fellowship and community.

The organizational work for the Rotary District 5910 E-Club continues and great progress is being made. Its been great to watch the development of this new type of club and the many remarkable professionals who have signed on as Charter Members or as part of the support team. If youd like to learn more about this exciting new venture, please contact ACE (Alternative Club Exploration) Committee Co-chairs Ruth Suhler at leahone@aol.com or Julie Martineau at jmartineau@mccfoundation.org. As a reminder, an EClub is an online Rotary Club of like-minded people who believe in and live Rotarys 4 Way Test, and support Rotarys global initiatives, but cannot commit to the requirements of a traditional club.

The Family of Rotary extends its heartfelt sympathies to the family of a beloved member of the community, Kenny Speight, who passed away recently after a valiant year-long battle with Alzheimers. He was laid to rest last week in a small private ceremony with full military honors.

Kenny was not a Rotarian, but instead a proud Lion, who loved his community to the inth degree. As part of that devotion, he extended his support and generosity to just about every service organization he came in contact with, from The Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, to The Montgomery County Fair and Cook Off, and yes, to Rotary, where he never turned down a request to buy raffle tickets or attend an event. Kenny was my very first friend when Michael and I moved to Montgomery County; he introduced me to everyone he knew, helping my business and my service work. I was not special - he was - he did this for everyone; that was just who he was. His lovely wife Linda was always at his side. Their daughter Angela, a brilliant young attorney, was a Rotary GSE Team Member, traveling (I believe) to France to spread goodwill and friendship. His obituary requests that friends  make a generous donation to your favorite charity. And be kind to one another - Kenny would like that. Kenny was a big man, with a big personality and he leaves a big hole in our hearts. Godspeed Kenny. We miss you already.
A day care in The Woodlands has been sued by a couple alleging their toddler was repeatedly restrained and physically abused by employees for little more than a year, while their attorney says video surveillance proves their case.

Filed in October 2019 in Montgomery County, the suit states plaintiffs Kristin and Andrew Ernests then 1-year-old son was enrolled at Creme de la Creme from July 2018 to June 2019.

While at the day care, the suit argues the Ernests son was restrained multiple times and deprived of food or drink or engagement from staff. In one case the restraining lasted six hours, the suit alleges.

More from Jose R. Gonzalez: 75-year-old Kansas man charged in 1983 Montgomery County cold case murder

The restraining took place on a high chair, said Bradley Leger, the plaintiffs Woodlands-based attorney, on Friday.

What they did to my client was appalling, Leger said.

Claims of abuse by Creme de la Creme employees, as detailed in the suit, include allegations the boys crib was shaken while he was in it and that his arm was forcefully pulled. The suit alleges instances of neglect by staff included not teaching curriculum.

Leger Ketchem & Cohoon, the law firm representing the Ernests, recently announced the boy has been diagnosed with PTSD as a result of his treatment at Creme de la Creme.

The Ernest boy is experiencing significant separation anxiety, developmental regression, significant distress and anxiety, among other things, the suit states, adding the psychological impact on him is severe and permanent.

Over time, the parents started to suspect mistreatment as the boy began digressing, Leger explained.

ore from Jose R. Gonzalez: New Caney ISD teacher gets 7 years for relationship with student

Whenever they would try and place him in a car seat, the boy would start screaming and crying, Leger said. And when they would appear at the facility, they would find the boy strapped in a high chair when he was not supposed to, he added.

The suit alleges Creme de la Creme destroyed video surveillance of the neglect and abuse endured by the Ernest boy. Leger said he has information the day care destroyed the footage after being informed they needed to preserve it to be used as evidence.

Still, he said there remains some video footage showing the long-lasting restraint the boy underwent.

The suit declares Creme de la Creme staff was poorly trained, unsupervised and unqualified. It contends employees conducts were in violation of the states minimum standards for child care centers.

Additionally, the suit argues the family suffered emotional and financial distress after the couple had to transfer their daughter out of Creme de la Creme to another day care.

Plaintiffs have been traumatized and suffered compensable damages, the suit reads.

Creme de la Creme is a nationwide franchise and was founded in 1982, according to its website.

Leger said what the Ernests son went through has happened to other children under the care of Creme de la Creme in The Woodlands, which is located at 2350 Research Forest.

This goes all the way up to the top, Leger said, pointing out he conducted a deposition on the day cares chief operating officer. You can just tell that these people dont care about the kids. All they care about is making money.

Without specifying an amount, the suit is asking for exemplary damages be awarded. A jury trial is set to start Sept. 7, court records show.

Creme de la Cremes defense attorney did not return a request for comment.

jose.gonzalez@chron.com

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In an effort to support National Bike Month, the Sugar Land City Council officially recognized May 2021 as Bike Month in the city of Sugar Land.

The city will celebrate Bike Month by promoting weekly self-guided bicycle tours throughout Sugar Land.

This week were doing a central city tour that takes you around the town square, the Lake Pointe area, and some of the trails and neighborhoods, said Monique Johnson, Transportation and Mobility Innovation Manager. We want to let people know that you can ride your bike to destinations in Sugar Land, there are routes out there. We wanted to give people of all ages and abilities the opportunity to got out and tour Sugar Land by bike.

The tours and proclamation are one of many steps being taken to implement the Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plan and to fulfill the goal of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan. The citys Bike Month will be featured in the regional Bike Month celebration in partnership with the Houston-Galveston Area Council.

May has been recognized as National Bike Month since 1956.

At the same meeting, the council proclaimed May 2021 as Mental Health Awareness Month.

We just ask that you join us in spreading the word about mental health, said Shondra Holmes, Employee Engagement and Wellness Manager for the City of Sugar Land. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on the mental health of people of all ages and now more than ever it is critical to reduce the stigma because it often prevents individuals from seeking help.

Each year millions of Americans face the reality of living with a mental illness. May has been observed as Mental Health Awareness month in the U.S. since 1949. The goal is to help reduce the stigma by providing support, educating the public, and advocating for policies supporting people with mental illness and their families.

The council also declared May 16 - 22, 2021 as National Emergency Medical Services Week and National Public Works Week for the City of Sugar Land.

During National Emergency Medical Service Week, the department and local Sugar Land hospitals will coordinate activities in support of this years theme, This is EMS: Caring for Our Communities.

The Sugar Land Fire-EMS Department currently employs 121 EMS state-certified personnel, which includes 63 paramedics, 21 advanced EMTs, and 37 EMT-basics. Fire Chief Doug Boeker praised the heroism and dedication of Sugar Lands EMS employees during the pandemic.

This is an opportunity to recognize the value and accomplishments of our EMS personnel and to remind our community that we are there to respond, support, and care for their needs, Boeker said.

EMS week was started in 1974 by President Gerald Ford to celebrate EMS practitioners.

The final recognition declaring May 16-22, 2021 as National Public Works Week was presented by Brian Butcher, Sugar Lands Director of Public Works.

The 2021 National Public Works Week Poster Theme is Stronger Together, which encourages residents to appreciate played by public works in creating a good neighborhood.

Across North America, more than 28,000 American Public Works Association (APWA) members in the U.S. and Canada use this week to educate the public on the contributions made by public works to their daily lives planning, building, managing, and operating the heart of our local communities and building the quality of life.

The APWA has sponsored National Public Works Week since 1960.

juhi.varma@hcnonline.com
Rusty Rails, the railroad engineer mascot in Tomball, is tooting his own horn again.

The loveable, walk-around mascot whose likeness appears on T-shirts, hats, mugs, and other marketing tools has a reason to make a rumble for the town.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Restaurants, event space, mural for 'Instagram moments' envisioned for South Live Oak Business Park in Tomball

The Texas Historical Commission just notified the museum folk that the recent installation of the plaque on the property was cause for them to list it in their Historic Sites Atlas online.

That was good news for town and museum officials who are always seeking avenues to promote their history and local business.

It opens up the opportunities for people to see what we have in Tomball to a degree weve never had before, said Mike Baxter, CFEE, director of marketing and tourism for the city of Tomball.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Tourism back up in Tomball as festival season approaches

He explained that a lot of history buffs utilize the Texas Historical Commission website from all over the world where they might not visit the local Tomball city website.

It allows us to promote the history of the depot and of Tomball, but also to let folks see what else is in town when they come here, he said.

About two years ago, the Harris County Historical Commission reached out to Baxter on behalf of the state historical commission and said they had a plaque called Texas Railroads, C.S.A. (Confederate States of America) and it was about railroading in the state of Texas in the Civil War.

It had originally been located at the Union Station terminal (in downtown Houston) until it was converted to Minute Maid Park and they had to remove the marker. It sat in storage for almost 20 years, he said.

When the Harris County Historical Commission was doing inventory of what they had, they found the sign and immediately thought of Baxter and the Tomball Railroad Depot Museum.

I received a call from them and they said Weve got this sign. Well take care of refurbishing it and making it look new and repair any damage and bring it out to you, they told Baxter.

He saw the potential for the sign and agreed to take it.

He went through the process of providing a photograph of where they would put it and included a written description of the site plan. The Texas Historical Commission approved it.

We sent our guys down to pick it up and they brought it back and mounted it for us, he said.

Its a great addition to our museum, the director of marketing and tourism said.

The depot building itself was built in 1906 and in 1907 it was the site where the town was renamed from Peck, Texas to Tomball, Texas after Trinity & Brazos Valley RR executive Thomas Ball who was instrumental in turning the town into a thriving community. To thank him, they renamed the town after him, according to Baxter.

Since the depot building itself is over 100 years old, Baxter reached out to the state Historical Commission on April 14, to see if the depot would qualify for a historical designation and they agreed.

We missed this years deadline, and its about a two-year process so well work to be considered in next years round of markers, he said.

The process is laborious and includes going before committees, the presentation of documentation of the age of the depot, and various other bits of information to obtain the plaque for the outside wall of the depot.

Hopefully, in a couple of years well have another marker down there about the significance of the 1907 railroad depot as the history of railroading, he added.

Baxter encouraged the public to come out and visit the depot museum which is open again on Saturdays from 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.

They can come by and check out the marker and then tour the depot, he said.

The depot was closed most of 2020 because of the pandemic and didnt reopen until March of this year. Even then, it was on a scaled-back schedule because most of the volunteers are senior citizens.

Several of them have come back and we have enough to open on Saturdays only, he said.

In that brief four-hour period, however, they are averaging a little over 200 visitors to the site each weekend.

Tomball has turned into a nice destination town and not just a pass through on the way to the Texas Renaissance Festival, he smiled.

The farmers market, about a block away, hosts in the vicinity of 75 vendors each weekend and many of them venture over to the railroad museum and park area.

The marketing director said many also drive through to see the oil camp houses from the oil boom back in the 1930s and 1940s that are now being bought up and turned into shops, boutiques, and restaurants.

Its going to be a true destination for folks coming from all over, Baxter described the town.

Unfortunately, Baxter pointed out the Atlas listing has one incorrect piece of information. Online it reads that the marker is near the Texas Railroading Heritage Museum at Tomball. That facility project was pulled out of the city by its board of directors before even breaking ground, according to Baxter.

They couldnt raise enough funds to begin construction, he said.

The marker, however, is at Tomballs historic 1907 Railroad Depot Museum.

The direct link to the THC Atlas can be found at https://atlas.thc.texas.gov/Details/5201010793/print.

dtaylor@hcnonline.com
Two Houston doctors are hard at work solving a mystery.

Its like Sherlock Holmes essentially, said James Melville, an oral surgeon and associate professor at UTHealth School of Dentistry.

Almost a year has passed since he and Dr. Simon Young, associate professor of oral and maxillofacial surgery at UTHealth School of Dentistry, began to research the unusual case of an extremely enlarged tongue.

It all started in October with Anthony Jones, whose tongue had grown to almost the size of a dinner plate, making speaking, swallowing and even breathing a challenge.

In Jones case, the disorder  called macroglossia  was the result of being placed on a ventilator for months during his hospitalization for COVID-19 last summer.

When he was discharged from the hospital, Jones could not even close his mouth. His tongue pushed out his bottom teeth, and he was placed on a feeding tube.

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None of the doctors in his hometown of Lake City, Fla., could diagnose or operate on Jones tongue. Then, he discovered a Houston surgeon willing to help: Dr. James Melville.

Melville had experience with macroglossia and performed a tongue surgery on a stroke patient who had required a ventilator during treatment; Melville even published a study in the Journal of Oral Maxillofacial Surgery in 2017.

Young, who often collaborates with Melville, also met the patient during treatment.

I remember when Dr. Melville did the first case, Young said. The results are so striking. The patients basically roll in with this massive tongue, and then their lives are transformed. Its incredible, and I saw it firsthand.

Still, given the abnormally large size of the tongue, Young and Melville thought it was an anomaly.

Youd never think youd see it again, Young said.

Until COVID-19.

Intubation became common for COVID patients like Jones. And just like the stroke patient before, Jones tongue became enlarged as a result.

After his work with Jones, Melville began hearing from patients around the country who were in the same boat.

I started getting emails, he recalled. They didnt know what to do and were trying to transfer their care here.

The hospital was already at top capacity during COVID-19 and could not easily accept new cases. Instead, Melville shared his previous paper and his know-how with surgeons, helping them offer the treatment at home.

In his own treatment of massive macroglossia, and his collaborations with others, Melville observed that out of nine COVID-positive cases, eight of the patients with massive tongues were African American.

COVID HELP DESK: The ultimate guide on vaccines and viruses

Melville and Young wanted to find out why.

So many people were intubated because of COVID-19, Young said. But not everyone has a big tongue. Is there an underlying genetic variation?

The doctors also wanted to investigate whether the coronavirus itself plays a unique role in developing the side effect.

Jones tongue seems to show that there is indeed a connection.

Young explained that simply by looking at Jones and a stroke patient, one might assume they are the exact same.

But when we looked under the microscope, it was stunning, Young said.

Pathology revealed an excessive amount of inflammatory cells on Jones tongue. The same phenomenon had been found in other organs in COVID-19 patients.

If we can nail down the reason, if we can find an underlying genetic variation, maybe in the future, we could use that as a biomarker, Young said.

Patients could be tested for the genetic trait and then that information could be taken into account during treatment to lower risk. Currently, Melville and Young are collecting DNA samples from patients with massive macroglossia and studying the genetic material for clues.

Were sequencing the DNA of patients and trying to see if theres a pattern, Young said.

The two are working alongside resident Victoria Manon, who is serving as research coordinator. The study is titled Genomic and Histological Analysis of COVID-19 Massive Macroglossia.

We expect to have preliminary findings in the fall, Melville said.

Lindsay Peyton is a Houston-based freelance writer.
Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush blamed local leaders Friday for Houston and Harris Countys failure to secure a single penny of roughly $1 billion in federal flood mitigation funds tied to Hurricane Harvey, though a county commissioner said Bush privately pledged his support for giving Harris County future aid directly rather than forcing it to compete for the money.

The Texas General Land Office, which is responsible for allocating U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development flood mitigation dollars, told city and county officials Thursday they would receive nothing of the more than $1.3 billion they had sought for 14 mitigation projects.

Mayor Sylvester Turner and County Judge Lina Hidalgo blamed the result on certain project scoring criteria that disadvantaged urban areas.

A General Land Office spokeswoman said the agency was required to use the criteria developed by federal officials at the Housing and Urban Development Department.

HUD disputed that Friday evening, laying the blame squarely on Bushs team.

HUD has not prevented Texas from awarding CDBG-MIT funds to Houston or Harris County, agency spokesman Michael Burns said in a statement. The formula for allocation was created by the state of Texas. They have full responsibility and jurisdiction over who gets the money that was allocated to the state for flood mitigation.

Burns did not say whether HUD would intervene. The agencys comments capped a whirlwind two days where Bush visited areas that received awards. In all, the GLO awarded about $1 billion for 81 different projects across 40 counties, including $179 million in Galveston County.

Hidalgo, Turner and Houstons Democratic congressional delegation are appealing to the Biden administration, hoping to secure a promise that federal dollars managed by the state will flow directly to Houston and Harris County. Each sent letters Friday to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge asking her to block the announced distribution of funds or ensure Houston receives at least some of the aid.

GLOs recent actions have raised serious doubts about its ability to be a responsible steward of these Congressionally appropriated funds.  We urge you to reverse this action which imperils the recovery process essential to our community and intended by Congress, U.S. Reps. Lizzie Fletcher, Al Green, Sylvia Garcia and Sheila Jackson Lee wrote in their letter to Fudge.

Hidalgo said Bushs own staff, in a discussion with county officials Thursday, agreed some of the scoring criteria disadvantaged populous urban areas.

We need certainty that we will receive funds because we need and deserve those funds, Hidalgo said. I dont want to put our community in a situation of uncertainty. Its unconscionable.

Private support?

Republican Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said Bush on Friday pledged to support giving Harris County aid directly during upcoming rounds of funding.

The Houston region suffered around 50 deaths and, by some measures, nearly half of the $125 billion in estimated statewide damage from Harvey  more than any other area of the state. Though Harris County has more residents than the other 48 other counties eligible for the aid combined, it received just 9 percent of the disbursement from GLO: four projects in the cities of Pasadena, Jacinto City, Baytown and Galena Park.

Flood mitigation projects typically include channel widening, construction of detention basins and drainage improvements to help communities manage the Gulf Coasts frequent, heavy rainstorms. Harris County leaders had hoped the countys $2.5 billion flood bond program would attract billions in matching funds from the federal government.

Bush, who on Friday toured those areas and others to announce award recipients, said constituents have to start asking the City of Houston and Harris County who exactly are filling out these applications, and are they being effective in representing their constituents," according to KTRK-13.

He did not specify what errors the city and county made that prevented them from receiving any funds. City and county officials said GLO staff never informed them of any mistakes on their applications nor asked for any additional information during the scoring process.

GLO spokeswoman Brittany Eck said she could not confirm nor deny Bushs comment that cast blame on local leaders for Houstons lack of mitigation funds, but suggested the city and county should have acted more strategically by submitting fewer projects, perhaps even offering a joint application to strengthen their chances for approval by increasing the number of people who would benefit.

GLO had capped the maximum award application at $300 million, however, regardless of the applicants population. That discouraged the city and county from submitting mega-projects for consideration.

Hidalgo and Harris County Flood Control District Executive Director Russ Poppe said two criteria that discriminate against populous areas appear to have doomed their applications. The first considered a projects cost per person helped; the second tallied the share of the applicants total residents who could benefit from the project.

That meant the city and county's status as the most populous in Texas worked against them when it came time to score the applications. For example, Poppe said, on one project Harris County scored less than three points out of a possible 20 in those categories, which made up one-fifth of the total score.

So right there, youre somewhere between 18-19 points at a disadvantage on two metrics that one could reasonably argue have no bearing whatsoever on the value or the benefits of the project, Poppe said.

Turner blames politics

Hidalgo said GLO staff conveyed to her that they merely were using metrics requested by HUD under the Trump administration. The county judge acknowledged GLO has a duty to ensure counties are treated fairly, but said she sees no use in a political fight with state leaders over the issue.

State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, said she was disappointed the city did not receive any funds but was pleased by the allocation to the smaller municipalities within her district in east Harris County.

Past severe storms have shown how southeast Texas is vulnerable when watersheds converge in the Houston Ship Channel  which serves one of the busiest ports in the world and is a vital link in the regional economy, she said.

Turner said the snub was just the latest attack by Republican state officials on the Democrats who run the states largest cities and counties.

He said while politicians may be the intended targets, the lack of flood protection funding hurts average residents.

This is not about some paperwork; this is not about not scoring as high, Turner said. This is about state leaders intentionally deciding not to allocate one single dime to local communities that were substantially impacted by Hurricane Harvey.

Steve Costello, the citys chief recovery officer, said GLO staff failed to understand the difference between urban drainage and regional drainage when setting their scoring criteria.

Our projects were neighborhood revitalization projects, Costello said. If you think about urban drainage, we were servicing 100 percent of the people in the service area of the urban drainage project. And yet, when you divide it by 2.2 million people in the city, you get this detrimental impact on the fact that it's not enough people being served.

In January 2020, Turner emailed Bush, recommending the GLO revise the metric that considered the share of residents who would benefit from the project for that very reason.

"The system is flawed. The evaluation was flawed, Costello said. Commissioner Bush should have read his email."

zach.despart@chron.com

jasper.scherer@chron.com
Registered nurse Kim Mikeska planned to keep working at Houston Methodist West until retirement. But because she does not want to get the COVID-19 vaccine by the approaching June 7 deadline, the nurse faces termination from the job she loves.

I feel betrayed and heartbroken, said Mikeska, who noted she is not an anti-vaxxer. This is my body, this is my choice, and I dont think employers or anyone should mandate what goes into my body.

The 54-year-old nurse stood Saturday outside Houston Methodist in the Texas Medical Center on Fannin, alongside roughly 50 to 75 people who gathered to protest the hospitals vaccine requirement.

All employees must be vaccinated against COVID-19 by June 7, according to Amy Rose, a spokesperson for Houston Methodist. Close to 99% of the hospitals roughly 26,000 workers have now received at least one shot, she said.

We respect the right of those demonstrating outside our doors today to peacefully protest, Rose said in a statement. However, Houston Methodist is adamant that we do everything in our power to protect our patients. Our decision to mandate the Covid vaccine for all of our employees was not made lightly, and is based on the proven science that the vaccines are not only safe, but extremely effective.

Jennifer Bridges, a registered nurse of more than six years, organized the protest along with Charles Titus of Freedom Matters Action Group, whose page was banned from Facebook.

Standing on the sidewalk in sporadic rains, the protesters held signs like I call the shot, not you! and Say no to vaccine mandate. Many wore shirts made for the occasion and held American flags. A few people wore Donald Trump hats and T-shirts. Some drivers passing through the medical center honked or waved, and people wearing scrubs and masks strolled past.

Bridges, 39, said she will not get the COVID-19 vaccine because she is not comfortable with it. She would rather lose her job and suffer the short-term financial costs than risk having an adverse reaction to the shot that could impact her whole life, she said. The nurse next plans to file a lawsuit involving more than a hundred plaintiffs who have been impacted by the hospitals mandate.

Im totally prepared to get fired if I have to, Bridges said. We will hold Methodist accountable for what theyre doing.

Bridges said that managers and supervisors are bullying workers who have not yet been vaccinated, constantly asking about their vaccine status and addressing it in front of other workers.

As of late last month, UTMB, Texas Childrens Hospital and St. Lukes Health did not have a mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy. Some area hospitals were considering a mandate.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued emergency use authorization for three vaccines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The vaccines were authorized with urgency due to the pandemic, but the agency used rigorous standards for safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality, according to the FDA.

The COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective and more than 272 million doses have been administered in the U.S. as of May 17, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some people report mild side effects, but serious safety problems and long-term side affects are extremely rare, the agency said.

In 2009, Houston Methodist was among the first to require all employees to get a yearly flu shot.

Several Methodist nurses who attended the protest said they receive flu shots and other vaccinations because there is more research, proof of efficacy and approval by the FDA. The COVID-19 vaccine is too new for them to feel comfortable taking it, they said.

Im not an anti-vaxxer, said Freenea Stewart, a charge nurse in the surgical department at Houston Methodist West. The only thing that Im asking is that (the COVID vaccine) goes through all the FDA approvals like all the other vaccines.

Stewart, a mother of three, said shes planning to opt against getting the COVID-19 vaccine and called the decision a double-edged sword. The stress of the situation has made her physically sick  she has to work to help provide for her family, Stewart said.

I can feel this taking a toll on me, she said. I know what my beliefs are and Im holding strong on them.

Mikeska said she does not want to argue the validity of the vaccine and respects anyone who has decided to get the shot.

This is about my liberty and my freedom, she said. Im standing up for every American, for the freedom to choose, for the liberty to have autonomy over your own body.

anna.bauman@chron.com
No one knew for sure how President Joe Biden would handle his first international crisis, even after his 40 years in public service, with long stints on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and eight years as vice president.

Perhaps not even Biden knew for certain. Fridays shaky cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, putting a pause on 11 days of ferocious fighting, should give the skeptics confidence in our new commander in chief.

An American president who falters during an international crisis risks far more than his or his partys political standing.

The world relies on American leadership, and after four years of the self-interested isolationism that characterized President Donald Trumps tenure, Bidens first big challenge on the world stage as president reassures us that America can lead once more.

By Friday morning, Bidens quiet pressure on an old friend, the scandal-plagued prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, was being credited at least in part for securing Israeli support for the cease-fire, a deal brokered by Egypt.

Had the escalating violence not been stopped when it was, many observers had warned it could have reached a point of no return.

Already, Hamas had fired 4,000 missiles at Israel, and the latter had in turn killed more than 200 people, including 65 children, in Gaza. Twelve people had been killed in Israel, where missiles, for the first time, landed as far away as distant Tel Aviv.

Just as alarming, citizens of Israel had rampaged, Arab against Jew, and both sides had left fellow citizens dead in the streets.

Bidens quiet diplomacy had appeared effective.

Still, there are other less sanguine lessons to be learned.

The first is about the limits of American power: Despite Biden having passed his first test, many wise voices among Americas foreign policy elites were warning as late as Friday afternoon that relief over an apparent resolution should not paper over the fact that America was caught flatfooted by the hostilities. Nor over the fact that other, stronger forces than Bidens phone diplomacy ultimately played a larger role.

About 90 percent of the reason for the cease-fire is that both Hamas and the government of Israel determined that prolonging the conflict didnt serve their interests, Richard Haas, longtime president of the Council on Foreign Relations, told the New York Times. This was a cease-fire that essentially was ready to happen.

America clearly doesnt have the influence we once had.

Yes, Biden spoke six times with Netanyahu, who told the Jerusalem press Friday that he was grateful for the presidents friendly tone throughout. But the real work of the cease-fire was accomplished by Egypt, with help from the United Nations, whose diplomats have relationships with both parties to the conflict.

If ever the U.S. was seen as a fair broker by Palestinians, those days are over for now. Biden will have tough work ahead to change that, and it wont make it any easier that he stuck so stringently by Netanyahus side throughout the crisis.

Like all of his most recent predecessors  Trump, Barack Obama and George W. Bush  Biden had sought to prioritize issues other than the Mideast peace process.

Not since President Bill Clintons two terms in the 1990s has an American president invested significant political capital in trying to resolve the decades-old standoff between Israel and the Palestinians in the Gaze Strip and West Bank who oppose its presence altogether.

Bush all but ignored the Middle East before 9/11 and afterward let the global war on terror and his invasion of Iraq dominate his foreign policy.

Obama tried to re-establish America as an honest broker between Israel and the Palestinians, but saw those hopes die amid an acrimonious relationship with Netanyahu, epitomized by the latter accepting an invitation to address Congress in 2015 over the objections of the White House.

And Trump?

His first trip abroad as president was to Israel. Four years later, as his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, brokered a series of agreements between Israel and moderate Arab states  but not with the Palestinians  Trump boasted as if his administration had accomplished a landmark breakthrough in world peace rather than a pragmatic normalization of business relations.

All prior administrations from President Lyndon Johnson have tried and bitterly failed, but I was not elected to do small things or shy away from big problems, Trump said at a joint press conference with Netanyahu in January 2020. For the first time in many, many decades I can say it will work. Its going to work.

It clearly didnt.

Just over a year after that press conference, and as Kushner reportedly writes a book on his Mideast accomplishments, Israeli police earlier this month raided a mosque that Muslims consider one of the holiest in the region, and made plans to evict Palestinian families from a Jerusalem neighborhood. That was all the pretext Hamas, a radical, quasi-military group that the U.S. considers at terror group, needed to attack.

Israeli generals on Friday were split over whether the counter-offensive had achieved its goals. Militarily, they had dealt a setback to Hamas, who lost scores of fighters and suffered widespread destruction to its network of tunnels.

But politically, the conflict has elevated the group to a near-hero status that threatens to discredit the far more moderate government in Palestine and the moderate Arab states who had partnered with Trump in publicly stating their acceptance of Israel.

Meanwhile, despite scenes of dancing jubilation across Gaza Friday morning, many others were picking through the rubble and asking the same questions as the Israeli generals: What had been gained?

A second lesson for America involves the Democratic Party, where the fighting exposed yet again a festering divide between institutionalists such as Biden and progressives impatient for deeper, faster change.

Its a story that has played out time and again, whether over climate change, the future of the Supreme Court or Americas unyielding support for Israel in its dealings with the Palestinians who have lived under its domination for decades.

Biden managed those political fault lines this time. He probably had more influence with Netanyahu when it mattered most  when the prime minister was at last open to a cease-fire  than if he had joined fellow Democrats demands that Israel stand down from the beginning of the conflict.

But such a tepid approach does nothing to invite faith among the Palestinians that America is ready to give a fair hearing to their legitimate complaints.

After some 60 years of subjugation, the Palestinians have suffered lifetimes of grievances, making them easy prey for radical forces, Hamas and others willing to kill indiscriminately included, who exploit their plight to undermine Israel.

But ignoring their suffering, and turning a blind eye to even the most provocative steps by Israel, is a recipe for eternal conflict  one that cannot be resolved through telephone diplomacy.

Bidens promise that America will help Gaza rebuild its destroyed infrastructure is a start.

Now he needs to talk straight with Israel, reach out to moderate voices in Gaza and elsewhere, and prove that while America is Israels friend and ally, it is no foe of fairness and compromise.
Power for good

Regarding Abbott bans mask rules, (A1, May 19): Your responsibility is to care for all Texans, especially the most vulnerable! Yet you are hurting the vulnerable unemployed folks, denying them additional federal money that will not cost our state. You refuse to expand Medicaid to help the vulnerable people who suffer when their jobs do not offer medical insurance and they cannot afford to pay directly; this program would be mostly paid with federal money with a small portion paid by the state. You are not using your political and governmental power to reorganize the PUC, ERCOT and the Railroad Commission into a new Texas Energy Commission to create a system that is reliable from the gas well to the power generator to the distributor to the consumer, which will prevent another occurrence of lost lives, misery and cost to Texans and our companies should another big freeze hit Texas. You are not considering the effect on women and their families when you support an abortion law that permits any person to sue another because they oppose abortion and want to impose their will on others. You, sir, are not serving all the people of Texas, especially the most vulnerable!

John Martinez, Houston

The cost of climate change

Regarding Winners, losers emerge from Texas historic winter storm, (May 18): We need to ask ourselves, how much is climate change costing us? The ongoing cost of dealing with the consequences of climate change in our cities cant be overlooked. This article explained that this one winter storm caused billions of dollars in property damage.

The oil industry has downplayed the direct impact of climate change on our communities. But here in Texas, the effect of it has been felt for many years. As an adopted Houstonian, I learned about street flooding, storm surges and hurricanes when I moved here back in the 90s. I have experienced firsthand the damage that flooding can cause. The first time I dealt with rising water levels, it cost me about $5,000 for car repairs. I also witnessed many people losing their homes to Hurricane Harvey.

According to the Center for Climate Integrity, the climate cost for the state of Texas by 2040 is estimated to be $19.3 billion, which is the minimum down payment for short-term defense against rising seas in Texas and includes the estimated cost for what it would take to safeguard businesses, homes, roads, and entire communities from chronic flooding by 2040.

Its time to take action today by contacting Congress at cclusa.org/write and request their support for the Energy Innovation and Carbon Dividend Act to help solve climate change. We can no longer afford to not take action since we are dealing with the direct impact of climate change and its costs.

Yadira Beltran, Missouri City
Texas Secretary of State Ruth Hughs announced her resignation Friday after Republicans in the Senate declined to confirm her appointment by Gov. Greg Abbott.

While Republicans have not publicly expressed any lack of faith in Hughs, Democrats point to her offices assertion that Texas had a smooth and secure election in 2020.

Apparently, that wasnt what leadership wanted to hear, said Rep. Donna Howard, D-Austin, in a tweet on Saturday.

The smooth and secure line became a highlight of the Democrats fight against a slew of Republican voting restrictions in the ongoing legislative session.

The Republican-led Senate is backing voting restrictions, saying they are needed to prevent fraud at the polls, despite no evidence of widespread cheating.

In pushing against the legislation, Democrats pointed to testimony from one of Hughs top deputies, Keith Ingram, director of elections.

In spite of all the circumstances, Texas had an election that was smooth and secure, Ingram told lawmakers in March, referring to the effect of the pandemic. Texans can be justifiably proud of the hard work and creativity shown by local county elections officials.

TEXAS TAKE: Get political headlines from across the state sent directly to your inbox

Hughs oversaw the presidential election last year, in which Harris County officials implemented several alternative voting measures, including 24-hour voting and drive-thru polls.

Republicans have vilified the countys efforts as part of their ongoing effort to discredit the election results, and have put forth legislation this session to crack down on what they see as opportunities for fraud at the ballot box. Democrats and voting rights advocates have called the efforts voter suppression.

Chris Hollins, the former Harris County Clerk, said it was clear to him that Hughs office was under intense partisan pressure in 2020. Hollins said the county generally worked well with the secretary of states office in the 2020 elections until legal battles began over the countys voting expansions. Thats when communication between the two offices abruptly ended, he said.

They were supportive of us until, it seemed like, somebody of power put in a call to the governors office and told them not to be supportive of us, said Hollins, now a vice chair for finance with the Democratic Party.

Across the country, secretaries of state and election administrators have stood up and said no, this was a free and fair and secure election, but that fact flies in the face of this entire lie that theyre trying to build, so folks who stand behind those facts have to go, Hollins said.

On the ultimate question of was this a safe and secure election, they said yes, he said. Right now the Republican Party line is no. So if you dont bend to that, if you dont bend to this Big Lie, you are ousted.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who runs the Senate, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Sen. Dawn Buckingham, chair of the nominations committee that did not take up Hughs confirmation, declined to comment.

Hughs is the second Texas secretary of state in a row to leave after the Senate did not confirm an Abbott appointee.

A lawyer and former commissioner on the Texas Workforce Commission, Hughs was tapped by Abbott shortly after the 2019 legislative session. Her predecessor, David Whitley, resigned after losing confidence from legislators with a botched voter purge in which thousands of legal citizens were targeted.

By contrast, Hughs tenure was muted and mostly out of the public eye.

I am proud of the work that this office has accomplished, and by working collaboratively, we have helped to build a brighter future for all Texans, she said in a statement.

Her departure, effective at the end of this month, leaves a hole for the Republican governor to fill as he faces re-election to a third term late next year. Under state law, legislators wont vet Abbotts next choice until they reconvene again in 2023.

taylor.goldenstein@chron.com

jeremy.blackman@chron.com
The federal government said Thursday it has seized 68 protected lions, tigers, lion-tiger hybrids and a jaguar from an animal park in Oklahoma featured in Netflix's "Tiger King."

According to a news release from the Justice Department, this was due to a judicially authorized search and seizure warrant for ongoing Endangered Species Act violations.

The Justice Department will seek civil forfeiture of these animals and any offspring pursuant to the ESA's forfeiture provision, officials said.

HOUSTON TIGER: Businesswoman Linda McIngvale recounts helping with search for India the missing tiger

The Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has conducted three inspections of Tiger King Park since mid-December 2020. Officials said Jeff and Lauren Lowe received citations for failing to provide the animals with adequate or timely veterinary care, appropriate nutrition, and shelter that protects them from inclement weather and is of sufficient size to allow them to engage in normal behavior.

The Lowes were recently found in contempt after "months of noncompliance with court orders requiring the Lowes, in part, to employ a qualified veterinarian and establish and maintain a program of veterinary care that meets the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act," the news release said.

Daniel Card, an attorney for the couple, told a federal judge that the Lowes "want out completely."

"They don't want to fight this anymore. They don't want to do it," Card told the judge.

Jeffrey Lowe was a central figure in "Tiger King" that featured a mullet-wearing zookeeper named Joe Exotic and became a cultural phenomenon last year. Joe Exotic, a pseudonym for Joseph Maldonado-Passage, is serving a 22-year sentence in federal prison in Texas for his 2020 conviction on charges that he participated in a murder-for-hire plot and violated federal wildlife laws.

"This seizure should send a clear message that the Justice Department takes alleged harm to captive-bred animals protected under the Endangered Species Act very seriously," acting assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the DOJ's Environment and Natural Resources Division said.

"This important animal rescue operation of nearly 70 endangered and allegedly abused lions, tigers, and a jaguar shows how effective civil forfeiture can be when utilized in conjunction with statutes like the Endangered Species Act," acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the DOJ's Criminal Division said. "We are proud to have partnered with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to protect these amazing animals, and will work to ensure that they go to responsible animal preserves where they can be safely maintained rather than exploited."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Houston, MO (65483)

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Chicago, IL (60637)

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Boys Camp Fire Caused by 'Oily Rags'

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass.  Oily rags are the cause of a fire that tore through Camp Mah-Kee-Nac shortly after midnight on Friday.

Fire Chief Vincent J. Garofoli and State Fire Marshal Peter J. Ostroskey stated on Friday that "improper disposal of oily rags" caused the blaze that destroyed eight cabins, including one used to store pool chemicals.

The overnight boys camp was apparently preparing for the summer season, said fire officials, because crews were staining wood and had stowed the rags in one of the cabins.

"As these chemicals evaporate, they can generate heat and if the rags are balled up or mixed with other trash, they can spontaneously ignite," Garofoli and Ostroskey said in statement issued late Friday afternoon.

A number of local departments were called for mutual aid, including Lee and Otis, and took several hours to bring under control. The state Hazardous Materials Team was called into to monitor the fire ground for safety and the state Department of Environmental Protection oversaw the removal of the remaining chemicals by a private hazardous materials removal contractor. When pool chemicals get wet, they can cause toxic chlorine vapors, said officials.

One firefighter was injured, treated and released from a local hospital.

The fire reportedly destroyed a building for the camp's staff and a number of cabins, most of which were being used for storage.

The fire was jointly investigated by the Stockbridge Fire and Police Departments and State Police assigned to the Office of the State Fire Marshal.
The Williamstown Fire Department's new tanker waits to be filled at its debut on Saturday. A banner on the side of Williamstown's new tanker truck thanks the community for supporting the fire department. Williamstown Forest Warden Rick Daniels, left, and Assistant Fire Chief Mike Noyes check out the controls on the new tanker. Williamstown Fire Chief Craig Pedercini talks to a member of a neighboring department. Firefighters enjoy refreshments provided by the Northern Berkshire Masons. Tankers from various departments line up after making their contribution to the event. Commemorative tumblers were distributed to firefighters who participated in the event. PreviousNext

Area Fire Companies Help Williamstown Christen New Tanker



Most of the tankers used hoses to contribute to the pool that would be used to fill Williamstown's new tanker. Hancock's tanker had a more direct method. WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass.  Last weekend, fire companies from throughout the region came together because they had to.

On Saturday morning, they gathered because they wanted to.

The Fire Department, which on Friday took delivery on the company's first tanker truck, invited its partners to come to the Spruces Park and "Share The Water."

One by one, tankers from Adams, Clarksburg, Hancock, Lanesborough, New Ashford, North Adams and Vermont's Pownal, Pownal Vally and Stamford took turns pulling alongside the brand-new Williamstown apparatus and emptying a small portion of their water into a pool that then would be used to fill the new truck.

The symbolic commingling of the water from various communities is a reminder of how first-responders from various towns pool their resources in time of need  whether it is a brush fire on a mountainside that burns for several days or a house fire in a rural locale where hydrants are unavailable and tankers are critical.

"For as long as I go back  and Chief [Ed] McGowan standing here can confirm  when we request mutual aid and tankers, they always come for us," Williamstown Fire Chief Craig Pedercini said. "We never get turned down by people. If they've got one or two people in town, they will cut them loose so we can get some water.

"And, you know, now that we have this one, not only will it help us, but I'm hoping we can return the favor, and I'm sure we will."

McGowan, a retired chief who is in his final days serving the district as a member of the Prudential Committee that runs the district, was one of several members of the Williamstown Fire Department family on hand to watch the proceedings.

"I looked at it this morning, when I came down early, and that is almost a perfect truck," McGowan said. "We can do an awful lot with that."

Fire district voters approved a $380,000 expenditure from the district's stabilization fund to purchase the 2,600-gallon tanker at last spring's annual district meeting. The district, a separate taxing authority apart from town government, will hold its 2021 annual meeting on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. at Williamstown Elementary School. From 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, the district will hold its annual election, in which Lyndsay Neathawk is the only candidate on the ballot to replace McGowan on the five-member Prudential Committee.

Pedercini said in addition to allowing his department to provide more mutual aid to the departments that always have done the same for Williamstown, the tanker will help better protect homes in the 89 percent of town not covered by water lines.

"It's going to be a big help for us," he said. "We have so many people in our rural areas, where we don't have water supplies, we don't have hydrants. Our hydrants kind of end at Bill Hill Road (on Route 7) or they end at Gale Road on Green River. We can only go so far into White Oak and then they end there. Northwest Hill Road, down along the lower sections of the loop there, that's where you have hydrants, but everything up above it, no hydrants.

"So this truck is going to come in really handy to send it out as a second piece right behind an engine. It's going to go to these areas, and it's going to give us an extra 2,600 gallons of water."

Pedercini said the plan is for all of the personnel trained to drive the department's current apparatuses to be trained to drive the tanker, which can be a little trickier to operate given its payload. Training began as soon as the truck arrived on Friday evening from the Ohio-based manufacturer and continued on Saturday morning before the Share The Water event.

As firefighters from different departments swapped stories, enjoyed refreshments and looked over the latest addition to Williamstown's fleet, Pedercini agreed that this weekend's gathering was a lot more enjoyable than the last time they all got together.

"It's a brand-new tanker, it's our first tanker ever, so to kind of have this little christening type thing is awesome," he said. "It's almost as exciting or actually maybe more exciting, I think, than having all these departments show up and help you with the forest fire that we had. It's a lot of the same departments and then some, maybe. So it's great."
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Sayre, PA (18840)

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Guided by Xi's environmental vision, China champions biodiversity

Xinhua) 15:04, May 22, 2021

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- As the global community celebrates the International Day for Biological Diversity on Saturday, China is exploring a solution to tackle the universal issue of biodiversity loss under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.

Piloting a market-based mechanism for green growth, China is actively fostering a new man-nature relationship in which both can prosper, living together in harmony.

"Ecological environmental protection and economic development are intertwined and complement each other," said Xi during a recent study session attended by the country's top leaders.

"Building ecological civilization and promoting green and low-carbon circular development not only meets people's growing needs for a beautiful environment, but also promotes higher-quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable and safer development," he said.

By carrying out major biological conservation projects and improving the mechanisms to encourage the green transition, China's practice sheds light on how ecological strength can be turned into economic strength.

COMMUNITY OF LIFE

Surrounded by high mountains and deep valleys, the Gongshan Drung-Nu Autonomous County in southwest China's Yunnan Province is home to the Drung ethnic group, a small community that makes a living mainly by raising animals, especially bees.

As part of their beekeeping activity, local residents use as many as 38 kinds of plants to attract bees, build their homes and repel them where necessary. The bees pollinate local herbs, which people in the community sell to improve their lives.

The beekeeping techniques used by the Drung ethnic have been selected as a key biodiversity conservation project by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to showcase the synergy that can exist between man and nature.

Addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate in April, Xi called on the international community to work together to foster a community of life for man and nature.

"We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty, all at the same time," he said.

Just like the beekeeping project, the country's many ecological conservation efforts have disproved the assumption that there must be trade-offs between economic growth and environmental protection.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt, covering nine provinces and two municipalities, is undergoing a green transition under Xi's leadership.

Stressing high-quality development of the region, Xi has reiterated that the restoration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River should be a major priority.

Over the years, the country has shut down a large number of highly polluting and energy-intensive enterprises along the river and put into effect a 10-year fishing ban in pivotal waters to restore degrading biodiversity.

In the first quarter of this year, the region's 11 provinces and municipalities reported rapid economic growth, with their combined gross domestic product accounting for 46.5 percent of the country's total, higher than the 2020 and 2019 levels.

MARKET-BASED MECHANISM

To better coordinate economic development and environmental protection, China is actively exploring and improving a market-based mechanism for green growth.

China will establish a sound mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products so that the protection and restoration of the ecological environment can be awarded a reasonable return, while the cost of damaging the environment can be paid correspondingly, Xi said at the study session.

Under the guidance of Xi's thought on ecological progress, China issued a guideline in April, vowing to establish a basic policy framework for the realization of the value of ecological products by 2025.

The various problems surrounding ecological products, such as the difficulty of valuing and trading them, will have been effectively resolved by that time, and an incentive mechanism to encourage environmental protection will take shape.

The country's ability to transform ecological advantages into economic advantages will have been significantly enhanced by then, according to the guideline.

Governments at different levels have taken measures to include indicators of green growth into their evaluation systems.

China's southern tech hub Shenzhen has established a "gross ecosystem product" (GEP) accounting system, which is the total value of final ecosystem goods and services supplied to human well-being and sustainable economic and social development, according to the municipal bureau of ecology and environment.

The bureau said GDP will no longer be the sole measure of Shenzhen's development in the future, and GEP will become an important indicator for the city's green growth.

In addition to its efforts in achieving modernization that features harmony between nature and humans, China also aims to work closely with its global partners to restore the ecological balance on Earth, honoring its commitments while encouraging others to do so.

China will actively participate in global environmental governance, improve South-South cooperation, and cooperate with neighboring countries, Xi said.

In October this year, the country will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming of Yunnan. Participants are expected to work out concrete plans for post-2020 global biodiversity protection.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
A solar storm is presently bombarding Earth with the speed of over 2.1 million kilometres an hour. According to reports, this came after an appearance of a hole in the atmosphere of the Sun.

Solar Storm

Astronomers have disclosed a major hole has opened in the Sun's atmosphere surface. The hole has showed up in the sun's equatorial region. Scientists say this is letting a stream of solar particles emerge from our host star and, sadly for Earth, it is right in the cross-hairs of solar particles stream.

Analysis has disclosed the particles are travelling at a lurching 600 kilometres per second, or over 2.1 million kilometres per hour. While this solar storm will not manifest any sign of being dangerous, scientists have said it could bring about auroras.

On Astronomer Dr Tony Philips's Space Weather blog he wrote: "Today, Earth is engulfed in a stream of solar wind flowing nearly 600 km/s from an equatorial hole in the atmosphere of the sun. "High-latitude sky watchers should be vigilant for auroras, mostly in the southern hemisphere where autumn darkness favours visibility."

Also Read: Everything You Need to Know About Solar Storms: Dangers Explained

Auroras

Auroras, which include southern lights - aurora australis and northern lights - aurora borealis - are prompted when solar particles hit the atmosphere. As solar winds bombard the magnetosphere, stunning blue lights can emerge as that layer of the atmosphere deflects the particles. However, experts also note the effects of a solar storm and space weather can outstretch beyond southern or northern lights.

For the most part, the Earth's magnetic field safeguards humans from the bombardment of radiation emanating from sunspots, but solar storms can affect technology that is satellite-based. Solar winds can heat the outer atmosphere of the Earth, making it to expand. This can affect satellites in orbit, probably causing a lack of mobile phone signal, GPS navigation, and satellite TV such as Sky.

Magnetosphere

A gush of particles can also cause high currents in the magnetosphere. This can bring about higher than usual electricity in power lines, causing blowouts in power stations and electrical transformers and a loss of power. Past studies have disclosed every 25 years on average the Sun discharges an extreme solar flare, with the last Earth-hitting one coming in 1989.

This storm recognized power outages in Canada, Quebec, as conducting rocks on Earth can take the surplus energy from the magnetic shield and plough it into the national grid. While it is unfeasible to project when and where a massive solar storm might hit, it is unavoidable one will hit the planet in time to come. As such, scientists have criticised the lack of making preparations for an extreme space weather event, giving a warning that it could cost trillions and lead to general panic.

Related Article: Solar Storm Incoming Within 24 Hours: How Dangerous Will It Be?

For more news, updates about solar storms and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
New: Vaccinated workforce can go to jobs without masks or social distance unless required to do so by employer
On May 7, Zulkiflee Anwar Alhaque, more popularly known as Zunar, was questioned by the Kedah police over a caricature of Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) calls upon the Malaysian authorities to drop all charges against Zunar.

According to Zunar, he is being investigated under the Penal Code for making a statement which had intent to incite and under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998 for improper use of network services. Three police reports have been lodged against him. Zunar said that he was interrogated by the Kedah police for several hours about the cartoon, had his phone seized and that he was not informed of the official complaint over his action. If convicted, he faces jail term up to two year, a fine or both.

On January 21, Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi said Thaipusam would not be observed as a public holiday due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Zunars cartoon showed the Menteri Besar chopping different races of people with the caption Kedahans lived peacefully before he came, which was deemed to be slanderous by authorities.

The decision by the Kedah Menteri Besar was criticised by rights groups and political leaders including the Indian community-based political party, Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) who reportedly accused the Menteri Besar of being biased towards the Hindu population. According to Zunar, his work was based on a current issue and he leaves it to the people to interpret it.

The IFJ said: We call upon the Malaysia authorities to ensure freedom of expression and allow Zunar to continue his work without fear of reprisal. Cartoons are a vital form of political expression and Malaysian authorities must not misuse force to intimidate, attack and unjustly incarcerate media workers."
Imperial Valley News Center

Former Rapides Parish Correctional Officer Sentenced for Violating the Civil Rights of Three Inmates

New Orleans, Louisiana - A former correctional officer with the Rapides Parish Sheriffs Office (RPSO), Detention Center 1, in Alexandria, Louisiana, was sentenced Monday in federal court for violating the civil rights of three inmates in his custody.

Cody Richardson, 31, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Dee Drell to 70 months in federal prison for each count, to run concurrently, followed by two years of supervised release. Richardson previously pleaded guilty on May 28, 2020, to three felony counts of using excessive force against pretrial detainees housed at the RPSO facility.

According to court documents and statements made during the hearing, Richardson, while on duty as a correctional officer, tased three different detainees who were restrained and/or not resisting. Specifically, on Jan. 28, 2018, Richardson tased detainee K.F. while K.F. had his hands up, causing him to fall to the ground, then continued to tase K.F. three more times despite the fact that he was not resisting. On Feb. 24, 2018, Richardson drive-stunned detainee S.M. 15-20 times while S.M. was shackled to a bench by his ankles, then, after other officers secured S.M.s wrists in handcuffs, continued tasing him and kicked him once in the abdomen. Finally, on March 19, 2018, Richardson deployed a taser into detainee J.A.s back, causing him to fall to the ground, then sat on top of a table in the cellblock and continued to activate the taser four more times while J.A. thrashed on the floor, screaming in pain.

These kinds of civil rights violations by correctional officers will not be tolerated, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan for the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. By perpetrating these blatant and callous assaults on inmates, Richardson abused the authority granted to him as an officer of the law, undermined public trust in law enforcement, and caused harm to individuals whom he had a responsibility to protect. The Justice Department will continue to vigorously prosecute officers who violate the civil rights of vulnerable inmates in their care, and ensure that such officers are held accountable.

Citizens who are detained by law enforcement officers have a right to be treated with fairness and respect, said Acting U.S. Attorney Alexander C. Van Hook of the Western District of Louisiana. Those in law enforcement who choose to violate the civil rights of those in their custody and control must suffer the consequences of their actions.

This case was investigated by the FBI. Trial Attorney Katherine DeVar of the Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Mudrick of the Western District of Louisiana prosecuted the case.
Imperial Valley News Center

Justice Department Settles Discrimination Claim Against Aerojet Rocketdyne, Inc

Jupiter, Florida - The Department of Justice Monday announced that it reached a settlement with Aerojet Rocketdyne Inc. (Aerojet Rocketdyne), a rocket and missile propulsion manufacturer.

The settlement resolves a charge brought by a lawful permanent resident whom Aerojet Rocketdyne did not consider for a mechanic position because of his immigration status. The departments investigation concluded that Aerojet Rocketdyne violated the anti-discrimination provision of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA) when it only considered U.S. citizens for 12 mechanic positions in Jupiter, Florida, without legal justification.

Employers cannot limit positions only to U.S. citizens unless they have a legal requirement to do so, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. The department commends Aerojet Rocketdyne for quickly changing its practices when it learned of the issue, and for its cooperation throughout the departments investigation.

Aerojet Rocketdyne builds and sells advanced propulsion and energetics systems to customers including the U.S. government and private companies. The departments investigation determined that Aerojet Rocketdyne did not allow the Charging Party and other non-U.S. citizens to apply for 12 mechanic positions, based on their citizenship status. The investigation also concluded that the company misunderstood its obligations under federal regulations, such as the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR), by mistakenly believing that they imposed restrictions on the companys ability to hire non-U.S. citizens, which they do not. The investigation also determined that the company incorrectly believed that some of its government contracts required it to fill the 12 mechanic positions with U.S. citizens. When it learned of the investigation, Aerojet Rocketdyne was forthcoming and quickly changed its practices to avoid future discrimination.

The INA protects U.S. citizens, non-citizen nationals, refugees, asylees, and recent lawful permanent residents from hiring discrimination based on citizenship status. The law has an exception if an employer or recruiter is required to limit jobs due to a law, regulation, executive order, or government contract.

Todays settlement agreement requires Aerojet Rocketdyne to take several steps to ensure it follows the law, including training its employees who conduct hiring in its Jupiter, Florida location. The company also must pay a $37,008 civil penalty. As with its other settlements, the department will monitor the company to make sure it is complying with the agreement.

The Civil Rights Divisions Immigrant and Employee Rights Section (IER) is responsible for enforcing discrimination protections under the INA. The law prohibits citizenship status and national origin discrimination in hiring, firing, or recruitment or referral for a fee; unfair documentary practices; and retaliation and intimidation.
Imperial Valley News Center

Former Georgia Supervisory Correctional Officer Pleads Guilty to Civil Rights Offenses for Assaulting Inmates

Atlanta, Georgia - A former supervisory correctional officer at the Valdosta State Prison (VSP) in Valdosta, Georgia, pleaded guilty Wednesday to violating the civil rights of two inmates during two separate incidents.

According to court documents and admissions made during the hearing, on Sept. 24, 2018, Patrick Sharpe, 30, while on duty as a correctional officer at VSP, assaulted a handcuffed inmate in retaliation for an earlier interaction between the inmate and a female officer. Specifically, while escorting the inmate across the prison grounds, Sharpe wrapped a pair of handcuffs around his fist and punched the inmate three times  twice to the inmates face and once to the back of his head. As a result of the assault, the inmate briefly lost consciousness and suffered lacerations to his face and head. The inmate was restrained and compliant at the time of the assault.

In the second incident, on Dec. 29, 2018, Sharpe, while on duty as a supervisory correctional officer at VSP, instructed his subordinate officers to assault a handcuffed inmate in retaliation for an earlier altercation between that inmate and a different female officer. Specifically, Sharpe, along with several other correctional officers  including officers Jamal Scott and Brian Ford, both of whom have previously pleaded guilty to federal crimes related to this incident  escorted the handcuffed inmate to an outdoor area on the grounds of the prison for the purpose of assaulting the inmate. Scott and Ford, carrying out a directive from Sharpe, took the inmate to the ground and struck him multiple times in the body. The inmate was handcuffed and compliant at the time of the assault.

The defendants committed two retaliatory, injurious, and unjustified assaults while acting as a corrections officer, said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Pamela S. Karlan of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division. The Justice Department is committed to ensuring that the civil rights of all individuals are protected and will vigorously prosecute individuals who betray their oath of office and violently abuse the power entrusted to them as officers of the law.

Our office is committed to protecting the civil rights of all people, and we will prosecute all those who violate the law, said Acting U.S. Attorney Peter Leary of the Middle District of Georgia. Law enforcement and correctional officers will be held to the highest standard, as well they should, since they are entrusted with a great degree of authority over the liberty of those they are sworn to protect.

Correctional officers at prisons face difficult conditions trying to keep prisons safe for incarcerated felons and staff, but it is never acceptable for them to violate their oath by violently abusing their power, said Special Agent in Charge Chris Hacker of the FBI Atlanta Field Office. The FBI makes civil rights offenses a high priority to protect inmates against such abuse and to protect the hard-working officers who uphold their oaths on a daily basis.

Sharpe faces a maximum statutory penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for each count.

This case was investigated by the FBI and was prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Katherine G. DeVar and Nicole Raspa of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, with assistance from Criminal Chief Michael Solis of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Middle District of Georgia.
Imperial Valley News Center

Broiler Chicken Producer Indicted for Price Fixing and Bid Rigging

Denver, Colorado - A federal grand jury in Denver, Colorado, returned an indictment charging Norman W. Fries Inc., dba Claxton Poultry Farms (Claxton), headquartered in Claxton, Georgia, with participating in a nationwide conspiracy to fix prices and rig bids for broiler chicken products.

According to court documents, from at least as early as 2012 until at least 2019, Claxton and co-conspirators, including current President Mikell Fries and current Vice President Scott Brady, conspired to suppress and eliminate competition for sales of broiler chicken products, which are raised for human consumption and sold to grocers and restaurants. Fries and Brady are among 10 individuals charged in a superseding indictment in October 2020 for their roles in the conspiracy. Pilgrims Pride Corporation, a major broiler chicken producer based in Greeley, Colorado, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in February 2021 to pay a criminal fine over $107 million for its role in the conspiracy.

As this charge shows, we will not hesitate to prosecute crimes designed to put money in corporate coffers and line executives pockets at the expense of everyday Americans, including the hundreds of millions of us who rely on chicken to be an affordable staple food, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Richard A. Powers of the Justice Departments Antitrust Division. Alongside our valued law enforcement partners and colleagues at the District of Colorado U.S. Attorneys Office, we will not stop until integrity is restored to this vital market and all wrongdoers are held to account.

Today's announcement is yet another example of the dedication of the FBI and its partners to root out corrupt individuals and companies who collude to inflate prices and attempt to eliminate fair markets, said Assistant Director in Charge Steven M. DAntuono of the FBI Washington Field Office. This anti-competitive behavior will not be tolerated and the FBI will work to hold people and companies accountable for their criminal actions.

At such a critical juncture in our nations economic history, we are especially proud to be working with DOJ Antitrust Division, the FBI, and USDA OIG to protect American consumers from such unscrupulous efforts to distort the free market for personal gain, said Special Agent in Charge Duane Townsend of the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Inspector General. This is yet another cooperative step towards justice and restoration of integrity to the poultry market.

Claxton is charged with a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act. If convicted, Claxton faces a statutory maximum fine for corporations of $100 million. The maximum fine may be increased to twice the gain derived from the crime or twice the loss suffered by victims, if either of those amounts is greater than the statutory maximum fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case is the result of an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing, bid rigging, and other anticompetitive conduct in the broiler chicken industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division with the assistance of the Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, the FBIs Washington Field Office, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General. Special thanks to the District of Colorado for their assistance.

Anyone with information on price fixing, bid rigging, or other anticompetitive conduct related to the broiler chicken industry should contact the Antitrust Divisions Citizen Complaint Center at 1-888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.
Imperial Valley News Center

U.S. Government Seizes 68 Protected Big Cats and a Jaguar from Jeffrey and Lauren Lowe

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma - The United States has seized 68 protected lions, tigers, lion-tiger hybrids, and a jaguar from Jeffrey and Lauren Lowes Tiger King Park in Thackerville, Oklahoma, pursuant to a judicially-authorized search and seizure warrant, for ongoing Endangered Species Act (ESA) violations. The Justice Department will seek civil forfeiture of these animals and any offspring pursuant to the ESAs forfeiture provision.

Pursuant to a court-approved stipulation in United States v. Lowe, et al., No. 20-423 (E.D. Okla.), the U.S. Department of Agricultures (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has conducted three inspections of Tiger King Park since mid-December 2020. During these inspections, the Lowes received citations for failing to provide the animals with adequate or timely veterinary care, appropriate nutrition, and shelter that protects them from inclement weather and is of sufficient size to allow them to engage in normal behavior. The Lowes were recently found in contempt after months of noncompliance with court orders requiring the Lowes, in part, to employ a qualified veterinarian and establish and maintain a program of veterinary care that meets the requirements of the Animal Welfare Act. The United States alleges that these violations as to ESA-protected animals also constitute violations of the ESA.

This seizure should send a clear message that the Justice Department takes alleged harm to captive-bred animals protected under the Endangered Species Act very seriously, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Jean E. Williams of the Justice Departments Environment and Natural Resources Division.

This important animal rescue operation of nearly 70 endangered and allegedly abused lions, tigers, and a jaguar shows how effective civil forfeiture can be when utilized in conjunction with statutes like the Endangered Species Act, said Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division. We are proud to have partnered with the Environment and Natural Resources Division to protect these amazing animals, and will work to ensure that they go to responsible animal preserves where they can be safely maintained rather than exploited.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforces the Endangered Species Act, said Assistant Director Edward Grace of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services (FWS) Office of Law Enforcement. The law protects imperiled species, such as tigers, both in the wild and in captivity. We work jointly with our federal law enforcement partners to conserve and protect natural resources and we are pleased that we could provide our expertise to assist the U.S. Marshals and USDA officers. Together, we will ensure these animals receive proper care and rehabilitation.

The case is being investigated by USDA and the Department of the Interiors FWS. The U.S. Marshals were integral in executing the seizure warrant and securing the property, which allowed for the swift removal of the animals.

The case is being handled by Senior Trial Attorney Mary Hollingsworth, Trial Attorneys Briena Strippoli, and Devon Flanagan from the Environment and Natural Resources Division and Senior Policy Advisor Darrin McCullough of the Criminal Divisions Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section. They are assisted by attorneys from the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma.
The prime minister is preparing to announce that couples will be allowed to go ahead with big wedding plans from 21 June, it has been reported.

The Daily Telegraph cited government sources as saying they were confident weddings involving more than 30 people - the number of guests currently allowed - would be permitted as long as coronavirus case numbers do not rise exponentially.

It comes amid fears that the variant of Covid-19 that first emerged in India may cause a significant spike in infections and hospitalisations as England lifted more lockdown restrictions this week.

But Boris Johnson said on Thursday during a press conference: I am still seeing nothing in the data that leads me to think that were going to have to deviate from the roadmap.

He promised to give the public an update on the outcome of a government review into relaxing social restrictions by the end of the month.

The government hopes to lift all social restrictions, including social distancing and the wearing of face masks, no earlier than 21 June if the data shows it is safe to do so.

A source from Whitehall told The Telegraph: Theres increasing confidence that vaccines are working against all variants and the data doesnt seem to be changing too drastically in terms of case numbers and hospitalisations.

As long as there are no significant changes over the next few days, there is cautious optimism.

But some reports have said the prime minister may decide to delay lifting lockdown restrictions further if the Indian variants spreads rapidly in the coming weeks.

It came as health secretary Matt Hancock revealed that majority of people being hospitalised with the mutant strain had not been vaccinated, or had not yet received their second dose. He urged people to come forward for their vaccinations, adding: This is on all of us, we are masters of our own fate.

The UK Weddings Taskforce, which represents and supports the recovery of wedding businesses amid the pandemic, said it was told there would be a full and unrestricted reopening of the industry from 21 June.

The taskforce said on Friday: Mixed messages from press are unhelpful. The Weddings Taskforce was told by ministers 48 hours ago that we were on-track for reopening 21/6.

If the announcement Boris Johnson indicated he would give next week is not forthcoming we need to hear why. We will hold them to account.
The Czech Republic was massively relaxing its coronavirus restrictions on Monday as the hard-hit nation paid respect to nearly 30,000 dead.

The latest wave of easing came after new infections fell to the levels last seen in August, at which time the government failed to react in time to a rising number of infections, which later contributed to record numbers of deaths.

People in the capital, Prague formed lines before opening time as all stores and shopping malls across the country returned to business.

Its a relief that they are open, said Dan Cooper, one of the shoppers. I think I have a long list of things that I need to buy now.

In a visible change, Czechs were allowed to remove face coverings in all outdoor spaces if they stay at least two meters (yards) from other people. Many haven't worn them in previous days and weeks anyway.

Also reopening Monday were car dealerships, tanning salons, shooting ranges, travel agencies, shoe repairers, tattoo parlors and many other services.

Children returned to all elementary schools under strict conditions even in the hardest-hit regions. All have to wear face masks and be tested twice a week. They are also returning on a rotating basis, with in-school attendance one week and distance learning the next.

The relaxation move came as the daily number of new cases dropped from almost 17,000 in early March to 381 on Sunday, the lowest figure since the end of August while the number of infected fell to 101 per 100,000 people in the past seven days.

But in some counties, the number of cases still surpassed 180 per 100,000, prompting some experts to warn against dropping the restrictions there.

If the situation remains unfavorable in some counties and regions, the relaxation there should not be the same as in other parts of the country, Petr Pazdiora, the head of the Institute of Epidemiology at the University Hospital in western city of Plzen told Czech public radio.

The Czech Republic at one point topped the global death toll table per capita, due to too-early relaxations.

The government was set to discuss later on Monday a plan to allow spectators to attend concerts and other cultural events. The Culture Ministry proposed that up to 700 people could attend outdoor events while the number would be limited to 400 indoors.

High schools and universities still remained closed, together with bars and restaurants.

Czech leaders, officials and citizens were planning to light 30,000 candles at Prague Castle the seat of the presidency, Monday evening to pay respect to the victims of the pandemic.

The nation of 10.7 million has registered at least 29,711 deaths.

___

Associated Press video journalist Adam Pemble in Prague contributed to this report.

___

Follow all of APs pandemic coverage:

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic

https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak


A new type of coronavirus was detected amid patients hospitalized with pneumonia in 2017-2018. The virus is believed to have been originated in dogs and may be the eighth distinct coronavirus known to bring about disease in humans if verified to be a pathogen, a study said.

SARS-COV Vs SARS-COV-2

Scientists in the study, released on Thursday in the Clinical Infectious Diseases journal, said their discoveries accentuated the public health threat of animal coronaviruses. The scientists said they had carried out tests on nasal swab samples collected at a hospital in the east Malaysian state of Sarawak from 301 pneumonia patients.

Eight of the samples, mainly from children below the age of 5, came out positive for a canine coronavirus. Additional genomic sequencing discovered that the new strain, called CCoV-HuPn-2018, shared features of other coronaviruses that had infected pigs and cats but mostly had some similarities to one that is known to have infected dogs.

It also had a mutation, or genetic deletion, that was not seen in any known canine coronaviruses but was discovered in human strains like SARS-COV and SARS-COV-2, the virus that brought about the COVID-19 pandemic. The origin of the SARS-COV-2 coronavirus itself, whether animal or other, is still unknown.

Also Read: Despite Low Seizure Amount, Illegal Wildlife Trade May Boom Because of Covid-19

The Seven Coronaviruses

The authors of the paper said the discoveries showed the virus possibly spread from animals to humans recently, but emphasized that more studies were required to find out whether it can be transmitted between people. They also said it was uncertain whether the virus could get people sick, noting that it was possible the virus was just "carried" in the airway of patients without leading to any disease.

There are seven coronaviruses known to bring about disease in humans: four that give rise to the common cold, and three that cause the diseases commonly referred to as MERS, SARS, and COVID-19.

Canine Coronavirus Disease

Canine coronavirus disease, referred to as CCoV, is a very infectious intestinal infection in dogs, mostly puppies. Canine coronavirus is normally short-lived but may bring about considerable abdominal pain for a few days in infected dogs. The virus belongs to the Coronaviridae family. And it gets its name from the fact that when seen under an electron microscope from above, the virus possesses a ring of projections that look like a coronet, or a tiny crown made of ornaments fixed on a metal ring.

There are many kinds of coronavirus, each affecting various animal species, both humans.

Majority of canine coronavirus cases are gotten by oral contact with infected fecal matter. A dog may also become infected by feeding from food bowls that are contaminated or by having direct contact with an already infected dog.

Unsanitary conditions and crowding bring about coronavirus transmission. One to four days is the incubation period from ingestion to clinical signs. In most dogs, the duration of illness is two to ten days.

Related Article: Not Animals: Humans Are Probably the Carriers of COVID-19 Virus to Wuhan, Contrary to China's Claims

For more news, updates about coronavirus and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
MailOnline has apologised and agreed to pay "substantial" damages to the actress Sand Van Roy after the news website identified her as having lodged a rape complaint against the film director Luc Besson.

In the early hours of 18 May 2018, Van Roy filed a complaint with police in Paris that she had been raped at the Hotel Bristol by Mr Besson, who strongly denies the allegations.

Under French law the Dutch-Belgian actor was entitled to remain anonymous while investigators handled her complaint.

But details of the complaint were leaked to the French press, and just over a week later on 29 May, MailOnline, which is owned by Associated Newspapers, published an article identifying Van Roy as Besson's accuser.

It published two further stories on 25 February and 8 October 2019.

Van Roy's lawyer, Helena Shipman, told the High Court on Friday that details of the case were leaked "against Van Roy's wishes and in breach of her right to anonymity".

She added: "The first article revealed that Ms Van Roy had complained to police that she had been raped by Mr Besson. This was the first time that a publisher in this jurisdiction reported this information.!

MailOnline published this information in breach of Ms Van Roy's right to privacy.

"Under French law, Ms Van Roy was entitled to anonymity in respect of the fact that she had complained about being a victim of rape and the information relating to the complaint.

"Ms Van Roy, as the defendant accepts, had not waived her right to anonymity at the time of publication of the first article."

Ms Van Roy, who agreed to be named in the proceedings, has appeared in films and television shows including the 2017 film Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets, directed by Besson.

Ms Shipman told the court the actress dealt with Besson in a professional capacity and did not "at any time consider herself to be in a romantic relationship with him".

Van Roy also said the MailOnline articles published false private information by saying she accused Mr Besson of drugging her.

Ms Shipman told the court: "The publication by the defendant of Ms Van Roy's identity as a complainant in a rape case and of the other, actual and purported, private information caused Ms Van Roy great distress."

MailOnline has posted an apology on its website and the court heard Associated Newspapers has agreed to pay "substantial" damages as well as Ms Van Roy's legal costs.

Matthew Gill, for Associated Newspapers, said: "The defendant apologises unreservedly to Ms Van Roy."

Speaking after the hearing, Ms Van Roy said: "The distress I suffered as a result of the publication of my identity as a complainant in a rape case cannot be overstated.

"I had always intended to remain anonymous in my complaint and to have that choice taken away from me so soon after the event was almost too much to bear.

"To this day, many people still believe that I chose to go public myself.

"I am pleased that MailOnline has apologised, that this distressing matter has now been brought to a successful conclusion and that the record has been set straight."

Besson, director of films including Leon and La Femme Nikita, denies the allegations against him.

Additional reporting by the Press Association
The Metropolitan Police has warned the public against speculating about a series of reported kidnapping attempts in south London.

The forces Croydon branch tweeted that officers were aware of alarming social media posts providing speculative details about the alleged incidents and asked that people not speculate any further.

Four abduction attempts have been reported in southeast London in recent weeks, but police have previously said that they do not believe they are linked.

Croydon MPS superintendent Andy Brittain said in a statement: I understand the concern expressed on social media and would like to reassure people there is no cause for alarm.

If we receive information that increases any risk to our children, I will ensure that our residents and schools are made aware immediately. I would urge the community not to speculate any further.

Police say they received a report that an 11-year-old boy was chased by two men after being approached by a black van on Whitmore Road in Beckenham on 30 April.

They received another report that an eight-year-old boy was approached on the same day in the woods at the nearby Kelsey Park.

The force was also told on 6 May that a schoolboy had been followed by a man on the street the previous day.

On 7 May, they were told about a possible abduction attempt in The Glades shopping centre in Bromley, after a man reportedly tried to grab a childs hand after walking behind her with a second man.

None of the children were abducted or harmed during the alleged incidents.

Mr Brittain said on 7 May that the public should remain vigilant but not unduly alarmed about kidnapping.

I am aware of varying reports online both in the news and on social media and I fully understand the concerns of parents in light of these reports, he said.

I would encourage the public to remain vigilant, but not to be unduly alarmed. Child kidnappings or abductions are, thankfully, incredibly rare, but we are not complacent.

He added that the Met had increased its presence in places where children typically gather.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend Tom Maddick / SWNS UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters

Two alleged incidents involving children have also caused alarm in Enfield, north London.

But Detective Chief Superintendent Treena Fleming said in a statement that she did not believe child abduction was committed in either case.

I fully understand the concerns from parents and residents in Enfield following reports of a suspicious incident on 15 May in the Enfield Lock area involving a white van and then a separate incident on 18 May whereby a 10-year-old boy was reported missing, she said.

Please be reassured that extensive enquiries have been conducted and at this time I do not believe that any offences of child abduction have been committed on either occasion.

Ms Fleming also asked the public to refrain from speculating about the incidents on social media.
Workers at a Glasgow biscuit factory have staged a protest demanding the plants proposed closure is stopped.

Staff from McVities gathered in the citys Tollcross Park after 500 jobs were put at risk by owners Pladiss announcement wound down next year with production moved to one of six sites in England.

The proposals  revealed earlier this month and now subject to a 90-day consultation  would see the factory wound down next year with production moved to one of six sites in England.

But on Saturday morning more than 200 people, including staff, families and local politicians, descended on the nearby park to tell managers: our factory, our future.

They then walked to the sites gates while passing drivers sounded car horns in support of the cause.

Gary Smith, Scotland secretary of the GMB union, said the closure plans were utterly shameful.

He said: McVities has been in the east end of Glasgow for nearly a century. Generations of locals have produced for the people, through ups and downs, austerity and prosperity, war and pandemic.

This is the story of a company that has thrived during the Covid 19 crisis, generating eye-watering revenues and profits, and thanks in no small part to the efforts of a workforce who are now being rewarded with the closure of their plant.

And he added: Its clear that the owners, Pladis, want to get back to business as usual, but the workers arent leaving this unchallenged  they want to protect food manufacturing in their community, they want investment in their plant and jobs for the next generation.

Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar said his party stood with the workers in their fight to protect jobs, tweeting: Solidarity with McVities workers in Tollcross. These jobs are vital to the community and a key part of Glasgow/Scotlands economy.

John Mason, the SNP MSP for Glasgow Shettleston, was in attendance.

The Tollcross factory itself first opened in 1925 and is today where Hobnobs and Rich Tea Biscuits are made. During its 96 year history, several families have had multiple generations work there which, protesters say, has given it a uniquely important role within the community.
The number of migrants crossing the English Channel has doubled year on year despite Priti Patels vow to make the route unviable, The Independent can reveal.

More than 3,000 men, women and children have made the trip in small boats since January, up on around 1,400 during the same period in 2020, despite ministers paying millions of pounds to increase security along the French coast.

Charities say asylum seekers have no choice but to attempt dangerous boat journeys because of a lack of legal alternatives and the drop in air, lorry and ferry traffic during coronavirus.

Labour has accused the government of lacking both compassion and competence, as plans to return migrants to the safe country from which they embarked stall.

The Independent has discovered that since 1 January, when new rules came into effect between the UK and the EU, no asylum seekers have been deported to EU countries they passed through on their way to the UK.

The government has said repeatedly that it will negotiate bilateral agreements to replace a Europe-wide mechanism that the UK left during the Brexit process, but several EU nations have said they have no intention of striking such deals.

Charities in Calais say numbers crossing the Channel will not fall unless migrants currently living in unspeakable conditions are provided with safe and legal alternatives.

Nick Thomas-Symonds, the shadow home secretary, told The Independent: This dire situation exposes the reality behind the rhetoric from the government: a refusal to reopen safe routes or keep to their promises of helping unaccompanied children stranded overseas. Criminal gangs are continuing to exploit desperate people.

Now it seems the government will not even manage to deliver the deals needed to progress with their immigration plans. This Conservative government is devoid of compassion and competence.

The home secretary vowed to make Channel crossings unviable in August, but her pledge was followed by record numbers of arrivals, which have continued.

On 1 January, the UK dropped out of the Dublin regulation, which allowed the transfer of asylum seekers back to countries they had previously passed through and provided a legal route for reuniting separated family members.

On the same date, controversial changes to immigration rules gave the Home Office greater scope to declare asylum claims from people who have passed through safe third countries inadmissible.

 Priti Patel accused of breaking Geneva Convention with new immigration rules

The governments New Plan for Immigration, unveiled last month, said: Contingent on securing returns agreements, we will seek to rapidly return inadmissible asylum seekers to the safe country of most recent embarkation.

However, no returns agreements have yet been secured with EU countries, and nations including France, Belgium, Germany and Sweden have indicated that they will not join them.

A spokesperson for the European Commission said the Brexit deal does not include provisions on asylum and return.

The body considers asylum to be within its remit, and member states cannot enter bilateral negotiations on anything beyond administrative practical arrangements without formal permission.

A spokesperson from the Netherlands ministry of justice and security said: We havent received a request from the UK to negotiate a bilateral return agreement. We prefer to conclude such agreements in an EU context.

A representative of the Swedish migration minister said: We dont have such an agreement, neither are we planning to enter one.

Sources at the Spanish ministry of foreign affairs told The Independent they had no ongoing agreement with Britain on the transfer of asylum seekers.

The Greek ministry of migration said that some form of replacement for the Dublin regulation was necessary, but did not commit to taking asylum seekers from the UK.

France, Belgium and Germany have previously indicated to The Independent that they do not intend to make bilateral deals with Britain.

In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants Show all 13 1 /13 In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243853.bin Susannah Ireland / The Independent In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243825.bin Pascal Rossignol / Reuters In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243665.bin REUTERS/Pascal Rossignol In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243667.bin PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243663.bin DENIS CHARLET/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243666.bin Pascal Rossignol / Reuters In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243552.bin AP Photo/Michel Spingler In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243569.bin PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243574.bin PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243577.bin PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243581.bin PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243582.bin PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images In hiding and dreaming of Britain: the displaced Calais migrants 243607.bin AP Photo/Michel Spingler

The vast majority of Channel crossings are launched from France, where thousands of migrants remain living in informal encampments on the northern coast.

Clare Moseley, founder of charity Care4Calais, said conditions had become unspeakable amid unrelenting police raids and a ban on distributing food to migrants.

They are ceaselessly moved on, and often violently woken up in the early hours of the morning so that sleep is disrupted and exhaustion is common, she told The Independent. It is entirely understandable that they would take great risks to escape.

Ms Moseley said that for those already in France, boat crossings are one of the very few ways that people can get to the UK to claim asylum.

For all practical purposes there is no legal way to travel, so the only choice is whether you risk your life in a small boat or hidden in a lorry, she added.

A Foreign Affairs Committee report warned in 2019 that focusing on closing borders would drive migrants to take more dangerous routes, and push them into the hands of criminal groups.

In the absence of robust and accessible legal routes for seeking asylum in the UK, those with a claim are left with little choice but to make dangerous journeys by land and sea, it added.

The number of asylum applications to the UK fell from 35,737 in 2019 to 29,456 in 2020, as the result of a dramatic drop in arrivals by air during the coronavirus pandemic.

Officials believe the rise in the use of small boats was partly caused by the drop in cross-Channel lorry traffic.

Chris Philp, the minister for immigration compliance, insisted that the governments immigration plans would speed up the removal of failed asylum seekers.

All countries have a moral responsibility to tackle the issue of illegal migration, he added. We expect our international partners to engage with us on this, building on our good current cooperation, and continue to highlight the importance of having effective returns agreements to stop people making perilous crossings.

Individuals should claim asylum in the first safe country they reached  rather than making dangerous journeys to the UK.
The governments original plan to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic was to let the virus rip through the population to spread herd immunity, Dominic Cummings has claimed.

In a post on social media the former top Downing Street aide said the media had failed to properly scrutinise and instead parroted the governments claims it had never advocated the approach, despite evidence to the contrary.

He also lashed out at his former colleagues in government and claimed that the country could have avoided the need for lockdowns had it had the right preparations and competent people in charge.

His comments come ahead of an appearance before a joint committee of MPs on Wednesday, when he is expected to pin the blame on Boris Johnson for failures in the UKs response to the coronavirus, which left over 150,000 people dead.

The media have been generally abysmal on Covid, but even Ive been surprised by one thing: how many hacks have parroted Hancocks line that herd immunity wasnt the plan when herd immunity by September was literally the official plan in all docs/graphs/meetings until it was ditched, he said on the post on Saturday afternoon.

In a 5 March 2020 interview Boris Johnson said there was a need to strike a balance in imposing restrictions that would flatten the peak of the pandemic to reduce strain on the NHS but allow the disease, as it were, to move through the population.

The governments chief scientific advisor Sir Patrick Vallance told the BBC at the time: If you suppress something very, very hard, when you release those measures it bounces back and it bounces back at the wrong time.

He added: Our aim is to try to reduce the peak, broaden the peak, not suppress it completely; also, because the vast majority of people get a mild illness, to build up some kind of herd immunity so more people are immune to this disease and we reduce the transmission, at the same time we protect those who are most vulnerable to it.

At a press conference a week later, on 12 March, Sir Patrick added: Our aim is not to stop everyone getting it, you cant do that. And its not desirable, because you want to get some immunity in the population. We need to have immunity to protect ourselves from this in the future.

He later told MPs that herd immunity through simply letting the virus rip through the population was never the plan for the pandemic response.

The UK was notably slower to impose its first lockdown than other neighbouring countries at the same stage of the epidemic, and some experts have blamed the expontential growth of the virus this allowed for the UKs higher death toll.

Referring to lockdowns, Mr Cummiggs added: Obviously theyre destructive. But if you have to do it because the alternative is hundreds of thousands choking to death and no NHS for months for everybody else and the economy sunk because everybody is hiding in terror then earlier/harder is better for health and the economy.

If wed had the right preparations and competent people in charge, we would probably have avoided lockdown one, definitely no need for lockdowns two and three. Given the plan was AWOL/disaster and awful decisions delayed everything, lockdown one became necessary.

He added: Yes the media is often incompetent but something deeper is at work: much of Westminster was happy to believe Hancocks bulls*** that its not the plan so they didnt have to face the shocking truth. Most political hacks believe in the system.

The latest statement by Mr Cummings follows a claim by his allies that he will use the forthcoming parliamentary committee appearance to wreak havoc on Boris Johnsons administration.

Hes basically going to try and napalm him, one ally of Mr Cummings reportedly told The Times.

Enmity between the pair grew as Mr Cummings departed No 10 in November following an internal power struggle with allies of Mr Johnsons fiancee Carrie Symonds.

But months of silence from the former adviser turned to riotous anger in April after No 10 sources blamed Mr Cummings for leaking the prime ministers texts.

UK news in pictures Show all 51 1 /51 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters UK news in pictures 18 April 2021 Stephen Maguire (right) of Scotland interacts with Jamie Jones of Wales during day 2 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships 2021 at The Crucible, Sheffield PA UK news in pictures 17 April 2021 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghs coffin, covered with His Royal Highnesss Personal Standard arrives by Landrover Defender at St Georges Chapel carried by a bearer party found by the Royal Marines during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle Getty Images

The former Vote Leave strategist hit back hard, denying the claims and dropping several other related and unrelated bombs on the government operation.

He accused the PM of a mad and totally unethical scheme to get Tory donors to pay for a Downing Street flat refurbishment, and claimed Mr Johnson had refused to accept a leak inquiry to protect a friend of Ms Symonds.

But it is at Wednesdays joint meeting of the Commons health and technology committees where Mr Cummings is expected to spill the beans on what went on behind the scenes during the pandemic.

He will be appearing at a session headlined Coronavirus: Lessons Learnt, and is expected to accuse Mr Johnson of being responsible for excess deaths during the pandemic.

Britain has suffered one of the worst death rates in the world from Covid-19, with repeated delays and dithering over the introduction of lockdown measures blamed.
Labour hit a new poll low this weekend as the Tories opened up an 18-point lead over Keir Starmer's party.

The opposition leader was publicly accused by one of his MPs of lacking substance and being invisible as Labour continued to reel from a series of disappointing elections.

Amid growing discontent in the parliamentary Labour Party, Ian Lavery, MP for Wansbeck in the northeast, said he questioned who on earth is running the Labour Party at this moment in time.

"You've got to question: is it Keir? Is it the people in his offices at LOTO? Is it Mandelson? Is it Blair?" he said in an interview with The Owen Jones Show  referring to New Labour-era figures being brought in to advise the leader.

Sir Keir shook up his top team in the wake of the Hartlepool by-election defeat this month, promoting figures associated with Labour's moderate wing.

But the new front bench team has so far failed to break the narrative that the party does not have distinctive policies or have fixed principles.

Mr Lavery said activists at a recent by-election in Hartlepool were were frightened to knock on doors because they weren't sure what we actually stood for anymore, an approach he said would never, ever lead to power.

A lot of people feel really let down and as what's happened in the last few weeks, for example, people are saying what on earth do we stand for, what does Keir stand for? the MP continued, advising a shift back to the left as promised during the leadership election last year.

"Where is he? He's invisible, where is the Labour Party, who are the Labour Party, who's making the decisions, what are the policies anymore?"

The new poll, conducted by YouGov and released on Saturday, had Labour on just 28 per cent  down four points on Jeremy Corbyn's disastrous 2019 general election result, and down 12 points on his 2017 result.

The poll also puts Sir Keir's party below the 29 per cent Labour managed to win when it was booted out of office at the close of the New Labour era in 2010, and the 30 per cent won when Ed Miliband was leader.

The survey has the biggest Tory lead and lowest Labour score since April last year when Sir Keir took over as Labour leader and appeared to be an electoral asset to his party.

The Conservatives are polling at 46 per cent, their best rating this year and the highest since May last year, when they scored as high as 55 per cent in some surveys.

UK news in pictures Show all 51 1 /51 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters UK news in pictures 18 April 2021 Stephen Maguire (right) of Scotland interacts with Jamie Jones of Wales during day 2 of the Betfred World Snooker Championships 2021 at The Crucible, Sheffield PA UK news in pictures 17 April 2021 Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburghs coffin, covered with His Royal Highnesss Personal Standard arrives by Landrover Defender at St Georges Chapel carried by a bearer party found by the Royal Marines during the funeral of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh at Windsor Castle Getty Images

Labour pulled broadly level with the Tories in the second half of 2019, but the effect had faded by the middle of January as the UK stewed in its third lockdown.

The party's numbers and Sir Keir own personal ratings have steadily slid this year, with the leader now scoring worse than his predecessor Mr Corbyn at the same point in their respective leaderships.

The YouGov poll had the Tories on 46 per cent, up one on the last poll a week and a half ago, Labour on 28 per cent down two, the Liberal Democrats on eight per cent up one, the Greens steady on eight per cent, and the SNP steady on five per cent. Reform UK, previously known as the Brexit Party, is polling at two per cent.
The son of the murdered private detective Daniel Morgan has said the home secretary is compounding his family's grief by blocking the publication of a report into the killing.

Mr Morgan's son, also called Daniel, said Priti Patel should bring our torture to an end by allowing the findings to be published.

An inquiry panel set up in 2013 to look at the case had been expected to publish the report of its investigation into the role of police and media corruption in Mr Morgans killing on Monday 24 May.

But on 18 May, the Home Office said the report could not be published until Ms Patel had reviewed it and made any changes she thought necessary.

A spokesperson for the government department said Ms Patel wanted to make sure the report complied with national security considerations.

Ms Patel herself told Channel 4 News that she thought it was important for her to look at the report before the information was entrusted to the public.

I think its important that I, as home secretary, actually receive the report before it is published, she said.

I have yet to receive this report and I think its right that I receive the report and read it before laying it in parliament. That is standard practice when it comes to reports of this nature and that is absolutely the right process to follow.

Writing in The Guardian, the victim's son Daniel said: I urge the home secretary to stand aside. You say you want to review the report over concerns relating to the Human Rights Act and national security. You know you have made no preparations for any such review, because none was ever envisaged on your part.

You have said you understand how we feel and you dont wish to compromise the integrity or the independence of the panel and their work. If this is true, we see no reason for you not to desist immediately, so that the panels report may be published as it stands without any further delay.

In a message posted on Friday, Alastair Morgan, the brother of the murdered man, said: Having been briefed by the panel on the current situation, all I can say at this moment is that discussions between the Daniel Morgan panel and the home secretary to resolve this situation are ongoing.

He said that Ms Patel would have received the report one day before publication, as is the convention, but she blocked publication and insisted she was entitled to redact if she saw fit.

He added: This was not part of the deal.

UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 9 June 2021 Adam Chamberlain, 45, general manager of Big Tree pub in Sheffield, has put up over 500 flags, taking 36 hours, in preparation for Euro 2020, which kicks off this weekend Tom Maddick / SWNS UK news in pictures 8 June 2021 REUTERS UK news in pictures 7 June 2021 A pedestrian wearing a face covering walks over Westminster Bridge near the Houses of Parliament in central London AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 6 June 2021 Isobel Salamon, founder of the Edinburgh Cinema Club, poses alongside the Leith Trainspotting murals in Quality Yard, Leith, Edinburgh, for the programme launch of the Cinescapes Festival which starts on July 4 with a Trainspotting 1 and 2 double bill PA UK news in pictures 5 June 2021 A long exposure photograph captures the rotation of the earth as the stars blur into circles over Knowlton church ruins in Dorset Nick Lucas/SWNS UK news in pictures 4 June 2021 Balloonists take flight during the opening of the Midlands Air Festival in Alcester, Warwickshire PA UK news in pictures 3 June 2021 Members of the Household Cavalry during the Major General's annual inspection of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment in Hyde Park, London PA UK news in pictures 2 June 2021 Hannah Vitos of the Blenheim Art Foundation, poses for a photograph next to artist Ai Weiwei's Gilded Cage (2017) sculpture in the grounds of Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, Britain Reuters UK news in pictures 1 June 2021 People swim in the Sky Pool, a transparent swimming pool bridge across two exclusive residential blocks standing next to the US Embassy in Nine Elms, in London, Tuesday, June 1, 2021 AP UK news in pictures 31 May 2021 People enjoy the hot weather at Brighton beach Reuters UK news in pictures 30 May 2021 People venture into the sea as they enjoy themselves during a hot day on Brighton Beach AP UK news in pictures 29 May 2021 Swimmers at the Stonehaven Open Air Pool in Aberdeenshire, which reopens after lockdown restrictions were eased PA UK news in pictures 28 May 2021 Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson gestures as he meets Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban at Downing Street in London REUTERS UK news in pictures 27 May 2021 White Pelicans in the sunshine in St James's Park, London PA UK news in pictures 26 May 2021 Boats are seen at Southsea Moorings in Portsmouth Reuters UK news in pictures 25 May 2021 York Glaziers Trust employees Kieran Muir (left) and Emily Price (right) remove a stained glass window panel at the start of a new five year, 5m project to conserve York Minsters South East Transept and its medieval St Cuthbert Window PA UK news in pictures 24 May 2021 Dark rain clouds above an oast house at Bewl Water reservoir near Lamberhurst in Kent during one of the rainiest Mays on record, with the UK seeing 131 per cent of the usual months rainfall already PA UK news in pictures 23 May 2021 The Premier League trophy with the Manchester City club colour ribbons on, at Etihad Stadium, prior to the last Premier League match of the season. City will finally pick up the trophy after they won the league on 11 May Getty UK news in pictures 22 May 2021 Gary Kenny lifts the Buildbase FA Vase Trophy after Warrington Rylands won the FA Vase Final against Binfield at Wembley Stadium Getty UK news in pictures 21 May 2021 A family buffeted by the wind whilst crossing the the Millennium Bridge in London, with wind and rain forecast to ravage the UK on the first Friday that people have been allowed to meet in large groups outside in England PA UK news in pictures 20 May 2021 Devon And Cornwall Police Demonstrate Their Skills For Policing The G7 Summit Getty Images UK news in pictures 18 May 2021 An employee stands before a costume for the Queen of Hearts by Bob Crowley on display at the Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London PA UK news in pictures 17 May 2021 Passengers prepare to board an easyJet flight to Faro, Portugal, at Gatwick Airport after the ban on international leisure travel for people in England was lifted following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 16 May 2021 Emergency workers at the scene of a suspected gas explosion, in which a young child was killed and two people were seriously injured, on Mallowdale Ave Heysham which caused 2 houses to collapse and badly damaged another PA UK news in pictures 15 May 2021 Pro-Palestinian activists and supporters let off smoke flares, wave flags and carry placards during a demonstration in support of the Palestinian cause as violence escalates in the ongoing conflict with Israel, in central London AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 14 May 2021 Member of staffs tighten screws and paint a Marlin skeleton, before it goes on display at the Natural History Museum in London, as the museum prepares to reopen to the public on 17 May, following the further easing of lockdown restrictions in England PA UK news in pictures 13 May 2021 A worshipper at the Baitul Futuh Mosque in Mordon, south London, ahead of Eid al-Fitr. The celebration marks the end of the Muslim month of fasting, called Ramadan. PA UK news in pictures 12 May 2021 A couple have wedding photos taken in Westminster, London Getty UK news in pictures 11 May 2021 The sun rises on Coquet Island, off Amble on the Northumberland coast, where as many as 35000 seabirds cram onto this tiny island to breed PA UK news in pictures 10 May 2021 Newly elected for a second term Mayor of London Sadiq Khan during his signing in ceremony at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre on Londons Southbank PA UK news in pictures 9 May 2021 People mill around St. Michael's tower on top of Glastonbury Tor as it is seen through blooming yellow rapeseed on a day of mixed weather in Glastonbury, Somerset PA UK news in pictures 8 May 2021 Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford elbow bumps newly elected MS Labour candidates Elizabeth Buffy Williams, Rhondda, left, and Sarah Murphy, Bridgend & Porthcawl Labour, right, as they meet in Porthcawl, Wales PA UK news in pictures 6 May 2021 A group of five Sisters from Carmelite Monastery in Dysart cast their vote in the Scottish Parliamentary election at Dysart Community Hall, West Port, Dysart PA UK news in pictures 5 May 2021 Leader of the Labour Party Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with West Midlands Metro Mayor candidate Liam Byrne (far right) and Labour Deputy Leader, Angela Rayner (far left) during a visit to Birmingham, whilst on the election campaign trail PA UK news in pictures 4 May 2021 Artists Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey stand within 100 oak saplings which form part of a living art installation entitled Beuys' Acorns by the UK-based artist duo, outside the Tate Modern in London PA UK news in pictures 3 May 2021 Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie feeds the Gentoo penguins during a visit to Edinburgh Zoo on the campaign trail for the forthcoming Scottish Parliamentary Election on May 6 PA UK news in pictures 2 May 2021 Chelsea players celebrate their fourth goal during the Womens Champions League semi-final second leg against Bayern Munich, at Kingsmeadow Stadium in south west London. The Blues won the game 4-1, (and the tie 5-3 on aggregate) sending them through to their first Champions League final AFP/Getty UK news in pictures 1 May 2020 Demonstrators during a march through London during a 'Kill the Bill' protest Angela Christofilou UK news in pictures 30 April 2021 Shoppers queue outside Primark in Belfast as shops reopen and hospitality is able to open outdoors in Northern Ireland where lockdown restrictions have begun to gradually ease PA UK news in pictures 29 April 2021 Specialist operators at the Royal Air Force Museum Cosford, near Telford, Shropshire, clean the Hawker Hunter aircraft displayed within the museum's National Cold War Exhibition, during annual high-level aircraft cleaning and maintenance PA UK news in pictures 28 April 2021 Millions of tulips in flower near Kings Lynn in Norfolk, as Belmont Nurseries, the UK's largest commercial grower of outdoor tulips, offers socially-distanced visits to its tulip fields at Hillington to raise funds for local charity The Norfolk Hospice Tapping House PA UK news in pictures 27 April 2021 Paula Laughton checks one of the newly installed Lego models in the new Lego Mythica land at Legoland Windsor Resort PA UK news in pictures 26 April 2021 A red panda rests on a tree at Manor Wildlife park, which reopened its doors as lockdown restrictions continue to ease, in Tenby, Wales Reuters UK news in pictures 25 April 2021 Sheep climb the hillside as flames from a moor fire are seen on Marsden moor, near Huddersfield AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 24 April 2021 Supporters protest against Manchester United's owners, outside English Premier League club Manchester United's Old Trafford stadium in Manchester AFP via Getty UK news in pictures 23 April 2021 People enjoy the warm weather at City Hall near Tower Bridge in central London PA UK news in pictures 22 April 2021 Uyghurs during a demonstration in Parliament Square, London, which is being held ahead of a House of Commons debate, bought by backbench MP Nus Ghani, on whether Uyghurs in China's Xinjiang province are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide PA UK news in pictures 21 April 2021 People walk at the Taihaku Cherry Orchard in Alnwick REUTERS UK news in pictures 20 April 2021 People stand in front of anti Super League banners outside Anfield as twelve of Europe's top football clubs, including Liverpool, launch a breakaway league Reuters UK news in pictures 19 April 2021 Women enjoy sunny weather in Greenwich, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in London, Britain, Reuters

A Home Office spokesperson said: Under the panels terms of reference agreed in 2013, it is for the home secretary to make arrangements for the reports publication to parliament.

Until the panel provide the home secretary with the report, she is unable to make those arrangements or meet her responsibilities to ensure it complies with human rights and national security considerations, should these arise.

We hope the panel will reconsider and provide the Home Office with the report so those checks can begin swiftly and we can publish soon.
While battling advanced colon cancer, Robert Armour never wavered in his legal fight for student loan cancellation after the abrupt closure of his school, Argosy University-Schaumburg in Illinois.

His effort paid off. Nearly one and a half years after suing the Education Department and former education secretary Betsy DeVos, Mr Armour succeeded. Before leaving office in early January, the Donald Trump administration agreed to settle the case, which wrapped up this month.

But Mr Armour never got to enjoy his victory. He died last October as the case was making its way through the courts.

Rob was my hero, said Laura Armour, Roberts widow. He always knew what was right, and was unwilling to give up. He would be so proud today. I know I am.

The Education Department agreed to discharge the $100,000 (70,000) in federal loans Mr Armour borrowed to pursue a doctorate in psychology and refund the $34,169 (24,000) he paid toward that debt. Mr Armour had struggled to pay more than $1,000 (700) a month on his loans, but was approved to have his payments postponed while he underwent treatment.

In 2019, Robert Armour sued the Trump administration to reverse the denial of his application for a closed-school discharge, a form of loan forgiveness provided to college students whose schools shut down. Students are eligible if they were enrolled when a school closed, were on an approved leave of absence or had withdrawn within four months of the school closing.

After learning that his colon cancer had metastasised to his liver, Mr Armour took an extended leave of absence from school toward the end of the 2018 spring semester to undergo treatment. While on leave, his campus became part of the first wave of Argosy locations to cease operation. And when the for-profit chain shuttered, Mr Armour applied for a discharge of his debt.

The Education Department initially sent Mr Armour a letter stating that he appeared to meet the criteria and that his application was under final review. But the agency ultimately denied his request, claiming that he had withdrawn from the school more than four months before closing - outside the period for loan forgiveness.

There is nothing in the application that says a leave of absence may not exceed six months in a single year, yet the Trump administration tried unsuccessfully in court to use the time limit against Mr Armour. In rejecting the departments attempt to dismiss the case, a federal judge agreed in November that Mr Armour had a valid claim and the denial was arbitrary.

The Department of Education fought for more than a year to deny Rob the relief he was entitled to, and did not relent until we defeated their attempt to throw out his case in federal court, said Alex Elson, senior counsel and co-founder of the National Student Legal Defense Network, a nonprofit representing Mr Armour. Rob did not get to witness justice, but the result shows that he was right all along.

Mr Armour, who worked as a corrections officer, had planned to use his doctorate to become a staff psychologist for the Illinois Department of Corrections. Each penny of his student loans was the result of seeking that one degree. And like thousands of other Argosy students, Mr Armour was devastated when the school shuttered before he could obtain the credential.

Argosy folded after the Education Department cut off federal student aid in February 2019 upon learning that the school used more than $13 million (9 million) owed to students to cover payroll and other expenses.

Dream Centre, which owned Argosy, the Art Institutes and South University, was in a financial tailspin at the time. The Los Angeles nonprofit entity spent months trying to close and sell campuses to meet financial obligations but entered into a form of bankruptcy.

Without revenue from federal student aid, Dream Centre had little chance of keeping the schools open. Within a week of the Education Departments decision, Argosys remaining chain of 22 career schools stretching from Virginia to California closed. Dream Center Education Holdings has since dissolved.

Mr Armour never understood why the Trump administration continued to fight his request for relief, according to his attorney. In an interview with The Washington Post in 2019, Mr Armour said the closure of Argosy was devastating enough without the federal government ratcheting up the pain.

When a giant college fails and destroys thousands of lives, one would hope the government is there to help pick up the pieces, not to pile on to the damage, Mr Armour said.

He worried about the outcome of the case but remained determined to see it through even as his health declined, according to his attorney.

I was sad that [Rob] had to fight this case for so many years, and I am sad that he is not here today to share in his victory, Laura Armour said.

The Washington Post
A federal judge has ruled that the QAnon Shaman ought to be given a mental health assessment while on trial for his role in the insurrection at the Capitol.

U.S District Judge Royce Lamberth said he believed a competency examination was required for Jacob Chansley, the real name of Jacob Angeli, the man whose picture was widely disseminated on the internet for his unconventional attire of American flag face paint, being shirtless and animal headdress, therefore, he acquired the nickname.

Mr Chansley, is currently being indicted on six federal charges for his actions at the American legislature on January 6, which include but are not limited to Violent and Disorderly Conduct on Capitol Grounds and Entering and Remaining in a Restricted Building.

The mob violently stormed the Capitol following a rally of former President Donald Trump during the confirmation of incoming President Joe Biden. Five people died at the attempted coup, both law enforcement and participants in the riot.

The order by Judge Lamberth stated Mr Chansley needed to be placed in a suitable facility for a competency examination either by one or more therapists.

Read more:

Legal counsel for Mr Chansley, Albert Watkins argued that he required healthcare, and said that despite his eccentric outfit, he did not harm people or property.

He was not violent. He did not assault. He did not steal or destroy while he was in the Capitol, Mr Watkins told the court.

Mr Chansley was a follower of QAnon, the conspiracy theory group that believes Donald Trump is a hero and that senior Democrats are involved with Satanism and paedophilia. Elected members of Congress, like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, have had previous links to the organisation.

Being deemed mentally incompetent is a possible method to avoid criminal proceedings, however, the means to do so involves being sent for treatment in a hospital within a federal prison. Being deemed incompetent does not equate to freedom as often people are detained still if they are viewed as a danger to the public.

Other people standing trial for their alleged part in the January events at the Capitol have been sent for mental health screening, such as Landon Copeland who appeared in court via Zoom link and interrupted a hearing for another rioter.

His lawyer Ryan Stott managed to get the judge presiding over the hearings to refer him to behavioural mental health services before his court date.

Other lawyers have leaned on defences such as Fox-itis, meaning that the news network Fox News had radicalised a cross-section of society, namely out of work people with little chance for progression due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Relatives of missing women gathered at the home of a former police officer after a mass grave authorities believe may contain at least 40 people, most of them women, was found in the backyard.

Theres the hope of recognising a family member, even among the corpses, 50-year-old Marleny Barrientos said, according to Reuters. She carried a photograph of her son, who disappeared in 2015. That is why Im here.

Dozens of people, believing their missing relatives could possibly be among the dead, stood outside the cordoned-off area as forensic workers in white protective gear removed remains from the pits. Several of the graves are thought to be at least two years old.

Prosecutor Graciela Sagastume told reporters: The central axis of the investigation is sexual violence."

Justice and Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro said DNA samples are being collected from residents in the area with missing relatives to see if theres a match with any of the exhumed bodies.

Forensic teams, members of the Attorney Generals Office, and police officers work during a search for human remains at the house of former police officer Hugo Ernesto Osorio. (EPA)

Mr Villatoro added that the depth of the eight pits so far discovered in the backyard suggests that more than one person could have been digging. The pits could contain as many as a dozen people each.

Police in El Salvador were investigating a double homicide when they found the mass grave.

As of Friday, 24 bodies had been found. It could take a month to dig up all the bodies, authorities say.

Former officer Hugo Ernesto Osorio Chavez, 51, has reportedly admitted to killing a 57-year-old woman and her 26-year-old daughter. Sex crime allegations have also been made against the former officer.

His home in Chalchuapa, in western El Salvador close to the border with Guatemala, was being investigated after his arrest on 8 May when police found what they said was soft and uneven ground on Mr Chavezs property.

The prosecutors office said the victims may include girls aged nine, seven and two.

Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, El Salvadors director of police, said Mr Chavez was fired from his job as a police officer in 2005, the Associated Press reported.

He added: He told us that he found victims on social media and sought them out, luring them with the American dream.

This psychopath has been detained and I believe that 99 per cent of the people who assisted him have been detained.

Forensic workers examine mass grave found in backyard of former police officer in western El Salvador. (AFP via Getty Images)

A judge ordered the arrests of 10 people with links to Mr Chavez on Wednesday, accused of aggravated femicide and aggravated homicide. The arrested individuals are thought to possibly have been part of violent sex and murder ring, taking the lives of women and possibly some young men over the span of a decade.

Among the suspects are former police officers, former soldiers and people smugglers, according to Mr Chicas.

Authorities have so far prosecuted 14 cases in connection with the case, nine of them being cases of aggravated femicide, and five being cases of aggravated homicides.

El Salvador, a country of 6.7 million people, recorded 70 killings of women last year. According to police data, 111 killings took place in 2019.

Aid groups say that violence against women in the country got worse during the pandemic.
Ximena Neri Barrios, a conservation biologist, assists in the reemergence of Mexico's once-extinct wolf population. Still, she is also assisting in reducing barriers to entry for young people, especially women, interested in field biology and conservation.

Endangered Mexican Gray Wolves

Trapping and hunting of the Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) almost wiped them out of the wild about 50 years ago, according to Barrios, who is currently a conservation ventures developer for Itzeni Environmental Solutions in Mexico.

Four male wolves and one pregnant female were found in Mexico in the late 1970s, and it is now believed that there are over 180 wolves roaming the wild in Mexico and the southern United States.

"There was no research of wolves when they were wild in Mexico, only attempts to kill them," she adds, noting that clashes with ranchers have resulted in the extinction of many major predator populations, including lions, jaguars, and other big cats.

Working with Ranching Groups

Barrios is also working with ranching groups to figure out how to save the wolves. The fact that wolves will kill livestock also plays a significant long-term ecological role in the region.

"We have to consider the people who live in the district... we can't just assume that all the ranchers are poor," she says.

According to Barrios, there are non-invasive approaches to eliminate human-wolf interactions. For example, strobe lights powered by solar batteries will emit various bursts of light at night, which wolves equate with human activity and thus avoid those areas of the ranchlands.

Related Article: Endangered Mexican Gray Wolf Experiences a Spike in Population



Providing Incentives

Incentives is another strategy being tested to minimize tension.

"At the moment, there is no financial opportunity for ranchers in Mexico to protect wolves," Barrios adds, "except in other countries, certain meat is sold in supermarkets with a special sticker that promotes the protection of large predators."

Barrios expressed optimism that improved results would benefit from increased awareness about wolves and closer relations with ranchers.

Getting Help

One of Barrios' other missions is to assist in recruiting a new wave of talent to aid in the conservation of Mexico's biodiversity.

Many NGOs, according to Barrios, are unable to operate solely on government funds, so they request foreign assistance. However, candidates must be fluent in English and have a master's degree to be considered for these grants.

"What's unique about Mexico is that we have a lot of public support for preserving our natural resources," Barrios says. "We have that, but we still need political support to provide jobs for young conservationists."

Future of Conservation

While Mexico has a high degree of science, she believes the next generation must be trained with conservation biology awareness and the skills to raise funds and run a project.

"You don't have to support the already known names," she says. "We want to get to the technicians and undergrad students who are involved in this career direction and help them get there."

Also Read: Chinese Zoo Under Scrutiny After Replacing Dead Wolf with a Rottweiler

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Approving a variety of candidates for Irans presidential election could help boost turnout for a vote that authorities already worry may see little enthusiasm, a spokesman for the panel that examines them said Tuesday.

Abbas Ali Kadkhodaeis comments came after more than 590 people registered to run during a five-day span last week  far less than the 1,630 people who registered in 2017.

Kadkhodaei, spokesman for the Guardian Council, talked to The Associated Press as the state-owned polling center ISPA has warned of the possibility of a turnout as low as 39%  the lowest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

As Irans theocracy partially bases its legitimacy on turnout numbers, officials likely will try to pique the interest of a public worn down by the raging pandemic and an ailing economy ground down by American sanctions.

The presence of candidates with diverse orientations can possibly add to the participation, Kadkhodaei said.

The 12-member Guardian Council, a body of senior clerics and legal experts, vets candidates for office as well as legislation passed by the Iranian parliament. Though only half the members are appointed by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei the panel approves candidates under the 82-year-old cleric's watch.

Within Iran, candidates exist on a political spectrum that broadly includes hard-liners who want to expand Irans nuclear program, moderates who hold onto the status quo and reformists who want to change the theocracy from within.

Those calling for radical change find themselves blocked from even running for office by the Guardian Council. That's even though Kadkhodaei stressed the council's members wouldn't be swayed by fiery remarks of the candidates.

"The Guardian Council will never assess the qualifications based on mere statements containing criticism and protest, especially verbal criticisms, he said.

That comment appeared aimed at the hard-line former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who has threatened to launch a boycott effort of the vote if the Guardian Council disqualified him. The council rejected Ahmadinejad in 2017 after the former president ignored Khamenei's warning to him not to run. This time, however, Khamenei hasn't directly commented on his run.

More than 590 people registered during a five-day span last week, all seeking to replace the relatively moderate President Hassan Rouhani who is term limited from running again. That's compared to some 1,630 hopefuls who registered in 2017.

Among the top candidates is Irans hard-line judiciary chief Ebrahim Raisi a cleric who unsuccessfully ran against Rouhani in 2017. The public has widely grown disenchanted with Rouhanis administration after 2018, when then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the nuclear deal.

Kadkhodaei said some 40 women registered last week, but that there's been no particular change in the process. That suggests the women will again be barred from running as the Iranian constitution uses the Farsi word rajol, or man, to describe who can run. Activists have argued one of the word's other meanings, statesman, could be applied to both men and women.

Irans 2020 parliamentary vote saw only a 42.5% turnout, the lowest ever since 1979. Irans 2017 presidential election saw a 73% turnout. Government statistics suggest 59.3 million people will be eligible to vote in June 18 election.

The public, social and political expectations always desire a high turnout, Kadkhodaei said. Nevertheless, from the legal and lawful point of view, low turnout does not bring about any legal problems with the election's credibility.
Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar faced a wave of abusive comments after North Carolina Republican Madison Cawthorn made a social media post blasting her stance in the hostilities between Israel and Hamas.

The post on Telegram on 15 May prompted some app users to suggest that Ms Omar should be deported and have a noose put on her.

Far-left Democrats have chosen terrorism over tolerant freedom, the freshman Republican wrote. The Muslim Brotherhood is a purveyor of terror. Democrats are on the wrong side of history and its not even an argument.

The North Carolinian linked to an article by the Washington Free Beacon with the subheadline Israel haters in Congress outraged Biden defended the Jewish state.

The link included an image of Rep Omar, a Muslim born in Somalia. She is the first Somali American and the first naturalised citizen from Africa to serve in Congress.

Rep Cawthorns 15 May Telegram post. (Madison Cawthorn / Telegram)

Shes also the first woman of colour to represent her state. She has previously faced death threats, conspiracy theories, and harassment from political opponents.

Former President Donald Trump has also made false and misleading claims about Ms Omar.

The post had gathered around 200 comments by 20 May, according to the Asheville Citizen-Times.

Several of the comments referred to Ms Omar as a terrorist and urged that violence be committed against the congresswoman.

One user going by the name Debbie Kessler Ross commented that Ms Omar was a BYATCH who NEEDS TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THE GOVT AND THE USA SHE IS THE TERRORIST.

Another account holder named Ray Ray said she needed to be taken out, stat!!! and a third going by G Enoch said: Pull that bag over her hear [sic] and put a noose on her.

Cecilia Tilotta said: I can actually see flies coming out of her [mouth], yes I said flies! Satans demon!

A user named Stephanie added: Say NO to MUSLIMS, period.

Cawthorn spokesman Micah Bock sent a statement from the congressman to the Ashville Times-Citizen, saying: Threats of violence, and other dangerous rhetoric, have no place in the Republican party. I strongly condemn any statement threatening another member of Congress with violence. I have tasked my campaign team to look into these statements and take appropriate action.

At least two of the comments calling for killing Ms Omar had been removed by 20 May.

A spokesperson for Ms Omar declined to comment.
Matt Gaetz said hes focused on socialism, not scandals, as federal authorities reportedly secured the cooperation of an ex-girlfriend in its investigation into alleged sex trafficking.

As the Congressman held a rally in Arizona on Friday, CNN reported that a former Capitol Hill staffer emerged as a critical witness to help authorities understand records of transactions linked to its investigation.

It follows the formal plea agreement between the Justice Department and Mr Gaetzs former ally Joel Greenberg.

Im not too worried about Joel Greenberg, Mr Gaetz said on Friday.

Joel Greenberg is literally sitting in jail right now because he originally accused someone who was innocent of having had a relationship with a minor. That wasnt true, it was just a false thing that Joel Greenberg had said and thats landed him in quite a bit of trouble.

The former Seminole County tax collector pleaded guilty to sex trafficking a minor and five other charges as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

A spokesman for Mr Gaetz previously said there was no reference to the Congressman in the plea, which according to CNN said Mr Greenberg had sex with a girl "at least seven times when she was a minor" and "introduced the Minor to other adult men, who engaged in commercial sex acts with the Minor".

Speaking to Newsmax before appearing at an Arizona rally with Marjorie Taylor Greene, Mr Gaetz said hes not focused on scandal, Im focused on socialism and what its doing to our country.

As the Congressman was brushing off the significance of Mr Greenbergs plea arrangement, CNN said a woman linked to his Capitol Hill office as far back as summer 2017 agreed to speak to investigators.

Quoting two people familiar with the matter, the outlet reported they couldnt confirm whether she had reached a formal cooperation agreement. Her lawyer Timothy Jansen declined to comment to CNN.

Mr Gaetz has not been charged with any crime and has strenuously denied all of the allegations against him.
Americans are among the most vaccinated populations in the world, but not all borders are open yet.

That may be set to improve as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and US President Joe Biden are expected to announce on Thursday that they will work to open up travel between the US and UK.

The leaders are setting up a new task force that will come up with recommendations to lift the current Covid-19 travel restrictions.

Officials say that the US has already set up one group of experts to work with Britain, and another group to do the same with the European Union.

Advisories against travelling are currently in force for most of Europe, where smaller percentages of populations are fully vaccinated from Covid.

A formal agreement on Wednesday among EU ambassadors will allow fully vaccinated Americans to enter for the upcoming peak tourist season.

Before then, the US state department advises Americans not to fly abroad. Proof of a negative Covid test is required for travellers returning home to the US.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has its own list of countries with corresponding risks of Covid.

Consider that advice if travelling to any of the below  all currently open to fully vaccinated travellers from the US:

Belize

Arrivals with a negative Covid test within 96 hours of departure, and proof of a final vaccination within two weeks, are currently welcome in Belize.

The Central American country is asking tourists to stay within a Tourism Safe Corridor, although tourists are able to travel freely.

To note: There is a curfew, and the US state department advisory asks travellers to exercise increased caution (Level 2). The CDC classifies Belize as moderate for Covid. Find more information from the Belize tourism board.

British Virgin Islands

Visitors can travel around the archipelago following an initial quarantine for four days, while awaiting the results of a Covid test taken on arrival.

To get in, an entry fee and application form are required, in addition to a proof of a vaccination within two weeks, and a negative Covid test within five days of travel.

To note: A number of ferries are not in operation between islands. Find out more information from the BVI government.

In addition, the CDC classifies the islands as being of low risk from Covid. The US state department is asking travellers to reconsider travel (Level 3).

Croatia

Ahead of restrictions easing across the EU, the Mediterranean country is asking for proof of a negative Covid test within 72 hours of arrival.

Travellers are also able to take a test on arrival and self-quarantine until a result. And for all arrivals to Croatia, proof of full vaccination within a fortnight  and of accommodation paid in full in advance, are also required.

To note: The country is classified as a very high for Covid by the CDC, and is among EU countries with do not travel advisories from the US state department (Level 4). Find out more from the US embassy in Zagreb.

Cyprus

Another EU country currently open to fully vaccinated travellers from the US, who are able to give proof of vaccination within a fortnight of arriving. No testing is required, but an application form  or Flight Pass  is.

To note: Cyprus is classified as very high for Covid, and the US state department is issuing a do not travel advisory for the territory (Level 4). Find out more from the US embassy in Nicosia.

Grenada

Vaccinated travellers are welcome to the island of Grenada after fulfilling a number of requirements pre-flight, including an application form  and authorisation.

Visitors will also need proof of a negative Covid test within 72 hours of departure, and for health insurance covering Covid-related illnesses.

To note: The CDC is classifying as low risk from Covid, and the US state department asks travellers to exercise increased caution (Level 2). Find out more from the Grenada tourism board.

Iceland

The island nation allows vaccinated travellers to avoid quarantine on arrival with a Covid test, and is not asking for proof of a negative test before arriving.

Proof of vaccination, and a form, are required.

To note: The CDC is classifying the country as high for Covid, and the US state department is continuing to ask Americans to reconsider travel (Level 3). Find out more information from Iceland Air.

Other destinations

A number of countries not named above are also accepting fully vaccinated visitors from the US, but information will change as restrictions are eased and vaccinations continue to ramp up.
For twelve hours, Omar Abu al-Ouf, 17, clung to the body of his dead sister as they lay pinned under a patchwork of concrete floors, ceilings and walls that had collapsed on top of them.

In the mangled debris above him, his neighbour was also alive but suspended upside down between the snarls of steel and brick walls.

Just a few metres away his father, Dr Ayman Abu al-Ouf, one of the most senior doctors in Gaza, who was handling the coronavirus crisis, had been crushed to death.

The celebrated medic was killed alongside 12 other members of his extended family, as the several-storey building where they lived on Wehda Street, in Gaza City, was completely levelled in a rage of airstrikes.

When the second missile hit, I tried to take my sister in my arms to protect her, but the third missile brought this wall of fire, and the floor disappeared beneath us, Omar told The Independent from his hospital bed.

A fourth missile hit the building and everything was wiped out.

The secondary school student, whose arm is broken, his legs swollen with bruises, spoke from al-Shifa hospital, where he is being treated and where his father used to work as head of internal medicine.

His entire family, including his parents, two siblings and grandparents, was wiped out by the bombardment. Wounded and alone, Omar is struggling to comprehend being the sole survivor.

I just want to know why they targeted my family? We are normal civilians, doctors, he added, his face frozen in shock.

What fault did we do to deserve this?

 Son of Covid doctor killed in Israeli strike speaks from hospital bed

Some of the most ferocious fighting ever recorded between militants in Gaza and the Israeli military erupted last Monday, the culmination of weeks of unrest in the simmering city of Jerusalem.

A shaky ceasefire was finally brokered by Egypt early on Friday morning.

After 11 days, more than 248 Palestinians had been killed, including 66 children and 39 women, according to Gazas health ministry.

Medics said that an unprecedented barrage of rockets had killed 12 in Israel. Among the dead were two children and a soldier.

But while the truce silenced the rocket launchers and halted the warplanes, in Gaza, families whose homes and lives were hit in the bombardment now have to come to terms with the extent of the devastation. Some 2,500 people have been made permanently homeless, while tens of thousands have been temporarily displaced. The authorities were still digging the dead, some of them militants, from the rubble.

And so on Friday, as families finally emerged from their homes to assess the damage to their lives, many angrily questioned the point of many of the targets.

The 16 May bombing of Wedha street, a heavily populated civilian neighbourhood and the main thoroughfare in Gazas biggest city, has sparked particular outrage within Gaza and abroad. It was among the most intense and controversial episodes of Israeli bombardments in this outbreak of fighting, killing over 40 people.

The air raids turned one of the busiest streets in Gaza, and the main access point to the strips chief hospital al-Shifa, into a crater-marked moonscape. In place of apartment blocks are mangled heaps of concrete fringed with curls of iron rebar and scraps of belongings.

In one 30ft hole, a smashed-up pipe yawns dirty water into the street. Azzas, or funeral prayers, where relatives gather to remember the dozens of dead from this one night of bombing, form a forlorn reef along the street.

According to Amnesty International, that night of airstrikes completely levelled two residential buildings belonging to the Abu al-Ouf and al-Kolaq families, killing 30 people  11 of them children.

Further down the same road it also killed Dr Muin Ahmad al-Aloul, Gazas only neurologist, with his five children and wife.

The aftermath of an airstrike in Gaza City (Bel Trew)

Medecins Sans Frontieres said that one street away, the same night of bombings damaged one of its clinics which had been providing treatment for trauma and burns, leaving the sterilisation room completely unusable.

Witnesses and survivors told The Independent that none of the buildings or clinics were given prior warning ahead of the strikes.

When questioned about the purpose of the attack, the Israeli army said Hamas, the militant group that runs Gaza, bears responsibility for intentionally locating its military infrastructure under civilian houses, thus exposing civilians to danger.

It said a preliminary investigation into the attack found that Israeli aircraft struck underground military infrastructure that was located under the road.

The underground military facilities collapsed causing the foundations of the civilian houses above them to collapse as well leading to unintended casualties, a statement read.

The aim of the [Israeli army] strike was the military infrastructure. The IDF aspires to avoid civilian casualties as far as possible.

But for the families that were caught up in the bombing of the building which the Abu al-Oufs called home, it was devastating.

Riad Shkuntina, 42, whose family lived a floor above Dr Abu Al-Ouf, said the last thing he remembers is watching his wife try to pull their children out from underneath the rubble of the initial airstrike before a second missile levelled the entire building.

She was screaming, and then the floor fell from beneath my feet, he said.

They found my daughter Susie upside down with her head between two bricks, which saved her. I was under the rubble for six hours, my daughter for ten.

Riad Shkuntina, 42, who lived a floor above Dr Abu Al-Ouf, lost his wife and four of his children in the strike (Bel Trew)

The other four children and his wife were killed.

Fifteen minutes after the strike, Mohamed, Omars maternal uncle, was among those desperately digging through rubble to find the trapped survivors.

This family are among the most educated and dedicated families in Gaza, he told The Independent while standing next to the yawning crater where the building used to stand.

Dr Ayman and his father, who was also killed, were offered medical positions abroad but refused [in order] to look after Palestinians here.

Its not just a loss for us as a family but for the whole of Gaza.

Back in al-Shifa, Omar is being looked after by his uncles, who are now the only family he has left.

I would like to know why they decided to kill my entire family? Why did they turn me into an orphan at just 17?

What did we do to deserve this?
The full moon in May will coincide with two rare events that will make it appear bigger, brighter, and  in some places  redder.

The celestial coincidence has earned this months full moon the moniker Blood supermoon, and it will be the first one since 2019.

It is one of only two supermoons in 2021, which take place when the moon is at or near its closest point to Earth. The previous one in April not being quite as close, meaning this months will be the biggest and brightest of the year.

Nasa has described it as the most super of this years moons, and it is set to appear on 26 May  though it will appear full in the sky to the casual observer for a day either side.

Across large parts of the Americas and Australasia, a total lunar eclipse will also occur on 26 May, which is what gives it the Blood name.

A lunar eclipse takes place when the Sun and Moon occupy precise positions on opposite sides of Earth, Nasas website explains.

During this alignment, Earth blocks some of the Suns light from reaching the full moon. Our atmosphere filters the light as it passes, softening the edge of our planets shadow and giving the Moon a deep, rosy glow.

The path of the total lunar eclipse on 26 May, 2021 (Nasa)

A partial lunar eclipse will also be visible in large parts of Asia, including India, Nepal, western China, Mongolia and eastern Russia.

Unlike the lunar eclipse, the supermoon will be visible all over the world, rising in the east at around sunset and setting in the west at around sunrise.

Due to an optical trick known as the Moon Illusion, the supermoon will appear even bigger and brighter to sky gazers when it is close to the horizon. One explanation for this is that its relative size to objects on the horizon make it seem like it is bigger than it actually is.

Weather forecasts in the UK suggest favourable conditions will make it a great opportunity to view the supermoon next week.

Long range forecasts from the Met Office suggest the start of the week will be unsettled but that it will clear up as the week progresses.
Since 1963, The Independent has helped create a great community!

Since our founding in September of 1963, The Independent has been dedicated to giving Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, and Sunol readers the news they need to be in-the-know about what's going on in the Tri-Valley region.
Tourist season is ramping up in Southern Rhode Island but, for local hotels, the news is not all positive as an industry-wide staffing shortage is making keeping up with the increased demand incredibly difficult. Despite a recent move by the state to allow many who return to work to collect the federal unemployment benefits and earn more money before losing some portion of their state benefits, local hotels owners, managers and industry experts said the situation affecting the industry is exceptionally dire right now. South County is the perfect embodiment of this perfect storm, Sarah Bratko of the Rhode Island Hospitality Association told The Independent this week. With that in mind, do you believe Rhode Island should do more to encourage the unemployed to return to the work force? Let us know in this weeks poll question below.

You voted:


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Mountain woods are usually one of the most varied ecosystems in alpine areas. However, the higher, treeless regions of the Tibetan Plateau are home to many more animals, as discovered by a team from the Alfred Wegener Institute. Their results, which were recently published in the journal Nature Communications, will help forecast how alpine biodiversity will decline due to global warming, especially as mountain forests expand to higher elevations.

Anyone who has hiked in the mountains understands that the scenery varies as you climb higher. The scenery gets more desolate as you climb higher.

Biodiversity

Plants that have adapted to the alpine climate are the only ones that can survive here. Biologists also investigate plant diversity along so-called elevation ranges to chart the alpine environment's flora. They start with the plants in the vast forests, then move on to the alpine meadows, and finally to the rocky upper reaches. The findings are often the same, whether researchers are working in the Alps, the Caucasus, or the Rocky Mountains: the extensive forests are the most species-rich area. Biodiversity gradually decreases as elevation rises.

The Alfred Wegener Institute, Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research in Potsdam, headed by biologist Prof Ulrike Herzschuh, has argued that this study isn't actually correct: forests do not have to be the most diverse component of alpine regions. When you analyze the evolution of mountain ranges over time, it's evident that the ecosystem above the treeline has much more biodiversity than the mountain forests.

Herzschuh and her collaborators have succeeded in reconstructing the evolution of plant diversity in the Tibetan Plateau over the past 17,000 years, as stated in the journal Nature Communications. They discovered that as the trees retreated to lower regions and the treeline followed suit during cooler periods, the alpine meadows and alpine landscape increased, as did the number of species.

Forests grew further in colder periods, and the number of species decreased. "If we presume the same size," Herzschuh notes, "there are more animals in the treeless higher areas than there are in the woods." "This astounded us as well because traditional tests, which often represent elevation levels, have always shown the exact opposite."

Related Article: Only 3% of the World's Ecosystems Still in Pristine Conditions



Wide Variety of Habitats

The researchers are yet to come up with a definitive explanation for their observation. "However, since woodland habitats are more widespread than the more desolate areas around mountain tops, it's fair to conclude that there are now more animals in forest areas," says Sisi Liu, first author of the study and member of the AWI's research group Polar Terrestrial Environmental Systems. As a result, there is now much more woodland available, including a variety of habitats such as glades and forest streams.

If the alpine regions were larger instead, Liu and her colleagues believe, there will be much more varied environments than those present in the mountains, including shady-moist and sunny-dry areas, as well as sparsely vegetated, nutrient-poor areas and loamy soils, and therefore a wide variety of settings for diverse vegetation.

Tibetan Alpine

The southeast Tibetan Plateau is a biodiversity hotspot and one of the world's most species-rich mountainous areas. Furthermore, due to its high height, the Plateau was deeply glaciated towards the close of the last ice age; it was only with the steady warming of the earth that the trees regained areas of the Plateau. Herzschuh and her colleagues examined sediments from an ancient lake in the Hengduan Mountains of eastern Tibet to see how biodiversity shifted as forests vanished and reappeared.

For over 17,000 years, sand, mud, and plant remains have accumulated in the lake after forming during the last ice age. The researchers distinguished which plants lived where and when by extracting ancient DNA strands from the sediments. They then coupled these biological observations with data from a statistical ice model, which can recreate glacier movement. "We were able to precisely track how the plant population changed with the elevation of the glacier and the changing treeline," Herzschuh says. "With the help of an ice model created by our colleagues at the German Research Centre for Geosciences in Potsdam, we were able to precisely trace how the plant community changed with the elevation of the glacier and the shifting treeline."

Complex Diversity

Surprisingly, about 8,000 years ago, there was a warm period during which the forests 'migrated' further uphill than they are now. The number of organisms included in the sediment record dropped dramatically. Herzschuh's observations, as well as those of her Ph.D. student Sisi Liu and other colleagues, are crucial in terms of our ability to forecast how climate change will affect biodiversity in mountainous regions around the world; what they found about the situation in Tibet can be extended to other alpine regions.

Also Read: Darwin's Arch, a Rock formation Named After the British Scientist, Collapsed

For more environmental news, don't forget to follow Nature World News!
The lockdowns, be it in 2020 or 2021, have been tough for a large section of our society. Those who had been living hand-to-mouth - migrant workers, daily wage workers, domestic helps, etc are among those who have been the worst hit due to the lockdowns.

A large section of them has seen their incomes lost, leaving them helpless, unable to feed their families.

BCCL

In Bengaluru, a group of young activists is doing what they can to make sure that the daily needs of at least some of them are taken care of.

Bangalore Pledge Project

The Bangalore Pledge Project has been bringing together voluntary donors and local shop owners to provide food kits to the needy in their neighbourhood.

Indiatimes

What the person behind initiative says

Rheea Rodrigues Mukherjee, a Bengaluru-based activist and one of the people behind the initiative explained how the pledge works.

"In the early days of the first lockdown, we realized that there is a huge issue of food insecurity. We started from Shivaji Nagar along with someone who had been working on the ground. Initially, it was just me and another friend, and just one shop owner in the area. Slowly some of our friends started spreading the word on social media, asking their friends to pledge Rs 1000 or more. And the response we got was overwhelming," Mukherjee said.

In 2020 alone, the collective had managed to raise over Rs 11 lakhs to feed the vulnerable in the megacity, with pledges ranging from Rs 1,000 to Rs 20,000.

Indiatimes

Unlike others who collect donations, The Bangalore Pledge Project brings those who have pledged to help and local shop owners who have agreed to prepare these food kits and distribute them to the needy in their area.

"We work with local shop owners"

"We work with local shop owners who will prepare these food kits and get them to the people who are in need. Once the kits are prepared we contact those who have made the pledge and ask them to pay the amount, directly to the shop owners. The payments are done through UPI and we keep a record of the transactions from both sides. This also benefits the local shops," Mukherjee explained.

Indiatimes

Food kits can feed family of four for two weeks

The food kits include basic grocery items that can feed a family of four for two weeks. According to Mukherjee, the idea behind providing kits directly instead of cooked meals was to ensure long-term food security to the vulnerable.

"For us, food security is a basic human right. It is all about stepping up as a community as the government has failed to provide food security. Our food kits include basic essentials like rice, daal, oils, masalas, sugar, etc, worth Rs 1,000, which should last for 2-3 weeks and the shop owners can easily arrange. We also try to arrange the kits based on the needs of different communities by talking to them," she said.

In 2021, so far the collective has raised over Rs 20 lakh in pledges and has helped over 2,000 families.

Indiatimes

Initiative works on trust

She said the initiative has been successful as it works on the trust between the shop owners and those who have pledged.

"Initially when we approach a shopkeeper we explain in detail how everything works and start on a small scale - with a few kits and then scale up. Most of the shopkeepers we approached were ready to join the cause, but some had reservations about the payments, as they are going to be done in multiple transactions from different people. We have worked with these people on a trust basis and they know that the payment will be done," she said.

Indiatimes

Mukherjee also felt that this is a model that can be replicated across the country by small or big groups and said that they are willing to share their experience with anyone wanting to do so.

"The Bangalore Pledge Project is a simple idea and can be done anywhere in the country. Corporates, RWAs, or other small groups can do the same in their area. All they have to do is to identify the beneficiaries and shop owners who are willing to prepare the kits. We have been posting information on social media about steps to set up similar projects elsewhere. We are also willing to talk and guide any groups, individuals who want to do a similar work" she said.
Vaccination for the 18+ category has been halted in Delhi from today because the state has consumed its allocated share of the vaccine, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday. "Due to this, vaccination centres have been shut.

Only a few vaccines are available at some centres which will be administered today," said Delhi CM. From Sunday, all vaccination centres for youths in Delhi will be closed as stocks have run out, he said in a press conference. Delhi requires 80 lakh doses a month to vaccinate its youth. But it only received 16 lakh doses in May.

PTI

The Centre has further decreased Delhi's quota in June to 8 lakh doses, Kejriwal said. The national capital needs 2.5 crore doses to vaccinate all adults, he said, urging the Centre to raise the quota and supply to the city.

Delhi

Delhi CM suggested that Centre should buy COVID-19 vaccines from foreign countries within 24 hours and distribute these among states.

Kejriwal said that the speed of spread of the coronavirus has significantly slowed down in Delhi. In the past 24 hours, around 2,200 cases were reported and the positivity rate is 3.5 per cent, he said.

India Times/ Gaurav Mehta

The chief minister extended four suggestions to the Centre to enhance vaccine availability in the country. The central government should within 24 hours direct all capable companies in the country to start manufacturing Covaxin as Bharat Biotech has agreed to share its formula, he said.



Maharashtra

Meanwhile, in Maharashtra Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol on Friday informed that vaccination centers in Pune Municipal Corporation will remain shut on May 22 due to shortage of vaccine stock. Mohol took to Twitter saying, "Vaccination will not be done on May 22 at all vaccination centers in Pune Municipal corporation area due to shortage of vaccine stock," (translated from Marathi)."

BCCL

Karnataka

In Karnataka, after temporarily suspending Covid-19 vaccination for people aged 18 to 44 for over a week, the government on Thursday announced it will resume the process from May 22. From May 22, vaccination for people in the 18-44 age group will resume. State government-identified frontline workers and priority groups will be vaccinated first, Health and Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar confirmed in a tweet.

Reuters (Representational Image)

Tamil Nadu

In Tamil Nadu, only a day after the vaccination drive against Covid-19 for the 18-44 years age group was launched, youths in several parts of the state are racing to book a slot in the CoWin portal, the official website to register for the jab. But the vaccination slots in private hospitals remain unavailable. And, the urban primary health centres (UPHCs) are not vaccinating them, citing vaccine shortage.
In some good news for India that has been ravaged by the deadly second wave of COVID-19 for months now, the infection rates have slowed down across the country.

From the high of 4.14 lakhs cases in a day earlier this month, the number of daily cases has dropped to 2.57 lakhs on Friday.

Reuters

National capital Delhi, which at its peak made international headlines for the lack of hospital beds and deaths due to oxygen shortage is making a remarkable turnaround in the past few weeks.

Delhi situation improving?

In the past 24 hours, Delhi added over 3000 cases, the lowest since April 1.

The national capital also continued to witness a reduction in the daily test positivity rate which slid below 5 per cent (4.76 per cent) on Friday, according to the Delhi government's health bulletin. This is the first time since April 4 that the national capital's Covid positivity rate has fallen below 5 per cent.

BCCL

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared Covid positivity rate below 5 per cent to be within the safe zone.

Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka also improving slowly

In three of the worst affected states, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala too things are improving and every day more recoveries are being reported than new cases.

In Maharashtra, new infections have remained below the 30,000 level for the past few days.

The number of fresh cases dipped from 29,911 on Thursday to 29,644, taking the tally above the 55 lakh mark, to 55,27,092.

BCCL

In Karnataka too recoveries are outnumbering new COVID-19 cases, with 52,581 patients discharged in a day.

"Recoveries shot up to 18,29,276 till date, with 52,581 discharged in the day, while 32,218 new cases on Thursday rose the state's Covid tally to 23,67,742, including 5,14,238 active cases," said the bulletin.

In neighbouring Kerala also, the infection rate has slowed down and the number of the case have fallen below the 30,000 mark from the high of over 43,000 cases in a day.

BCCL

In the past 24 hours on Friday, Kerala 41,023 COIVD-19 recoveries.

But it is not all good news for the state as Kerala for the third straight day recorded over a hundred deaths from COVID-19.

On Friday, Kerala recorded 142 COVID-19 deaths in a day, the highest so far in the state. Despite being one of the worst affected states, Kerala had so far managed to keep the mortality rate under control and still has the best case fatality rate in India.
The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has launched a blistering attack against Yoga Guru and FMCG, Ayurveda businessman Baba Ramdev for comments he allegedly made against modern medicine.

The IMA in a statement urged Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan to either accept the accusation made by Ramdev and dissolve modern medical facilities or book and prosecute Yoga Guru under the Epidemic Diseases Act.

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The development comes after a video of Ramdev saying that allopathy is stupid science.

What Ramdev said

In a video that has been going viral on the internet, Baba Ram Dev said, it is shocking that Remdesvir failed, steroids failed and now plasma therapy has also been banned.

He also said, the medicines doctors are giving patients for getting the fever down such as Fabiflu is not doing any good to them.

We have lost lakhs of people due to allopathic medicines and not due to shortage of oxygen, he went on to claim.

Yoga guru claiming Allopathy as stupid science. This pandemic brings new shock every day. pic.twitter.com/1W9ojVOIGY  Subhasree Ray (@DrSubhasree) May 21, 2021

Alleging that Ramdev's comments challenge the wisdom and integrity of the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI) and the Union Health Ministry, the IMA said if action is not taken against Ramdev then the medical body will take legal action against him.

The IMA accused that Ramdev made the alleged remarks to mislead the public at large and the Yog Guru is making all false and baseless acquisitions so that he can sell his illegal and unapproved drugs.

Patanjali Ayurveda

"Swami Ramdev deserves to be prosecuted for disobeying and cause danger to the life of many by making them believe and make them not to take the advice of allopathy drugs. His quote about Favipiravir as medicine against fever/antipyretic is laughable, childish, and demonstrates his in-depth scientific knowledge," it said.

According to IMA, Yoga guru is a corporate giant of a pharmaceutical unit and has made several false acquisitions about his company's productions time and again to mislead the public. The controversies on Coronil and Swasari are the well-known facts to all, and the criminal complaint in the court is a proof to his misadventures, it said.

All this is done by Swami Ramdev to take advantage of the situation and create a false sense of fear and frustration within the public at large so that he can sell his illegal and unapproved so-called medicines and make money at the cost of the public at large.

IMA HQs Press Release on 22.05.2021 pic.twitter.com/rrc1LXA24n  Indian Medical Association (@IMAIndiaOrg) May 22, 2021

This is not the first time Ramdev's Patanjali and IMA have locked horns over COVID-19.

Not the first time

The most notable being the war of words between the two sides over Coronil, an ayurvedic cure for COVID-19 developed by Patanjali.

While the Health Ministry went all out to promote the drug, IMA said its effectiveness has not been proven scientifically.

The yoga guru is also accused of making unscientific and illogical comments about COVID-19.

Patanjali Ayurveda

Last year, Ramdev had claimed that if one applies mustard oil through the nostril, the novel coronavirus would flow into ones stomach and be killed by the acids present there.

Here's the subtitled version (English) of Baba Ramdev mocking the lack of oxygen: pic.twitter.com/EkEAnJdZDh  aarthi parthasarathy (@aarthipartha) May 8, 2021

Recently amid the acute shortage of medical oxygen in India, a video had surfaced online showing Ramdev mocking the plight of the patients.

"People are looking for cylinders outside while God has given you two cylinders right here inside you. Use them, fool!," he had said.
The devastation that the second wave of COVID-19 is causing in India is unprecedented. And as the pandemic rages on it is also taking an increasing toll on those at the frontlines of the battle against COVID-19.

From doctors running small clinics in neighborhoods to eminent cardiologist and former president of the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Dr. KK Aggarwal, many have succumbed to the virus in the past few weeks, leaving a huge void in the fight against the pandemic.

File Image

The Indian Medical Association has said that over 400 doctors across the country have succumbed to the COVID-19 infection during the second wave of the pandemic.

420 doctors lost their lives

According to the IMA, as many as 420 doctors have lost their lives so far during the second COVID-19 wave and 100 out of these casualties have been reported from Delhi.

The national capital is recently witnessing a decline in the COVID-19 cases after an overwhelming crisis in April.

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The doctors' association said at least 96 doctors have died in Bihar and 41 in Uttar Pradesh.

The state-wise data of IMA reveals that as many as 31 doctors succumbed to COVID-19 in Gujarat, 20 in Telangana, 16 in West Bengal and Odisha.

"Maharashtra has witnessed the deaths of 15 doctors in the ongoing second wave of COVID-19," the doctors' association said.

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Earlier, the IMA had said that 748 doctors had died due to the disease during the first wave of the pandemic.

The apex body of modern medicine practitioners has been maintaining a registry of doctors dying from COIVD-19 since last year.
A man who allegedly hijacked a school bus became so annoyed by the barrage of questions posed by children on the vehicle that he ordered them to get off and drove away on his own.

According to a report in The Washington Post, earlier this month, the hijacker forced his way onto the school bus in Columbia, South Carolina, and held 18 children and their driver hostage at the whims of his gun.

Representational Image/iStock

But the driver Kenneth Corbin, who is being hailed a hero, has now revealed that the gunman was no match for the queries of kindergartners.



He said it wasn't just him  the kids on the bus also helped thwart the suspect too.

"The kids started asking lots of questions to the suspect. The suspect got a little frustrated," Sheriff Leon Lott, of Richland County, said during a news conference.

Also read: Driver Thinks Quick, Shoots Hijacker In The Middle Of An Intersection To Save Himself

Credit: Richland County Sheriff

Corbin said the kids, all in elementary school, "pretty much had my back as much as my concerns were with them."



In an interview with "Good Morning America" this week, Corbin said the suspect had all the kids move to the front of the bus. "That's when especially some of my kindergarteners, they started asking questions."

Also read: US Man Fakes His Own Kidnapping To Get Out Of Work, Ends Up Getting Fired



Representational Image/iStock

Was he a soldier? Why was he doing this? Was he going to hurt them? What about their driver?



Six minutes after boarding the bus on May 6, authorities said, the hijacker ordered everyone off.

The report citing authorities, said that the suspect, 23-year-old Jovan Collazo, an army trainee, was quickly apprehended and charged with kidnapping, armed robbery, carjacking and other offenses.



Also read: Fined For Flouting Covid Rules, Taiwanese Man Is Let Off As It Turns Out He Was Actually Kidnapped


Indian workers (r) stand beside a logo at Amazon's newly inaugurated largest campus building in Hyderabad on August 21, 2019. Global News Wire reported in February that the company had favored certain sellers on its website in India and bypassed local laws that requires foreign e-commerce companies to treat all vendors equally. (Noah Seelam/AFP via Getty Images)
Germany has passed Legislation, making the culling of male chicks in the meat industry unauthorized from January 1, 2022. This makes Germany the first country to prohibit by law the mass killing of chicks.

The Meat Industry

The meat industry makes use of chicken products in two major approaches. One is to grow broiler chickens, females that will quickly gain weight and therefore are known to be economically valuable because of their meat. The others are egg layers, produced to churn out as many eggs they can churn before being reclassified as soup chickens.

It's a process that calls for many females with males only playing the role of fertilizing eggs. As such, male chickens are culled routinely not too long after hatching, as they aren't recognized as an economically viable choice. In farming chicken traditionally, when it comes to the male chicks, an approach to use the young animals for another purpose into low-quality feed has seen them shredded collectively in previous years.

Also Read: Gigantic Chicken in 'Big Chicken Video' Is Real and It's Terrifying

Germany Leading the Way

Germany is now leading the way out of this ethical practice that is questionable, making it unlawful from next year to partake in the mass culling of male chicks. In 2019, Federal Administrative Court of Germany ruled that the concerns of animal welfare surpassed the industry's economic interests.

Farmers will now have to make use of an innovative technology that can stop male chicks from being born by sexing chicken eggs that are developing. The method cuts a little hole in the shell of eggs that are still developing and tests it for sex-dependent hormones. This way, developing males can be gotten rid of long before hatching, putting a stop to the immoral shredding practice that generally processes around 43 million chicks every year in Germany.

Chick Culling

Chick culling is the process of recognizing unhealthy chicks that are newly hatched and are not suitable for placement on a broiler farm. Chick culling takes place at the hatchery in all kinds of production including free-range, conventional, or organic. Every week most broiler hatcheries hatch hundreds of thousands of chicks or even more.

The broad majority of those chicks are in good condition and go on to the farm to develop and flourish. Unfortunately, there is a very small ratio of chicks, that are hatched with sickness or some other adverse condition. While only a small ratio, chicken companies take every course of action to prevent this from taking place.

When it happens, companies will humanely euthanize an ill or injured chick so as to prevent them from suffering more. The culled chicks are humanely euthanized via methods approved by the American Veterinary Medical Association. Due to the fact that male chickens do not lay eggs, they are often culled and humanely euthanized in conformity with approved veterinary standards not too long after they hatch.

Related Article: Chicken are Better than Toddlers at Math, Self-Control

For more news, updates about chick culling and similar topics don't forget to follow Nature World News!
Virginia is 343,000 first doses away from having 70% of adults vaccinated, but herd immunity may not be possible without immunizing more young people, according to the state's vaccination coordinator, Dr. Danny Avula.

We've done really well in our 65-and-up population, I mean we're at 80-plus percent there, but where we are not doing as well  and it's not just Virginia, it's everybody  is young people, Avula said during a news briefing Friday afternoon.

During the call with reporters, Avula said Virginia is on track to meet President Joe Bidens goal of vaccinating 70% of adults with at least one shot by July 4. As of Saturday, 65.3% of Virginians 18 and up have been vaccinated with at least one dose of the COVID-19 Pfizer or Moderna vaccine according to the Virginia Department of Health. And Avula noted that federal approval of the Pfizer vaccine to be used in adolescents ages 12 to 16 has been critical in helping the state meet this goal.

Over 7.8 million vaccine doses have been administered to Virginia residents so far. The state's population is about 8.6 million.

Northern Virginia is slightly ahead of state numbers, with 69.4% of adults having received at least one dose and 53.6% fully vaccinated, according to data from the Northern Virginia Regional Commission.

However, to reach herd immunity, Avula said vaccinating a much larger percentage of people ages 16 to 30, as well as children below the age of 12, may be required.

It may not be until we have authorization for younger children that we get to that goal of herd immunity, he added.

Younger people, ages 20-29, have experienced the largest share of COVID-19 cases, 19.5%, by age group in the state, according to the health department. And Avula said that state and local public health officials have been ramping up their efforts to reach younger people and reduce barriers to obtaining the vaccine.

We've used some community ambassadors in that age group, but I think it means doing more on site at employers, making it really convenient for young adults who aren't necessarily against being vaccinated, but just haven't been compelled to, to make an appointment or to you know go out of their way to get vaccinated.

The vaccine coordinator did not provide specifics on whether any of these methods are helping to increase vaccinations among younger people, but he noted that meeting the current goal of 70% of adults with at least one vaccine dose is a step in the right direction.

It'll take about somewhere between 7,000 and 8,000 new adults ... vaccinated each day for us, for us to meet that goal, which I think we can easily do, he added.

COVID-19 case and hospitalization numbers continue to improve statewide and in Northern Virginia. As of Saturday, the state's seven-day average of new cases was down to 412.7, its lowest level since April 16, 2020. The seven-day average in Northern Virginia stood at 72.9 cases a day. The average fell as low as 69.3 on Wednesday, the lowest since April 1, 2020.

Hospitalizations for treatment of the virus hit a new low Saturday of 561 statewide since data began being reported in early April 2020, with patients in intensive-care units also at a new low of 159. In Northern Virginia, hospitalizations fell to 125, tied with May 14 as the lowest level since the data were first reported.
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Local Twin Cities artists Enzyrose, Eyenga Bokamba, Noah Lawrence-Holder, LeShon Lee, and Meadow Gillispie, talk about their reaction to the murder of George Floyd, the trial of Derek Chauvin, and life as a black artist during this time.


A US$100 000 centre pivot brought in under the Government-run Brazil More Food for Africa Scheme and Pedstock Farm Mechanisation Scheme in 2015 is wasting away at the late Minister of State for Masvingo, Shuvai Mahofas Louder Farm in Gutu, The Mirror has established.

Agricultural experts said there are only 11 such centre pivots in Masvingo Province. Although the scheme was meant for communal farmers, the equipment ended up benefitting powerful Zanu PF politicians and the military leadership.

The Minister of State for Masvingo, Ezra Chadzamira said he will talk to Fungai Mahofa to find out why the equipment is lying idle.

The Mirror visited Mahofas Louder Farm which is 25km from Mpandawana Town along Gutu  Chatsworth Road this week on Tuesday and found tall grass growing in the fields where the towering pivot is pitched. The expansive farm in the prime agricultural area is derelict with only two herds of cattle on it.

There is totally no activity on the farm and Mahofa who lies at the Heroes acre after being declared a national heroine owns four farms in the province.

The farmhouse is unoccupied, the pivots wheels are wasting away because of long exposure to the sun. Neighbours who requested anonymity expressed disgust at Governments neglect of such expensive State equipment bought on taxpayers money.

The Minister of State in the Office of the President and Cabinet in charge of monitoring special agriculture projects Davis Marapira who also immensely benefitted from Government schemes said he will find ways of assisting the Mahofa family.

Neighbours told The Mirror that the equipment was brought in 2015, two years before Mahofa died and it was never used. The equipment can irrigate up to 40 hectares of land in 24 hours.

Mahofas daughter Nyengeterai initially told The Mirror that the farm and the equipment on it are private property and none of the publications concern. She said that the newspaper should not be questioning the family on why it is not using the expensive centre pivot.

Did I ask you whether you slept with your wife or not last night? Then the centre pivot is none of your business, said Nyengeterai.

Zimbabwe is a net importer of food despite several multi-million-dollar agricultural schemes in place to support farmers.

In 2007/2008, the Reserve Bank under its then Governor, Dr Gideon Gono ran the US$200m Farm Mechanisation Scheme which once again saw powerful politicians benefitting but the equipment which was not paid for wasted away at their farms without being put to use. Although the equipment was given through loans, none of the beneficiaries has paid.

The Presidential Inputs Scheme is also given not on merit but along political lines and the inputs including fuel is always sold by the beneficiaries on the black market.

Mahofa has two sugarcane plots in Chiredzi and a Conservancy in the same area where she used to hunt wildlife and sell game meat.

This centre pivot was delivered two years before Mahofas death, it was brand new and it has never been used since its installation. There are only two cattle at the farm and nothing is happening. The heroines young sister is the one staying at the farm house, said a source. Mahofas young sister who stays at the farm was not available when The Mirror tried to get a comment from her.

Notable figures from Masvingo who benefited from the Farm Mechanisation Scheme of 2007/2008 were Bishop Nehemiah Mutendi who allegedly received US$586 600-00, former Masvingo Governor, Willard Chiwewe got US$429 512-00, Josiah Hungwe got US$99 511-00 with Pupurai Togarepi getting US$72 547-00 and none of them paid back anything.

An Agritex officer who cannot be named said there are 11 pivot centres three for communal farmers at Driefontein and two at Dronemore with the remainder being owned by A2 farmers. Masvingo Mirror
Burma Deadly Fighting Continues Between Myanmar Junta Troops, Civilian Fighters in Chin State

Mindat signboard. / The Irrawaddy

Fighting broke out between junta troops and civilian resistance fighters in a village some 6 miles from Mindat in Chin State on Friday evening, with both sides reportedly suffering casualties.

Junta troops came to the village firing artillery. A civilian died and some five others were injured. We can confirm a junta troop died. Junta troops suffered more injuries than civilian fighters, said a Mindat resident.

Bukun villagers said around 100 junta troops came to attack their village, and stopped the attack after it rained later Friday evening. Villagers fled following the attack.

It rained heavily and it was very cold. We kept waiting, but they did not come further. We heard three more military trucks come this morning. But they have not yet attacked us. I heard there was fighting taking place in the east of the town, a Mindat resident told The Irrawaddy on Saturday morning.

According to locals, telephone connections and the electricity and water supply to the town have been cut off, and locals who fled the town following the juntas attacks are unable to enter to take food.

Junta forces have been arresting young people in Mindat, and some were reportedly beaten during interrogation.

Clashes broke out in Mindat after junta forces refused to release seven anti-regime protesters on April 24.
Burma Police Killed as KIA Attacks Junta Positions at Jade Mine: Residents

Smoke from military and police outposts is seen after the KIA launched attacks on Saturday morning at the Hkamti jade mine, Sagaing Region. / CJ

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked two military and police security outposts and killed at least two police officers at the Hkamti jade mine, Sagaing Region early Saturday morning.

Residents said that the KIA set fire to both military and police outposts in Machyang Hka and Nam Si Bum villages at the Hkamti jade mine after the attack.

The villagers said the two compounds are owned by the Myanma Economic Holdings Public Company Limited (MEHL), one of two major conglomerates controlled by the coup leaders. MEHL, Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and its subsidiary are heavily involved in the jade mining business in the countrys major jade hub in Hpakant and Hkamti townships.

Military and police have been stationed there at bases for a long time. All the soldiers and police ran away after the KIA lunched the attacks, a resident said.

The military also launched airstrikes and one civilian was injured, a resident said.

A KIA officer on the ground told The Irrawaddy the KIA captured at least seven injured police during the attack. However, The Irrawaddy could not verify the claim.

The office of the commander-in-chief of defense services had not made an announcement relating to the attack in Hkamti Township as of Saturday afternoon.

Clashes were also reported between the KIA and military regime troops in Momauk Township on Saturday morning. The residents said five houses in Myothit village were burned down after a regime air raid on Friday at around 8:00 pm.

The KIA attacked seven tanker trucks in northern Shan State with artillery on suspicion that they were carrying aviation fuel for the military on May 18. Moreover, two more fuel tanker trucks were also burned by the KIA in Putao Township, Kachin State on May 20.

Clashes between the KIA and regime troops in Kachin and northern Shan states have intensified since the junta killed two anti-coup protesters in the Kachin capital, Myitkyina, in March. Soon after the juntas coup, the KIA refused to recognize the military regime and warned it not to harm anti-coup protesters in Kachin State.

Subsequently, the KIA seized a strategic base in Montauk Township and stormed more than a dozen military and police outposts in Kachin States Waimaw, Momauk, Hpakant, Tanai, Mogaung, Shwegu and Injangyang townships. It has also threatened to step up its attacks if the junta continues to shoot peaceful protesters across the country.

You may also like these stories:

Three Junta Troops Killed in Clashes With Kayah Resistance Fighters

Ethnic Army and Civilian Forces Battle Myanmar Regime in Kayah State

Myanmar Junta Soldiers Killed in Chin State Clashes
Burma Three Junta Troops Killed in Clashes With Kayah Resistance Fighters

A military security outpost in Demoso Township is set on fire on Friday evening. / CJ

At least three military regime troops were killed and some security outposts seized by the Peoples Defense Force (PDF) formed by civilian resistance fighters in Demoso Township, Kayah State during clashes on Friday.

A series of clashes broke out in Demoso Township after junta troops raided houses and arrested four civilians and another four striking civil servants at a funeral on May 20.

On Friday evening, the combined forces of the Karenni Peoples Defense Force (KPDF) and the Karenni Army, the armed wing of the Karenni National Progressive Party, seized three military security checkpoints and outposts in Demoso and Bawlakhe townships, the KPDF said.

A military security outpost in Demoso Township was set on fire by the Peoples Defense Force, according to a video released by the KPDF.

Military-controlled newspapers said two members of the juntas force were killed and another three injured during the clashes in Demoso Township on Friday morning. It said another of its troops was killed by the PDF during clashes near Ngwe Taung Village in Loikaw Township. Light Infantry Battalion No. 102 based in Demoso is battling the resistance.

The military said security forces arrested 15 people from the PDF, two of whom were killed during the arrest.

The KPDF said the military used heavy weapons to attack them and sent in hundreds of soldiers as reinforcements following the clashes.

However, the KPDF claimed the Peoples Defense Force sustained no casualties.

Residents said the regimes forces killed a motorbike rider who refused to stop and arrested a dozen civilians on Friday, following the clashes in Demoso Township.

Kayah State is the second ethnic state to see armed resistance to the military regime in response to the intolerable violence of junta troops, who have killed hundreds of people since the Feb. 1 coup. Since late March, civilian resistance fighters in Chin State and Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay regions have taken up any weapons availablefrom air guns to traditional firearms and homemade bombsto fight back against the regime.

You may also like these stories:

Explosions Rock Myanmars Business Hub; Kill Security Forces

Myanmar Death Toll at the Hands of the Junta Climbs to 810

Myanmar Regimes Army Captain Killed Among Others: Resistance
The proposal for a fourth stimulus check continues, and reports come in that the U.S. Congress is getting close to its success. Plans have been drafted on how a fourth and even a fifth stimulus check could be distributed to millions of eligible American families to fight off economic poverty.

Many Americans have recently received, cashed and spent the money from their third stimulus check. This marks the third wave of relief payment that the American government provided for struggling households. The money was reportedly used on groceries, rental payments, bills, and other essentials. Yahoo! Finance pointed out that the stimulus checks were a huge success in helping American families from falling into poverty.

However, the pandemic continues and a new pitch was proposed for additional stimulus payments. The Biden Administration, House Ways and Means Committee, and panels of the Congress are currently locked in a discussion. Recent updates suggest that a fourth stimulus payment is likely to succeed.

$2000 Payment Gets Boost

Two powerful parties proposed the fourth stimulus check. Both have steadily gained support and influence that is urging the Biden Administration to release another wave of financial relief.

Last March, 21 senators wrote a letter directly to the president that the White House should provide jobless benefits and relief payments. Quoted from the letter, it says that: "We urge you to include recurring direct payments and automatic unemployment insurance extensions tied to economic conditions in your Build Back Better long-term economic plan. This crisis is far from over, and families deserve certainty that they can put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads."

The second party comes from an online petition by Stephanie Bonin. Her petition proposes a $2,000 per month recurring payment for the American people that should last for the duration of the crisis. Her petition, which aims to get three million signatures, currently has 2,224,254 supporters at the time of writing.

Moreover, a third pitch comes in that gives the fourth stimulus check a huge boost, bringing the proposal close to a reality. The most powerful panel in Congress, Ways and Means, wrote that: families and workers need certainty. They deserve to have food on the table and a roof over their heads despite this crisis. A fourth stimulus check would surely help families pay their food, houses and current debt."

Read Also: Fourth Stimulus Check Tracker: Updates on New Payment, Tools, Calculators for Proposed $2000 Relief

Fourth Stimulus Check Tracker: Other Options Revealed

The fourth stimulus check is close to becoming a reality. The proposals have been passed and are waiting out on the Biden Administration's approval. Cnet, via Yahoo! Finance, reported that the financial relief payments in the future could come in different ways:

Minimum Wage Hike: Some lawmakers proposed an increase on the federal minimum wage from $7.25 per hour to either $11-$15 per hour.

Permanent Child Tax Credit: Financial funds are set to be provided to lower-income and middle-income families on their children's expenses. White House press secretary Jen Psaki mentioned that Biden wants to make the credit permanent.

Recurring Stimulus Payment: It is a proposed method for the Biden Administration to continue sending out recurring stimulus checks for the duration of the pandemic

Renewed Federal Unemployment Payments: In the March letter mentioned above, the senators requested an extension on federal unemployment assistance beyond September.

If the fourth stimulus checks are approved, expect that the money could be delivered through one of these planned proposals.



Related Article: Fourth Stimulus Check Tracker: Possible $2000 Payment, Timeline and More Details
SOUTH African President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed African National Congress (ANC) national executive council member (NEC) and former Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture, Rejoice Thizwilondi Mabudafhasi, Ambassador-designate to Zimbabwe.

She will replace Ambassador Mphakama Mbete, who concluded his mission to Zimbabwe earlier this year.

This was revealed by South Africas Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Dr Naledi Pandor when she met Foreign Affairs and International Trade Minister Ambassador Frederick Shava in Cape Town on Friday.

Amb Shava was on the last leg of a three-nation tour that also covered Botswana and Namibia, where he was meeting his SADC counterparts.

According to a joint statement released following the meeting, the two ministers pledged to strengthen bilateral ties between Harare and Pretoria.

Minister Pandor welcomed the Zimbabwean delegation to South Africa and reiterated her commitment to forging stronger ties and working relations with Minister Shava, reads the statement.

Minister Pandor informed her Zimbabwean counterpart of the appointment of new South African head of mission to Zimbabwe, Ambassador-designate Rejoice Thizwilondi Mabudafhasi, the former Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture.

Ms Mabudafhasi served as the Deputy Minister of Arts and Culture between May 2014 and March 2017.

Prior to that, she had served as Deputy Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs for five years up to 2014.

She is a member of ANC NEC since December 2007 and has served as a chairperson of the Mvula Trust board  a local NGO involved in development of rural communities.

The two ministers agreed to convene the next round of the Bi-National Commission (BNC) in South Africa next year.

The ministers further agreed that a Ministerial Mid-Term Review (MTR) meeting in 2021 in preparation for the BNC in 2022 would be arranged.

The MTR would be important to assess and review in more detail the existing agreements between the two countries, those that are still under negotiations and progress on the implementation of signed ones. Sunday Mail
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Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early will become more isolated after midnight. Low 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

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Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early will become more isolated after midnight. Low 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
CARTHAGE, MO - Anna May Turner, 97, passed away Friday, June 11, 2021. Graveside services will be at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Park Cemetery, Carthage. Visitation will begin at 9 a.m. at Knell Mortuary, Carthage.
Jason Crutcher, 26, was found sprawled out on the ground near the vehicle with gunshot wounds to his chest, arms and legs. He was also taken to Jersey City Medical Center, but could not be saved, cops said.
Mayor Harriet Johnson read a proclamation honoring Steve Catlett and his several decades of service to the community, working to better the quality of life in Berkeley County and creating safe spaces for children to grow and have fun.
Alaheri popped up first on May 14, when he busted a statue of Jesus Christ affixed to a wooden crucifix outside St. Athanasius Roman Catholic Church in Bensonhurst, then burned an American flag and broke a fence during his 1:30 a.m. tirade, authorities said.
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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.
He made the above remarks during a joint press conference with the President of South Korea after the first meeting at the White House.

US President Biden said that he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Palestinians in Jerusalem must be respected and humanitarian assistance must be provided to Gaza. Ceasefire Reached an agreement with Hamas.

Biden told Netanyahu: It is vital that the Palestinians in the West Bank must be safe. When they talk May 20.

Biden said that the United States persisted on treating Israeli citizens equally, regardless of whether they are Arabs or Jews.

Biden told Netanyahu: The interethnic fighting in Jerusalem must be ended.

Biden told Netanyahu that Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas must be recognized as the leader of the Palestinian people, and he is.

The US Presidents speech was delivered at a joint press conference held by the White House and South Korean President Moon Jae-in. At that press conference, the two countries pledged to cooperate and engage in constructive contact with North Korea. Bidens comments are the most specific of his messages to Netanyahu in the latest conflict.

Biden praised the Israeli Prime Minister for keeping his promise to fulfill the ceasefire agreement between Egypt and Hamas. The President of the United States emphasized, My commitment to Israels security has not changed. Period. No change, no change at all.

Biden said that his government will rebuild a big plan with other countries that share our views that were destroyed in Gaza, and will not give Hamas an opportunity to rebuild its weapons system.

Diplomatic contacts with North Korea

Biden and South Koreas Moon said respectively that the United States and South Korea will seek diplomatic contacts with North Korea to restrict their nuclear weapons programs.

Biden said at a joint media conference with Moon: Our two countries are willing to engage in diplomatic contact with North Korea (North Korea) and take pragmatic measures that will reduce tensions, as we are moving towards the realization of a free Korean Peninsula. The ultimate goal of nuclearization is moving forward. In Washington.

Biden said he appointed Sung Kim, acting US ambassador to Indonesia, as the US special envoy to Pyongyang.

Biden administration officials have been reviewing U.S. policy on North Koreas nuclear program.Moon once said that he will use this visit Advocate that the U.S. seek participation With North Korea.

Biden said: We have no illusions about how difficult this is. The goal is a very difficult goal.

On May 21, 2021, President Joe Biden and President Moon Jae-in of South Korea participate in an expanded bilateral meeting at the White House in Washington, DC [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

North Korea rejects unilateral disarmament, and there is no sign that North Korea is willing to go beyond broad support for the concept of universal denuclearization.

Biden and Moon greeted each other and seemed to have a good time together on Friday.

President Moon and I and our team had a very good meeting in a private meeting to discuss our common agenda. My staff kept attending the meeting and said,You have a while. You are in time. Biden said.

I enjoyed our meeting very much, which allowed us to move everything back to the original place. I look forward to continuing our discussion here today. Biden told reporters at the White House.

Moon and Biden awarded the Medal of Honor to the 94-year-old Korean War veteran Ralph Puckett (Ralph Puckett). He fought bravely on a strategic hill in 1950. He fought bravely. He fought the Chinese army in North Korea.

At the Medal of Honor award ceremony held at the White House, Moon Jae-in of South Korea and President Joe Biden took a group photo with Colonel Ralph Puckett, a veteran of the Korean War [Jonathan Ernst/Reuters]

From 1950 to 1953, the United States fought North Korean and Chinese troops on the Korean Peninsula and continued to maintain 28,000 soldiers in the area.

Moons visit is the first time that a foreign leader has participated in the Medal of Honor ceremony, which Biden said is a proof of the strength of the US-South Korea alliance.

Moon said that Pukit is a model of the strength of the alliance, which he called the key to peace and security on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.
US President Biden said on Friday that he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation in North Korea and announced that he will deploy a new envoy to the region to help refocus Pyongyangs nuclear weapons. Weapon plan.

Moon also welcomed the return of the United States to the world stage and said that the leaders of the two countries have pledged to cooperate closely for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Biden said he is sending professional diplomat Sung Kim as the special envoy for the region. Sung Kim Sung once served as South Koreas ambassador to South Korea.

Moon said that Bidens move reflects the firm commitment of the United States to explore diplomacy and its preparation for dialogue with North Korea.

Moon came to Washington to seek the new diplomatic urgency of the United States to contain North Koreas nuclear program, despite the White Houses hint that it would take a longer-term view on this issue. It was also among the best at Bidens meeting: Chinas coordination of vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security issues.

Moon came to Washington to seek the new diplomatic urgency of the United States to contain North Koreas nuclear program, despite the White Houses hint that it would take a longer-term view on this issue. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, their meeting was only the second time Biden had a face-to-face meeting with a foreign leader.

Biden said that they had a long formal meeting in the afternoon and pointed out that his staff were repeatedly interrupted to warn them of overtime. Biden said: But I am very happy that this meeting allowed us to move everything back. He emphasized the long history of common sacrifice between the two countries.

Moon said: The world is welcoming the return of the United States. This is an oblique reference to former President Donald Trumps attempt to break away from certain aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed its review of North Koreas policy and that Biden would deviate from the strategy of his two recent predecessors and reject Trumps more personal efforts to win North Korean leaders Kim Jong Un and Barack Obama. The way to let go.

But the U.S. government has yet to elaborate on what its third attempt to induce North Korea to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

See the moon and Biden with the retired US military Ralph Puckett (Ralph Puckett). The 94-year-old veteran was awarded the Medal of Honor for his outstanding performance in the Korean War more than 70 years ago. (Alex Brandon/Associated Press)

Moon started his day at the White House building with US Vice President Kamala Harris (Kamala Harris) and Bidens senior advisers. Moon also attended the Medal of Honor award ceremony for 94-year-old veteran Ralph Puckett, who was praised for his outstanding performance in the Korean War more than 70 years ago.

Mu En said: Without sacrificing the veterans including Colonel Pucket the freedom and democracy we enjoy today cannot flourish in Korea. Mu En praised Pucket as a true hero.

The flexible way forward

Moon, who will step down in May, is eager to resume the deadlocked negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang and between Seoul and Pyongyang. However, the Biden administration confirmed in March that it had made outreach efforts to the North, but it was unsuccessful, but it was less enthusiastic about the idea of ??direct negotiations in the short term.

When asked if Biden was willing to have a direct dialogue with Kim Jong-un like Trump did twice, press secretary Jen Psaki disagreed.

She said of Biden: I dont want this to be the top priority on his agenda.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un delivered a speech at the 6th Korean Workers Party Cell Secretary Conference in Pyongyang on April 8. (Korea Central News Agency/Korea News Agency through AP)

Nevertheless, Moon made it clear before the meeting that he would push Biden lightly in order to resume diplomatic efforts with the North.

Moon told reporters this month: For the rest of my term, I will not be pressured by time or become impatient. But if there is an opportunity to restart the peace watch and promote the peace process on the Korean peninsula, I will do my best. What you can.

A senior government official did not have the right to discuss the matter publicly, and briefed reporters on Mu Ens visit under the condition of anonymity. He avoided the question of whether the government is willing to provide North Korea sanctions to begin dismantling its nuclear and ballistic weapons program.

The official said that the United States hopes to outline a flexible path forward and fully understand the past efforts.

Biden is also expected to use this meeting to urge South Korea to adopt more ambitious 2030 goals to curb carbon emissions, and to urge Seoul to take more actions to deal with Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

It is expected that Moon will seek Bidens help to help South Korea increase its supply of coronavirus vaccines. South Korea provides only 5% of the countrys population with vaccines.

Biden urges Moon to take a hard line on China

Biden also hopes that Moon will take a firm stand on Chinas activities against Taiwan and other provocative actions taken by Beijing in the region. Biden tried to summon allies in the Pacific to coordinate on China. Biden regarded China as the most powerful economic competitor of the United States.

At the beginning of his presidency, Biden expressed his concerns about Beijings trade policy and human rights record, and emphasized the concerns of regional allies about the growing Chinese military.

Biden noted Japans concern that Chinas growing military activities and extensive territorial claims constitute a security threat. Japan is caught in a dispute with China because Beijing requires Japan to control the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands (called the Diaoyu Islands in China) in the East China Sea. He also hopes to strengthen relations with India, which has been tested in the military confrontation with China along the disputed border in eastern Ladakh.

But South Korea may be more reluctant to talk about China. China is an important trading partner and it is also seen as the key to dealing with the Kim Jong Il regime.

Michael Green, who served as the senior director of the National Security Council for Asia during George W. Bushs administration, said that South Korea is in a difficult situation.

Green, senior vice president of Asia and Japan, said: South Koreas strategic ambiguity policy has proved to be more and more embarrassing and almost untenable for Seoul, because other non-US or Japanese intermediary powers are adjusting their China policies. Strategy With the chairman of the International Research Center.
ELON Musk will not sell Tesla Bitcoin holdings  despite banning the cryptocurrency to pay for his products.

Musk released a statement in the form of two emojis  Diamond Hands  posting a pair of hands a diamond on Twitter.

Diamond Hands is a slang term for crypto-holders that resolutely refuse to sell their holdings in spite of an uncertain market.

On Wednesday Bitcoin suffered its worst crash since last year before bouncing back above $40,000, driven by China banning financial institutions from offering crypto related transactions, and warned investors against speculative trading in them.

As such bitcoin fell below $31,000  less than half the all-time high price that it reached in mid April  before recovering to around $40,000 today.

And the cryptocurrency is still ahead of Tesla, as well as payment giants like Mastercard, PayPal and Visa.

It comes after Bitcoin plunged last week as Elon Musk said Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin payments to buy cars. But Cardano, Ethereum and dogecoin all remained steady following the billionaires announcement.

Read our cryptocurrency live blog below for the very latest updates
Authorities said on Friday that two staff from the Bureau of Prisons were responsible for defending the night Jeffrey Epstein committed suicide in a New York prison. They admitted that they fabricated records, but according to an agreement with federal prosecutors. An agreement, they will hide in prison at any time.

Prison staff Tova Noel and Michael Thomas were accused of sleeping and surfing the Internet instead of monitoring Epstein on the night he committed suicide in August 2019.

They were charged with lying on prison records so that they appeared to have conducted the necessary checks on Epstein, and then found him in the cell of the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan on August 10. The New York City Medical Examiner ruled that his death was suicide.

Epstein is a close financier who has socialized with the prince and the president, but facing federal sex trafficking and conspiracy charges, she faces up to 45 years in prison. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial on charges of sexual abuse of dozens of underage girls.

A federal prosecutors letter submitted in court documents on Friday said that as part of an agreement with prosecutors, Noel and Thomas will reach an agreement with the Department of Justice to extend the prosecution and will be innocent. It said that they will be released under supervision, will be required to complete 100 hours of community service, and will be required to cooperate fully with ongoing investigations conducted by the Inspector General of the Ministry of Justice.

The Manhattan Metropolitan Correctional Center where Epstein died will appear in August 2019. (Mary Altaf/Associated Press)

The letter stated that the two admitted that theydeliberately and deliberately completed a substantial false count and the required count and round documents in the residence where Epstein was held.

This transaction needs to be approved by a judge, which may be concluded as soon as possible next week.

The prosecutor alleged that Noel and Thomas were sitting at a desk about four meters from Epsteins cell, buying furniture and motorcycles online, and walking in the public area of ??the unit Go instead of making a necessary patrol every 30 minutes.

According to the indictment against them, both of them appeared to be sleeping during the two-hour period.

The two officers guarding Epstein worked overtime due to a shortage of personnel. One of the guards who did not serve primarily as a correctional officer worked overtime for the fifth consecutive day. Another guard is forcing overtime, which means the second eight-hour shift in the day.

Epsteins death is a major embarrassment for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and highlights major security and staffing issues within the agency. (New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services/Reuters)

Before being arrested, both officers rejected a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

The death of Epstein and the revelation that he was able to commit suicide while being held in one of the safest prisons in the United States was a major embarrassment for the Bureau of Prisons. Be surrounded in recent years.

The agencys staff shortage is so severe that the guards often work overtime day after day or are forced to perform a mandatory two-shift system. The violence resulted in the regular lockdown of federal prison compounds across the United States. A congressional report released in 2019 found that bad behavior is often ignored or covered up.

Falsifying records has always been a problem in the entire federal prison system. Union officials have long argued that layoffs have reduced the lives of guards and prisoners, but they are facing an uphill battle that needs attention.
Nenyi Sackey, 46, was heading north on E. 58th St. near Foster Ave. in East Flatbush about 7 p.m. on Friday when he tried to get around the truck, which rolled into his lane to pass a double-parked car, cops said.
Dallas, USA, 05/21/2021 / Law Office of John M. Helms /

Super Lawyers, an independent rating service of outstanding lawyers, has recently listed John Helms, a Dallas-based criminal defense lawyer, as part of its top tier of attorneys in the White Collar and General Litigation practice areas. Peer recognition, professional achievement in legal practice, and other cogent factors are taken into account in the Super Lawyers selection process. As mentioned in Johns Super Lawyers profile, this designation is awarded only to a select number of accomplished attorneys in each state.

John is a former federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Texas who never lost a trial or appeal as a prosecutor. He is known among his legal peers for his fighter mindset in representing his clients in criminal defense litigation.

On his website bio, John expressed how grateful he is for his clients for genuinely appreciating the efforts he put into defending them in court.

Over the course of my career, Ive found that my clients truly appreciate the time, effort, and creativity I put into every case. I am here to help you when you need help the most. That is a responsibility I take very seriously, John shared on his website.

About Super Lawyers

Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The patented selection process includes independent research, peer nominations, and peer evaluations.

About John Helms

John Helms is a Dallas criminal defense attorney who specializes in both trials and appeals. He graduated from Dartmouth College and from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was on the Editorial Board of the Texas Law Review. He was admitted to legal practice in 1990. He then clerked for the Honorable Charles Clark, Chief Judge of the Fifth Circuit District Court of Appeals. He next worked for one of the most prestigious litigation boutique firms in the country, Susman Godfrey, where he made partner a year early. He then became a federal prosecutor in the United States Attorneys office for the Northern District of Texas, in Dallas. While there, he never lost a trial or appeal. Mr. Helms has been a trial lawyer for more than three decades. He has represented some of the biggest corporations in the country, such as Microsoft, Bank of America, ACE Cash Express, and Philip Morris.

https://johnhelms.attorney/

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Original Source of the original story >> John Helms, a top-rated criminal defense attorney in Dallas, is selected to Super Lawyers.

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Manchester teenagers will be offered Covid vaccines because health authorities face a time race in the fight against the Indian strain.

When Manchester launches the Preventive Vaccine Program, it will provide coronavirus pricks to people under the age of 16 in vulnerable families.

? Read our coronavirus Live blog About the latest update

1 piece Now, 16-year-old teenagers will be provided with Covid jabs in the Manchester area Credit: LNP

Manchester Public Health Director David Regan (David Regan) stated that the City of Manchester is buying time to deal with the new variants- It spreads more easily than other strains.

Pfizer and Moderna vaccines will be provided to people 18 years and older in target wards, and 17 and 16-year-olds in eligible families will also be notified of the vaccine.

Wards involved in accelerated vaccine deployment include Ardwick, Crumpsall, Cheetham, Moss Side, Levenshulme, Longsight, Rusholme and Whalley Range.

More than half of the population in these areas are black, Asian and minority residents, many of whom live in multi-generational families.

In other parts of England, As the age limit has dropped again, now 32- and 33-year-olds can book vaccine appointments.

This is as As scientists studied the strange combination of genes, a new triple mutation Covid strain was discovered in Yorkshire.

The health chief said that a total of 49 new strains have been identified-but there is no evidence that it is more easily spread or resistant to vaccines.

Vaccination

The variants under investigation found in Yorkshire and the Humber, England are currently being investigated by Public Health England. The countrys R rate climbed to 0.9.

However, residents of Yorkshire are urged not to panic about the spread of the latest VUI-21MAY-01 or AV.1 virus.

Sheffield Public Health Director Greg Fell said his team has been monitoring the triple mutant variant and found There is no reason to think that it is more easily spread or resistant to vaccines.

While continuing to explore the strange combination of mutations, additional testing and tracking were also carried out.

Downing Street said yesterday that the variant is being monitored, and emphasized that we will not hesitate to take measures that we deem necessary to try to solve the spread of any variant.

This is seen in the west of England As Covid cases rose in 97 regions, the Indian variant quadrupled in a week.

Next!

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson said this week that the data indicate that the vaccine is being launched Really opposed to Indian variants.

It was announced yesterday that due to the spread of the coronavirus mutation in India, the official R rate has risen to 1.1 in some parts of England and may reach 1.2 in the northwest.

The figures also show potential early signs of growth in the number of cases in the country.

Experts say that people have always expected that once people gain more social freedom, the R rate will increase slightly.

However, the incidence of vaccines has been maintained at a very low level, and there are signs that vaccines are trying to curb the spread.

However, there are some concerns Indian variants may go bankrupt England has a chance to get rid of all Covid restrictions in June.

Live blog Lock blow Despite vaccination, the number of common negative cases surged, and the Indian variant triggered the third wave Waiting for the game Sage warns that Jabs will eventually cannot protect the new Covid variant New attack Indian doctor warns of white fungus in lungs of Covid patients where are we? The official R rate is stable, but with the spread of Indian variants, the R rate in the Northwest has risen to 1.2 Feel carpet Study found that dog-borne coronavirus sent children to hospital Hot spot 5 places with the fastest rise in Covid cases-is your area on the hotspot list?

already About 3500 boxes The Department of Public Health of the United Kingdom said yesterday that the virus has been found across the UK, an increase from 2,111 cases a week ago.

Will the experts Derailment lock release, I believe there will be an outbreak Keep it local, For example in the northwest.

However, the ministers will not make any final decisions until the second week of June, at which time they will learn more about the pressure of rapid spread.
The Presidential Palace stated that neither the caretaker prime minister nor the opposition leaders were able to show a majority to form a new government.

As the COVID-19 epidemic worsened, Nepals President Bidya Devi Bhandari disbanded the parliament and held a general election in November, and Nepal fell into a new political turmoil.

Saturdays unexpected announcement came in a presidential statement stating that neither the caretaker prime minister KP Sharma Oli nor the opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba had failed to set up Friday in Bhandari. Before the deadline, it was shown that a majority of people formed a new government.

The presidential statement issued after midnight said: The President disbanded the House of Representatives and ordered the first stage of the general election on November 12, and the second stage of the election on November 19.

Nepalese President Bidya Devi Bhandari pays tribute at the opening ceremony of the Nepal Lumbini Travel Exhibition held in Yangon, Myanmar on October 19, 2019 [Thein Zaw/ AP]

It said that the decision was made on the advice of a cabinet led by Prime Minister Oli. Ollies dissolution of Parliament in December 2020 triggered weeks of protests, and the Supreme Court overthrew it as unconstitutional in February.

The political party did not immediately comment on this latest development.

Nepal is battling a deadly second wave of pandemics, with an average of 8,207 new infections being reported every day.
Norwegian cryptocurrency exchange company MiraiEx announced that it has selected Ledger Enterprise Solutions to protect its crypto asset reserves through Ledger Vault, an institution-level custody platform for cryptocurrency companies that want to enhance their security.

Applicable to cryptocurrency users in Norway; MiraiEx has been registered with the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet) as a cryptocurrency exchange and custody solution.

The Norwegian team will benefit from Ledger Vaults end-to-end security infrastructure, while MiraiEx investors can fully control their assets, from transactions to offline storage, without compromising speed, flexibility and governance.

Ledger received a consolidated custom crime insurance plan in 2019 Underwrite up to $150 million in crypto assets for its Ledger Vault platform Led by the prestigious London Arch UK Lloyds joint organization.

All Ledger Enterprise Solutions customers, including MiraiEx, will benefit from the $150 million consolidated crime insurance customized to the Ledger Enterprise Solution platform.

Launch back March, Ledger Enterprise Solutions specializes in providing products and services to corporate and institutional customers. With Ledger Vault as its core product; Ledger Enterprise Solutions provides rapid and large-scale customized operations for companies that require proven security partners.
Halifax-People who have been diagnosed with a rare brain disease in New Brunswick say they have been in a difficult situation and have not yet heard of their diagnosis from public health officials.

It is believed that Roger Ellis has been suffering from a rare neurological disease for the past two years, but due to the mysterious nature of the disease, the 63-year-old has not yet received an official diagnosis. He is still waiting for his condition.

Rogers son Steve lives in Halifax and has witnessed the deterioration of his fathers health. Due to the pandemic travel restrictions, he was unable to visit his father in New Brunswick. One year.

Sometimes he is very repetitive, and cognitively very unfamiliar, sometimes we catch a glimpse of this old man, Steve Ellis told CTV National News.

Ellis is one of 48 other patients in New Brunswick who are investigating the mysterious disease. Six people are known to have died from this disease.

Frustrated by the lack of available information, and eagerly waiting for public health to learn about his fathers condition, Ellis turned to social media to create an online resource where people with symptoms of the disease could connect with each other.

We just want to stay informed, even if we dont say much. Let us understand the situation. Ellis said.

The Minister of Health of New Brunswick said that people should hear the voice of public health next week.

New Brunswick Health Minister Dorothy Shephard (Dorothy Shephard) said: No information has been blocked and interviews will begin next week.

As far as Ellis knows, the relatives of these 48 cases have not yet been contacted.

Those with suspected or confirmed cases of the disease live or live long-term in Moncton, North Africa or the Arcadia Peninsula. According to the provinces health department, these patients are between 18 and 85 years old.

Symptoms of unknown neurological syndrome include rapidly progressing dementia, muscle cramps and atrophy. Considering the population of New Brunswick people who may suffer from this disease, scientists are looking for the possibility that the disease is caused by food or the environment. Otherwise, little is known about this disease.

Many symptoms are similar to known diseases, such as Creutzfeldt-Jakob, Alzheimers disease, Parkinsons disease and ALS. However, these diseases were ruled out in each case. The doctor said that this may be a new disease, but due to the number of cases spanning many years, there are still doubts.

Luc LeBlanc is one of the people who has recently received a positive case of the disease.

LeBron said: This is actually just a time bomb, because you dont know how long it will last.

The 42-year-old two-year-old father said that he has more questions than answers. Since then, he turned to social media to learn more about his situation. He eventually established an online community for Ellis, able to talk about his situation publicly.

LeBron said: I never found the answer I wanted, how to deal with or expand my life.

New Brunswick health officials launched a website about the disease in April, and the provinces health minister stated that there is sufficient information online. The family members want the government to disclose the community where each case is located.

A special clinic has also been established, and neurologists from all over the country are studying everything from the environment to food to find possible causes of this mysterious disease.

-File from CTV Atlantic
US President Joe Biden has appointed a special envoy to conduct dialogue with North Korea. He said that he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in are still deeply concerned about the nuclear arsenal of Pyongyang.

At a joint press conference on Friday, Biden also stated that he will meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un under appropriate conditions.

The President of the United States told reporters at the White House that his ultimate goal is the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, but he said he has no illusions about the difficulty of getting North Korea to abandon its nuclear arsenal.

In a speech with Moon, Biden said: We are all deeply concerned about the situation. Our two countries are also willing to engage in diplomatic exchanges with them. [North Korea] Take pragmatic steps to reduce tension on the Korean Peninsula.

Biden said that to help advance this effort, Song Kim, a senior official of the State Department, will serve as North Koreas special envoy to the United States.

South Korean diplomat Sung Kim, under the leadership of former President Barack Obama, served as North Koreas special envoy and assisted Kim Jong-il in establishing the summit of former President Donald Trump .

He has also served as the ambassador of South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia, and most recently served as the top diplomat of the United States in East Asia as an agent.

Biden Gold Summit?

Since Biden took over Trump from Trump, Pyongyang has so far refused to accept the diplomatic invitation of the United States. Trump has held three summit meetings with Kim Jong Un and exchanged famous beautiful letters with the two.

Nevertheless, Kim Jong Il refused to give up his nuclear weapons, but frozen the test. Since 2017, he has not tested a nuclear bomb, nor has he launched an intercontinental ballistic missile, although experts believe that his arsenal has grown steadily.

Moons contact with North Korea before leaving office next year is a legacy issue. He said that Sung Kims appointment reflects the firm commitment of the United States to explore diplomacy and its preparation for dialogue with North Korea.

He said that he hopes to get a positive response.

When asked if Biden was considering following up on Trumps headlines but ultimately the summit with Kim Jong Il was inconclusive, the President of the United States said that he must adopt completely different terms.

Biden said the North Korean leader must commit to discussing its nuclear arsenal and allow its advisers to meet with their American counterparts to lay the groundwork for such summits.

I wont do the recent things; I wont give him everything he wants-international recognition is legal and allows him to move in a direction that seems to be more seriously he doesnt take seriously at all. he said.

Sell

Bidens comments seem to reflect a shift in his thinking.

The White House said in March that Biden did not want to meet with North Korean leaders.

Jenny Tom of the North Korean surveillance project 38 North in northern Washington said that Song Kims appointment is positive, given that the Biden administration has indicated that it is not eager to fill the position.

However, it did not indicate what concessions it might provide for the talks.

She told Reuters: The problem is that the government is only talking about denuclearization and continues to describe any interaction with North Korea as a nuclear negotiation.

Therefore, it is still a difficult task to get the North Koreans back to the negotiating table, but obviously, the Moon will do its best.

Moon said that Biden expressed support for dialogue and cooperation within North Korea, while Tom said that unless Washington refuses to relax sanctions on Pyongyang, Washington will not provide Seoul with the means to advance this space.

The White House announced last month that it has completed its review of North Korea policy. Biden will deviate from the strategy of his two most recent predecessors and reject Trumps deep personal efforts to win Kim Jong Il and Obamas laissez-faire approach. .

But the Biden administration has not elaborated on a third way to prompt North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.

Old friend

On the day of the meeting, Biden and Moon also reiterated the strong alliance between the two countries after the pressure caused by Trump. Trump called Moon a weak and threatened to withdraw US troops from South Korea.

Since Biden took office in January, Moon is the second foreign leader to visit the White House after the Japanese prime minister. Biden said that their conversation was an old friend conversation.

On Friday, May 21, 2021, at a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House, President Biden listened to the speech when South Korean President Moon Jae-in spoke at the joint press conference in the East Room of the White House. [Alex Brandon/ AP]

Both also discussed China and Taiwan.

Taiwan complained about Beijings repeated military pressure, and the Chinese Air Force frequently entered the Taiwan Air Defense Identification Zone.

Moon said: We agree that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are extremely important. We agree to work together on this issue while considering the special characteristics of the relationship between mainland China and Taiwan.

In another victory for Moon, he was under pressure domestically in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. He said that the United States and South Korea have reached a vaccine partnership, which will combine American expertise with South Koreas production capacity.

He said this will help provide COVID-19 vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region, and Biden said the United States will provide vaccination for 550,000 South Korean soldiers.
After the UK approached a tariff-free agreement with Australia, senior managers in the City of London raised concerns about the environmental impact of encouraging trade with distant countries.

The member of the British Financial Times city network, a forum composed of more than 50 senior executives, supports the UKs efforts to open borders for global trade and introduces new sources of overseas financing such as sovereign wealth funds.

James Bardrick, chief executive of Citigroup UK, said the UK needs to remain open to transparent and responsible to obtain foreign direct investment from private and public sources, and to open up trade and services , And to new markets, talents, ideas and innovations.

However, questions have been raised about the long-term consequences of these two policies, which are crucial for Britains attempt to reposition itself as the center of a global trade and investment hub after leaving the European Union.

Many people are concerned about the environmental costs of physical trade with countries such as Australia.

Ann Cairns, Executive Vice Chairman of Mastercard, said that beef flying away from Australia is more environmentally friendly than buying beef from local farmers. Maybe there is another way to ensure that we buy high-quality local products and reflect the true cost and value by incorporating environmental impact into the supply chain cost.

Aviva Group CEO Amanda Blanc agreed that actual costs, including environmental costs, should be properly considered when considering trade.

Federal Hermes (Federated Hermes) senior adviser Daniel Godfrey (Daniel Godfrey) said that the United Kingdom needs to be set at the true cost of externalities inherent in transportation and agriculture. . . Whether it is achieved through appropriate carbon taxes and natural taxes or subsidies.

Andreas Utermann, the former head of Allianz Global Investments, also proposed externalities, such as the carbon cost of long-distance transportation of food that to a certain extent is not reasonably priced.

He added: The so-calledduty-free trade agreements will require careful scrutiny, especially when smaller economic entities (such as the United Kingdom) reach agreements with larger entities. There are usually hidden costs, possibly Is it political or economic/economic.

Paul Drechsler, chairman of London First, emphasized the political cost of struggling to make a deal. He said this language risks seeming desperation, If we seek the other sides support , This is not the best signal.

He added that when promoting agricultural development, Australians knew they wanted to enlist the participation of Jews and the convincing political argument must be responsible and sustainable, and support British farmers.

Canary Wharf Group CEO Shobi Khan said that consumers must ultimately decide whether they are Australian or Irish sheep and lambs based on factors such as price, natural conditions or sustainability.

There is widespread support for another major goal of the government, which is to introduce overseas investment from sovereign wealth funds. Investment Minister Gerry Grimstone told the Financial Times last month that the UK is in talks with sovereign wealth and pension funds to invest in green energy projects in the UK, including large factories and offshore wind farms. .

Khan said that sovereign wealth funds can not only help improve the environment, but also help the countrys infrastructure.

Keynes said that the UK should welcome foreign investment as long as it is not a big sale of British assets.

She said: Sovereign wealth funds are a useful source of capital, and it makes sense to find a broad portfolio of investors.

But Manchester City executives also said that the government should not forget the source of domestic funding. Blank said that overseas investment should be welcomed, but he added that the UK is not short of funds, with a total pension fund of 6 billion.

Therefore, this should not be an all-or-nothing issue. I dont want easy access to sovereign wealth funds as a reason for us to embark on reforms, so that more pension assets can be invested in long-term, sustainable investments in our communities. 

Anne Richards, CEO of Fidelity International, agreed that the government should strike a balance between overseas capital and resources near the country, so that UK pension funds and individuals can benefit from domestic investment opportunities .

Utman also warned that it is naive to turn a blind eye to the origin of sovereign wealth funds. . . Of course, let us be open to capital inflows, but we must also be very open and transparent about costs.
A professional climbing guide said Saturday that he believes the coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support personnel.

Nepalese officials have previously denied that there is a COVID-19 cluster on the highest peak in the world.

Lukas Furtenbach of Austria said that his estimates are based on the confirmation of rescue pilots, insurance providers, doctors and expedition leaders. A week after the suspension of the Everest expedition for fear of the virus, he spoke with the Associated Press in Kathmandu on Saturday.

Furtenbach said that the test results of one of his foreign guides and six Nepalese Sherpa guides were positive.

He said: We have the lowest COVID positive rate of at least 100 people in the base camp, and then this number may be 150 or 200.

He said that it is obvious that there are many cases in the Everest base camp because he can clearly see people getting sick and can hear people coughing in the tent.

Mountain guide Lukas Furtenbach estimates that at least 100 people in the Everest base camp have COVID-19, although Nepalese mountaineering officials have denied any active cases. (Bikram Rai/Associated Press)

With the help of hundreds of Sherpa guides and support staff who have been stationed in the base camp since April, a total of 408 foreign climbers have obtained permits to climb Mount Everest this quarter.

Nepalese mountaineering officials deny that there are any active cases among climbers and support personnel in all base camps in the Himalayas this season. Due to the pandemic, climbing activities were closed last year.

Nepalese officials could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday. The other mountaineering teams have not announced any COVID-19 infections among their members or staff. After being taken down from Everest Base Camp, multiple climbers reported that they tested positive.

Fortenbach said that most of the teams on the mountain did not carry virus testing tools, and before his team withdrew, they had helped with the tests and confirmed two cases.

Most people are still waiting in the camp before the summit attempt

Furtenbach said that most of the teams are still in the base camp and hope the weather will be clear next week so that they can make their final decision before the end of the mountaineering season at the end of the month.

In late April, a Norwegian climber became the first person to test positive at Everest Base Camp. He flew to Kathmandu by helicopter, received treatment there, and later returned home.

Nepal is experiencing a surge in the virus, with the number of new infections and deaths hitting a record high. China cancelled the climb from the Everest side last week because of concerns that the virus may spread from the Nepal side.

Nepal reported 8,607 new infections and 177 deaths last Friday. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Nepals total has exceeded 497,000 infections and 6,024 deaths.
Ethiopia has granted the first $850 million telecommunications license to a consortium including British Vodafone, which may herald the beginning of the opening of Ethiopias closed economy.

The consortium led by Kenyas Safaricom and Vodafone and Vodacom also includes the British financial development agency CDC and Japans Sumitomo. South Africas MTN bid for the second license at a price of $600 million was rejected because the bid was too low and the license would be re-bid.

The Ethiopian government has announced that in this rapidly developing country with a population of 114 million, the way to open the worlds largest remaining telecom monopoly business is to: Deal of the Century.

However, restrictions on the provision of lucrative mobile money services and the governments insistence on requiring new operators to build their own infrastructure or lease infrastructure from the state-monopolized Ethio Telecom instead of using third-party tower operators have delayed potential bidders.

Some bidders are also considered to be wary of this. Unstable political situation Last November, after the EFF moved the government of the Tigray region.

According to telecom analysts, companies that initially showed strong interest, including Orange in France and Emirates in the United Arab Emirates, are expected to conduct a second review when renewing their licenses.

Since the initial bidding ended, the government has relaxed its opposition to mobile money, saying that new operators will be able to provide such services within a year, subject to approval from the central bank.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Abiy Ahmed) said in a tweet on Saturday that the consortium led by Safaricom is the largest foreign direct investment in the countrys history. For most of the past 20 years, Ethiopias country-led development model inspired by Asia has prevented foreign capital from controlling the commanding heights of the economy such as banking and telecommunications, and its growth rate has reached almost double digits.

Abi said that the new consortium will invest more than US$8 billion to build a network in the next ten years.

Brook Taye, a senior adviser to the Ministry of Finance and a member of the privatization team, said that the successful consortium also promised to launch a low-orbit satellite covering the entire country by 2023. The new investment will create between 1.1 million and 150 million US dollars, he said, I have a job.

A person familiar with the bidding process said that the hope to publish good news before the national election next month has prompted fictitious investment and employment numbers. The person familiar with the matter said: If you invest $8 billion, you will never be able to make money. I think they just came up with numbers out of thin air.

Safaricom has approximately 5,500 employees in Kenya. The countrys economy is similar to Ethiopias, about 95 billion U.S. dollars, and a population of 52 million, which is less than half the size.

However, Safaricoms sustainability report stated that its service provided 1 million people with jobs through its wider economic impact, a figure that takes into account entrepreneurs who can make a living using the telecommunications ecosystem.

Brooke said that the second drivers license will be updated soon and the rules may be further adjusted to make it more attractive. Potential bidders in the first round complained about changes to the rules, including a lack of clarity on interconnection fees, and these bids were cut shortly before the bidding came.

Brook denied that the tender was opaque. He said: This is the most transparent process in Ethiopias history. He said that the industry will further open up, so we think there will be a very successful second bid.

Ethiopia also plans to sell a 40% stake in Ethio Telecom, which has 46 million subscribers, later this year.
The federal government will spend 3 billion Canadian dollars in five years to establish new standards to improve long-term care in Canada. Proponents say that money alone is not enough-they want to take steps to ensure that the new standards actually provide better care for the elderly.

Now, the new standards developed by the Health Standards Organization (HSO) and the Canadian Standards Association (CSA) have high hopes. This work will take at least 20 months, but relevant people said they hope that the new standards can help prevent the severe conditions that cause high epidemic mortality in the long-term care sector.

In the first wave of the pandemic, long-term care facilities accounted for 80% of all COVID-19 deaths in Canada. Outside of Quebec and Nova Scotia, the number of long-term care deaths in the second wave actually increased.

But experts warn that the new standards alone will not solve many problems in the field of pandemic exposure. They said they worry that after decades of government indifference to long-term care, as the pandemic wanes, public pressure to address these issues may diminish.

Alex Mihailidis, chairman of the CSA Technical Subcommittee, said: I dont want these standards to be put on hold and not to be used.

If we can take any positive measures from this pandemic, and everything that happened I think we are at a tipping point, which will really push the political will and social will forward and ensure that these standards are met. handle it seriously.

What is the new standard?

Experts say that the long-term care sector needs to improve the delivery of care and the operation of facilities. From the number of hours of direct personal care of residents to the ratio of employees to residents and infection prevention and control measures, this involves everything.

It also includes the technical use of ventilation systems, ducts, medical gas systems and facilities. All of these things may depend on possible new infrastructure standards, which may determine how new long-term care homes should be built, how many residents can be placed in a room, and how common areas and isolation areas should be built.

HSO and CSA must also determine how infrastructure standards will be applied to existing buildings.

We are trying to use everything we have learned so far, and everything we have learned about the state of long-term care in Canada, to basically say how these actual new standards can prevent us from pandemics? Sinai Health and the University of Toronto Health Network Said Dr. Samir Sinha, Director of Gerontology. He is leading the HSO Technical Committee.

On Monday, December 7, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto, medical staff took a person from the Revera Westside long-term care home. (Nathan Dennett/Canada Press)

HSO has established standards for long-term care homes. The pandemic proves that they are clearly insufficient. Throughout Canada, nearly 70% of long-term care homes are recognized by HSO standards or equivalent standards in the United States.

In Quebec, 100% of houses require certification. But Quebecs long-term care home is one of the most severely affected by the pandemic.

Dr. Sinha admitted that waiting 20 months is a long time to wait for the new standard, but this work takes time.

Actually, this is ultimately your way of setting high-quality standards. Or are you just trying to gain the upper hand politically and get more of the same thing? he said.

Frankly, because everything we have done so far has not been done well, and now everyone is paying attention to this, I am determined to make sure we do it.

Public opinion

Usually, in the standard setting process, a technical committee composed of stakeholders and experts is responsible for formulating a draft standard and then submitting it to the public for comments and review at the end of the process.

However, the number of deaths in the long-term care sector during the pandemic has aroused widespread public concern in this process, especially among people who have lost their loved ones in long-term care.

It is expected that HSO and CSA will take into account the results of public surveys on long-term care standards, and will convene city halls for comments starting this summer. The components of the HSO Technical Committee are formed through an open application process.

Will the new standard make a difference?

The answer to this question depends on what the provinces do. Provinces primarily responsible for long-term care will be required to spend the necessary funds to meet these standards and make up for the severe shortage of personnel.

Experts also said that the effectiveness of the new standards will largely depend on whether they are mandatory and whether facilities found to violate these standards will be punished.

Laura Tamblyn Watts, CanAges chief executive officer, said: Unless they are mandatory, they are just a wish list that we consider important and will not really undergo substantial changes. University of Toronto.

So it is important that these standards have some legal effect, and to break them [has] Some kind of deep punishment for them. 

Tamblyn-Watts said that long-term care homes almost never lose their licenses for violating standards, and the fines they face are almost ridiculous.

Technically, the federal government can formulate its own laws and regulations to make standards mandatory. Experts say this is unlikely.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu listened to a press conference on the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa on Friday, December 4, 2020. (Tang Poetry/Canada Press)

Nonetheless, in an interview with CBC in March, Health Minister Patty Hajdu believed that law enforcement is the key.

She said: For me, having standards is not just a problem. It also involves a commitment and a way forward to implement or adhere to these standards.

Of course, because certain provinces and regions do have standards, it does not necessarily alleviate the tragedies of those provinces and regions. Therefore, this is to clarify the requirements of the standards. Then, the separate process is how you ensure that the implementation of these standards is consistent. Yes, so people who rely on care are indeed safe in those places.

How much does it cost?

The Canadian Standards Council said it plans to donate 340,000 Canadian dollars to fund work on long-term care standards.

Of course, the real price tag is ultimately used by the federal and provincial governments to ensure standard fees Stingy something. Critics say that the $3 billion that Ottawa has provided to the provinces in five years is simply not enough.

Terry Lake, chief executive officer of the British Columbia Association of Medical Service Providers, said: This is about six to seven dollars per resident per day. The association represents 400 long-term care and assisted housing. Lake is the former provincial health minister.

Because health care is under provincial jurisdiction, these provinces must be enforced. Because there are carrots and sticks, and carrots are of course funded by the federal government. I think some provinces may be reluctant to set standards without more funds to motivate these standards. It can be executed under the circumstances.

On Tuesday, December 29, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scarborough, Ontario, people protest outside the Tendercare Life Center long-term care facility. (Nathan Dennett/Canada Press)

There are already some provincial governments Irritated the idea of ??taking any direction from Ottawa, Rich or no money.

Tamblyn-Watts said: I think these prime ministers misunderstood their populations. These jurisdictions have produced very bad results in long-term care, and many of them are preventable. As voters feel how much of this Anger and annoyance, sales promotion measures keep pace with the times.

However, recently some provincial budgets have invested money to build new houses or increase existing houses, but they have been criticized because even under the strong pressure of public reforms, they have not set aside any needed funds.

Advocates say they worry that this is not a signal of political will to ensure that the thousands of people who die in long-term care homes during the pandemic are not in vain.
Vietnam calls for early resumption of peace process in Middle East

The nation calls on concerned parties to soon resume the peace process in the Middle East based on the two-state solution in accordance with international law and relevant resolutions of the United Nations to achieve sustainable and long-term peace in the region.



Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang






Piaget has created many celebrated watches during almost eight decades as a manufacture, but the collection for which it is especially famed is the Altiplano. The Altiplano watches are the ultimate expression of the Maison ultra-thin savoir-faire.



The origins of the Altiplano go right back to the first ultra-thin Piaget dress watches that were born from the creation of the hand-wound 9P calibre in 1957, one of the slimmest mechanical movements of the era.



It was followed by the 2.3mm 12P calibre of 1960, which instantly captured a record for being the thinnest self-winding movement ever made. Since then, Piaget has set further records by creating ultra-thin movements across the whole range of horological categories from skeleton and diamond-set skeleton watches to those featuring date displays and others powered by automatic and manual-winding mechanisms. In 2020, the Maison has also been responsible for the thinnest mechanical watch in the world, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept which is only 2mm thin, a fitting tribute to 60 years as the king of ultra-thin.

Altiplano Origin 35mm  Piaget

The name Altiplano as we know it today, was introduced in 1998 to describe an ongoing line of ultra-thin and superbly elegant designs - the latest of which is the Altiplano Origin 35mm. The Altiplano is a region of south-eastern Peru and western Bolivia which is renowned for being very flat. Piaget chose this name to encompass the thinness of its watches.

Fearless creativity, effortless style

Thanks to its prowess as a maker of ultra-thin movements, Piaget has pushed the boundaries of creativity through the ground-breaking use of hardstone dials, extravagant cuff watches, dazzling gem-setting and the fearless use of colour.

Despite all of the above, the Maison has never overlooked the evergeen appeal of watches that are outwardly simple yet beautifully refined - which is why we are proud to unveil our latest interpretation of the theme in the form of the Altiplano Origin, the first 35mm Altiplano to be fitted with the self-winding 501P movement.

Altiplano Origin 35mm  Piaget

Both the gold case and the movement are produced entirely in-house - thus creating a perfect pair for men and women.

Plain or bejewelled, but alway elegant

Available in beautifully understated form with a plain rose gold case, or with rose or white gold cases featuring bezels subtly adorned with 76 brilliant-cut diamonds set by Piagets master jewellers, the Altiplano Origin 35mm exudes quiet elegance in every guise.



Sapphire case backs allow an unhindered view of the beautifully-finished, ultra-slim movement with its oscillating weight engraved with the Piaget coat of arms, while close examination of the eight oclock hour marker on the silvered dial reveals a discreet Altiplano signature.

Altiplano Origin 35mm  Piaget

Rose gold versions are fitted with quick-change straps in shiny red alligator leather, while the white gold model gets a similar strap in shiny blue - with an extensive range of other colours available, all of which can be effortlessly swapped in and out.
The incredible godsend is if she was leaning in a little bit, who knows what would have happened to her? said Wilson, 44. Her brother will need crutches to leave the hospital Sunday and physical therapy once back home.
The bachelor star Kelley Flanagan revealed how messy her breakup with Peter Weber was and told him to get out of life.

After months of hints, her relationship didnt look complete, but the cheating proposition that made her lose the romance made her lose her way.

5 After the disagreement between Kelley and Peter caused a disagreement, they parted ways. Image Credit: Instagram/KelleyFlanagan

Talk about Chicks in the office The 29-year-old podcaster said that their differences in interests greatly differentiate them.

Kelly explained: Its not a bad thing, but he loves Pokemon cards, he likes to play video games, and he likes to hang out and party.

For a while, I tried to convince myself that that was what I liked, and I liked it, Well, Kelly, lets be honest with ourselves.

It was her then Decided to divorce, And Peter immediately shared news with the world on New Years Day.

5 The couple broke up publicly for the first time on New Years Day Image source: Instagram

Kelly added in the announcement: I ask him not to do this during the New Year. She revealed that she asked for a few days to tell close friends and family.

She added that the two consulted with ABC executives and they suggested sharing the news before the premiere of The Bachelor.

The TV personality revealed: The day before this is done, people will be excited about other things to solve it completely.

Despite the mess, Kelly gave Peter a second chance around Valentines Day in February, and they got together again for a good romantic weekend.

5 Kelly said the relationship ended really bad Image Credit: Instagram/KelleyFlanagan

However, this was short-lived, and Kelly admitted that the end of the matter was really bad because of rumors that Peter had hooked up with other women.

She explained: The ending was really bad. I essentially rejected him. I finally left New York and went to one of my girlfriends houses.

He texted me, I didnt respond, and then found some news that I was not happy at all. We still have each other in Finding My Friends.

A lot of things you hear, the world is small, I was stopped by the girls in Nashville, they were like,My friend colluded with Peter last week.

5 She insisted that she still heard of Peter partnering with other women Image source: Instagram

She concluded that she told Peter to get out of life and no longer reply when he texted, instead she chose to not respond.

Although Kelleys bloodstains were not good, Peter had previously worked with Yes!news And hope that his predecessor is only the best after their split.

Peter said: I just want to make her happy, more important than anything else-we dont contact anymore. I have been cheering for her and hope she finds happiness.

In February, the couple were found together, when news broke that the couple are working hard to develop their relationship because the pilot regrets their breakup.

5 The two were last spotted in February Image source: INSTAGRAM

Kelly and Peter were spotted during the Super Bowl celebration and stayed together overnight, despite Their December breakup.

It is said that Peters mother played an important role in the final separation of the couple and Kellys enrollment process.

Bachelors will remember that Barber was very outspoken to the women Peter had dated.

A source told E!: Kelly does think Barb is very controlling and domineering But she tried not to let it affect their relationship.

argy bargy After careful calculations to lose weight, security personnel could not identify him and Arg was left outside price range Katie Prices pink car was sold for 18,000 due to illness during his arrest exclusive Line up and rank The skinned teen star reveals the crazy truth behind the show and its sex scenes exclusive Tour price The interior of a luxurious five-bedroom Portuguese villa at 300 per night by Katie Price Say goodbye one last time Ashley Cain and Safiyya shed tears at the funeral of their daughter Azaylia True friend Little Mixs Jade Thirlwall fakes back pain to cover up her band partners pregnancy

Barb put a lot of pressure on them, it is absolutely difficult.

But insiders clarified that Babus sales were not a huge factor shared by the two: She and Kelly get along well and get along well with each other.

After breaking up Peter eventually moved to New York City Rely on yourself and Kelley revealed that she would consider becoming the next bachelor.
Demonstrations were held in London, Melbourne and Paris, while more activities are planned to be held in other major cities such as New York and Berlin.

Demonstrations that lasted for a week were held on a global scale, and Palestine was in favor of solidarity marches. The demonstrators demanded that their respective governments impose sanctions and military embargoes to reduce the supply of weapons to Israel.

Iserals 11-day bombing of Gaza In the besieged enclave, nearly 250 Palestinians were killed, including at least 65 children, and many buildings, houses and infrastructure were destroyed.

After the Israeli government and Palestinian fighter groups reached an agreement on a ceasefire that began on Friday, the fighting ended.

This Sheikh Jarrah protests The opposition to the forced deportation of Palestinians by Israeli settlers in East Jerusalem and the Israeli attack on Muslims at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the third holiest site in Islam, during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan were the catalysts for the Israeli attack in Gaza.

Protests were held in London, Melbourne and Paris on Saturday, while more protests are planned for the weekend in other major cities, including New York and Berlin.

United Kingdom

During the parade in London, Al Jazeeras Paul Brennan reported that the Israeli attack stopped making people relaxed, but more needs to be done.

He said: People have a feeling that conflicts should not be forgotten.

Brennan said the rally was larger than a similar rally held last week, with an estimated 30,000 people attending on Saturday.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators participate in a protest in London, England, on May 22, 2021 [Toby Melville/Reuters]

Australia

In Adelaide, hundreds of protesters gathered outside the Capitol and then walked through the city centre.

We need to remember that just because they declared a ceasefire does not mean it is over. It will never end until Palestine is free. said Jana Fandi, a member of the Australian Palestinian community who attended the rally.

In Sydney, thousands of protesters gathered in Hyde Park, then marched in the streets, chanting and waving banners.

Dalia Hass Qassem, an activist for the Palestinian Action Group, said: Palestinians continue to face violence from the Israeli occupying forces until the end of the occupation.

France

Thousands of people took part in a protest in solidarity in the capital Paris.

Demonstrators display placards under Palestinian flags during a demonstration in Pariss Place de la Republique in solidarity with the Palestinian people on May 22, 2021 [Geoffrey Van Der Hasselt/AFP]
On April 28, during the third coronavirus pandemic, after the right-wing government Ivan Duque proposed tax increases, protests broke out across Colombia. Although the president withdrew the controversial tax reform proposal in the face of public anger, demonstrations continued, and the brutal suppression further intensified the demonstrations.

Security forces and armed men in civilian clothes killed at least 40 protesters and injured hundreds. Many were arrested by the police and dozens of women were sexually assaulted.

The escalation of violence not only reflects the governments failure to resolve long-standing social and economic dissatisfaction, but also reflects its ever-losing legitimacy and democratic retreat. This puts the country at risk of falling back into conflict.

Trigger: Unfair tax reform

The Colombian government initially announced its proposed tax reform measures aimed at collecting taxes to launch a solidarity income program to help Colombians who have been hit hardest by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the way the reform plan is formulated clearly shows that it will cause more harm than benefits to the poor and disadvantaged groups.

Although the reform package includes a property tax on individuals with assets of more than $1.35 million, there are many provisions that may harm low-income families. It will lower the taxable income threshold and increase pensions and value-added tax, which will greatly increase the price of daily necessities such as eggs, milk, cheese and meat.

Other elements of the reform benefit the private sector and specific economic groups. These include maintaining several tax exemptions for various industries, including the financial sector, most of which benefit wealthy entrepreneurs.

Although the government claims that tax reforms are necessary to reduce the impact of the flu pandemic on Colombias economy and national budget, it is also pushing for some suspicious spending, including the purchase of expensive weapons from the United States.

Although certain reforms may have a positive impact on the economy, such as tax reductions and exemptions for disadvantaged sectors, the increase in value-added tax shows that there is a disconnect between the living experience of the ruling elite and the general population.

It is estimated that 3.5 million people have fallen into poverty due to the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing the number of people living in poverty from 17.5 million in 2019 to 21 million in 2020 (42.5% of the population). The crisis has severely hit people employed in the informal sector accounting for half of the workforce. They will not be able to benefit from any tax rebates due to regular workers as compensation for the increase in value-added tax.

The governments response: violence and slander

The governments initial response to cross-border criticism of its tax reform proposal was completely deaf and dumb. Treasury Secretary Alberto Carrasquilla addressed the media in an attempt to defend the package, but eventually revealed that he did not know how much basic daily necessities would cost. When talking about the impact of the expansion of value-added tax, he claimed that the price of eggs is one-fourth of their actual price in the market, arousing more public outrage.

When the protests began, the government did not engage in open dialogue and listen to the dissatisfaction of the people, but adopted a smear campaign. It tried to portray the demonstrations as a radical left-wing conspiracy that would destabilize the country.

Several pro-government figures publicly accused the protest organizers of trying to establish a Castro Chavesmo regime in Colombia. This conspiracy theory has been mainstreamed in certain branches of the armed forces and police, who truly believe that the protesters are aiming to overthrow the country in order to advance the left-wing revolution.

The government provided weapons for these narratives and took further action, ordering the suppression of the protesters, the deployment of security forces and the military, the latter deployed tanks and used violent means to disperse the unarmed, mostly peaceful crowds.

Even when the United Nations and human rights organizations condemned the violence, the government failed to respond and control the security forces. It ignores the dissatisfaction of the population in all aspects, and even disregards their lives, so that the mobilization of the whole people has reached the highest level in decades.

Mobilized as a result of the 2016 peace agreement

Although the proposed tax reform was the trigger of recent protests and the motivation for the governments violent response to it, the social roots of widespread dissatisfaction are far more than this.

Over the years, due to stagnant poverty reduction efforts, governments have failed to address the growing inequality in Colombian society. Under the influence of the wealthy class in Colombia, they repeatedly made policy decisions, making citizens more vulnerable and distrusting the country.

However, in the context of the 2016 peace agreement between the Colombian government and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC-EP), protests should also be seen, which ended the five-year conflict between them.

As the violent conflict between FARC-EP and the government decreased, social movements gained more room for mobilization. The peace agreement also created the expectation that after this armed conflict is over, the government will respond more to citizens dissatisfaction.

However, even after the peace agreement was reached, violence against civilians continued. Indigenous leaders, social activists, human rights defenders, farmers and environmentalists who defended the rights of various communities and worked to implement the terms of the 2016 peace agreement were assassinated. The government has not taken any serious action to stop the continued violence or to hold the security forces or non-state actors responsible for the cartels, left- and right-wing armed groups that are still victimizing Colombian civilians.

At the same time, many political elites continue to view the demand for democratic reform as a left-wing conspiracy to overthrow the country.

Legitimacy crisis

The protests in the past few weeks, triggered by various socio-economic dissatisfaction and intensified by the governments violent response, also show that there is a continuing lack of proper channels to hold citizens accountable to the government.

The ruling elites seem to want ordinary people to acquiesce in any policies they choose to adopt. The narrative they used in the face of popular mobilization focused on rebuilding order, which meant the use of brutal force to ensure obedience.

However, the view that state legitimacy stems from the monopoly of force is outdated. The ruling elites embrace of compulsivity is part of the dangerous trend of erosion of participatory democracy in Latin America and Latin America as a whole.

Colombia is a country where political leaders have always feared mobilization, even if it is peaceful. This fear has led to the closure of political representation and access to participation. They have contributed to the cycle of violence, including the armed conflict with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and the country is still recovering from it.

The current government has repeated the same mistakes by discrediting the protesters and ordering the violent dispersal of the protesters. It has not yet implemented the 2016 peace agreement.

The loss of legitimacy poses a high risk to Colombia. The escalation of violence against the police force reflects this, which has the dangerous potential to encourage civilians to join armed groups that are still active in the country. In turn, the ruling elite can use it to relaunch counterinsurgency operations and close democratic channels for participation and representation as in the past.

Current events put Colombia at a crossroads. If the government chooses to recognize the dissatisfaction of the people and engage in dialogue, it can help the government restore legitimacy and work hard to strengthen the social contract. If it chooses to continue to militarize the city, ignoring the needs of the population, it should prepare for more turbulence and international pressure to change the course before the country falls into another conflict.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
An American journalist targeted by a right-wing group for her support of Palestinian activism in the university condemned her recent dismissal from the Associated Press News Agency, calling her a victim of objective and asymmetric enforcement of social media rules. .

In a statement shared on Twitter on Saturday, Emily Wilder said that the Associated Press manager told her that when she was fired this week, she violated the news agencys social media policy, but They did not say which tweets violated the policy. , Or how.

On Wednesday, the right-wing organization of her alma mater Stanford University launched what Wilder called a slander campaign against her student movement to defend Palestinian rights, and she was fired.

It also happened in israel 11 days military offensive In the Gaza Strip, nearly 250 Palestinians were killed and more than 1,900 others were injured. In Israel, twelve people were killed by rockets fired from coastal Palestinian territories.

Wilder said in the statement: I am a victim of the asymmetric enforcement of rules surrounding objectivity and social media. Before me, I censored many journalists, especially Palestinian journalists and journalists of other people of color.

My statement on the dismissal of the Associated Press. pic.twitter.com/kf4NCkDJXx -Emily Wilder (@vv1lder) May 22, 2021

On Monday, Stanford Republicans tweeted that Wilder, a Jew on campus, was an anti-Israel instigator.

Subsequently, the Washington Freedom Beacon published an article titled The Associated Press hires anti-Israel militants as press assistants. The objective issue raised by the Associated Press in its revelation is that it shares office space with Hamas. This story has been reported on other forums including Fox News.

Associated Press spokeswoman Lauren Easton would not say that Wilder (who started as an AP news assistant in Phoenix, Arizona on May 3) wrote about the violation Articles on the companys social media policy.

Easton said: We have this policy so that a persons comments cannot create dangerous conditions for our reporters to report this news.

Every Associated Press reporter is responsible for maintaining our ability to report this conflict or any other conflict in a fair and credible manner, and cannot participate in public forums.

The Associated Press sends a clear message to aspiring journalists who are interested in making the world a better and fairer world: There is no place for you in our newsroom https://t.co/as0yNvmFrM -Wesley (@WesleyLowery) May 22, 2021

shameful

However, reporters and others criticized the Associated Press for firing Wilder, saying that the move reflects an unjust double standard of who is considered biased when reporting on Israel and Palestine.

Since the Israeli attack on Gaza on May 10, more and more people have criticized the media, especially the American media, for how to cover up the conflict.

US investigative reporter Nikole Hannah-Jones said on Twitter on Saturday: This is shameful. News organizations require that the accountability and transparency of other organizations comply with the same standards.

Khalid Elgindi, director of the Palestine and Palestine-Israel Affairs Program of the Middle East Institute think tank, said: This is an extremely bad case of selective enforcement.

In the American press, there is an inference. Okay. Rethinking the concepts of objectivity and neutrality has always been a time of the past. The concept has always privileged the status quo and everyone who benefits from it, U.S. Former Minister of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro (Julian Castro) said. Tweet.

It is not difficult to report on the Israeli bombing of Gaza, but for the American media, this is an oral gymnastics competition. @sanasaeed She criticized the way the American media failed to report on the Israeli occupation. pic.twitter.com/eyC22gjrm5 -AJ + (@ajplus) May 21, 2021

In her statement, Wilder questioned what the dismissal sent to other young people who wanted to enter the press.

She wrote: I have to ask what kind of message this will send to influential young storytellers who wish to convey the outrage or passion for justice, she wrote.

Assure aspiring journalists, what is the future prospects, and institutions like the Associated Press will sacrifice those with the weakest power to a group of cruel anonymous bullies? For this industry, even if it is to share the painful experience of the Palestinians Or interrogate the language we use to describe them, which is regarded as irreparable bias?
After ten years of rollercoaster rides, the Republican Party of the United States is hardly recognized. President Bushs compassionate conservatism, and the relatively modest John McCain and Mitt Romney as presidential candidates, were felt long ago. Romney was booed and mocked loudly at his own meeting, which shows how far the party is from him. Just last week, the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney (Dick Cheney) Congresswoman Liz Cheney (Liz Cheney) was dismissed by her colleagues for challenging Trump. A strong signal of the election stealing speech.

The current dominant force of the Republican Party is still the highly divisive populism advocated by former President Donald Trump. As president, Trump violated all traditional electoral wisdom, including his predecessors request for support from minorities and the middle class. Instead, he put the foundation of the campaign on a silent line, which worked unexpectedly, defeating the noble but robotic Democratic challenger Hillary Clinton in 2016. (Hillary Clinton).

The Republicans once won, but their political fortunes have deteriorated rapidly since then, losing the House of Representatives in 2018 before further defeats in the Senate and Presidential Palace. After Trump is elected, he has the opportunity to consolidate his control by effectively managing the country. He failed to do so, and the party fell into a state of chaos.

Trump cursed the Republican Party in two ways. The first is in policy. Due to the endless wars of political correctness, he plunged his party into the quagmire of pure populism, isolating and offending the large number of voters the Republican Party needs to win the election. It allows Trump to retain an impressively flexible core vote, but at the cost of weakening American democratic norms. The most typical example is the mob that swept the U.S. Capitol on January 6, which also shut down many swings. voter.

The second issue is ability. The Trump administration was completely unprepared when it was elected, and half-baked policy proposals coupled with mismanagement, rapid turnover of senior staff, leaks and scandals prevented the release of any meaningful policies. There are vacancies in important leadership roles in government departments, and Trumps America First nationalism is disturbed by traditional allies who are keen on international coordination in the field of climate change and defense. This is before the COVID-19 hit the world, peoples concern about the lack of basic administrative management capabilities became the focus of attention, which directly affected the lives of citizens. Without wise policies and effective governance capabilities, the path for Republicans to re-occupy the White House now looks more distant than ever.

A confident Republican party would accept anti-Trump insurgents like Romney and Liz Cheney, but on the contrary, they are abandoning them, and most politicians are still looking at Trumps approval. Trump denies that he lost the last election, which further prevents rational analysis of how Republicans are more competitive in the election, thus locking them in the echo chamber, which has a corrosive effect on effective decision-making.

Perhaps the inspiration may come from the entire Atlantic, and then to another institution in the form of the British Conservative Party. Although it has been in power for 11 years, the party has achieved success in local elections. The Conservative Party, also known as the Conservative Party, has recently suffered from the turmoil caused by the breakup of Brexit. In five years, the party changed its leadership and policies, from the glamorous, fiscally prudent and relatively European close David Cameron (David Cameron) to a stalemate, until Theresa May (Theresa May) stagnation He stopped, and then reached a settlement with the large-spending, booming Boris Johnson, who led the British ruling party to withdraw from the European Union.

Perceiving the changes in the political landscape, after reinventing itself, the neo-conservative party under Johnsons leadership rebounded after losing its majority in May 2017, and rebounded with a majority in parliament in 2019. Now, despite a difficult year in response to the pandemic, the party has achieved further development. The parliamentary by-election was obtained from the former Labor Party stronghold and hundreds of members in the recent local elections.

Johnson did two things. In terms of policy, he took a clear position on Brexit, conducted stricter negotiations on exiting the European Union, and set Brexit as a unity moment. This resonated with many voters who were exhausted by the political deadlock. He is also very agile politically. When the opposition fouled Brexit, the Conservatives were busy parking their tanks in the traditional labor policy arena, increased spending commitments, championed sustainability issues, and injected billions of dollars into the National Health Service (NHS) New funds. The news from the health publisher Nurse pointed out that according to reports, nurses on the left in history are turning to the Conservative Party. This will especially cause problems for labor because it threatens the core vote of the main opposition party. In addition to popular policies, voters also saw the governments ability to provide vaccines and quickly introduced them.

The Conservative Party still needs attention. Compared with Republicans, they face greater differences, and Democrats and Conservatives will have to work hard to maintain their uneasy coalition of supporters from the South and the North. Regardless, Republicans can learn from their political agility and inclusive storytelling.

If Republicans hope to win the presidency again, they must broaden their horizons so that they appear capable of transcending a slogan. This includes investigating the popular policies followed by Democrats, just as the Conservative Party did to the Labour Party. The grassroots of the Republican Party have no intention to share many ideas with the Democratic Party. Therefore, studying the friendly faces on the opposite side of the pond may provide a more palatable template to succeed in the election. If this helps the former Lincoln Party to play down its alarmist, sometimes shameful rhetoric, it will be better for their party, the United States and the world.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial stance.
The United Nations Special Envoy for Libya warned the Security Council that progress on the key issue of the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters from Libya has stalled, and their continued existence poses a threat not only to Libya but also to the North African region.

Jan Kubis said on Friday that the recent disturbing incident in neighboring Chad is a reminder of the link between the security situation in Libya and the security and stability of the region. The rebellion was the chief culprit in the murder of President Idriss Deby last month.

He said: The high mobility of armed groups and terrorists and economic migrants and refugees, usually through channels manipulated by organized criminal networks and other local actors on uncontrolled borders, will only intensify further aggravation in Libya and the region. The risks of turbulence and insecurity, he said.

Kubis said that the United Nations Mission in Libya (known as UNSMI) reported that the continued existence of foreign elements, mercenaries and assets has strengthened the division of Libya.

Since the NATO-backed uprising toppled long-time ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, Libya has fallen into chaos. Armed groups and foreign governments.

In April 2019, with the support of Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the commander Khalifa Haftar and his troops stationed in the east launched an offensive in an attempt to occupy Tripoli. After Turkey strengthened its support for the UN-approved government, his 14-month campaign failed. Turkey provided advanced military equipment, troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries.

The October ceasefire led to the formation of a coalition interim government, which came to power in March. Its task is to convene a divided country and lead the country in the December 24 presidential and parliamentary elections.

Efforts to Build Trust

Regarding the UN arms embargo against Libya, UN experts recently reported that it has been violated. Kubis said the United Nations mission continues to receive reports of weapons and military supplies arriving at military bases in the west, east and south.

He said that UNSMI also continued to receive reports on the establishment of fortifications and defensive positions on the Sirte-Jufrah axis, as well as air force training activities.

Kubis said that UNSMIL also reported that progress in opening a road from the strategic city of Sirte has stalled. Sirte is the gateway to the countrys main oil fields and export terminals.

He warned: Further delays in reopening roads are not conducive to efforts to build trust between the two countries and may undermine efforts to promote the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and promote political transition.

Kubis said the October truce, which required mercenaries and foreign fighters to leave within 90 days, is still being held, but failure to get them to leave may affect Libyas political transition and December elections.

He said: Therefore, it is vital to plan and ensure the orderly departure of foreign fighters, mercenaries and armed groups, as well as their disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in their countries of origin.

Thousands of fighters

The United Nations estimated in December that there are at least 20,000 foreign fighters and mercenaries in Libya, including Syrians, Russians, Sudanese and Chadians. The diplomat said that at an informal council meeting in late April, the spokesperson said there were more than 20,000, including 13,000 Syrians and 11,000 Sudanese.

In mid-April, the Security Council voted to send up to 60 international observers to the UN Political Mission in Libya to monitor the ceasefire and the withdrawal of mercenaries and foreign fighters.

Kubis said that the New York United Nations Secretariat and the Libyan Mission are planning to initially deploy five observers in Tripoli.

He said that the ceasefire agreement requires all military units and armed groups to return to their camps. At the same time, all mercenaries and foreign fighters should also depart from Libya.

Based on this, a limited number of mercenaries were withdrawn to Benghazi [in the east] Tripoli [in the west] Then deport him, and you can start an orderly and orderly withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, combatants and foreign troops, Kubis said.

He said that this method requires a plan and a timetable, and that the foreign forces related to the mercenaries and foreign forces in Libya agree.

Earlier this month, Najla al-Manqoush, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Libyan Provisional Government, called on foreign troops and The mercenaries evacuated.

Cavusoglu replied that the Turkish army in Libya was part of the training agreement reached with the previous government of Libya. He said: Some people equate our legal existence withforeign mercenary groups fighting for money in this country.

On the positive side, Kubis said, The security situation in Libya has been significantly improved, despite the competition between armed militias for influence and access and control of territory and resources from time to time.
FOX Network and TV presenter Jedediah Bila announced on May 21 that they agreed to part ways.

Bila, 42 years old, has been the host of the weekend edition of The New York Times for the past two years Fox and friends.

4 TV anchor Jedediah Bila Credit: Getty

Who is Jedediah Bila?

Before working in broadcast journalism, Bila was a New York City, To teach creative writing, Spanish and improvisation to middle school, high school and college students.

She also served as the academic dean at a private school in The Big Apple.

However, she is widely recognized as the co-host of the ABC daytime talk show landscape.

The TV anchor left Fox News in 2016 and joined The View as a permanent co-host during its 20th season.

4 Jedediah Bila served as the co-host of ABCs The View for two years Credit: Getty

She rejoined Fox News as a writer in 2018 and was appointed as the permanent co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend a year later.

Why did Jedediah Bila leave Fox News?

On May 21st, Fox Television and Bila announced that they had agreed to part ways in two years.

Fox News spokesperson in a people.

The newly appointed Fox & Friends Weekend co-host will be appointed soon.

Bila take it Twitter On May 21, thank her Fox colleagues, who wrote on Twitter: I want to thank the reporters, hosts, writers and producers of Fox News. They have been very happy for the past two years.

4 Since 2019, Bila has been the anchor of Fox & Friends Weekend Edition Credit: Getty

She added: I am deeply grateful to the audience who supported me throughout my journey and hope you can join me on my next adventure. I am very excited about what is coming.

Has Gedia been exposed to coronavirus?

April 2020, Bila tested positive for coronavirus She is a little MIA from Fox Networks.

At that time, Bila shared a picture of herself Instagram And wrote: This is a crazy period, full of too much anxiety and fear.

I have learned a lot in the past week and I have done a lot of thinking. Knowing that I am passing my love, peace and good energy from my family to your family.

4 Bila was exposed to the coronavirus in April 2020 and has since fully recovered Credit: Getty

Killer condensation After the 4-year-old boy was kidnapped and brutally killed, the police arrested him Broken heart The six-year-old said, My stomach hurts because he died after being shot while running at school Morbid seizure A Jew who was brutally beaten in New York recounted the mob chanting Hamas will kill you JEFF GUARDS lied The guard who fell asleep during Epsteins suicide, admitting to lie to check him chest Parents bombarded the school for indiscreetly editing yearbook pictures to cover up childrens breasts Death dumping The 14-year-old girl handed her newborn baby to a stranger in a Mexican restaurant and FLEES

The news anchor added: In the next few weeks, I will share more. Thank you for your information. I love you and miss you. xo.

At the time, the 42-year-old also assured fans that her husband was recovering and their child Hartley luckily not got sick.

Her heart-warming post includes a photo of her eating a slice of orange.
"I hope our legislature, rather than using cities as a talking point to appeal to their base, works with us, as we respect our police, our educators, and our health care establishment to actually make a difference in outcomes for our city and work with us to make Kansas City safer," Mayor Quinton Lucas said, in part.
The day prior, Edwards visited her mother and sister in East Hartford. Hutchinson claimed she left their South Windsor condominium early the next morning and that he had not seen her since. He also told investigators his wife left in another persons car, but police do not believe thats accurate anymore, Cleverdon said.
Muffled screaming, someone crying, and an ax swinging down - these are just some of the sounds that the main characters in 'Voice 4' had to decipher. The show just dropped its newest trailer, and it is, its most blood-chilling yet.

'Voice 4" Drops Another Teaser - Darker than the Rest

With the newest season of the thriller just around the corner, fans are made even more excited every time the show drops an update. This time, a new "Voice 4" teaser is released, and it's truly the best yet, at least for people who love the show and those who love horror films and thrillers.

Check out the trailer below:

This latest teaser for season 4 of "Voice" is so much shorter than the first and the second, but it feels as exciting.

First Two Thrillers Hints Season 4 Twists

It can be recalled that the first one was so much longer and hinted a lot more of what fans can expect when the series is finally released. In the clip, viewers can hear Kang Kwon Joo, the main character played by Lee Ha Na, reliving her past traumas through scary nightmares. Her waking moments are not any better because she's facing a new kind of danger - a posttraumatic stress disorder and a new breed of criminals.

The second teaser, on the other hand, hinted even more. It showed that in this season, Kang Center, headed by Kang Kwon Joo, would be facing some formidable villains - they're not new faces, but the bad guys of the previous season coming back to haunt her.

These are Kim Jae Wook from season one, Kwon Yool in season two, and Park Byung Eun in season three. All three are psycho killers who truly committed their crimes in the most shocking way so viewers cannot forget them.

True fans, however, had to wonder how these characters could even return when they were already dealt with. Kim Jae Wook's character is even reportedly dead already. Fans have to wonder if their return is real or through Kang's hallucinations or nightmares.

The very first season of "Voice" was released back in 2017. It tells of the chilling adventures that an emergency call center gets to have when trying to fight crime using whatever information they can only source from the phone line. The good thing, however, is that the center is led by Miss Kang, who has an uncanny ability to hear things that others cannot.

For three reasons, they fought off small crimes with the help of authorities outside the emergency call center and big crimes involving really psychotic murderers.

Back in March, it was confirmed that both Song Seung Heon and Lee Ha Na would be starring in "Voice 4." There's going to a new murderer in town though, but this time, he has the same ability as Kang Kwon Joo, so that poses a great challenge for the team.

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news and updates, keep your tabs open here at Kdramastars.

Kdramastars owns this article.

Written by Annie Dee.
Korean drama "Taxi Driver" featuring Lee Je Hoon and Esom continues its dominance as it remains the strong Friday evening program.

According to Nielsen Korea, the SBS drama garnered a recorded nationwide rating of 14.4 percent while 15.6 percent in the metropolitan area.

With this, "Taxi Driver" viewership rating marked a total of 16.7 percent, making the crime mystery drama the highest Friday program rating.

"Taxi Driver" Episode 13 Recap: A Visit to the Bahamas Embassy

The Rainbow Taxi team is now looking for a new plan to gather all the criminals they handed over to Paradise Credit Chairman Baek Sung Mi (Cha Ji Yeon.)

To recall, the lady boss tricked Jang Sung Chul (Kim Eui Sung) and Kim Do Ki (Lee Je Hoon) after the group fell into the trap of Chairman Baek.

Despite her move to sabotage the Rainbow Taxi group in order to save one of his men, Do Ki managed to track Goo Yeong Tae (Lee Ho Chul), who is hiding at the Bahamas Embassy.

He infiltrated the foreign embassy by creating a commotion.

There, he found the wounded Yeong Tae and took him in a pre-set camouflage ambulance with the help of Ahn Go Eun ( Pyo Ye Jin) and Choi Kyung Goo (Jang Hyuk Jin.)

Mr. Jang's Deal with Chairman Baek

With Yeong Tae held captive by the Rainbow Taxi team, Mr. Jang made a deal with Chairman Baek in exchange for the criminals--who were the suspects on the group's previous missions.

Unfortunately, Baek Sung Mi had the idea of using the prisoners to get revenge against Do Ki's group.

Upon the trade, Prosecutor Kang Ha Na (Esom) appeared at the scene and told Do Ki that they would take care of Yeong Tae's case.

A police officer also arrested Do Ki for aiding and assisting a criminal.

During the investigation, team leader Park Dong Pil (Heo Jeong Do) accused the deluxe taxi driver of concealing the criminal without consulting the prosecution; however, Kang Ha Na insisted that he is her informant.

This alibi was doubted by the head of the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office, Jo Jin Woo (Yoo Seung Mok), who was suspicious of Kim Do Ki's involvement with their case.

The Revenge of the Criminals

"Taxi Driver" episode 13 also showed how the criminals took their much-awaited revenge against their previous victims and the Rainbow Taxi group.

It came after Ahn Go Eun received a call from Kang Maria (Jo In) saying that she saw Jo Jong Geun (Song Deok Ho) at the factory.

In her attempt to save Kang Maria, she went to the jeotal factory all by herself but was abducted by the criminals alongside Kang Maria.

Unfortunately, this is only the start of their revenge against Do Ki. Together with Chairman Baek, the group took over Mr. Jang's house, threatening the lives of him and Choi Kyung Goo.

Luckily, Park Jin Eon (Bae Yoo Ram), who was in the basement, managed to escape.

During her conversation with the Rainbow Taxi boss, Baek Sung Mi believed that Mr. Jang and Do Ki tipped the police about Goo Yeong Tae.

At this time, Do Ki already knew that his colleagues were in danger. At the police station, he insisted Kang Ha Na let her leave the vicinity with a promise of telling her about the syndicate's big boss.

With hopes to save his colleagues, Mr. Jang went to Rainbow Taxi's hideout together with Park Jin Eon, where Chairman Baek's men were waiting for him.

Surprisingly, he single-handedly took down all the gang members as he tried to save Mr. Jang, Choi Kyung Goo, and Go Eun.





KDramastars owns this article.

Written by Geca Wills
White House officials on Friday presented a counteroffer to Republican lawmakers on their infrastructure and jobs package that reduced the size of the proposal from $2.25 trillion to $1.7 trillion, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

The revised proposal reduced the funding request for broadband to match the offer put forward by Republicans and shifted investments in roads, bridges and other projects out of the proposal and into other legislation in order to come closer to the roughly $600 billion Republican counterproposal.

Psaki suggested the corporate tax hikes remained in the counteroffer and reiterated President Joe Biden's belief that the wealthiest Americans and corporations can afford a modest tax hike in order to "to pay for middle class jobs."

A team -- including counselor to the President Steve Ricchetti, White House director of legislative affairs Louisa Terrell, National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg -- presented the counterproposal to Republican lawmakers over video conference at a meeting that started shortly before 1 p.m. ET on Friday.

"In our view, this is the act, the art, I should say, of seeking common ground," Psaki told reporters at a White House briefing.

Psaki said full details of the counterproposal would be made available after the meeting between the White House officials and lawmakers had concluded.

"The counteroffer also reflects our view that the Republican offer excludes entirely some proposals that are key to our competitiveness, key to investments in clean energy and industries of the future and rebuilding our workforce, including critical investments in our power sector, building and construction, workforce training, veterans hospital construction, and the care economy," Psaki said.

Psaki continued: "So we push for increased funding levels for critical transportation infrastructure like rail, especially considering China's level of investment in such projects, as well as the elimination of lead pipes that poisoned drinking water and resilience projects as extreme weather events, as we've seen around the country, continue to become more common as a result of climate change."

This story is breaking and will be updated with additional information.
GRESHAM, Ore.  The plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit targeting Governor Kate Brown's authority to extend the coronavirus emergency said on Friday that their request to obtain a temporary restraining order has been denied in federal court.

Stan Pullium  the Mayor of Sandy, Oregon and a potential Republican candidate for governor in 2022  championed the lawsuit, publicly announcing it on May 3. Pulliam has positioned himself as a vocal critic of Brown's coronavirus mandates.

The suit itself was filed on behalf of several groups: the parent group Oregon Moms Union, business coalition Heart of Main Street, and restaurant owner Melissa Adams. Pulliam's wife, MacKensey, is the co-founder and spokesperson for Oregon Moms Union.

"The judiciary spoke today, and although we disagree with the opinion, we respect the separation of powers unlike our current governor," said MacKensey Pulliam in a statement. "This lawsuit is not over. We will continue the fight to get our businesses fully open, and children back to school five-full days a week to let their recovery from the abusive lockdown begin.

According to the plaintiffs, the federal court determined that Oregon Moms Union did not have standing, approving a motion from the Governor's attorneys to dismiss the request for a temporary restraining order "despite the Oregon Moms Union being an organization supported by nearly 400 parents from over 40 school districts across Oregon."

If granted, the temporary restraining order likely would have suspended, at least for a short time, the majority of Governor Brown's coronavirus-related executive orders while the case proceeded. Now the case will go forward without any impediment to the current framework.

While Kate Brown and her cohorts pat themselves on the back for this ruling, here's what they're really celebrating, said Melissa Adams, who owns Spud Monkeys Bar in Gresham. 1,200 Oregon businesses shut down forever. Thousands of Oregonians who have lost their jobs due to lockdowns. And a generation of children left behind because they were forced into isolation, underachievement and depression."

Stan Pulliam characterized the setback as a result of Brown's legal team arguing "technicalities," and asserting that schools and restaurants remain potential vector of COVID-19 spread as a justification of her emergency order.

After over a year and a half of these emergency lockdowns these small business owners, their employees, and our children deserve much better than this ruling today," said Pulliam. "The idea that an organization of parents from throughout Oregon lacks standing in the education of their children is exactly why Oregon ranks nearly last in every statistical category for education.

Governor Brown last extended Oregon's state of emergency at the end of April, stretching it to late June. She's said in multiple press conferences since then that most of the guidelines and restrictions tied to the emergency order will be lifted by then, if not earlier. The state of emergency serves as the legal underpinning for various executive orders related to the pandemic.
A 10-acre site in downtown Westbank, shown in grey, currently is the location of George Pringle elementary. Under plans unveiled Friday, the existing building would be demolished and a new high school built on the property, to open in September 2025.
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If it is something that is covered under the PRT umbrella then we would be able to do something with that, Terry said.

Wisconsin Dells and Lake Delton are scheduled to receive an estimated $295,000 in federal funds from the American Rescue Plan. Wisconsin Dells portion is split between three counties with the city overlapping into Sauk, Columbia and Adams County. No city residents live in the Juneau County portion of Wisconsin Dells, which is why that portion of funding is at zero dollars, Terry said.

Columbia Countys portion of Wisconsin Dells has the highest amount of funding at over $266,000.

Terry the city has not yet received the federal funds. Based on guidance shes received, Terry is waiting for the state to receive the money to disperse to every municipality in the state thats eligible to receive funds. Once the state receives the funds, it has 30 days to give it to the municipalities. Shes expecting the city might receive the money in one lump sum rather than being split over two years due to the population of the city.

Follow Erica Dynes on Twitter @EDynes_CapNews or contact her at 608-393-5346.

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Since this is a pending personnel matter involving a district employee, our practice is not to publicly discuss the specific facts and circumstances. However, we can confirm that Ms. Davis has been notified that her services are no longer needed by the Board of Education, the statement reads, according to the outlet. We take these allegations very seriously and are committed to the safety and well-being of our students as our first priority.
Hopkinsville, KY (42240)

Today

Some passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

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Some passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 72F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
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Last summer, Anna Ramsey suffered a flare-up of juvenile dermatomyositis, a rare autoimmune condition, posing a terrifying prospect for the Los Angeles resident: She might have to undergo chemotherapy, further compromising her immune system during a pandemic.

After an agonizing three-day wait, the results of a blood test came back in her online patient portal  but she didnt understand them. As hours passed, Ramsey bit her nails and paced. The next day, she gave in and emailed her doctor, who responded with an explanation and a plan.

For Ramsey, now 24, instant access to her test results had been a mixed blessing. If theres something Im really nervous about, she said, then I want interpretations and answers with the result. Even if it takes a few days longer.

On April 5, a federal rule went into effect that requires health care providers to give patients like Ramsey electronic access to their health information without delay upon request, at no cost. Many patients may now find their doctors clinical notes, test results and other medical data posted to their electronic portal as soon as they are available.

Advocates herald the rule as a long-awaited opportunity for patients to control their data and health.

This levels the playing field, said Jan Walker, co-founder of OpenNotes, a group that has pushed for providers to share notes with patients. A decade ago, the medical record belonged to the physician.

But the rollout of the rule has hit bumps, as doctors learn that patients might see information before they do. Like Ramsey, some patients have felt distressed when seeing test results dropped into their portal without a physicians explanation. And doctors groups say they are confused and concerned about whether the notes of adolescent patients who dont want their parents to see sensitive information can be exempt  or if they will have to breach their patients trust.

Patients have long had a legal right to their medical records but often have had to pay fees, wait weeks or sift through reams of paper to see them.

The rule aims not only to remove these barriers, but also to enable patients to access their health records through smartphone apps, and prevent health care providers from withholding information from other providers and health IT companies when a patient wants it to be shared. Privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, which limit sharing of personal health information outside a clinic, remain in place, although privacy advocates have warned that patients who choose to share their data with consumer apps will put their data at risk.

Studies have shown numerous benefits of note sharing. Patients who read their notes understand more about their health, better remember their treatment plan and are more likely to stick to their medication regimen. Non-white, older or less educated patients report even greater benefits than others.

For Sarah Ford, 34, of Pittsburgh, who has multiple sclerosis, reading her doctors notes helps her make the most of each visit and feel informed.

I dont like going into the office and feeling like I dont know whats going to happen, she said. If she wants to try a new medication or treatment, reading previous notes helps her prepare to discuss it with her doctor, she said.

The new rule will have less impact on Ford and the more than 50 million patients in the U.S. whose doctors had already made their notes available to patients before the rule kicked in. However, only about a third of patients with access to secure online health portals were using them.

While most doctors who have shared notes with patients think its a good idea, the policy has drawbacks. One recent study found that half of doctors reported writing their notes less candidly after they were opened to patients.

Another study, published in February, found that 1 in 10 patients had ever felt offended or judged after reading a note. The studys lead author, Dr. Leonor Fernandez, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, said there is a legacy of certain ways of expressing things in medicine that didnt really take into account how it reads when youre a patient.

Maybe we can rethink some of these, she said, citing the phrase patient admits to drinking two glasses of wine a day as an example. Why not just write two glasses of wine a day?

UC San Diego Health started phasing in open notes to patients in 2018 and removed a delay in the release of lab results last year. Overall, said Dr. Brian Clay, chief medical information officer, both have been uneventful. Most patients are agnostic, some are super-jazzed, and a few are distressed or have lots of questions and are communicating with us a lot, he said.

There are exceptions to the requirement to release patient data, such as psychotherapy notes and notes that could harm a patient or someone else if released.

Dr. David Bell, president of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine, believes its unclear exactly what qualifies as substantial harm to a patient  the standard that must be met for doctors to withhold an adolescent patients notes from a parent. Clarity, he said, is especially important to protect teenagers living in states with less restrictive laws on parental access to medical records.

Most electronic medical records are not equipped to segregate sensitive pieces from other information that might be useful for a parent in managing their childs health, he added.

Some doctors say receiving devastating test results without counseling can traumatize patients. Dr. James Kenealy, an ear, nose and throat doctor in central Massachusetts, said a positive cancer biopsy result for one of his patients was automatically pushed to his portal over the weekend, blindsiding both. You can give bad news, but if you have a plan and explain, theyre much better off, he said.

Such incidents arent affecting the majority of patients, but theyre not rare, said Dr. Jack Resneck Jr., an American Medical Association board trustee. The AMA is advocating for tweaks to the rule, he said, like allowing brief delays in releasing results for a few of the highest-stakes tests, like those diagnosing cancer, and more clarity on whether the harm exception applies to adolescent patients who might face emotional distress if their doctor breached their trust by sharing sensitive information with their parents.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, the federal agency overseeing the rule, responded in an email that it has heard these concerns, but has also heard from clinicians that patients value receiving this information in a timely fashion, and that patients can decide whether they want to look at results once they receive them or wait until they can review them with their doctor. It added that the rule does not require giving parents access to protected health information if they did not already have that right under HIPAA.

Patient advocate Cynthia Fisher believes there should be no exceptions to immediately releasing results, noting that many patients want and need test results as soon as possible, and that delays can lead to worse health outcomes. Instead of facing long wait times to discuss diagnoses with their doctors, she said, patients can now take their results elsewhere. We cant assume the consumer is ignorant and unresourceful, she said.

In the meantime, hospitals and doctors are finding ways to adapt, and their tactics could have lasting implications for patient knowledge and physician workload. At Massachusetts General Hospital, a guide for patients on how to interpret medical terminology in radiology reports is being developed, said Dr. William Mehan, a neuroradiologist.

An internal survey run after radiology results became immediately available to patients found that some doctors were monitoring their inbox after hours in case results arrived. Burnout has come up in this conversation, Mehan said.

Some electronic health records enable doctors to withhold test results at the time they are ordered, said Jodi Daniel, a partner at the law firm Crowell & Moring. Doctors who can do this could ask patients whether they want their results released immediately or if they want their doctor to communicate the result, assuming they meet certain criteria for exceptions under the rule, she said.

Chantal Worzala, a health technology policy consultant, said more is to come. There will be a lot more conversation about the tools that individuals want and need in order to access and understand their health information, she said.

Sarah Kwon is a correspondent, Kaiser Health News.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Officers working a closing shift at a bar nearby heard the gunfire break out and immediately raced toward what they called an exceptionally chaotic scene. By the time they arrived, two people had already been fatally shot.
COOS COUNTY, Ore.  Authorities are looking for a man suspected of setting a house on fire in Coos County on Friday.

Residents of a home in the Barview district of Charleston called dispatch at about 2:30 a.m. reporting their house was on fire.

Firefighters with the Charleston and Coos Bay fire departments arrived to the 91200 block of Cape Arago Highway and rescued one of the residents from the upper story of the home.

Fire officials suspected arson due to the odor of fire accelerants around the home. The Oregon State Fire Marshal and investigators from Oregon State Police responded, as well as the Coos County Sheriffs Office.

Security cameras on the come captured video of the suspect. Authorities say the mans face is not visible, but he is described as husky and wearing a hoody.

If you have any information about the suspect or the fire, contact the sheriffs office at 541-396-2106.
ROSEBURG, Ore.  Two long-time summer traditions are back in Douglas County this summer: the Douglas County Fair and Music on the Half Shell.

Both events were canceled last year due to COVID-19 restrictions.

Organizers of the Douglas County Fair told KEZI 9 News that people can expect to see everything they love about the event, including the carnival, fair food, vendors, 4-H and FFA events and live music.

However, fairgrounds director Dan Hults said there will be some changes. For one, there will be no national music acts in order to prevent the gathering of large crowds.

Hults also said there may be fewer vendor and food booths because they will be spacing things out to allow for social distancing.

Were hoping to doll it up and make it as presentable as possible to the public, so when they come in they can have a good time and enjoy the fair, said Hults.

Right now, Hults said these plans are not final. As COVID-19 restrictions continue to change, he said they will adjust.

Some Douglas County residents said they are excited the fair is back because it brings back some normalcy more than a year into the pandemic.

Im excited, said Emily Smith. My family really likes going. My kids love to see the animals, and my big kids love the rides. So were really excited.

As for Music on the Half Shell, organizers said they got the OK from the city, the county and public health officials to hold the event because it is an outdoor venue. However, they said they will have a shortened line-up this year.

They said things will look pretty similar to years past, and they hope people to follow COVID-19 protocols, depending on whether they are vaccinated or not.

Everybody has their own comfort level. You know people are going to do what theyre comfortable with. Now that everyone has access to vaccinations, it really uncomplicates things a lot, said Music on the Half Shell president Clint Newell.

However, some Douglas County residents said they still have concerns people will not follow the rules.

There are definitely some people that are probably going to show up there without a vaccine, maybe without a mask, said Brent Rieger. So it could be a concern. But I think for the people who are doing everything right, its probably a good thing to get into the groove of doing normal stuff again.

The Douglas County Fair is slated for August 4 to 7, and the first concert for Music on the Half Shell will be on July 6.
EUGENE, Ore. -- Currently, 62 percent of Lane Countys population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. Thats just three percent away from passing the threshold that allows Lane County to move into the low-risk category.

"We're seeing some people who maybe were hesitant at first, but now they're really excited and they're happy to be here to get their vaccine," said Paula Tomczak, Lane County Public Health's communicable disease supervisor.

According to public health officials, 10,005 more people people across Lane County need to get their first shot to meet the 65 percent goal set by Gov. Kate Brown.

But there has been a dramatic slowdown in the number of shots being given.

"There are many reasons why somebody might not choose to get the vaccine at this moment and were hopeful people choose to get the vaccine to protect themselves and friends, families and the community," Tomczak said.

One month ago, at least 2,000 people were getting vaccinated at each of the countys three mass vaccination sites every day they were operating. Jason Davis, a spokesperson for Lane County Public Health, said the amount of people getting vaccinated throughout the county every week has dropped by about 50 percent over the past month.

At this time, Lane County has already closed its mass vaccination site at Lane Community College and plans to close the site at the Fairgrounds after a clinic tomorrow. That will leave Autzen stadium as the only remaining site, meaning the county will be giving out significantly fewer shots through its mass vaccination efforts.

Davis also said there was a boost in vaccinations once children between the ages of 12 and 15 became eligible, but while he said its important this group gets vaccinated, they do not count towards the countys race to reach 65 percent.

Its going to be close, but theres a 50/50 shot Lane County reaches the 65 percent before the next time the governor announces changes to county risk levels on Tuesday, Davis said. The county has already submitted its vaccine equity plan to the state.

Davis also noted the slight discrepency between the percentage of Lane County's population OHA lists as having received at least one dose and the county's numbers. He said that's a result of the Oregon Health Authority not including about 4,000 doses administered through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. Those doses will be included in Lane County's effort to vaccinate 65 percent of its population.
Speaking at the launch last week of the Lean and Green; Macra na Feirmes vision on the Green Architecture of CAP post-2023 document, Macra National President Thomas Duffy stated the importance of a clear vision for the environmental elements of the next CAP.

This is something we must be proactive about, young farmers will be affected by this reform for years to come, said Macra President Duffy, but young farmers also need to be put at the fore of all future environmental measures. The greater value for money is with practice change at the start of farming careers, he added.

The document lays out Macra na Feirmes position on elements such as much debated eco-schemes with a focus on their design and includes examples such as hedgerow habitat protection measures and carbon-reducing measures such as milk recording which identify suitable animals for breeding.

Farmers are rightfully worried about the impact of the next CAP on their income. Regardless of where the final contribution to eco-schemes ends up between 20% and 30%, the key will be that they are practical and achievable measures without additional costs or loss of land, so these are accessible to all farmers, said Macra President Duffy.

The issue of low uptake of environmental schemes by both young farmers and more highly stocked farms must be addressed.

Macra na Feirme has proposed greater payment limits for young farmers and partnerships including young farmers, along with schemes more suitable to co-exist with highly productive agriculture.

We looked at the common features on all farms, it was clear from our consultations that young farmers want to protect hedgerows and watercourses so our recommended designs would focus on these, said Agricultural Affairs Chair Shane Fitzgerald.

These features dont impact on productive farms and deliver a lot for climate, water quality and species, he added.

Renewing Macra na Feirmes position in relation to multi-annual schemes, results-based methodology should be the focus of future environmental scheme design.

Macra na Feirme has called for the level of support available under these schemes to be significantly increased.

To address the disconnect between schemes and regulations Macra na Feirme has called for greater integration between eco-schemes and multi-annual schemes.

We have been clear that the future for environmental schemes must be results-based, numerous projects show that this approach works for farmers but now it needs to be scaled up. The issue is these schemes need proper funding, we havent seen that in REAP. We need real ambition here and proper payment ceilings, finished President Duffy.
I have lived alone for much of my life, and often in very isolated places.

However, I have never felt lonely or unhappy due to the fact that I have no people to talk to or that my friends arent around; therefore, I question the official definition of solitude (right). In fact, the only time I can remember feeling isolated was when I was living in the most populous metropolitan area in the world: Tokyo, a city of 11 million people when I worked there in the early 1990s.

At times I missed home, yes, especially when I worked as au pair in America at the age of 16. But that was because I had been reared in a house of 11 kids and then suddenly, I was living in a foreign country, usually alone with a strangers baby.

Of course, this being 1986, mobile phones and Wi-Fi were just twinkles in engineers eyes, so my mother phoned my host familys home periodically.

When I told the weekly cleaner, an old woman, that I was expecting a phone call from my mother, she said in shock: You have phones in Ireland? These exorbitantly expensive calls were supplemented occasionally when we managed to co-ordinate a sneaky reversed charge call to a public phone box in Kilkenny.

When I was 18 I worked on a sheep station, as theyre called, in the Australian Northern Territory desert where the flock roamed 60,000 acres. And this was my bosss smallest of three farms. The animals were checked a few times a year by professional cowboys.

HOME SWEET HOME

I had no radio or television there, and unfortunately for me, I wouldnt discover the joy of reading or writing for another decade.

But whatever country I lived in my mother used to send me the Kilkenny People a few times a year. She stuffed bars of Cadburys chocolate inside, and these were pure liquid when I received them in the 50-plus degree heat.

One summer day my sister Stella came to visit en route across Australia. Unbeknownst to me she went for a jog in the relative cool of the following dawn. As soon as she turned for home, she got lost; there were no fences or landmarks in sight, just desert scrub.

Back at the ranch, I told the station hands that my sister had disappeared, along with the new runners that she had proudly shown me the night before.

Immediately the workers radioed other farms in the vast region in order to form four large search parties on pick-up trucks.

The cowboys and Aboriginal trackers found Stella at two oclock the next morning, in good shape, apart from being very thirsty and sunburned. She was also barefoot because she had thrown away her new runners during the boiling afternoon, in a pact with God to reject consumerism if He let her live.

THE JOYS OF ISOLATION

Twenty years later, and on the polar opposite side of the globe, I spent six wintery months on the isle of Iona in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. I was caretaker of a mostly closed hostel that had no mobile or even radio reception.

The island pub opened for two hours every Thursday night for the 60 winter residents. I went a couple of times and sat quietly with the few locals who had ventured out that week.

Today, in this pandemic I live on the outskirts of a near-deserted Spanish coastal village hours from a city or airport. I venture outside of the housing estate twice weekly to stock up on food and to do sports. But I have full access to the world online, so I never feel isolated or lonely.Carl Jung, the Swiss psychologist, said that introverts turn to their own minds to recharge, while extroverts seek out other people for their energy needs.

Solitude is what I seek out most of the time. It calms me and gives me time to think about life and to create stories. But every so often, I crave the fizzing spontaneity of socialising. I suspect Im whats called an extroverted introvert.

Sheep, dog, laptop - the multi-tasking Suzanna Crampton hard at work on her farm in Kilkenny

Suzanna Crampton is an environmental farmer, blanket designer and author at Maiden Hall in Kilkenny. I asked her about the place of solitude in her life:

I breathe in solitude, but am vibrant in company to the point of joyous over-enthusiasm, she said. I thrive on good conversations; though there are times in a crowded room that I need to escape for air.

Solitude is important to me as I conjure up words to express something visual or emotional.

If Im interrupted I can lose a worded thread and get quite cross by the disruption. This is when I might pause and possessively type into my phone what I had just composed.

Every Saturday afternoon I virtually meet to chat, write and read with members of the Irish Writers Centre group, Inkies.

Many are Dublin based, others are scattered around Ireland, and several of us are abroad. I chatted with Fiachra, originally from Dublin but living in the US, about solitude and creativity.

DISTRACTION KILLS CREATIVITY

How can you write and get distracted? Fiachra asked. John Banville apologised to his family and friends for not being there.

Recently my wife and I headed South to Florida for two months. I mostly stayed in and either wrote or read and this was my most productive time.

Another fellow-Inkies member, Aoife Loy, lives in Wicklow. As an introvert, she finds solitude essential.

Before lockdown, I often experienced burn-out as a result of being too busy to allow myself quiet-time, she said. Saying that youre an introvert can still be met with nonplussed expressions - irritation even - as though youve just announced that youve got no social skills, or youre just shy, underconfident and need to be pulled out of your shell.

To me, it means that I find being alone important to recharge and to feel energised  others might get that from socialising, she added. If Im distracted, I generally wont find that unthinking flow state.



Elaine Reardon (above) lives in a forest in rural Massachusetts where deer, coyotes porcupines and bears share her yard.

My most creative time is in the morning and I like to be alone, she said. In my art group, its fun to paint together, and we can commiserate and critique, but its not a place to get a large amount done, and the chat always knocks me out of my creative space.

Music and natural sounds are fine, she added. Our writing group, Inkies, feeds my soul. When Im not alone, I wont create, or I do it badly.

Our language  has created the word loneliness to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word solitude to express the glory of being alone.

- Paul Tillich, The Eternal Now

Heloisa Prieto is a Brazilian author in our group.

I am an introvert, she said. I enjoy quiet hours, but I also like to speak to my readers, so my life is divided between quiet moments and lots of literary encounters, and I enjoy them both.

My great grandmother was born in Bilbao in the Basque Country and when she settled in Brazil, she had 14 children. So, we had lots of parties and conversations with my fathers side of the family.

When I left home and began writing professionally, I sometimes felt the need to go to coffee shops to hear people chatting; initially I couldnt concentrate in the quiet.

Some years ago, I met a Japanese zen master and author, Dosho Saikawa. We became great friends and he invited me to meditate for hours at his temple here, in Sao Paulo. I learned to enjoy the communicative silence that happens when people stay together without speaking.

When the pandemic hit last year, I had been writing, what I hope will become my first novel, but it soon became impossible for me to concentrate on fiction.

Instead, I turned to journalism to help me to process and share the trials and tribulations that so many of us were feeling. Six months in, I realised that the pandemic wasnt going away any time soon and that I was powerless to change that. And then I gave myself permission to return my focus to personal fulfilment.

Soon I managed the right balance of creativity and productivity, with the added bonus of taking up new group outdoor activities.

I asked my writing friends how the pandemic was affecting their creativity.

I thought about my great grandmother a lot, because she often told me about how she had survived the Spanish Flu, said Heloisa. As a child, I was taught never to take anything for granted because, according to her death can take one away any time at all, so her teachings helped me to cope.

My writing kept on flowing as usual, and our online writing workshops were truly inspiring.

Suzanna has had more ups than downs over the past year.

My photos and videos improved as I tried to give people a visual place to escape to from their urban life during the lockdowns  a view of natural country life via my YouTube channel, she said.

I was lambing in March 2020 and had the highest number of bottle-fed lambs ever. So, I decided to video my feeding them every day. This was so successful I am now earning a small income from my YouTube channel, Zwartbles Ireland.

Initially my writing suffered because I couldnt get into that comfortable internal space of the unknown in order to be creative. I have since managed to grasp that mental nettle and am writing again; much to the relief of my agent and editors.

Aoife found that the pandemic had a positive effect on her creativity.

Before 2020, I was very distracted, and I was juggling a lot, she admitted. Being forced to strip life back to the bare minimum has allowed me to spend more time reading and writing, which I had never carved out a lot of time for before. I find creativity cathartic and a great escape from these uncertain times.

Despite the isolation, Cathy celebrated the virtual premiere of her first play, Panic Stations

I wonder now what exactly I did all day during my unplugged periods of self-imposed isolation in the past. I imagine that those quiet and slow stints in my life would be unbearable, or even inconceivable to people who complain about todays lockdown restrictions, despite their unlimited data, movies, and newsfeeds.

I once heard an author say that they were a world champion at middle-distance staring. I am certainly a contender in that contest.

OFFLINE DOWNTIME

Loneliness is a lack of something; solitude is where we meet ourselves, devoid of the layers and dynamics that we naturally adopt in others company.

Its an essential space and time where we process, reboot, and de-stress, where we dream and create. Its a gift that is impossible to utilise when surrounded by chatter, whether that be in real-time or online.

Solitude is your patient friend, waiting to offer you solace.

Follow Cathys blog on Facebook Blog: @CathyHoganSurvivingCoronavirusSpain or on twitter: @cathyshogan
Cartoon Saloon's Wolfwalkers won four awards, including Best Irish Feature, at the Irish Animation Awards which was broadcast online last night and hosted by Irish TV and radio star Baz Ashmawy.

The Oscar-nominated animation studio also picked up two awards for their animated kids series, Dorg Van Dango.

Animation Ireland chief executive Ronan McCabe, said: This was the most competitive year any of us have ever seen at the Irish Animation Awards. It has never been harder to win an Irish Animation Award and judging by the way the animation industry is growing in Ireland, it isnt going to get any easier next time. Its really heartening to see that the sector has continued to produce outstanding work and that the future remains bright for Irish animation. As with every other year, the 2021 Irish Animation Awards is a time to celebrate the strength and vibrancy of the sector.

Animation Irelands fourth awards ceremony acknowledges and celebrates the outstanding creative talent we have within the Irish Animation, VFX and gaming industries.
Irish people who wish to volunteer in Europe and their own country can now apply for a programme that will help and support them.

MEPs in the European Parliament have voted to approve the EUs new volunteering programme - the European Solidarity Corps.

Volunteering activities include helping rebuild communities devastated by earthquake or floods, supporting asylum seekers or refugees and working with those with disabilities.

The 2021 to 2027 European Solidarity Corps is worth more than one billion euro and will be a significant upgrade in the value it provides for volunteers compared with previous iterations of the programme. The new Corps features improvements to the insurance policy and health and safety guarantees covered by the programme, as well as increased requirements for hosts to ensure a meaningful learning experience for participants.

Since its launch in December 2016, there are now more than 10,000 young people active in projects since December 2016, which includes 150 from Ireland.

Ireland South MEP Deirdre Clune said: This programme creates opportunities for young people, including those in Ireland to support communities and individuals in need. Young people across Ireland, through this fund can lend a helping hand where it is needed. They will also gain invaluable experience. They will also be supported by an established programme should they wish to undertake volunteering activities. This programme will allow people to volunteer in a structured way.

MEP Clune welcomes the news that this year the programme has expanded and developed to allow participation of people with fewer opportunities and a higher age limit for volunteers in humanitarian aid. Also this new programme will allow people to be able to volunteer in their own country. Additional financial support and support measures, such as general and language training, insurance, and administrative assistance, will be made available to better cater for the specific needs of those with fewer opportunities.

Projects eligible for funding from the Solidarity Corps range from volunteering projects and partnerships to traineeships and jobs, in areas such as protecting European cultural heritage, fostering the social inclusion of people with fewer opportunities and tackling environmental and climate challenges.
Parents or legal guardians of students who decide to take yoga classes need to provide the school with a written statement saying that they understand that yoga is part of the Hinduism religion, and that they give their child permission to participate in yoga instruction in school.
Netflix has released the details of all the new shows, documentaries and movies arriving to the streaming platform just in time for the weekend.

Grab some popcorn and snacks and let the long weekend begin!

Army of the Dead

Following a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas, a group of mercenaries take the ultimate gamble, venturing into the quarantine zone to pull off the greatest heist ever attempted.

Army of the Dead takes place following a zombie outbreak that has left Las Vegas in ruins and walled off from the rest of the world. When Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a displaced Vegas local, former zombie war hero whos flipping burgers on the outskirts of the town he now calls home, is approached by casino boss Bly Tanaka (Hiroyuki Sanada), its with the ultimate proposition: Break into the zombie-infested quarantine zone to retrieve $200 million sitting in a vault beneath the strip before the city is nuked by the government in 32 hours.

Driven by the hope that the payoff could help pave the way to a reconciliation with his estranged daughter Kate (Ella Purnell), Ward takes on the challenge, assembling a ragtag team of experts for the heist. With a ticking clock, a notoriously impenetrable vault, and a smarter, faster horde of Alpha zombies closing in, only one things for certain in the greatest heist ever attempted: survivors take all.

Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous: Season 3

Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous follows a group of six teenagers chosen for a once-in-a-lifetime experience at a new adventure camp on the opposite side of Isla Nublar. The campers uncover more details of Dr. Wus secret research and must quickly take their fate into their own hands with a dangerous plan to leave Isla Nublar behind for good. But when a tropical storm delays their departure, a lethal new threat quickly closes in on the campers, placing their escape, as well as their lives, in extreme peril.

Special: Season 2

Special is a distinctive and uplifting series about a gay man, Ryan, with mild cerebral palsy who decides to rewrite his identity and finally go after the life he wants

Now semi-estranged from his mother, Ryan continues exploring the world on his own, with all the complex ups and downs life and love have to offer. Ryan really needs to get his shit together. It's been two months and he still hasn't spoken to Karen since their fight and he has a gnarly case of writer's block that's getting him in hot water with Olivia. Enter Tanner, a fun, flirty dance instructor who charms Ryan despite not being totally available.

When his writer's block eventually lifts, he's inspired to write a longform piece about disability. From there, he begins a journey of self-discovery that creates unexpected complications.

Master of None - (23/5/2021)

The Emmy Award-winning Master of None returns with a new season that chronicles the relationship of Denise and her partner Alicia. This new season is a modern love story that intimately illustrates the ups and downs of marriage, struggles with fertility, and personal growth both together and apart. Fleeting romantic highs meet crushing personal losses while existential questions of love and living are raised.

Bridesmaids

Kristen Wiig leads the cast as Annie, a maid of honour whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colourful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love.

Notting Hill

William Thacker (Hugh Grant) is a London bookstore owner whose humdrum existence is thrown into romantic turmoil when famous American actress Anna Scott (Julia Roberts) appears in his shop. A chance encounter over spilled orange juice leads to a kiss that blossoms into a full-blown affair. As the average bloke and glamorous movie star draw closer and closer together, they struggle to reconcile their radically different lifestyles in the name of love.

Fifty Shades of Grey

Fifty Shades of Grey is the film adaptation of the bestselling book that became a global phenomenon. Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan), a wealthy businessman and a naive college student engage in an intense relationship marked by the exploration of erotic extremes.

Jaws

When an insatiable great white shark terrorises Amity Island, a police chief, an oceanographer, and a grizzled shark hunter seek to destroy the beast

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang

When Nanny McPhee arrives at the Green farm, she uses magic and discipline to help frazzled Mrs Green run things while her husband fights in the war

The Nutty Professor

Humiliated while trying to impress a pretty grad student, portly professor Sherman Klump takes a massive dose of his new weight loss potion

Shark Tale

In this animated tale, a small fish with big aspirations and a great white shark with a surprising secret form an unlikely friendship
AUSTIN, Minn.  A man accused of setting a string of dumpster fires is pleading guilty.

Christopher Eric Oleson, 20 of Austin, was arrested in February and charged with second-degree arson and two counts of third-degree arson. The Austin Police Department says between February 1 and February 10, Oleson started dumpster fires at Huffman Flooring, Ankenys gas station, and Jims MarketPlace Foods.

Court documents state the fires caused around $3,300 in damage.

Oleson has now pleaded guilty to one count of third-degree arson. His sentencing is scheduled for August 5 in Mower County District Court.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS) - Standardized tests are returning to the nations schools this spring, but millions of students will face shorter exams that carry lower stakes, and most families are being given the option to forgo testing entirely.

With new flexibility from the Biden administration, states are adopting a patchwork of testing plans that aim to curb the stress of exams while still capturing some data on student learning. The lenient approach means large swaths of students will go untested, shattering hopes for a full picture of how much learning has been set back by the pandemic.

We will end up with a highly imperfect set of data, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington. This is something our country will have to commit to tracking and learning about for at least the next few years, and maybe the next decade.

Some of the nations largest districts plan to test only a fraction of their students as many continue to learn remotely. In New York City, students must opt in to be tested this year. In Los Angeles, most students are not being asked to take state exams this year. Other districts are scaling back questions or testing in fewer subjects.

It's the latest episode in a long-fought battle over school testing and, as in the past, parents are polarized. Some are demanding tests to get a sense of their children's progress. Others see no need to put their children through that kind of stress.

As a teacher, Jay Wamsted believes there's value in testing. But when his sixth-grade daughter Kira asked to opt out this year, he saw no reason to object. He already knows she needs to catch up on math after months of remote learning. And as a teacher at her school, he knew that many other students were also backing out, undermining the value of the results.

I know shes a little behind, and I dont need that data, said Wamsted, who live in Smyrna, Georgia. To take a month to gather data that is not going to mean anything to any of their teachers next year  it seems like a waste of time.

Parent Abby Norman found her third-grade daughter crying in her bedroom the morning tests were scheduled to begin at her school near Atlanta. Priscilla, 9, had just returned to the classroom after learning remotely and was worried she wasn't prepared.

She was so nervous about this test that I dont care about at all, that does not matter to me, said Norman, who is a preacher. I literally ended up telling her, If you want to lick the test and give it back, I dont care.

With that reassurance, Abby agreed to take the tests and scored almost off the charts, her mom said. Still, Norman resents that students were put in that situation at all.

Several states lobbied the Biden administration to cancel standardized tests entirely for a second year, but the Education Department aimed for a middle ground: It told states to test as many student as possible without requiring them to come in just for exams. The goal, the agency said, should be to measure the pandemic's impact and identify how to help students recover.

Acknowledging the challenges of the pandemic, the agency invited states to shorten or delay tests, and it urged them to ease the stakes for students. But the department later granted additional leniency to certain states, prompting criticism that it failed to set a clear bar.

Washington, D.C., was granted permission to cancel tests because 88% of students were learning remotely, but the agency rejected similar requests from Michigan, New York and Georgia. Requests to scale back testing were granted in Colorado and Oregon, but a plan to narrow the testing pool in Washington state was rejected.

Those who opposed testing say its the last thing students need after such a challenging year. Schools have other ways to evaluate students, they say, and testing only takes away from classroom time.

Michigan's education chief has blasted the uneven flexibility granted to states. School across Michigan have already used other tests to assess students, he said, and more exams will inform precisely nothing about our childrens needs. State officials in New York argued that testing is unlikely to produce useful data given the variability in instruction during the pandemic.

In fact, the students most in need of state assessments  those receiving remote instruction  are the very children who are not required to take the test, the state's top education officials wrote in an April statement.

Testing advocates counter that theres still value in collecting as much data as possible. Lake, at the University of Washington, said even imperfect results can help illuminate the scope of the problem schools face as they help students recover.

Standardized tests at the state level are the most consistent data weve had to track academic progress, so it would be a huge missed opportunity to forgo those tests this year, she said. Flying blind is not a responsible position for a public official to take.

Some critics blame the Biden administration for allowing halfhearted attempts at evaluations. They point to places like New York City, where the outgoing schools chief urged parents in February to consider opting out of tests. Oregons two largest districts have voted to defy state orders and skip testing. The state says their penalty will be to submit a plan to come into compliance next year.

These states are simply playing games. Theyre not even pretending to make an effort to test students, and the Biden administration is letting them get away with it, said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank.

If testing isn't feasible now, Petrilli said, it should be done in the fall. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state have postponed tests, and it's an option for districts in California.

In some states, officials are pushing ahead with tests much as they have in the past. In Tennessee and Arkansas, education officials have said all healthy students are expected to take state exams, which are only being offered in-person. More than 1.4 million tests have already been given in Arkansas this spring, and the state is on track to test at least 95% of students, according to the state's education department.

In normal years, the federally required tests are used to gauge school effectiveness and chart the progress of students, both as individuals and in demographic groups. In some states, students must pass certain tests to move to the next grade or graduate from high school. But this year, most states are focusing on measuring student growth and letting schools and students off the hook for the results.

After last year's tests were canceled, there was hope that this year's exams would provide the most comprehensive look yet at the pandemic's impact on education. But the inconsistency between states now makes a broad analysis impossible, said Scott Marion, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Assessment, which helps states design and evaluate tests.

Still, he believes the results will have value. As schools begin the long process to help students recover, he said, this year's data will provide a foundation to measure against.

I do think the data can be a useful baseline going forward, he said. If this is the low point, or close to it, how are our kids going to come out of it going forward?
ROCHESTER, Minn. - Plans to redevelop a key stretch of Downtown Rochester are being delayed.

Officials are now expecting to break ground on the Discovery Walk project next spring, having previously been set to do so this fall. Local leaders say the project will transform a four-block section of 2nd Avenue SW "from a place to go through, to a place to go to."

Project planners say right now prices on labor and materials are extremely volatile, and there has been a drop-off in the number of construction bids submitted for major Med City projects. They hope in the months to come market conditions will stabilize, though there is no guarantee that will happen.

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton says she is "very concerned" about the impact the delay might have on momentum the project has gathered since the start of this year.

"This was really dicey to get through the city council," Norton said. "There is a group of downtown folks who were pushing very hard to not do this - just a few of them, but they're quite vocal. And I didn't want anything to slow us down and potentially have folks working to derail all the work, and the time, and the money we've invested in some of these areas we've been working on."

Rochester City Council President Brooke Carlson believes there are ways the delay could be advantageous, specifically with the project's new timeline calling for work to be completed over two construction seasons rather than three. However, she understands there are risks that come with pushing back plans.

"The reduction to two seasons is a positive, and it's a six-month delay, it's not a whole year delay. But I agree, we may be up against even further increased costs next year," Carlson said.

Staff working on the project they are meeting with area business and property owners to better understand their concerns.
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 63F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph.
The friend of a Town and Country doctor who was shot and killed outside a hotel and restaurant in Brentwood Saturday says his friend was waiting for an Uber when he was shot.
MOUNT VERNON  Judge John Thatcher found 18 defendants guilty after trials, arraignments and hearings earlier this week at the Mount Municipal Court.

MAY 19

Darren Price, 62, of Howard, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced him to pay a $200 fine.

Cheyenne Fletcher, 26, of Marengo, was found guilty of Speeding. The Court sentenced her to pay a $125.00 fine.

Jacob Donalon, 30, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Assault. The Court sentenced him to pay court costs and gave him credit for time served.

Assistant Director of Law, Brittany Whitney, represented the City of Mount Vernon in this case.

MAY 18

Ashley Stringfellow, 35, of Mout Vernon, was found guilty of Illegally Selling Cigarettes to a Minor. The Court sentenced her to pay a $100 fine.

Tyler Gregg, 23, of Fredericktown, was found guilty of Failing to Reinstate his License and Failing to Keep an Assured Clear Distance Ahead. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine for the Failing to Reinstate his license and a $35 fine for not Keeping an Assured Clear Distance Ahead.

Zanyle Hedges, 28, of Mansfield, was found guilty of Driving Under an OVI/ALS Suspension. The Court sentenced him to pay a $250 fine and to serve three days in jail.

Jacob Walters, 22, of Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, was found guilty of Speeding. The Court sentenced him to pay a $45 fine.

Rebecca Gill, 36, of Columbus, was found guilty of Driving Under Suspension. The Court sentenced her to pay a $200 fine.

Erica Davis, 30, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Driving Under a 12-Point Suspension and Disorderly Conduct. The Court sentenced her to serve three days in jail for the DUS charge, and to serve 30 days in jail, with 27 days suspended, and placed her on two years of probation with the following condition: complete a drug and alcohol assessment as soon as is practicable for the DOC charge.

James Duncan, 30, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Assault and Receiving Stolen Property. The Court sentenced him to serve 180 days in jail, with 90 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation with the following condition: complete a drug and alcohol assessment as soon as is practicable.

Cody Goossens, 42, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Assault. The Court sentenced him to serve 180 days in jail, with all time suspended, and placed him on two years of probation with the following condition: complete a drug and alcohol assessment as soon as is practicable.

Misty Naylor, 46, of Fredericktown, was found guilty of Theft. The Court sentenced her to serve 180 days in jail, with all time suspended, and placed her on two years of probation with the following conditions: attend and complete Merit Court and complete 40 hours of community service.

Jake Cullen, 30, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Inducing Panic. The Court sentenced him to serve 180 days in jail, with 150 days suspended, and placed him on two years of probation with the following condition: complete a drug and alcohol assessment as soon as is practicable.

Sherri Hess, 35, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Operating a Vehicle with Fictitious Plates. The Court sentenced her to pay a $50 fine.

Assistant Director of Law, Justin Mackin represented the City of Mount Vernon in the Hedges case, the Village of Danville in the Gill case, and the State of Ohio in the Stringfellow, Gregg and Walters cases.

Director of Law, Rob Broeren represented the City of Mount Vernon and the State of Ohio in the remaining cases.

MAY 17

McKenzie Roush, 21, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The Court sentenced her to serve 30 days in jail, with all time suspended and placed her on one year of probation with the following condition: complete a drug and alcohol assessment as soon as is practicable.

Amanda Conrad, 41, of Butler, was found guilty of Failing to Use Reasonable Control. The Court sentenced her to pay a $200 fine.

Joseph Fulton, 37, of Mount Vernon, was found guilty of two counts of Theft and one count of Possession of Drug Paraphernalia. The Court sentenced him to serve 60 days in jail, with credit for time served, to be served concurrently.

Colton Benjamin, 25, of Fredericktown, was found guilty of Assault. He will be sentenced on June 28, 2021 following a pre-sentence investigation. Assistant Director of Law, Brittany Whitney represented the City of Mount Vernon and the State of Ohio in these cases.
Kokomo, IN (46901)

Today

Mainly clear skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Mainly clear skies. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 67F. Winds N at 5 to 10 mph.
The mustachioed reporter was feeling anything but conciliatory when Bongino accused him of playing an emotional game with the audience after he claimed Palestinian children were suffering the effects of war at a greater rate than kids in Israel. Rivera fired back, calling Bongino a punk for making the debate personal.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in waves before boarding his Air Force one at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, the U.S., to depart for Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, on May 23. Yonhap





Sung Kim, the United States' special representative for North Korea Policy / Yonhap

President Moon Jae-in said Sunday he is returning home with "surprise gifts" from the United States, citing U.S. President Joe Biden's announcement on COVID-19 vaccine provision and pick of a new special envoy on North Korea.



The two leaders had their first summit talks at the White House on Friday.



"The outcome of the talks couldn't have been better," Moon wrote on his social messaging accounts. "It was better than expected."



The U.S. tried to understand South Korea's position on the pending issues and reflect it in the summit agreement, Moon added.






"

We are not preparing our kids to be test takers. We want our kids to be successful at whatever their talents and interests are."

Quote
John Stossel is author of No They Cant! Why Government Fails  But Individuals Succeed.
She just passed, Barnes cries in the newly surfaced video. You know me, right? Thats her, bro. No, bro. Please give me my daughter. Put her in my hand, bro. You all are disrespectful, bro.  Give me my daughter. Thats very important to me.
Killeen police officer Reynaldo Contreras, a five-year veteran of the force, was responding to a call from the family of Patrick Warren Sr. when the deadly confrontation unfolded back in January. While Warrens loved ones requested the help of a mental health professional, authorities instead sent over Contreras, who responded with this militarized default, their attorney, Lee Merritt, said.
Glenn Close says growing up in cult is to blame for her 'unsuccessful relationships'
It doesnt seem you feel any pressure or competition to change the way that you act to address the concerns of developers, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers told Cook while overseeing the no-jury trial in Oakland, Calif., where she will have final say, the Washington Post reported.
'He said he was going to kill me'
Boating is heating up at Lake of the Ozarks as the clouds clear up in the afternoon and the temperatures reach the 80s!

What To Do

The Lake Race Poker Run By Boat & Land kicks off on Saturday, May 21st with a 9:00am breakfast at Neon Taco and runs until 6:00pm. Come out by boat or car to enjoy the poker run that offers a chance for prizes and a way to support local charities. Looking for live music? Head over to Captain Ron's for the 2021 Sing Your Heart Out Finale and see who takes the crown at 7:00pm!

For more information about this weekends events check out our events page! Enjoy the weekend and travel safe!

*Shopping for a boat? Take a look at LakeExpo's NEW Boats For Sale section to cruise hundreds of boats for sale at Lake of the Ozarks.

BOAT GAS PRICES ON LAKE OF THE OZARKS

**** FEATURED MARINAS ****

MAIN CHANNEL:

 (2 MM) Point Randall Resort  $3.30 87 Octane, $4.00 93 Octane -- SPECIAL: 10/gal. OFF purchase of 50 gal or more, per vessel. Open Daily from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

 (11.5 MM) Bikini Pier  87 Octane: $3.04

 (19 MM) Kelly's Port Marina- $3.25 87 Octane, $3.99 93 Octane, $2.99 Diesel. Save 10 cents/gallonby paying CASH or House Account, or Save 20 cents/gallon w/House Account but paying cash (must have a current House Account) Gas Dock Hours: Wednesday- Monday, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.

 (35 MM) Pirate's Point - $3.39 87 Octane, $4.19 93 Octane

GRAVOIS ARM:

 (5 MM) Gas Hole - $3.14 87 Octane, $3.99 93 Octane

More boat gas prices...

--MAIN CHANNEL--

 (0 MM) Paradise Marina & Watersports  $2.95 87 Octane

 (1 MM) Ozark Yacht Club  $3.42 87 Octane, $3.22 Diesel

 (2 MM) Point Randall Resort  $3.30 87 Octane, $4.00 93 Octane -- SPECIAL: 10/gal. OFF purchase of 50 gal or more, per vessel. Open Daily from 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

 (2 MM) Ozark Village Resort Marina  $3.15 87 Octane

 (3 MM) Village Marina  $3.25 87 Octane, $3.65 89 Octane, $3.95 93 Octane

 (3 MM) Adventure Marina: North Location  $3.10 87 Octane, $3.59 91 Octane

 (3 MM) Big Thunder Marina at Glencove  $3.39 87 Octane (No Ethanol), $4.09 93 Octane

 (7 MM) Toad Cove Marina  $3.32 87 Octane, $4.03 93 Octane, $3.13 Diesel, $8.99 110 Racing Octane

 (10 MM) Franky & Louie's Marina  $3.25 87 Octane, $3.99 93 Octane

 (11.5 MM) Bikini Pier  $3.04 87 Octane

 (13.5 MM) Four Seasons Marina  $3.25 87 Octane, $3.65 89 Octane, $3.95 93 Octane

 (17 MM) MarineMax Port Arrowhead  $3.65 91 Octane, $3.43 Diesel

 (17.5 MM) Sunset Beach Resort/Adventure Boat Rentals  $3.10 87 Octane, $3.59 91 Octane

 (19 MM) Kelly's Port Marina  $3.25 87 Octane, $3.99 93 Octane, $2.99 Diesel. Save 10 cents/gallon by paying CASH or House Account, or Save 20 cents/gallon w/House Account but paying cash (must have a current House Account) Gas Dock Hours: Wednesday- Monday, 8 a.m.- 5 p.m.

 (20 MM) Surdyke's Port 20  $3.79 87 Octane, $4.54 93 Octane, $3.89 Diesel

 (20.5 MM) Premier 54  $3.19 87 Octane

 (21 MM) Redhead Yacht Club Marina  $3.29 87 Octane, $3.99 93 Octane, $3.09 Diesel

 (24 MM) Paradise Restaurant & Bar  $2.95 87 Octane

 (26 MM) Surdyke's KK- Location  $3.79 87 Octane

 (26 MM) Adventure Marine: South Location  $3.10 87 Octane, $3.59 91 Octane

 (28.5 MM) Miller's Landing Marina  $3.29 87 Octane, $4.19 93 Octane, $3.09 Diesel (as of Friday, May 21st - prices subject to change throughout the weekend)

 (31 MM) Mariners Pier 31  $3.39 87 Octane, $4.39 93 Octane

 (35 MM) Pirate's Point - $3.39 87 Octane, $4.19 93 Octane

 (39 MM) Lighthouse Marina -$3.29 87 Octane, 91 Octane $3.56

 (39 MM) King's Pointe Gas Dock - $3.69 87 Octane

 (44 MM) Mimosa Beach - $3.24 87 Octane

GRAVOIS ARM

 (5 MM) Gas Hole - $3.14 87 Octane, $3.99 93 Octane

 (5 MM) Mermaid Cove Marina - $2.85 87 Octane, $3.19 Diesel

GLAIZE ARM

 (1 MM) Formula Boats Of Missouri - $3.12 87 Octane with ValvTect, $3.25 91 Octane with ValvTect, $2.65 Diesel with ValvTect

 (1 MM) Dirty Duck Gas Dock - $2.99 87 Octane

 (2 MM) Moorings Yacht Club - Prices Unavailable @ Time of Publish

 (11 MM) Public Beach Marina (PB1) - Prices Unavailable @ Time of Publish

NIANGUA ARM

 (1 MM) G&G Marina  $3.30 89 Octane with ValvTect

 (5.5 MM) Montego Bay Marina  $3.69 87 Octane, $4.49 93 Octane, Diesel $3.49

GAS PRICES ON LAND

 Hy-Vee Osage Beach - $2.69 87 Octane (87 & 89 octane at most on-land gas stations contains ethanol - not recommended for boats), $2.89 89 Octane $3.29 91 Octane (no ethanol), $2.99 Diesel

 Lake Oasis Convenience Store #2, Laurie - $2.74 87 Octane (87 & 89 octane at most on-land gas stations contains ethanol - not recommended for boats), $3.54 91 Octane (no ethanol), $3.14 89 Octane $2.89 Diesel
CAMDEN COUNTY, Mo.  A 70-year-old Edwards woman was brutally beaten during a burglary-in-progress, and police are still searching for the assailant.

On May 18 at 11 p.m., deputies responded to the 2000 block of Lick Creek Rd in Edwards, Mo. to find a 70-year-old female who had been severely beaten during a burglary in progress.

When police arrived, the victim told deputies that she arrived home after walking her dog, went downstairs and was assaulted. The victim said she had never seen the person before. Because of her injuries, she was unable to call anyone, and was found after a neighbor came to check on her.

Due to the severity of her injuries, the woman was transported to Lake Regional Hospital and then life-flighted to University Hospital in Columbia. Deputies are still trying to identify and locate the suspect and are requesting assistance from the public.

If you have any information, contact the Camden County Sheriffs Office at 573-346-2243. Tippers may remain anonymous.
Thomas Derrick Jr.s son Daniel Derrick, graduated from Badger High School in 1961, a year after I had graduated from Badger. During the mid-1950s Dan and I had been tent mates for two weeks during the summer at the Camp Offield Boy Scouts camp which was located on the south shore of Geneva Lake very close to the Northwestern Military and Naval Academy.

Perhaps as well known and respected as a community and civic leader in Lake Geneva during the early 1950s as Thomas Derrick, Sr., was Claude Foster. Claude Foster was born in Richmond, Illinois on August 22, 1879 as the son of Fred and Florence Foster.

He was brought to Lake Geneva by his parents in 1882 at the age of 3. His father Fred Foster was a veteran of the Civil War who had served in the 95th Illinois Infantry regiment, which he had joined at the age of 18. During the war he fought in many fierce battles. Fred Foster was a carpenter by trade. He passed away on September 14, 1933. He had been one of the three last Civil War veterans living in Lake Geneva.

Claude Fosters first job in Lake Geneva was working for the local newspaper, The Lake Geneva Herald. He eventually opened his own printing firm, the Lake View Press, which was initially located on the second floor of a store on the south side of the 700 block of Main Street.
The spring opening of Virginia farmers markets is a welcome return to normalcy for both farmers and consumers.

Last spring many farmers had to shift to online ordering, requiring some to create internet sites. Market operators had to develop touchless delivery systems and provide hand-washing stations, increase space between booths, and limit in-person attendance.

Most of those restrictions have been lifted or eased under Gov. Ralph Northams latest executive order regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. But a few remain in place, including physical distancing of vendors and mandatory face masks for vendors and shoppers.

Compared to this time last year, preorders are down, but all of the farmers that did have or created an online store are continuing to take those (orders), said Ricky Kowalewski, market manager for the Lynchburg Community Market. Were slowly getting back to pre-COVID attendance numbers.

Customers at the Charlottesville farmers market sites have had to preorder and pick up their produce remotely since last spring. Market manager Justin McKenzie said his vendors are eager to return to face-to-face sales.

It was nice for producers to know exactly how much to bring thanks to preordering, McKenzie said. But this year I see a shift in consumer habits. People are not ordering online as much anymore. People are ready to shop in person and see the product in person.

Maintaining Restrictions

Adapting to physical distancing is one challenge market operators still need to overcome. Another is pushback from customers who dont want to wear masks.

With the CDC saying vaccinated people dont need to wear a mask, now its even worse for us to say, You have to put on a mask, said Amy Jordan, co-manager of several Hampton Roads markets. So were put in a very difficult position. People are screaming in our faces about their rights, and that were outside.

Kim Hutchinson, executive director of the Virginia Farmers Market Association, said the governors latest guidelines treat farmers markets as large groups of unrelated people congregating; therefore, masks are still needed. The trade group represents about 350 market sites statewide.

Its challenging. A market like Charlottesville could have 5,000 people go through it on a Saturday, while some smaller markets may have less than 1,000 people all weekend, Hutchinson said. So many managers are opting to keep strict sanitary guidelines in place. Were urging our market managers to be very clear what the market rules are for each site in their advertising and social media posts.

On the bright side, there are more customers than ever, she noted.

Though sales are not what they were last year at the height of the pandemic, were continuing to see a 35% to 40% retention of new customers we picked up last year at farmers markets. I hope that will increase as we start to see seasonal items like fresh tomatoes become available, Hutchinson said.
We really didnt expect this amount of damage, said Ashour Subeih, who sells baby clothes. We thought the strike was a bit further from us. But as you can see not an area of the shop is intact. Having been in business for one year, Subeih estimated his losses were double what he has made so far.
An apparent road rage incident on the 55 Freeway in Orange County on Friday morning resulted in the death of a 6-year-old California boy.

Officials of the California Highway Patrol said the gunman, who shot the California boy, remains at large. Authorities have not yet confirmed the identity of the 6-year-old boy. But the Orange Fire Department immediately transported him to Children's Hospital Orange County, where he was pronounced dead.

According to KTLA 5, California Highway Patrol officer Florentino Olivera said the child was sitting in a booster seat in his mother car's right rear passenger side when the suspect fatally shot him on the northbound 55 near Chapman Avenue around 8 a.m.

Olivera noted that the incident was very unfortunate after they lost a boy this morning. Olivera added that their thoughts and prayers are with the mother and the family of the California boy who was the victim of an apparent road rage incident.

Investigators handling the case spoke with the 6-year-old boy's mother to put up the pieces of the deadly shooting incident. They confirmed that the mother of the child was not injured in the incident.

One of the witnesses in the road rage incident, Reyes Valdivia, told the Los Angeles Times that the bullet went through the boy's back. Valdivia also said that he pulled over to the side of the freeway to help the California boy's mother. The witness added that it appeared that a bullet had entered the vehicle through the left side of the trunk.

READ NEXT: School Strike 4 Climate: Classrooms in Australia Went Empty as Students Joined Climate Strike

The California Boy's Mother

Valdivia said the mother was "hysterical" when she pulled the 6-year-old California boy out of her vehicle after he had been shot. The witness further noted that an off-duty officer stopped at the scene soon after and immediately performed CPR on the child.

While the California Highway Patrol has not released any information regarding the road rage incident, Valdivia said the mother told him that she and her son were heading to school when a car cut her off as she tried to exit the carpool lane.

Valdivia noted that the California mom gestured to the vehicle's two occupants, a man and a woman, and was exiting the lane when the gunfire erupted.

Authorities have yet to release any detailed description of the suspect's vehicle, but it was believed to be a newer model of a white sedan. Police said that it could possibly be a Volkswagen station wagon.

Olivera described the apparent road rage incident as an isolated case. He noted that it was unrelated to a string of not less than 60 BB or pellet gun shootings that have been recently reported in Orange, Riverside, and Los Angeles countries in the last three weeks. Most of the incidents happened along the 91 Freeway, NBC Los Angeles reported.

The California Highway Patrol is pleading with witnesses to come forward, especially those individuals whose vehicle is equipped with dashboard cameras and traveling northbound 55 between the 22 Freeway and Chapman at around 7:55 a.m. and 8:15 a.m. on Friday that could have seen the incident that resulted in the death of the 6-year-old California boy.

READ MORE: Eleven-Year-Old Girl Escapes Attempted Abduction at Florida Bus Stop

WATCH: 6-Year-Old Boy Dies In Road Rage Shooting On 55 Freeway in City Of Orange - From CBS Los Angeles
At least 70 bags of human remains were found in a vacant lot at Tonala City in Jalisco, Mexico on Wednesday. Mexican authorities said 11 bodies have already been distinguished amid the collection of body parts.

According to Mexico News Daily, residents of Alamedas de Zalatitan complained to authorities about a nauseous smell last month. When work began on April 25, 13 slightly concealed bags of body parts were discovered at the lot.

Heavy machinery was reportedly used this week to dig further into the lot. Upon further digging, authorities had discovered more bags of human remains.

The lot that holds the human remains is not around a secluded location. It is located between houses and streets that the residents passed by every day.

According to State Attorney General Gerardo Octavio Solis, the 70 bags with various human remains are currently counted as 11 victims. He added that "corresponding work continues" in the lot with an unroofed building on an area of 180 square meters.

In February, police were conducting a surveillance tour in Zapopan when they stumbled upon a human limb near a highway overpass.

It prompted the police to conduct a search that led to the discovery of 18 black plastic bags among the weeds in a ravine, ABC News Go reported. The cops noted that the bags were all tied and stuffed with human remains.

READ NEXT: 18 Bags Full of Human Remains Found in Mexico's Jalisco State

Violence in Mexico's Jalisco

According to the National Search Commission, Jalisco is considered one of the worst states in Mexico for missing people, with more than 12,790 cases reported.

The Jalisco state is home to the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, which is considered one of Mexico's most violent and powerful Mexican drug cartels.

The ongoing turf war between the Jalisco cartel and the Sinaloa cartel in the state has forced almost 900 refugees to flee their homes, according to another Mexico News Daily report.

Catholic priest Manuel Sandate told El Universal that about 894 people had been forced out of their homes in Teocaltiche, Jalisco.

The presence of the National Guard, the army, and the state police have reportedly hindered residents from returning home in the day to care for their animals and land. Sandate further noted that most do not dare to enter the area at night.

The state government said it has already launched an operations base in the area. The state police, army, and the National Guard are collaborating to patrol the zone. They have yet to report any further violence.

The affected families in the towns of Mechoacanejo and Rancho Nuevo could receive delivery support from the DIF family service agency.

Most of the disappearances had occurred since 2006 when former President Felipe Calderon launched the war against drug trafficking, which has caused more dead bodies on the street.

According to a Pledge Times report, Mexico has one of the highest numbers of missing persons in the world, with more than 88,000.

Last week, hundreds of people from Guadalajara marched downtown to demand justice for the murder of the Gonzales Moreno brothers, who were kidnapped, tortured, and executed.

The three siblings' bodies were found rolled up in blankets and dumped on a highway two days after they were abducted. Their deaths had caused one of the biggest demonstrations in recent years in the state capital.

READ MORE: Gun Battle Between Rival Mexican Drug Cartels Left 8 People Dead

WATCH: Bodies of Young People Found in Mass Grave in Mexico's Guanajuato - From Aljazeera English




Newly surfaced messages from Hunter Biden emails reveal that former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Louis Freeh gave a $100,000 trust for the grandchildren of President Joe Biden.

The former FBI director allegedly made the financial contribution to the family of Biden in 2016. Joe Biden was still vice president at the time.

Freeh reportedly sent the emails to presidential son Hunter Biden, expressing his interest in working with Hunter and his father, Joe Biden, The Blaze reported.

Based on the leaked emails from Hunter Biden's laptop published by the Daily Mail on Thursday, Louis Freeh told Hunter Biden that he made a $100,000 donation to a private trust for two grandchildren of Joe Biden.

"As you know, our family foundation made a $100K contribution to Hallie's children's trust last year," Freeh said in an April 24, 2017 email to Hunter Biden.

But he said his accountants advised him that since the grant did not proceed to a charity organization, it was not a proper foundation gift. Freeh then noted that they have been in touch with the IRS and PWC to correct the situation.

Louis Freeh promised that he would be making a new $100,000 gift to the trust of Haley, and the trust of Hallie will reimburse the foundation by paying it $100,000. He asked for an apology about the matter and told Hunter to send his regards not only to Hallie but also to "Dad and Mom."

Freeh's generous gift was sent to the two kids of Hallie Biden, the widow of the president's late son, Beau. Hallie later became Hunter's lover.

In his reply to the former FBI director, Hunter thanked Freeh and said that there's no problem with the recall. Hunter also said that he hopes to speak with Freeh soon.

READ NEXT: Does the Pentagon Have a Secret Army of 60,000 Deployed Around the World?

More About Hunter Biden Emails

Aside from the latest revelation, Daily Mail published numerous communications between Hunter and the ex-FBI director dating back to mid-2016.

Louis Freeh allegedly emailed Hunter on July 8, 2016, marked as "confidential and privileged," which stated that the former FBI director told the son of the then-vice president that he would be delighted in doing work with him in the future.

Freeh also reportedly said that he was able to speak with Joe Biden "a few weeks ago and would like to explore with him some future work options."

In the Hunter Biden emails, Louis Freeh also wrote that he believes that working together in numerous matters with the Bidens "would be of value, fun, and rewarding."

The communication between Freeh and Hunter did not stop there as the former FBI director continue to make overtures to the Bidens for business deals.

Aside from being the FBI director in the past administrations under presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Freeh was also a former federal judge, New York Post reported.

At the time of the emails, Louis Freeh is running a consulting firm representing three wealthy individuals who were all later convicted due to charges linked to corruption.

The emails between Hunter and Freeh were stored on a water-damaged laptop computer, which was dropped off in 2019 at a repair shop in Wilmington, Delaware, but was never retrieved. The FBI reportedly seized the laptop as part of what Hunter's described as "my tax affairs" probe.

READ MORE: Pres. Joe Biden Hails the Declaration of Israel-Palestine Cease-Fire, Pledges Support

WATCH: Hunter Biden Addresses Laptop Reports, Ongoing Federal Investigation Into His Taxes - From CBS This Morning
A 72-year-old Mexican serial killer has admitted to killing and eating numerous women over a period of 20 years.

The suspect was identified as Andres N. from Atizapan de Zaragoza, a municipality in the greater Mexico City metropolitan area. Mexico News Daily reported that the alleged Mexican serial killer was arrested on Tuesday.

Televisa reporter Antonio Nieto said the suspect had admitted to killing 15 women. Nieto noted that the Mexican serial killer even asked for water before saying that he thinks "there were 15" victims.

Some media outlets reported that the suspect confessed to killing as many as 30 women over the past two decades. He was also said to admit to dismembering his victims' bodies and eating parts of them.

Reports said the remains of some women have already been discovered at the suspect's home. Authorities continue to do excavation works to determine how many more women were killed and buried at his home.

The findings led investigators to conclude that they were dealing with a serial killer.

READ NEXT: Notorious Jalisco Cartel Eyed in Kidnapping, Killing of 3 Siblings in Mexico

The Investigation on the Mexican Serial Killer

Attorney General's Office agents for the State of Mexico had discovered jewelry, nail polish, shoes, a hairdryer, and other items that have been connected to two missing women, El Pais reported.

The two women were Rubicela Gallegos and Flor Ninive Vizcaino, who disappeared in 2016 and 2019. Vizcaino once lived in the same city. However, many did not know about the incident surrounding her disappearance.

A resident named Maura Valle told local reporters that the suspect used to come to her house to buy barbecued pork. Valle said the Mexican serial killer had told her that he never had a sentimental partner, adding that he had a sister who no longer lives in town.

Andres N. had also reportedly told Valle that he got along with his neighbors and even became a local association leader at one time. Valle further noted that the suspect also had the street lights installed in the community.

Andres N. had made a living by renting out rooms in his house. One of his tenants was a doctor named Fernando Lopez, who had set up his practice in one of the suspect's rooms. Police told him to leave before they search the area.

Andres N.'s latest victim was Reyna Gonzalez, who managed a small cellphone store near the Mexican serial killer's house. Gonzalez was described as a single mother with two or three children.

Another resident, Karla Narvaez, said that the suspect was always at Gonzalez's store, talking to the single mom. Marisol, a local hairdresser, further noted that the Mexican serial killer went to Gonzalez's store every day to talk to her and sometimes bring her food.

Gonzalez was reported to have been working around the area for two and a half years. Then on Thursday of last week, Gonzalez did not come to work. On the same day, missing person posters were installed around the area.

A police search in the Mexican serial killer's home found evidence that he had killed and dismembered Gonzalez.

Violence Against Women in Mexico

Mexico's Chamber of Deputies had approved a reform to make femicide a serial crime in 2017, according to another El Pais report.

Under the said measure, a suspect may be released pending trial. Human rights groups said this would create a risk for witnesses and other possible victims.

The reform to National Penal Procedures Code's Section 167 aims to ensure that the defendants will appear in court instead of fleeing justice.

READ MORE: Brazilian Man Beat His Girlfriend to Death Over a Wardrobe Malfunction

WATCH: Mexican Authorities Search Home of Suspected Serial Killer - From AFP News Agency




Three times more than its expected selling price, an Albert Einstein handwritten letter with his world-changing E=mc2 equation has been sold at an auction house based in Boston for more than $1.2 million on Friday.

Individuals responsible in the archives of the Einstein Papers Project at the California Institute of Technology and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem noted that aside from the one sold at Boston, there are only three other known examples of Albert Einstein's written equation.

According to RR Auction, the auction house where the most recent purchase happened, this fourth example of Albert Einstein handwritten letter with an equation is the only one in the hands of a private collector and only recently made its public appearance. In the initial assessment of the auction house, they had expected it to sell for around $400,000.

According to The Guardian, executive vice-president of RR Auction Bobby Livingston said that it is an important handwritten letter not only from the holographic field but also from the point of view of physics. Livingston also considered the equation as the most famous equation in the world.

The equation, which is the energy equals mass times the speed of light squared, has created a change in the field of physics. It demonstrated that time was not absolute and that mass and energy were equal.

The one-page Albert Einstein handwritten letter in German sent to physicist Ludwik Silberstein, a Polish-American, is dated Oct. 26, 1946, Associated Press reported. Silberstein was a well-known critic and a challenger of Albert Einstein in some of his theories.

In his handwritten letter on Prince University letterhead, which was translated by RR Auction, Albert Einstein noted that the question of the Polish-American physicist could be answered from the E=mc2 formula, without any erudition.

This Albert Einstein handwritten letter was a part of the personal archives of Silberstein, which his descendants later on sold. RR only identified the buyer of the piece as an anonymous collector of documents.

Livingston noted that the rarity of the letter set off a bidding war. He said five parties were bidding aggressively at first. However, when it hit the $700,000-mark, it became a duel between two parties. The auction started its bidding process on May 13 and concluded on Thursday.

READ NEXT: Yong Chee Kong: People Are Scouting Google for This Mysterious Vaccine 'Donor'

Albert Einstein Brain Stolen

Albert Einstein, the Nobel prize-winning physicist, who gave the world not only the theory of relativity E=mc2 but also the law of the photoelectric effect, obviously had a special brain. It considered special that at the time of his death in Princeton Hospital on Apr. 18, 1955, the pathologist on call, Thomas Harvey, stole it, National Geographic reported.

But in the written book of Brian Burrell in 2005, Postcards from the Brain Museum, he mentioned that Einstein did not want his brain or body to be studied as he emphasized that he did not want to be worshipped.

Albert Einstein left with specific instructions about his remains. He instructed to cremate his body and scatter the ashes secretly in order to discourage idolaters.

READ MORE: Galapagos Rock Formation Darwin's Arch Collapses Due to Natural Erosion

WATCH: The Real Meaning of E=mc - From PBS Space Time
International luxury brands are making a beeline to a street between Cheongdam-dong and Dosan Park in Gangnam, the affluent southern part of Seoul. No fewer than 17 brands like Cartier and Ralph Lauren have opened shops in the fashionable district over the past four years, and the number doubles if brands that relaunched shops in the area are counted.

Three or four more brands like Tory Burch and Paul Smith are preparing to open shops. In the past, they mainly sold clothes and accessories, but designed by leading architects they have turned into cultural complexes, housing galleries, cafes and restaurants.

Seoul, especially the Cheongdam area, is emerging as an Asian luxury fashion hub as Tokyo's Ginza district is being dominated by cheaper brands like H&M and Zara amid the global economic slump.

The region has become a favorite attraction for foreign tourists since the New York Times and design magazine Wallpaper picked Seoul as one of global design hubs. Big corporations are competing to hitch a ride on the trend, despite snowballing deficits.

A shop staffer says, "Sales have jumped 30 or 40 percent from last month since the New York Times added Seoul to its list of '31 Places to Go in 2010.' Singaporean and Hong Kong broadcasters have asked us if we would allow filming for their programs in our shop. Our shop is a hot spot for British, Belgian and Dutch tourists as well as Chinese and Japanese people."

One of the most eye-catching fashion places is the Seoul branch of Milan's 10 Corso Como, run by Cheil Industries, an affiliate of the Samsung Group. The place houses a fashion store, restaurant, bookstore and gallery. Its restaurant, which serves dishes created by chefs who once worked at the Hotel Shilla, another Samsung affiliate, is especially popular among foreign tourists. A Cheil staffer says, "The restaurant opened in 2008. Since then, it has become a favorite of celebrities and 20 or 30 groups of Chinese and Japanese tourists visit it a week."

However, the store sells goods priced at millions of won per item so tourists hardly buy anything here. The shop posts a deficit of W5 or W6 billion a year (US$1=W1,133). A Cheil spokesperson says, "It's a show room that helps improve the brand image of our company and polish the fashion taste of consumers."

Lee Seo-hyun, the second daughter of former Samsung Group chairman Lee Kun-hee, works as a managing director at Cheil. The firm last year clinched a contract with Tory Burch to open a flagship store in the Cheongdam district, inviting designers from the New York-based fashion company to prepare for the opening of the shop, which will be housed in a building worth W26-28 billion. The ex-Samsung chairman bought the building outright, in what some speculate is a push for his daughter up the management ladder.

Cheil last year opened shops for Pringle, the Scottish luxury knitwear brand, Pierre Balmain and Nina Ricci. It also plans to open a store for New York fashion brand Rick Owens.
I didnt even make it to the rally, said Borgen to the Daily News on Friday. Im definitely shaken up. Im generally sore and hurt. But I want to say Im a little thankful, because I saw the video and I could have died.
Portland, TN (37148)

Today

Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

Clear to partly cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable.
Carbury woman, Anne Heffernan, who has been missing her Aussie-based, 2-year-old grandson, in particular, during lockdown kept herself busy by walking, aiming to reach a 1000km target, all within the confines of the 5km limit.

Since mid-January she has been building her weekly kilometre total, walking the quiet roads near her home close to the Offaly border, mostly just meeting a few cars or tractors along the way, her only company being her little Jack Russell, Murphy.

Having completed a milestone of 800km already, Anne is delighted with her achievement and hopes to reach the overall 1000km target by the end of May.

That distance is equal to having walked from Malin Head to Mizen Head and from Dublin to Galway  the length and breadth of Ireland. The post-Christmas blues began to set in for Anne in early January, like for many others throughout the country. Having over indulged during the festive season and feeling sluggish, with only the dark, dreary weeks of winter stretching out ahead and with little to look forward to, Anne took stock; then set plans in motion to keep her spirits up.

Her earnest wish was to see one or other of her two children  but that couldve been years away, as one lives in Australia and the other in Canada.

Anne needed a focus, a way to help herself cope over the coming months. And if she could help others too, all the better. Shed been looking forward to the Get Ireland Walking season beginning again and had decided to join in with a local walking group, over the winter months. But, of course like everything else, such local groups too were again in lock-down.

Getting back into the stride of walking everyday during January, she set herself the challenge of building her stamina and endurance, as training for completing the last 100km of the Camino de Santiago, whenever travel might again be permitted, something she had wanted to do for some time.

It was also the ideal opportunity to use the challenge as a fundraiser to lessen the hardship of life for those she had lived and worked among in Haiti, a few years ago. They had been on her mind since the pandemic began and she wondered how on earth they would survive it, living in overcrowded conditions, in nothing more than flimsy, make-shift shacks, where families of 10 and more were commonplace.

According to Anne, their homes have no electricity, no running water and little or no furniture or cooking facilities. 25% of households have no toilet; for many, their homes are merely shelters from the beating sun and the roaring hurricanes.

Now that Anne has almost completed her 1,000km walking challenge (equal to the longest of the Camino routes) she is hoping her fundraising efforts will be as successful as her walking in order to assist with easing the burdens of life of the forgotten people of North West Haiti, as they strive to contend with hunger, lack of healthcare and sanitary facilities as well as Covid 19.

Some 80% of Haitians live below the poverty line and less than half of its 11million population have access to clean drinking water. And theres little sign of a vaccine in sight for them yet.

Ive no idea why I was born and live in this part of the world, nor why those I met in Haiti are based there. All I know is that whatever a bad day looks like for me, it is light years away from the poverty, lack of opportunity and infrastructure that makes life more difficult than most of us can imagine for those living in Haiti, she explained.

If you would like to help Anne on her journey, you can donate a little or a lot to the Haiti account at

AIB,

IBAN: IE92AIBK93351142129084

BIC: AIBKIE2D

Every cent will go directly to assist Haitians living in Jean Rabel, a remote area of North West Haiti.

Contact Anne at walkwithanneforhaiti @gmail.com. Read more about life in Jean Rabel by visiting www.theheffernanfiles.com/social-justice-blog .
FOR her BT Young Scientist project, Aronnya Zakaria wanted to see when does racism begin because we are not born racist.

The Castletroy College third year students project is called The development of racial prejudice in children, a statistical analysis.

Ellie Murnane, BTYS coordinator in the school, said Aronnya won a special award from Self Help Africa, sponsored by Irish Aid, for her work. Due to Covid and school closures Aronnya only received her trophy last month. Covid will also delay another prize from her Science for Development award as she won a travel bursary visit one of Self Help Africa's programmes

Aronnya wanted to see when does racism begin because we are not born racist.

Ms Murnane said: She interviewed 51 children aged 5 to 7-years-old in Ireland and 51 children aged 5 to 7 in Bangladesh where her family are from and she still has family there. She conducted these interviews over video chat due to Covid restrictions, and also interviewed the parents of the children. She was then able to compare children from the two cultures.

Aronnya noted that children knew not to say racist comments because they would get in trouble if they did so.

Her desire is that children would be educated from a place of love, not fear, said Ms Murnane.

Fellow third year, Orna Collins, received a highly commended ribbon for her project entitled Covidiocy an emerging phenomenon", looking at her peers response to Covid restrictions.
A NEW exhibition is recognising the 77 Limerick men who were in the War of Independence prison at Spike Island.

More than 1,200 Irish rebels were held on the island jail for their part in Irelands fight for freedom in 1921.

Now, at its museum, the Imprisoning a Nation exhibition will include new artefacts, new prisoner diaries, and new stories on information panels.

Also, part of the exhibition will be a recently discovered 1985 recording of a former prisoner, describing his time in the 1921 prison.

There were 77 men, from almost every town in County Limerick, imprisoned on Spike Island during 1921, and their experiences will be documented, with visitors able to research the freedom fighters by name, town and county.

Island historian Tom ONeill said: We have been researching and planning for this commemoration for close to a decade, painstakingly tracking down the available information, much of which is now located in London. The period is an important part of the island and Irelands history, and we look forward to sharing it with the world.

On February 19, 1921, as the Irish War of Independence raged, a British Military run prison was opened in the fort on Spike Island, for Republican prisoners and internees. The bloody struggle for Irish Independence was seeing huge numbers arrested for insurgency activity and the British needed extra space to hold them.

Spike Island was seen as the answer to a spiraling British prisoner problem. The island had been used as a prison by Cromwell in the 1600s, and as a convict prison during the famine years from the 1840s.

Republican prisoners and internees were sent to Spike Island from the civilian gaols in Cork, Kilkenny, Waterford and Limerick, and from the military barrack and camps in Bere Island, Buttevant, Cork, Fermoy, Kilkenny, Kilworth, Moore Park, Tralee and Waterford.

In total men from eight southern counties were held on the island and at its largest the prison held over 500 men at a time.

Most of the men held on the island during 1921 were from Munster and Wexford.

The Limerick inmates included John Clancy, Edmund Burke, Patrick Cregan, Thomas Dargan, Michael Colivet, TD, Tommy McInerney and Maurice Walsh from the city.

They were joined by Christopher Upton, John and Peter Crowley from Ballylanders, Patrick Heaphy, Herbertstown, John Hurley, Patrickswell, Timothy and Patrick Mulcahy, Meanus and Thomas Sheehan, Lough Gur.

One man Patrick White from Meelick was shot and killed by a British sentry while playing hurling on the evening of May 31, 1921.

For more information on the exhibition, call 021-2373455 or alternatively, visit spikeislandcork.ie
THE University of Limerick is being urged to reimburse postgraduate students who were unable to attend an international workshop last year because of Covid-19.

The UL Postgraduate Student's Union says it has been lobbying UL for eight months but that it has refused to refund the monies - believed to be in the region of 1,500 for each student.

A number of postgraduate students have contacted the Limerick Leader in recent days and the ULPSU says it has decided to highlight the matter publicly because of the impasse.

"As the students were not able to embark on these trips, efforts were made to contact the university to reimburse the students for the costs. Incessant communications were made towards the President of UL, UL Provost, the Course Director, the former Dean of the concerned Faculty, the Interim Dean and the Fees Office," read a statement from Rania Shadeed, Vice President & Student Voice Representative.

"Despite the academic, financial, social and psychological repercussions of the pandemic on the students, University of Limericks Postgraduate Students Union and the aggrieved students were met with disregard, nonchalance and a lack of prioritisation for their demands," she added.

In response to a query from the Limerick Leader, a spokesperson from UL referred to correspondence sent to students from Finbarr Murphy, interim Executive Dean at the Kemmy Busines School.

In the letter, Mr Murphy states: "It has been a challenging time to constantly adjust to changing public health directives, while trying to meet students educational needs. The inability to undertake an international trip is a great disappointment coming at the end of two difficult online semesters".

He said the changes in university teaching delivery over the past 14 months has had a significant impact on the costs and benefits of higher and adult education.

Specifically addressing the cancelled international trip the letter states: "The cost of the virtual workshop this year was significant and the time and effort put into the delivery of that workshop was equivalent or greater to the organisational effort for an international trip. For the Kemmy Business School, our key task was to ensure that students achieved the learning outcomes as per our mandate from Higher Education Authority and audited by Quality and Qualifications Ireland. We are confident that these outcomes were achieved."

The details letter adds. "The cost of delivery between the international trip and virtual workshop or other alternatives cannot be distinguished. While it is true to say that some operational costs such as heat, light, etc. have decreased other costs have increased. These increased costs include considerable human and technological resources into pivoting to online delivery at very short notice. These costs are spread across the campus and it is not possible to allocate them to particular programmes."
Pfizer and the Indian government are seeking to resolve tensions over a demand by the U.S. drugmaker for legal protection from any claims linked to the use of its COVID-19 vaccine in one of the world's biggest markets, two sources told Reuters.

India has not given any manufacturer of a COVID-19 vaccine indemnity against the costs of compensation for any severe side effects, which is a condition Pfizer has obtained in many countries where its shots have already been widely used, including Britain and the United States.

But three other sources told Reuters that some form of legal protection is still on the table as India and Pfizer work to reach a vaccine deal.

Reaching an agreement with Pfizer is critical for India's central government, which is struggling to secure needed COVID-19 vaccine doses as recorded daily cases exceed 250,000. Indian officials said this week that 98% of its population of about 1.3 billion remains susceptible to infection.

India's foreign minister plans to visit the United States in the coming weeks in part to ease Pfizer's concerns, one of the sources said. He could offer Pfizer some form of protection from lawsuits in exchange for the company providing additional assistance with distributing its shots in India, two other sources said.

The Indian foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

One of the sources added that the two parties discussed the indemnity issue as recently as late this week but have not yet reached a resolution.

A Pfizer spokeswoman said that the company is still in talks with India on a deal and they have not reached an impasse, adding that Pfizer remains hopeful about reaching an agreement.

Pfizer has been consistent in its position on indemnity and is not planning to change its approach for a deal with India, one of the sources said. All of the sources declined to be identified because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

India's health ministry did not reply to Reuters requests for comment on Friday.

India pledged last month to fast-track approvals for overseas vaccine makers including Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson and Johnson.

However, none have since sought permission from India's drug regulator to sell their vaccine there.

One source said that another issue being discussed between Pfizer and New Delhi was the Indian government's insistence on a local trial for any vaccine approval. The source added that Pfizer cannot finalize terms of a supply agreement, including indemnity, if the vaccine is not first authorized for use in India.

Pfizer withdrew its application for emergency use authorisation for the vaccine developed with Germany's BioNTech in February after India insisted on such a trial.

But three other shots on sale in India, developed by AstraZeneca, Russia's Sputnik V and Bharat Biotech in collaboration with state-run Indian Council of Medical Research, have completed the small-scale safety trials.

Pfizer's chief executive Albert Bourla said on May 4 that he was hopeful that the government would change its policy of local trials and that a path to delivering the drugmaker's shots in India could be found.

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In an appearance on Chris Cuomos CNN show, Santorum said that he was referring to Native Americans lack of contribution to the founding of the American nation by white settlers. He also said: The way we treated Native Americans was horrific.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha , an umbrella body of 40 farmers' unions, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking resumption of talks over their demands to repeal the three laws and a legal guarantee for MSP.

"Today, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha has written a letter to the Prime Minister, asking for the resumption of talks with farmers. This letter touches upon several aspects of the farmers' movement, and the ignorant attitude of the government," the SKM said in a statement on Friday.

The letter has come a few days before the protest on the Delhi borders concludes six months.

It stated that the farmers will be constrained to announce further intensification of the protests if they do not get "a constructive and positive response" from the government by 25 May.

"Any democratic government would have repealed the three laws that have been rejected by the farmers in whose name these were enacted, and seized the opportunity to provide legal guarantee of MSP to all farmers," read the letter addressed to Modi.

"As the head of the government of the largest democracy in the world, the onus of resuming a serious and sincere dialogue with the farmers lies with you," it added.

It said that while the protesting farmers do not wish to expose anyone to the health hazards of the pandemic, they "cannot also give up on the struggle, as it is a matter of life and death, and also of future generations".

So far, there have been 11 rounds of talks between the protesting unions and the government, but the deadlock has continued as both sides have stuck to their stand.

In January, the government had offered to suspend the farm laws for 12-18 months, which was rejected by the farmer unions.

The Supreme Court stayed the implementation of the laws till further orders and set up a committee to resolve the impasse.

A large number of farmers had reached Delhis borders on 26 November last year after facing water cannons and police barriers as part of their "Delhi Chalo" march against the Centres farm laws.

In the following months, farmers in large numbers from across the country joined the protest at Tikri, Singhu and Ghazipur borders around the national capital.

The farmers are demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

However, the government, which has held multiple rounds of formal dialogue with the protestors, has maintained that the laws will not be withdrawn.

Black day

The farmers have decided to observe 26 May as 'black day' to mark six months since they started protesting against the agri laws at Delhi borders.

"On 26 May, we will complete six months of this protest and it also happens to mark seven years since PM Modi formed the government. We will observe it as black day," said farmers leader Balbir Singh Rajewal.

He appealed to the farmers to raise blags at their houses, vehicles and shops on the day.

"We appeal to people of the country and also Punjab to hang black flags at their house, shops, trucks and other vehicles. We will also burn effigies of (PM) Narendra Modi as a form of protest," Rajewal said.

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Singapore reported its first case of school-based Covid-19 transmission as an outbreak in the city-state showed little signs of abating.

A student at a local school contracted the virus after his classmate tested positive on Wednesday, according to a statement by the Ministry of Education. Close contacts of both pupils have been placed under quarantine.

Previous cases this month involving school children included clusters that originated at private learning centers. Students from 30 schools have been infected in the past four weeks, the Straits Times reported Friday. The government this week suspended most school classes and shifted to home-based learning in part amid concern virus mutations have made children more vulnerable.

A resurgence in infections has forced the Southeast Asian nation back into lockdown-like conditions it last imposed a year ago in a bid to slow transmissions. The government has also stepped up testing across the nation.

Repeated waves of Covid-19 clearly show that no country is safe in a pandemic until everyone else is safe," Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said at the G20 Global Health Summit on Friday. Beyond individual efforts, close international and multilateral cooperation is also essential."

Out of the 30 new community cases found in Singapore Friday, eight were currently untraceable, the government said. Twenty-two cases were linked to earlier infections. Foreign worker dormitories had no reports of infections, while 10 imported cases were already put in isolation after arrival in Singapore.





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text. Only the headline has been changed.

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United, Delta and American said Friday they are resuming flights to Tel Aviv after Israel and Hamas agreed to a cease-fire in violence that had included rockets fired at Ben Gurion International Airport.

Delta Air Lines plans to operate its first flight from New York to Tel Aviv since early last week on Friday night, with the first return trip on Sunday.

Delta will closely monitor the security situation and will make adjustments to our flight schedules as necessary," spokesman Morgan Durrant said.

United Airlines also said it expects to resume service Friday night, with a flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Tel Aviv.

A spokeswoman said the airline plans to also resume flights from Chicago and San Francisco over the weekend. United halted flights from all three US cities to Israel on May 12.

American Airlines said it plans to restart New York-Tel Aviv flights on Monday.

The truce between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas appeared to be holding Friday, after an 11-day war that left more than 250 people dead, mostly Palestinians.

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Goldfish are known for their orange hues and terrible memories. One common saying even claims that these creatures have a mere 3-second recall.

However, this is a complete myth that, despite its lack of scientific backing, has spread widely and remained largely undisputed by the public for decades.

"What is baffling is that it's pretty much the same wherever you go in the world," Culum Brown, an expert in fish cognition at Macquarie University in Australia, told Live Science. "In some places, it's 2 seconds, and in others, it's 10  but it's always short."

Related: Which animal has the stretchiest mouth?

In reality, goldfish (Carassius auratus) have much longer memories  spanning weeks, months and even years, Brown said. And the science to back this up has been around for more than 60 years.

"We've known about the reasonably good memories of goldfish since the '50s and '60s," Brown said. "Despite what everybody thinks, they're actually really intelligent."

Brown has studied the intelligence of fish, including goldfish, for more than 25 years and thinks the misconception comes from a combination of ignorance about fish intelligence in general and guilt, because pet owners often keep them in small, boring tanks.

Goldfish intelligence

In reality, goldfish have such impressive memories, they're often used as a common model for studying memory and learning in fishes, Brown said. As a result, "there are thousands of studies [on goldfish] that show fish have excellent memories," Brown said. "And the rate of which these studies are being published is growing exponentially."

Goldfish are actually a common model for studying memory and learning in fishes generally. (Image credit: Shutterstock)

A majority of these studies involve food. For example, if goldfish are fed at only one side of their tank, they will quickly learn and remember to stay on that side of the tank at feeding times, regardless of whether they are actually fed, Brown said. Similarly, if pushing a red paddle gains a food reward but a blue one doesn't, goldfish quickly learn to push the red and not the blue, and will continue to show a preference for that color long after the experiment is finished. These types of experiments have also been replicated with other cues, such as bubbles and even music, Brown said.

Goldfish are also good problem-solvers and have been taught to escape nets and navigate mazes, Brown said. They can even remember how to repeat these tasks weeks, and even months, later, Brown said.

Other evidence suggests that goldfish can recognize and remember other individuals, even after long periods of separation, Brown said.

On top of these findings, there is a wealth of anecdotal evidence from goldfish owners who often observe complex behaviors in their pets when interacting with them. Some even claim that their goldfish can recognise them apart from other people.

It is hard to pinpoint an exact time span for goldfish memory, given that different memories are more notable than others. You're more likely to remember a scary event, for instance, than a mundane one, Brown said. But whether goldfish memories last days, weeks, months or years, it's safe to say they definitely last longer than 3 seconds.

Related: Can you recover repressed memories?

Public perception

Despite reams of research, the public's view on goldfish memory hasn't budged much. A big reason for this is that "fish have a serious PR issue," Brown said.

Most people do not come across live fish in their daily lives, and even when they do, "people don't interact with fishes the way that they do [with] other animals," Brown said. This makes it easier for misconceptions and myths to be widely accepted, he said. Public perception of fish cognition may be improving, however, as more wildlife charities and nongovernmental organizations spread the word about fish intelligence. "It's changing more rapidly now than it was than it has done in the past," Brown said. "But it's still slow."

Guilt from pet owners may be another factor in understating goldfish memory. "I suspect it's got more to do with making us feel good about putting them in a tiny little bowl," Brown said. "It probably says more about us than it does about the goldfish."

Properly cared for goldfish can live 20 years, so owners might want to consider getting their pets large tanks with enrichment objects and companion fish, as well as taking the time to play games with them and teach them tricks, Brown said. After all, your goldfish might remember certain experiences for years to come.

Originally published on Live Science.
Stars don't just vanish  or do they? For thousands of years, astronomers accepted the idea that the lights in the sky were fixed and unchanging. Even when it became clear that these lights were actually physical objects like the sun, one of the key assumptions for astrophysicists has been that they go through major changes very slowly, on timescales of millions or billions of years.

And when the most massive stars of all  which are many times heavier than the sun  do go through sudden and cataclysmic changes as they reach the ends of their lives, their passing is marked by the unmissable cosmic beacon of a supernova explosion, which shines for many months, and may even be visible across hundreds of millions of light-years.

But what if some stars suddenly just wink out of visibility? According to everything we know about stars, that should be impossible, but over the past few years, a group of astronomers has set out to see whether such impossible things do happen, comparing data across decades of observations.

Related: How Can a Star Be Older Than the Universe?

All About Space (Image credit: Future) This article is brought to you by All About Space.

All About Space magazine takes you on an awe-inspiring journey through our solar system and beyond, from the amazing technology and spacecraft that enables humanity to venture into orbit, to the complexities of space science.

"VASCO is the Vanishing and Appearing Sources during a Century of Observations project," said Beatriz Villarroel of the Nordic Institute for Theoretical Physics , Sweden. "We're actually interested in all kinds of vanishing objects, but ideally I'd like to find a star that's been steady and has been there in the sky for as long as we can remember and as long as we have data for, and one day it just vanishes. And you can point the biggest telescopes in the world at it and still see nothing there."

Since Villarroel and her colleagues began work on the project in 2017, they've attracted a lot of attention from scientists who see the potential in searching historic records: "We have astronomers from all kinds of different fields interested in the project  specialists in active galactic nuclei [the power source of intensely brilliant quasars in the distant universe], stellar physicists, and SETI [Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence] scientists  everyone has their reasons for getting involved."

Massive stars can destroy themselves in supernovas, but these are hard to miss, outshining entire galaxies for several months and leaving behind superheated remnants. (Image credit: NASA, ESA)

Although our current understanding suggests that stars change only very slowly, and dramatic disappearances should leave traces behind, that's not to say that all stars shine steadily. In fact, the sky is packed full of variable stars that pulsate and change in brightness. Villarroel emphasizes that VASCO is about something different. "We know that there are variables, but their timescales tend to be a few years at most. We want to find something that goes from a completely steady star to just vanishing entirely  this hasn't been documented, and it's the kind of discovery that could lead to new physics."

Cataloging the sky

Recent years have seen the development of automated telescopes that can catalog the entire sky at a rate that previous generations of astronomers could only dream about. For instance, the Zwicky Transient Facility (ZTF) at Mount Palomar in California combines a state-of-the-art camera with the venerable Samuel Oschin Telescope .

Its ultra-wide field of view enables it to survey the entire Palomar sky over just three nights, scanning the plane of the Milky Way twice each night. This massively increases the likelihood of detecting the chance eruptions known as transients  bursts of light that can be caused by intense stellar flares on distant stars, but may also be associated with some of the most violent and rare events in the universe, such as mysterious gamma-ray bursts .

However, there's a big difference between looking for stars that appear, and those which disappear, as Villarroel highlights: "Projects like the ZTF work on very short timescales, but if you have a very rare event where something vanishes from the sky every 100 years then you really need a very long timescale to pick it up. In our case we want to find a star that has vanished  or actually appeared  using as large a time span as possible, combined with the best catalogs from older times.

We're using data from 70 years ago and comparing it to data from today to see how the sky might have changed." Perhaps ironically, the team's search for high-quality historical data led researchers back to Palomar and the Samuel Oschin Telescope, which in the 1950s produced the photographic plates for an all-sky survey that has since been scanned by the US Naval Observatory (USNO). For a modern counterpart they relied on data from the twin telescopes of the Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System (Pan-STARRS) at Hawaii's Haleakala Observatory.

The USNO survey plates predate the Space Age, and exposures are long enough to distinguish asteroids as short trails against stars. (Image credit: ESO)

"All of these surveys are freely available, and everything has been digitized and is online," said Villarroel. "Our IT team at Uppsala University has developed a citizen science webpage where you can click and combine images at ml-blink.org. We have computer game developers who have looked at making the design more appealing, and we also have an AI in development.

There are several different ways of approaching the problem  whatever gives us data! The point is that people who are interested can go there to compare the images, and if they are very curious about some case they can leave a comment, and we'll get back to them and inform them about their candidate. But we have quite a lot of work ahead of us before we can follow up on everything."

Every object in the USNO catalog that is flagged as having no obvious counterpart in the Pan-STARRS data has to be examined and confirmed by the team. Researchers then look at the shape, brightness, and other characteristics to identify whether it is a defect on the photographic plates of the original survey.

"You can never guarantee it's not a plate defect," said Villarroel. "But you can do some tests in order to eliminate the most obvious things. Then you go to the deeper catalogs like the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) or the new Dark Energy Camera Legacy Survey to see if you can find any remains of the object on these, and depending on what you find that might give you different types of candidates."

The team also compares candidates with data from the European Space Agency's Gaia, which is currently busy gathering precision data for more than a billion stars in the Milky Way.

Related: Star 'Families' Stick Together in the Milky Way, Gaia Maps Reveal

The VASCO researchers use data from the European Space Agencys Gaia space observatory to double-check candidate "missing" stars. (Image credit: ESA)

So far, the survey has delivered more than 800 apparently 'missing' stars, many of which still need to be processed and studied in depth. And while there's no perfect match for Villarroel's ideal object  a vanishing act by a long-lived, stable star many of the candidates that have been spotted are still intriguing in their own right.

"We have found a number of short-lived transients that appear on one image, and then not again. Those account for most of what we've found so far, but there are other things we're not sure of what they are yet. We've studied some of these short-lived transients, and they don't seem to be M-dwarf flares [the huge outbursts caused by the tangled magnetic fields of faint red dwarf stars that may cause them to brighten by a factor of 100 or more], or any type of supernova. I think we can start excluding those options."

Other options that seem unlikely include variable stars and cataclysmic variables or novae  eruptions on the surface of white dwarf stars in binary systems. None of the sources sit close to a known variable, and the companion star in a nova system ought to be faintly visible on some of the modern surveys, even when the white dwarf isn't.

Ageing red giant stars can "disappear" as they shed their outer layers and evolve into white dwarfs, but the process takes hundreds of thousands of years and produces a distinctive planetary nebula. (Image credit: NASA, ESA)

"One possibility is that they could be some kind of optical afterglow from gamma-ray bursts or fast radio bursts ," Villarroel said. The sources of these high-energy cosmic eruptions are still poorly understood, but one common prediction is that as their energy output dwindles, they should pass through a brief period of visibility.

"Such outbursts are predicted to have super-big amplitudes of about eight to ten magnitudes, but fade in just a few minutes, and don't seem to have any kind of visible counterpart when we look at the locations with big telescopes. Of course, with 800 candidates we still have a lot of work to do, and I think to be clear it's almost certainly a mixed bag of objects of different types," she said.

If those 800 candidates turn out to contain an ideal vanishing star, what could be the possible explanation?

One option might turn out to be a so-called "failed" supernova  a truly monstrous star with a core so massive that it collapses into a black hole and consumes the rest of the star from the inside out, cutting off the torrent of nuclear fusion that normally accompanies a supernova explosion and leaving no visible remnant behind.

Black holes can form at the center of stars in the Milky Way. (Image credit: Getty Images)

However, Villarroel thinks that the odds are stacked against this explanation  she calculates that such events should happen about once every three centuries in our galaxy, making it unlikely that the VASCO project would stumble upon one by chance.

At the moment it's hard to imagine other natural processes that might result in a star simply disappearing  and until a candidate emerges with features that can be studied, there's little point in speculating on possible new physics that might be involved in this cosmic vanishing act. However, that raises one other possibility that's inspired VASCO from the outset: The idea that apparently impossible astronomical events might give away the existence of advanced alien civilizations.

Potential future discoveries

The Pan-STARRS survey telescopes at Haleakala Observatory on the Hawaiian island of Maui. (Image credit: Getty Images)

As increases in telescope size and sensitivity, coupled with computing power, have brought astronomy into its "big data" era, many SETI scientists have argued that we're more likely to detect the presence of aliens through the otherwise-inexplicable behaviors of stars and other objects than we are from radio signals deliberately or accidentally beamed in our direction by alien life.

The theory is that if civilizations become sufficiently advanced, at least some of them are likely to develop the technology required for stellar engineering, which would alter the appearance of stars in otherwise-inexplicable ways. A classic example of this is the " Dyson sphere "  a halo of orbiting power plants that would be the most efficient way of extracting energy from a star.

Related: 'Dyson sphere' legacy: Freeman Dyson's wild alien megastructure idea will live forever

A really advanced alien civilization could cause stars to disappear in a number of ways  perhaps blocking out their light by surrounding them with Dyson spheres. (Image credit: Alamy)

Science-fiction author Arthur C. Clarke stated in his Third Law that "any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". If no natural cause for a stellar disappearance could be found, then the influence of intelligent extraterrestrials would certainly seem a more likely explanation than the supernatural.

"With regard to SETI, there are several different ways of thinking about it," Villarroel said. "Dyson spheres and other structures, beacons that are turned on and off, or point in our direction for a certain time, or maybe there are ways for a civilization to actually get rid of stars that are getting in the way."

Even the red transients that the team has identified so far could have a possible artificial cause: "Of course, the first hypotheses we go for are natural ones  and we don't have any reason to exclude those yet  but if I was in my extraterrestrial speculation mode, I guess a laser beam could also produce a red transient of this type."

One extraordinary possibility is that the disappearing "stars" are actually huge starships moving through space, in which case they might not be missing, but moving. (Image credit: Getty Images)

While Villarroel hints at exciting discoveries that have already emerged from the data and await formal publication, in the meantime the VASCO project continues. Many of the candidates identified so far still await proper confirmation and analysis, and only a quarter of the sky has actually been checked so far. Further progress will hopefully be accelerated by more volunteer citizen scientists and new automation methods currently being developed in collaboration with the Spanish Virtual Observatory .

"We don't know of any processes where a star would just vanish, except for this hypothetical failed supernova," Villarroel reflects. "Therefore vanishing stars become interesting because we haven't observed such things in nature. The main principle was to look for things we would think of as being impossible."
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Glenn Gordon Caron, the high-profile TV producer behind hits such as Moonlighting and Medium, has exited his role as showrunner of CBS Bull, Variety has confirmed.

In addition to no longer being the showrunner of Bull, Carons overall deal with CBS Studios has also ended. Reports emerged that he was dismissed after a studio investigation into an alleged toxic workplace. Separately, series regular Freddy Rodriguez has also left the series after having starred as Benny Colon since the show began. Kathryn Price and Nichole Millard will serve as co-showrunners going forward.

Bull stars NCIS alum Michael Weatherly as Dr. Jason Bull, who is based on the early career of Dr. Phil McGraw. The titular Dr. Jason Bull is the leader of a trial consultant firm, specializing in determining how a jury will vote before the trial has even begun. CBS renewed the series for a sixth season back in April.

Caron is now the latest in a string of CBS showrunners to step down in recent weeks. The Neighborhood creator Jim Reynolds stepped down over concerns with his leadership style. Likewise, All Rise creator Greg Spottiswood exited that series following a New York Times investigation into his conduct in the writers room.

There has been turmoil and controversy behind the scenes of Bull in the past. In 2018, Eliza Dushku went public with allegations of sexual harassment against Weatherly during her time on set.

Dushku wrote about experiencing sophomoric behavior from Weatherly that allegedly included him making comments about wanting to have a threesome with her and many other sexually charged remarks. When she complained to the studio, Dushku asserts that Weatherly worked to have her fired, accusing her of having a humor deficit. Dushku joined the show at the end of its first season with the expectation of becoming a regular cast member in Season 2. But she was written off the show after three episodes as a result of her clashes with Weatherly. She eventually settled with CBS for $9.5 million.

The Hollywood Reporter first reported Caron and Rodriguezs exits.

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CNN is parting ways with contributor Rick Santorum, the former Republican Senator and presidential candidate who has come under fire for remarks he made last month about Native American culture.

Speaking to an audience last month at an event organized by Young Americas Foundation, Santorum suggested Native American people had little influence on U.S. culture. We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here, he told a gathering of students. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly, there isnt much Native American culture in American culture.

The comments drew criticism from groups like the National Congress of American Indians. Santorum didnt help matters when he appeared on CNNs Cuomo Prime Time and declined to apologize for the remarks or how they were interpreted, simply telling the anchor they were taken out of context. CNN confirmed a previous report in The Huffington Post revealing that the politician and the network were cutting ties. Santorum was first named a CNN contributor in 2017.

He is the latest in a parade of conservative commentators and analysts to run aground at CNN. Under Jeff Zucker, president of CNN Worldwide, the WarnerMedia-backed news outlet has relied heavily on the use of segments featuring Republicans and supporters of the former Trump administration, who often serve to provide balance for analysis and commentary that strives to play in the center but sometimes tilts left of it.

But these analysts and contributors often draw outsize scrutiny via their behavior when they are not appearing on the network. CNN in September cut ties with Trump adviser Jason Miller after he came under legal scrutiny in September of 2018. One month earlier, CNN suspended Paris Dennard, a strong defender of Trump decisions, after The Washington Post reported Dennard had been fired from a job at Arizona State University for what the paper called inappropriate incidents involving two women there. Ed Martin, a former Missouri Republican Party chairman who also hosts a radio show, offered outspoken pro-Trump commentary on CNN for several months before parting ways after describing some African-American members of a CNN panel in which he was included as black racists. And of course, CNN cut ties with one of its most polarizing and well-known Trump backers, Jeffrey Lord, after he used the phrase Sieg heil! on Twitter.

Earlier this week, CNN cut ties with a freelance contributor, Adeel Raja, after it was determined he had posted several tweets that expressed anti-Semitic remarks.

Executives at CNN were not pleased with Santorums recent primetime appearance on the Cuomo program, according to a person familiar with the matter. Rather than put the debate to rest, these executives felt, Santorum exacerbated the issue, making the prospect of booking him for appearances a difficult one for anchors and producers. With the contributor unlikely to make appearances in the near future, CNN decided to cut ties. Earlier this month, CNN anchor Don Lemon seemed to capture the mood of employees at the network when he chastised Cuomo on air for having Santorum appear. I cannot believe the first words out of his mouth werent Im sorry, I said something ignorant, I need to learn about the history of this country. No contrition! said Lemon.

Santorum has enjoyed a key role with CNN over the last several years. He is often featured as part of a panel of Washington analysts that can include Van Jones and Gloria Borger. Santorum is typically called upon to explain thinking on Republican policy moves and the goings-on of the Trump White House.

The controversy around Santorum is one of a number of imbroglios the network is juggling. CNN has declined to discipline Chris Cuomo, its most-watched anchor, after a Washington Post report revealed he had aided his brother, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, and staff as they grappled with scrutiny around allegations by various women of unwanted behavior. And CNN recently acknowledged that the Department of Justice under President Trump clandestinely obtained records of emails and phone calls from 2017 of Barbara Starr, the networks longtime Pentagon correspondent.

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PepsiCo issued a lengthy new statement on the Flamin Hot Cheetos controversy on Friday, in which the company expressed support for Richard Montanez, the former Frito-Lay executive whose claims to have invented the snack were debunked by the Los Angeles Times.

The new statement comes as Eva Longoria is preparing to direct Flamin Hot, a biopic based on Montanezs life, which is set to go into production this summer. The movie tells the inspiring story of a Frito-Lay janitor whose bold idea for a spicy snack took the world by storm.

The Times report concluded that Montanez worked on other products in the Flamin Hot line, but that Flamin Hot Cheetos were actually invented years before by a separate team. The screenwriter of Flamin Hot, Lewis Colick, argued earlier in the week that enough of Montanezs story was true, though he acknowledged that it might not be entirely faithful to the facts.

Were not in the documentary business, Colick told Variety.

For PepsiCo, the controversy complicates a feel-good story that highlighted the companys outreach to the Latino market. In the new statement, the company said that the issue has caused a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montanez and the Latino community.

The new statement did not challenge any of the facts unearthed in the Times investigation, but it did argue that some of the companys earlier comments on the issue had been misconstrued.

The company had told the Times that Montanezs claim to have invented the snack was an urban legend. The company also said that it did not credit the creation of Flamin Hot Cheetos or any Flamin Hot products to him.

In the new statement, the company said it attributes the launch and success of Flamin Hot Cheetos and other products to several people, including Montanez.

To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand, and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders, the company said.

Jeff Bercovici, deputy business editor at the Times, said on Twitter that the new statement affirms our reporting.

PepsiCos new statement heralds Montanez for taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand,' Bercovici wrote. Our story reported on his product ideas, including Flamin Hot Popcorn and the Sabrositas line, both pitched after Flamin Hot Cheetos were trademarked.

The Times has been in contact with Frito-Lay since the articles publication, Bercovici continued. Frito-Lay has not raised any issues with our reporting or sought a correction or clarification.

The new PepsiCo statement also indicated that the company cant draw a clear link between Montanezs team and the separate group that was responsible for introducing Flamin Hot Cheetos.

The statement appears largely aimed at patching up the relationship with Montanez, who has served as a valuable brand ambassador in books and motivational speeches.

In an interview with Variety on Sunday, Montanez expressed chagrin at the way he was treated by the company in the Times story.

I was their greatest ambassador, he said. But I will say this, youre going to love your company more than they will ever love you, keep that in perspective.

Read PepsiCos new statement below.

A great deal has been recently discussed about the origin of Flamin Hot Cheetos. The information we shared with the media has been misconstrued by some, which resulted in confusion around where we stand, a range of emotions among our employees and consumers and a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montanez and the Latino community.

The sincere truth is, at PepsiCo, we believe in the strength and power of teams, and we attribute the launch and success of Flamin Hot Cheetos and other products to several people who worked at PepsiCo, including Richard Montanez.

Far from being an urban legend, Richard had a remarkable 40-plus-year career at PepsiCo and made an incredible impact on our business and employees and continues to serve as an inspiration today. His insights and ideas on how to better serve Hispanic consumers were invaluable and directly resulted in the success of Flamin Hot Cheetos. To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand, and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders.

We also know there was a separate division team developing a spicy product offering for Cheetos and other snack brands that were tested in market and found their way into permanent products on store shelves, including Flamin Hot Cheetos.

Different work streams tackling the same product without interacting occasionally occurred in the past when divisions operated independently and were not the best at communicating. However, just because we cant draw a clear link between them, doesnt mean we dont embrace all of their contributions and ingenuity, including Richards.

Richard is an important part of PepsiCos history and the success of the company. He is an inspiration and his story cannot be belittled. We regret the confusion that has come from the recent speculation, but most importantly want Richard to know he is valued and cared for among PepsiCos employees and we only wish him happiness and success.

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MOBILE, Ala. (AP)  Thousands of joyful revelers, many without masks, competed for plastic beads and trinkets tossed from floats as Alabama's port city threw a Mardi Gras-style parade Friday night, its first since Carnival celebrations were scrapped earlier this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and several deep along sidewalks, shouting and cheering as nearly 30 floats and several high school marching bands crossed a stretch of downtown Mobile. With both COVID-19 hospitalizations and vaccinations ebbing, many partied with abandon.

It was definitely not a Mardi Gras parade: Those can only be held during Mardi Gras, the period before Lent. But it felt a lot like one, which was a big part of the goal after months of lockdowns, illness, deaths and face masks.

Call it Tardy Gras, perhaps.

James L. Hurst said he was jubilant to be out partying after a difficult year. Many had no face coverings amid an upbeat mood sweeping the crowd on a balmy spring night with clear skies. Some took part in small house parties near the parade staging point. Others on the route eagerly held up hands, aiming to catch cheap beaded necklaces tossed by riders atop the floats.

We didnt get a chance to celebrate our Mardi Gras last year because it was canceled because of the COVID-19, Hurst told The Associated Press. It feels great to be out! We have our vaccines and we are ready to go!

He called it the start of a new era, adding, My momma had the COVID and it was like three months before I got to see her before she got over it. She made all of us get our vaccines.

Christopher Robinson, a longtime Mobile resident and a king of one of the parade groups  called krewes  said he was raised on Mardi Gras in this port city and was just glad to be able to celebrate again after such a year.

Oh, we hate the pandemic, Robinson said. But you know what? It brung us back to a great season to be able to celebrate and come back even louder than before. Celebrations, friends, family, having a good time. This May 21st is bringing us back together as we would normally do it.

Police officers on the parade route cheerfully picked up beads and trinkets from the streets and handed them to children in the crowd, which was kept back behind barricades. The booming high school marching bands, together with shouts from the crowd, provided a soundtrack for the party. The events of the day included a ship commissioning and nighttime fireworks.

During the past 14 months to 16 months or so its been very difficult to make it all work, but this is a real blessing, Stephen Toomey, who owns a Mardi Gras supply company, told WALA-TV.

Statewide hospitalizations from COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, are at the lowest point since April 2020, although more than 11,000 have died in Alabama and more than 540,000 have been infected. With only about a quarter of the state's population fully vaccinated, the state's immunization rate has trailed the nation for months.

Vaccination rates in Mobile County roughly mirror those of the state, with about 25% of the area's more than 400,000 residents immunized. Some feared in advance that, despite the latest federal guidelines about face masks, large numbers of unvaccinated, unmasked people could clog the parade route.

Dr. Bernard Eichold, the Mobile County health officer, said earlier that health officials hoped people would follow safety recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, al.com reported.

Like during a traditional Mardi Gras event, everyone needs to exercise personal safety and have a safe and wonderful event, he said.

Mobile police said about 64,000 people attended the festivities. Officers responded to 13 complaints and made two misdemeanor arrests.

New Orleans, where Mardi Gras celebrations also were canceled this year to slow the spread of the coronavirus, has not attempted a similar event.

The original parade route was expanded because of the high level of interest, organizers said, and 21 Mardi Gras societies were participating with downtown hotels nearly sold out. Restaurants and bars were planning special events and deals.

While the parade's theme is Celebrating Mardi Gras and Mobile, it was actually meant to mark the commissioning of the Navy's new ship USS Mobile, a shallow-water combat vessel manufactured in Mobile. Aside from the parade, receptions, a breakfast and a commissioning ceremony were also part of the plans.

Were absolutely excited about having Mardi Gras in May, certainly unexpected, Elizabeth Broughton, co-owner Debris Po Boys, told WALA-TV.

___

Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
A Laredo police officer and his wife have been arrested for their involvement in a hit-and-run crash, authorities said on Friday evening.

Police said that Alberto Aleman, who has been in the force about four years, was off duty at the time of the incident. Aleman, 25, and Kristina Vera, 26, were charged on Friday with making false statements to police. Aleman was additionally charged with accident involving damage to a vehicle.

Both have been released on bond, Webb County Jail records show.

LPDs Office of Public Integrity is conducting an internal investigation in this case. Aleman has been placed on administrative reassignment pending the outcome of the judicial and internal disciplinary review processes.

The officers of the Laredo Police Department are held to the highest standards of conduct and we have an obligation to hold everyone accountable for their actions, said LPD Chief Claudio Trevino Jr.

The case unfolded when officers responded to a hit-and-run crash in the intersection of Bob Bullock Loop and Texas 359 at about 11:41 p.m. May 16. Officers learned that a pickup struck from behind a vehicle that was waiting at a traffic light. The truck fled the scene of the accident before police arrived, according to police.

Witnesses provided officers with the license plate of the suspect pickup. Authorities noticed that the vehicle was registered to Aleman. He was identified as an off-duty LPD officer. While officers were gathering information on the case, Aleman allegedly called police to report a hit-and-run crash.

Officers responded to Alemans home. He and his wife, Vera, made statements about the accident on Loop 20 and Texas 359.

An investigation was performed by the Laredo police crimes against property unit. It was found that both Aleman and Vera made false statements to police regarding the accident, LPD said in a statement.

Detectives presented their findings to an assistant district attorney, who found enough evidence to secure arrest warrants for Aleman and Vera.
The rovers landing craft touched down one week ago on the Red Planets surface as part of the Tianwen-1 mission. The successful landing made China the second nation to safely land a spacecraft on Mars, after the U.S.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the General Services Administration and the City of Laredo announced a formal partnership Friday to facilitate commercial truck processing at the World Trade Bridge in Laredo by constructing Free and Secure Trade for Commercial Vehicles (FAST) lanes.

Under CBPs Donations Acceptance Program, CBP, GSA and the City of Laredo will construct four FAST lanes at the World Trade Bridge over the next 15 to 18 months to facilitate the processing of commercial truck drivers who participate in the FAST program. The City of Laredo will outfit the lanes with the necessary infrastructure and technology.

The Donations Acceptance Agreement with the City of Laredo is another strong example of federal and local governments working together to create opportunities for American workers and businesses, said William A. Ferrara, Executive Assistant Commissioner of the CBP Office of Field Operations. The construction of FAST lanes at the World Trade Bridge will address longstanding infrastructure challenges and facilitate flows of cross-border trade and travel that are vital to our economy.

The current port layout and the high volume of commercial truck traffic at the World Trade Bridge causes severe bottlenecking that stretches into Mexico. The FAST lanes will reduce wait times for all travelers at the port by diverting pre-approved, low-risk commercial carriers to designated lanes for expedited processing.

Partnerships with CBP and local stakeholders on donations projects like this one align with GSAs vision to provide effective and efficient government for the American people, said GSA Acting Regional Administrator Giancarlo Brizzi. Expedited processing of commercial trade with Mexico helps to boost the U.S. economy while supporting CBPs mission to protect and safeguard our borders while enhancing the nation's economic recovery.

Trade is a driving factor for the economy of Laredo. In order to further facilitate and expand cross-border trade and travel, the City of Laredo submitted a formal proposal under CBPs Donations Acceptance Program (DAP) in November 2016 for infrastructure improvements to reduce congestion at the Laredo World Trade Bridge. The Donations Acceptance Agreement announced today formalizes a project that has been years in the making and allows the parties to move forward with constructing the new FAST Lanes. Office of Public Affairs

This expansion will allow us to continue to be the number one land port in the nation, something we are very proud of, said Mayor Pete Saenz. The City of Laredo along with the trade industry welcomes such partnership under CBPs DAP.


Topuni Timber is offering on-job training.



It is already a major employer.



Wood peelings are used as biofuel.



David Chamberlin

Burgeoning demand for timber, driven by a housing boom and growth in the kiwifruit orchard market, has prompted Topuni Timber to ramp up production.

In an effort to alleviate the pressure it is now producing eight times the volume of house poles than it did formerly, for example, and is even selling its product to Carters  ironically, a division of New Zealands largest timber producer.

General manager David Chamberlin says the mill is still unable to produce enough to satisfy demand and everything in its yard is sold even before it is finished.

He adds Topuni Timber is urgently looking for new staff to alleviate the pressure and the business wants to double in size within the next four years.

Meanwhile, the timber industry is also under pressure from exports to China.

Exports have driven up the cost of a log from $105-$120 per tonne to $130-$135 per tonne. David says forestry companies stop harvesting when export prices go down, adding to scarcity.

Topuni Timber suffered a major setback in September last year when a fire burned down a peeler machine.

But, we decided to take the opportunity to expand with much bigger machinery, which will double the output of cut logs. It will be completed in 18 to 24 months, David says.

Meanwhile, current production has been helped after Topuni designed a process to reduce timber drying time from two months or more to about a week.

Waste woodchips power a boiler that is heated to 640C. The boiling water is pumped into a steamer with green logs inside. Pressure is built up over three hours. When the pressure is released, up to 70,000 litres of water explodes from inside the logs in a geyser of steam.

The boiler also powers a unique wind tunnel, which is run constantly to complete the drying of the wood. The wood is then treated with copper chrome arsenic and dried for a further three days.

Topuni Timber was founded by managing director Robert Grimmett 18 years ago when he bought the mill from Carter Holt Harvey to prevent it from being closed.

It is a major employer in the area with up to 35 staff at peak times.
Two of these are not like the others  most Western New Yorkers are familiar with the geese and gulls, but not this bookend pair of Capsian terns hanging out at Gratwich Riverside Park in North Tonawanda. The birds were identified with help from members of the Buffalo-Niagara Birding group on Facebook where it was pointed out that they are common on the great lakes and that several years ago a breeding colony established itself on a sandbar in Buffalo Harbor.
Contributed imageIn this body cam footage released by the Niagara County Sheriff's Office, Lockport police hold down Troy Hodge in this still from a Niagara County Sheriff's deputy's body camera on June 17, 2019, in the City of Lockport.
After 14 years awarding third level student scholarships, the Naughton Foundation Scholarship scheme is once again reminding students from County Longford that the closing date is fast approaching and inviting all applicants to submit their entries.

The Naughton Scholarships are a scheme of scholarships to promote the study of engineering, science and technology at third level by students in Ireland.

Each year from February to May Leaving Certificate students can apply for a scholarship if they intend on studying science, engineering or technology at third level that year.

The closing date for receipt of application forms for The Naughton Foundation Scholarship 2021 is 5.30pm, on Sunday, May 30 2021.

There will be one guaranteed scholarship for each of the 26 participating counties and five additional scholarships allocated.

The Naughton Foundation was established by Dr Martin and Carmel Naughton in 1994 and its goal is to support worthwhile causes in the arts and education.

In 2008 they decided to create the scholarship programme to increase their support for Leaving Certificate students who would like to study engineering, mathematics, science, and technology at third level in Ireland.

Originally the scholarship programme only applied to students from counties Louth, Meath and Monaghan however it has since expanded nationwide and students from all Counties in the Republic of Ireland are eligible to apply.

Students are invited to apply if they are currently attending secondary schools in County Longford, and if they are studying two or more of the following subjects- physics, chemistry, biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, and applied mathematics.

Each Naughton Scholarship is valued at 20,000 so it is a contribution of 5,000 for each year of the students third-level course for a student studying science, engineering, maths or technology in any publicly funded university or third-level institution in Ireland, including Northern Ireland. The school of each winner is also awarded 1,000.

Applications must be submitted before, or on this date to be considered eligible for the scholarship, this deadline will not be extended.

The 2021 application forms for The Naughton Foundation Scholarship Programme are available for download and can be completed online on The Naughton Foundation website www.thenaughtonfoundation.com

The closing date for receipt of applications is 5.30pm on Sunday, May 30.
Road safety experts have warned of surface water on many routes in Longford and across the country following persistent rain over the past 24 hours.

Met Eireann said that a weather station in Moore Park recorded 30mm of rain.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland said: "We advise all motorists to slow down and take extra care on your journeys to avoid delays, check for any travel disruptions via http://traffic.tii.ie."

The weather will be cool and overcast today with outbreaks of rain, especially across Leinster.

It will brighten up in the afternoon with drier conditions extending southwards.

Met Eireann said Saturday will start dry and sunny but will be followed by scattered showers.

Forecasters said it will be cool and unsettled into early next week, but with tentative signs of settled weather from midweek.
A double marquee erected for a wedding party in the midlands has been removed following the granting of a court order.

The wedding gathering was scheduled to take place this evening (Friday, May 21) on a site at the end of a cul-de-sac in the Chancery Close estate in Tullamore.

Preparations were underway on Thursday for the party and following the installation of the marquees, local suppliers were seen coming and going from the site, including a flower shop and a take-away business.

Following concerns expressed by a number of residents in the area, Offaly County Council sought orders preventing the event at a Circuit Court sitting in Tullamore on Friday morning.

Judge Keenan Johnson granted orders allowing the removal of the marquees and stopping the gathering from happening in the Chancery Close area.

Judge Johnson was told the orders were being sought because the planned event would be in breach of Covid-19 regulations.

Gardai went to the site earlier this afternoon and the marquees were taken down.

A garda checkpoint was set up at the Church Road end of Chancery Lane later and at least one of the cars stopped had wedding guests on their way to Chancery Close.

The marriage is believed to have taken place in the afternoon in the north of the country.

The Covid-19 wedding regulations currently in force state that up to 50 people can attend a wedding service but the maximum attendance permitted at an outdoor reception is 15.

A maximum of six can attend an indoor reception.

The Offaly wedding party ban came just 11 days after Judge Johnson ordered a number of people involved in a Longford wedding to pay compensation after a reception took place in spite of a court order seeking to prevent it.

Judge Johnson said the the actions displayed by those involved in the hosting of the Longford wedding celebrations were premeditated and had run the risk of turning Longford into a Covid-19 blackspot.
Earlier this week an investigation into the blockbuster BBC Panorama interview concluded that Martin Bashir, who was at the time a young and mostly unknown journalist, used false documents and pretenses to score the interview with one of the worlds best known people.
Longford County Council has just launched a series of innovative, interactive maps that will help locals and visitors alike discover and explore many parts of the county.

These new maps cover Ardagh, Ballymahon, Edgeworthstown, Granard, Lanesboro, Longford and the Royal Canal Greenway, including the National Famine Way.

They were produced by EZxploring, a company owned by Edel McWeeney Moran and her husband, Kevin.

On the council side, the project was supported by the Regeneration Unit, through funding received under the Town and Village Accelerated Scheme 2020, Longford Tourism and the Heritage Office.

The project team included the Tourism Officer, the Heritage Officer and County Archivist, working closely with the local communities and local historians.

The maps will be great for people as they get out and about during the summer, encouraging both locals and visitors to spend time and explore the many wonderful features of our towns. Each of the town maps has a walking trail with picture clues for features you can find as you go, explained Lorraine OConnor, Longford County Councils Regeneration Officer.

They are ideal for families as often it can be difficult to find an activity that suits all ages, she added.

According to Dympna Reilly, Tourism Officer, the project is of great benefit in the current circumstances. The map covering the Royal Canal is a timely addition to the visitor offering due to the recent launch of the Greenway. The whole initiative also comes as people are planning staycations and the travel restrictions have encouraged us all to look more closely at our localities, she said.

Speaking to the Leader, Edel McWeeney Moran explained more about the EZxploring concept. Every place in the country has many stories and features of interest. In each of our maps, we include a selection of these. We want the visitor to have an enjoyable experience finding particular sites and seeing details that they might otherwise miss, she said.

A walk is a great way to help people learn about their surroundings. She went on to say that Longford is the first county in Ireland to have a set of EZxploring maps.

We were delighted to work with Longford County Council and were really struck by the amount of history and heritage in each of the places we worked on in the county, she concluded.

In addition to this series of EZxploring maps, the County Longford playgrounds are currently being compiled by EZxploring and will be added to the series of EZxploring maps for County Longford. This is an exciting Creative Ireland project particularly aimed at children.

The maps will be available in the Tourist Office, Market Square, Longford; the libraries throughout the county; Knights & Conquests in Granard, the Maria Edgeworth Centre in Edgeworthstown; and Creative Ardagh and Lyonss shop in Ardagh.

For more information, you can contact Longford Tourism, Market Square, Longford. Tel: +353 (0)43 3343509. Email: tourism@longfordcoco.ie, Web: www.longford.ie
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(Alliance News) - UK International Trade Secretary Liz Truss has held talks with her Australian counterpart as the two countries edged closer to a free trade deal.

The Department for International Trade confirmed Truss spoke by telephone to Dan Tehan rising amid concern among British farmers that full liberalisation would see them severely undercut by their Australian rivals.

The call took place after ministers met on Thursday to thrash out their differences with UK Environment Secretary George Eustice and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove leading the resistance to a zero tariffs, zero quotas agreement which the Australians are demanding.

The two ministers were reported to have voiced concerns that smaller beef and lamb producers a particularly in Scotland and Wales a could be unable to compete with the typically much larger Australian farms.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson a who has made securing a series of ambitious post-Brexit free trade deals a key priority of his premiership a is thought however to have come down in favour of an agreement.

Speaking during a visit to Portsmouth on Friday, Johnson insisted the agriculture sector should see such deals "not as threats but as opportunities".

"We are certainly looking at doing free trade deals with countries around the world," he told reporters.

"I do think that free trade deals present a fantastic opportunity for our farmers, for businesses of all kinds and for manufacturers.

"I think it is vital that as a great historic free-trading nation that grew to prosperity thanks to free trade, that we see these new openings not as threats but as opportunities."

Downing Street has indicated that Johnson hopes an agreement can be concluded by the time of the G7 summit in Cornwall next month.

The DIT would not be drawn on reports that Truss had put the UK's proposals for a full tariff-free, quota-free agreement to Tehan in her call.

Officials have however insisted that any agreement would include safeguards for farmers, with the terms expected to be phased in over 15 years to allow them time to adapt.

A DIT spokeswoman said: "Any deal we sign with Australia will include protections for the agriculture industry and will not undercut UK farmers or compromise our high standards.

"Typically, any tariff liberalisation is staged over time. Australian meat accounts for a very low proportion of total UK imports, and is produced to high standards.

"We will continue to work with the industry, keeping them involved throughout the process and helping it capture the full benefits of trade."

By Gavin Cordon, PA Whitehall Editor

source: PA

Copyright 2021 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Watching Jay Reese work in his kitchen at the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Warren, it is evident the skilled chef is not 100% Ukrainian.
Theyve got an awful lot of beef in Argentina, and it comes in a myriad of cuts that are unfamiliar to most Europeans: asado de tira, vacio, entrana, bife de cuadril, bife de lomojust five of the more common ones. Argentinians also have restaurants called parrillas that specialise in chargrilled meats.

At these places a favourite dish for beef lovers is the parrillada, a selection of popular cuts that can be chargrilled to orderplus starters of various kinds.

These specialist outlets also have a special offer called a parrillada libre: three or four chargrilled cuts and a couple of starters at a relatively modest fixed price that includes ordering as many of the cuts as you feel you can eat. Its always a bargainbut strictly for beef lovers.

If you have any Argentinian friends you will almost certainly have been invited to an asado: the Sunday lunch that starts around noon and goes on for the rest of the day. The main part of the meal, you will have guessed, is a huge selection of chargrilled meats.

It was at a Sunday asado in Esporles some years ago that I heard Argentinian-born Mallorcan painter Rafael Amengual say: I was told Roberto has become a vegetarian: he now has a salad with his one and a half kilo bife de cuadril. (Rumpsteak). So it comes as no surprise when you read that Argentinians eat more beef per head than any other nation, including Uruguay, Brazil and the United States.

Last week I went to Parrilla Buenos Aires in Cala Major to have their parrillada libre  for 16.90 per person you get an empanada criolla, a chorizo criollo, a mixed salad, and as much as you feel like eating of asado de tira, vacio and entrana. Thats a great deal of food, but I did a repeat on the entrana. You can find out why on the next page.

In every Argentinian restaurant I have visited, I have always ordered an empanada criolla  and sometimes two. This crescent-shaped pastry filled with scrummy minced meat, finely chopped onions and other veggies and with absolutely exquisite flavours, is one of the worlds great little dishes. I never tire of eating them.

This version was one of the best.

The chorizo criollo has nothing whatever to do with the Spanish chorizo, which is cured and heavily flavoured with paprika. A chorizo criollo is simply a thick fresh beef sausage. In this case it wasnt a very good one. The filling was dense instead of loose, and it was grilled for too long and was somewhat dry.

The salad, on the other hand, was superb. It was just lettuce, tomato and sliced onionbut what perfection. I have never had lettuce as crisp as this nor a salad that was so deliciously cold. I ate it with relish and I didnt hesitate in awarding it a perfect 10.

Many years ago, I cant remember when or where, I was served an entrana that was dry and particularly tough. From that day on I avoided entranas and never again ordered one. That was a mistake, as I discovered at Parrilla Buenos Aires when the chargrilled meats started to arrive at the table.

The entrana is a muscle situated in the chest of a cow, in the pectoral and abdominal cavities. Its a long piece of darkish fibrous meat that is juicy and tender when chargrilled properly or done on a hot plate.

I wouldnt have ordered entrana at Buenos Aires, but it was on the parrillada libre so I accepted it meekly and hoped for the bestwhich turned out to be a piece of meat with a 10 rating.

Be sure to order an entrana underdone

Our first entrana was more chargrilled than I like it but it remained juicy and was a tender and tasty chunk of beef. If only they hadnt grilled it for so long, I thought.

When we had worked our way through the dishes on the parrillada libre, the waitress asked if we wanted seconds of any of the meats (theres only one empanada per person) and I explained about the entrana being a bit overdone and not as good as it should have been. So I asked for a small piece that was really underdone. I repeatedreally underdone.

Well, there was a nice bit of understanding between customer, waitress and kitchen and the slice of entrana that arrived was underdonereally underdone.

It was well charred on the outside, but pink and shining juicily on the inside. It packed a powerful gustatory punch and was as tasty and tender as the best entrecotes.

This was Argentinian chargrilling at its best and this entrana was worth a 10. Im already looking forward to my next one, so long as its underdonereally underdone.

Our first meat dish wasnt in the same class as the entrana. It was an asado de tira, or ribs of beef cut across the bone so that you get a strip with four or five pieces of bone surrounded by meat. But this strip was too thin, had been cooked for far too long and was dry and on the tough side.

The vacio, a cut between the ribs and hindquarter, was much better but had also been cut too thin. It would have been better to have slices of the same weight but from a thicker cut: smaller but thicker slices make better chargrills.

I usually drink one cana but sometimes I share a second one. When the waitress realised we were splitting the final cana, she brought two half canas instead. That smaller glass of freshly pulled beer is an ideal way to finish off a meal.

The verdict

The most popular cuts of Argentinian meats are not in the same league as fillets, beef chops or entrecotes but they are extremely tasty and make for superb eating so long as they are chargrilled properly. At Buenos Aires the cook was spot on with the entrana cut and it was a lovely piece of meat, so tender, so juicy and so full of flavourwhich was why it was awarded a 10-rating. The asado de tira was cut thinly and had dried out by the time it got to us, so it was a disappointment.

The vacio was a good piece of beef and would have been even better had it been thicker  the same weight but a thicker slice. The empanada criolla was a splendid version, with a scrummy filling of minced meat and veggies. One of the best Ive ever had. The salad of lettuce, tomato and sliced onion was the crispest, freshest and coolest everwhich was why it was also awarded a 10-rating.

The place

Parrilla Buenos Aires, Avda Joan Miro 280, Cala Major, Palma (just after Hotel Nixe Palace, on the other side). Tel:971-401842. They have been opening from Wednesday to Sunday but with restaurants being allowed to open inside from tomorrow, it would be better to check opening times and closing days.

The bill

Our two parrilladas libres were 33.80, bread and chimichurri sauce for one was 1.80, three canas were 7.80 and two half canas were 2.60. The total cost with VAT was 46.
Cruise ships that only stop at ports in Spain have already been given the go ahead to stop in Mallorca and an announcement authorising International cruises to dock in the Balearic Islands and other Spanish ports from the end of June was on the Spanish Prime Ministers agenda on Friday at Fitur. But Pedro Sanchez decided not to upstage the presentation of the Digital Green Certificate.

Cruise tourism is considered a strategic Sector because of its economic impact in places where the ships dock and the Balearic Government was deeply disappointed that the announcement was sidelined. It plans to appeal to Madrid over the coming weeks to allow cruise ships from foreign ports to dock in Mallorca, Minorca and Ibiza as soon as possible.

The Balearic Government has flatly refused to allow cruise ships since March 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but has changed its mind now that the vaccination programme is moving forward.

The International Association of Cruise Lines in Spain, or CLIA and PIMEM were also eagerly awaiting yesterdays announcement, particularly since competing countries such as Egypt, Greece and Turkey are monopolising all cruise stops in July and August.

CLIA-Spain Director, Alfredo Serrano, Balearic Government spokesperson and Tourism Minister, Iago Negueruela and Director General of Tourism, Rosana Morillo held a meeting at Fitur in Madrid.

CLIA is confident that the Central Government will confirm in the next few days that International cruises can go ahead "because the shipping companies have adopted Covid protocols on ships."

"There is confidence in a forthcoming resumption of International cruises in a safe and gradual manner, Minister Negueruela said after the meeting.

"The return of cruise tourism will be great news, because it will consolidate the reactivation of tourism and it's vital that they are allowed to come to the Islands, added CAEB.

"We ask that cruise ships be explicitly activated, because it is a matter of returning to normality as soon as possible and it is a just and necessary demand, said a spokesperson for the 'Si als Creuers' platform.

CAEB, PIMEM, the Balearic Business Federation of Transport, Aviba and the Hotel Association of Palma-Cala Mayor showed their support for the Government's position before Madrid.

"Everything indicates that the first cruises from Mediterranean ports will arrive in Palma and Ibiza at the end of June, said PIMEM President, Jordi Mora, This tourism segment helps the reactivation of the entire value chain related to cruises, such as trade, taxis, restaurants, hotels and shipping and service companies."

Cruise tourism has a great impact on the hotel industry in Palma, especially if the cruises are based in the port. They can stay in boutique and urban hotels in the days before and after the cruise and enjoy the city and Mallorca, explains Javier Vich, President of the Hotel Association of Palma & Cala Mayor.

Everything points to the cruises arriving in the Mallorcan ports and its a tourist strategy that we support because it benefits our Sector, which has been inoperative for more than a year due to the pandemic, said FEBT and Association of Discretionary Tourist Transport President, Rafael Roig. We need activity and productivity.
LANSING  A resolution sponsored by Senate Health Policy and Human Services Chairman Curt VanderWall recognizing Emergency Medical Service (EMS) workers was approved by the Senates health policy committee on Thursday.

It takes a special breed of person to be able to perform the kinds of duties these folks do, especially under the pressure of a job where every second counts, said VanderWall, R-Ludington, in a news release. EMS personnel work around the clock to provide a vital public service and I encourage everyone to acknowledge the hard work, professionalism and dedication embodied by those in the profession.
Brian Plakke,age 59 passed away May 23rd, 2021 at Hillcrest after a long battle with cancer. Brian was born to Donald and Marlene Plakke.( Howard True stepfather.) He graduated from Mankato West and journied to Alaska with friends,where he enjoyed fishing and traveling throughout the state. 
His use of the fire hose of falsehood was masterly. In his 2016 campaign, according to PolitiFact, 70% of his checkable claims were false or mostly false, a flood of untruths whose like had never been seen in a presidential campaign. He began his presidency by lying about the weather at his inauguration and also lying about the size of the crowd. By the time his presidency was over, Washington Post fact-checkers had clocked him at more than 30,000 confirmed falsehoods, with nearly half coming in his final year.
With much of the world gradually opening up as the peak of the COVID-19 virus subsides as we approach summer, many of those who have chosen to take the COVID-19 vaccine are eager to know whether they can enjoy a drink amid uncertainty as to whether alcohol could mix badly with the contents of their jab.

Covid-19 Vaccine: Alcohol after shots

The positive news for the vaccinated is that the general consensus of medical professionals indicate that an alcoholic beverage is permissible after taking their shots.

"It's a great question. The simple, short answer is yes," Dr. Mark Loafman, chair of family and community medicine for Cook County Health, told NBC. "There's no prohibition against drinking alcohol. It wasn't specifically studied and there's an assumption that some, you know, an average number of people in the study did use alcohol during the study, but it wasn't specifically measured."

Inmune System: alcohol and Covid-19 vaccine

However, the doctor did warn that "excessive" amounts of alcohol could weaken the immune system. "We know in general that people who have used alcohol, excessive doses of alcohol, have a weakened immune system and that makes them more susceptible to infection and may weaken their response to a vaccine," he said.

That sentiment was echoed by Ilhem Messaoudi, director of the Center for Virus Research at the University of California. "We know from other studies that chronic alcohol consumption can lead to weak vaccine responses and reduce protection," Messaoudi told AARP. "The same most likely applies to the COVID-19 vaccine. Those who drink in excess are likely to generate dampened immune responses and also be at higher risk of having severe COVID-19."

When it comes to how long one should stay away from alcohol prior to vaccination, the scientific community is not settled on the matter.

"We've been getting a lot of questions from our patients about this," Dr. Angela Hewlett, an associate professor of infectious diseases who directs the COVID infectious diseases team at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, told the New York Times.

"Understandably, people who are receiving these vaccines want to make sure they're doing all the right things to maximise their immune response."

Russian health official Anna Popova, head of the consumer health watchdog, warned in late 2020 that those about to take the Sputnik V vaccine should avoid alcohol two months prior to getting the shot, which caused a stir. "It's a strain on the body. If we want to be healthy and have a strong immune response, don't drink alcohol," she told Komsomolskaya Pravda.
McAlester, OK (74501)

Today

Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Marietta, GA (30060)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
The Oregon State University Board of Trustees met Friday and reflected on the process involved in the search for former president F. King Alexander in 2019, and discussed what they wanted to change in the search process for the future president of OSU.
Atlanta, GA (30303)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy with scattered showers and thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Atlanta, GA (30342)

Today

Thunderstorms likely, especially this evening. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely, especially this evening. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
Marietta, GA (30060)

Today

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low around 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low around 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
We were trying to figure what this was about and why the feds were investigating us, Sierra said. He [Greenberg] denied doing anything illegal.  I had many conversations with him, and he assured me that he had not done anything illegal and I advised him it would be best not to do anything [illegal] moving forward.
Giallombardo and Perrys bill will also stop invasive actions in several local jurisdictions where they send a code inspector out to inspect the inside of your home to make sure your home-based business isnt violating one of these regulations dreamed up by an overzealous bureaucrat. A persons home is often their place of sanctuary and should not be subject to government inspections just to exercise the right to earn a living.
He said he also introduced her to adult men who had sex with her, too, though the men were not identified in the plea agreement. According to numerous reports, investigators are seeking to determine whether Gaetz was one of the men who had sex with the girl.
Jones upcoming criminal trial is a big factor in any political plans, even as she did not mention it as driving her decision: Her trial would almost certainly take place before Election Day, and if Jones were convicted she would be ineligible to run for any office in Florida until she finished serving any sentence.
Bollywood actor Salman Khan recently said that his flop movies only make him want to work harder.



The actors latest release Radhe: Your Most Wanted Bhai was released and opened to poor reviews, however, the film was streamed millions of times on ZeePlex.

The film was directed by Prabhudeva and was given a cross-platform digital release in India after the cancellation of its theatrical release due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it is one of the biggest Indian releases to experiment with a pay-per-view model.

The film was also made available on DTH platforms and played in three theatres in Tripura.

Now, trade analyst Komal Nahta said in a new video that the fan estimated figure of 100 crore opening day revenue is inaccurate. Also, this estimate was only made based on data shared by Zee Studios. According to the data, the film has been streamed over 4.2 million times across all platforms on the day of release.



He said there are multiple reasons why the revenue is much less than Rs 100 crores. Komal said that the actual number of tickets purchased is much lesser, as every ticket worth Rs 249 is shared by multiple members of the same family.

He said, Zee had also allowed new subscribers to watch the film without purchasing a ticket, which means that in this 4.2 million figure, there are people who haven't bought a ticket for Radhe.



"Industry standards dictate that with every ticket sold, four-five family members watch the film, so only one-fourth of the 4.2 million are actual tickets sold, he added.

He also said that Salman Khan has sold the rights before the films release and that Zee has the film for around 10 years. He said, "The estimation that the film could makeover 200 crores in the first three or four weeks is not accurate. This isn't the earning, because the 80-100 crore that would've come from theatres has been wiped out in an instant. Radhe is by no means a 'break-even film' in the short term, but it could make a profit in the long run.



What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
The Uttarakhand High Court on Friday slammed the state government for not ensuring COVID protocols during Kumbh Mela and Char Dham Yatra amid a devastating wave of COVID-19 pandemic.



The HC also observed that the centre wasnt paying any heed to the medical needs of people living in remote areas of Uttarakhand.

The bench of Chief Justice R S Chauhan and Justice Alok Verma reprimanded the Uttarakhand government for giving permission first to Kumbh Mela, and then to Char Dham, and asked to "go and see what is happening".

 BCCL

The court also said, Why do we keep causing embarrassment to ourselves. They also took note of crowd control measures for people traveling for char Dham.



The bench also said, You may fool the court, but you cannot fool the people. The reality exists out there. You are playing with the lives of millions of people in the country.

Uttarakhand | Nainital High Court said that the ever-decreasing number of COVID19 tests shows that the State government is deceiving itself and the people as well  ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021

The court observed that social media is telling a different story and further observed that nobody was following the crowd control measures in the state. It also advised Tourism Secretary Dilip Jawalkar to take the next chopper to Chardham and find what the reality is after he informed the court about the number of people earmarked to perform duties at each temple.

 BCCL

The court also said, Why is it that Uttarakhand is being neglected? Why is it receiving a step-child treatment from the Centre? Even high ranking officials from Uttarakhand posted in the PMO are not responding to the requests and are instead sitting upon the interests of the state."



It is as absurd as asking someone who grows wheat not to use his own produce and get it from someone else, the court added.

What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!
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Korea requested from the United States incentives such as tax deductions and infrastructure construction to ease the U.S. investment of Korean firms, including leading chipmaker Samsung Electronics, its presidential office said Friday.

Korean President Moon Jae-in, in Washington for a summit with U.S. President Joe Biden, told a gathering of U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, her Korean counterpart and CEOs of Qualcomm, Samsung and other companies that both countries can benefit by strengthening supply chain cooperation.

Biden has advocated for support for the U.S. chip industry amid a global chip shortage that has hit automakers and other industries. He met with executives from major companies including Samsung in April and previously announced plans to invest US$50 billion in semiconductor manufacturing and research.

Samsung plans to invest $17 billion for a new plant for chip contract manufacturing in the United States, Korea's presidential Cheong Wa Dae added in a statement, confirming plans previously reported.
I didnt get as much training as I wanted, but with preparation, try to ride as much as you can between work and buy a bunch of expensive gear, Fletcher offered as advice, as Mazza added, And know how to fix all of it. Things fail.
Geneva, Switzerland (PANA) - World leaders met here Friday at the Global Health Summit co-hosted by the European Commission and Italy to adopt an agenda to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, an official statement said
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP)  California no longer will require social distancing and will allow full capacity for businesses when the state reopens on June 15, the state's top health official said Friday.

Were at a place with this pandemic where those requirements of the past are no longer needed for the foreseeable future, Secretary of California Health and Human Services Dr. Mark Ghaly said.

He said dramatically lower virus cases and increasing vaccinations mean its safe for California to remove nearly all restrictions next month. The state of nearly 40 million people has administered nearly 35.5 million vaccine doses, he said, and more than three-quarters of residents over 65 have received at least one dose.

As one result, the state in mid-June will end its color-coded four-tier system that restricts activities based on each countys virus prevalence.

Limits on how many people can be inside businesses at any one time will disappear, he said, and there will no longer be (physical distancing) restrictions for attendees, customers and guests in business sectors.

That won't mean an abrupt end to wearing masks, he said, but the state will adjust its guidelines to correspond to national guidelines.

Officials already announced this week that they would wait until mid-June to follow the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's new mask guidelines that say its safe for fully vaccinated people to skip face coverings and social distancing in virtually all situations. The federal guidelines state that everyone should still wear masks in crowded indoor locations such as airplanes, buses, hospitals and prisons.

Californias workforce regulators are separately developing safety rules that will continue to apply to employers, Ghaly said.

"I cant emphasize enough how the vaccine has allowed us to get to a place where we can safely do the things that we loved to do before the pandemic," said Los Angeles County health director Barbara Ferrer. The state's lingering deaths, she said, "are almost all among people not fully vaccinated. This is preventable.

The state will still require vaccine verification or negative test results within 72 hours for indoor events with more than 5,000 attendees.

State officials will also recommend that organizers of outdoor events with more than 10,000 people require attendees to provide verification that they have been vaccinated or have tested negative for the coronavirus. Those who cant or dont provide the verification should be encouraged by organizers to wear masks, Ghaly said.

Im very confident in their decisions and very confident this is the right move, said Dr. Monica Gandhi, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco.

Gandhi said there is plenty of evidence that vaccines are effective and California has done a good job of distributing doses.

State officials do not anticipate that they will create or require a vaccination passport or other formal verification, Ghaly said.

The more than three weeks of lead time before the changes go into effect will provide ample time for our businesses, organizations and residents to prepare for these changes, Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger said.

California also plans to follow federal CDC guidelines on travel, meaning it will not be discouraged except in places where visiting is not advised.

We have weathered the storm, and I am hopeful that this finally signals our return to normalcy, Barger said.

California was the first state to issue a statewide shutdown as the virus emerged in March 2020 and it was the nation's epicenter for the disease at the start of 2021. More than 61,000 people have died from the virus in California, the most in any state in the nation.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, has said for weeks that the state expected to generally lift most business and social restrictions by June 15.

I think our shared objective has always been to get the economy open as quickly as we can by safely doing so, said Dee Dee Myers, director of the Governors Office of Business and Economic Development. Newsom faces a recall election this fall driven in large part by those frustrated with his restrictions during the pandemic.

Restrictions around eating and drinking, open bars, buffets, things like that will all go away, she said. People can now also plan with certainty for weddings, conventions and large sporting events, a really important milestone" as officials try to reinvigorate the economy.

On some recent days, newly reported infections in California have fallen below 1,000 and there are currently just over 1,300 people hospitalized with the virus. The state's current positivity rate is just 1%.

Lifting restrictions will inevitably result in some increased transmissions, but the health care system should be able to handle them and local officials can still impose additional limits if there are outbreaks, Ghaly said. Health officials will continue tracking whether virus mutations start breaking through vaccinations, which he said could mean renewed health measures.

Were going to be watching that very closely," he said. "But I think we are in a place statewide where we have a significant number of people vaccinated and protected.

___

This story has been corrected to say that more than 61,000 people have died from the coronavirus in California, not nearly 63,000.

___

Associated Press writer Kathleen Ronayne contributed to this story.
RIDGEFIELD  Gov. Ned Lamont paid a special visit to Ridgefield on Friday to celebrate the towns achievement in becoming the first municipality in the state with a designated cultural district.

A small, mostly maskless crowd gathered outside The Aldrich Contemporary Art Museum on Main Street for a news conference marking the occasion.

A lot of people have rediscovered Connecticut ... and what makes this state so great, Lamont said. Its our culture, its our history, its our values. ... It just shows you that sometimes there are silver linings, and this is an extraordinary silver lining for the state.

Last month, the Connecticut Office of the Arts approved Ridgefields bid for the designation after nearly two years of meetings, public hearings and presentations, all of which were slowed by the pandemic. The Connecticut Office of the Arts defines a cultural district as a walkable area of a city or town that features numerous cultural facilities, activities and/or assets.

The program launched in January 2020 but took a backseat as COVID cases began to surge, and, by association, cultural arts and performance venues shuttered, according to Elizabeth Shapiro, Connecticut Office of the Arts director of arts, preservation and museums.

Allison Stockel, executive director of The Ridgefield Playhouse, was quick to mention the towns tenacity over the past year in spite of the pandemics challenges.

The theaters in this town did not shutter  we did it virtually, in any which way we could, she said. We're a tenacious town, and I think we survived because of the arts. The arts are our backbone ... (and) it is the people who created this district.

Ridgefields cultural district comprises downtown Main Street and surrounding areas. It stretches from the Keeler Tavern Museum & History Center in the south through Ballard Park and the Ridgefield Library in the north, and a half mile east to the Ridgefield Theater Barn and Guild of Artists.

The area houses numerous cultural attractions, including the RPAC Art Center and Academy, the Ridgefield Conservatory of Dance, The Prospector Theater, the historical Scott House, ACT of CT and The Ridgefield Playhouse.

The towns Economic and Community Development Commission plans to place signs on the north and south sides of Main Street to indicate where the cultural district begins. At the news conference, Chairman Geoffrey Morris unveiled the logo for the signage, which includes a picture of an acorn  a nod to the Charter Oak Cultural Center in Hartford.

The area will be marketed by the states Department of Economic and Community Development, which includes the Connecticut Office of the Arts, to promote tourism in town. ECDC members anticipate that the governors formal acknowledgment of Ridgefields sights and activities will encourage visitors to stay and patronize for a weekend as opposed to one day.

(Ridgefield) saw this designation as a strategy to lead the town beyond the pandemic and into a blossoming social and economic recovery, Shapiro said. Cultural districts are the foundation of strong, thriving, creative business ecosystems, and I am so pleased to be here today to celebrate Ridgefield ... as a cultural leader, and the first of what I believe will be a long list of districts to follow.

Shapiro noted that a handful of towns on Connecticuts shoreline, including New London and Stonington, are actively working on cultural district applications.

For a virtual tour of Ridgefields cultural district, visit https://vimeo.com/509357299.

alyssa.seidman@hearstmediact.com
MAY 14 - 20, 2021

This photo gallery highlights some of the most compelling images made or published by Associated Press photographers in Latin America and the Caribbean. It was curated by AP photo editor Anita Baca.
WAILUKU, Hawaii (AP)  The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has approved a request by coffee growers in Hawaii to use fungicide to fight a pathogen found on Maui, Hawaii, Oahu and Lanai islands.

The federal agency notified the Hawaii Department of Agriculture earlier this week, approving its request for farmers to fight coffee leaf rust with Priaxor Xemium, The Maui News reported Friday.

Coffee leaf rust was first detected on Maui and the Big Island in October 2020 and on Oahu and Lanai in January 2021. Infections, which cause coffee plants to change colors, have the ability to wipe out entire coffee crops. Its discovery prompted the Hawaii Board of Agriculture to restrict the movement of coffee plants from the islands.

Priaxor Xemium is permitted for use in controlling leafy vegetables, strawberries, tomatoes, soybeans, wheat and other crops, but was not labeled for specific use on coffee plants.

The state Department of Agriculture, which filed a request in March for an emergency exemption, will now be able to use the fungicide for a year or until its use on coffee plants is added to the product label by the EPA and its producer.

Hawaii coffee growers now have an added method to combat the coffee leaf rust, which is extremely difficult to manage, Hawaii Board of Agriculture Chair Phyllis Shimabukuro-Geiser said. Other efforts to minimize the damage and spread of coffee leaf rust include quarantines on the movement of coffee plants and associated material, the import of disease-resistant coffee plants and the development of integrated pest management strategies.

The board has announced plans to host webinars on the use of the fungicide in June.
MARIETTA, Ga. (AP)  The judge who presided over the 2016 murder trial of a man convicted of leaving his son inside a hot car has denied his motion for a new trial.

Cobb County Superior Court Judge Mary Staley Clark's ruling, issued Thursday, was not surprising. Had she granted the motion, she would have had to admit to key errors on her part in the case involving Justin Ross Harris, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

Harris lawyers plan to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court.

Harris, convicted of purposely leaving his 22-month-old son, Cooper, inside a hot car to die on June 18, 2014, is serving a life sentence plus 32 years at Macon State Prison. He maintains his sons death was accidental.

Harris defense team  Marietta attorneys Maddox Kilgore, Carlos Rodriguez and Bryan Lumpkin  claimed the judge prevented them from challenging the credibility of Cobb County police and expert witnesses.

There was no question at all, ever, in our minds, that we would not be allowed to question a law enforcement officer who had given false testimony under oath in this very case, Kilgore told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in December.

The defense said those errors were used only to impugn Harris character and were irrelevant to the question of whether Coopers death was intentional.

The state, in its response to Harris motion for a new trial, argued the evidence supported their theory that the defendant killed his young son to live a life without children, to be able to divorce his wife and then to have numerous sexual relationships.

Cobb police Detective Phil Stoddard testified that Harris was involved in a group that promoted a child-free lifestyle, a claim Kilgore said was an outright lie.

According to the defense, the child-free group had come up in a Google chat with a co-worker, prosecution witness Alex Hall, who sent Harris the link to the Reddit subgroup. Harris response? Grossness!

Marietta attorney Ashleigh Merchant said she believes the defense has a strong case for appeal.

I think everyone can agree it was highly prejudicial, Merchant said of evidence allowed detailing Harris sexual escapades. How relevant was it? I personally think its a leap to say because he wants to live this lifestyle, that must mean he wants his child dead. I just dont see that.
SANFORD, Mich. (AP)  Property owners near dams that failed in the Midland area won a key decision in lawsuits against the state.

Judge Cynthia Stephens said the lawsuits can go forward, rejecting a request to dismiss by the Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy. It's an early stage in the litigation, but the ruling Friday was a victory for people who claim the state contributed to the disaster.
CAIRO (AP)  A senior Sudanese official said she resigned on Saturday in protest over the killing of two protesters during a rally earlier this month, when the military dispersed a demonstration in Sudan's capital.

Aisha Musa, a civilian member of the ruling military-civilian Sovereign Council, said she submitted her resignation a day after troops forcibly dispersed a protest outside the military headquarters in Khartoum.

Two young protesters were killed and over three dozen were wounded, according to a local medical group. Prosecutors were questioning some 100 troops over the deadly dispersal.

Musa, a university professor and rights activist, announced her resignation in a televised statement. She claimed that civilians in the 14-member Sovereign Council have been sidelined.

There was no immediate comment from the ruling body, chaired by Gen. Abdel-Fattah Burhan.

Mousa called for sweeping reforms to the justice system and quick investigations into the killings of protesters during and after the popular uprising that led to the militarys overthrow of longtime autocrat Omar al-Bashir in April 2019.

Sudan has since been on a fragile path to democracy and is ruled by a joint military-civilian government, which includes the Sovereign Council and also an executive Cabinet.

The deadly rally earlier in May had demanded justice for the dozens killed in a 2019 crackdown on protesters. The government established an independent committee in 2019 to probe the crackdown, but the panel repeatedly missed its deadlines for reporting, angering the victims families and protest groups.
New York, US (PANA) - On the heels of recent positive developments, the Secretary-Generals Special Envoy for Libya pointed to renewed hope for peace in the conflict-affected country, and stability across the wider region, in a briefing to the Security Council on Friday
WASHINGTON (AP)  An FBI employee has been indicted on charges that she stored classified documents and other national security information at home over the course of more than a decade, the Justice Department said Friday.

Kendra Kingsbury, 48, is accused of having unauthorized possession of a broad swath of sensitive government documents, including materials that describe sources, methods and operations and that contain information about operatives such as a suspected associate of Osama bin Laden.

Kingsbury worked as an intelligence analyst in the FBI's Kansas City office for 12 years until her suspension in December 2017. The two-count indictment, filed in the Western District of Missouri, alleges that during that time, Kingsbury illegally removed documents she was granted access to at work and stored them at home.

Though Kingsbury held a top-secret security clearance and was assigned to squads covering a range of crimes and threats, she did not have a need to know the information in most of the documents, prosecutors say.

According to the indictment, the records Kingsbury stored at home included details about specific investigations, sensitive human source operations, intelligence gaps with regard to terrorist organizations and foreign intelligence services, and information about the FBI's technical capabilities. The materials also discuss al-Qaida members, including a suspected bin Laden associate, prosecutors say.

The indictment does not provide a reason for why Kingsbury mishandled the documents, nor does it accuse her of having transmitted the information to anyone else. The Justice Department declined to elaborate beyond the indictment on Friday.

The breadth and depth of classified national security information retained by the defendant for more than a decade is simply astonishing, Alan E. Kohler Jr., the assistant director in charge of the FBIs Counterintelligence Division, said in a statement.

The case underscores the risk to national security posed by insider threats, Assistant Attorney General John Demers, the Justice Department's top national security official, said in a statement.

Court documents do not identify a lawyer for Kingsbury, of Dodge City, Kansas. A message left at a phone number connected to her was not immediately returned.

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Follow Eric Tucker on Twitter at http://www.twitter/com/etuckerAP
A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit claiming a Mississippi city was at fault in the death of a lawyer who killed himself in the wake of a political scandal that defined Mississippi's bitter 2014 U.S. Senate race.

U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves ruled Wednesday that relatives of late Ridgeland lawyer Mark Mayfield had not proven that the city of Madison had improperly retaliated against Mayfield for constitutionally protected speech or political activity.

Dorsey Carson, a lawyer for the Mayfields, said Friday that he was reviewing and evaluating the order and declined further comment. A lawyer for the city didn't immediately return phone calls and emails seeking comment.

During the 2014 Republican primary between state Sen. Chris McDaniel and now deceased U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, a group of McDaniel supporters conspired to take pictures of Cochran's wife, who was living at a Madison nursing home because of dementia. After a photograph was briefly published online in an attempt to claim Cochran was unfaithful to his bedridden wife, an uproar ensued. Police began investigating even as Cochran went on to win a runoff against McDaniel, and then win reelection. Cochran died in 2019, a year after retiring.

Police arrested three people  John Mary, Clayton Kelly and Mayfield. Mayfield, whose mother lived at the same nursing home, was accused of giving Mary directions to Cochran's room and was arrested by city police and charged with charged with conspiracy to exploit a vulnerable adult. He killed himself a little more than a month later. Mary and Kelly later each pleaded guilty to conspiracy.

In 2017, Mayfield's family sued the city, Madison Mayor Mary Hawkins-Butler, the police chief, an investigator, the Butler Snow law firm, the firm's managing partner and another lawyer alleging they were Cochran supporters who conspired to target Mayfield for prosecution to help Cochran's reelection chances.

All those defendants except the city itself had already been dismissed from the case before Wednesday.

Reeves wrote that despite sworn statements from former Madison County Assistant District Attorney Dow Yoder that this case was handled unlike any other case that ever came through the DAs office," there was no evidence that Mayfield was investigated or arrested by city police because of constitutionally protected speech or political activity.

Instead of rounding up the most vocal McDaniel supporters, city investigators followed the evidence from Kelly to Mary to Mayfield, Reeves wrote. The police were given free rein to conduct their investigation as they saw fit, without direction from the mayor, a Cochran supporter. There is no evidence that before the Rose Cochran incident, the city of Madison was itching for an excuse to go after McDaniel supporters. And there is no evidence of differential treatment of McDaniel and Cochran supporters.

He also ruled the Mayfields weren't entitled to wrongful death damages because they couldn't prove his suicide was immediately caused by acts of the city that created an irresistible impulse.

Here, the Mayfields have no evidence, expert or otherwise, that Mark Mayfield acted under an irresistible impulse, Reeves wrote.
EAST HARTFORD  South Windsor police have charged the husband of missing South Windsor mother Jessica Edwards in her death.

Tahj Hutchinson, 22, was charged with first-degree manslaughter. Police said he was taken into custody around 9 p.m. Friday and is being held on $1 million bond.

The arrest came hours after South Windsor police announced Edwards body was found in East Hartford Friday morning.

Edwards, a 30-year-old mother who had a 7-month-old son, had not been seen for more than a week.

Edwards remains were found at the entrance to the Hockanum River Linear Park off Chipper Drive in East Hartford, South Windsor police Sgt. Mark Cleverdon said Friday.

We at the South Windsor Police Department would like to offer our deepest condolences to Jessicas family as they deal with this devastating news, Cleverdon said during a news conference.

Several news outlets reported Edwards family were seen arriving at the scene at Driver Road and Chipper Drive. One family member fell to the ground after speaking with police, The Journal Inquirer reported. The medical examiners office arrived after the family left.

Cleverdon said the body was found between 9:30 and 10 a.m. Friday. Cleverdon said location data brought police to the bodys location.

The body was found in a heavily wooded area not far from a trail area off the road. The body was not in a grave, and had begun to decompose, Cleverdon said.

He said the cause and manner of death are still pending investigation by the office of the chief medical examiner.

Earlier in the day, law enforcement agencies searched the East Hartford area for Edwards, officials said.

During the afternoon news conference, Cleverdon said the search involved South Windsor police, the state police major crimes unit, state police K-9 units and the South Windsor police aerial support team.

Edwards was reported missing to South Windsor police on May 10 after she was last seen around 7 a.m. that day.

On Wednesday, Cleverdon said investigators were reviewing area surveillance footage to gather any additional information on Edwards leaving her home.

During the press conference Friday afternoon, Cleverdon said police no longer believe Edwards left in a car with an unknown person.

Last week, investigators served a search warrant at Edwards home and for three vehicles while state police dogs canvassed the area around the missing womans home. Local community groups and leaders have conducted their own searches.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
State budget revenues have surged by nearly half a billion dollars  the second major improvement in less than a month, Gov. Ned Lamont announced.

And while the administration didnt comment on whether it expects this latest good news to continue, one key lawmaker said this years improvement can only help legislative leaders and the governor reach a deal soon on the next two-year state budget.

Thursdays report  which came just three days after the state income tax filing deadline  also follows an April 30 forecast that upgraded revenues by $205 million for the current fiscal year and by a whopping $1.6 billion for the next biennial cycle.

That doesnt happen very often in the state, Lamont said during a late afternoon, live-streamed briefing. People are beginning to pay attention.

Wall Street credit rating agencies have improved Connecticuts bond ranking twice this spring as the state  which amassed a record-setting budget reserve last fiscal year  has built upon it in 2021.

Connecticut now is poised to accelerate reduction of its massive pension debt by hundreds of millions of dollars. Even with that, though, unfunded pension obligations will remain a huge challenge for Connecticut for decades to come.

Budget surplus on the rise

Lamonts budget office projected a $470 million surplus Thursday  a little over 2% of the General Fund  for the fiscal year that ends June 30, up $220 million from its forecast one month ago.

And 80% of that improvement, $176 million, involves revenue, with sales, corporation and estate tax receipts all on the rise, as well as income tax payments related to paycheck withholding.

But the rest of the latest surge, about $300 million, is technically outside of the General Fund.

It largely involves income tax payments tied to capital gains and other investment earnings. Because these sources can fluctuate greatly from year to year, the state created a volatility adjustment program in 2017 that captures a portion of these revenues when they clear a certain threshold, holds them outside of normal finances and transfers them after the fiscal year ends directly into the rainy day fund or to the cash-starved pensions.

Lamont said Connecticuts volatility adjustment program now holds just over $1 billion, about $300 million more than his budget office projected one month ago.

Lamont did not address, though, whether his administration projects these revenue improvements to continue in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 fiscal years. His budget staff began closed-door negotiations Thursday with top lawmakers to craft a new biennial spending-and-revenue plan.

Leaders confident in a deal soon

Both House Speaker Matt Ritter, D-Hartford, and Senate President Martin M. Looney, D-New Haven, predicted the latest revenue jump earlier this week.

Connecticut normally sets an April 15 state income tax filing deadline  to match the federal government. Both deferred it to May 17 this year because of the coronavirus pandemic, meaning state analysts had to begin their revenue projections to assist the budget negotiations based upon incomplete tax filing data.

But legislative leaders and Lamont have been hinting all spring that early tax returns showed promising numbers.

Ritter and Looney said Wednesday they expect to reach a deal with Lamont before the regular legislative session closes on June 9, and Thursdays forecast, they added, only helps.

But both leaders cautioned that despite improving forecasts, legislators and the governor must be prepared to compromise to reach a deal on time.

Lamont, a fiscally moderate Democrat, opposes any tax hikes at this time, while progressive legislators support income tax surcharges on the rich and a new digital media ads tax aimed at online giants like Google and Facebook.

Liberal Democrats want to use these funds to provide state income tax cuts for low- and middle-income households, a $50 million bailout for restaurants, hundreds of millions of dollars in increased aid to cities and towns, added funds for social services and health care, and to finance long-term investments in poor urban centers.

Theres going to have to be some understanding that theres going to have to be some more investments in communities and businesses harmed by the pandemic, Ritter said.
ESSEX  Once an abandoned and dilapidated structure, the former Methodist church on Prospect Street recently sold for more than $1 million.

Janet Clarke said her late husband, Frederick Fred G.E. Clarke, purchased the church in 1985 and spent more than a decade renovating and converting the structure into a home that sold last month for $1.05 million.

We had a house on West Avenue in 1980 and (the church) was right at the end of the street, she said. It was a derelict building. It wasnt for sale. It was all boarded up.

Clarke said the church was built in 1849 by parishioners who were also ships carpenters, noting the solid chestnut beams spanning the interior are original. She said the building was used as a church for 100 years, until the Methodist Episcopal Society disbanded and the building was given to the Essex Fire Engine Company and then reverted to town ownership.

Other than a stint as a warehouse in the mid-20th century, Clarke said it was well out of use and in need of a complete renovation when she and her husband looked at the place from their house down the street.

My husband always thought the view from the top would be spectacular, she said. Its the highest privately owned real estate in the town of Essex.

Clarke said her husband grew up in the shoreline area and along the Connecticut River. She said he always loved the area and was excited to be able to purchase the property.

Clarke said her husband felt like he needed to rescue the property, and so the couple bought the church. She noted it was the first time the property was on the market in its history.

It was a dozen years of renovation, she said. The journey required him to buy the house next door...It was a hobby, but it became a passion.

Clarke said Keith Nolin, a local contractor, was integral to the renovation. She said the project was huge and her husband spared no expense.

The marble on the floor comes from Italy, she said. He had custom windows made. He had the facade redone to the original.

The renovation, which created a porch and made the steeple a glassed-in lookout, made the views from the church amazing, Clarke said.

Clarke said her husband died in late 2019, noting he could never part with the property.

He loved it so much and treasured the things that were in there, she said. He rescued it.

Clarke said the building looked like a church on the outside, but was a home on the inside. When her husband died and she decided it was time to sell, Clarke said she wanted to find a buyer who appreciated the legacy of the property.

I think that theyll steward it very well, she said.
MILFORD  The owners of the Greek Spot Cafe e & Grill have experienced heartbreak and bittersweet moments in this pandemic year, but also happiness in their business success.

The heartbreak was when owners Leo and Stephanie Koutikas lost a son, Stergios Sted Koutikas, 25, who died unexpectedly March 11.

Im just started to feel like myself, Leo Koutikas recently said.

Then there was that Leo Koutikas had to sell his New Colony II Diner in Bridgeport that his father opened in 1976, as the pandemic wiped out business.

Its bittersweet, he said. Less stress but taking down my fathers pictures was hard. He was there 45 years.

The couples happiness leading into their busy summer season is due to their Greek Spot Cafe & Grill at 726 E. Broadway having fared better than many restaurants during the pandemic because of its aestablished takeout model and Stephanie Koutikas marketing expertise.

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media

That strong takeout business was organic, rather than anything they planned, because of their proximity to the beach across the street and the eaterys location just a stones throw from Silver Sands State Park.

In other words, who wants to sit inside or on a patio when the sand and sea are right there?

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media file

It kept us alive, Stephanie Koutikas said of the takeout business. Thank goodness we had the cafe to keep themm going financially through the pandemic when the diner closed, she said. Although business was down, it kept them afloat.

Stephanie Koutikas, who had a 14-year marketing career in Manhattan for a cosmetics company and left about a year-and-a-half ago, also stepped up the marketing.

What we learned is the power of social media and marketing. It just gave us hope, she said.

The cafe with Greek island flair stayed open throughout the pandemic using Uber Eats and Grub Hub delivery, as well as walk-up customers, and Stephanie Koutikas social media acumen.

Their customers are like family and on social media the couple share posts and videos of Greek culture, their food, Leo Koutikas preparing dishes and their family life  which includes three young sons ages five to 10.

One recent Facebook post on their business page shows a current real estate advertisement for a circa-1750 home in Milford that mentions the house is a 5-minute car ride to the famous Greek Spot Cafe.

Its a place where people love to grab their food, sometimes their own chair and eat at the beach. They ride in on bicycles, then go to the beach, and in summer they line up for food in their bathing suits.

The eatery now has 12 outdoor tables back in place since the 50 percent capacity restrictions were lifted and its an ultra-inviting scene, with views of Long Island Sound and Charles Island from some tables.

Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media file

The desirable beachfront neighborhood adjacent to Silver Sands State Park is densely populated.

When people were locked-in with children, we were a destination, she said. Theyd get food to go, people grabbed their own chairs. People are not afraid to go outside with the food or just go home.

Of course, the draw of the taste of their traditional Greek food and other specialty dishes might have had something to do with peoples motivation to get there even during a pandemic.

Aside from the best-selling classics  souvlaki, moussaka, Greek salad, spinach pie  Leo Koutikas puts a twist into the menu with dishes such as lamb burgers with feta cheese, souvlaki salad with octopus, and a dish called the Charles Island  a crabcake topped with seafood salad, lettuce, tomato, feta cheese and sriracha sauce. They also are famous for the fries, including truffle, lemon, garlic/feta, cilantro/feta, and even one that resembles a gyro.

They have the best gyros Ive ever had, said customer Kate Arango of Norwalk, who used to live in the neighborhood and eats at the cafe whenever shes in town.

Its great comfort food and theyre so nice here, Arango said, noting that by her plate was a bagged cup of lemon chicken orzo soup for the next day.

It was during their honeymoon in 2009 on the Greek islands of Santorini and Mykonos that the Koutikases fell in love with outdoor European cafes and talked about opening one someday. Leo Koutikas knew a lot about food and Greek recipes, as he had been running the New Colony II diner on Main Street since age 18.

They opened the Greek Spot Cafe & Grill in 2013 and it was a dream come true, Stephanie Koutikas said.

They lived on East Broadway and one day noticed this little place, and decided to give it a go.

We cleaned it up and called it our little Greek island cafe, she said. I love that it tells a story about our family.  We like making people happy and food is happiness.

The inside of the tiny place  where people line up single-file to order  has a feel like Greek island meets Milford beach. There are starfish on the walls, seashells, scenes of Greece, arrow signs in Greek with English translations that say Milford, Beach and more. Theres a shelf of childrens art  part of a kindness rock painting project by the couples three young sons, and other children who come into the restaurant.

The interior is made to look like an outdoor Greek cafe with strings of outdoor lights with big bulbs hanging from the ceiling. The walls are painted white with real blue shutters hung on them to make the inside appear like an outdoor space. The white building with the blue shutters look is classic Greek, she said. They no longer have seating inside.

It has a Greek island vibe. It feels youre on vacation in Milford, Stephanie Koutikas said. People say, It doesnt feel like Im in Milford.

The mostly Greek music in the cafe typically is loud  and this spring gets louder as time goes on  something Stephanie Koutikas considers a good sign of the balance returning to her husband after the loss of their son. Although they refer to Stergios as our son, he was from an earlier relationship of Leo Koutikas.

Were grateful he worked here (son Stergios)  he was loved and we felt supported by customers after his death, she said. Its a difficult year, we take it day to day.

On a recent weekday a little after noon, the customers poured in, including Jean Marconi, whose daughter who lives nearby, and Jeans friend.

Its our favorite spot, Jean Marconi said. Currently I drive here from Shelton to get it.

Her friend, Debbie Santos of Trumbull, said she loves the rice pudding and the specials.

Marconis daughter, Danielle Marconi, said she adores the watermelon salad with shrimp and feta, as well as the french fries with sea salt and truffle.

Everythings really fresh, said Danielle Marconi, owner of Bend Yoga Studio. I like that they have a variety if I want something warm, something cold.

The Koutikases live so close to the cafe that Stephanie Koutikas can look out their kitchen window and wave to Leo or see whether the restaurant is busy.

Shes Portuguese and from Bridgeport, having come to America with her family as a young child. She was raised around the corner from the diner owned by Leo Koutikas father.

Leo Koutikas was born in the United States to parents who came from Greece, and was raised in Monroe.

The two were friends growing up, but didnt date until later in her college years, although she said she had a crush on him for years.

Finally, I got the nerve to ask her for a date, he said. They married when she was 30 after dating for eight years.

She cooks Portuguese food and the affectionate couple jokes about how someday shell open a restaurant close by and call it The Portuguese Spot and they will compete.

They are looking for another spot to open a restaurant of a similar type, maybe in Milford, they said.

I love dealing with people, making them happy, Leo said. He said the best thing about working close to home is hes close to his kids during day.
NEW LONDON  The U.S. Coast Guard secured its close ties with the city on Thursday with a ceremony to mark New London's re-designation as a Coast Guard City.

Established by Congress in 1998, a Coast Guard City is an honorary five-year designation recognizing a community's special efforts to celebrate the service and the sacrifice of Coast Guard men and women.

There currently are 28 cities designated by Congress as Coast Guard Cities. New London first received the designation in 2015  the first and only city in the state to earn such recognition.

Under a tent at City Pier with the cutter Spencer docked in the background, Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl L. Schultz on Thursday talked about the historical beginning of the Coast Guard Academy nearby and the hundreds of Coast Guard officers who have been in New London.

New London donated the land for the present site of the Coast Guard Academy and more recently donated a waterfront parcel to accommodate the construction of the future National Coast Guard Museum, to be built not far from where Thursday's ceremony was held.

"There's a lot of goodness when we thicken the ties of collaboration and cooperation between our service with 231 years of history and this great waterfront community here in New London," Schultz said.

"The New London community puts forth tremendous effort to support our Coast Guard," he said in prepared remarks. "By embracing Coast Guardsmen and their families, the New London Community fosters morale and contributes to Service excellence."

U.S. Sen. Chris Murphy and U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said they expected to be back in New London for the ribbon-cutting for the museum in the near future.

New London is home to the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, Coast Guard Station New London, the Coast Guard Research and Development Center and International Ice Patrol. The city recently signed an agreement with the Coast Guard that provides a berth for the iconic Coast Guard barque Eagle at City Pier near the museum site.

New London Mayor Michael Passero credited Rain Daugherty, the city's former director of development and planning, for work that led to the Coast Guard City designation and also to secure the city as the home for the museum.

"This is the highest honor the United States Coast Guard can bestow upon any city," Passero said in a statement. "We are proud of our partnerships with the Coast Guard and honored that the city continues to be recognized as a Coast Guard City."

This article is written by Greg Smith from The Day, New London, Conn. and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
MCRD San Diego -- When Marine leaders defend the Corps' historic resistance to further gender integration of recruit training, they often bring up infrastructure as a major challenge. The two Marine Corps boot camps, built in the 1910s, are simply not built to accommodate companies integrated by gender.

Gen. David Berger, commandant of the Marine Corps, even suggested last year that the service would have to close down its existing training bases and build new ones to carry out a congressional integration mandate.

"Nothing, the way we're organized right now, lends itself to integrated recruit training," he said in September 2020. "If that's our start point -- and it is -- we have to get to a place on both coasts, or at a third location or whatever we end up with, that ... there are male and female recruits around."

Read Next: Troops Blast Senator for Claiming US Military Has Been 'Emasculated'

But when the Marine Corps changed course and allowed an integrated recruit company to train at its previously all-male San Diego boot camp earlier this year, preparation -- at least when it came to living quarters -- was surprisingly simple.

The female recruits, who all belonged to Lima Company's Platoon 3241, were housed in a ground-floor segment of a male barracks building. The shoulder-level windows that lined the external walls of the barracks were covered with a frosted coating that offered a level of privacy that the other barracks floors lacked.

The shared bathrooms received a bit of attention too: While urinals were allowed to remain in place, a laminated "hygiene in progress" sign was created to announce when the facilities were in use and keep male leaders from proceeding farther into the building. Female recruits were also told to stay dressed, at least in PT gear, at all times beyond the hallway leading to the bathroom and showers.

"It wasn't hard, right?" Col. Matt Palma, commander of Recruit Training Command here at the depot, told Military.com during a tour of the facilities in late April. "Look at this squad bay. If I were to take you to another squad bay, and we could walk across the hall and I could show you the squad bay for one of the male platoons, they look identical. The only thing we really did ... is frosted the windows."

Frosted windows gave female recruits more privacy during training at the formerly all-male Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. (Hope Hodge Seck/Military.com)

During their training period, the female recruits ate at the chow hall shared by all recruits training at the depot. Mentorship by a team of female drill instructors happened in the squad bay; otherwise, their experience was much the same as any of the other trainees.

Palma said he'd eventually like to get all the barracks windows frosted, adding that the project would not be particularly costly or labor-intensive.

Of course, there is a question of scale. Platoon 3241 started with 59 female recruits and graduated 53; accommodating that small number was fairly easy. But even as numbers increase, infrastructure just isn't that big of a concern for leaders.

Right now, San Diego graduates about 17,000 recruits per year, roughly half of the 34,000 total recruits who join the Marine Corps annually. With women making up about 8% to 10% of the Marine Corps, that means San Diego could expect annual throughput of about 1,700 female recruits to start -- although Marine leaders do hope that number grows. The depot is under a congressional mandate to accommodate these recruits by 2028; its sister boot camp, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, will be required to integrate its gender-segregated training battalions by 2025.

Plans are already in place to build a new chow hall to replace the aging existing facility, and to build a new medical clinic with exam rooms and equipment suitable for use by men and women. In the meantime, Palma noted, female recruits would have access to state-of-the-art facilities at Naval Medical Center Balboa, less than 10 minutes away, and had the benefit of a "surge" medical team sent to the training base.

"Another H-style barracks would be nice to have," he said, referring to the barracks buildings' layout. "But if we didn't get that, I don't think it's a showstopper."

Because the San Diego boot camp training schedule involves a four-week period where recruits move off site to train at Camp Pendleton, the base now has four barracks that are unoccupied at any given time.

"Hygiene in Progress" signs were created to preserve privacy for the first platoon of female recruits to train at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. (Hope Hodge Seck/Military.com)

While San Diego might be ready to assume its full share of the task of training female recruits tomorrow with the facilities it has, Palma is more concerned with a thornier personnel question: how to ramp up training and development for quality female drill instructors. While the West Coast training base has just begun training women regularly, he said "growing" experienced DIs -- who are, in shifts, with recruits 24 hours per day -- is a massive and time-intensive task.

To train Platoon 3241, female senior DIs were mostly brought in from Parris Island, some of them uprooting life and family for the task. Female DIs are already a low-density, high-demand field within the Marine Corps, he added.

"So, every Marine that comes here to be a drill instructor goes through my DI school, a demanding 11-week program. ... They have to have a first class [physical fitness test] ... they have to be carefully screened by their commanders. They must have stable family situations, stable financial situations. They have to be high performers. All of those things kind of further, take that number and reduce it," he said. "So what we end up with is a small, highly qualified, very capable group of young female Marine leaders that often have to work really, really hard."

Urinals remain in place in a male squad bay converted for female recruits at Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, California. (Hope Hodge Seck/Military.com)

That's why Palma doesn't expect to graduate another class of female recruits this fiscal year, even though the first class was a marked success, and the training base has the facilities and resources to do so. He said he'd like to have the next female recruit platoon supported by locally trained female drill instructors and augmented by a few more experienced ones from Parris Island.

The Marine Corps has ways to ramp up its population of female drill instructors and make the voluntary job more appealing. Simply making DI training and job billets available on the West Coast may create appeal for a new swath of the Marine Corps population that otherwise would be held back by geographic challenges.

Palma also mentioned a proposal that would create paths for Marine reservists to volunteer for drill instructor duty, further building up the DI pool. It's possible the service's problem of training and developing enough female DIs is as much structural as it is demand-based.

"It's a math problem, and it's not just a math problem, but there's an art and science to it," Palma said. "So there's leadership applied to it."

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.

Related: Acclimation Period Before Marine Corps Boot Camp Could Stave Off 'Recruit Crud'
The USS Constitution launched from the Charlestown Navy Yard Friday morning, marking the first voyage for "Old Ironsides" since October 2019.

The world's oldest commissioned warship left the dock at 10 a.m., accompanied by a 21-gun salute.

The Constitution usually has seven underways a year, but the coronavirus pandemic shut down most of its operations.

Friday marked the ship's reopening to the public. Going forward, visitors can tour the ship and museum from Fridays through Sundays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The museum will open this weekend, and will once again welcome visitors on a daily basis starting May 27th.

"The USS Constitution Museum looks forward to wowing our guests with great hands-on experiences as we share the stories of 'Old Ironsides' and her dedicated crew, both past and present," said Anne Grimes Rand, Museum President and CEO.

"Old Ironsides" defended sea lanes during the War of 1812 and earned her nickname when British cannonballs appeared to bounce off her sides. She first sailed to Boston Harbor in 1797. At that time, ships were expected to last 10-15 years. Rumors of her decommission in 1830 inspired Oliver Wendell Holmes to pen a poem, "Old Ironsides," in her honor.

This article is written by Meghan Ottolini from Boston Herald and was legally licensed via the Tribune Content Agency through the Industry Dive publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@industrydive.com.
The Blue Jays announced theyve placed third baseman Cavan Biggio on the 10-day injured list with a cervical spine ligament sprain. Additionally, lefty Anthony Kay and righty Jeremy Beasley were optioned to Triple-A Buffalo. To replace that trio on the active roster, infielder Joe Panik and reliever Anthony Castro were each reinstated from the IL, while righty Ty Tice was recalled from Buffalo.

Biggios IL placement is the most impactful of todays spate of transactions. The 26-year-old has started 35 of Torontos first 42 games, with the bulk of his work coming at the hot corner. Its been a difficult start to the year for Biggio, who has just a .205/.315/.315 slash with three homers across 151 plate appearances. Thats a far cry from the cumulative .240/.368/.430 mark (118 wRC+) he put up between 2019-20. Biggios impeccable plate discipline has remained intact, but hes made contact on a career-worst 72% of his swings this season. (The league average contact rate is 75.2%). Its no coincidence hes striking out at a career-high 31.1% clip.

Panik and Santiago Espinal look like the best bets to handle third in Biggios absence. Neither has offered much offensively over the past few years, so the Jays will be anxious for Biggios return. It seems reasonable to expect him back in the short-term, as Scott Mitchell of TSN tweets that Biggios been playing through some neck stiffness recently and the team hopes a few days of rest will get him past the issue.

Kay has started four of his five appearances this season. Hes been hit around for a 6.62 ERA, although his peripherals suggest hes been a bit unlucky to allow so many runs. Kay has stranded an unsustainably low 64.7% of baserunners and opposing hitters have managed a lofty .356 batting average on balls in play against him. A few more batted balls finding gloves and/or better sequencing couldve resulted in an ERA closer to Kays 4.38 SIERA. Returning to the minors will give him a chance to work on his control; the lefty has walked a too-high 12.3% of batters faced this year.

The Jays will run a bullpen game to take Kays spot in the rotation for now, manager Charlie Montoyo said (via Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). Top prospects Nate Pearson and Alek Manoah are each performing well in Triple-A, though, and Kays demotion will only fuel speculation one or both of the vaunted young arms could get a look in the big leagues relatively soon. Pearson, of course, made a brief big league debut last season, while Manoah is pitching above A-ball for the first time this year.
Port-Louis, Mauritius (PANA) - The first Mauritian Satellite project, the nano-satellite, has reached the launch site at Kennedy Space Centre in Florida, US, and will transported towards the International Space Station on 4 June 2021, the Mauritian government announced on Friday, following the weekly meeting of the Cabinet
The Giants announced Friday that theyve selected the contract of right-hander Nick Tropeano from Triple-A and opened a spot on the 40-man roster by designating righty Trevor Hildenberger for assignment. Right-hander Camilo Doval was optioned to Sacramento to open a spot on the 26-man roster.

Hildenberger, 30, spent just a few days in the Giants system, as he was only claimed earlier this week. He didnt throw a pitch for them, however, and now appears likely to head back to waivers for the second time in as many weeks. The Mets designated him last week after he yielded four runs in 2 1/3 innings for them.

Its been a remarkably swift downfall for Hildenberger, who looked to have broken out with an outstanding rookie campaign with the 2016 Twins. That season, the sidearming righty tossed 42 innings of 3.21 ERA ball with a 25.9 percent strikeout rate and a minuscule 3.5 percent walk rate. But Hildenberger was hit hard in 73 innings for the Twins the following season, and by the time the 2019-20 offseason rolled around, Minnesota non-tendered him.

Tropeano will be in the mix to start a game this weekend in place of the injured Logan Webb, who landed on the 10-day IL a couple days back due to a shoulder strain. Its not expected to be a lengthy absence for Webb, so if Tropeano indeed gets the call, itd likely be a spot start. The 30-year-old Tropeano started 35 games for the Angels from 2015-19, missing a season due to injury along the way. He tossed 15 strong innings for the Pirates in 2020 and has a generally solid track record at the Major League level. Through 233 big league innings, Tropeano carries a 4.29 ERA, a 21.2 percent strikeout rate and a nine percent walk rate.
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As the New Patriotic Party (NPP) vets her qualified faithful for the Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Chief Executives (MMDCEs) positions, advocates for youth in leadership roles have spotted a young Medical Doctor of rare talent and qualities who we place a spotlight on.

Dr. Taminu Bawa is a former Students' Representative Council (SRC) president for the University for Development Studies (UDS) Tamale Campus. And his tenure as the SRC president in the 2016-2017 academic year remains one of the best leadership roles the university have recorded.

Propelled by student leadership, the young Doctor who currently works at the Tamale Teaching Hospital and has brought to bear his experiences to working for his political party, the NPP. Joining all various groups in the party, including serving as a polling agent, joining the medical team for outreach programmes, and becoming the youngest Regional Campaign team member that gave the party an unprecedented three parliamentary seats in the Savannah Region.

Today, Dr. Taminu seeks to pick another leadership role in the party as the Municipal Chief Executive for the Kintampo North Municipality. And justifying why we place our bet on this young achiever, we present below his curriculum vitae and resume for readers' curiosity and support.

CURRICULUM VITAE

DR. TAMINU BAWA DARY

M.A Public Administration-KNUST (Ongoing),

Master of Public Health (MPH) -UDS (Ongoing),

MBChB-UDS

BSc. Human Biology-UDS

RESUME

Taminu Bawa Dary is a self-motivated young man with a penchant for excellence in all his undertakings. His utmost respect for human life and the desire to put a smile on the faces of others sets him apart. He is a team player but equally works perfectly independently with or without supervision. He cut his teeth in leadership when he became the Students Representative Council President at the University for Development Studies in 2016.

He has since been leading efforts in community service, research and development interventions in communities across Ghana, interacting with local level political leaders and development activists to promote sustainable healthcare and livelihood systems. He is particularly gifted at multi-tasking  he has pursued an MBChB and is currently pursuing two MSc programmes with the University for Development Studies and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. The will to excel and the willingness to take up new challenges in politics, governance, education, social development, health and nutrition, community development among others, remain the cutting edges of his personal, political and professional profile.

CAREER OBJECTIVE

Asked about his career objectives, Dr. Taminu have this to say:

"My career objective is to be a better version of myself at any given time and to further share my knowledge to the benefit of our communities and the advancement of humanity at large."

"I have the passion to help the under privileged. I aspire to contribute my knowledge, skills, experiences and privileges to lift at least a part of the burden of suffering of my fellow-men and a true realization of the privilege that is mine".

"I aspire to partner my political party at various levels and contribute my quota to the achievement of the Presidents vision contained in the NPP 2020 manifesto-Leadership of Service: Protecting Our Progress. Transforming Ghana for All.

I strive at all times to foster the honour and noble traditions of my profession and party. I have by far practised my profession and engaged in political activities with conscience and dignity and in accordance with good medical and political practice.

EDUCATION

KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY - Tamale Campus, Northern Region

Master of Public Health Administration [Pending] 2020  Ongoing

UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Tamale, Northern Region

Master of Public Health [Pending] 2020 - Ongoing

UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Tamale, Northern Region

MBChB 2011  2019

UNIVERSITY FOR DEVELOPMENT STUDIES Tamale, Northern Region

BSc. Human Biology 2011  2019

KUMASI ANGLICAN SECONDARY SCHOOL Kumasi, Ashanti Region

WASSCE  Science option 2006  2009

LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE

President, Students Representative Council (SRC), UDS Tamale Campus 2016/2017 Academic Year

Chairman, SRC Executive Council. UDS Tamale Campus. 2016/2017 Academic Year

Central Committee Member, National Union of Ghana Students 2016/2017 Academic Year

National Executive Committee/Senate Member 2016/2017 Academic Year

Team Leader, UDS Community-Based, Education and Service Programme 2014-2017

(COBES 1-3)

Head of Mathematics Department, Modern Preparatory School May 2009-May 2011

Assistant School Prefect- Kumasi Anglican Senior High School 2008/2009 Aacdemic year

WORK EXPERIENCE

Medical House Officer, Tamale Teaching Hospital April, 2020  To Date

Part Time Lecturer, Business College International, [ICM Program] January, 2019  To Date

Lecture Health and Safety Management and Health Ethics

Project Supervisor (EDUGHA INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT [EISD]) May, 2019

Supervision of Data collection for Studies of Female Apprenticeships in Zongo Communities in Northern Ghana, study commission by Council of Zongo Chiefs

Team Leader (EDUGHA INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT [EISD]) May, 2017

Needs Assessment for Establishment of Youth Training Centers for Youth Empowerment in the Bawku Municipality of Upper East Region of Ghana.

Lead Person for Community Outreach Programmes of Medical Students Association [MSA] of the University for Development Studies October, 2015  October, 2017

Tutor- Tertiary Education Students Association of Kintampo, 2014  2018.

(In-charge of organizing Vacation/Extra Classes for SHS/JHS/Primary Students).

Pupil Teacher, Kintampo Modern Preparatory School May, 2009  May, 2011

POLITICAL ENGAGEMENTS AND OTHER RELEVANT EXPERIENCES

Member, SAVANNA REGIONAL STRATEGIC COMMITTEE ON HEALTH FOR ELECTION 2020.

Questioned why the NPP should consider him for the MCE position, Dr. Taminu will answer as follows:

"I was appointed as the youngest campaign team member for the election 2020 in the region which increased the fortunes of the party in the region from 1 parliamentary seat to 3".

" As a Member of the BONO EAST NPP Medical Team,

"I played an integral role in carrying out free medical screening to constituencies in the Bono East Region during the electioneering period".

"As a Member, Upper East NPP Medical Team,

"I was an integral member of the team that organized medical outreaches across the length and breadth of constituencies in the Upper East Region".

"As an Alumni, Resource person and regular financial contributor for UDS TAMALE CAMPUS TESCON programmes and activities, and as the Student Financier of UDS TAMALE CAMPUS TESCON activities during my tenure as SRC President in 2016/2017 Academic year I've worked all my growing life for my party".

"Then again, working as a Polling Agent at COCKROACH POLLING STATION, Election 2016".

HONORS RECEIVED

Our elders say, it's the good head that wears the crown. And as young as he is, Dr. Taminu wears the following honours.

Student Representative Council, Elder statesman award

Best pupil teacher in Kintampo Modern Preparatory-2011(Mathematics recorded the highest number of GRADE 1 in 2011 BECE- a feat that is so unusual especially where the perception of students towards mathematics was bad).

Most Hardworking prefect in Kumasi Anglican Senior High-2009

Winner of common wealth Quiz competition-2005, Kintampo Municipal Assembly

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Ghana Medical Association( GMA)

SKILLS

Creativity especially at designing models and developing political strategy

Excellent report writing skills.

Fluency in English and four local languages: Twi, Gonja, Mo (Deg) and Dagbani

Excellent team work skills

Proficient with various Microsoft applications (MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher)

Proficient in EPI INFO and SPSS data management programs

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES/INTERESTS

Interests: Mentoring, Social and Voluntary service, Reading.

Yes, we call for the youth into leadership positions. But not on silver platter, but they who have shown to us on paper and in practice their qualities. And if Kintampo North Municipality is looking for a dynamic leader to turn their fortunes for better, Dr. Taminu fits the bill.

*Written by: Charles Yeboah (Sir Lord)*

A Youth Activist

*Contact: +233-249542111*

*Email: [email protected]*
Ethiopia has expelled a foreign correspondent working for The New York Times after earlier revoking his licence over "unbalanced" reporting, a government official confirmed Friday.

The decision to kick out Simon Marks, an Irish journalist living in Ethiopia, drew swift condemnation from Reporters Without Borders, which said it was "the first time that a foreign journalist is expelled from the country" under Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

In a story on Marks' expulsion, The New York Times said Ethiopian officials summoned him to a meeting Thursday and held him at the airport for eight hours before putting him on a flight after midnight Friday.

"It is alarming that the government of Ethiopia treated the journalist, Simon Marks, like a criminal, expelling him from the country without even letting him go home to get a change of clothing or his passport," the US-based paper quoted Michael Slackman, its assistant managing editor for international, as saying.

Describing the experience on Twitter, Marks wrote: "Not only did Immigration officers prevent me from going home to collect my belongings but also from kissing goodbye to my beautiful 2-year-old son and two dogs, despite my polite requests. At least I could give my partner a kiss at the airport."

Mohammed Idris, head of the Ethiopian Media Authority, told AFP Friday that Marks had no business staying in the country without a media licence.

"You are here for a job. If you have the licence, you will stay here. If you don't have the licence, if we revoke the license, the responsible body will send you back," Mohammed said.

Marks has filed a series of hard-hitting reports on the war in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region.

His accreditation was cancelled shortly after he returned from a trip to Tigray in March.

Ethiopia's government has imposed tough restrictions on journalists covering the conflict.

A number of Ethiopian journalists and translators working for a range of international media organisations -- including AFP, Reuters, the BBC and the Financial Times -- have been detained while doing their jobs in recent months.

Journalists and human rights groups have nonetheless uncovered growing evidence of atrocities committed by armed groups in the region, including Ethiopian soldiers and Eritrean troops fighting on the government's behalf.

The revelations have contributed to growing international diplomatic pressure on Abiy, the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who will seek a new term in elections scheduled for June 21.

The government has said it is committed to investigating human rights abuses committed during its fight against troops loyal to the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF).
Abuja, May 18-20, 2021 - The ECOWAS Commission has held a workshop to validate the 2018-2019 West African Epidemiology Network on Drug Use (WENDU) Report.

The 2018-2019 WENDU report is the second regional report on illicit drug trafficking and drug use in West Africa.

The report highlights the latest estimates and trends on drug abuse and drug supply, as well as trafficking in substandard, spurious, falsified, and counterfeit medicinal products in West Africa. The report is based on data collected by the WENDU National Focal Points (NFPs) in each ECOWAS Member State and Mauritania.

The main objective of the workshop is to validate the regional 2018-2019 WENDU report based on the data transmitted by the National Focal Points on the quantities of drugs seized, the number of arrests due to drug-related offenses, and the extent of drug use, reflecting the number of people in treatment in each Member State and Mauritania.

Sequel to the validation workshop, the report will be finalized and published as a reference for programming, policy and advocacy to address the social, heath and economic consequences of substance abuse.

The virtual workshop had in attendance, the National WENDU Focal Points from the ECOWAS Member States and Mauritania, technical partners such as the European Union and the African Union Commission, Representatives from the West African Health Organization and Representatives from directorates of the ECOWAS Commission.

In her opening speech, Dr. Siga Fatima Jagne, the Commissioner, Social Affairs and Gender, ECOWAS Commission welcomed all the delegates to the event. She reiterated that the virtual workshop was a follow-up to the data collection and analysis exercise which culminated in the report that delegates were to validate. She stated that prior to the WENDU Project, access to reliable and comparable data on drugs in West Africa was a huge challenge and that WENDU has made it possible to have evidence-based data for drug use prevention and control in the region.

Mr. Sylvester Koomson, Chair of the Experts Meeting and Member State delegate from Ghana, in his opening remark thanked other Member States and Mauritania for participating in the data collation exercise towards having a comprehensive 2018-2019 report. He said that this report was a follow-up to an earlier report covering 2014-2017 which is meant to provide guidance and input for policymakers in the sub-region. He thereafter wished delegates fruitful deliberations during the period of the validation workshop.

The workshop dissolved into technical sessions where the National focal points for each Member State and Mauritania made presentations on their country report. These reports were subjected to peer-reviews, and subsequently, recommendations and observations on the report were transmitted to the Drug Prevention and Control Division of the ECOWAS Commission.

At the end of the workshop, delegates reviewed and adopted the revised WENDU Report and agreed on the recommendations and observations made towards the final version of the 2018-2019 WENDU Report - Statistics and Trends on Illicit Drug Trafficking and Drug Use.
France has promised to keep up 43,000 emergency accommodation beds  created in response to the Covid crisis  until the end of March next year.

News of the 10-month extension came as a relief to NGOs, who feared thousands of homeless would be thrown back on to the streets as coronavirus restrictions were lifted.

More than 200,000 homeless people live in shelters and hotels across France.

Maintaining the beds comes at a cost of 690 million euros, bringing the annual budget for emergency accommodation to 2.9 billion, the Housing Ministry said.

A truce that prevents landlords from evicting tenants during the winter months has been extended until June, while local prefects have been instructed to step up the process of allocating social housing to homeless people.

Efforts 'insufficient'

However NGOs working with homeless people say a more sustainable solution needs to be put in place to help Covid's new poor.

Florent Gueguen, of the Federation of Solidarity Actors, told AFP the 43,000 beds must be made permanent beyond March 2022, adding that existing efforts were insufficient.

"Many single men remain on the streets," Gueguen said. "Thousands" of people were refused accommodation every evening, he added.

The government has moved 235,000 people into sustainable housing since late 2017.

A report by the Abbe Pierre Foundation in February found that some 4 million people were underhoused in France, including some 300,000 homeless.
A former Organizer for the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Constituency, Dr. Ben Ali Seaman has warned party executives to be careful of chiefs who have started lobbying for certain people to be appointed Municipal Chief Executives (MCEs).

According to the grassroots field marshal, chiefs in the constituency will not be allowed to choose their preferred MCE when in actual fact they did not campaign for the ruling government in the run-up to the 2020 general elections.

.we will not sit down for any chief in the constituency to choose someone as an MCE, because we did not see nor hear any chief wearing or holding the party souvenir nor on any platform campaigning for the party's victory in this 2020 election, part of a press release signed by Ben Ali Seaman in the capacity as a coordinator of the Movement for Justice and Equal Right has said.

After secured a gargantuan number of votes for the NPP in the 2020 elections, the former Organizer of the NPP has warned that no executive of the party should buy into the petitions from the chiefs.

According to him, the same chiefs were against the NPP Member of Parliament for the Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Constituency, Hon. Alfred Obeng Boateng prior to last years elections.

Finally, I want to tell our own Peter Mark Manu and the Chief of Staff Hon. Frema Opare to be very careful of these chiefs who have started writing to their office to lobby for someone to be appointed as MCE in the constituency which we don't want that person to lead us again, Dr. Ben Ali Seaman adds in the release issued by the Movement for Justice and Equal Right.

Read the full press release below:

MOVEMENT FOR JUSTICE AND EQUAL RIGHT

PRESS STATEMENT

The Press, Ladies and Gentlemen, first of all let me give thanks and praise to Almighty God for given us another beautiful day for us to gather here once again as one people.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as a former Organizer for the NPP Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Constituency Dr. Ben Ali Seaman the grassroots field marshal, I want set the record straight for the party executives to remember that:

1. First of all we will not sit down for any chief in the constituency to chose someone for us as a MCE, because we did not see nor hear any chief wearing or holding the party survinoir nor on any platform campaigning for the party's victory in this 2020 election.

2. Secondly the party executives should bear in mind that these same chief who wrote petition or upon petition to with the help of some of the national executives to try as much as posible disqualify our current MP Alfred Obeng Boateng but what did we saw at the end election, because Alfred Obeng Boateng was the choice of the constituency we added a huge vote margin which has never happen ever since this Constituency was created.

3. Thirdly, I want to plead to the leadership of the party to involved our sitting NPP MP,s for the appointment MMDCE's and where we have an opposition MP's too we should consult the council of Elders so the should ask as to who will be capable for the position.

4. Finally, I want to tell our own Peter Mark Manu and the Chief of Staff Hon. Frema Opare to be very careful of these chiefs who have started writing to their office to lobby for someone to be appointed as MCE in the constituency which we don't want that person to lead us again. And they should desist themselves from this because Bibiani Anhwiaso Bekwai Constituency is now in the World Bank for the NPP in the Western North Region and we want to maintain it like that whiles we are heading to break the eight.

Ladies and Gentlemen, these are the key reasons we called you hear today. We thank you all.

Long live Ghana

Long live NPP

Long live BAB Constituency.

Signed:

Alhaji Ben Ali Seaman

Movement for Justice and Equal Right

Coordinator
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The Member of Parliament (MP) for Sisaala West, Hon. Mohammed Adams Sukparu says he is tempted to believe that the neglect of Constituency in the allocation of EU-funded feeder roads in the Upper West Region could be a well-orchestrated attempt to marginalize and deprive the Sisaala people of their share of the national cake.

In a joint Press Release on the groundbreaking ceremony for EU-funded feeder roads in the Upper West Region held at Kpongu, near Wa, on May 18, 2021, it has been confirmed that the government of Ghana has received a grant of EUR 35 million for the rehabilitation and maintenance of 670 km of feeder and farm access roads in the Upper West Region.

The support which is meant to inter-connectivity between areas of production and market centres in the region will see 8 out of 13 districts benefiting with the exclusion of Sissala West, Sissala East, and Wa East Districts.

Disturbed his constituents have been left out, Hon. Adams Sukparu says the manner in which the allocation was done doesnt seem right.

.On behalf of the people of the Sissala Districts, I want to express our utmost disdain on the way and manner these projects were selfishly and wickedly shared without considering the Sissala districts mostly known as the leading food hub in the region, part of a press release signed by the MP for Sisala West Constituency has said.

As the MP pushes for the Sisaala districts to be considered for the EU-funded project, he has noted that they will demonstrate if their demands are not met.

I am using this opportunity to call on all the key stakeholders of this project to immediately consider these Sissala districts in this all-important road project. If this persuasion fails, the Sissala people would have no option than to hit the streets to register their displeasure against this shared greed and gross discrimination, the release signed by Hon. Mohammed Adams Sukparu concludes.

Below is the full press release:

OFFICE OF THE MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT FOR SISSALA WEST.

PRESS RELEASE

THE INJUSTICE METED AGAINST THE SISSAALA WEST, SISSALA EAST AND WA EAST DISTRICTS IN THE ALLOCATION OF EU-FUNDED FEEDER ROADS IN UPPER WEST REGION.

DATE (19/05/2021)

With reference to the Joint Press Release on the ground breaking ceremony for EU-funded feeder roads in Upper West Region held at Kpongu, near Wa, on 18 May 2021.

As the Member of Parliament for Sissala West Constituency, I wish to express my utmost displeasure about the deliberate exclusion of Sissala West, Sissala East and Wa East Districts from this noble project being undertaken by the government of Ghana and European Union.

The European Union has provided a grant of EUR  35 million to the Government of Ghana, for the rehabilitation and maintenance of 670 km of feeder and farm access roads in the Upper West Region. This support is meant to improve inter-connectivity between areas of production and market centres in the region.

The region has 11 districts and out of this Eight (8 ) were considered leaving only three (3) districts which coincidentally are all Sissala districts.Below are the districts and the total number of kilometers of roads.

Wa Municipal, Wa West, Nadowli-Kaleo (235 km)

Jirapa, Lawra, Daffiama-Bussie (210 km)

Nandom and Lambussie-Karni (225 km)

It is interesting to note that, this support comes under the larger EUR  160 million European Union-Ghana Agricultural Programme (EU-GAP) to develop sustainable agriculture in the Upper West Region. Considering the aim of the project, one would have thought that it would be fair to consider areas that are into massive agricultural production in the region. For instance, the Sissala enclaves that serves as a major food basket in the region and Ghana at large. It is further revealing to note that, Sissala West was adjudged the best quality maize producer in 2019 at the National Farmers day celebration in the country with Sissala East being the second highest producer of maize. It is also a fact that, the government flagship policy Planting for food and jobs success story cannot be told without mentioning the contribution of the Sissala districts. In spite of all these contributions being made by the two districts in ensuring food security in the country, surprisingly their road network is the worst in the region and by large in the country.

It is evident that all efforts made by the Sissala people to get these bad roads fix have proved futile. Series of visits were made to the presidency to that effect. Some of these visits are as follows;

First, the Chief and people of Walembelle Traditional area visited the Presidency in 2018, followed by the Chief and Elders of the Gwollu Traditional area, the hometown of the late former President Dr.Hillah Limann in 2019. The Paramount Chief of the Gandawi Traditional area and his Sub-Chiefs were the next in 2020 and, finally all the Paramount Chiefs from the Sissala areas including Sissala West, Sissala East, Lambusie, and Funsi in May, 2021 also paid a visit to the presidency to ensure that the bad roads are fixed. All these visits were meant to passionately appeal to government to fix the bad road network in the Sissala area. That notwithstanding, the Sissala Youth Forum also waded into this call and even demonstrated against the bad roads and called on government to fix them.

It is also interesting to note that, the road minister and his deputy then, visited the Sissala East to access a broken bridge between Dimajan and Navariwie in the Sissala East Municipality in 2019 and promised to fix the roads.

Apart from the numerous visits by the Sissala chiefs, the Honorable Member of Parliament for Sissala West equally raised the issue of bad roads in his constituency by filing an urgent question on the floor of Parliament demanding the Road Minister to answer why the constituency roads are in a deplorable state and the way forward in getting them fix.

All the numerous visits to the presidency, the regional Minister (Dr Hafiz Bin Salih) was the officer who led them, and cannot claim innocent of the bad nature of the roads in the Sissala area and the efforts made by the Sissala people to get the government work on them.

Again, it's disheartening to indicate that, the Sissala area was equally neglected on the government year of roads declared in 2019 as no road have been fixed or attempted to be fixed.

Based on these efforts made by the people, is it not proper that, if there is even a kilometer of road to be worked on in the region, it should go to the Sissala land without any prejudice.

It therefore beat my imagination how such a road project covering about 670km meant to facilitate agricultural activities in the region can elude the Sissala area due to self-centeredness of wicked individuals.

I am tempted to think that this whole attempt was a well-orchestrated to marginalize and deprived the Sissala people from their share of the national cake.

How can a project of this nature intended to improve farm access roads dubiously and greedily exclude Sissala areas that are predominantly agrarian areas.

It's a common knowledge to all indigenes of Upper West that, the Sissala enclaves covers over 50% of the landmass of the region and therefore must also be considered in times like this.

For the sake of fairness and equity, I demand immediate answers to the following questions from these individuals: The Regional Minister for Upper West(Dr.Hafiz Bin Salih) the Roads and Highways Minister, the EU Ambassador to Ghana, The World Bank representative, the Department of Feeder Roads in Upper West and Chief Director of Feeder Roads in Accra.

1. Has there been any feasibility studies carried out before the allocation?

2. How were those districts selected ahead of the lead food production areas?

3. What criteria was used for the selection of those beneficiary districts?

4. Is the Sissala enclave not part of the Upper West Region?

5. Why was it left out?

6. What has the Sissala people done to warrant this gross discrimination and marginalization?

7. I want to find out if the Ministers arent aware of the state of Roads in Sissala land?

8. Are they aware that the Sissala districts are leading food producers in the Region and second in the country?

In conclusion, I appreciate the effort of Ghana government, the European Union and World Bank for bringing such a laudable project to the region in an attempt to improve farm access road network in the region to ensure sustainable agriculture. However, on behalf of the people of the Sissala Districts, I want to express our utmost disdain on the way and manner this projects were selfishly and wickedly shared without considering the Sissala districts mostly known as the leading food hub in the region.

I am using this opportunity to call on all the key stakeholders of this project to immediately consider these Sissala districts in this all important road project. If this persuasion fails, the Sissala people would have no option than to hit the streets to register their displeasure against this shared greed and gross discrimination.

Thank You.

MP, Sissala West Constituency

..Signed..

Hon. Mohammed Adams Sukparu
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Niger Delta leaders on Thursday in Yenagoa said they had no reason to doubt that the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, will complete the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt Refinery.

The leaders said they knew President Muhammadu Buhari and Timipre Sylva well enough to believe them whenever they give their word on any issue.

They expressed dismay that despite several public assurances by Sylva, some Nigerians are still cynical about the Port Harcourt Refinery.

At a meeting in Yenagoa, the leaders praised Sylva for setting positive parameters for future political leaders.

Chief Timipre Sylva is tackling the problems in the petroleum sector.

The leaders hoped that when the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery was completed, it would work at 100 percent.

We expect a professional Operations and Maintenance company to run the refinery.

The leaders emphasized competence, performance, pragmatic and purposeful leadership.

The leaders are equally hopeful of the National Assembly passing the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB)

Briefing journalists on the outcome of the Niger Delta Leaders meeting, Chairperson of Niger Delta Peoples Movement (NDPM), Mrs. Ibifuro Tatua, said the leaders praised Sylva for moving the petroleum sector on the fast lane of development and turning the countrys economic fortunes around.

Particularly, the leaders praised Sylva for attracting investment to the country, alleviating poverty and assuaging the pangs of deprivation.

The leaders urged Sylva to ignore the ranting of the former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank.

Chief Timipre Sylva is a benevolent leader with unquestionable democratic credentials, whose actions are driven by altruism and public welfare the leaders said.

On Nigerias quest for a gas nation, the leaders said they had been championing the campaign for full utilisation of huge gas deposit in the country for economic development.

Chief Timipre Sylva is an honest man. He will ensure that every dollar, every cent of the $1.5 billion proposed for the rehabilitation of the Port Harcourt refinery is accounted for.
Police in Paris have arrested three Romanians suspected of carrying out a string of robberies targeting elderly people in dozens of supermarkets. The trio is wanted for similar crimes in at least four other European countries.

Investigators from the Banditry Repression Brigade  a special forces unit in charge of armed robberies, serious burglaries and scams  apprehended the trio earlier this week following a surveillance operation in the suburbs of Paris.

Aged between 35 and 43, the men were seen behaving strangely in Franprix and Lidl stores, where they reportedly observed elderly customers doing their shopping before carrying out pickpocketing "raids.

A tailing system was set up by BDR investigators, a part of the Parisian Judicial Police, who noted a rise in the number of customers over 80 years old being pickpocketed.

Le Parisien newspaper reported that between 5 May and 18 May, eight to 12 supermarkets per day were targeted in Vincennes, Villejuif, Massy and Villebon-sur-Yvette.

The men were taken into custody while exiting a Lidl store on Tuesday. After initially denying any wrongdoing, the trio confessed to a developing a scheme to rob the elderly.

Investigators found several thousand euros in cash during a search of their apartment.

They later learned the men were wanted by European police for similar operations in Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy.

Two of the suspects are the subjects of arrest warrants.
Abuja, Nigeria, May 20, 2021---The ECOWAS Commission is holding a consultation and orientation Workshop for the re-constitution of the ECOWAS Council of the Wise (CoW).

The Two-Day Workshop which begins in Accra, Ghana on the 24th of May, 2021 is meant to sensitize and prepare the distinguished member states nominees of the CoW to discharge their duties as a supporting organ, created purposefully for Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation interventions in member states within the region.

Being one of the key pillars of the Peace and Security Architecture of ECOWAS, the CoW had previously collaborated with the ECOWAS Commission in the prevention and resolution of conflicts in some member states, facilitated communication channels and confidence-building measures between conflicting parties, and also participated in fact-finding and election observation missions, in conformity with the provisions of Articles 17 and 20 of the 1999 Protocol relating to the Mechanism for Conflict Prevention, Management, Resolution, Peacekeeping, and Security.

The Statutes of the Council of the Wise were approved through Decision A/Dec.2/12/16 at the 50th Ordinary Session of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government in December 2016 to further define the mandate, compositions, and rules of procedures of the Council as part of the initiative to re-constitute and reposition the Council of the Wise to effectively support the ECOWAS Preventive Diplomacy and Mediation efforts in the Member States.

It would be recalled that ECOWAS pioneered the establishment of CoW in Africa and its successes have been acclaimed farther afield, with a replication of similar mechanisms by the African Union Commission (AUC) and some Regional Economic Communities (RECs) and Regional Mechanisms (RMs) on the continent.

The emerging and variant socio-political tensions generated within the region, reinforce the need to urgently reconstitute the CoW to assist ECOWAS in further delivering on its peace and stability mandate.
Washington, US (PANA) - The United States has thrown its weight behind recommendations of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council regarding Chad, calling for a civilian-led transition of power in Chad
The French city of Bordeaux is to fast-track vaccinations for residents in one neighbourhood, opening access the jab for all adults after nearly 50 people tested positive for a "very rare" variant of Covid-19.

All adult residents of Bordeaux's northern Bacalan neighbourhood will be granted "unconditional" access to jabs, "this weekend or at worst early next week".

Patrick Dehail, medical adviser to the regional health authority, said: "We are working with the health ministry to obtain the extra doses required," adding that the boosted local effort will then be expanded to the wider Bordeaux area.

Covid variant similar to UK strain

The variant has already been identified on a national level in France but it has reportedly been very rare until now.

At least 46 people have been infected with the variant in Bordeaux, with mass testing launched on Friday to track down further cases.

None of those infected so far have been hospitalised.

Labelled VOC 20I/484Q, the strain is related to the British variant of Covid-19, but with an additional mutation.

The mutation is also carried by the South African and Brazilian variants and is suspected of reducing the immunity acquired by either a past infection or by some vaccines.

However, the regional health authority says there is no reason as yet to suggest the variant is resistant to mRNA vaccines such as those made by Pfizer or Moderna.

The mutation has also been detected in the northern Paris region.

Vaccinations in France have so far been limited to the over-50s, although people outside this age group can book unused slots advertised at short notice.

From 31 May, all adults will be eligible for vaccinations across the country.
The 21 persons who were arrested for allegedly promoting Lesbianism, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Queer and Intersex (LGBTQ) in Ho, the Volta regional capital have been remanded into police custody by the Ho Circuit Court presided by Justice Felix Datsomor on Friday May 21.

They were arrested by Volta Regional Police Command on Thursday May 20 for unlawful assembly.

The suspects consisting of 16 females and 5 males were arraigned before the Ho circuit Court on Friday May 21.

The case has been adjourned to Friday June 4, 2021.

The suspects were arrested at Godokpui, a suburb of Ho during a conference it organised at the Nurses and Midwives Hotel.

The suspected LGBTQ were believed to have come from various regions to discuss ways to promote their activities in the country.

ModernGhana News gathered that materials such as books and flyers titled "Hate Crime, The LGBTQ+ Muslim, Gender Acronyms, Coming Out, My child, My love always, All about Trans, All about Intersex, Key Watch and One love sisters Ghana were retrieved from them.

The Volta Regional Police Command has assured the general public of its preparedness to stop the activities of the group in the area.

The Police is cautioning the public, particularly parents to monitor their children's behaviour and the company they engage with.
In the article below; Energy for Africa: The Power to Industrialize and Reach Zero Poverty, author PD Lawton, creator of the website, AfricaAgenda.net, discusses the progress by African nations in acquiring nuclear energy. As the article makes clear, nuclear technology will enable countries to realize more than 9 of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Nuclear energy will supply the power for the industrialization of African nations.

Let us be blunt: African nations will not achieve true stability, peace, and democracy until poverty and hunger are eliminated! From decades of examining the physical economies of Africa, I can say with complete authority, as long as large sections of the population of African nations are desperately attempting to simple survive and find ways to feed their families everyday, there will not peace, security, and democracy. Abundant and and inexpensive energy, with 100% access by the population and industry is the bedrock of any successful economy. Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) needs minimally, 1,000 gigawatts of additional energy. A gigawatt is 1,000 megawatts. SSA presently has a mere 100,000-130,000 megawatts-100 to130 gigawatts. All forms of energy generation must be employed to power African economies. However, even clean hydro-electric is limited by the flow of water, as we have witnessed recently in energy shortages in Cote dIvoire and Ghana.

Nuclear energy is the most efficient form of power society currently operates. The technology is well known and safe. Delaying the construction of nuclear powers across the African continent will only contribute to more misery and death for Africans. Thus, nuclear energy should become an increasingly larger portion of new energy for African nations, beginning today!
On the occasion of the 2021 International Day for Biological Diversity, A Rocha Ghana is urging Ghanaians to take seriously the protection of the environment at all times.

The United Nations (UN) International Day for Biological Diversity (IBD) is commemorated annually on May 22 to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues.

As the world is troubled by the Coronavirus pandemic, issues of biodiversity continue to be a crucial matter for discussion on many fronts since the survival of man is extremely and closely linked to it.

In Ghana particularly, actions of illegal mining (galamsey) remains a major threat to the safety of the environment.

Joining the rest of the world to mark the 2021 Biodiversity Day, A Rocha Ghana says there is a need for Ghanaians to endeavor to protect the environment and make conscious efforts to help the country secure its biodiversity.

It is crucial for all citizens to get involved in securing our environment and all the diversity of plants and animals, notwithstanding the challenges, because, at the end day, we will be at the losing end of the value chain should we lose the biodiversity around us.

As the global community recommits to post-2020 biodiversity framework, we also urge all Ghanaians do more to protect our environment and particularly contribute to the solution of securing our biodiversity, part of a press release from A Rocha Ghana has said.

This year, the International Day for Biological Diversity is being celebrated under the theme, Were Part of the Solution.

The slogan was chosen to be a continuation of the momentum generated last year under the over-arching theme, Our Solutions are in Nature, which served as a reminder that biodiversity remains the answer to several sustainable development challenges.

Below is the full press release from A Rocha Ghana:
Sixty years after Congolese independence leader Patrice Lumumba was assassinated and dissolved in acid, former colonial power Belgium is to restore his last remains -- a single tooth -- to his family.

The handover ceremony will launch a period of official mourning, during which both countries will look back on their troubled past and the Democratic Republic of Congo will lay to rest a national hero.

In an interview with AFP in Brussels, Francois and Roland Lumumba, 69 and 63, explained how they had travelled to make arrangements and fix dates for the events in the Belgian capital to commemorate their father.

Belgium, which once controlled a vast tract of central Africa as Belgian Congo, will finally hand back the tooth that is thought to be the last human remains of Patrice Lumumba, who was murdered in 1961.

He is now known to have been killed on January 17 by separatists and Belgian mercenaries in the breakaway province of Katanga during the chaos that followed the territory's 1960 declaration of independence.

Lumumba was seen as a victim of Cold War rivalries. By - (AFP/File)

Perceived in Washington and Brussels as a potential friend of the Soviet Union, the young republic's first prime minister was seen as a victim of Cold War rivalries.

After he was shot his body was dissolved in acid, but Belgium has now recovered a tooth that was apparently kept as a souvenir by a Flemish police commissioner who took part in the disposal of the remains.

This "relic" will now be returned to the family and laid to rest after a series of "national funerals" in his homeland.

"For us, this is his remains, it means a lot to us," said Roland Lumumba, the third of the late premier's children after Francois and daughter Juliana, who last year wrote to Philippe, King of the Belgians, to ask for the tooth.

"As Africans we could not bring our grieving to an end without part of his remains among us. We have come to the end of a legal dispute that has lasted 60 years, and we are satisfied," he told AFP.

'A comfort'

"It's a comfort, a new page has been turned," FranAois said.

Ceremonies are expected to take place on June 21 and 22 in Brussels.

The Democratic Republic of Congo will lay to rest Lumumba as a national hero. By - (AFP/File)

The brothers plan a first event to receive the remains from Belgian officials, then the next day an official Congolese ceremony, probably attended by the current President Felix Tshisekedi.

The family also hopes to be able to display a coffin draped in the Congolese flag in public in Brussels for the Congolese and broader African communities to pay their respects before the return.

Francois told AFP that the family and Belgian authorities had been able to "harmonise our views" on how things should go, but two Belgian official sources said there is still some uncertainty about the dates.

Another Belgian official confirmed, however, that a Congolese delegation is expected in Brussels to receive the tooth and that this should take place before June 30, when a ceremony in honour of Lumumba is planned in Kinshasa.

Tshisekedi has said he is planning a mausoleum in the DRC capital for Lumumba, who served as prime minister of the then Republic of the Congo between independence in June 1960 and September.

He was killed after Belgium backed the Katanga revolt in a Cold War manoeuvre and his young sons -- then ten and three years old -- were exiled for a while in Egypt, which under President Gamal Abdel Nasser was a non-aligned power.

The history of Belgium's involvement in Congo before and after independence has remained controversial, but a 2000-2001 parliamentary inquiry concluded that the country bore "moral responsibility" for Lumumba's assassination.

After Lumumba was shot his body was dissolved in acid, but Belgium has now recovered a tooth apparently kept as a souvenir by a Flemish policeman. By - (AFP/File)

In 2002, the Belgian government apologised to the country and for the past ten years there has been an active judicial investigation for an alleged "war crime" based on a complaint from elder son Francois.

According to the brothers' lawyer Christophe Marchand, the probe is coming to an end and the plan is to have a first hearing before before the end of the year before a judicial body that can refer the case for a possible trial.

"Little by little, Belgium is facing up to its very painful and criminal colonial past and is taking action," the lawyer said.
The Ashanti Regional Police Command has begun probe into the death of two persons who were shot during a clash at the installation of a chief at Asamankama in the Offinso South Municipality.

The two, Nana Kwame Danka and Nana Akwasi Appiagyei, who are members of the royal families in the town, died from gunshot wounds, according to the Police.

They were protesting the enstoolment of one of four people hoping to become the chief of the area.

Speaking to Citi News, the Public Relations officer for the Ashanti Regional Police Command, ASP Godwin Ahianyo, said the police will take action against the organizers of the installation ceremony.

Police were informed that Frank Bonsu was chosen as the chief of the community. Soon after the declaration, it was alleged that a scuffle ensued between the supporters of the four contesting families. Police have since retrieved two empty cartridges from the crime scene and retained the same for evidential purposes.

The Regional Command has taken a serious view of the situation. Since the parties involved failed to inform the Police of the event, legal action would be taken against the organizers of the event. Meanwhile, the queen mother has been invited to assist the Police with their investigations.

Reports indicate that one of the deceased, Nana Appiagyei, was chased out by an outraged crowd, overpowered, and shot with his own pump-action gun which was pulled from his car.

He died a few minutes after being rushed to the St. Patrick Hospital, whereas Nana Kusi died while seeking treatment at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.

The Police were unable to make any arrests.

citinewsroom
Dr Serebour Quaicoe, the Director of Electoral Services of the Electoral Commission (EC), has said should the EC completely enforce the Political Parties Act, about 97 per cent of the political parties in the country will cease to exist.

He said majority of them existed in books, but not functioning as stipulated by the electoral laws.

He said most of the political parties, including the two major parties- the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) could be found wanting should the electoral laws be enforced fully.

The political parties, he said, did not fully comply with directives such as declaration of assets and liabilities within 21 days to a national election, submission of standard audited accounts, set up of functioning offices across the country, among others.

Dr Quaicoe made the remarks in a media interview in Accra, on Saturday, when responding to issues concerning the NDC's boycott of the Inter-Party Advisory Committee's (IPAC) resolutions after reviewing the 2020 Election.

However, Dr Quaicoe said, the EC would begin to "bite" from June this year, in order to make the country's electoral system robust.

Dr Quaicoe admitted that the EC may face difficulty in revoking the certificates of non-functioning political parties should the Commission proceed to court.

He said 11 out of the 12 political parties who participated in the 2020 Election participated in the recent IPAC meeting and consented to the resolution for electoral reforms.

Meanwhile, Mr Sammy Gyamfi, the NDC Director of Communication, said the posture of the EC Chair, Mrs Jean Mensa and her Deputy, Dr Eric Bossman, did not promote consensus building towards electoral reforms.

He said the Party would soon petition the EC with its own proposals for consideration and commended Dr Serebour Quaicoe for his openness and promotion of consensus building.

Mr Yaw Buaben Asamoa, the NPP Director of Communications said electoral reforms would make the country's electoral system more robust to stand the test of time.

The Inter-Party Advisory Committee, an advisory committee of the registered political parties, recently reviewed the 2020 polls and came up with 16-points resolution.

The Committee, among other things, suggested that the close of polls should be moved from 17 hours to 15 hours, and the implementation of a continuous voter registration to allow citizens who turn 18 years as well as those who could not register previously to do so.

GNA
The Dambai District Police Command have apprehended three suspects of Fulani extraction for their alleged roles in the murder and kidnapping of a 45-year-old Gariba Manga and his junior brother Bube Manga aged 35.

The suspects are; Issah Goma, 25, Mamari Osumanu, 51 years and 30-year-old Seifu Malami alias Mario or lce Kenkey.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr John Nchor, Acting Oti Regional Public Affairs Officer of the Ghana Police Service in a signed statement disclosed that the suspects had been remanded into police custody by the Nkwanta District Court and would re-appear on June 3.

He said the suspects were arrested following a report of the murder of one Gariba Manga and the kidnapping of one Bube Manga, when some armed men attacked a cottage at Ankra Akura on May 5, this year.

The Public Affairs Officer said the alleged kidnappers demanded an amount of GH100,000.00 for the release of the victim.

However, Police-Public cooperation led to the rescue of victim Bube Manga on May 10 by members of the Hunters Club in the bush at Yariga No. 2, a community along the Dambai-Nkwanta Road network.

He said the victim, who looked pale and weak, was sent to hospital for examination and treatment.

ASP Nchor said a spent cartridge/shell, raincoats, improvised hood suspected to have been used by the kidnappers were recovered by Police.

He said the Oti Regional Police Command was encouraging the public to report persons involved in criminal activities to face the rigours of the law and assured informants of absolute confidentiality.

GNA
A 48-year-old mason has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for defiling a four-year-old girl at Odorkor, Accra.

Akwesi Yeboah pleaded not guilty to the charge of defilement, but was found guilty by the Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Ms. Christiana Cann, after a full trial.

The court was told that Yeboah applied a cream into the girl's vagina, which gave her a burning sensation, after which she inserted his finger into her and defiled her.

Facts

The facts, as presented by the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Kofi Atimbire, were that on April 16, 2018, around 7: 30 p.m, the victim's parents started looking for her when it dawned on them that she was not around, and nobody knew her whereabouts.

During the search, the father saw her emerge from the room of the accused crying, with her dress wet and the zip opened.

The prosecutor said the father questioned her about why she was crying, and she disclosed that Yeboah called her to come for money to buy biscuits, revealing that when she followed him to his room, Yeboah put her on his bed and inserted his penis into her vagina.

The father, according to the prosecution, asked his wife to check what was wrong with the victim, and she confirmed that her daughter was bleeding and also smelled of Robb ointment in her private parts.

Complaint

The prosecutor said a complaint was lodged with the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit of the Police Service at Odorkor, where a medical report form was issued to the complainant, the father, to send the victim to the hospital.

Yeboah was subsequently arrested and arraigned.
Sheihk I.C. Quaye, Chairman of the Ghana Hajj Board has expressed uncertainty towards performing Hajj and Umrah prayers in the Grand Mosque in Mecca this year.

Given the new Visa requirements, from Saudi Arabia, which prescribes the COVID-19 Vaccine as a prerequisite for obtaining a visa for travel, both parties have agreed that the overwhelming majority of Ghanaian pilgrims, who have paid since 2020, to perform the Hajj have not had their first coronavirus jab.

He said this at a meeting held by the Ghana Hajj Board and the Ghana Hajj Agents Association at the Hajj Village, Accra, to deliberate on the way forward in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Given that all Visitors to Saudi Arabia need to have received both inoculations of the coronavirus and given that there must be an eight-week gap between inoculations, the time constraints clearly make it difficult for Ghanaian pilgrims to comply with the directives from Saudi Arabia.

Sheikh I.C. Quaye said despite their uncertainty, the Hajj Board would continue to monitor communications from the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah Affairs, Saudi Arabia, and update the ummah accordingly.

He said if travelling to Mecca was granted in Ghana, each person would be required to pass through the Saudi Arabia new visa requirement successfully.

He gave the assurance that in the event that the pilgrimage did not come on, prospective pilgrims who would demand refund would be offered full payment.

He said new visa requirement from Saudi Arabia, was the double dose of COVID-19 vaccine and the other previous health requirements to obtain a visa to travel to Mecca.

Alhaji Issah Umrah Suleiman, the chairman of the Ghana Hajj Agents Association also assured the pilgrims that, in the event that there was no Hajj this year, refunding of full monies would be made for those who would request for a refund.

Alhaji Suleiman advised all Muslims that despite the absence of 2020 Umrah and Hajj prayers in Mecca, whatsoever happened this year 2021, should be seen as healthy directives from Allah.

GNA
News and commentary on organized crime, street crime, white collar crime, cyber crime, sex crime, crime fiction, crime prevention, espionage and terrorism.
A couple of years back we heard this tragic story about a well-off, retired couple. Mrs Iyer was diagnosed with stage IV cancer and passed away soon after. A year later, Mr Iyer was diagnosed with Alzheimers disease. Friends and extended family rallied around, wanting to help but were unaware of their assets or whether they had made a Will. It was a helpless situation. As a DINK (double income no kids) couple, the Iyers had always been prudent with their expenses, saving and investing wisely so that they could lead an independent retired life.

They had made mirror Wills bequeathing all their assets to each other (in case one of them dies before the other) and bequeathing it all to an NGO in case both happen to die together. They had just not contemplated a situation where one of them would be incapable of taking decisions for oneself or living independently. How does one prepare for such situations?

One way is to write a letter of instructions which can serve as a helpful guide for those who have to settle your affairs if you are incapacitated or once you are gone.

A letter of instructions is an inventory of all your assets and their whereabouts: the names and contact information of bankers, brokers, attorneys who handle your assets; necessary information about all liquid assets (including bank, demat accounts, retirement/investment details); details of insurance coverage; location of legal and financial documents such as bank statements, tax returns, birth and marriage certificates, divorce and citizenship papers, titles and/or deeds for any real estate properties; location of safe deposit lockers and their keys; instructions for the care and placement of pets etc.

It can also include informal information regarding the dispersion of assets, such as who would get a sentimental possession or heirloom (the Will may state that these articles are to be distributed according to the letter).

One can also add preferences about what happens to our digital footprint with instructions about social media accounts. One can use the letter of instructions to expand on ones living Will, elaborating on the medical conditions under which we would prefer to be taken off of life support, in more detail than is permitted in a medical/ healthcare power of attorney.

The letter provides valuable insight to anyone responsible for settling your affairs or even executing your Will. Unlike a Will, this letter has no legal authority but offers guidance to the executor of your Will and to your family for things not covered by the Will. It allows you to leave a final message for your family without the formality that comes with a legal document.

The letter of instructions may also mention who can make financial decisions for you in case you are physically /mentally incapacitated in future. As per the legal terms, it would require the incapacity to be certified by a doctor.

Only one nominee can be appointed in respect of bank-deposits and lockers under sections 45ZA to 45ZF of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Thus, under the current provisions it is not possible to have successive nomination in a bank account. Successive nomination provides auto-passing of nomination to the next nominee in case of death of the first nominee. The situation arises when spouses of aged couples nominate each other as nominees where, in case both of them die, the legal heirs may have to go through a cumbersome procedure of getting a succession certificate. A Will allows you to make more detailed decisions, but in many jurisdictions which require a probate, the process itself is slow, expensive and often harrowing.

After a year that has forced us to think about our mortality, people are getting serious about writing their Will, as they re-assess their lives, after the destabilising events of the pandemic. In such a situation, letter of instructions and Will would play a key role.

Here are 36 most commonly asked questions and answers penned by Advocate Vimal Punmiya which will help you get all your facts in order while making your Will.

Having written a Will and a letter of instructions, a sensible thing to do is to tell a close friend or family member or lawyer about where it can be found. You should always tell someone you trust where your Will is stored while you are still alive, as not doing so may even mean that they might never find it.

Beneficiaries are often kept in dark about the Will contents and a list of assets is often not readily available. The main reason for such secrecy is that the testator might face hostile behaviour from aggrieved legatees when he/she is alive. Parents are also hesitant to discuss/ disclose finances with their kids.

The other thing that people normally do is tell the family that they have registered a Will and then people look it up after the persons death. Another option is to tell the family it is with the CA/lawyer (if they have trusted people) - but not everyone trusts lawyers and CAs since there are cases of them misusing the trust placed in them. So Wills are always shrouded by secrecy and controversies. This is why sometimes legatees produce fake Wills only to contest genuine Wills. How to safeguard from this?

Sometimes the Will copy is not found at all. If a person dies without a Will (or if a Will is not found), State law determines through a formula what happens to the person's assets without considering the special needs of any individual or family. Without a Will, surviving family members may face unnecessary hardship at a difficult time and the probability of nasty, long-drawn court battles over one's estate increases.

While a Will does not need to be registered to be valid in India and can be hand-written, it needs to be signed by the person in the presence of two witnesses for it to be legal. Electronic copies of a Will, whether stored online or otherwise are not valid in India. In India, you need to have a physically signed copy of Will for it to be valid before a court of law.

A new entrant to the market, Will & More is offering an innovative digital solution to solve this problem. They provide an online facility to register the location of your Will copy (Lets say locker no. 23, SBI Bank, Dadar, Mumbai) so that after your death, your loved ones can easily locate the Will.

They also provide a facility to store a letter of instructions on their portal. Advocate Joby Mathew, who is behind this new innovative idea explained how the product works.

Mr Mathew said Like all important documents that relate to your property, your Will needs to be stored in a secure manner and at a location that is accessible and known. The location of your Will could be at a special place in your home, a bank locker, with a friend or with a lawyer. Will & More allows you to register the location of your Will securely and confidentially.

This offering is along the lines of Certainty - the National Will Register in the UK.

Will & More allows online payment and gives you a receipt number/ client ID, which you can store along with other valuables for future references. You need to be specific in your description of the location of your Will and describe its exact whereabouts. These remain confidential and are not available even to the website or the law firm behind it. An important advantage of this is that the information cannot be used to collect data for hard-selling wealth management products or legal services, as has happened with many free and easy online Will services.

Clarifying further on the storage solution aspect, Mr Mathew explained, We use Amazon Web Services (AWS) servers to store the data which is uploaded by clients; the data is stored in such a manner that even the client does not have visibility; when new data such as Will location or letter of instructions is uploaded, the earlier data is overwritten. Upon a successful search, the Will location and letter of instructions is sent out by the server to the email address of the nominee without any manual intervention from our side except to validate the circumstances (death or permanent disability) which trigger the email. We will not be able to retrieve the data in case of loss of credentials. (Users can however change passwords or generate a new one if the earlier one is lost). The passwords are not stored in the system and therefore, we will not be able to access the data.

Will & More also offers 5 different do-it-yourself (DIY) Will templates which can be downloaded and used to customise your own Will starting at Rs1500.

The cost of registering the location of your Will and the letter of instructions with Will & More would be Rs5500 to Rs 6500 for a period of 5 years, which makes it rather expensive.

The letter of instructions alone can be made available on a specific request to the persons or nominees named, in the event of the registered users incapacitation due to accidents, or debilitating illnesses like Alzheimers or Parkinsons disease, or any other condition that would render a person of unsound mind, after submission of valid medical documents/certificates and after due verification, said Mr Mathew.

The location of your Will and the contents of your letter of instructions are only released to nominees/ beneficiaries on providing a copy of your death certificate and proof of identity. However, it also charges a fairly stiff fee of Rs2,500 to search for the location of the Will and letter of instructions on the portal.

Will & More aims to fulfil the gap in the Indian Will making and storage practices and to promote a culture of leaving a letter of instructions.
On Monday, the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) caused quite a buzz by allowing the National Stock Exchanges (NSE) demand to release Rs6,085 crore of revenue earned from its algo trading and co-location (Colo) services.

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Asking the Exchange to block this sum in an escrow account was one of the punitive actions initiated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) following the algo scam investigation that started in 2015.A

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The order is an embarrassing indictment of the market regulator, which has been conducting a meandering investigation and issued multiple orders over the past six years that are nothing more than a slap on the wrist of the Exchange. Meanwhile, SEBIs initial investigation and orders have already weakened the case against the Exchange by failing to fix individual responsibility for repeated violations of rules, failing to quantify illegal gains made by brokers and, worse, failing to comprehend the enormity of profiteering that was possible by certain brokers logging in early.A

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The only challenges to the regulators hurry to dilute and wind up the investigation is probably a petition in the Madras High Court and an investigation initiated by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), both of which have lost momentum during the COVID pandemic. NSE, Indias dominant exchange, appears to have taken advantage of the situation by moving the appellate tribunal to have its funds released, even when the scores of broker defaults ought to have raised fresh questions about NSEs weak oversight.A

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Moneylife exposed the Colo scam in June 2015 A when we published a whistle-blowers letter, copied to me, describing in detail how NSE officials deliberately allowed select brokers, primarily OPG Securities, to profit enormously through an early log-in to select servers with lower loads.A

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Heres how Colo works. Large investors with deep pockets hire computer servers located within the Exchange (called a Colo farm/facility) to be able to log into NSEs trading servers very quickly and execute very rapid trades using computer-generated algorithms. Millions of trades are executed rapidly, some in milli or micro seconds (one millisecond is 1/1,000th of a second; a micro second is 1/100,000thA of a second), by these traders. The ability to match the trades the fastest is key to bumper profits.A

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In NSEs tick-by-tick (TBT) system operational at that time, brokers who logged in to NSEs server first, received price data faster and made more money. This prepared the ground for a scam and collusion between NSE officials and brokers to get access to faster servers or, shockingly enough, log on to back-up servers. The investigations ordered by SEBI and its technical advisory committee (TAC) verified most of the whistle-blowers allegations.A

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And, yet, SEBIs failed to establish fraud, collusion or even to quantify illegal profiteering. Instead, in September 2016, it asked for all of NSEs revenues from algo trading to be impounded in an escrow account. SEBI later imposed a penalty and ordered disgorgement whereby NSE was asked to pay over Rs1,000 crore, apart from small individual penalties against senior officials.A

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The initial orders have all been contested, but the regulator has continued to issue further show-cause notices and order investigation with no end in sight.

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Since all orders will be appealed before SAT and go to the Supreme Court, it will probably be decades before the algo scam is buried, much like the recent order on Reliances in a case that dates back to 2000.

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NSEs move to have its funds released exposes more than SEBIs inept investigation. Sources present at the SAT hearing say that the regulator put up a half-hearted defence perhaps signalling that it that it is okay with the release of funds (except for Rs420 crore that would remain deposited in an interest-bearing account) and absolving itself of responsibility for the decision. The SAT order was still to be uploaded at the time of writing this article and SEBI has made no comment on the matter.A

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A quick look at how SEBIs strange orders suggest that NSE is, once again, going to be let off without much damage.A

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a In April 2019, SEBI issued its first set of weak orders seeking disgorgement of Rs624 crore plus interest and a small penalty.A But it failed to quantify illegal gains by brokers or fix individual responsibility for deliberate lapses and the strange absence of standard protocols to prevent manipulation and collusion. This order was immediately challenged.

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a Since then, SEBI has issued further orders that only weakened the case against NSE. For instance, although it is evident that brokers went to great lengths to log-in first to profit from it, a SEBI wholetime member, G Mahalingam, gave a clean chit on the issue of priority access.A

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a While SEBI commissioned multiple investigations and audits, the one that continues to fly below the radar is being conducted by ISB Hyderabad which was asked to quantify illegal gains. ISBs expertise in the matter is unclear and its report, if submitted, remains buried and illegal gains have never been quantified, although all trading data is easily available to the regulator. ISB Hyderabad, was a recipient of generous funding from NSE raising questions of conflict of interest.

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a As recently as February 2021, SEBI ordered a fresh investigation into an old complaint by Universal Stock Brokers of Delhi about a consultant who was allegedly offering a service that would allow brokers to profit and gain a trading advantage by bypassing a crucial part of NSEs system. NSE has appointed Arvind Sawant, retired chief justice of the Kerala High Court, to inquire into the matter.A

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a Even today, NSE has never been punished for refusing to cooperate with every single investigation team (SEBIs TAC, Deloitte and Ernst & Young) and the arrogant refusal by its officials to share emails and data. On the contrary, after the then managing director (MD) Chitra Ramkrishna and former vice-chairman Ravi Narain resigned (they were part of the original founding team of the Exchange), SEBI appears to have ignored lapses by all others. In fact, many of those in the close cohort of Ravi Narain and Chitra Ramkrishna remain in sensitive management positions, barring only Anand Subramanian, whose shocking appointment and promotion had led to a separate show-cause notice. Here, again, the regulator has yet to issue any order. Sources in the legal community say that the regulator has found official matters as well as highly personal emails exchanged with a top NSE official which ought to lead to severe indictment, instead there is silence.A

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a In October 2020, SEBI issued an adjudication order levying a Rs6 crore penalty on NSE for investing in six companiesCAMS, NSEIT, NSDL E-Governance Infrastructure, Market Simplified India and Receivables Exchange of Indiawithout regulatory approval. NSE had acquired stake in CAMS in 2013 and SEBIs investigation into the purchase without approval began in 2017. As Debashis Basu wrote in Business Standard, this amounted to a penalty of Rs1 crore for each of these investments. He pointed out that, five days after NSEs order, CAMS was listed on the market at a price of Rs1,230 post a successful IPO. The share has risen substantially since then (Rs2,300 on 19 May 2021). Since NSE bought the shares at Rs187.86, the profit on CAMS alone is around Rs4,000 crore.A

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a On 10 February 2021, SEBI issued another adjudication order against NSE levying a penalty of Rs1 crore on the Exchange and Rs25 lakh each on the two former MDs, Ravi and Chitra.

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a On 11 February 2021, it issued another adjudication order levying a penalty of over Rs5 crore on OPG Securities and its three directors Sanjay Gupta, Sangeeta Gupta and Om Prakash Gupta. These repeated orders and tiny penalties have only evoked contempt about the regulators processes.

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The slow and half-hearted investigation clearly shows that for NSE, gaming the system, defying the regulator and not bothering with permissions, even to start algo trading in 2010, have paid off handsomely. Over time, the investigations will be quietly wound up and mothballed, unless there is another lapse to embarrass the regulator and force fresh action.A

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Here is the order issued by SAT on 17 May 2021...

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GREAT FALLS, Mont. - The citys historical Rocky Mountain Building sits mostly empty since a fire gutted it in 2009. However, after buying it in 2019, a local health center says its making progress in giving it new life.

Thanks to $100,000 in grant money from the Brownfield Cleanup Fund, Alluvion can remove harmful parts of the century-old building.

Besides getting rid of asbestos, lead-based paint and mercury, the money also goes towards cleaning up a sizeable pile of animal droppings.

Because the roofs been open for so many years, its full of pigeon droppings and things like that, Alluvion Health Chief Operations Officer Zac Griffin said.

This comes after talking with environmental groups like Montana DEQ, as they figure out their needs in creating a safe work environment for contractors.

Just breathing it in, you know, any kind of animal waste isnt good, Griffin said. Theres quite a lot of it in that building so its going to take a little bit to get it cleaned out.

The space still needs a remodeling afterwards, but once its ready down the road, Griffin says the building makes healthcare access easier for anyone living nearby.

[Well have] behavioral health services, dental services. We have a full blown lab that will be in there Were looking at adding physical therapy, he said.

For now, theyre waiting on bids, with the cleanup starting in July or August. Its been a kind of an uphill battle for a couple of years, but now were ready to go, Griffin said.

Theres no projected end date yet, but the first phase of construction should start later this Fall.
MOBILE, Ala. (AP)  Thousands of joyful revelers, many without masks, competed for plastic beads and trinkets tossed from floats as Alabama's port city threw a Mardi Gras-style parade Friday night, its first since Carnival celebrations were scrapped earlier this year by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Many lined up shoulder-to-shoulder and several deep along sidewalks, shouting and cheering as nearly 30 floats and several high school marching bands crossed a stretch of downtown Mobile. With both COVID-19 hospitalizations and vaccinations ebbing, many partied with abandon.

It was definitely not a Mardi Gras parade: Those can only be held during Mardi Gras, the period before Lent. But it felt a lot like one, which was a big part of the goal after months of lockdowns, illness, deaths and face masks.

Call it Tardy Gras, perhaps.

James L. Hurst said he was jubilant to be out partying after a difficult year. Many had no face coverings amid an upbeat mood sweeping the crowd on a balmy spring night with clear skies. Some took part in small house parties near the parade staging point. Others on the route eagerly held up hands, aiming to catch cheap beaded necklaces tossed by riders atop the floats.

We didnt get a chance to celebrate our Mardi Gras last year because it was canceled because of the COVID-19, Hurst told The Associated Press. It feels great to be out! We have our vaccines and we are ready to go!

He called it the start of a new era, adding, My momma had the COVID and it was like three months before I got to see her before she got over it. She made all of us get our vaccines.

Christopher Robinson, a longtime Mobile resident and a king of one of the parade groups  called krewes  said he was raised on Mardi Gras in this port city and was just glad to be able to celebrate again after such a year.

Oh, we hate the pandemic, Robinson said. But you know what? It brung us back to a great season to be able to celebrate and come back even louder than before. Celebrations, friends, family, having a good time. This May 21st is bringing us back together as we would normally do it.

Police officers on the parade route cheerfully picked up beads and trinkets from the streets and handed them to children in the crowd, which was kept back behind barricades. The booming high school marching bands, together with shouts from the crowd, provided a soundtrack for the party. The events of the day included a ship commissioning and nighttime fireworks.

During the past 14 months to 16 months or so its been very difficult to make it all work, but this is a real blessing, Stephen Toomey, who owns a Mardi Gras supply company, told WALA-TV.

Statewide hospitalizations from COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus, are at the lowest point since April 2020, although more than 11,000 have died in Alabama and more than 540,000 have been infected. With only about a quarter of the state's population fully vaccinated, the state's immunization rate has trailed the nation for months.

Vaccination rates in Mobile County roughly mirror those of the state, with about 25% of the area's more than 400,000 residents immunized. Some feared in advance that, despite the latest federal guidelines about face masks, large numbers of unvaccinated, unmasked people could clog the parade route.

Dr. Bernard Eichold, the Mobile County health officer, said earlier that health officials hoped people would follow safety recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, al.com reported.

Like during a traditional Mardi Gras event, everyone needs to exercise personal safety and have a safe and wonderful event, he said.

Mobile police said about 64,000 people attended the festivities. Officers responded to 13 complaints and made two misdemeanor arrests.

New Orleans, where Mardi Gras celebrations also were canceled this year to slow the spread of the coronavirus, has not attempted a similar event.

The original parade route was expanded because of the high level of interest, organizers said, and 21 Mardi Gras societies were participating with downtown hotels nearly sold out. Restaurants and bars were planning special events and deals.

While the parade's theme is Celebrating Mardi Gras and Mobile, it was actually meant to mark the commissioning of the Navy's new ship USS Mobile, a shallow-water combat vessel manufactured in Mobile. Aside from the parade, receptions, a breakfast and a commissioning ceremony were also part of the plans.

Were absolutely excited about having Mardi Gras in May, certainly unexpected, Elizabeth Broughton, co-owner Debris Po Boys, told WALA-TV.



Follow APs coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the groups top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants' 11-day war with Israel.

Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce which ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade.

In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

In Gaza City, residents began assessing damage.

One of Gaza City's busiest commercial areas, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed cars and twisted metal after a 13-floor building in its center was flattened in an Israeli airstrike. Merchandise was covered in soot and strewn inside smashed stores and on the pavement. Municipal workers swept broken glass and twisted metal from streets and sidewalks.

We really didnt expect this amount of damage," said Ashour Subeih, who sells baby clothes. We thought the strike was a bit further from us. But as you can see not an area of the shop is intact. Having been in business for one year, Subeih estimated his losses were double what he has made so far.

Drone video and photos showed some city blocks reduced to rubble, in between homes and businesses left standing.

Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory.

On Saturday, hundreds of Hamas fighters wearing military camouflage paraded past the mourning tent for Bassem Issa, a senior commander killed in the fighting. The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, paid his respects in his first public appearance since the war began.

Israel bombed the house of Sinwar, along with that of other senior Hamas figures, as part of its attack on what it said was the group's military infrastructure. Israel's defense minister, Benny Gantz, has said Israel delivered a punishing blow to Hamas, and that top Hamas figures remained targets.

Still, there was a widespread expectation that the cease-fire would stick for now, even if another round of fighting at some point seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, that is choking Gaza's more than 2 million residents and a refusal by the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm.

The U.N. Security Council released a statement Saturday, welcoming the cease-fire and stressing the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.

Thousands rallied in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

The war has further sidelined Hamas' main political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas' popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.

On Friday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out," they shouted, and "The people want the president to leave.

It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years.

Despite his weakened status, Abbas will be the point of contact for any renewed U.S. diplomacy, since Israel and the West, including the United States, consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week. Abbas is expected to raise demands that any Gaza reconstruction plans go through the Palestinian Authority to avoid strengthening Hamas.

Abbas met Saturday with Egyptian mediators, discussing the rebuilding of Gaza and internal Palestinian relations, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

An Egyptian diplomat said that two teams of mediators were in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a cease-fire deal and securing long-term calm.

The diplomat said discussions include implementing agreed-on measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to prevent practices that led to the latest fighting. He did not elaborate. He was apparently referring to violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the planned eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations.

Separately, a 130-truck convoy with humanitarian aid and medical supplies reached the Gaza border from Egypt on Saturday, according to a senior Egyptian official at the border crossing. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Across Gaza, an assessment of the damage to the territory's already decrepit infrastructure began.

The ministry of public works and housing said that 769 housing and commercial units were rendered uninhabitable, at least 1,042 units in 258 buildings were destroyed and just over 14,500 units suffered minor damage.

The United Nations said about 800,000 people in Gaza do not have regular access to clean piped water, as nearly 50% of the water network was damaged in the fighting.

Israel has said it was targeting Hamas' military infrastructure, including a vast tunnel system running under roads and homes, as well as command centers, rocket launchers and the homes of commanders. The Israeli military has said it was trying to minimize harm to civilians and accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 248 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, with 1,910 people wounded. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. Twelve people were killed in Israel, all but one of them civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl.

Israel has accused Hamas and the smaller militant group of Islamic Jihad of hiding the actual number of fighters killed in the war. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Friday that more than 200 militants were killed, including 25 senior commanders.

Islamic Jihad on Saturday gave a first account of deaths within its ranks, saying that 19 of its commanders and fighters were killed, including the head of the rocket unit in northern Gaza.



Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed reporting.
GREAT FALLS, Mont. - Malmstrom Air Force Base welcomed Senator Jon Tester Friday for a tour to check in and make sure all protective resources are up to par.

As the new chairman of the defense appropriations subcommittee, Tester was briefed on threats around the world as well as some of the current challenges the base is facing.

The tour group visited the launch facility and will later visit the weapon storage facility as well as the facility that houses the grey wolf helicopters.

Malmstrom is set to receive new grey wolf helicopters, but Tester says that's not the only thing in the works.

"We're looking at GBSD starting in 26, finishing in 36. Cheyenne will be first, Malmstrom will be second, and Minot will be third. That is going to have to move forward because that is critically important for the countries defense," Tester said.

Originally Malmstrom was scheduled to receive the new helicopters this October, but due to certification issues, Tester anticipates the process will take another year.
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Lorain County Health Commissioner Dave Covell holds up a face mask during the weekly online meeting of the Lorain County Community Protection Team on May 18, 2021. Covell urged people not yet vaccinated to get the shots needed to protect against the health effects of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Moultrie, GA (31768)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy with a chance of thunderstorms. Low 72F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%.
Welcome back pirates! As you make your return to campus The East Carolinian has created a forum that centers around topics within the community where readers can express their experiences and concerns. With the new guidelines set in place by East Carolina University do you feel as these precautions will keep you safe?

Survey
Jessica Christian/AP

WINDSOR, Calif. (AP)  After refusing to quit for more than a month, the mayor of a California wine country town who has been accused of sexual assault by nine women has resigned from the job.

In a statement addressed to residents of the town of Windsor, Dominic Foppoli continued to deny the women's claims and suggested that a new allegation made against him by a former reality TV star was driven by the San Francisco Chronicle's reporting on him.
UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. Security Council is welcoming the cease-fire between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers and calls for full adherence to the cessation of hostilities.

Saturday's statement was approved by all 15 members of the council. It said the council mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence and stressed the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.

The statement further said it was urgent to restore calm and reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders.

Council members backed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres call for the international community to work with the United Nations in developing a robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery.

The council recognized the important role played by Egypt in achieving the cease-fire as well as other regional countries, the U.N., the Quartet of Mideast mediators  the U.N., U.S., European Union and Russia  and other international players.

The United States, Israels closest ally, had earlier blocked four proposed council statements calling for a cease-fire that all other members supported, saying it could interfere with Biden administration efforts to end the hostilities.

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TEL AVIV, Israel  Thousands are rallying in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

The demonstration on Saturday night was one of several held across Israel to call for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the wake of 11 days of fighting in Gaza that ended with a cease-fire early on Friday.

Demonstrators marched through the city and later gathered in the central Habima Square to hear from politicians and artists.

Ayman Odeh, the leader of the main Arab party in parliament, called for a Palestinian state to be established alongside Israel. Odeh said: There are two peoples here. Both deserve the right to self-determination.

Israeli author David Grossman said that the battle today is not between Arabs and Jews, but between those on both sides who strive to live in peace and in a fair partnership, and those on both sides who are fed by hatred and violence.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, made his first public appearance since the militant groups war with Israel erupted earlier this month.

Israel had bombed the homes of senior Hamas figures during 11 days of fighting, as part of its attack on the groups military infrastructure. The home of Sinwar was also attacked.

Sinwar was seen on Saturday as he paid his respects at a house of mourning for a Hamas commander killed in the war.

Israels defense minister, Benny Gantz, said has said top Hamas leaders remain targets, even after an Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect early Friday.

In the fighting, Israel had unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  A Palestinian official says an initial assessment shows at least 2,000 housing units were destroyed in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

Naji Sarhan, deputy of Gaza's works and housing ministry, tells The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 15,000 other units were partly destroyed in the 11-day war.

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes on the overcrowded strip, targeting residential, commercial and government buildings. It said it was going after locations where Hamas had offices and resources.

Sarhan says four mosques were destroyed along with dozens of police offices in Gaza. He says most of the factories in Gazas industrial zone were destroyed or damaged.

Meanwhile, police inspected unexploded Israeli ordinance collected during the campaign. Police chief Mahmoud Salah said nearly 300 Israeli rockets and shells did not explode.

Sarhan put the estimated financial losses from the fighting at $150 million. He says assessment is still ongoing.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The United Nations says approximately 800,000 people in Gaza do not have regular access to clean piped water, as nearly 50% of the water network was damaged in the recent fighting.

Quoting Gazas public works and housing ministry, the U.N. s office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly 17,000 residential and commercial units have been damaged or destroyed in the 11-day campaign.

These include 769 housing and commercial units that have been rendered uninhabitable, at least 1,042 units in some 258 buildings which have been destroyed and another 14,538 units that have suffered minor damage.

A cease-fire took effect Friday after an 11-day campaign that left more than 250 dead  the vast majority Palestinians  and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip

The U.N. said 53 education facilities, six hospitals and 11 primary health care centers have been damaged since May 10. One health center was severely damaged, the U.N. said, while one hospital is not operational because of lack of electricity. Schools in Gaza remain closed, affecting almost 600,000 children.

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CAIRO  An Egyptian diplomat says two teams of Egyptian mediators are in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a cease-fire deal  and securing a long-term calm.

The diplomat said Saturday discussions include implementing agreed-on measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to prevent practices that led to the latest fighting.

The official did not elaborate. He was apparently referring to violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the planned eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations.

The cease-fire took effect Friday. The 11-day war left more than 250 dead  the vast majority Palestinians  and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip

The diplomat also said Israel has given a green light to Gaza fishermen to return to sea Saturday as part of the cease-fire deal.

The Egyptian delegations arrived in Israel and the Palestinian territories Friday, according to Egypts official MENA news agency. The delegations met with Palestinian factions in Gaza directly after they arrived, MENA reported.

Hussein Sheikh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, tweeted that one of the Egyptian delegation planned to hold talks with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Saturday.

 By Samy Magdy

___

CAIRO  Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry has spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, about stabilizing the Cairo-brokered Gaza cease-fire deal.

A statement by Egypts Foreign Ministry said the two diplomats on Friday discussed shoring up the deal, which has mostly brought a halt to fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. They hope that will facilitate the reconstruction of Gaza.

The statement said the ministers also agreed on the importance of coordination between the two nations, the Palestinian Authority and international partners on securing communication channels to achieve peace. It did not provide further details.

The Egyptian government, meanwhile, said it would send a 130-truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Gaza, according the presidency.

The convoy is expected to enter the territory Saturday
The IHSAA State Track Meet is this weekend at various locations in the Boise area. Athletes from Carey High School, the Sun Valley Community School and Wood River High School are all competing. Check back with the Mountain Express next week for results.
Muskogee, OK (74401)

Today

Thunderstorms likely, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
A look at some of the week's major movers in the small-cap world including - inevitably - Hurricane Energy.

An agreed takeover offer worth 110mln from PerkinElmer made Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings PLC (LON:IDH) one of the weeks top risers.

The shares rose 47% to 375p, a shade below the 382p a share offer price.

The diagnostics group said that the takeover will allow it to speed up its growth plans while cooperating more closely with existing partner Euroimmun, which is also part of the PerkinElmer group.

In other acquisition news, the market gave the thumbs-up to the conditional acquisition of Saracen Fund Managers by AssetCo PLC (LON:ASTO).

Shares in AssetCo rose 37% to 1,950p after agreeing to pay 2.75mln for Saracens, of which 664,774 will be paid in cash with the remainder settled in shares.

"Saracen is a small fund management firm with great potential. Its business model, people and product offering are its key assets and are an ideal fit for AssetCo, said Peter McKellar, the deputy chairman and chief executive officer of AssetCo.

ESG  environmental, social and governance  issues are becoming more important to investors, which might explain why Itaconix PLC (LON:ITX) shares reacted positively to the news that the company had received the London Stock Exchange's Green Economy Mark in recognition for its contributions to the global green economy.

Itaconix generated 96% of its 2020 revenues from the sale of plant-based products, the company noted.

The bio-based speciality polymers company is perhaps best known for having its polymers included in homecare detergents and cleaners.

The share rose 26% this week.

It is not often the case that shares rise after the company taps the market but Galantas Gold Corp (CVE:GAL, LON:GAL) managed that rare feat this week after completing its share placing at C$0.30 per unit, raising just shy of C$8mln.

Eric Sprott, the well-known Canadian resources investor, acquired 6.3mln units for C$1.9mln, through his vehicle 2176423 Ontario Ltd, giving him an 8.6% stake in Galantas.

With the financing done and dusted, Roland Phelps retired as chief executive to be replaced by Mario Stifano, an experienced mining executive who has raised significant capital for a number of mining and resource companies in exploration, development and production such as Lake Shore Gold Corp.

Galantas Gold, an Anglo-Canadian company, owns and operates the producing gold mine near Omagh, County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland.

The shares rose 42% this week to 40.5p.

Staffline Group PLC (LON:STAF), the recruitment and training group, did not get off so lightly after it tapped the market, issuing shares at 50p a pop.

The stock ended the week 16.5% lower at 58.7p after it raised 44mln from the share issue. The company is seeking to raise up to a further 4.4mln through an open offer of shares at the same price.

The company intends to use the net proceeds of the proposed placing and subscription to reduce group indebtedness and to provide working capital for growth.

The group's average net debt in the first quarter of 2021 reduced by 14.5mln to 54.9mln (including deferred VAT) as a result of cost-savings initiatives.

The group said it has benefited from a 46.5 million Covid-19 VAT deferral that will be repaid in eight equal monthly instalments starting next month.

Lastly, in last weeks column, we said no weekly small-cap movers feature this year seems complete without an entry on Hurricane Energy PLC (LON:HUR) and the trend has continued, with the shares up 93% on the week at 1.275p after activist investor Crystal Amber Fund called for an extraordinary general meeting to oust five non-executive directors and put its own two appointees in place.

The fund, which owns 14.7% of the company, said it had provided it with funds totalling 25mln in three tranches since 2013 but had since lost faith in the board.

Tune in next week (probably) for the latest developments in this saga.
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People are leaving the state, decreasing the population enough that Illinois will see less representation in the federal government until the next census.

But the census also could have several impacts on the local community.

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, R-Jacksonville, said the decline in population is a bad thing, but it wasnt as bad as they predicted it would be.

We only lost one seat, but we were concerned about losing two or three congressional districts, Davidsmeyer said.

According to the Illinois census, the state has a population of 12,812,508 residents  an 18,124-person decline since the 2010 census.

That drop resulted in the loss of a representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The population decline also will result in other changes.

Many federal programs that provide funding are based on state populations. As the population declines, so does the amount of money the state will receive from the program.

Itll affect funding the state receives from the federal government and we already dont get as much as other states, Davidsmeyer said.

Fewer people living in the state also means fewer taxpayers, which leads to less revenue for the state, Davidsmeyer said.

The burden is going to be greater on those of us who are left, he said.

The United States has a population of 331,449,281 people, seeing an overall increase of 22,263,823 people.

Davidsmeyer said Illinois population is declining, but the population in states such as Florida and Texas is increasing.

I think its because of the opportunities that are available, Davidsmeyer said. We have to make our state more appealing.

The state has to look at which areas of the state are losing population and look at ways to help those areas attract more business opportunities and boost their quality of life.

County data for 2020 has not been released yet, but 2019 projections for Morgan County show a decrease from the 2010 census  down 1,889 from 35,545.

Cass County also is expecting a decrease, with an estimated fall from 13,642 to 12,147 in 2019; Scott County decreased from 5,355 in 2010 to 4,951 in 2019; Greene County decreased from 13,886 in 2010 to 12,969 in 2019; Pike County decreased from 16,430 people in 2010 to 15,561 in 2019.

We dont know, yet, where the population was lost, Davidsmeyer said. That is data we are waiting for.

Davidsmeyer said the state has work to do to reverse the downward population trend.

From more opportunities to making the state more appealing, there are things that can and need to be done, he said.

We need to look at the states that are gaining population, Davidsmeyer said. They tend to have lower regulations, lower taxes. Their idea of growth is to bring more people in, more jobs, not higher taxes.
This weeks wanted

The following are being sought on arrest warrants, according to various sheriffs departments. The addresses listed are the last known addresses provided by the warrants and may be outdated.

 James L. Peek, 50, of 510 Mauvaisterre St. is being sought on a warrant accusing him of failing to appear on a criminal trespassing charge.

He is a white male standing 5 foot 7 and weighing 250 pounds. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

 Curtis L. Worker, 47, of 408 West St., Pana, is being sought on a warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court on charges of domestic battery and driving while license is revoked.

He is a white male standing 6 foot 1 and weighing 165 pounds. He has blue eyes and gray hair.

.

Submit tips anonymously at tipsubmit.com, by calling 217-243-7300 or by text messaging CRIMES (274637) with payout as the first word of the tip.



Jacksonville Police

ARRESTS, CITATIONS

 Tiffany N. Adams, 37, of 1916 W. Jersey St., Alton, was arrested at 12:43 p.m. Friday on a charge of possession of drug paraphernalia after being stopped in the 1700 block of West Morton Avenue.

 Yanni M. Armstrong, 20, of 902 N. Clay Ave. was arrested at 12:19 a.m. Friday on a charge of criminal trespass to state-supported land after being accused of being on property at Walnut Street and Clay Court from which he was prohibited. He also was arrested on a Cass County warrant accusing him of failing to appear in court.

THEFTS, BURGLARIES

 Laundry worth $200 was taken from Dunlap Court Laundry, according to a report filed at 8:45 p.m. Thursday.

OTHER REPORTS

 Police are investigating a report that a woman pointed a gun at residents of the 700 block of South Church Street at 9:04 p.m. Thursday.

Compiled by David C.L. Bauer and Darren Iozia
Eisenhower Elementary School held a "clap out" Friday, giving graduating Jacksonville High School seniors a chance to return to where their educational journeys began.
Ex-BBC head quits gallery job amid Diana interview fallout View Photo

LONDON (AP)  Tony Hall, who was director of BBC news and current affairs at the time of the public broadcasters explosive 1995 interview with Princess Diana, resigned Saturday as board chairman of Britains National Gallery.

Hall, who subsequently rose to the top job at the BBC, was heavily criticized in a report this week for a botched inquiry into how journalist Martin Bashir obtained the blockbuster interview.

In a statement, the 70-year-old said his continued presence at the gallery would be a distraction to an institution I care deeply about.

As I said two days ago, I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility, said Hall, who served as the BBCs director-general from 2013 until 2020.

John Kingman, the deputy chair of the National Gallerys board of trustees, will assume Halls role for the time being. He said the gallery is extremely sorry to lose Hall but that we entirely understand and respect his decision.

The 126-page report by retired Judge John Dyson, published Thursday, found the internal BBC investigation had covered up deceitful behavior by Bashir, who was little-known as a journalist when he interviewed Diana.

The BBC also has faced questions about why Bashir was rehired in 2016 as the broadcasters religious affairs correspondent.

Dianas sons, Princes William and Harry, have excoriated the BBC since the reports publication, saying there was a direct link between the 1995 interview and their mothers death in a traffic accident two years later as she and a companion were being pursued by paparazzi.

The BBC commissioned the report after Dianas brother, Charles Spencer, complained that Bashir used false documents and other dishonest tactics to persuade Diana to grant the interview.

In the interview, Diana said her marriage to Prince Charles had failed because he was still in love with former lover Camilla Parker Bowles, whom Charles would go on to marry a decade later.

Diana, then 34, said she was devastated when she found out in 1986  five years after her marriage  that Charles had renewed his relationship with Camilla. Diana said she was so depressed that she deliberately hurt herself in a desperate bid for help.

There were three of us in this marriage, so it was a bit crowded, Diana famously remarked.

The fallout from the report has raised serious doubts about the BBCs integrity, while the British government has said it would review the rules governing the oversight of the editorially independent national broadcaster.

The BBC, which was founded in 1922, is funded by a license fee payable by everyone. The rules governing its operations are set out in a royal charter that requires the corporation to be impartial, act in the public interest and be open, transparent and accountable. A mid-term review of the BBCs governance is scheduled to begin next year.

By PAN PYLAS

Associated Press
Ferraris Leclerc takes pole for Monaco GP, Verstappen 2nd View Photo

MONACO (AP)  Charles Leclerc won the first pole for Ferrari since 2019 despite crashing with 18 seconds remaining to end Saturday qualifying at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Leclerc held the top spot at his home track until his Ferrari grazed a barrier to break a suspension piece. He then hopped a curb and finally came to a stop crashed into another barrier to bring the qualifying session to an abrupt end.

The 23-year-old Leclerc grew up in a flat overlooking the circuit that snakes around the picturesque principality. He lives a few kilometers away in Cap dAil, one of many small and scenic spots dotted along the French Rivieras spectacular coastline.

He was visibly emotional after becoming the first Monaco driver to take pole here.

I have mixed feelings a little bit, because with the crash I dont know where Im starting yet, he said. I just did too much and I touched the wall on the inside.

He could forfeit pole if the damage to his Ferrari is too great that he receives a grid penalty. If the gear box must be changed  which Leclerc feared  hed lose five positions on the starting grid.

I am worried about a penalty. Ive always been very unlucky here, so lets just wait and see, said Leclerc. Its a shame to finish in the wall. It doesnt feel the same but Im incredibly happy about my lap.

The red flag prevented world champion Lewis Hamilton and his title contender Max Verstappen from completing their final qualifying lap. Verstappen will start second for Red Bull; Hamilton seventh for Mercedes.

That crash ruined the chance for pole, Verstappen said. Just a shame about the red flag.

Valtteri Bottas qualified third for Mercedes behind Verstappen.

Leclerc waved to his fans as a crane lifted his car off the track. His lap at 1 minute, 10.35 seconds on the 3.4-kilometer (2.1-mile) course gave him his eighth career pole. But it was his first since the Mexican Grand Prix in October 2019 and a boost for Ferrari after the team struggled all last year.

Leclerc will try to become Monacos first local winner since Louis Chiron in 1931.

Perhaps it was a lucky charm, but his friend Prince Albert visited Ferraris garage before qualifying. Albert messaged Leclerc when he took his first pole at the Bahrain GP in early 2019.

Alberts hilltop castle overlooks the track, but he has never seen anyone local win.

Prince Rainier III, Alberts father and husband to American actress Grace Kelly, was only a young boy when Chiron won.

If Leclerc does win, Alberts wife Princess Charlene will not witness it. She left for a wildlife preservation mission to South Africa, the Royal Palace said.

Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr. completed a great day for the Italian manufacturer by qualifying fourth in his first season with Ferrari.

Lando Norris of McLaren was fifth and followed by AlphaTauris Pierre Gasly.

Leclerc made an odd mistake when his rear front left tire locked and he hit a barrier. It made no immediate difference to his position on the grid, but the red flag ended the session and cost everyone behind him a shot at moving up on the starting grid.

Hamilton holds a 14-point lead over Verstappen after four races, with the rivals placing 1-2 in every race. But Verstappen has a great chance to narrow the gap at a Monaco track which notoriously difficult for overtaking.

After their first runs in Q3, the final section of qualifying, Leclerc had the fastest lap ahead of Verstappen, with Hamilton surprisingly sluggish.

We definitely had some problems today, Hamilton said. I guess the minimum will be seventh, and then hope we can get higher.

The 36-year-old Hamilton was bidding for a record-extending 101st pole and the 23-year-old Verstappen a fifth, but Leclerc caused a major surprise.

It is a huge step forward. I think the pole is a good reward for the team, Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto said. It will be difficult to win. Verstappen is very, very fast and he will give us a hard time.

Earlier, Verstappen posted the fastest time in the final practice from Sainz Jr. and Leclerc, with Hamilton seventh.

An eventful session was twice interrupted for crashes near the end.

Nicholas Latifi hit the barriers and mangled the front right wheel of his Williams along the harbor. Then, Mick Schumacher crashed his Haas car coming out of Casino Square and there was not enough time to restart.

He needed a gearbox change and starts last.

Ferrari looked strong in Thursdays first two sessions, too, with Leclerc topping P2 and Sainz Jr. second in both.

Some fans returned to the stands after the iconic race was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Police stopped some buses coming through from Cap dAil  which is in France  into Monaco and checked peoples work permits. Security officials also checked passengers at the exit of Monaco-Monte Carlo train station, ensuring they had a negative PCR test for COVID-19 when entering.

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More AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

By JEROME PUGMIRE

AP Auto Racing Writer
The company aims to supply ethically and sustainably sourced materials to the battery industry worldwide and has developed disruptive extraction technologies.

( ) ( ) (FRA:3MW) non-executive director Phil Thick has demonstrated his confidence in the companys strategy with the purchase of shares in an on-market transaction.

On May 19 Thick acquired 800,000 shares in an indirect interest worth a total of A$96,187, marking his first purchase.

Fieldwork begins at Greenbushes South JV

The company welcomed the start of fieldwork by ( ) at the Greenbushes South Lithium Project joint venture, 200 kilometres south of Perth in Western Australia earlier this week.

The project is an unincorporated joint venture 20% owned by LIT with the remaining 80% held by Galan, which is the operator.

Galan's team has been granted initial private access to parts of the relevant geological areas of interest to proceed with fieldwork that includes soil and rock chip sampling as well as mapping.

Desktop geological work is also planned soon on the recently granted E70/4777 tenement around 25 kilometres north of the Greenbushes mine.

Another JV tenement, E70/5680, was also recently granted.
Fire at Polands largest lignite mine out, unit to be shut View Photo

WARSAW, Poland (AP)  A fire engulfed a conveyer belt at Polands largest brown coal mine Saturday before it was extinguished, and a linked power plant will have one of its units shut because the fire disrupted coal deliveries.

The midday fire at the Belchatow mine in central Poland covered the area that includes Polands largest lignite power plant with huge clouds of black smoke. The fire was the second incident this week forcing the suspension of some of the power plants generators.

A spokesman for Lodz region firefighters, Jedrzej Pawlak, said the conveyer belt was 30 meters (98 feet) high, making access to the flames difficult. No casualties were reported, Pawlak said.

State energy group PGE, which runs the mine and the neighboring power plant, said later that the fire was out but had disrupted lignite deliveries to one of the plants 11 units, which will have to be shut down temporarily. PGE said the shutdown would not cause any power shortages.

PGE said on Twitter the fire was caused by the ignition of brown coal that was being conveyed to the Belchatow plants Unit 14 reactor but did not reach it.

Unit 14 was the only one that remained active at the power plant when 10 other units suffered an automated outage Monday that was caused by malfunction at a nearby power switch.

Atop European Union court ordered Poland on Friday to immediately halt operations at a lignite mine in Turow, on the Czech and German border, that also belongs to PGE. Officials in the Czech Republic had complained that the mine used up their groundwater and affected local residents.

Polands minister for state assets, Jacek Sasin, declared that Poland did not accept the courts ruling and would not take any steps that could undermine Polands energy security as it phases out black coal.

A tweet by PGE suggested that Poland was not being treated fairly because the EU was not ordering Berlin or Prague to close 14 lignite mines they operate close to Polands border.

Coal makes up 65% of Polands energy sources, including 17% from lignite, while about 25% of the countrys energy comes from renewable sources. Polands heavy reliance on coal is a source of tensions in the 27-nation EU, which is seeking to meet ambitious goals to reduce the blocs greenhouse gas emissions.

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Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.
Albanias president denounces US sanction of former leader View Photo

TIRANA, Albania (AP)  Albanias president offered public support Saturday to a former prime minister who was sanctioned by the United States this week for corruption.

President Ilir Meta made public a letter to former Prime Minister Sali Berisha that described the sanctioning of the politician as a shameful, unfaithful and nasty act prompted by anti-Albanian lobbying.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Berisha and his immediate family were barred from entering the United States. Blinken accused Berisha, who served as Albanias prime minister from 2005 until 2013, of being involved in corrupt actsincluding using his power for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members.

Blinken also alleged that while in office Berisha interfered in the judiciary at the expense of independent investigations, anticorruption efforts, and accountability measures.

Berisha, 76, is currently a lawmaker representing the opposition Democratic Party in Albanias parliament. He also served as Albanias second post-communist president from 1992 to 1997.

In his defense of his predecessor, Meta alleged that Blinkens decision was ordered from the kleptocratic regime in Albania at a time when the results of the countrys April 25 parliamentary election are being contested.

Meta has been at odds with the governing Socialist Party, which has moved to have him impeached for not remaining non-partisan during the election.

By LLAZAR SEMINI

Associated Press
Return of Iraqis seen as easing threat from Syria camp View Photo

SHADDADI, Syria (AP)  The Iraqi government is expected to bring home about 100 Iraqi families from a sprawling camp in Syria next week, a first-time move that U.S. officials see as a hopeful sign in a long-frustrated effort to repatriate thousands from a site known as a breeding ground for young insurgents.

During a visit Friday to Syria, where he met with troops and commanders, the top U.S. general for the Middle East expressed optimism that the transfer from the al-Hol camp will happen. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie has repeatedly warned that the youth in the camps are being radicalized and will become the next generation of dangerous militants.

It would be the first step in many such repatriations, and I think thats going to be the key to bringing down the population in the al-Hol camp, and indeed in other camps across the region, McKenzie told reporters traveling with him, Nations need to bring back their citizens, repatriate them, reintegrate them, deradicalize them when necessary and make them productive elements of society.

A U.S. official said the transfer of people from the camp in northeast Syria is one of a number of issues the U.S. and Iraqi governments are discussing as they work out a road map for future diplomatic and military relations. The issue came up during meetings on Thursday, when McKenzie stopped in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. The official was not authorized to public discuss internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi leaders earlier this year talked about repatriating some of their citizens, but did not follow through. So the plans for next week have been met with a bit of skepticism, and it appeared unclear whether it might be more than a one-time deal.

The al-Hol camp is home to as many as 70,000 people  mostly women and children  who have been displaced by the civil war in Syria and the battle against the Islamic State group. As many as half are Iraqis. About 10,000 foreigners are housed in a secure annex, and many in the camp remain die-hard IS supporters.

Many countries have refused to repatriate their citizens who were among those from around the world who came to join IS after the extremists declared their caliphate in 2014. The groups physical hold on territory was ended in 2017, but many countries balk at repatriating their citizens, fearing their links to IS.

In late March, the main U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force in northeast Syria conducted a five-day sweep inside al-Hol that was assisted by U.S. forces. At least 125 suspects were arrested.

Since then, McKenzie said, security has gotten better at the camp. But, he added, security has no real impact on the radicalization of the youth there.

Thats what concerns me, he said as he stood at a base in northeast Syria, not far from the Turkish border. The ability of ISIS to reach out, touch these young people and turn them  in a way that unless we can find a way to take it back its going to make us pay a steep price down the road.

As McKenzie crisscrossed eastern Syria, stopping at four U.S. outposts, his message was short and direct: U.S. forces remain in Syria to fight the remnants of IS, so the militants cant regroup. Pockets of IS are still active, particularly west of the Euphrates River in vast stretches of ungoverned territory that are controlled by the Syrian government led by President Bashar Assad.

Out there and in the camps, the underlying conditions of poverty and sectarianism that gave rise to IS still exist, said British Brig. Gen. Richard Bell, the deputy commanding general for the coalition fight against IS in Iraq and Syria, who traveled with McKenzie.

McKenzie said it was important to keep the pressure on IS because the militants still have an aspirational goal to attack the United States homeland. We want to prevent that from happening.

He spoke to reporters from The Associated Press and ABC News who agreed because of security concerns not to report on the Syria trip until they left the country. As he spoke, a row of M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles were lined up behind him  a reminder of clashes U.S. forces had last year with Russian troops in the north. At the time, McKenzie requested and got more troops and armored vehicles to deter what the U.S. said was Russian aggression against patrols by U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces.

But he said they also represented Americas continued commitment to the mission in Syria, to assist the SDF in the battle against IS.

Look at the Bradleys behind me, look at the base that were sitting in right now, McKenzie said. I think its a pretty strong testament to our commitment.

Bell said the ongoing coalition commitment is a concern the SDF asks about. The answer, he said, is a political decision for nations leaders, but the coalition is in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of IS.

They are attempting to reconstitute themselves, Bell said. Until the last remnants are completely defeated, and that their will is also broken to stop them from trying to come back, then I think theres going to be requirements to assist our partner forces.

But when asked how long U.S. troops will stay, he quickly says it is up to President Joe Biden.

During his daylong visit, McKenzie met with the SDF commander, Mazloum Abdi, at an undisclosed military base in eastern Syria. In a tweet Saturday, Abdi said they discussed security and economic challenges in the region. He added that we have received messages about the continued presence of Coalition forces, joint cooperation to combat ISIS & efforts to protect & stabilize the region.

Biden has ordered a full withdrawal from Afghanistan, but so far has said little about the close to 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria and the roughly 2,500 in Iraq. Americas presence in Syria is part of a global posture review now being done by the Pentagon.

By LOLITA C. BALDOR

Associated Press
The Latest: UN Security Council urges aid for Palestinians View Photo

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. Security Council is welcoming the cease-fire between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers and calls for full adherence to the cessation of hostilities.

Saturdays statement was approved by all 15 members of the council. It said the council mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence and stressed the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.

The statement further said it was urgent to restore calm and reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders.

Council members backed U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres call for the international community to work with the United Nations in developing a robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery.

The council recognized the important role played by Egypt in achieving the cease-fire as well as other regional countries, the U.N., the Quartet of Mideast mediators  the U.N., U.S., European Union and Russia  and other international players.

The United States, Israels closest ally, had earlier blocked four proposed council statements calling for a cease-fire that all other members supported, saying it could interfere with Biden administration efforts to end the hostilities.

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TEL AVIV, Israel  Thousands are rallying in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

The demonstration on Saturday night was one of several held across Israel to call for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the wake of 11 days of fighting in Gaza that ended with a cease-fire early on Friday.

Demonstrators marched through the city and later gathered in the central Habima Square to hear from politicians and artists.

Ayman Odeh, the leader of the main Arab party in parliament, called for a Palestinian state to be established alongside Israel. Odeh said: There are two peoples here. Both deserve the right to self-determination.

Israeli author David Grossman said that the battle today is not between Arabs and Jews, but between those on both sides who strive to live in peace and in a fair partnership, and those on both sides who are fed by hatred and violence.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, made his first public appearance since the militant groups war with Israel erupted earlier this month.

Israel had bombed the homes of senior Hamas figures during 11 days of fighting, as part of its attack on the groups military infrastructure. The home of Sinwar was also attacked.

Sinwar was seen on Saturday as he paid his respects at a house of mourning for a Hamas commander killed in the war.

Israels defense minister, Benny Gantz, said has said top Hamas leaders remain targets, even after an Egyptian-brokered truce went into effect early Friday.

In the fighting, Israel had unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  A Palestinian official says an initial assessment shows at least 2,000 housing units were destroyed in the fighting between Israel and Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

Naji Sarhan, deputy of Gazas works and housing ministry, tells The Associated Press on Saturday that more than 15,000 other units were partly destroyed in the 11-day war.

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes on the overcrowded strip, targeting residential, commercial and government buildings. It said it was going after locations where Hamas had offices and resources.

Sarhan says four mosques were destroyed along with dozens of police offices in Gaza. He says most of the factories in Gazas industrial zone were destroyed or damaged.

Meanwhile, police inspected unexploded Israeli ordinance collected during the campaign. Police chief Mahmoud Salah said nearly 300 Israeli rockets and shells did not explode.

Sarhan put the estimated financial losses from the fighting at $150 million. He says assessment is still ongoing.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The United Nations says approximately 800,000 people in Gaza do not have regular access to clean piped water, as nearly 50% of the water network was damaged in the recent fighting.

Quoting Gazas public works and housing ministry, the U.N. s office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said nearly 17,000 residential and commercial units have been damaged or destroyed in the 11-day campaign.

These include 769 housing and commercial units that have been rendered uninhabitable, at least 1,042 units in some 258 buildings which have been destroyed and another 14,538 units that have suffered minor damage.

A cease-fire took effect Friday after an 11-day campaign that left more than 250 dead  the vast majority Palestinians  and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip

The U.N. said 53 education facilities, six hospitals and 11 primary health care centers have been damaged since May 10. One health center was severely damaged, the U.N. said, while one hospital is not operational because of lack of electricity. Schools in Gaza remain closed, affecting almost 600,000 children.

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CAIRO  An Egyptian diplomat says two teams of Egyptian mediators are in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a cease-fire deal  and securing a long-term calm.

The diplomat said Saturday discussions include implementing agreed-on measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to prevent practices that led to the latest fighting.

The official did not elaborate. He was apparently referring to violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the planned eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations.

The cease-fire took effect Friday. The 11-day war left more than 250 dead  the vast majority Palestinians  and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip

The diplomat also said Israel has given a green light to Gaza fishermen to return to sea Saturday as part of the cease-fire deal.

The Egyptian delegations arrived in Israel and the Palestinian territories Friday, according to Egypts official MENA news agency. The delegations met with Palestinian factions in Gaza directly after they arrived, MENA reported.

Hussein Sheikh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, tweeted that one of the Egyptian delegation planned to hold talks with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Saturday.

 By Samy Magdy

___

CAIRO  Egypt Foreign Minister Sameh Shukry has spoken with his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Ashkenazi, about stabilizing the Cairo-brokered Gaza cease-fire deal.

A statement by Egypts Foreign Ministry said the two diplomats on Friday discussed shoring up the deal, which has mostly brought a halt to fighting between Israel and the Palestinians. They hope that will facilitate the reconstruction of Gaza.

The statement said the ministers also agreed on the importance of coordination between the two nations, the Palestinian Authority and international partners on securing communication channels to achieve peace. It did not provide further details.

The Egyptian government, meanwhile, said it would send a 130-truck convoy carrying humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Gaza, according the presidency.

The convoy is expected to enter the territory Saturday

By The Associated Press
KILLEEN, Texas (AP)  A grand jury in Texas has declined to indict a police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Black man who rushed toward him during a mental health call.

The case was presented Wednesday to a Bell County grand jury, which declined to indict Killeen police Officer Reynaldo Contreras, police said Friday.

Contreras, a five-year veteran of the department, fatally shot 52-year-old Patrick Lynn Warren in January.

Family members have said that the day before Warren was killed, a Bell County mental health deputy had taken him to a hospital. But, the family said, when he returned home the next day, his psychiatric issues continued.

Police have said that Warren was emotionally distressed when Contreras arrived.

Body camera footage shows Warren waving his hands as he walks into his yard, toward Contreras, who tells him to get on the ground. Contreras then uses his stun gun. Warren gets back up and begins again advancing toward Contreras, who warns Warren to lay back and that hell shoot him before firing.

Lee Merritt, an attorney representing Warrens family, said Friday that family members of Warren, who were there the day he was killed, should have been called to testify before the grand jury.

Merritt said Contreras responded to the call with this militarized default.

Police have said that Contreras had had mental health training, but Merritt said it obviously was insufficient to deal with an unarmed man in his pajamas on his front lawn.

Merritt said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened up an investigation into the case. The Justice Department did to immediately return a call seeking comment.
US steers El Salvador funding away from government View Photo

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP)  The United States Agency for International Development will redirect its funding from El Salvadors state institutions to its civil society groups as tensions rise between the two governments over the Central American countrys removal of Supreme Court justices and the Attorney General.

USAID Administrator Samantha Power said in a statement Friday that the agency has deep concerns about the shake-up in the justice system earlier this month and more generally about transparency and accountability.

Funding will be redirected from the court and Attorney Generals Office, the National Civilian Police and El Salvadors Institute for Access to Public Information and given instead to local civil society groups and human rights organizations for promoting transparency, combating corruption and monitoring human rights.

The agency declined to say how much funding was being redirected.

President Nayib Bukele responded immediately via Twitter. How great that (civil society organizations) receive foreign financing, because they will not receive a cent from the Salvadoran people.

In another tweet, the president wrote that if you ask any Salvadoran migrant at the U.S. border why they left their country, they will respond first, lack of jobs and second, that it was unsafe. Its very revealing that @USAID chose to stop funding SECURITY! Is the real plan to create more immigration?

Bukeles New Ideas party won a supermajority in Feb. 28 elections. New lawmakers were seated in the unicameral congress May 1 and immediately voted to remove the five justices from the Supreme Courts Constitutional Chamber in a process the justices said was unconstitutional. The new congress also voted to replace the Attorney General with a Bukele loyalist.

Those moves combined with the new congressional supermajority removed the remaining checks on Bukeles power, who remains extremely popular.

In February 2020, Bukele sent heavily armed troops to the then-opposition controlled congress when it balked at approving a loan for his security plan.

Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, Bukele publicly accused the constitutional justices of causing the deaths of Salvadorans when they ruled his mandatory stay-at-home order unconstitutional.

Bukeles rapid consolidation of power has worried international observers and the Biden administration that El Salvadors fragile democracy could be eroded.

Respect for an independent judiciary, a commitment to the separation of powers, and a strong civil society are essential components of any democracy, Power said. The United States remains firmly committed to supporting democratic governance as we partner to improve economic and security conditions and to address the root causes of irregular migration from Central America.

Earlier this month, White House Special Envoy Ricardo Zuniga met with Bukele on a visit to El Salvador. He said on a local news program that the U.S. government thought it best for El Salvador to reverse the changes to the court and Attorney General.

Bukele responded via Twitter. For the voices that still ask us to return to the past, with much respect and affection: the changes that we have made are IRREVERSIBLE, he wrote then. We are not going to return to the past, we will go toward the future. We would like them to accompany us, but if they dont want to we understand.

As the relationship with Washington sours, Bukele has increasingly played up the burgeoning relationship with China. This week China sent 500,000 doses of Sinovac vaccine and the Salvadoran congress ratified a cooperation agreement with China that calls for about $60 million investment in projects in the country.

By MARCOS ALEMAN

Associated Press
Floyd legislation reveals divide in police-reform movement View Photo

NEW YORK (AP)  Monifa Bandele became a community organizer in the late 1990s, after New York City police fatally shot a young, unarmed Black immigrant named Amadou Diallo in the Bronx.

In the two decades since, she repeatedly witnessed police reforms that failed to stop Black people from dying at the hands of officers. Some of those reforms are now part of federal legislation being negotiated in the name of George Floyd, the Black man whose murder under the knee of a white Minneapolis officer last year sparked worldwide protests.

For instance, the legislation calls for banning chokeholds, a step already taken by New York City prior to the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who in an encounter with the NYPD uttered the same last words as Floyd: I cant breathe.

As the anniversary of Floyds death approaches, some reform supporters say the best way to honor him would be for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But many activists warn that some of the proposed reforms have not been enough to stop past police abuses, reflecting a divide within the movement over what would constitute real progress.

What weve come to realize over the past decades is that police departments, with their oversized budgets and their outsized political power, are able to rise above reformist policies, said Bandele, an organizer with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 150 Black-led advocacy organizations that opposes the Floyd legislation because it does not hit hard enough at systemic racism.

The bill also includes prohibitions on no-knock police raids like the one in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed Breonna Taylor, a young Black front-line worker. It would create a national registry for officers who are disciplined for serious misconduct, among other proposals.

Although Bandele thinks the bill is well-meaning, now is not the time to settle for the same old ideas, she said.

Our duty is that we have to make a bigger demand, she said.

In Congress, hopes of passing a package by the May 25 anniversary have faded as negotiations between the House and Senate grind on. But top negotiator Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat, said she remains hopeful of an eventual compromise.

The House approved the sweeping police overhaul earlier this year, but it faces stiff resistance from Republicans in the closely divided Senate. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has a more modest alternative, and the parties have been engaged in long, private negotiations over a potential compromise.

It is more important that we get it right, and that we have a substantive bill, versus do something ceremonial because of the date, Bass told reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

One key debate has been whether to allow individual police officers to be sued over their actions, changing the so-called qualified immunity protections for law enforcement. Republicans largely object to that approach and prefer to hold the officers employers responsible.

One top Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking Black lawmaker in Congress, has suggested he would be open to a compromise, and Bass said she agreed with his broader point that its not worth walking away from a deal if Democrats cannot include every priority.

I also agree that the day that President Biden signs this bill, the next day, we keep working, Bass said. Because this bill, I think, will be significant. But in no way, shape or form do I think its going to be enough.

Police have killed roughly 1,000 people in the U.S. each year since 2015, and a disproportionate number of the victims have been Black. Studies of criminal justice data show Black Americans are far more likely than white Americans to be pulled over by police and are as much as three times more likely to be searched.

Black men were about 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police between 2013 and 2018, according to a 2019 study published by the National Academy of Sciences. Black women were 1.4 more times likely than white women to be killed by police, according to the same study.

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows most Americans think big changes are necessary to reform the criminal justice system. Overall, 25% think it needs a complete overhaul, while another 43% think it needs major changes. Twenty-seven percent think it needs minor changes, while just 4% think no changes are needed.

The poll finds a majority of Americans support specific reforms such as requiring officers to wear body cameras, establishing clear standards for use of force, mandating that officers report misconduct, penalizing officers who engage in racially biased policing and requiring that law enforcement agencies have independent review boards.

A majority  58%  say they also oppose reducing funding for law enforcement agencies.

The level of support for reform varies along racial and party lines. The poll shows majorities of Black, white, Hispanic and Asian Americans think major changes or an overhaul are needed, though Black Americans are especially likely to call for the most drastic changes, with 48% saying a complete overhaul is needed and another 36% saying the justice system needs major changes.

By comparison, among white Americans, 20% think the system needs a complete overhaul, 44% think it needs major changes and 32% think it needs minor changes, with 3% saying no changes are needed.

Close to 9 in 10 Democrats think the justice system needs either major changes or a complete overhaul. Republicans are more likely to say only modest reform is necessary, with 13% saying an overhaul is needed and 32% wanting major changes, but 47% saying only minor changes are needed and 7% saying none are.

Jim Burch, president of the nonpartisan National Police Foundation, which supports the advancement and reform of policing through science and innovation, said he is encouraged by the focus on policing reforms at the federal level.

The legislation named after Floyd offers many worthy proposals, as well as some requiring further analysis and clarity in order to make a positive impact in the manner intended, Burch said in an email.

Last July, the Movement for Black Lives sought support in Congress for its BREATHE Act, which would, among other proposals, eliminate the Drug Enforcement Administration and ban the use of surveillance technology on communities that activists say are over-policed.

Its not that we want less safety. We are often criticized when we say defund (the police) or when we promote the BREATHE Act. We actually want more safety than the police can deliver, Bandele said.

Selwyn Jones, an uncle of George Floyd on his mothers side of the family, told the AP that he was disappointed that Congress would not pass the Floyd legislation next week.

We dont live in a perfect world, he said Friday. We, as Black people, have been fighting a battle for 400 years.

___

Swanson reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington also contributed to this report.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,842 adults was conducted April 29-May 3 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

___

Morrison is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.

By AARON MORRISON and EMILY SWANSON

Associated Press
Police say 1 arrested in attack on Jewish men in Los Angeles

Police say 1 arrested in attack on Jewish men in Los Angeles View Photo

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles police on Saturday announced the arrest of a suspect in an alleged attack by a pro-Palestinian group on Jewish men outside a restaurant earlier in the week.

A police statement, which did not identify the man, said he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon late Friday at a residence outside the city of Los Angeles with assistance from a U.S. Marshals Service task force.

Increased bail was requested due to the crime being motivated by hatred, the statement said.

The male is one of the primary suspects in the assault and beating of several men who were outside of a restaurant in the evening hours in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles on Tuesday May 18, 2021, it said.

The violence, recorded on video, occurred when a car caravan flying Palestinian flags stopped near a restaurant where diners were eating at outdoor tables.

Witnesses told news media that people in the caravan threw bottles and chanted death to Jews and free Palestine, and men got out of the vehicles and began asking who was Jewish. A brawl erupted when two diners said they were Jewish.

Civic and faith leaders have condemned the incident.
LONDON (AP)  Animal rights protesters are blockading four McDonald's distribution centers in the U.K. in an attempt to get the burger chain to commit to becoming fully plant-based by 2025.

Animal Rebellion said Saturday that trucks and bamboo structures are being used at the distribution sites in Hemel Hempstead, Basingstoke, Coventry and Heywood, Greater Manchester, to stop trucks from leaving the depots.
(Editors note: This project is a collaboration between the Plainview Herald and Saint Francis Ministries to showcase kids who are cleared for adoption.)

Christopher is an active and intelligent kid. He could spend the entire day outside on his scooter or skateboard, riding bikes, or swimming, if given the opportunity.

The 14-year-old enjoys his alone time and can spend hours building things with Legos.

He might be shy at first, but once he warms up, he likes to watch movies or play games with others. Christopher is looking for a family that is in it for the long haul.

---

Christopher is one of the children listed on the Texas Adoption Resource Exchange (TARE) website. Visit https://www.dfps.state.tx.us/Application/TARE/Home.aspx/Default for more details.

Saint Francis Ministries is a nonprofit organization and a community-based care provider for the Texas Department of Family Protective Services Region 1. This region includes 41 counties across the Panhandle and South Plains.

To learn more about fostering or adopting, those interested are encouraged to attend one of the monthly virtual meetings hosted by Saint Francis Ministries and other child placing agencies. The meetings provide information about how to get started, the basic qualifications and more, in addition to providing opportunity for attendees to ask questions.

Those interested can visit Saint Francis Texas on Facebook @SFMtexas to register for the online meetings, which can also be found below:

The meetings are scheduled for the second Thursday of the month (Lubbock area  https://lubbock-area-foster-care-adoption.eventbrite.com) and the third Thursday of the month (Amarillo area  https://amarillo-area-foster-care-adoption.eventbrite.com).

For more information, please contact Erin Baxter at (806) 317-5631 or email texasinfo@st-francis.org. Visit Saint Francis Ministries online at https://saintfrancisministries.org.
Tucked into the adjacent alleys are more trendy restaurants where young people queue for tables at weekends.

Now Gucci will open its second flagship store here in Hannam-dong next to the Imperial Palace Hotel just across the street from Cheil Worldwide's headquarters. The half-kilometer strip from Cheil Worldwide to Hangangjin subway station is lined on both sides with shops, restaurants, galleries and performance venues appealing to affluent millennials.

Originally home to foreign embassies and expensive houses, Hannam-dong first attracted cultural centers, restaurants and cafes, which in turn brought in trendy crowds followed by luxury fashion and beauty brand stores.

Hannam-dong, the tony neighborhood next to Itaewon in central Seoul, has emerged as the new shopping mecca. Over the last five years it has attracted trendy eateries, fashion stores and beauty brand shops.

The Leeum Samsung Museum of Art opened there in 2004, followed by Blue Square in 2011 showcasing musicals. That led to cafes opening in the neighborhood catering to musical audiences before and after shows. At about the same time, the Pace Gallery, a showcase for contemporary and modern American art, opened along with a handful of other exhibition spaces.

Gentrification also brought high-end apartment complexes. That sets Hannam-dong apart from the Cheongdam-dong ghetto of luxury boutiques just across the Han River. Hannam-dong's art and cultural scene attracts more than just shoppers and appeals to people in their 20s and 30s. One worker in a cafe near Hangangjin subway station said, "A lot of artists and fashion industry workers come here, and most of them are in their early 30s."

The brands and types of restaurants in Hannam-dong are distinctly different too. Beaker, an apparel shop selling a mixture of trendy fashion brands, features creations by both foreign luxury houses and new Korean designers. Rather than being lined with traditional luxury shops like Hermes, Louis Vuitton and Chanel, Hannam-dong's brands include Maison Kitsune, Comme des Garcons, Le Labo and Jo Malone.

When San Francisco-based Tartine Bakery opened in Korea, it chose Hannam-dong first because of its appeal to young Koreans.

Gucci has often served as a marker of terminal gentrification. That's what happened when Gucci opened its first flagship shop in Cheongdam-dong in 1998. One fashion industry insider said, "Gucci probably chose to open its next flagship store in Hannam-dong in order to appeal to the younger crowd. But the landscape of Hannam-dong's fashion street will change once Gucci opens there."
It was another active week in the small-cap oil and gas sector.

( ) confirmed it has raised US$225mln in a placing and retail offer as it advances its latest acquisition. It will issue 141.5mln new shares at 112p per share.

Proceeds will cover the cost of the newly announced Blackbeard acquisition which sees the company pick up another 820 wells producing 16,000 barrels oil equivalent per day (boepd) in its recently established Central regional focus area (RFA). The deal consideration is US$166mln.

Blackbeard is the second package of assets to be acquired for the Central area, following the Cotton Valley acquisition which closed this week.

s ( ) 40%-owned Wressle oil field development project has been given the greenlight for a proppant squeeze operation, which is expected to yield higher production volumes.

The company, in a statement, said that the squeeze is intended to optimise production from the Ashover Grit reservoir up to a constrained rate of 500 barrels of gross oil production per day, which would equate to 200 bopd net to Union Jack Oil. It is expected that the programme will take place in June, and the improved rate is anticipated straight away.

( ) received formal confirmation from the Cameroon authorities of the details for the extension to the Thali license out to May 2022. In a statement it said that the Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development (MINMIDT) confirmed the details of the extension to the first exploration period, which allows the company to proceed to finalise its schedule for the drilling and testing the NJOM-3 well.

( ) received 849,501 from the sale of shares in Superdielectrics Ltd, realising a profit of around 656,000 on its original investment. The company acquired shares in cleantech firm Superdielectrics in 2017 and 2018, at an average price of 1.025 per share, and its board recently agreed to sell to other Superdielectrics shareholders for 4.50 per share.

"We are delighted to complete this successful transaction with an excellent return on our investment, said ADM chief executive Osamede Okhomina.

( ) generated about 1.6mln from the sale of shares in . Scirocco, in a statement, said it had sold an additional 7.45mln Helium One shares to reduce its holding to 9.95mln shares or 1.59%. Including a prior transaction, Scirocco has received a total of 2.06mln from the sale of Helium One shares since it floated in London in late 2020.

A storm is brewing at Hurricane Energy Plc (LON:HUR) as activist investor Crystal Amber Fund has called for an extraordinary general meeting to oust five non-executive directors and put its own two appointees in place. The fund, which owns 14.7% of the company, said it had provided it with funds totalling 25mln in three tranches since 2013 but had since lost faith in the board.

( ) completed its acquisition of Tulip Oil Netherlands which the company describes as a low-cost and low-carbon producer. The deal is worth 220mln and it delivers the producing Q10-A offshore gas field plus the Q10-B, Q11-B and M10/M11 discoveries.

Q10-A is described as probably the lowest carbon footprint of any production assets in the North Sea. It is powered by solar and wind power, and future expansion is planned to follow this approach too.

( ) said it has completed its name change from Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC following the passing of all resolutions at an extraordinary general meeting on May 17.
The Plainview Independent School Districts Board of Trustees on Thursday approved several updates to criteria applied to determine class rank.

During a regular scheduled board meeting Thursday evening, Superintendent H.T. Sanchez talked the board through the revisions.

The change effectively adds a recognition level so student grade point averages will be weighted in honors, accelerated and academic levels. Honors courses will include advanced placement and dual credit classes and theyll be weighted on 4.0 to a 7.0 scale. Eligible accelerated classes will be categorized and weighted as such on a 3.0 to 6.0 scale. All other eligible courses will be weighted as academic courses and will be weighted on a 2.0 to a 5.0 scale.

Class rank will be determined based on how well students do in the following subject areas: English, mathematics, science, social studies, languages other than English and advanced career technical education courses.

The revisions also affect criteria regarding the selection of the valedictorian and salutatorian positions. More notably, the changes allow more than one honoree in the event of a weighted tie in GPA after calculations to the fourth decimal place, all eligible students involved in the tie will be able to share the honor.

Thats a positive change, Sanchez said.

It was noted that all these changes will be listed in the student handbook.

Those changes were unanimously approved with a vote of 6-0. Board member JoAnn Rey was absent.

Prior to that vote, the meeting began with student recognitions followed by votes regarding board member nominations for the Education Foundation Board.

Sofia Rivera and Tyler James volunteered to serve on the board for the foundation.

The education foundation for the district was introduced back in January. The Foundation will be a not-for-profit organization reliant on private donations. It will be used to fund classroom projects, scholarships, teacher grants, charitable projects, field trips and other things, according to an archive story. Its a philanthropic endeavor that could eliminate the need for some fundraising.

The board for the foundation will include seven members made up of community members and board members.

James and Rivera were nominated with a unanimous vote.

Board member Amber Bass also received nomination by the board to serve on the Board of Directors for the Texas Association of School Boards. The TASB Board of Directors acts as an advisory committee that creates policies and makes recommendations that effect the states education system.

Bass is not officially a part of the 42-member board. The nomination by the Plainview ISD School Board simply allows her to put her name in the hat for a position on the TASB board, whose members are elected by its Delegate Assembly.

Ill do it for my teacher friends, said Bass.
Anniversaries are typically causes for celebration. This one, though, had a different meaning.

Those were the words spoken by Ezzie Salazar at the opening of Thursdays Celebration of Life at Covenant Health Plainview. The event was intended to do two things: to bring closure to the last year of the COVID-19 pandemic and to provide hope that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

Dr. Leslie Hackett provided opening remarks for the event, which featured sermons and prayers from Kyle Brock and Van Miller, a musical number and the releasing of balloons.

Hackett said the Celebration of Life was recommended by Covenant physicians as a way to bring some closure to whats happened in the last year during the fight against COVID-19.

Salazar, a nurse with the Intensive Care Unit at Covenant, delivered a poignant speech detailing the battle frontline workers have dealt with during the pandemic.

At one point, Salazar compared the fight against COVID to trying to put out one fire while three others continued to burn around her. And to Salazar, it wasnt exhaustion or stress that was the hardest part of the last year.

It was the grief, she said, later adding, I have hope healing is coming, and that it has already begun.

Mayor Charles Starnes commended the frontline workers for their battle with the deadly pandemic.

You ran into the storm rather than running away from the storm, said Starnes, who noted that at one point, Plainview had the second-highest infection rate in the country at one point, behind only Lubbock.

Starnes also unofficially declared May 20, 2021 as Healthcare Heroes Day in Plainview. It wasnt able to be an official decree due to a clerical issue.

The final act of the Celebration of Life was the releasing of gold balloons by hospital workers, staff and the citizens in attendance. This ceremonial release was held in front of the recently planted Spirit of Life Tree that sits outs of Covenant. The tree was recently donated by HomeBase in Plainview.
May 14

An aggravated assault with a weapon was reported at the 400 block of W. 11th Street on May 14. A known subject was assaulted with a blunt object.

A 16-year-old was arrested on May 14 at the 900 block of W. 11th St. The individual was charged with resisting arrest, search or transportation and with evading arrest. According to the police report, a person failed to stop when asked to stop for an investigation and later resisted arrest.

May 15

An aggravated assault with a knife or cutting instrument was reported on May 15 at the 800 block of Denver St. A female assaulted a male causing serious bodily injury. The male received medical attention but was not cooperative with officers regarding the assault. No arrests were indicated.

A theft was reported at the 3000 block of Dimmitt Road on May 15.

Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 2400 block of W. 19th Street. An unknown person stole a firearm, knife and holster from a vehicle.

Criminal mischief was reported on May 15 at the 1000 block of W. 9th St. A broken window was reported.

Officers were called out to the 2600 block of W. 20th St. on May 15 when a man shot a dog that entered his back yard and killed his cat. The dog was taken by animal control.

An assault was reported at the 3300 block of Quincy on May 15.

May 16

An assault was reported at the 100 block of SE 7th St. on May 16.

A crash resulting in vehicle damage was reported at the 3200 block of W. 24th St. on May 16.

An assault was reported at the 1400 block of Oakland St. on May 16. A man was assaulted by an ex-girlfriend as a result of an argument over keys to a vehicle. The man denied medical attention and provided a statement. The woman was not on-scene at the time.

A simple assault was reported at the 1400 block of Oakland St. on May 16.

An assault was reported at the 900 block of W. 28th St. on May 16.

Theft from a vehicle was reported at the 1200 block of Utica St. on May 16.

A crash was reported at the 1900 block of W. 5th St. on May 16. The crash involved a motorcycle and a Tahoe. Minor injuries to the motorcycle rider were reported.

May 17

Criminal mischief was reported at the 2700 block of Holiday St. on May 17. Vehicle damage was reported.

A crash was reported at the 3500 block of Olton Road. Vehicle damage was reported.

Forgery was reported at the 500 block of N. Date St. on May 17. A man was reported to have passed a counterfeit $20 bill at an Allsups location.

A 15-year-old was arrested on May 17 at the 2700 block of Fisher St. A known person assault a family member by hitting them in the nose with a water bottle.

An aggravated assault with a knife or cutting instrument was reported at the 2500 block of W. 26th St. on May 17. A man approached another man and attempted to stab him with a knife.

Police arrested a 53-year-old woman on May 17 at the 300 block of W. 6th St. Officers were initially called to the location in reference to disorderly conduct. The individual was charged with public intoxication and with disorderly conduct. The individual was intoxicated and peed in a public place.

Police arrested 31-year-old Max Holman Richardson on May 17 at the 2500 block of W. 26th St. A man assaulted his neighbor with a guitar and a knife after the victim took the guys guitar away. Richardson was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which is a felony.

May 18

An assault was reported at the 1600 block of N. Date St. on May 18. A suspect caused bodily injury to a spouse.

Police responded to the 2200 block of W. 19th St. on May 18 in reference to indecency with a child. No arrests were reported.

Indecency with a child was reported at the 1500 block of Yonkers St. on May 18. No arrests were reported.

Officers responded to a miscellaneous incident at the 1600 block of N. Date Street on May 18.

An aggravated assault was reported at the 600 block of E. 4th St. on May 18. A suspect stabbed another in the chest and arm with a knife. No arrests were reported.

A crash was reported at the 1800 block of W. 5th St. on May 18. Vehicle damage was reported.

Officers were called to the 100 block of SE 4th St. on May 18 after an individual called 911 in reference to someone trying to break into the residence. The suspect was observed holding a shotgun and hitting it against the window.
A recent ABC News analysis found the San Antonio Police Department "mirrors" the community it serves.

The deep-dive, published Thursday, looked at U.S. Census Bureau's occupation reporting data by ABC-owned TV stations and ABC News in 99 of the country's 100 largest metro areas

"Police diversity correlates to arrests among people of color," ABC reported.

Issue areas where in cities like Las Vegas, Portland and Minneapolis, where George Floyd was killed by former police officer Derek Chauvin last year.

RELATED: Forbes names San Antonio one of the best cities to retire in 2021

The San Antonio-New Braunfels are has a non-white population of 68 percent and is policed by a law enforcement population that is 63 percent non-white.

SAPD Lt. Jesse Salame, deputy chief of staff for the department, was interviewed by ABC for the story.

"It's not luck; it's through hard work and having everybody committed, from senior leadership down to community stakeholders," he said. "It is important to have the makeup of the community that you're serving, because that's a basic level of understanding. We put a lot of pride into that, and we continue to work on that, too, knowing that that's an important aspect of everything that we're doing."

READ MORE FROM MADALYN: REPORT: Spurs play-in game brought in impressive ESPN audience engagement

In San Antonio specifically, Hispanics make up the majority of the population at 64 percent. The share of SAPD officers who are Hispanic is 53 percent, based on data used by ABC news.

"They go back and work some of the areas that they maybe grew up in or are familiar with, and I think that makes them better officers," Salame told ABC. "Where a lot of departments have seen some of that disconnect or a lot of departments have had problems is where you've got people that are not from that community, they don't live in that community, and so they have no connection to that community."

SAPD Chief William McManus reacted to the article on Twitter.

"Its important that our police force reflects the community it serves," he tweeted. "An @ABC analysis found that the San Antonio Police Department is a national outlier  for all the right reasons."

The reflection stopped at gender, where only 11 percent of SAPD's makeup is female. The report did not address the current total number of Black officers in San Antonio, where the general population teeters at 7 percent. Demographics available from 2019 point to a Black officers making up 5 percent of SAPD.
Scientists find missing link behind first human languages Live Science

Why the Bitcoin Crash Was a Big Win for Cryptocurrencies Bloomberg

Bitcoin Miners Are Giving New Life to Old Fossil-Fuel Power Plants WSJ

Climate change is becoming less a battle of nations than rich vs poor FT

Air quality and future pandemics KUSA. Interview with Shelly Miller of the University of Colorado.

The tyranny of concrete and its costly carbon footprint FT

A Nonprofit Promised to Preserve Wildlife. Then It Made Millions Claiming It Could Cut Down Trees. Pro Publica

Surfing in DDT waters Yasha Levine, Immigrants as a Weapon

#COVID19

Vermont Will Drop Restrictions Early If 80% Vaccinated NECN (Re Silc).

Americas Bluest State Loves Its Republican Governor The Atlantic

China?

Myanmar

The Weight Slate (Re Silc). Fords F-150.

The Koreas

2 Days in May That Shattered Korean Democracy The Nation

India

If the public has vaccine hesitancy, the government has developed strategy hesitancy ABC Australia

Syraqistan

Biden Administration Plans Visa Restrictions on Ethiopian Officials Over Tigray Foreign Policy

Patient care and clinical outcomes for patients with COVID-19 infection admitted to African high-care or intensive care units (ACCCOS): a multicentre, prospective, observational cohort study The Lancet. From the Abstract: In-hospital mortality within 30 days of admission was 48.2%. n = 6779.

UK/EU

Leftist Castillo gains ground in survey ahead of Peru presidential vote Reuters

AMLO to nominate Bank of Mexico governor who favors moral economy Mexico News Daily

New Cold War

Biden Administration

Republican Funhouse

Republicans lose patience with Arizona election audit The Hill. The Republican Party collectively is having great difficulty constructing a coherent* narrative on the Maricopa County recount, a problem that has afflicted them since at least 2014, with the Benghazi hairball. (Talking points, aesthetic responses, and irritable mental gestures which seek to resemble ideas are not narratives.) In fact, the only Republican who seems able to construct a coherent narrative these days  bless his heart  is Donald Trump. NOTE * I didnt say true.

Capitol Riot

Ocasio-Cortez: 60 seconds difference on Jan. 6 could have ended in a martial state The Hill. The radio stations had already been seized, rogue military units were standing by, the speech declaring a provisional government was in somebodys pocket.

Big Brother Is Watching You Watch

Leaked Emails Show Crime App Citizen Is Testing On-Demand Security Force Vice (AMM). Pinkerton task rabbit.

Health Care

Buoyed by Federal Covid Aid, Big Hospital Chains Buy Up Competitors NYT Will nobody think of the billionaires? Standing behind an elderly woman at @cvspharmacy and shes buying insulin. $1200. Shes visibly upset, and Im trying not to cry also. Pharmacist says well at least your insurance paid for over half bc the cash price is over $3000 HOW HAVE WE LET THEM CONVINCE US THIS IS OKAY?  Molly (@mollyluise) May 14, 2021

Our Famously Free Press

The New Podcast Oligopoly FAIR

LAffaire Joffrey Epstein

Black Injustice Tipping Point

Survivors Of 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre Share Eyewitness Accounts NPR

READING: John Lippert on the Idiocy of the Chicago School in Late 2008 Brad DeLong, Grasping Reality

Class Warfare

The Pandemic Speaks The Tyee

Antidote du Jour (via):

Good kitties!

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here/
Yves here. The Israel-Palestine ceasefire is reportedly holding, despite skirmisheswhich makes me wonder if this is merely a de-escalation under different branding. That would still be progress but much more tentative than a ceasefire.

This article goes bigger picture and looks at how Israels winning of battles is losing it friends. Ive been saying for some time that Israel is destined to find the US a less loyal ally over time; younger Jews dont care about Israel all that much. And I even know some older Jews who decided they could not longer defend Israel after its 2006 invasion of Lebanon. Israel therefore must secure its position as best it can now, even though its not clear what that means in practical terms.

By Shir Hever, an independent scholar and journalist based in Heidelberg, Germany. His most recent book is The Privatisation of Israeli Security (Pluto Press, 2017). Originally published at openDemocrcy

Back in 2000, the right-wing Israeli politician Ariel Sharon marchedinto the Al-Aqsa Mosque with a detachment of bodyguards. The provocation sparked the second Intifada, which lasted until 2005. Sharon was the leader of the opposition Likud party at the time. The fighting that erupted after his visit also stoked the flames of populism and nationalism in the country, and less than a year later, in March 2001, the Labor Party government of Ehud Barak collapsed and Sharon became prime minister.

The events of this May in Israel-Palestine are a frightening repetition of what happened in 2000.

The results of the March 2021 elections in Israel, the fourth elections in a two-year period, were inconclusive. Benjamin Netanyahu (Likud) failed to gather a majority in his allocated time to form a government. Shortly after the president gave the opportunity to opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid party, Netanyahu sent Israeli police to storm the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem during the Al-Qadr Night prayers on 8 May, and injured 330 Palestinians.

On 10 May, Palestinian groups in the besieged Gaza Strip (namely Hamas and the Islamic Jihad) fired rockets in response to the violation of the mosque. Pogroms in Jerusalem in which angry mobs went hunting for Palestinians to beat up or kill spread to other cities. In Lod and in other so-called mixed cities, Palestinian citizens of Israel organised their own groups, and one Jewish Israeli was killed. The Israeli air force began a brutal bombardment campaign of the Gaza Strip, but the rockets from Gaza did not stop. By the time the ceasefire came into effect, 11 days after the fighting started, 232 Palestinians (including 65 children) and 12 Israelis, had been killed.

A Political Manoeuvre

Four consecutive elections in two years did not achieve a clear majority for any candidate in Israel. Politicians are expected to show loyalty to theiridentity group rather than to values and ideals. Ultra-Orthodox Jews are suspicious of middle-class secular Jews, Orthodox religious nationalists despise the LGBT community  and Palestinians, of course, are hated and marginalised by all Zionist parties.

In this latest election round, however, one of the four parties comprising the Joint List which represents the largest part of the Palestinian citizens of Israel and part of the Jewish Israeli left, broke off from it. Raam, the party that left, is headed by Mansour Abbas, a conservative Muslim. This split in Palestinian political representation ironically strengthened Palestinian legitimacy, with Abbas playing the role of kingmaker, who neither the right nor the left can afford to alienate.

When the violence erupted, Israeli politicians, especially Netanyahu supporters, escalated racist incitement against Palestinians (whether in Gaza, the West Bank or inside Israels borders). An atmosphere of hate and fear took the country by force. Since the parties engaged in negotiations to form a coalition without Netanyahu represent opposing identity groups  aside from Lapids Yesh Atid, which represents secular, middle class Jews, and Raam, there was Naftali Bennets New Right, which represents Jewish religious nationalists  they could no longer cooperate and coalition talks collapsed.

Meanwhile, Lapid failed to utter a single word of criticism about the killing of Palestinians by the military and the police. He has until 2 June to find a majority and form a government, otherwise new elections will be declared, with Netanyahu staying on as interim prime minister.

Already, two party leaders with whom Lapid has been negotiating  Bennetand Gideon Saar (a defecting member of Likud, unhappy at Netanyahus alleged corruption)  have both hinted that they could renege on their campaign promises not to join Netanyahus government. As soon as Bennet and Saar shifted their positions, Netanyahu quickly accepted Egypts proposal for a ceasefire with Hamas.

To the general Israeli public and media, Netanyahus manoeuvre is fullytransparent. The state of emergency gives him a chance to stay on as prime minister, and to stave off his corruption trial.

Israeli politicians critical of Netanyahu, however, are afraid to talk about his cynical manipulation of the violence. If they do, they will be branded as leftists or Arab lovers, both considered insults in Israeli politics. Inside Israel, the fear of having ones loyalty and nationalism brought into question is stronger than the fear of Hamass rockets.

A Heavy Toll

To date, thousands of people are injured and hundreds have been killed, while economic damage is counted in the billions of dollars  but most of the suffering has been borne by Palestinians, especially in the Gaza Strip.

Incitement and populism are taking a heavy toll on Israeli society. Most young Israelis do not enlist in the military anymore. Not because of a political opposition to the actions of the army, but simply out of personal priorities. Corruption is rife in the government, so why should ordinary citizens be expected to hold themselves to a higher standard and give up years of their lives to the army?

Amid this everyone for themselves mentality, public institutions are collapsing. The police have proven incapable or unwilling to stop pogroms, to protect demonstrators or to arrest violent Jewish rioters. When the chief of police urged calm and spoke of terrorists on both sides, he was immediately rebuked by Amir Ohana, Likud minister of public security, who branded him a leftist.
(Natural News) Designer Henry Glogau has developed a skylight that uses seawater to provide natural ambient light and clean drinking water. The device is charged by a mini solar panel during the day. The remaining sea salt is also funneled into a dozen zinc and copper batteries that power a strip of light-emitting diodes (LEDs).

Glogaus device, which he dubbed Solar Desalination Skylight, is a finalist of the Lexus Design Award 2021. Its a competition dedicated to empowering participants to design and invent for a better future.

Entries are finalized and awarded based on their possible impact on human society. Glogaus device aligns perfectly with the competitions principles, as it could be used to provide basic services like light and clean water to homes in underdeveloped regions.

Solar-powered light fixture uses sunlight to desalinate water

Glogau graduated from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen, Denmark with a masters degree that specialized in architecture and extreme environments.

Glogau sought to address the lack of indoor lighting and access to drinking water in the houses within informal settlements in Chile. Chile has about 110,000 families living in such communities, which are excluded from regular access to the benefits of urban development, such as power and water.

People in informal settlements often just board up their windows for protection. This results in little to no light at all, forcing residents to hijack power lines. This is an extremely dangerous activity that has already led to many fires within such settlements, which also have limited access to clean water.

Glogau identified two raw resources that the settlements in Chile have access to: sunlight and seawater. In my development process, it became apparent that I could address the lack of indoor lighting and water access by creating a hybrid skylight and solar desalination device, explained Glogau.

The skylight was designed to be sustainable and passive. In addition, Glogau said he wanted it to be a feature inside the dark settlement home.

How the skylight works is very simple: during the day, seawater is fed through a pipe into the skylight, which is shaped like a bowl. Solar energy harnessed from the sun is then used to desalinate the water. The user can then use a tap at the base of the skylight to extract drinking water. (Related: Green and clean: Energy-efficient water purification system developed by scientists.)

At night, the residual brine from the purification process is used to create a source of energy through a reaction when placed in storage tubes holding copper and zinc. These tubes, 12 in total, act as salt batteries.

The batteries can provide 9.53 volts, which is more than enough to power a strip of LEDs for internal light. The batteries can also be charged by a mini solar panel during the day.

Initial tests showed that the prototype could produce up to 440 milliliters (ml) of purified water per day. It also reduced salinity levels from 36,000 parts per million (ppm) to 20 ppm. Plus, the collected water added a striking dappled effect that helped change the mood throughout the day.

Glogau was able to test his invention during his month-long stay at the informal settlement communities in the region of Antofagasta in northern Chile. He collaborated with a local non-government organization and successfully installed the device in one of the homes there.

Chile is far from being the only country in the world with informal settlement communities where residents are not guaranteed basic necessities like power or water. Glogaus invention, being cheap and practical, could be the solution to this problem of access to basic necessities.

The device is already being used by residents in some informal settlement communities in Chile.

Go to CleanWater.news to learn more about the current technologies used to clean water for drinking.

Sources include:

GoodNewsNetwork.org

DaylightAndArchitecture.com
(Natural News) Just when you thought it was safe to venture outside againNewsweek magazine has unleashed a hysteria-inducing cover story for the May 21-28 issue, calculated to inject a little pandemic anxiety back into your summer plans, while garnering reads by fear-porn aficionados.

(Article by Clay Waters republished from NewsBusters.org)

The not-so-original cover tag, Winter Is Coming, appeared over a bleak blue winter scene featuring spiked COVID virus instead of snowballs and fearsome predictions underlined for effect: No herd immunity. Deadly new variants. Why scientists predict another COVID surge. Eek!

Even as the Centers for Disease Control miffs liberals with surprising new guidance that fully vaccinated people can shed their masks, Newsweek is repackaging pandemic fears (lockdowns! travel restrictions!) in a dramatic cover story.

The online headline deck: Forget Herd Immunity! Winter COVID Surges Will Bring Lockdowns, Travel Bans, Crammed ICUs. The alarmism by Newsweeks Fred Guterl was accompanied by plenty of cheap shots against Republicans.

As India descended into a COVID-19 tragedy that dwarfed anything the country had experienced in the pandemic so far, with hospitals inundated, oxygen supplies short and vaccines reportedly being stolen from warehouses, American politicians thousands of miles away were clamoring to end pandemic restrictions. Representative Jim Jordan railed at Dr. Anthony Fauci in the House chambers, You dont think Americans liberties have been threatened in the last year, Dr. Fauci? Theyve been assaulted! Alabama Governor Kay Ivey told Fox News, We have been at this for more than a year now, and we have simply got to move forward. Endless government mandates are not the answer. Many Americans are eager to invite friends for a barbeque, belly up to a crowded bar, attend concerts and eat dinner in popular restaurants. Texas and Florida opened beaches and bars in early May.

Cue the doomsaying:

But the pandemic is not over. In the U.S., the nation is still divided in its willingness to accept vaccines or heed precautions against infection. Vaccination rates have peaked and herd immunity now seems unlikely before next winter, almost guaranteeing that pockets of people will remain vulnerable to the coronavirus in the fall, as the cold weather closes in. The coronavirus will continue to circulate widely for months, giving it plenty of opportunities to mutate into troublesome new forms that chip away at the effectiveness of vaccines. The prospect that dangerous new variants will trigger fresh outbreaks  with the accompanying lockdowns, travel restrictions and calls for social distancing and mask-wearing  is a dark cloud over hopes of a return to pre-pandemic normal in 2021 and 2022.

Guterl made more bleak predictions. No herd immunity for the US?

When Dr. Fauci announced at the end of 2020 that vaccines would be distributed in the spring, he was optimistic that the U.S. would achieve herd immunity  a level of immune resistance in a population that eliminates, or sharply curtails, the virus ability to spread  by the fall. Its now clear that this is not likely to happen.

Why not? After quoting a melodramatic epidemiologist in Seattle, Guterl found an explanation.

Vaccine uptake has already slowed. The 7-day average peaked on April 11 at 3.3 million doses per day and is dropping fast, according to the CDC..

That was not coincidentally the same time period when the CDC paused use of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine (taking the precautionary principle to a harmful extreme) because of rare instances of blood clots in women. But that wasnt mentioned as a factor in people becoming less eager to get vaccinated.

He worked in some Republican abuse.

[Cornells John] Moore puts the matter this way: If a significant fraction of America simply refuses to be vaccinated because theyve drunk the Kool-Aid and get their information from QAnon and crazy Republican politicians, then that compromises the entire nations ability to return to normal.

Read more at: NewsBusters.org and Disinfo.news.
(Natural News) A new study published in the journal Current Biology suggests that sharks use the Earths magnetic field to find their way in the sea. Researchers led by biologist Bryan Keller reported this after exposing bonnethead sharks to different magnetic conditions.

In one test, the bonnetheads were tricked into thinking that they were located south of their home. In response, the sharks positioned themselves in a northerly direction, suggesting that they used the artificial magnetic field to orient themselves homeward.

It had been unresolved how sharks managed to successfully navigate during migration to targeted locations, said Keller, who is a researcher at the Florida State University Coastal and Marine Laboratory. This research supports the theory that they use the Earths magnetic field to help them find their way; its natures GPS.

Studying sharks for the ability to use magnetic fields for navigation

Past studies showed that sharks are sensitive to electromagnetic fields, leading scientists to speculate that sharks use magnetic fields to navigate the ocean. But testing this proved challenging since these fierce marine animals are difficult to study.

To that end, Keller and his colleagues captured 20 juvenile bonnetheads to determine whether these sharks rely on the Earths magnetic field for navigation. Bonnetheads were perfect for the study because they are a small species from the hammerhead family that travel thousands of miles and then return to the same estuaries every year.

Using lumber, copper wire and a pair of adjustable electric power supplies, the researchers created a ten-foot-wide cube that could generate magnetic fields with variable poles and intensity. This allowed the researchers to simulate the geomagnetic conditions in three different locations on Earth. These were the place they were caught, a location roughly 370 miles north of the capture site and a location 370 miles south of the same site.

As the researchers predicted, when the bonnetheads were exposed to magnetic fields that matched those in their capture site, they did not appear to exhibit a preference for one particular direction.

Similarly, the sharks did not appear to head in any specific direction under the northerly magnetic conditions, which the researchers noted was not surprising despite their prediction that the sharks would swim southward. As Keller explained, bonnetheads might not be familiar with the magnetic conditions since they are not exposed to these in reality.

But under magnetic conditions in the south, the sharks tended to orient themselves northward, which was the direction to their capture site.

To orient towards home, these sharks must have some kind of a magnetic map sense, Keller explained. If I put you in the middle of nowhere you couldnt point toward your house unless you knew where you were in relation to it, and thats a map sense.

Magnetic sense influences genetic variation among bonnethead sharks

The researchers suggested that the ability to sense magnetic fields, which is called magnetoreception, might also contribute to genetic variation in bonnethead populations in the Gulf of Mexico and Floridas Atlantic Coast. In particular, they found that populations that are most genetically different from one another tend to reside in areas with very different magnetic signatures.

The study could also provide insights into how certain shark species achieve impressive navigation feats. For example, a great white shark was documented in 2005 to have swam more than 12,400 miles from South Africa to Australia and back again in under nine months. This trip was the farthest and fastest any shark was recorded to have traveled.

It really is mind blowing, Keller said of the sharks achievement. In a world where people use GPS to navigate almost everywhere, this ability is truly remarkable. (Related: A different kind of Jaws: Scientists discover a tiny new species of shark that glows in the dark.)

For future studies, the biologist plans to investigate the impact of artificial magnetic fields from man-made sources such as submarine cables on sharks. He is also interested in examining whether sharks rely on magnetic cues to guide their everyday behavior.

Learn more about marine animals and their amazing biology at Ecology.news.

Sources include:

ScienceDaily.com

SmithsonianMag.org

NewsMongabay.com
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US Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas): I understand from whats been testified to the Forest Service and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], you want very much to work on the issue of climate change. We know theres been significant solar flare activity, and so  is there anything that the National Forest Service or BLM can do to change the course of the moons orbit, or the Earths orbit around the sun? Obviously that would have profound effects on our climate.

Jennifer Eberlein, associate deputy chief for the National Forest System, responded that she would have to follow up with you on that one, after a brief pause.

Gohmert: Well, if you figure out a way that you in the Forest Service can make that change, Id like to know.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The two Bureau of Prisons workers tasked with guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself in a New York jail have admitted they falsified records, but they will skirt any time behind bars under a deal with federal prosecutors, authorities said Friday.

The prison workers, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, were accused of sleeping and browsing the internet instead of monitoring Epstein the night he took his own life in August 2019.

They were charged with lying on prison records to make it seem as though they had made required checks on the financier before he was found in his cell. New York Citys medical examiner ruled Epsteins death a suicide.

As part of the deal with prosecutors, they will enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and will serve no time behind bars, according to a letter from federal prosecutors that was filed in court papers Friday. Noel and Thomas would instead be subjected to supervised release, would be required to complete 100 hours of community service and would be required to fully cooperate with an ongoing probe by the Justice Departments inspector general, it says.

The two have admitted that they willfully and knowingly completed materially false count and round slips regarding required counts and rounds in the housing unit where Epstein was being held, the letter says.

The deal would need to be approved by a judge, which could happen as soon as next week. Attorneys for the guards did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been a vocal critic of the Justice Departments handling of Epsteins case, called the deal unacceptable and said the public deserves to see a report detailing the prison agencys failures.

One hundred hours of community service is a joke  this isnt traffic court, Sasse said in a statement. The leader of an international child sex trafficking ring escaped justice, his co-conspirators had their secrets go to the grave with him, and these guards are going to be picking up trash on the side of the road.

Prosecutors alleged that Noel and Thomas sat at their desks just 15 feet from Epsteins cell, shopped online for furniture and motorcycles, and walked around the units common area instead of making required rounds every 30 minutes.

During one two-hour period, both appeared to have been asleep, according to the indictment filed against them.

Both officers who were guarding Epstein were working overtime because of staffing shortages. One of the guards, who did not primarily work as a correctional officer, was working a fifth straight day of overtime. The other guard was working mandatory overtime, meaning a second eight-hour shift of the day.

Before they were arrested, both officers had declined a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Epstein's death and the revelation that he was able to kill himself while behind bars at one of the most secure jails in America was a major embarrassment for the Bureau of Prisons and cast a spotlight on the agency, which has also been besieged by serious misconduct in recent years.

Staffing shortages at the agency are so severe that guards often work overtime day after day or are forced to work mandatory double shifts. Violence leads to regular lockdowns at federal prison compounds across the U.S. And a congressional report released in 2019 found that bad behavior is ignored or covered up on a regular basis.

The falsification of records has been a problem throughout the federal prison system. Union officials have long argued that the reduction of staff is putting both guards and inmates in danger, but theyve faced an uphill battle getting attention.

___

Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
Dr. Sujata Prasad traveled to India in March, as she does three times every year, to care for people living in the slums of the northern city of Noida. Many are migrants from other parts of the country.

The Madison internist triaged patients on the streets, answered their medical questions and taught them how to access health care. Her home country had largely escaped the worst of the COVID-19 crisis that had plagued other parts of the world.

Then came a devastating second wave.

Indias Health Ministry has reported nearly 26 million cases and more than 287 million deaths  totals that are likely underestimated, experts say.

Now, Prasad spends her Sundays in front of her computer screen at home, providing medical advice to sick and scared people in India.

She is one of countless Indian and Indian-American doctors in the United States who are providing medical guidance online to patients in the homeland. Shes part of a diaspora, physically far from the COVID-19 crisis and in a place thats largely returning to normal, thats yearning for ways to help their friends, family and even those they dont know.

Every day I feel like Im not giving enough of myself, said Prasad, who was born in India but grew up in Italy as her father worked for the United Nations.

A vast network of docs

Prasad, 60, is a member of the Connecticut Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, a group with 250 active members, which, in addition to providing telehealth services, has raised money to build makeshift ICU beds and buy oxygen concentraters. Its one of many grassroots efforts in Connecticut and across the country providing emergency aid to India.

That Connecticut group is part of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, with 80,000 members, which organized the telehealth operation in the wake of the second wave.

Its not just Indian doctors who are involved. State Sen. Saud Anwar, D-South Windsor, a Pakistani-born physician and lung specialist, has been helping his constituents who have family in India, logging onto WhatsApp to offer medical guidance.

Ritu Goel, of South Windsor, said she reached out to Anwar in the early hours of the morning about her brother-in-law who was sick in the hospital. He responded right away. But it was too late.

Goels biggest guilt, she said, was not calling Anwar sooner. If I had called him day one, when he had a 99 degree fever, she said. I think we couldve saved my brother-in-law.

The U.S. doctors doing the telehealth sessions are not trying to supplant the medical professionals on the front lines in India, but rather to triage patients, determining who has a mild case and should stay home and quarantine, and whose condition is severe, potentially requiring hospitalization. They also help identify other diseases than Covid-19 that could be making the person sick.

People get panicked

With hospitals strained and supplies such as medical oxygen in short supply, the goal is to avoid people going to the hospital if they dont need to, potentially infecting others in the process.

People get panicked and they go to the hospital, Prasad said. Were trying to keep them away from the hospital unless their condition deteriorates.

The telehealth sessions occur daily over Zoom. One by one a new face appears on the screen. Sometimes the person is calling about their own symptoms. Other times they are asking for guidance for a family member.

People in the villages reach out. People who are in the cities. People who dont have any means, Prasad said. People in the hospital who want a second opinion.

The doctors provide information on which hospitals have beds available, where they can get oxygen, a COVID-19 test or vaccination  though Indias vaccine rollout has been hamstrung due to a shortage of doses.

Please, do you know somebody?

During a recent telehealth session, a man told Prasad he tested postive for COVID-19 and was battling a fever and sore throat for several days. He wondered if he should be tested again. Prasad told him no, that he likely had a mild case and advised him to quarantine at home for at least 14 days, along with family members.

Another man asked about his 33-year-old wife, who came down with COVID-19 ten days earlier. Her fever had subsided, but she was still taking medications. Many Indians, fearful of the disease, will take a cocktail of medicines, Prasad said, antibiotics and anti-viral medications, whatever they can get when they dont need to.

Prasad asked about the wifes oxygen levels, which appeared stable, and advised the husband if his wife didnt have an appetite, he could get her rehydration packs to ensure she got nutrients. Sometimes she advises people to drink the water theyve used to cook Dal  Indian lentils  to get protein.

One of the patients was a man in an intensive care unit. He couldnt get an IV  another critical supply shortage  and wondered how the doctors could help. There was no easy solution.

It is sad that everyone I know in Connecticut has some family member or friend either who has passed away or is in the hospital, said Dr. Sushil Gupta, president of the Connecticut group and a pulmonologist from Woodbridge.

I keep getting the calls, at least two to three calls a day, either from my patients or other physicians saying please, do you know somebody in New Delhi who you can arrange to get an oxygen concentrator from? Gupta said.

Personal losses for the doctors

The sheer volume of the crisis is not lost on the doctors, whove experienced their own tragedies.

Guptas nephew died recently, shortly after his mother, Guptas sister, had returned home following two weeks in the ICU due to COVID-19.

It is very heartbreaking, Gupta said.

Prasad lost one of her closest friends, a 55-year-old mother, wife and teacher, and her aunt is in the ICU. The friend was someone she grew up with in the summers when she visited the village in India where her mother is from.

I felt so sad when I heard about it. So sad. We were very close, she said. We played all day long.

When she left each summer to go back to Italy, her friends family, who did not have much money, would give her bangles to take home, a reminder of her time in India.

It was those visits to the village, Prasad said, that inspired her to go back and help out in the slums. Shes also gone into orphanges to teach children how to knit, paint and read, provided aid to blind shelters and done health checks for school children.

I just feel there is so much more we can keep doing, she said.

julia.bergman@hearstmediact.com
Newburyport, MA (01950)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
Newburyport, MA (01950)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Low around 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Adani Green Energy Ltd on Saturday said its arm Adani Renewable Energy Holding Four Ltd has transferred 74 per cent shareholding of Mundra Solar Energy Ltd to Adani Tradecom LLP (ATLLP).

"7,400 equity shares are transferred to ATLLP at face value i.e.Rs 10 each. Aggregating to Rs 74,000," a BSE filing stated. It also said that the deal is done for cash consideration.

Adani Renewable Energy Holding Four Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Green Energy Ltd (AGEL), has transferred 74 per cent shareholding of Mundra Solar Energy Ltd (MSEL) to ATLLP on May 21, 2021, it added.

The MSEL is step-down subsidiary of the company and the same has been transferred to ATLLP, which is a wholly-owned LLP of Adani Enterprises Limited, an entity falling under the joint control i.e.Adani Group.

The transaction is done at arm's length basis and shareholding transferred based on the basis of an independent valuation report. The MSEL is yet to commence its business operations.

The MSEL is incorporated to manufacture crystalline silicon solar PV cells, modules and ancillary operations, which is in a similar line of business undertaken by Adani Enterprises Limited through its subsidiary namely, Mundra Solar PV Limited.

It stated that this acquisition will bring synergy in its current manufacturing operations and enhance the market share by its brand value. The authorised share capital of the MSEL is Rs 5,00,000 while the paid-up share capital is Rs 1,00,000.
Chetana Belagere By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: An elderly woman, a cancer patient and a resident of Vidyaranyapura in Bengaluru, was robbed of her second dose of Covid vaccine as someone in Gujarat has taken the shot which was assigned to her. With the help of a friend, she tweeted and tagged Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and Union health ministry with pictures attached to explain her situation.

Prema Jayaram (75), a former employee of Hindustan Machines Tools Ltd and a resident of Maruthi Nagar Layout in Vidyaranyapura, took her first dose at Neha Prakash Hospital on March 16, 2021. She was told to book for the second dose after six weeks.I booked the second dose at Rajalakshmi Hospital close to my house. I even got a message that my appointment has been confirmed for April 30, 2021, Prema explained to TNIE.

However, due to shortage, the hospital on April 30 informed her that she will have to wait for some more time. I kept following up with the hospital. One day, I got a call from someone claiming to be from the hospital and sought my Aadhaar number and name. I gave the details as I was beyond the deadline for the next dose, she said.

The person who called for details, said he is collecting the details. When the vaccines were made available recently, she went to the hospital to take the jab. She was shocked to know that her Aadhaar number was blocked and the CoWin app stated she had already taken the second dose.

She complained to the hospital staff, but they said they hadnt caller her. She approached her friend, who started collecting details as to who took the shot assigned to Prema and found out that it had been taken by someone in Gujarat.How is this possible? I am now frantically trying to contact the health department. I have emailed and also tweeted about this, she said. Prema has received no communication so far.
KV Navya By

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Ever since the lockdown norms were tightened on May 17, NGOs and independent volunteers helping Covid patients have not been able to function properly. This is because they have neither been included in the e-registration process nor are their official identity cards being accepted by the police. Since Monday, eight of our volunteers had their vehicles seized.

One of them even showed the police his identity card, message from a Covid patient requesting for medicines, and the medicines he bought. But his vehicle was seized in Anna Nagar. More than 50 per cent of the volunteers stopped working due to this, said Hari Krishnan, an independent volunteer. He added that the volunteer had also worked with the Greater Chennai Corporation to send migrant workers back home, but despite showing his official identity card, the police did not pay heed to him.

Many of these volunteers have been helping families in which all members have Covid. In a lot of cases, when most members of a family get infected, they are lodged in different hospitals. We help provide food and take care of their other needs. Similar is the case with affected people living alone in the city. Volunteer help is crucial, said R Venu, who is involved in volunteering work in T Nagar. Banu Priya, from Aadharv Foundation, has been facing the same problem. The NGO had been distributing 400 meals per day to the homeless during the lockdown. Ever since the lockdown was enforced strictly, they have not been able to distribute much.

One of the auto drivers, who had an ID card on and was wearing a T-shirt with the NGOs name, was intercepted at Thiruvottiyur three days ago while distributing food. Despite repeated appeals, his vehicle was seized and not returned. His daughter has severe wheezing and there have been instances when he had to drive her to hospital in the middle of the night. He now doesnt have the vehicle and is living in fear, said Banu.

To distinguish between volunteers and lockdown violators, volunteers suggest that the city Corporation could give them ID cards. A senior police officer said, The police are here to help the public and we havent heard of any such instances in which citizen volunteers were stopped by the police. People helping others during the pandemic can apply for an e-pass online to travel within the city. If they are working with the corporation, they can get a letter or signed statement from the officials in charge. The officer added that volunteers can meet respective deputy commissioners or joint commissioners beforehand and get approval so they wont be stopped or issued challans.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Covid vaccine stock for 18-44 years beneficiaries is on the verge of exhaustion on Saturday and vaccination will be halted for this age group if doses are not replenished, AAP MLA Atishi said.

Issuing the vaccination bulletin online, she also said, "Today only 88 sites across 31 schools were used", which was over 200 locations, five days ago, for this category.

Covaxin stock is already over and Covieshield vaccine stock for 18-44 yrs beneficiaries is on verge of exhaustion on Saturday and vaccination will be halted for this age group if doses are not replenished, she said.

On May 21, 48,628 doses were administered.

The total number of doses administered so far is above 50 lakh, out of which 12 lakh are those who have received both the doses, she said.

On the other hand, the BJP on Saturday accused Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal of "constantly doing politics" in the name of the national capital and asked him to stop making excuses, hours after the AAP leader said COVID-19 vaccination centres for people in the 18-44 years age group are being closed due to lack of doses.

Kejriwal has also appealed to the Centre to provide more vaccines.

Union minister and BJP leader Prakash Javadekar said it is the central government which has provided around 50 lakh doses to Delhi and will continue to make them available in the future too.

In a statement, he said Health Minister Harsh Vardhan has already shared the plan about how the country's entire adult population can be vaccinated by December this year.

"Delhi Chief Minister constantly does politics in the name of Delhi. Even during the time of oxygen (crisis), he kept saying oxygen, oxygen and then later said Delhi has surplus oxygen. Kejriwal should stop making excuses," Javadekar said.

Kejriwal had earlier said that from Sunday, all vaccination centres for youths in Delhi will be closed as stocks have run out.

The national capital recorded 2,260 fresh COVID-19 cases and 182 fatalities on Saturday, with the positivity rate in the city slipping to 3.58 per cent, data shared by the health department showed.

This is the lowest daily spike in cases recorded since March 31 (1,819) and the first time that the count has gone below the 3,000-mark since April 1, when 2,790 people tested positive for the viral disease.

As per the latest health bulletin, these new fatalities pushed the death toll due to COVID-19 in the national capital to 23,013.

The positivity rate was 5.5 per cent on Thursday and 4.76 per cent on Friday.

The number of daily cases in the city is 2,260, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain said on Twitter.

"These are lowest numbers after 31 March. Still need to take all precautions and follow covid appropriate behaviour," he added.

Delhi had recorded 3,846 COVID-19 cases and 235 deaths on Wednesday, 3,231 cases and 233 deaths on Thursday, and 3,009 cases and 252 deaths on Friday.

The Delhi Disaster Management Authority on Saturday directed authorised dealers and pharmacies selling COVID-19 medicines to display available stock and cost of the drugs prominently at their shops.

In an order, the DDMA said it has been noticed that coronavirus patients are facing difficulties in procuring essential COVID-19 drugs on time and at the prescribed rates, causing hindrance in timely and effective treatment.

The drugs are Ivermectin tablets, Doxycyclin tablets/capsule, Methyl Prednisolone tablets and injections, Dexamethasone tablets and injections, Budosenide Inhalers and Respules Favipiravir tablets, Apixaban tablets and Enoxaparin Sodium/ Clexane, it said.

The order said it is necessary to disseminate proper and reliable information to people in respect of availability and pricing of these drugs.

"All authorized dealers/retailers/sellers of essential COVID-19 management drugs in the NCT shall display the information of stock position and MRP of all these drugs at conspicuous places at their business premises for information of general public," the order said.

The order also directed the medicine sellers to update the stock position of these drugs four times a day -- at 10 AM, 2 PM, 6 PM and 9 PM respectively.

The district magistrates and deputy commissioners of police have been directed to ensure strict compliance of the order.

"In case any person is found violating the aforesaid directions , the defaulting person shall be proceeded against as per the provisions Section 51 to 60 of Disaster Management Act, 2005, Section 188 of IPC, the Epidemic Act, 1897 Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules 1945 and other applicable laws," it said.

The order was issued following the directions of Delhi Lt Governor Anil Baijal.

Baijal had instructed that drugs related to COVID treatment should made available to the people.

He had said that it should also be ensured that hoarding, over charging or black marketing of such drugs/medicines does not happen by prominently displaying stocks and rates of such drugs by dealers/retailers/sellers for information of people at large, an official said.

"Accordingly, the government on Saturday issued an order under the aegis of DDMA which will be strictly enforced in letter and spirit by the Drug Controller, DMs and DCPs," the official added.

The LG has further instructed that a similar order regarding equipments and machines like oximeters, oxygen cylinders/concentrators etc, related to COVID should also be issued at the earliest, the official said.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: A British Airways cargo flight carrying 18 tonnes of medical aid mainly comprising oxygen concentrators landed at the Delhi airport on Saturday morning, a statement said.

The cargo flight from London landed in Delhi at 5.45 am on Saturday. "The total weight of the medical aid was 18 tonnes, made up of five thousand pieces. Among the medical equipment were hundreds of oxygen concentrators from charities, including Oxfam, Khalsa Aid, Christian Aid and LPSUK," British Airways said.

This is the airline's second relief flight to India in the last two weeks, it mentioned. India has been badly hit by the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, and hospitals in several states are reeling under a shortage of vaccines, oxygen, drugs and equipment.

The daily rise in coronavirus cases in India remained below the 3 lakh-mark for the sixth consecutive day, with 2.57 lakh new cases recorded in a single day, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday. With the fresh cases, India's tally of COVID-19 cases climbed to 2,62,89,290.

The death toll due to the disease rose to 2,95,525 with 4,194 fresh fatalities, the ministry data updated at 8 am showed.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Dejected by the delay in procurement of vaccines, the Delhi government on Friday said that the central government is completely failing in the vaccination exercise. Delhi Cabinet Minister Gopal Rai said that the Centre has failed to fulfill its duty of providing Covid-19 vaccines to the states.

I think the Centre is completely failing at this (providing vaccines) and we can only hope that this system improves as soon as possible so that maximum people can be vaccinated and the future dangers can be deferred, said Rai, after inaugurating a 100-bed Covid care facility at the Ambedkar College in Babarpur.

Earlier, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party said that the Delhi government will have to temporarily stop the inoculation drive for the 18-44 age group from Monday, as it has almost run out of vaccines for this category. AAP MLA Atishi said on Friday that Delhi has already shut 235 of the total 368 inoculation centres for this age group due to a shortage of vaccines.

The remaining 133 sites will be shut on Saturday, which means the inoculation drive for this age group will have to be stopped temporarily from Monday, she added. Only 42,380 doses were left for the 18-44 category as on Friday morning, Atishi said. She said that for the 45-plus age group as well less than a days stock of Covaxin is left with the Delhi government, while the Covishield stock for them can last up to eight days.

Meanwhile, the total count of anti-Covid vaccine doses administered in Delhi crossed the 50 lakh-mark on Friday, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said.

Delhi has crossed total 50 lakh vaccination doses benchmark today (including 1st and 2nd dose). But its unfortunate that we have to close our centres, for 18+ age group, because of non-availability of vaccine, he tweeted.

AAP government has been taking on the BJP-led central government for mismanagement in supply of vaccines and sending doses to foreign countries. The vaccines that were supposed to be given to the people of India have been sent abroad and it is on the direction of the Central Government that this was sent, said Rai.

100-bed COVID FACILITY OPENS IN BABAPUR



Delhi Minister Gopal Rai inaugurated a 100-bed Covid care facility at the Ambedkar College in the Babarpur area on Friday, Rai said that this Covid care facility has 50 oxygen beds and 50 normal beds for the Covid patients and is connected with the GTB hospital. There is helpline number of the center for any patient to call here talk to the doctor and based on the suggestion the admission will take place, said Rai.
Nikita Sharma By

Express News Service

According to the World Health Organisation, 56 million Indians suffer from depression and another 38 million Indians suffer from anxiety disorders. Furthermore, a survey conducted by Gi Group  a Noida-based human capital solutions and services provider  has revealed that 78 per cent employers believe workplaces influence mental health and 21 per cent think that workplaces have the potential to cause mental health issues.

But employers and employees contradict each other on two main influencing factors. While 77 per cent of the employers believe that long, erratic work hours are the top factors that undermine the role of leadership, 79 per cent employees believe that leadership plays the topmost role in influencing their mental health. The survey titled All in the Mind: The State of Mental Health in Corporate India had a sample size of 1,088 employees and 368 employers from small, medium and large-scale companies based out of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Delhi-NCR and Pune.

Other findings state that despite having the best doctors and medical institutions, Delhi-NCR records low awareness about mental health issues at 59 per cent. Both employees (63 per cent) and employers (53 per cent) have low awareness of workplace stressors that adversely impact the mental wellness of the workforce.

Marcos Segador Arrebola, Managing Director, Gi Group India, says, The reason Delhi lags in awareness about mental health issues is because mental well-being is still a nascent concept here. Plus, theres a lot of stigma around it. They are very hesitant in talking about mental health. The correlation of workplace and aggravated episodes of anxiety was recently identified and added to the list of aggregators of mental illness.The report, says Arrebola, also states that Delhi lacks accountability at a larger scale.

Fourteen per cent of Delhi-NCR employers related anxiety to career growth, and at the same time 15 per cent of the employers are of the opinion that mental health of employees has no significant impact on the organisations performance and growth. As a global HR player, it is imperative we start a dialogue about mental health between businesses and organisations, and provide answers to whether workplaces cause/aggravate mental health issues, and how willing are employers to be a part of the solution? Another finding was that the gap between awareness and action is substantially wide.

Ninety-four per cent employers are aware of mental health issues and 15 per cent are sensitive to mental health concerns. Highlighting the problem area, Arrebola says, Almost every employer recognises the issue, and 70 per cent believe it is damaging the business. But despite that, only nine per cent of the employers in our survey said they take action to fix it.

In other words: We have a problem that is damaging the health of our teams and the bottom line of our financial results, but very few employers are taking action. I feel this is a great opportunity for CEOs and managers to be bold and find ways to improve this situation. WHO has estimated economic losses due to mental health conditions in India from 2012-30 would be USD 1.03 trillion.

The added uncertainty due to Covid-19 coupled with pink slips impacted mental health. Interestingly, 48 per cent of the employers recognised the impact of Covid-19 on mental wellness, but only 29 per cent took significant steps to better the situation, informs Arrebola, adding that despite having a recent policy and legislative attention, India spent less than 1 per cent of its total healthcare budget on mental health in 2017.

Arrebola believes the trick to creating a good company does not only mean relying on consumers needs, but ensuring that employees are well taken care of. Be aware that companies are moving from informal ways of addressing mental health issues to more formal ones including employee assistance programmes, therapy and counselling, supported by privacy-assured access to experts, he adds.

While video conferencing has made WFH a feasible option, Zoom exhaustion is causing poor efficiency. Against this backdrop, there is a need to instil more faith in your team, feels Arrebola. Bring staff more assignments and then asking for their feedback on business topics or suggestions. It will give the team that confidence to do better, he shares.

In a nutshell

77% employers believe long, erratic, always on work hours are the top factors that undermine the role

of leadership

79% employees believe that leadership plays the top role among all the factors that influence mental health

29% employees surveyed suffered due to erratic work schedules

21% employees suffered due to reduced salaries

81% employees reach out to parents/spouse when in mental distress
Somrita Ghosh By

Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Oral anti-viral drug 2-deoxy-D-glucose (2-DG), developed by the DRDO and being touted as a potential game-changer in the battle against Covid-19, was first used in a human clinical study on brain tumour patients by Dr A K Banerji at AIIMS, Delhi, along with Dr Viney Jain, former director of INMAS LAB (DRDO).

Dr Banerji, who has served at AIIMS neurosurgery department for 30 years, told The New Indian Express that the drug was reasonably effective on cancer but could not comment on its efficacy on Covid-19 patients.

We used the drug for brain cancer. I can tell you that it was reasonably effective. And we had hoped that it would get approval for commercial production, but that didnt happen. But Covid is not cancer. I dont want to make presumptions whether it will work for Covid-19 patients or not, Dr Banerji said.

2-DG, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisations (DRDOs) leading laboratory Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in collaboration with Hyderabad-based Dr Reddys Laboratories, has been granted emergency approval by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) for Covid treatment. It has been studied in over 200 clinical trials for the treatment of various cancers globally.

Components are the same as the drug, then and now. Dr Jain, a friend of mine from AIIMS, was working at the DRDO laboratory. He had convinced me to use the drug on cancer patients. We had used it as a radiation sensitiser, Dr Banerji said.

Dr Jain had joined the faculty as an assistant professor in the biophysics department of AIIMS in 1973 and played a crucial role in bringing the drug to India for the first time.

It had to be imported from the US at that time and was expensive. If we had to use it, it had to be pre-ordered. Then the DRDO gave a patent to a firm in MP so that it could be commercially viable. But another company was competing for the same drug and that became popular, Dr Banerji said.

2-DG option for patients requiring Oxygen therapy

Dr Deepak Gupta, a professor of Neurosurgery, AIIMS, who is doing further research on the drugs usage, said the concept of using the glucose analogue 2-DG for optimising radiotherapy was developed by Dr Jain. From preclinical and clinical studies, he showed that 2-DG can function as a differential radio-chemo-modifier, which can sensitise cancer cells while protecting normal cells.

The differential effects of 2-DG are based on the Warburg effect. Pre-clinical studies in murine models confirmed this hypothesis.

It is a glucose molecule analogue which cant undergo further glycolysis. Monocytes/macrophages in Covid lungs (proliferative tissues: inflammation/tumour) become highly glycolytic after infection and facilitate SARS-CoV-2 replication which accumulates in virally infected cells and prevents virus growth by stopping viral synthesis and energy production.

It enhances cellular damage and cell death by inhibiting repair and recovery. 2-DG can be considered for admitted Covid patients requiring medical oxygen therapy for moderate to severe covid patients as an adjunct to existing treatment, Dr Gupta said.

In April 2020, INMAS-DRDO scientists had conducted experiments with the help of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology and found that this molecule works effectively against Covid and inhibits viral growth. Phase-III trials were conducted on 220 patients between December 2020 and March 2021 at 27 Covid hospitals.

First used in clinical study on brain tumour patients

DRDOs drug was first used in a human clinical study on brain tumour patients by Dr A K Banerji at AIIMS, Delhi, along with Dr Viney Jain, former director of INMAS LAB (DRDO).
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Five women traffickers from Uganda were arrested by the Anti Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), who busted an international human and drugs trafficking racket. A thorough check revealed that all the accused are carrying banned narcotics drugs.

The accused Nassali Milly, 35, Nakkazzi Florence, 36, Sarah Namwanje, 23, Nalwoga Oliver Hildah, 25, and Sharifah Nakabuubi, 25, who are all from Uganda came to India on tourist visas, but didnt return even after their visas expired. Nassali moved to Hyderabad and due to financial constraints, she turned to sex work along with Nakkazzi. Later, they informed the other three to come to India for the same and started advertising their services on an online website Locanto.

They started uploading their pictures on the website to attract potential customers and call on the mentioned phone number. The AHTU team and cops with Chaitanyapuri police station called on the given phone number and slotted a deal to trap the accused.

Nassali, responding to the message, spoke about the availability of three Ugandan women with their prices. Unaware of the trap, the accused sent their location. In a joint operation, the AHTU team and the cops with Chaitanyapuri police station reached the spot and arrested the five accused.

Seven held by cops in brothel house raids

Seven persons were arrested in the raid of two brothel houses in KPHB Colony and Jubilee Hills. The sleuths with KPBH police station inspected a house in the 3rd phase of KPHB Colony and arrested two organisers, Nakkina Laxmi and Tellapati Bhaskar, for running and inducing male customers for participating in sexual intercourse. One person was identified as a victim who was also forced for the same. At the spot, two customers Putti Pandari and Rupani Aakash were present. The four accused are taken into custody and the two customers have confessed their guilt.

In the limits of Jubilee Hills police station, one organiser, two customers and three sex workers were found. Based on credible information, the police raided on OYO Dolphin Hotel. In the premises, there were the sub-organiser Sunil Behra along with two customers, Venkatappayya and Rahul Surana, and rescued three victims. The rescued were sent to Ujjwala Rescue Home.

Rachakonda Police invoked the PD Act against an interstate human trafficker Debjyoti Das for organising prostitution in the limits of LB Nagar. He lured poor women in the name of providing employment and forced them into prostitution. To prevent the accused from further indulging in human trafficking, Rachakonda CP, Mahesh Bhagwat invoked the PD Act and detained him in Central Prison, Cherlapally.

TOURIST VISAS EXPIRED

The five accused from Uganda had come to India on tourist visas, but failed to return even after the validity of their visas expired. While Milly and Florence turned to sex work to manage their finances, the rest were lured by the two. They would use a website Locanto to advertise and seek customers
Shainu Mohan By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The test positivity rate continues to remain high in the capital despite week-long lockdown and triple lockdown restrictions imposed by the state government. In the past seven days, the test positivity rate in Thiruvananthapuram has averaged around 26.1 percent, much higher to the TPR of the state which is 24.7 per cent. As of Thursday there were around 36,305 active cases and hospital occupancy continues to be high in the district raising the need for continuing the lockdown restrictions.

According to officials of the District Disaster Management Authority, there is no other way but to continue to impose lockdown restrictions to bring down the test positivity rate. As per the current schedule, the triple lockdown imposed by the state government will end on Sunday. In the past seven days around 144 Covid -19 deaths were reported in the district.

The government will take the call on the lockdown soon. There is no respite in the number of cases and based on the current situation we have to continue with the lockdown, said an official of the DDMA. The district has ramped up infrastructure, including CFLTCs (Covid-19 first Line Treatment Centre) and DCC (Domiciliary Care Centre), to manage the patient load.

According to experts, it would take another one or two weeks for the state to hit the plateau. States TPR has come down gradually and in districts like Thiruvananthapuram, more cases are getting reported. We will get the benefits of the lockdown only in the next two weeks. The TPR has to drop below 10 per cent. Ideally, it should be below 5%. The state should lift the lockdown restrictions only after the TPR goes below 5%, said G Vijayakrishnan, state secretary of Kerala Government Medical Officers Association (KGMOA). He said hospitals are overwhelmed right now and lockdown need to continue to bring down the cases. Even now the daily cases are above 30,000. We are expecting a decline in the next two weeks, he said.

However, the traders community in the state feel that time regulations imposed in connection with the triple lockdown are not helping them or the public anyway. The current time regulations imposed by the district authorities are unscientific, said S S Manoj, of Kerala Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi.

district round-up Total number of Covid patients : 36,305

Patients under home isolation : 30,207

Patients admitted to DCCs 863

Patients admitted to CFLTCs 971

Patients admitted to CSLTCs 781

Patients admitted to Covid hospitals 1,242

Patients admitted to private hosptials 1,904
By PTI

KOLKATA: Bengal education minister Bratya Basu on Thursday said this year's state board examinations will be held once the COVID-19 crisis is contained.

Basu also said that officials of his department will sit for talks with senior members of board of secondary education and council of higher secondary education, and a decision would be taken in consulation with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, keeping all safety concerns in mind.

"In the past 100 years, the world hasnt faced a crisis situation such as the one we are facing right now. There is, however, a rule of nature, and the pandemic would not rage on forever. Once the situation is brought under control the exams can be held," he told reporters at Bikash Bhavan -- the state education department headquarters.

The minister further said that midday meals will be made available in all schools, where buildings were being converted into COVID-safe homes in accordance with the administration's directions.

State board examinations for classes 10 and 12 were earlier slated to be held in June.
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By ANI

WASHINGTON: American talk show host and TV producer Oprah Winfrey in a recent conversation, stood up for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. The duo had in a tell-all interview with Winfrey made claims of racism and ignoring psychiatric needs against the British royal family.

According to Fox News, in recent weeks, Harry and Meghan have been particularly vocal about their lives as members of the British royal family - a rarity for those close to the monarchy.

In March, they made claims of racism and ignoring psychiatric needs in a bombshell tell-all interview with Winfrey.

During a recent podcast episode, Harry criticised his father's parenting and accused his family of turning a blind eye to pleas for help against public criticism in his series 'The Me You Can't See'.

ALSO READ | Meghan Markle, Prince Harry planning home birth for second child: Report

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have been criticised over their public statements that are growing in frequency. It is also because of the fact that the two moved to California last year in an attempt to attain more privacy.

Winfrey, however, isn't having it and is standing up for her business partner and his wife Meghan.

The 67-year-old author and talk show host said on the 'Today' show on Friday, "I ask for privacy and I'm talking all the time. I think being able to have a life that you are not intruded upon by photographers or people flying overhead or invading your life is what every person wants and deserves."

She said that critics of Harry's vocalisation are "missing" the idea that he wants to maintain a modicum of privacy as a basic desire. "Privacy doesn't mean silence," she added.

'The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks' star further shared that Harry and Meghan "have not shared any regrets" with her over their tell-all interview.

"I understood what had happened to them and I wanted the rest of the world to come away being able to answer the question: Why did they leave? And I think by the time that interview was done, people understood," she explained.

As reported by Fox News, Winfrey and Harry worked together closely to develop the Apple TV+ docuseries 'The Me You Can't See'. It features interviews from celebrities and normal people about their mental health struggles and how they are working to overcome them.

WATCH TRAILER HERE:
By PTI

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education on Monday told the Bombay High Court it had not devised a formula as yet on how to evaluate and mark Class X students whose board examinations were cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

A division bench of Justices SJ Kathawalla and SP Tavade was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a professor, Dhananjay Kulkarni, challenging the Maharashtra government's April decision cancelling Class X exams.

Kulkarni's petition also challenged similar decisions taken by the ICSE and CBSE boards. Kulkarni's advocate, Uday Warunjikar, on Monday argued that each board will have a different marking system which would cause difficulties and hardships to the students while seeking admission to Class XI. "The Central government will have to intervene and come out with a uniform policy," he said.

Advocate Sandesh Patil, appearing for the Union government, told the court it has some control over the CBSE board but the ICSE and SSC boards are autonomous and, hence, the Centre has no control over them.

Patil further said the Union government has issued a notification on how marks should be given and the SSC and ICSE boards can adopt the same. Advocate Kiran Gandhi, appearing for the SSC board, told the court the petition was filed prematurely.

The SSC board had not devised any formula as yet on how marks would be given to Class X students and the board's examination committee will come up with a formula which would be sent to the state government for final approval, Gandhi told the court.

The bench then directed the SSC board and other respondents (Centre, ICSE board and CBSE board) to file their affidavits in response to the petition, and posted the matter for further hearing on May 19.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: The Ghaziabad administration has launched a scheme, Always With You, to provide assistance to the families that had lost their loved ones to the pandemic, to deal with legal procedures related to insurance claims and bank accounts.

The administration launched the initiative after coming across several instances when kids lost both their parents, women lost their spouse and elderly people lost their children. In several families the sole breadwinner had been succumbed to Covid-19.

There were many cases where children, women and elderly people were found struggling to get the legal procedures completed for getting insurance money and deposits from banks due to lack of guidance, necessary certificates and legal documents. Thus, we launched this scheme to help such families and children in submitting the claims and other post-death administrative and legal measures, said Ajay Shankar Pandey, District Magistrate, Ghaziabad.

The administration will also appoint officials called as Prashaasan Mitra who will help such families in getting the legal procedures done. Besides, the administration has also opened an email ID: alwayswithypidmghaziabad@gmail.com, where people can send in requests.
By PTI

BHOPAL: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday announced that the coronavirus-induced restrictions in the state would be gradually relaxed from the next month.

"Our target is to free our state of COVID-19 by May 31. We will have to unlock the coronavirus-induced-curfew gradually from June 1. The world has to move but we will need to unlock in such a manner that COVID-19 doesn't spread again," he said at a meeting to review the coronavirus situation.

Lockdown-like restrictions to contain the spread of coronavirus infection -- termed as `curfew' by the state government -- are in force in many cities and towns of MP.

In most of the districts including Bhopal they have been extended till May 31.

Several localities in major cities would already be free of COVID-19 infection, Chouhan said in the meeting, a video of which was tweeted by his official Twitter handle.

"Identify the spots where coronavirus infection is still present and make micro-containment zones. Infected persons should either be isolated at home or shifted to COVID Care Centres,", the chief minister said.

The ongoing restrictions should be strictly implemented to break the chain of infection, Chouhan added.

The positivity rate of COVID-19 -- the proportion of infections found among those tested -- has come down to 4.82 per cent as of Saturday, he noted.

At the peak of the second wave in the state, the positivity rate had crossed 20 per cent.

In 79,737 tests conducted in the state on Saturday, 3,844 persons tested positive, while 9,327 patients were also given discharge during the day, the chief minister informed.

The recovery rate in the state has gone up to 90.86 percent, Chouhan added.

The third phase of `Kill-Corona' campaign in the state will be completed on May 24 and the fourth phase should be started after that, he instructed.

Medical kits should be provided to every suspected COVID-19 patient with symptoms such as cold and cough, he said.

On Friday, the state had reported 4,384 new coronavirus cases and 79 deaths, taking the caseload to 7,57,119, and death toll to 7,394.

Meanwhile, a 55-year-old man who recovered from COVID-19 in Jabalpur has been detected with the white fungus or Aspergillu Flavus infection, making him the first to have the ailment in Madhya Pradesh, a health official said on Saturday.

The man was operated on May 17 after his headache and eye pain did not subside, and a test on Friday detected the white fungus infection in his nose, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College's ENT Department head Dr Kavita Sachdeva told PTI over phone.

White fungus is curable with medicines and does not need injections like Mucormycosis, better known as black fungus, not is it as deadly as the latter, she said.

Both affect people with uncontrolled sugar levels, Sachdeva said, adding that white fungus "is not rare and many people have been cured of it earlier".

Meanwhile, MP Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang said the state had 650 confirmed cases of black fungus, a rare and dangerous fungal infection being found in people with COVID-19 as well as those who have recovered.

The state had recently declared black fungus a notified disease.

The state on Saturday saw 3,844 new COVID-19 cases and 89 casualties that raised the tally of infections to 7,60,963 and pushed the toll to 7,483, an official from the state health department said.

At least 9,327 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the count of recoveries to 6,91,427, the official said.

With the addition of 863 new cases, Indore's caseload went up to 1,44,472, while Bhopal's tally rose to 1,17,130, after 649 persons tested positive for the infection, he said.

With seven fatalities, the toll in Indore rose to 1,301, while 10 deaths raised Bhopal's toll to 905, he said.

Indore and Bhopal now have 9,432 and 9,773 active cases respectively, he said, adding that 62,053 patients are currently undergoing treatment in the state.

With the addition of 79,737 swab samples tested during the day, the total number of tests conducted in the state has crossed 92.28 lakh.

Coronavirus figures in MP are as follows: Total cases 7,60,963, new cases 3,844, death toll 7,483, recovered 6,91,427, active cases 62,053, number of tests so far 92,28,270.
By Associated Press

NEW DELHI (AP)  Last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the United Nations his country would make enough COVID-19 vaccines to help all humanity." Now India is struggling to meet its own domestic needs for the shots amid a startling surge of infections.

As the worlds largest maker of vaccines, India always was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But a mixture of overconfidence, poor planning and bad luck has prevented that from happening.

Here's a look at what went wrong:

CAUGHT OFF GUARD

Officials in India seemed to have been caught off guard by several things, including the speed at which vaccines were approved for use around the world. India like many other countries had been working under the assumption that vaccines wouldn't be ready for use until mid-2021.

Instead, they started being greenlit in some countries in December  upping the pressure to not only produce but deliver promised shots as soon as possible. India, which approved two vaccines in January, turned out to not be ready for either the eventual demand at home or abroad.

The government's plan had been to vaccinate 300 million of the India's nearly 1.4 billion people by August. But it hadn't actually reserved even close to enough shots to do so. It had just assumed  partly based on projections from the country's vaccine makers  that there would be enough doses to both vaccinate people at home and fulfil promised orders abroad.

ALSO READ: Boosting cooperation on COVID-19 vaccines to be focus of Jaishankar's 5-day visit to US

There also was little domestic urgency because India's infections had been declining consistently for months. In fact, in January, just days after India kicked off its domestic vaccination campaign and also started exporting shots, Modi declared victory over the pandemic at a virtual gathering of the World Economic Forum.

Modi's government seemed to bask in the early success of its so-called vaccine diplomacy and the Foreign Ministry reiterated time and again that exports were calibrated according to the needs of the domestic immunization program.

Experts say that turned out to be a dangerous miscalculation as an explosion of domestic cases was just around the corner.

Dr. Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune city, said the government shouldve been planning for the future instead of celebrating its victory over the virus.

Ive no idea why people didnt think about it, she said. Did no one do the calculation ... of how many doses will be needed in India?

PRODUCTION PROBLEMS

India has two main COVID-19 vaccine producers: the Serum Institute of India, which is making the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Bharat Biotech, which is making its own local vaccine.

India had allowed the companies to start producing their shots last year as they waited for formal approval from regulators. Both the government and the companies thought that by the time the shots were approved they would have larger stockpiles of the vaccines than they did.

Scaling up manufacturing has turned out to be a problem for both companies.

ALSO READ | Will have to shut vaccination centres for 18-44 age group as vaccine stocks are over: Delhi CM

Serum Institute's chief executive, Adar Poonawalla, told the The Associated Press in December that the target was to make up to 100 million shots monthly by January and to split them equally between India and the world. But the federal government told states last month that the company was producing just 60 million shots a month.

The company has said that a fire in its facilities in January and a U.S. embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the the jabs has hobbled production. Poonawalla told the Associated Press that pivoting away from suppliers in the U.S. could result in a delay of up to six months.

Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella told reporters in January that the company was aiming to make 700 million shots in 2021. But the federal government told states last month that the company was producing just 10 million shots a month.

The government said last month that it was giving the company millions of dollars in grants to try to help it ramp up production.

Neither company nor India's Health Ministry responded to requests for comment.

ALSO READ | Over 1.6 crore COVID vaccine doses still available with states and UTs: Health ministry

WHAT NEXT?

With India recording hundreds of thousands of new infections each day, the government on May 1 opened up vaccination to all adults. That caused a surge in demand that has laid bare the extent of the shortage.

India has so far received just 196 million shots, including 10 million as a part of COVAX, a worldwide initiative aimed at providing equitable access to vaccines. Just 41 million people have been fully vaccinated, while 104 million more have received the first shot.

But the number of shots administered has declined from an average of 3.6 million a day on April 10 to about 1.4 million a day on May 20.

To help with the shortage, India has greenlit the Russian vaccine Sputnik V and 200,000 doses of that arrived last week.

The government says supplies will improve soon and expects more than 2 billion shots to be available between August and December, according to Dr. V.K. Paul, a government advisor. That would include 750 million shots made by Serum Institute, 550 million shots made by Bharat Biotech and 156 million shots from Russia.

There are also plans for five Indian companies to make the Russian vaccine locally and for Serum Institute to make a version of the Novavax vaccine and vaccines from five other Indian companies whose shots are still being tested.

But experts warn that such estimates are once again too optimistic.

These are optimistic estimates...there are many ifs and buts that one needs to consider," said Bal.

WATCH
By PTI

CHANDIGARH: Farmer leader Balbir Singh Rajewal on Saturday blamed the Union government for not resuming talks, claiming that farmers never denied having a dialogue over the central farm laws.

"No meeting has been called by the central government after January 22. The way ahead for talks has been stopped from the government side. We never refused to hold talks," said Rajewal while addressing the media here.

He added a letter has also been written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for resumption of talks.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 protesting farmer unions and which is spearheading the protests, on Friday had written to the prime minister, urging resumption of talks over the three farm laws they have been agitating against at Delhi borders since November last year.

Several rounds of talks between farmers and the government have failed to break the deadlock over the three central laws.

A government panel had met farmer leaders on January 22.

There have been no talks between the two sides since January 26 when the farmers'' tractor rally in the national capital turned violent.

Rajewal on Saturday warned the central government that they would hold campaigns as they did during the West Bengal assembly polls against it in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

He further said a national convention of all farmers' bodies would be organised to further intensify their struggle.

A date in this regard, however, could not be finalised because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rajewal, who is the president of the Bhartiya Kisan Union (Rajewal) faction, said May 26 would be observed as "black day" to mark six months of their protest at Delhi borders.

On this day, people should raise black flags at their homes, shops, industries and tractors to protest against the farm laws.

In addition to it, effigies of the prime minister will also be burnt on May 26, he said.

Rajewal also accused the BJP-led government in Haryana of trying to defame the ongoing farmers' protest at Delhi borders by claiming that it could spread the COVID-19 infection.

The farmer leader said they have made necessary arrangements for protection against the infection at the protest sites Tikri and Singhu borders.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on May 13 had urged farmers to suspend their stir amid the grim COVID-19 situation, claiming that their movements to and from 'dharna' sites were spreading the infection in villages.

Rajewal said they have arranged 10 oxygen cylinders at a hospital near the protest site.

Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accept with humility farmers' invitation of talks over the Centre's agriculture laws and resolve the issue.

In a letter to the PM, AAP MP Bhagwant Mann and the party's Punjab affairs co-incharge Raghav Chadha also claimed that 470 have died during the course of the agitation, which is unfortunate and painful.

"The government has not made any attempt to negotiate with farmers since January 22, which is not in the interest of farmers and the entire nation," they added.

As farmer leaders have once again urged for talks, the prime minister should accept the invitation with humility and resume talks over the issue, resolving it permanently, they said.

The leaders said farmers are the backbone of the country and they had to protest for their demands at the cost of their lives during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Concerned about their future, the country's farmers, including elderly, children and women, have left their homes and settled at Delhi borders, which is also against human rights," they added.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of over 40 protesting farmer unions spearheading the protests, on Friday had written to the prime minister, urging for the resumption of talks over the Centre's farm laws, against which they are agitating at the Delhi borders since November last year.

Several rounds of talks between farmers and the government failed to break the deadlock over the three legislations.

Farmers are demanding the repeal of the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020; and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.

They have described the laws as pro-corporate.

However, the government has maintained that the laws are for their benefit.

"We are giving 'kadha' (a drink to boost immunity) to each protester. We also distribute Vitamin A, C, D and other medicines," he said.

Rajewal rued that nobody till now came to vaccinate farmers at Tikri and Singhu despite the Haryana's Sonipat administration having been requested for it over 20 days ago.

Farmers have been camping at Delhi's borders since November 2020 demanding that the Farmers' Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020, Farmers' (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Act, 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020 be rolled back and a new law made to guarantee minimum support price for crops.

The government, however, has maintained the three central laws are pro-farmer.
By PTI

RANCHI: Five of the twenty-six migrant workers from Jharkhand who were stuck in Nepal due to COVID- triggered lockdwon there and are now on way to their home in Dumka have been isolated in an ambulance after found positive for the virus, an official said.

The migrant workers engaged in a project in Nepal by Larsen & Tourbro, through a contractor, had been stranded in the Himalayan country due to lockdown to rein in coronavirus surge and had been sending SOS messages including video messages to the Jharkhand government for rescue.

They arrived at Viratnagar on Bihar-Nepal border this morning and boarded a bus to their home town Dumka.

The workers are 40 km away from Dumka, the official said.

Distance between Viratnagar and Dumka is around 245 km.

"In the rapid antigen test, five of the 26 migrant workers have been found COVID positive and are being brought in an ambulance. None of them is serious," Magistrate Rakesh Kumar accompanying them told PTI.

Rest of them are travelling together in a bus which has reached near Dumka and all arrangements have been made for their safety, he said, adding, masks and sanitisers have been given to them.

"All of the migrant workers had their lunch which included rice, vegetables and dal among other things," the official said.

As soon as they reach Dumka, they will be subjected to tests and will be isolated, another official said.

"Our worker brothers have reached India-Nepal border. Soon they will depart for Dumka. Team of officers and paramedics are at Viratnagar on Bihar-Nepal border to bring them home safely."

"RAT kits, dry ration, oxygen cylinder equipped ambulance have all been sent from Dumka," said Deputy Commissioner Dumka, Rajeshwari B, who had flagged off a bus from Indoor stadium to Nepal border alongwith officials for the ferrying workers Friday.

A migrant worker coming home thanked Hemant Soren-led government for their rescue.

"We are sitting in a bus sent by the Jharkhand government. We have been provided food. Apart from Subh Sandesh Foundation, Indian Youth Association, Nepal too helped us besides Chief Minister Hemant Soren, legislator Basant Soren and DC among others. Nepal people also helped us including media persons," Narayan Das, a migrant worker, said in a video message.

The migrant workers hailing from Dumka district had appealed to the government for rescue, saying they were unwell and held up in Sindhupalchok district of Nepal.

Former legislator Kunal Sarangi, JMM Legislator Basant Soren took up their cause and chief minister Hemant Soren as well as Indian Embassy in Nepal also intervened.

"A prompt action was initiated for the return of migrant 26 workers stuck in Nepal at the instance of chief minister Hemant Soren. The state government took up the issue with the Nepal government."

"As a result of the initiatives, the workers will be returning to Jharkhand on Saturday," a state government official had said.

Sarangi said members of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal helped in locating the workers and also in their return back home.

Chief Minister's office said a bus and an ambulance were rushed to the Indo-Nepal border to bring back workers.

Approval from Nepal government had already been sought for this, the official added.

On their return, the workers will undergo health check and COVID tests, the official said.

The Jharkhand government has imposed lockdown-like restrictions that mandate compulsory seven-day quarantine for people coming to the state.

The workers will be brought to Dumka's indoor stadium first.

Former legislator and BJP leader Kunal Sarangi among others had escalated the matter urging the Ministry of External Affairs besides Indian Embassy in Nepal and others thanked the Indian Embassy in Nepal too for swinging into action.

A Larsen & Toubro spokesperson confirmed that the workers were engaged by the company at a project site through a contractor.

Chief minister Soren had on Thursday retweeted a message by a non-profit body Shubh Sandesh Foundation: "Doing our best to assist 26 Jharkhand migrants stuck in Nepal. Our friends in Nepal are in touch coordinating food, travel pass, medicine etc for them."

Earlier, former legislator Sarangi had tweeted: "I sincerely request @DrSJaishankar Sir & @IndiaInNepal to get it looked into. These poor migrant labourers from Jharkhand are stuck in Nepal and they are very unwell. Pls rescue them."

In earlier video messages the migrant workers were seen appealing to the Jharkhand government to rescue them while saying that they are stranded in Nepal due to the lockdown and most of them have fallen sick but are not getting any medical attention and food.

In a separate message later, the workers said that they have received a communication from the Shubh Sandesh Foundation that arrangements are being done for their safe return.
By PTI

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Friday directed the police not to arrest former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh in a case under SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act till May 24.

A division bench of Justices S J Kathawalla and S P Tavade on late Friday night heard a petition filed by Singh, seeking to quash the FIR lodged against him and demanding a CBI probe into the case.

While Singh's counsel claimed that the FIR was a backlash over his allegations of corruption against former Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh, the government said the FIR was registered as the complaint disclosed commission of offence.

The bench, however, questioned the timing of the FIR and said, "We do not understand why all this after Param Bir Singh has had a fallout with the government."

After hearing the parties at length for over an hour, the court at midnight said it now ceases to be a vacation bench, and hence the matter would have to be heard on Monday.

"Since the matter is part heard, the State of Maharashtra in the meantime shall not arrest Param Bir Singh till the next date of hearing," the court said.

Singh's counsel Mahesh Jethmalani argued that the FIRs lodged against Singh was a result of the letter the former Mumbai commissioner of police wrote to Maharashtra Chief Minister against Deshmukh.

"There is not a shred of evidence against Singh in this case. The state is just vindictive towards someone who has proved to be inconvenient to them. A disgruntled person, who is already accused in several cases, is picked up by the government only to implicate Singh," Jethmalani said.

He further argued that the provisions of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act cannot be attracted unless the offense is committed due to caste motivations.

Senior counsel Darius Khambata, appearing for the Maharashtra government, alleged that Singh indulged in corrupt practices.

"Singh tried to get the complainant (Bhimrao Ghadge) do his dirty work and when he refused, Singh got him suspended," he argued.

The FIR is based on a complaint by police inspector Ghadge, now posted at Akola in Maharashtra.

Ghadge made a series of allegations of corruption against Singh and other officers when Singh was posted in Thane.

The IPS officer pressured him to drop the names of some persons from a case and when he refused, Singh framed him up in false cases, the FIR, now transferred to Thane, claimed.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Maharashtra COVID-19 task force member and senior doctor Shashank Joshi on Saturday termed yoga guru Ramdev's comments on allopathy as wrong and irresponsible.

Earlier in the day, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) took strong exception to Ramdev's comments in a viral video where he said allopathy is a "stupid science" and lakhs of people have died after taking allopathic medicines.

Remdesivir, Faviflu and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India have failed in treatment of COVID-19, he further said.

"It is wrong to make such irresponsible statements. Remdesivir helps in clinical recovery, but it is not a life- saving drug. It also does not affect any person (adversely). It is wrong to make such statements about allopathy," Dr Joshi said, speaking to a Marathi news channel.

"I respect Ayurveda or Unani systems of medicine," he added.

The Resident Doctors' Associations of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital too condemned Ramdev's statement and demanded "strictest steps" be taken against him.

Citing a video circulating on social media, the IMA said Ramdev has claimed that "allopathy is a stupid science" and medicines such as remdesivir, faviflu, and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India have failed to treat COVID-19 patients."

"Lakhs of patients have died after taking allopathic medicines", the association said quoting the yoga guru.

Ramdev should be prosecuted under the Epidemic Diseases Act as "untutored" statements are "a threat to the literate society of the country as well as to the poor people falling prey to him", the apex doctors' body said in a statement.

"The Union health minister (Harsh Vardhan) who himself is a practising modern medicine allopathic postgraduate and head of this (health) ministry, should either accept the challenge and accusation of this gentleman and dissolve the modern medical facility or boldly face and prosecute the person for his words of arson on the sovereignty of the country and book him under the Epidemic Act to save millions of people from such unscientific utterances," the IMA said.

It alleged that Ramdev is trying to take advantage of the situation and create a sense of fear and frustration among the people at large.

He is doing this "so that he can sell his illegal and unapproved so-called medicines and make money at the cost of the public at large", the association said.

The IMA said Ramdev deserves to be prosecuted for disobeying and causing danger to the life of many by making them believe to not to take the advice of allopathy doctors.

"The IMA demands and resolves if the minister (Harsh Vardhan) is not taking suo moto action we will be forced to resort to democratic means of struggle to propagate the truth to the common man and knock the doors of the judiciary to get due to justice," it said.

Taking people for ransom and winning business by defaming scientific medicine are unpardonable offenses, the IMA said.

Citing Ramdev's remarks it said such "untutored and unlearned" statements are a threat to society.

In a statement, the Resident Doctors' Association of AIIMS said it "vehemently condemns" the statements given by Ramdev.

"On behalf of the medical fraternity, and all healthcare and frontline workers we demand strongly that strictest steps be taken against his inappropriate conduct at the earliest to prevent unrest amongst doctors and anxiety amongst the affected patients and their family," the AIIMS' RDA said.

The government should ensure that such provocative videos propagating falsified information be admonished, it said.

Ramdev should be booked under relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987 and we demand that he offers an unconditional apology to the scientific community failing which we will be forced to call for a public protest condemning the act, it said.

The RDA of Safdarjung Hospital said Ramdev's statement must be considered as "hate speech".

"The statement of Ramdev Baba must be considered as hate speech and we request the appropriate authorities to book him under relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1987.

We demand unconditional public apology from Ramdev to allopathy and its practitioners," it said in a statement.
By PTI

KANPUR: The stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against a man who was arrested last month for alleged black marketing of Remdesivir injections, police said on Saturday.

The accused, Sachin Kumar of Haryana, was arrested along with two medical representatives, Kanpur Police Commissioner Asim Arun said.

Remdesivir injections seized from Kumar during his arrest were later found to be spurious, he said.

"As per the procedure, we have slapped the NSA against Kumar for selling fake Remdesivir injections," he said.

Under the provisions of the NSA, one can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months if authorities are satisfied that the person is a threat to national security or law and order.

The trio were arrested by the UP Special Task Force and the Babupurva Police.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Over eight lakh migrant workers left the national capital in the first four weeks of the lockdown imposed to contain the spread of the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report from the Delhi Transport Department.

Between April 19 and May 14, a total of 8,07,032 migrant workers left Delhi for their home states in buses, out of which 3,79,604 left during the first week of the lockdown itself.

The number started declining from thereon, 2,12,448 left in the second week, 1,22,490 in the third week and 92, 490 in the fourth week.

"The timely coordination with transport authorities of neighbouring states, especially Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand by the Government of NCT of Delhi has helped about eight lakhs migrant workers to reach their destination without any difficulty," read the report.

There were 21,879 interstate bus trips during the four weeks of the lockdown, it added. Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had first imposed a lockdown on April 19 which was later extended multiple times, lastly on May 16.

Learning from the past experience of the first surge of the pandemic in March 2020 when the city experienced the heavy movement of migrant workers to their native places, the state Transport Department this time had deputed an adequate number of buses to facilitate migrant workers to reach their destination.

"Transport Department, Govt. of NCT of Delhi prepared a plan for deployment of 500 cluster buses on interstate routes under emergency. There was no complaint of overcharging as the interstate buses were owned and operated by state governments," the report said.

It also mentioned that "train travel" was a preferred mode by migrants in the current lockdown as trains were operational, unlike the last year's coronavirus-induced lockdown in March.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Union Power Minister RK Singh has made available 50 oxygen concentrators and 50 oxygen cylinders for use by hospitals in his parliamentary constituency Ara in Bihar amid the COVID-19 pandemic, his office said on Saturday.

Reinforcing his efforts to help people in his constituency and save lives, the minister of state for power and renewable energy has arranged for 50 oxygen concentrators and 50 oxygen cylinders for use by hospitals in Ara, his office tweeted.

It added that these high quality imported oxygen concentrators and cylinders will be handed over to the district administration in the next two-three days.

Separately, the power ministry said in a statement that the state-run PowerGrid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL) has actively taken up various initiatives for extending timely help to its employees and workers in its offices pan-India.

In a move to make the Rourkela sub-station, Odisha Projects campus 100 per cent COVID-19 free, proactive steps were taken to thwart further rise in coronavirus cases. A mass RAT (Rapid Antigen Testing) camp was organised on May 19 for sub-station employees, workers and their family members in adjoining localities of Rourkela sub-station.

A mass vaccination camp was also organised at Angul sub-station, where about 100 persons were vaccinated, including employees and family members. Similar camps have been organised at Baripada, Kaniha and Bolangir sub-stations.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The inoculation drive for the 18-44 age group came to a halt in Delhi on Saturday due to a shortage of vaccines, with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal saying it will take 30 months to vaccinate people in this category here if the supply crisis continues.

The chief minister also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to ensure immediate supply of jabs and increase the quota for Delhi.

As the country faces a shortage of vaccine, Kejriwal gave four suggestions to Modi, including procurement of vaccines from foreign manufacturers and inviting firms for production in India.

In an online press conference, Kejriwal said that from Sunday, all vaccination centres for youths in Delhi will be closed as stocks have run out.

Delhi requires 80 lakh doses a month to vaccinate people in three months.

But it only received 16 lakh doses in May and the Centre has further decreased Delhi's quota in June to 8 lakh doses, Kejriwal said.

So far, 50 lakh people have been vaccinated in Delhi.

Further, 2.5 crore more doses are required to vaccinate all adults in Delhi, he said.

"With this speed of 8 lakh doses per month, it will take 30 months to vaccinate all the adults alone. By then, no one knows how many waves will arrive and how many deaths will occur," Kejriwal said, urging the prime minister to raise the quota and supply to the city immediately.

Releasing the Delhi's vaccination bulletin, AAP MLA Atishi said that all centres administering vaccines to the 18-44 age group will be temporarily shut after Saturday due to the shortage.

"After today, the entire vaccination programme for this group will be temporarily stopped in government schools," she said.

According to the government, 50, 20,214 doses have been administered to people in Delhi, which proves that a large population has been inoculated because of the high speed vaccination programme.

"Nearly 88 sites administering Covishield to 18-44 will be shut after today. Humble appeal to the centre to facilitate vaccines at the earliest to Delhi, they should allow manufacturers to supply more vaccines to Delhi."

"Nearly 670 centres are operational in 499 locations for 45 plus age group category, healthcare, frontline workers. For 45+, healthcare/frontline workers, Covaxin's stock is left for less than one day, and Covishield's stock will last for 8 days," AAP MLA Atishi said.

During the online media briefing on Saturday, Kejriwal said the Central government should within 24 hours direct all capable companies in the country to start manufacturing Covaxin as Bharat Biotech has agreed to share its formula.

Vaccines manufactured abroad should be used in India and the Centre needs to procure vaccines on the behalf of states as it will be more effective in bulk procurement, Kejriwal said.

Foreign companies should be allowed to manufacture vaccines in India and the Centre should try to get vaccines from such countries that have stocks of more doses than their need, he suggested.

Vaccination of maximum number of people in the shortest time is the only way to save Delhi and the country from the third wave of coronavirus, Kejriwal asserted.

"We are arranging beds, oxygen and medicines, but vaccine is the most effective weapon of protection against the fatal virus."

The shortage of vaccine is not just a matter of worry for the governments, but common people are also scared due to this crisis, he claimed.

It has caused a very difficult situation in the country, Kejriwal said and narrated a call he had received from an elderly mother who requested vaccine for his son foregoing the jab herself, saying he needed it more than her because he had a job to take care of the family.

"I was deeply pained hearing this. There could be nothing more painful than this ''dharmsankat'' (dilemma) before a father, mother, brother or sister -- whether to have the vaccine or give it up for a younger member in the family," he said.

Kejriwal said it was a matter of relief that that the speed of coronavirus spread has slowed down significantly in Delhi, but cautioned that it did not mean the threat was averted and emphasised on maintaining all the precautions.

On Saturday, Delhi recorded 2,260 fresh COVID-19 cases and 182 fatalities on Saturday, with the positivity rate in the city slipping to 3.58 per cent.

This is the lowest daily spike in cases recorded since March 31 (1,819) and the first time that the count has gone below the 3,000-mark since April 1, when 2,790 people tested positive for the viral disease.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The acquittal of journalist Tarun Tejpal by a sessions court in a 2013 sexual assault case is "disappointing" and has made the fight for justice harder for women, the IWPC said on Saturday, while welcoming the Goa government's decision to file an appeal against it in the high court.

Tejpal, the former editor of Tehelka, was acquitted of all charges by a sessions court in the state on Friday seven years after a woman colleague accused him of sexual assault in the elevator of a luxury hotel in Goa.

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, however, said his government would file an appeal against the acquittal in the high court as it was confident that there was evidence against the journalist.

"The IWPC stands fully behind the survivor and her version of events. It welcomes the Goa government's decision to appeal against the session court's judgment," the Indian Women's Press Corps said in a statement on Saturday.

Tejpal was facing trial under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 342 (wrongful confinement), 354 (assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty), 354-A (sexual harassment), 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), 376(2)(f) (person in a position of authority over women, committing rape) and 376(2)k) (rape by a person in a position of control) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The IWPC said it took "great courage" for the young woman journalist to come out against her editor and fight tirelessly for more than seven years in a system that is "skewed in favour of men."

The case and the way it proceeded is a symptom of power imbalance where all too often women complainants don't get a fair hearing, it said.

"The acquittal of Tejpal has made the fight for justice harder for women," the journalists' body said.

The IWPC called upon all media organisations to inculcate a work culture that does not permit any form of sexual harassment, and when they are reported take immediate, meaningful action to address them in a fair and just manner which brings some relief to the complainant.

"It is never easy for women to speak out against sexual harassment at workplaces and that is a reflection of a skewed power structure, of a culture of sexualising women at workplaces and of the economic, professional disadvantage of reporting sexual harassment," the journalists' body said.
By PTI

AMBALA: A Haryana-cadre IPS officer has accused state police chief Manoj Yadava of trying to humiliate and harass him on caste basis, seeking the registration of a criminal case against him under the stringent SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

Inspector-General of Police Y Puran Kumar lodged the complaint against the Haryana DGP with Ambala Senior Superintendent of Police Hamid Akhtar on May 19.

In his complaint, he has sought the registration of an FIR against Yadava under the stringent Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities Act), 1989, saying the DGP has "some personal grudge" against him due to him belonging to a scheduled caste.

DGP Yadava has been "trying to harass, humiliate, insult, threaten and intimidate him in one or other way with discriminatory conduct," said Kumar in his complaint.

Kumar also accused Yadava of preventing him from entering a place of worship from August 2020 till date which, he said, amounted to "atrocity" and falls under the ambit of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities Act).

In his complaint, the officer alleged that he had visited a temple on August 3, 2020, situated inside the premises of Traffic police station Sahazadpur in Ambala.

Later, the DGP in a semi-official letter asked him to inform whether any prior sanction of the government was obtained before setting up the place of worship in the police station, he said in the complaint.

Kumar reasoned that similar places of worship also existed in other police premises throughout Haryana and most of which do not have any prior permission of the government.

"However, till date, the DGP, deliberately and intentionally, had not sought any comments from other police officers posted at different districts, ranges and commissionerates," he alleged.

The officer had written to the DGP on January 29 this year, informing him that the said temple at the Sahazadpur traffic police station existed since 2011, much before he was posted as the Ambala range IG.

He said he had written another letter in February this year to Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Rajiv Arora and provided him with the details of the case.

He requested the Ambala SSP to register an FIR under the relevant provision of the 1989 Act against DGP.
By PTI

MUMBAI: Barge P305 which sank during Cyclone Tauktae fury six days ago was located on the seabed on Saturday, the Navy said, while it continued the search for 20 missing personnel from two vessels.

There was no trace yet of nine personnel from barge P305 and 11 from tugboat Varaprada while the death toll on P305 rose to 66 with the recovery of six more bodies during the day, a Navy spokesperson said.

Barge P305 has been located on the seabed after systematic search by INS Makar employing advanced side scan sonar while search for the missing personnel will continue through the night, he said.

The Navy also deployed specialised diving teams to boost the search and rescue operations (SAR).

"So far, 66 mortal remains have been recovered. The SAR ops are continuing through the night," the spokesperson said.

"To augment the ongoing SAR ops for the missing crew of Barge P305 and Tug Varaprada, specialised diving teams onboard INS Makar with side-scan sonar and INS Tarasa sailed out early morning today from Mumbai," the Navy spokesperson had tweeted earlier in the day.

ALSO READ | Barge tragedy: Cops go for DNA testing of 30 bodies to establish identity; Navy deploys diving teams

Of the 261 personnel who were on barge P305, 186 have been rescued so far, 66 are dead and nine are missing.

Of the 13 persons on Varaprada, two have been rescued.

While all the 440 persons on barges Gal Constructor and Support Station 3 (SS-3) and drillship Sagar Bhushan were brought ashore to safety, Naval and Coast Guard vessels and aircraft scoured the waters off the Mumbai coast as the search and rescue operations entered the sixth day on Saturday.

Struggling to establish the identity of almost half the victims of the P305 barge tragedy, police initiated the process of conducting the DNA testing of the bodies, an official said on Saturday.

A Mumbai police spokesperson said the Navy has handed over the bodies recovered so far to the city police.

As many as 41 bodies were handed over to the relatives after the completion of formalities, he said.

Barge P-305, which housed personnel engaged in maintenance work of an offshore oil drilling platform of state-run oil and gas major ONGC, sank on Monday evening off the Mumbai coast during the cyclone.

The barge had gone adrift in the cyclone fury before sinking.

Some bodies are decomposed, some others have deep injuries and therefore they are beyond recognition, the official said.

Blood samples of the deceased and their immediate relatives are being collected and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory at Kalina in Mumbai, he said.

ALSO READ | Barge tragedy: FIR against its captain, others after survivor files complaint

"After the samples are matched, the bodies will be handed over to the respective family members," he said, adding that the DNA sampling process is expected to be completed in the next three days.

RT-PCR tests to ascertain whether the victims had COVID-19 infection were also conducted, he said.

Mumbai police have also announced they will conduct a probe as to why the ill-fated barge remained in the turbulent area despite warnings about cyclone Tauktae, an official said.

The police have also registered accidental death reports in connection with the death of the personnel on the barge.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Medical Association (DMA) on Saturday lodged a police complaint against yoga guru Ramdev for allegedly describing modern medicine as a "stupid science".

In a statement submitted along with the police complaint, the DMA alleged, "At this time of crisis, the whole country is battling against the pandemic, risking their own and families lives with whatever resources are available. Baba Ramdev has assaulted the medical science and the medical profession apparently for personal gains".

According to a senior police officer, the DMA has submitted its complaint at the Daryaganj Police Station.

"We have received the complaint and enquiry is being conducted," the officer said.

The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has said that the Union health ministry should take action against Ramdev as he has misled people by making "unlearned" statements against allopathy and defamed scientific medicine.

The Resident Doctors' Associations of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and Safdarjung Hospital too condemned Ramdev's statement and demanded "strictest steps" be taken against him.

Citing a video circulating on social media, the IMA said Ramdev has claimed that "allopathy is a stupid science" and medicines such as Remdesivir, Faviflu, and other drugs approved by the Drugs Controller General of India have failed to treat COVID-19 patients.

"Lakhs of patients have died after taking allopathic medicines", the association said quoting the yoga guru. Ramdev should be prosecuted under the Epidemic Diseases Act as "untutored" statements are "a threat to the literate society of the country as well as to the poor people falling prey to him", the apex doctors' body said in a statement.

Reacting to the controversy, Patanjali Yogpeeth Trust issued a statement, denying the comments, and said, "it is clarified that the truncated version of the video is totally out of context of what is sought to be conveyed by Swami jee."
The latest bloodbath in bitcoin prices has put the spotlight back on cryptocurrencies. Digital currencies arent legal tender, have no intrinsic value and strictly cant be categorised as currency, commodity or an equity. Far from being a substitute to fiat currencies, they arent even a reliable investable asset class right now. Yet, their prominence positions them as the future of finance. Theres both legal and regulatory uncertainty in most countries, but because they are not illegal, some allow their use in payments for goods and services, others as a store of value attaching it to commodities like gold and oil, whose attributes are comparable to money, and can be used as a medium of exchange. Globally, there are over 100 million users, of which an estimated 7-10 million are in India with total holdings worth between $1 billion to $1.5 billion.

Cryptocurrencies are secure and anonymous, which is why even central banks are forced to weigh in. As per the Bank of International Settlements, more than 50 global central banks have plans to launch a central bank-backed digital currency. In India, currently theres both legal and regulatory uncertainty, but trading isnt illegal. In 2018, the RBI had banned trading in cryptocurrencies, forbidding banks from dealing in transactions related to bitcoin and similar assets, but the Supreme Court quashed it in March 2020. Despite the RBI often voicing its apprehensions, it may roll out its own digital currency after all.

The government too is reportedly open to the idea and may soon introduce the Cryptocurrency and Regulation of Official Digital Currency Bill, 2021. But what happens to existing private cryptocurrencies, which the proposed Bill intends to prohibit? Importantly, should the RBI or Sebi regulate cryptocurrencies? In the meantime, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs has made it mandatory for companies to disclose trading and investments in digital currencies. It should use this data to set up a foolproof framework preventing their use in illegitimate activities, including the re-routing of black money. Taxation rules too need to be ironed out, besides, of course, the need to improve corporate governance.
By PTI

AMARAVATI: Distribution of the Ayurvedic preparation, that came to be known as 'Krishnapatnam Medicine', touted to be a miracle cure for COVID-19, drawing thousands of people to the village, has been indefinitely suspended till its efficacy is scientifically established.

A team of experts from the Andhra Pradesh Ayush Department, led by its Commissioner Ramulu Naik, inspected a demonstration of the medicine preparation in Krishnapatnam on Saturday.

SPS Nellore district Joint Collector M N Harendhira Prasad said distribution of the medicine would commence only after the government clears it.

"Teams from ICMR and Ayush are studying the preparation and it may take at least 10 days for the report to come in. After that, the medicine distribution will be permitted if the government clears it," Prasad said.

The Joint Collector asked people not to come to Krishnapatnam as the medicine distribution has been stopped.

ALSO READ | After ICMR, now country's top ayurvedic body to probe Andhra's miracle COVID medicine

Ayurvedic practitioner M Anandaiah had been distributing his preparation to people for a month now and it has created a lot of buzz in the social media, resulting in a heavy rush of people to Krishnapatnam village.

The AP government is treating it as a 'local health practice and tradition' as there is a belief among a large number of people that the medicine is helping them tackle Covid, both in a curative and preventive manner.

The state government on Friday took up the issue with the Central Ayurvedic Research Institute and asked it to conduct a "very scientific and authentic exercise" to determine the efficacy of the medicine.

The CARI agreed to send its team of experts from the Vijayawada regional centre to Krishnapatnam on Monday to study the process of medicine preparation, the ingredients used and other aspects.

Preliminary tests conducted on the samples of the preparation so far revealed no harmful ingredient in it, Principal Secretary (Health) Anil Kumar Singhal pointed out.

ALSO READ | Ayurvedic medicine touted as miracle cure for Covid in Andhra to be sent to ICMR to test efficacy

Meanwhile, local media reports said a retired school headmaster Kotaiah,who was administered the ayurvedic medicine a couple of days ago, turned critical on Saturday, but Water Resources Minister P Anil Kumar Yadav who hails from SPS Nellore district, said the formers condition was stable.

He warned that action would be taken against those who post misleading information in social media on the medicine.

"Study is going on. The government will take a decision on the medicine only after the report comes out," the Minister added.
By Express News Service

VISAKHAPATNAM: INS Rajput, the first destroyer of the Indian Navy, was decommissioned at Naval Dockyard here on Friday after serving the country for 41 years.The decommissioning was done in a low-key ceremony. The National Flag, naval ensign and the decommissioning pennant were lowered in the presence of Flag Officer Commanding-in-Chief Eastern Naval Command Vice Admiral Ajendra Bahadur Singh.Ajendra Bahadur Singh also released a special postal cover to mark the occasion.INS Rajput, the lead ship of the Kashin-class destroyers built by the erstwhile USSR, was commissioned on May 4, 1980.

It was built at the 61 Communards Shipyard in Nikolaev (now in Ukraine) under original Russian name Nadezhny meaning Hope. The keel of the ship was laid on September 11 in 1976 and she was commissioned on September 17, 1977. The ship was commissioned as INS Rajput on May 4, 1980 at Poti in Georgia by then Ambassador of India to USSR IK Gujral.Captain Gulab Mohanlal Hiranandani was its first Commanding Officer. Over its four decades of glorious service to the nation, the ship had the distinction of serving in both Western and Eastern Fleets. Rajput was based in Mumbai till June 1988 and thereafter it was rebased at Visakhapatnam as part of the Eastern Fleet.

The ship was equipped with an array of weapons and sensors including surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles, anti-aircraft guns, torpedoes, and anti-submarine rocket launchers. INS Rajput was also the first ship to be fitted to fire supersonic cruise and long-range BrahMos missiles. The ship was also the first Indian Naval Ship to be affiliated with an Indian Army regiment, the Rajput Regiment.

INS Rajput participated in several operations aimed at keeping the country secure. Some of these include Operation Aman off Sri Lanka to assist IPKF, operation Pawan for patrolling duties off the coast of Sri Lanka, operation Cactus to resolve hostage situation off the Maldives, and operation Crowsnest off Lakshadweep. The ship also participated in various relief operations which include cyclone relief operations off Odisha Coast in 1999, relief operations post Tsunami in Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 2004 and HADR mission after the earthquake at Jakarta.In 41 years of service, the ship had 31 commanding officers.
By PTI

BENGALURU: Karnataka on Saturday reported 31,183 fresh coronavirus cases and 451 deaths, the Health Department said.

With these, the total number of the infected so far was 23,98,925 and the deaths 24,648, the department said.

There were 4,83,204 active cases, a dip by 31,034 compared to Friday.

The total number of those discharged stood at 18,91,042 with the recovery of 61,766.

Bengaluru Urban district reported 8,214 infections and 200 fatalities, which is the highest in the State.

The city has so far reported 11,12,058 infections and 10,856 deaths.

There were 2,61,115 active cases.

According to the health bulletin, there were 2,526 infections in Mysuru, 2,157 in Ballari, 1,641 in Hassan, 1,357 in Uttara Kannada, 1,026 in Belagavi, 973 in Dharwad, 971 in Shivamogga and 913 in Dakshina Kannada.

Bengaluru Rural, Chikkaballapura, Chikkamagaluru, Chitradurga, Kolar, Mandya, Raichur and Udupi were among the districts with over 500 cases.

The department said 35 deaths took place in Bengaluru Rural district, 20 deaths in Uttara Kannada, 19 in Ballari, 18 in Tumakuru, 14 each in Shivamogga and Ballari, 13 in Hassan and nine each in Chikkaballapura, Dakshina Kannada, Dharwad and Mysuru.

Deaths were reported in 19 other districts as well.

There were 1,28,761 tests done on Saturday, including 1,11,235 using RT-PCR and other methods.

So far 2.85 crore tests were done cumulatively, the department said.

As on Saturday, 1.20 crore inoculations were done in the State and they comprising first and second dose of the vaccine.

The Indian Army has chipped in to fight against the pandemic by setting up a 100-bed Covid Care Centre at Ulsoor here.

The Karnataka State administration took on the responsibility of providing medical staff and equipment and the Army joined in with administrative support for maintaining high standards at the facility and ensuring best possible patient care, the Army said in a statement.

The Covid Care Centre would cater to mild symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid patients referred by BBMP (Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike) after bed allotment.

On Saturday, Major General J V Prasad, General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub-Area, handed over the facility to the State administration in presence of State Housing Minister V Somanna, BJP MP P C Mohan, Congress MLA Rizwan Arshad, and civic agency Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta.

Meanwhile, a negative COVID test report is a must for inter-State travellers coming into Karnataka, said State Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Saturday.

"We have barricaded not only major roads but also the minor ones as was done last time," he told reporters here.

"We have imposed restrictions, especially in the border districts such as Belagavi, Bidar, Bidar, Kalaburagi, Anekal in Bengaluru (bordering Tamil Nadu) and near Mangaluru (bordering Kerala)," he said.

As directed by the Centre, a negative COVID report is a must for the inter-State travellers to enter Karnataka, the Minister said.

The Minister said he has directed the district authorities, including the police, to strictly impose the lockdown in the districts to contain the spread of the infection.

He appealed to the people to abide by the lockdown.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru police commissioner Kamal Pant tweeted that the police personnel in the city have been instructed to take action legally, including booking cases and seizing vehicles of those who violate the lockdown guidelines and wilful defaulters.

"Please cooperate with @BlrCityPolice in implementing the lockdown guidelines. Let us beat #COVID19 together. Stay Home. Stay Safe!" Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Friday announced the extension of lockdown till June 7, which was slated to end on May 24.

The State has imposed restrictions since April 27 but the stringent restrictions were imposed on May 10 for a period of two weeks.

However, the government extended it for another two weeks as the COVID cases grew unabated and caused intense stress on the hospitals, doctors and paramedical staff.
By Express News Service

BENGALURU: Opposition leaders on Friday urged the State government to declare mucormycosis, or the black fungus infection, an epidemic, and deal with it on an emergency basis.Former CM and JDS legislature party leader H D Kumaraswamy said the number of black fungus cases was on the rise, and Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Odisha and Gujarat have already declared it an epidemic. Karnataka should take a similar decision, considering central authorities have advised states to do so. KPCC president D K Shivakumar said there is a lot of ignorance among ordinary people about this infection, and the government has to respond to it with seriousness.
Chetana Belagere By

Express News Service

BENGALURU: While black fungus has been elevated to epidemic status, a new kind of fungal infection -- termed as white fungus -- has been reported in Patna, Bihar. But experts said that no such cases have been seen in Karnataka so far. They claimed that fungal infections have been reported among many immunocompromised patients, especially those who have recovered from Covid after staying in ICUs.

Just as mucormycosis has been loosely called black fungus, other fungal infections, for example, superficial and invasive candidiasis, invasive aspergillosis, etc, are now being termed as white fungus. Though we used to see them in patients with very low immunity, cancers and those who have undergone organ transplant, there is a sudden rise of these infections in Covid-recovered patients due to widespread use of steroids. Other factors, including hygiene, may also be responsible. These infections are generally difficult to treat. The famous adage prevention is better than cure is apt in this situation, said Shashikiran Umakanth, Professor & Head, Department of Medicine, Dr TMA Pai Hospital, Manipal University. Dr Ravindra Mehtra, Pulmonologist, Apollo Hospitals, said that Apollo Hospitals saw 10-15 aspergillosis patients over the last few weeks and it is usually caused by inhaling aspergillus spores.

Most people inhale these spores every day without being affected. But if the immune system is weak, infection is more likely because it is an opportunistic fungus.Doctors said the high-risk one is still mucormycosis or black fungus followed by aspergillosis. Then comes candidiasis, also known as thrust, caused by yeast -- which is another type of fungus, triggering white blisters in the mouth and private parts.Dr Satyanarayana Mysore, Senior Pulmonologist, Manipal Hospitals, said, White fungus belongs to the family of candida. It can affect lungs, nails, brain, skin and even genitals. But we have not seen such cases so far, and people need not panic.

Doctors said that more needs to be known on Bihar cases which presented Covid-like symptoms but did not test positive in RTPCR. Among the infected is a doctor and experts said that it could be due to hospital exposure. Aspergillosis is not life-threatening as it doesnt spread as rapidly as mucormycosis. While treatment for aspergillosis is through Vovoriconazole medications, candidiasis can be treated with oral medicines like fluconazone.

Superficial urinary tract infection and oral candidiasis require therapy for just 14 days. Patients may do well with oral medications. But invasive infections require IV therapy with drugs like Caspofungin, Anidulafungin and Micafungin, and the duration of treatment may be 14 days to six weeks, the doctors said.

Dr. Rohini Kelkar, Consultant, Clinical Microbiologist and Specialist, Metropolis Healthcare Ltd. said "the term 'White Fungus' can apply to the white colonies of an environmental fungus or a 'Yeast'. Such yeasts called Candida are found in the mouth, throat and the gut called as 'Endogenous' flora.

They replace the normal protective bacteria on the skin, mouth and gut, in patients given broad spectrum antibiotics. These microorganisms can cause Endogenous infections or from within in Covid patients treated with steroids or immune compromised.

"These infections are called 'Opportunistic' infections. Such fungi do not cause disease in normal individuals." Dr Rohini added.

In Post-Covid patients who develop symptoms of infection like fever, cough etc, it is important to have a high index of suspicion and perform laboratory tests to accurately and rapidly diagnose the agent/fungus causing infection to save their lives with the correct treatment.

The laboratory results need proper interpretation as these fungi are often present as contaminants. Specialized tests and professional interpretation by qualified laboratory physicians is essential.

Symptoms of Aspergellosis

Fever, chest pain, cough

Coughing up blood

Shortness of breath

Other symptoms can develop if the infection spreads from the lungs to other parts of the body

Symptoms of Candidiasis

Tiredness and fatigue

Recurring genital or urinary tract infections

Digestive issues

Sinus Infections

Skin and nail fungal Infections

Joint pain

Need thorough study

A senior doctor at AIIMS, Delhi said she has been treating autoimmune disease patients with steroids for years, but mucormycosis cases were rare. Something has changed now. Whether it is the use of industrial oxygen or the way oxygen has been instituted in health facilities, I am not sure. That is for researchers to find out.
CYNTHIA CHANDRAN By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Confusion prevailed over the selection of the Congress legislative party (CLP) leader as the partys high command has delayed the announcement again, allegedly owing to pressure tactics employed by leaders of different factions in the state.

While a section of Congress MPs have demanded for a generational shift, it is learnt incumbent Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala has asked central leaders close to party president Sonia Gandhi to support him as the opposition leader.

Sources said Chennithala has sent missives to Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath, P Chidambaram and Mukul Wasnik. It is also reliably learnt that Congress working committee leader A K Antony has favoured neither Chennithala nor senior Congress MLA V D Satheesan as the CLP leader. Satheesan, who has claimed the support of 12 of the 21 MLAs, also has the backing of K C Venugopal, national general secretary (organisation).

Chandy ready to become state Congress chief

Though central observers Mallikarjun Kharge and V Vaithilingam returned on Tuesday itself after overseeing the CLP meeting, the delay in the announcement by the high command has given adequate time for both Oommen Chandy and Chennithala for hectic lobbying in favour of the latter.

Rumours are also rife that Chandy has expressed his desire to become the state Congress president which has raised eyebrows. Reports coming from New Delhi reveal that the central leadership has been caught off guard with the way in which the two factional leaders have joined hands. This has antagonised not only the MLAs, but also a section of the MPs and majority of the office-bearers as group politics has always been the bane of the party.

MPs K Muraleedharan and Rajmohan Unnithan have openly criticised the party leadership and hinted their support for Satheesan.According to sources, Chennithala and Chandy have also put forth a formula before the high command that they are ready to take up the responsibility of reviving the party in time for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

It is surprising that Chandy expressed willingness to become the state Congress president if Chennithala would continue in office. Their only agenda is that Satheesan should not become the CLP leader, a senior Congress leader told TNIE.
Cynthia Chandran By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Following the demoralising setback suffered by the Congress in the recent assembly elections, the partys national leadership made its intentions of overhauling the Kerala unit clear by appointing VD Satheesan as the Opposition leader on Saturday.

Despite some intense lobbying and pressure tactics employed by incumbent Ramesh Chennithala and ex-chief minister Oommen Chandy in favour of the former, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and the partys national general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal heeded the demand and sentiments of the young leaders, who called for a change.

The Congress leadership also took into account the change of political environment triggered by the revolutionary steps taken by the CPM and CPI to replace an entire generation of political leaders with fresh faces.

It is learnt that the numerous e-mails received by the high command from the youth leaders in Kerala highlighted how the CPM had successfully engineered a generational shift and how the Congress would find it tough to take on the vigorous new leadership of the CPM at the grass-roots level.

The decision on the Congress legislature party (CLP) leader was conveyed by Mallikarjun Kharge, the central observer who was assigned to oversee the CLP leader selection, to state Congress president Mullappally Ramachandran who subsequently announced the decision.

When the first session of the 15th assembly starts on Monday, Mullappally will give a letter to Pro-tem Speaker, PTA Rahim, informing him of the Congress partys decision on the CLP leader.

It is learnt that Satheesans appointment is only the beginning and the Congress high command will appoint new leaders in other key posts and revamp all organisational committees so that the UDF can perform well in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

A new state Congress chief and a new UDF convenor will also be appointed in the coming days. Close on the heels of Satheesan's appointment, Mullappally has conveyed his willingness to quit to the high command.

Appointment major blow to 'A', 'I groups

Sources said that Mullappally and UDF convenor MM Hassan will be replaced only after the fact finding committee led by Ashok Chavan files its report.

Chavan panel was appointed by Congress president Sonia Gandhi last week with a two-week deadline to submit a report on organisational reforms in states where the party had lost recent polls. "I will stand by the decision taken by Congress high command. My stand has been transparent and the central leadership is also convinced about it," said Mullappally.

Satheesan, who is known for his oratory skills and academic interpretation of policy matters, has been the trump card of the opposition when they had taken on the ruling front on policy matters. He began his career as a KSU worker and was the chairman of MG University union.

Satheesans appointment is a major blow to the two prominent groups in the state Congress, led by Oommen Chandy and Ramesh Chennithala. Though Satheesan was attached to the I group, he has been working independently for long.

The decision of two factional leaders to unite to keep Satheesan out did upset the national leadership. It is learnt Chennithala had sought the support of a few tall central leaders to ensure his continuance in office.

Satheesan has already proved his mettle as a legislator. I wish him all success. History will consider Chennithala as the best Opposition leader, said Mullappally.Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan also congratulated him. Satheesan will be a very good opposition leader. We all have seen his performance in the assembly, Pinarayi said.

CHENNITHALA VACATES CANTONMENT HOUSE

Later in the day, Sonia called up Chennithala and Chandy and urged them to give all support to Satheesan. Chennithala and his family shifted from his official residence, Cantonment House to his own house at Vazhuthacaud.
Unnikrishnan S By

Express News Service

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Rampant self-medication by Covid patients at home without any expert supervision has become a major concern as they become vulnerable to black fungus. Though the government has advised home care for Covid patients with mild to moderate symptoms, it has been found that several patients have gone past the brief and started treating themselves with drugs without knowing their complications.

According to health experts, the commonly used drugs such as Tocilizumab and steroids and will lower the immunity of patients and use of such drugs without the supervision of a doctor will make the patient vulnerable to Covid-associated mucormycosis (CAM), loosely described as black fungal infection. It is associated with high morbidity and treatment costs.

A lot of people are using drugs without any prescription. Some of them start using steroids on their own for three to four days after detecting Covid. It is a dangerous trend, said Dr R C Sreekumar, chairman of research cell, Indian Medical Association (IMA).

These drugs can be easily purchased from a medical store as the prescriptions are not often demanded. Steroids are widely used to treat patients with moderate to severe Covid infection. However, the doctors said the steroids would affect the blood sugar level of the patient, weaken the immune system and pose the risk of catching black fungus.

Steroids are life saving. But these have to be used at the right time and in the right dose for the right patient and right duration. Blood sugar control is the key factor to watch out for, said a member of the state medical board. According to Dr Sreekumar, the people abusing steroids are not aware of the blood sugar level and they risk their lives. Steroids should be started for specific reasons and stopped in a tapered manner to enable the recovery of the immune system. The blood sugar level of diabetic and non-diabetic patients should be monitored throughout, he said.

Dr Padmanabha Shenoy, an immunologist and a public health expert, a lot more investigations needed to be done to understand the spurt in black fungus cases. We have been giving steroids to a lot of patients. But mucormycosis had not been that common all these years. The sudden surge also points to other factors. It could be linked to the hygiene, he said. Dr Amar Fettle, state nodal officer for Covid-19, said a lot of people try self-treatment with unverified information available on social media. I would advise them to call DISHA helpline (1056) to check the treatment regimen, he said.

STATE ON ALERT AFTER FIRST DEATH, SAFETY OF ICUS COMES INTO FOCUS

The state has been on alert as more cases of black fungus infection are being reported across the state. The infection claimed its first victim, a schoolteacher hailing from Mallappally in Pathanamthitta, on Wednesday. She was under treatment for Covid in Kanyakumari where she worked. The 32-year-old was a diabetic and was shifted here in a bad condition, said Superintendent of Thiruvananthapuram Government Medical College Hospital Dr Sharmad M S. The instances of black fungus infection have put the spotlight on safety of ICUs as well. The health department has directed hospitals to assess the presence of fungal spores in all ICUs. It recommended the use of masks to reduce exposure to mucorales.

The high demand for ICU admissions gives little time gap for replacing one patient with another. Earlier, the beds were properly sterilised and kept vacant for some time before allowing in the next patient. Once fungal infection appears in an ICU, it cant be easily removed, said Dr R C Sreekumar, chairman of IMA research cell. He also said that it was difficult and costly to conduct fungal culture. The hospitals have been directed to inform the state medical board about black fungus cases.

Status now

20 cases detected in state

Covid patients with uncontrolled and undetected diabetes vulnerable

Four states have declared it as epidemic

WHAT IS BLACK FUNGUS?

It is a group of molds, called mucormycetes found commonly in soil, air or in decaying fruits. It affects immunity-compromised people when they inhale fungal spores. It affects the sinuses, brain and lungs, and it is especially life threatening in people suffering from diabetes, cancer and HIV/AIDS. The drugs used for treating it is costly and is in short supply due to its wide use now.
By Express News Service

BHUBANESWAR: The low-pressure area that has formed over east-central Bay of Bengal at about 8.30 am on Saturday is likely to intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and cross West Bengal, north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts on May 26 evening.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) sources said the low-pressure area is expected to concentrate into a depression over east-central Bay of Bengal by Sunday morning. The system is expected to move north-northwestwards before intensifying into a cyclonic storm by Monday (May 24) and further into a very severe cyclonic storm in the subsequent 24 hours.

Bhubaneswar Meteorological Centre Director HR Biswas said the very severe cyclonic storm, which has been named Cylone Yaas, will continue to move north-northwestwards, likely intensify further and reach north Bay of Bengal near West Bengal, adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts around Wednesday morning.

"The very severe cyclonic storm is likely to cross West Bengal, adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts around Wednesday evening," he added.

The Met office has issued a warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj districts on Tuesday.

ALSO READ: In Jagatsinghpur cyclone shelters, Covid worry bigger than storm

Light to moderate rainfall or thundershower activity is likely to occur at most places in north coastal districts, at many places in south coastal districts and north interior region, and at a few places in south interior region during the period.

Similarly, heavy to very heavy rainfall has been predicted at isolated places in Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj districts, and extremely heavy rainfall will occur at isolated places in Mayurbhanj and Balasore districts on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfall is likely to occur at one or two places in Dhenkanal, Angul, Deogarh and Sundargarh districts and most places in north Odisha and few places in southern region will witness light to moderate rainfall or thundershower activity during the period.

Squally wind speed reaching 40 km/hr to 50 km/hr and gusting up to 60 km/hr will prevail over north Bay of Bengal, along and off Odisha coast from Monday evening.

The wind speed will be reaching 50 km/hr to 60 km/hr and gusting up to 70 km/hr from Tuesday evening. Wind speed will further increase, becoming gale and reaching 60 km/hr to 70 km/hr and gusting up to 80 km/hr from Wednesday morning along and off West Bengal and adjoining north Odisha coast.

The regional Met office said the wind speed will increase further and will be reaching 90 km/hr to 100 km/hr and gusting up to 110 km/hr from Wednesday afternoon and the fishermen have been asked not to venture into north Bay of Bengal, along and off Odisha coast between Monday and Thursday.

Private weather forecaster Skymet said, "The previous cyclone Tauktae had a long sea travel and therefore intensified into an extremely severe cyclonic storm (ESCS). The tropical storm once developed over Bay of Bengal on May 24 will barely have 500 km to 600 km of ocean stretch before the coastline. The storm is expected to move north-west towards West Bengal and north Odisha coast and will make landfall on May 26 morning."

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) of the United States, the models and environmental conditions indicate that there is a good chance of development of the disturbance over the next 24 to 48 hours.

"Upper level analysis depicts a favourable environment for development with good equatorward outflow, moderate vertical wind shear and warm sea surface temperature above 30 degree Celsius. Global models are in good agreement that the system will continue to track northward and intensify steadily. The potential for the development of a significant tropical cyclone within the next 24 hours has been upgraded to medium," it added.
By Express News Service

BERHAMPUR: A groom who had tested positive for Covid-19 but tried suppressing the fact was sent to isolation as the administration got wind of the matter at Daseipur village under Sanakhemundi block of Ganjam district on Friday. The wedding, needless to mention, was cancelled.

The local administration along with police reached the marriage venue and took away the groom who was identified as Rajendra Dandia of Daseipur. He has been kept in isolation in a house in the village. The Ganjam administration has made Covid tests of the bride and groom besides their parents mandatory before marriage.

Accordingly, Rajendra underwent Covid test as his wedding ceremony was scheduled to take place on Thursday morning. Before he reached the marriage mandap, his report came positive. But his family members tried to conceal the fact and attempted to go ahead with the marriage. Somehow, the information reached Sanakhemundi block development officer (BDO) Gayatridutta Nayak who reached the venue with tehsildar Srinivas Behera and IIC Sabyasachi Malla.

They stopped the marriage and picked up Rajendra from the venue before putting him under quarantine. The bride has also been kept in isolation in a separate house. As the news of the groom testing positive spread, panic spread among the locals who had come to attend the marriage ceremony and were present at the venue.

Later, the administration seized the food cooked for the marriage party and distributed it among the poor and destitute of the area. Sources said despite the State governments restrictions on the number of attendees in a wedding ceremony and conduct of feast, many families in Ganjam are solemnising marriages in violation of the guidelines.

In a separate incident on the day, the administration fined organisers of a marriage ceremony at a kalyan mandap in Gopinathpur within Hinjili police limits. BDO Subrat Jena with Hinjili IIC Abhimanyu Das raided the venue and seized food cooked for over 1,000 persons. The cooked food was distributed among the poor. A similar feast was stopped at Fasiguda village in Digapahandi block. While the organiser was fined `20,000, the cooked food was served to the needy people.
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday said the health experts committee, with whom he held discussions, has recommended extension of the complete lockdown without any concessions to contain the Covid-19 infection in the state.

"The same view has been conveyed to me during my visits to the districts during the past two days," he added.

Chairing the meeting of the representatives of legislature parties at the secretariat, the Chief Minister said, "We have to announce a decision by 1.00 pm on whether we are extending the complete lockdown or not. So, please convey your views precisely without repeating what others said."

"We have lost many lives since the Covid-19 infection started. Many frontline staff including doctors have succumbed to the virus. We have to put a stop to this," the Chief Minister said on Saturday.

Expressing concern over people moving around unnecessarily even during the lockdown, on the pretext of buying essential commodities, the Chief Minister said "People are wandering around treating the lockdown period as a holiday. They should understand that this infection can only be contained when people take a vow to neither contract it from others nor spread it to other people."

Explaining the steps taken for procuring life saving drugs and equipment during this period, Stalin said, "On the request of the Tamil Nadu government, the Union government has increased oxygen allocation upto 519 metric tonnes. Besides, 100 metric tonnes of oxygen is being received from Odisha. Oxygen is being procured by air and train services too."

"The Tamil Nadu government has held talks with the Maharashtra government for getting 900 metric tonnes of oxygen. An IAS officer is stationed at Maharashtra to ensure this supply." Stalin added.

The Chief Minister said the industries department has made arrangements for importing life saving medical equipment like oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, flow meters etc.

Steps are being taken to procure 2,180 oxygen cylinders from Singapore while CII is taking steps to procure 1,000 oxygen cylinders. Arrangements are being made to procure oxygen from South Korea and other countries as well.

ALSO WATCH:
By Express News Service

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Saturday expressed serious concern over people violating lockdown norms and treating it "as a holiday period". "They should understand that this is the Corona period," he emphasised.

Chairing the meeting of the representatives of the legislature parties at the secretariat, the Chief Minister said, "Breaking the chain of Covid transmission is the key objective and for that reason only complete lockdown was enforced. We have lost many invaluable lives since the Corona infection started. Many frontline staff including doctors have lost their lives while being engaged in the prevention of this infection. We have to put a full stop to this."

Expressing serious concern over people moving around unnecessarily even during the complete lockdown by using the concessions granted to help them buy essential commodities, the Chief Minister said, "This infection can be contained only when people take a vow that they would not either contract this infection from others and also they would not spread this to other people."

Admitting that school and college students have been facing a big crisis ever since Covid arrived, the Chief Minister said they cannot remain closed forever and very soon, the government has to provide education and a good future for the students.

ALSO READ: TN cops come up with novel idea, use 'COVID-19 patient' to frighten lockdown violators

The Chief Minister said the health experts committee and the district administrations had emphasised the need to enforce the lockdown without any concessions. At the health experts committee meeting, Stalin referred to reports that the Corona infections are likely to be at their peak in Tamil Nadu by the end of May or at the beginning of June, and said there was a need to take immediate steps to face this.

Explaining the steps taken for procuring life-saving drugs and equipment during this period, the CM said, "On the request of Tamil Nadu government, the Union government has increased oxygen allocation to 519 metric tonnes. Besides, 100 metric tonnes of oxygen is being received from Odisha and two IAS officers have been stationed in that state to ensure supply. Also, oxygen is being procured by air and train services. The Tamil Nadu government has held talks with the Maharashtra government for getting 900 metric tonnes of oxygen. An IAS officer is stationed at Maharashtra to ensure this supply."

The Chief Minister said the Industries department has made arrangements for importing life-saving medical equipment like oxygen concentrators, oxygen cylinders, flow meters, cryogenic Iso tanks etc.

Steps are being taken to procure 2,180 oxygen cylinders from Singapore while the CII is taking steps to procure 1,000 oxygen cylinders. Also, arrangements are being made to procure oxygen from South Korea, Singapore and other countries.

ALSO READ: How the tech-driven war room in Tamil Nadu is leading the Covid-19 battle

The Chief Minister also pointed out that since there was a delay in getting oxygen from Odisha, he had requested Union Minister Piyush Goyal to allocate 900 metric tonnes of oxygen in addition to the regular supply and the Union Minister has agreed to this.

ALSO SEE:
TOLO News, May 13, 2021

By Tamim Hamid

On the first day of Eid-al-Fitr, at the beginning of a 3-day ceasefire between the Taliban and Afghan forces, explosions in Kandahar and Kunduz provinces killed nine people and injured 17.

Two landmines exploded in Kandahar province--one in Panjwai and the other in Maiwand district--killing seven civilians and wounding three others.

A landmine blast, remote-controlled, in the town of Sardawra in the northern province of Kunduz, killed two people, including a child, and injured 14 others, most of them children.

The blast in the city of Kunduz occurred just hours after the Eid prayers.

A Kunduz resident said: The security forces arrived in the area 40 minutes after the accident occurred, while the Kunduz police headquarters is only 100 meters away from the incident area.

A Muslim does never oppress another Muslim in this way. We grow our children in poverty and miserable conditions, but they become victims very easily. If they (perpetrators) are Muslims, they should never commit such an atrocity against children, said another resident of Kunduz province.

Officials in the Kunduz Provincial Hospital said the injured patients are in a critical state.

Unfortunately, 16 people, who were injured and martyred in the explosion, were taken to the hospital, said Fahim Hussainzada, a physician in Kundozs provincial hospital.

Meanwhile, in Kandahar province, two roadside mines exploded in Panjwai and Maiwand districts, killing seven civilians and wounding three others.

At 9:30 a.m. today a landmine exploded on a taxi, carrying civilians, in Panjwai district. The mine was placed by the Taliban, said Jamal Barakzai, spokesman for the Kandahar police chief.

In the past week, and before the government and the Taliban declared a 3-day ceasefire on Eid al-Fitr, more than a dozen provinces were witnessing heavy clashes between the fighters from the two sides.

Kabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, and Balkh are the provinces that were least secure in the past week.
By Express News Service

THOOTHUKUDI: In a landmark move, the State government on Friday announced the withdrawal of cases filed against members of the public who participated in the agitation against Sterlite Copper. The announcement, coming on the eve of the third anniversary of the Thoothukudi violence, has taken many by surprise.

All cases filed before and after the May 22 mayhem  except for the ones under CBI probe, at the Supreme Court, and relating to damage of public property  have been withdrawn. Based on the recommendations of the Aruna Jegadeesan commission, the government also announced a relief assistance of Rs 1 lakh each to 93 persons who were allegedly tortured by police.

The government has provided a solatium of Rs 2 lakh to the 72-year-old mother of a victim who died in Tirunelveli Prison. It was an emotional moment for those who had been fighting for relief. Rajkumar of Therku Veerapandiapuram, who was booked in 134 cases, told Express that he felt vindicated.

Stalin gives appointment orders to kin of deceased

This removes the guilt and pressure levied on those fighting for a cleaner world, one that is free of pollution caused by industries violating norms, he said. A parent of a BE graduate, who could not find a job due to the cases against him for protesting in anti-Sterlite agitations, said that he is extremely happy as the announcement had salvaged his sons future.

Similarly, many youngsters from the fishermen colonies who were unable to sign in into ships and move abroad due to the cases, have heaved a sigh of relief. The bad omen had moved away from my life, said a 35-year-old seafarer from Trespuram who had nearly 15 cases against him, on the withdrawal of cases. A law graduate Suresh who completed the course in 2018, and unable to register with the Bar association due to the cases related to Sterlite agitations, told TNIE that he is glad that the withdrawal of cases would be helpful to register with bar association and practise law.

 For the past three years despite completing the degree I was unable to practice law and earn a livelihood, he said. Pandarampatti villager, Vasanthi said that they welcome the announcement as a relief and would benefit the public. However, we will be relaxed only when the copper smelter is shut permanently by enacting the special act.

The DMK party, when it was the principal opposition before, had repeatedly said that it will enact a special act through a policy framework to shut the copper smelter in Thoothukudi, she said. Activist and retired professor Fatima Babu, while welcoming the announcements, told TNIE that the state government should be frantic to accelerate the prosecution of Sterlite Copper for its violations and pollution and the officials of Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNTNPCB) who were colluding with the polluting firm for two decades, as per the Madras High Court order came on August 18, 2020.

The liability of the state does not end in providing compensations and relief to the victims of police firing, but also it should necessarily find the guilty of firing. The activists and the public also thanked Chief Minister MK Stalin for announcements, and also the retired justice Aruna Jegadeesan for recommending the essential needs of the public to the state government.

Appointment orders to 17

Chief Minister MK Stalin handed over appointment orders to 17 relatives of the deceased and severely-wounded persons of the Thoothukudi police firing incident, in Madurai on Friday. The third anniversary of the incident which sent shock waves across the country is observed on Saturday (May 22). The previous government, led by Edappadi K Palaniswami, had issued appointment orders to them for the posts of village assistant and cook on compassionate grounds.

Thereafter, they approached the government through Thoothukudi MP Kanimozhi to revise their posting based on their educational qualification. Following this, 16 out of 17 were given posting as junior assistants and one as jeep driver.

All will work in Thoothukudi district. Ministers including Ma Subramaian, PTRTR Thiagarajan, P Moorthy, KR Periakaruppan, MPs Kanimozhi and Su Venkatesan, and Collector Aneesh Sekhar were present at the venue.

Policemen who opened fire are not held yet

Meanwhile, ahead of the third anniversary, public and activists rued that policemen who opened fire at the agitators havent been held accountable yet.

Even though the actions of the newly-formed State government, such as giving education-based jobs for the kin of the deceased and injured, and withdrawal of cases filed against protesters are seen as encouraging signs, people want action against police and revenue officials responsible for the massacre.

Activist M Krishnamurthy said that gunfire happened in broad daylight and police force headed by then South Zone IG Shailesh Kumar Yadav and DIG Kapilkumar Saratkar had brought in specialised shooters.

(With inputs from S Godson Wisely Dass)
By Express News Service

NIZAMABAD: Following the suspicious death of a tribal youngster Malavath Siddartha Nayak, who belonged to Hasakothur village of Kammarpally mandal, the local residents and the family members of the deceased person staged a protest here, on Friday, alleging that the youth was murdered by TRS village committee president K Rajesh and friends. They also attacked Rajeshs house. Meanwhile, sources told Express that the police have already taken the accused persons into custody.

According to villagers, Siddartha Nayak left home on Wednesday and his family members learnt that the victim was no more when Rajesh phoned Nayaks father to inform him that the youngster died of Covid at a private hospital. After noticing the bruises and injuries on Nayaks body, which was sent to the village by Rajesh, on Thursday, villagers suspect that Rajesh and friends killed Nayak as he was in a relationship with the accused persons sister.

Police have registered a case. His final rites were held late on Thursday night. Meanwhile, BJP MP Arvind Dharmapuri spoke with Nayaks father and expressed his condolences. According to sources, the youth was a BJP activist.
By Associated Press

BATON ROUGE: A medical centre in Louisiana said Friday that it has identified the state's first two cases of a COVID-19 variant which has spread widely since being first identified in India.

Britain and the World Health Organisation consider it a variant of concern because experts think it may spread more easily than the original virus, LSU Health Shreveport said in a news release Friday.

The health system said the two samples were among more than 2,600 for which its Center for Emerging Viral Threats has decoded the genome.

That represents 56 per cent of all viral genomic surveillance data from Louisiana, the news release said.

Overall, the lab has processed 331,000 tests, and 7,600 were positive.

That's less than 5 per cent of Louisiana's total tests and less than 2 per cent of the positive tests in the state.

As of Friday, Louisiana has reported 7.3 million tests and 467,800 cases of COVID-19.

At least two other variants have shown up in Louisiana  the one first identified in the United Kingdom and the one first found in Brazil.

LSU Health Shreveport said its lab found that the one first found in England remains dominant in North Louisiana, as in the rest of the United States.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: Observing that the ongoing "catastrophic" second wave of COVID-19 in India is a sign that the worst may be yet to come, the IMF has said that the situation in the country is a warning of the possible events in low- and middle-income nations that have seemingly escaped the pandemic till now.

A report co-authored by International Monetary Fund (IMF) economist Ruchir Agarwal and its Chief Economist Gita Gopinath on Friday also said that under the business-as-usual scenario, the vaccine coverage in India is expected to remain under 35 per cent of the population by the end of 2021.

"The ongoing catastrophic second wave in India, following a terrible wave in Brazil, is a sign the worst may be yet to come in the developing world," it said.

While India's health system held up fairly well in the first wave, this time its health system is so overwhelmed that many people are dying because of a lack of medical supplies like oxygen, hospital beds, and medical care, the report said.

"India is a warning of possible events in other low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) that so far have seemingly escaped the pandemic, including in Africa," it said.

For India, the report said, current bilateral purchases of vaccine plus coverage from COVAX will cover about 25 per cent of its population by the first half of 2022.

To get to 60 per cent coverage, India will need to immediately place sufficient vaccine orders of about 1 billion doses through contracts that incentivise investment in additional capacity and augmentation of the supply chain.

"In this context, the authorities' recently announced financing of about USD 600 million to the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech to boost production capacity in the near term is a welcome step," the report said, adding that authorities estimate that two billion doses will be available by the end of 2021.

Efforts should be made to ensure that the projected production capacity will materialise without delay, including through securing the supply chain for raw materialssupported by international efforts to eliminate export restrictions on all critical inputs, it added.

In its report, the IMF said that an urgent focus should be to eliminate constraints on cross-border exports of critical raw materials and finished vaccines.

Free cross-border flow of vaccine inputs and supplies is essential for the world to achieve its vaccination targets without delay.

Governments are taking steps to relax such constraints on raw materials, it said, citing the recent pledge by the US to facilitate greater access of critical raw material to Indian manufacturers after severe shortages emerged.

However, there is scope for greater multilateral action on this front, as significant constraints still remain, it said.

The IMF report said India continues to face production bottlenecks, including due to ongoing shortages of critical raw materials, suggesting the need for further relaxation of de facto export restrictions under the US Defence Production Act.

Despite such near-term constraints, as of mid-May 2021, the authorities estimate that over two billion doses will be available by the end of the year based on company-level supply projections publicly shared by officials.

"Therefore, while current pre-purchases of vaccines plus coverage from the COVAX AMC remains around 25 per cent, the authorities intend to meet the residual needs through the additional production," it said.

To reach a coverage of 60 per cent of the population, India will need to order roughly one billion doses of additional vaccines.

"Given the authorities are expected to comfortably use domestic resources for meeting these residual needs and are not seeking external financing for these purposes, we do not allocate additional funds for India in our budgeting exercise," the IMF said.

Indian authorities are currently pursuing a strategy of procuring vaccines for those above 45 years of age by the central government while enabling states to procure vaccines for those aged 18-44.

Given the current vaccine pricing offered by domestic suppliers, and the estimated size of the younger population in India, the additional funding needs for the centre for covering the 18-44 population is approximately 0.25 per cent of the GDP, suggesting that there is scope for the government to handle the entire procurement centrally, it said.
By Associated Press

BERLIN: Germany will require people arriving from the UK from Sunday onward to go into quarantine for 14 days.

The decision is a response to the spread of a coronavirus variant first detected in India.

Friday's announcement by the Robert Koch Institute, Germany's national disease control centre, that Britain is being classified as a virus variant area comes a week after it went back on a list of risk areas, which has few consequences under current rules.

From Sunday, airlines and others will only be able to transport German citizens and residents from Britain.

Under current German rules, all people arriving from virus variant areas -- which also include India itself and Brazil -- must spend 14 days in quarantine at home after their arrival.

They cannot cut that period short by testing negative.

People arriving from "risk areas" can avoid a 10-day quarantine by showing a negative test result, and fully vaccinated people arriving from those countries don't need either to test or quarantine.

Germany is gradually moving to open up more areas of public life as the latest wave of virus infections subsides and its vaccination campaign gathers pace.
By PTI

WASHINGTON: President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain "deeply concerned" about the situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed "America's return" to the world stage and said both leaders pledged to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Biden said he was dispatching career diplomat Sung Kim, who previously served as ambassador to South Korea, to serve as the special envoy to the region.

Moon said the move by Biden "reflects the firm commitment of the US for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea."

Moon came to Washington seeking renewed diplomatic urgency by the US on curbing North Korea's nuclear program, even as the White House signaled that it is taking a longer view on the issue.

High on Biden's list for the meeting as well: coordination in vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security concerns spurred by China.

Their meeting was only Biden's second in-person session with a foreign leader because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Moon said after the meeting the two had "a very frank dialogue like old friends" and emphasized the need for cooperation on security issues in the region.

"The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula," he said.

Moon said the two "reaffirmed the strength" of the nations' alliance and "affirmed the common vision for developing it into an even stronger one."

Their formal talks in the afternoon ran long, Biden said in earlier remarks, noting his staff interrupted repeatedly to warn they were over time.

"But I enjoyed the meeting so much that it caused us to move everything back," Biden said, as he highlighted the two countries' "long history of shared sacrifice."

Moon said "The world is welcoming America's return," an oblique reference to former President Donald Trump's attempts to disengage on some aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy and Biden would veer from the strategies of his two most recent predecessors, rejecting both Trump's deeply personal effort to win over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Barack Obama's more hands-off approach.

But the administration has yet to detail what its third-way effort to try to prod the North to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

Moon started his day at the White House complex by meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top Biden advisers.

Moon also participated in a Medal of Honor ceremony for Ralph Puckett, a 94-year-old Army veteran who was celebrated for his gallantry during the Korean War more than 70 years ago.

"Without the sacrifice of veterans including Colonel Puckett ...freedom and democracy we enjoy today couldn't have blossomed in Korea," said Moon, who hailed Puckett as "true hero."

Moon, who will leave office next May, is eager to resume stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang and between Seoul and Pyongyang.

But the Biden administration, which confirmed in March that it had made outreach efforts to the North without success, has been less enthusiastic about the idea of direct negotiations in the near term.

Asked Thursday whether Biden was open to holding direct talks with Kim, as Trump did twice, press secretary Jen Psaki demurred.

"I don't expect that to be top on his agenda," she said of Biden.

Still, Moon made clear before the meeting that he would nudge Biden to renew diplomatic efforts with the North.

"I will not be pressed by time or become impatient during the remainder of my term," Moon told reporters this month.

"However, if there is an opportunity to restart the clock of peace and advance the peace process on the Korean Peninsula, I will do everything I can."

A senior administration official, who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and briefed reporters on Moon's visit on the condition of anonymity, sidestepped questions about whether the administration was willing to offer North Korea sanctions relief to begin dismantling its nuclear and ballistic weapons programs.

The official said the US was hoping to chart a "flexible" way forward, well aware of where past efforts went awry.

Biden was also expected to use the meeting to press South Korea to adopt a more ambitious 2030 target for curbing carbon emissions and to urge Seoul to do more to counter China's growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Moon was expected to seek Biden's assistance with helping South Korea boost its coronavirus vaccine supply.

South Korea has vaccinated only about 5% of its population.

Biden also wanted Moon to take a strong stance on China's activity toward Taiwan and other provocative moves Beijing has made in the region.

Biden has sought to rally Pacific allies to coordinate on China, which Biden sees as the United States' fiercest economic competitor.

Biden, in the early going of his presidency, has spoken out about concerns with Beijing's trade policies and human rights record and has also highlighted regional allies' concerns about an increasingly assertive Chinese military.

Biden has taken note of Japan's concerns that China's growing military activity and broad territorial claims present a security threat.

Japan is locked in a dispute with China over Beijing's claim to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in China, in the East China Sea.

He's also looked to strengthen relations with India, which has been tested by a military standoff with China along the border in eastern Ladakh.

But South Korea could be more reluctant to speak out about China, an important trading partner that it also sees as key in dealing with the Kim regime.

Moon told reporters at the leaders' joint press conference after their meeting that "there was not pressure" on the issue applied by Biden.

Michael Green, who served as senior director for Asia on the National Security Council during the George W.

Bush administration, said South Korea's situation is difficult.

"This South Korean policy of strategic ambiguity is proving increasingly awkward and almost untenable for Seoul because other middle powers that are not the US or Japan ...are adjusting their China policies," said Green, who is senior vice president for Asia and Japan Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Moon on Thursday visited Arlington National Cemetery just outside Washington and laid a wreath at a memorial to Americans killed during the Korean War.

He also visited the US Capitol to meet with Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
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CEUTA, Spain (AP)  Residents of Spain's multi-ethnic city of Ceuta are used to being in the news every time the fragile alliance between Spain and Morocco shakes up.

For many Ceutis," as locals are known, that comes with being a speck of a European nation in North Africa. The city is culturally closely intertwined with Morocco, with Muslims making over 40% of its population, but also separated from it by high perimeter fences that set apart the two extremes of poverty and prosperity.

But when relations hit a two-decade low this week over Spain's help to one of Morocco's top enemies, Ceutis" confronted the sudden arrival of thousands of African migrants with sympathy, concern and in some cases hostility.

In one neighborhood, Muslim women, moved by the plight of young Moroccan men, gathered in a traditional house to sort out and distribute donated clothes. They also cooked food and offered migrants sleeping in the streets a place to shower.

The women said the migrants could be their children  and that their plight brought memories of past times when the migrant flow was in the opposite direction.

I remember my mother telling me they were migrating too, people didnt have anything to eat and were going to Morocco," said 75-year-old Aisha Ali Mohammed, who was among those sorting through garments. Now they are migrating here.

Dozens of migrants gathered for respite outside of Nawal Ben Chalout's family home, where she had shifted around to give shelter to three young men.

"The boys are very confused, very scared, I talk to them and they ask for food," Ben Chalout said, adding that her neighbors were also opening their doors to offer a place to sleep and eat. "Sometimes they dont even want food. They have questions, they want information.

A dozen Ceuta residents and migrants attended the funeral Saturday of a Moroccan teenager who died on May 17 while trying to swim across the border from Morocco with thousands of other migrants and asylum-seekers.

Members of the local Muslim community washed the victims body, wrapped it in white shrouds and chanted prayers before burying it in a Ceuta cemetery according to religious customs.

Solidarity with migrants in Ceuta has not been unanimous. Several migrants spoke of attacks by groups of locals at night as they slept in the streets or fields.

Fouad, an Algerian man who was in Morocco and crossed into Ceuta earlier this week, said armed men woke him up pointing a gun at him. They beat him and others with a stick, used pepper spray on him and took his phone and money.

One migrant was taken to hospital after the beating, said Fouad, who declined to give his last name for fear of reprisal and deportation.

Of the 8,000 migrants who arrived in just 48 hours in the city of 85,000, Spanish authorities have since expelled 7,000 to Morocco. The Spanish government says around 800 of those who remain in Ceuta are minors.

The migrant influx was a reminder of the inequality between the two sides. While per capita gross domestic product in 2019 was $30,000 on the Spanish side, it drops to $3,200 across the border, according to the World Bank.

But the bustling businesses of Spain's Ceuta and Fnideq, the closest Moroccan town, have taken a big hit during the pandemic. With the border closed, over 30,000 workers who used to commute across it daily have been jobless for much of the past year.

Even before the pandemic hit, nationalist voices in Rabat were reviving old claims on Ceuta and Melilla, Spain's second coastal enclave in North Africa.

That has fueled anti-Moroccan sentiment in Ceuta, a feeling tapped into by Spain's new far-right party Vox, which became the city's most popular party in Spain's 2019 vote.

Vox has referred to the influx of migrants as an invasion," but the term has been also used by some conservatives, including the autonomous city's president, Juan Jesus Vivas.

His government said more than half of the city's children skipped school on Tuesday because their parents feared instability in the streets and some shops closed, fearing looting from cashless migrants.

But Fouad and others directed their anger at the Moroccan government for using them as pawns in the diplomatic impasse with Spain.

The government in Rabat has denied that it loosened border control to allow the migrants to cross, blaming it on the weather and the post-Ramadan exhaustion of its border guards. It has also criticized Spain for providing COVID-19 treatment to Brahim Ghail, the head of the Polisario Front that is fighting to make Western Sahara independent of Morocco, which annexed it in the 1970s.

This was not improvised, it was planned. Morocco benefits by sending us, said an 18-year-old Moroccan who crossed into Ceuta and feared deportation if his identity was published. We are Moroccos experiment, we are like lab rats."

The man told how he had lost his mother years ago in a stampede at the Ceuta border, where many women earned their living as porters before authorities closed the border.

Many from Morocco said they wanted to reach mainland Spain to find work and stability. Yaser, a 26-year-old from Tetouan, said those he knew brought skills and education with them.

We have boys with lots of education, baccalaureates, lots of diplomas, but they dont have work, he said. That is the basis of all the problems, work, rights, good life ... that is all people want.

___

Follow APs global migration coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/migration
Reuters, May 15, 2021

An explosion inside a mosque on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 12 people during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the Eid al-Fitr holiday during a ceasefire.

The Taliban insurgent group, which declared the three-day truce for the holiday, condemned the attack in a statement.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday through its Nasheer news agency on Telegram.

Ferdous Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police, said the mosque's Imam was among the 12 dead and at least 15 people were wounded in the blast in the capital's Shakar Dara district.

The blast came less than a week after an explosion at a school killed 80 people, most of them schoolgirls from the ethnic Hazara Shi'ite Muslim minority. The Taliban also denounced that attack and no one claimed responsibility.

U.S. officials believe the attack on the school may have been the work of a rival militant group such as Islamic State. Such groups have not signed on to the holiday ceasefire.

Violence, including attacks on civilians, has increased in Afghanistan even as the United States has begun an operation to withdraw all its remaining troops over the next four months.

There have been no major reports so far of direct fighting between government forces and the Taliban during the holiday ceasefire, which began on Thursday at the end of the Ramadan fasting month. However, roadside bombings have continued with at least 11 civilians reported killed and 13 wounded in four bombings on Thursday.

The government and the Taliban have been holding political talks to try to end their conflict as Washington pulls its troops out 20 years after U.S. bombing forced the Taliban from power. Both sides at the talks have accused the other of provoking and failing to halt attacks against civilians.

"Todays attack on a mosque in Shakar Dara district of Kabul during Friday prayer is completely opposing the idea of Eid al-Fitr as a family holiday celebrated in peace," the European Union's mission in Afghanistan said on Twitter.
ROANOKE, Va. (AP)  McDonald Kearney stepped out of a van and into the parking lot of Trust House, holding a backpack full of his belongings.

About a month ago, Kearney was living in a mold-infested condominium in North Carolina, dealing with an alcohol addiction and people in his life who had him pointed in the wrong direction. Even so, the Army veteran, 71, said it wasnt easy to accept that he needed a fresh start.

Im accustomed to being self-sufficient, he said, but the area that I was in was not conducive to my recovery, maintaining sanity.

Operated by ARCH Services, a Roanoke nonprofit dedicated to addressing addiction and homelessness, Trust House reserves about half of its beds for veterans. However, until last week, the shelter and recovery center on Elm Avenue had been repurposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Starting in April 2020 and ending earlier this month, the city of Roanoke used federal and state COVID relief funds to run a program that put homeless people who were at high risk from the virus into hotel rooms. ARCH Services oversaw that program, and as part of that arrangement, used Trust House as a place to quarantine homeless clients who tested positive or were awaiting test results.

If they were homeless and they were positive they were here, said Rachel Geary, development manager for ARCH. If they were homeless and awaiting a test result, they were here. Everybody that was negative, or did not have exposure, was moved to the hotels at that point, not only our clients but other homeless individuals.

ARCH Services was created in 2016 by a merger of Trust House and Bethany Hall, a shelter for women recovering from addiction, with a program specifically tailored for pregnant women. The two shelters, both founded in 1970, lie within a 10 minute walk of each other. Trust House shelters up to 29, with 15 beds dedicated to veterans, while Bethany Hall houses 14.

The hotel program for the homeless stretched ARCHs resources thin, with less than 10 case managers to provide services to as many as 90 clients. We were isolating them in those hotel rooms, and providing case management, meals, and all of the normal services that we would here at Trust House, Geary said.

By October, ARCH was dealing with too many people who had tested positive for COVID-19 to fit in Trust House, so then we moved them to a different hotel, because they were able to be isolated still at that point and recover, Geary said.

Annie Harvey, who became interim executive director of ARCH in January, pushed to get the empty shelter ready for clients to return. This included a long overdue renovation of the 100-year-old buildings front porch. An initial repair estimate of $33,000 ballooned to more than $100,000 with the discovery of extensive damage.

The contractor, Roanoke firm Building Specialists Inc., put ARCH in touch with city officials. The nonprofit successfully applied for a grant funded with federal COVID relief money, which paid for the rebuilt porch.

Starting May 7, Trust House began checking in clients two at a time. The admission process went slowly and meticulously because of extensive hygiene protocols that had to be followed. Yellow streamers hung in doorways as a sign of welcoming.

ARCH aims to have Trust House back at full capacity by June 30.

For any veteran to come into Trust House, they have to meet the definition of homelessness, said Amanda Saoit, a clinical social worker with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who acts as liaison between Trust House and the VA hospital in Salem.

Now that were back in the physical Trust House, Im making it a point to be here at least once a week, Saoit said. For her clients, that makes it easier for them to get access to me and to talk to me and just get an update on how things are doing.

Soon after his arrival, Kearney settled his belonging on a freshly made bed in a dorm room on the upper floor of Trust House. It provides a safe haven, and I look at it as a rescue, he said.

One of Kearneys roommates, Stephen Pruett, 56, was about to have lunch. Pruett joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1983 and served for a decade, departing as a Sergeant E5.

Both Kearney and Pruett had spent two weeks in motel rooms before coming to Trust House. Its Pruetts second time staying there. He has struggled in the past with drug addiction, though hes been clean since August 2019, he said. More recently, he has struggled with depression.

I knew to go to the VA and check myself in before things got worse, Pruett said. I got back on my meds and got treatment. Amanda, my social worker, shes helped me in every way, shes the one that got me back into Trust House.

Trust Houses resources will let Pruett look for a job and new housing, he said. I know these people have put me on the right track.
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Pikeville, KY (41501)

Today

Chance of an isolated thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Chance of an isolated thunderstorm early, then variable clouds overnight with more showers at times. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Reporter

Debra Pressey is a reporter covering health care at The News-Gazette. Her email is dpressey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@DLPressey).
One of Editor & Publishers 10 That Do It Right 2021
Reporter

Mary Schenk is a reporter covering police, courts and breaking news at The News-Gazette. Her email is mschenk@news-gazette.com, and you can follow her on Twitter (@schenk).
Organizers of an event today to say thanks to Champaign Police Officer Jeffrey Creel are expecting a big turn out. It will be held from 5:30-7 p.m. at Grace Church, Mahomet, and everyone is invited.
abc News, May 20, 2021

By TAMEEM AKHGAR

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Roadside bombings in southern and central Afghanistan killed 13 people, including nine members of one family, officials said Thursday. Meanwhile, militants stopped a bus in western Afghanistan, ordered three men to get out and shot and killed them.

No one has claimed responsibility for the latest attacks. The three men on the bus were ethnic Hazaras. The government blamed the Taliban, who denied responsibility. Previous attacks on Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite Muslims, have been claimed by the Islamic State group.

Large swaths of war-ravaged Afghanistan have been littered with bombs and land mines. Many have been planted by insurgents to target military convoys but often kill civilians instead.

One of the two bombs struck a car carrying a family of 12 in southern Helmand province late on Wednesday, said provincial police spokesman Zaman Hamdarad. Several of the nine family members who died were children, he said.

The vehicle was travelling to the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah when it struck the bomb. The Nad Ali district where the explosion occurred is under Taliban control and Hamdarad said it is difficult to get information. Three wounded children were taken to the provincial hospital in Lashkar Gah, he said.

A second roadside bombing, in central Ghor province, destroyed a motorcycle carrying a family of four, all of whom were killed, said the province's governor, Abdul Zahir Faizzada.

Meanwhile, the Taliban earlier this week said Afghan fighter jets bombed a health clinic in area the insurgents control in northern Baghlan province. A video circulated by the Taliban showed a partially damaged mud and brick building, typical of rural Afghanistan. The Taliban said one patient was killed and 18 other people were hurt, including two doctors.

The government said it was targeting insurgents and claimed to have destroyed Taliban compounds.

The United Nations has repeatedly demanded both sides take more precautions to protect civilians. In the first three months of this year, the U.N. mission in Afghanistan said 1,783 civilians had been killed or wounded in Afghanistan, up 29% over the same period last year.
In a recent Facebook post by the Willoughby Police Department, light was shed on a variety of safety practices that may lessen the chances of 
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Researchers at Canadian biotechnology company Medicago report that Phase 1 trials of a plant-based vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 are underway and showing promise.

The team, led by Dr. Brian Ward, professor of Medicine and Microbiology at McGill University, Canada, has published data from an initial clinical trial study in which 180 adults aged between 18 and 55 were injected with a plant-produced virus-like particle (VLP). The trial indicates that this novel VLP developed to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative agent of COVID-19 disease, shows strong immunogenic properties and no serious adverse effects.

The research paper is available to read at Nature Medicine.

The SARS-CoV-2 virus is now responsible for over 165 million cases globally. Since the World Health Organization classified the disease as a pandemic almost 18 months ago, 180 vaccine candidates have been developed, 12 of which have been given authorization for vaccine use.

In this new study, Ward and colleagues describe their new plant-based vaccine candidate that has successfully navigated phase 1 human trials.

The vaccine is produced by inserting the SARS-CoV-2 protein into the nuclei of benthi plants (Nicotiana benthamiana, commonly found in Australia). This is then transfected into a bacterial cell (Agrobacterium tumefaciens) to use as a vector. These cells are then injected into the bloodstream, where they express the S protein to stimulate the immune system.

The research tested this compound in three different magnitudes (3.75 g, 7.5 g, and 15 g), each either adjuvanted with CpG1018, AS03, or without an adjuvant. CpG 1018 and AS03 are compounds commonly added to vaccines to induce a more robust immune response by the body.

All participants received their second dosage 21 days after their first and were sampled again on day 42 (after initial injection). As expected, the addition of either CpG 1018 or AS03 adjuvants did aid and increase the immunogenic response exhibited by the body, particularly so with AS03.

Only mild adverse effects were observed in portions of the sample in all test groups, with roughly two-thirds of each group experiencing mild pain at the injection site after receiving the first dosage, and a fifth reported experiencing headaches or fatigue. In the subsequent second dose, this remained about the same, although reports of fatigue and headache increased to a third. However, all adverse effects were noted to be mild to moderate, with no serious effects taking place.

The aim of this study was to determine the best dosage and adjuvant combination to boost immunity. Based on their results, a two-dose schedule with a concentration of 3.75 g in addition to ASO3 showed the best results, and these results have since advanced to phase 2/3 trials in Canada and the United States.

These results are promising, highlighting yet another diverse tool in our arsenal against the spread of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
A Place for All Conservatives to Speak Their Mind.
Free access to essential medicines increases patient adherence to taking medication by 35 per cent and reduces total health spending by an average of over $1,000 per patient per year, according to a two-year study that tested the effects of providing patients with free and convenient access to a carefully selected set of medications.

The findings, published May 21 in PLOS Medicine, come as advocates urge Canada to carve a path toward single-payer, public pharmacare. Canada is the only country with universal healthcare that does not have a universal pharmacare program.

A group of researchers led by St. Michael's Hospital of Unity Health Toronto recruited a total of 786 patients across nine primary care sites in Ontario who reported cost-related non-adherence to medications. Most of the study participants were recruited from St. Michael's Department of Family and Community Medicine and others were recruited from three rural sites. Participants were randomized into two groups - half received free medications via mail, the other half had their usual access to medications.

Two years into the study, adherence to all appropriate prescribed medicines was 35 per cent higher in the free distribution group compared with the group that had usual access to medications. Free distribution of medication also showed to reduce healthcare costs, including hospitalization, by an average of $1,222 per patient per year.

The cost savings are substantial, but they are less important than people simply being able to afford taking lifesaving medications." Dr. Nav Persaud, Study Lead Author and Scientist, Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute, St. Michael's Hospital

"This is the first study of providing people with free access to a comprehensive set of medicines, and hopefully it will be the last one needed before policy changes," said Dr. Persaud, who is also a family physician at St. Michael's Hospital.

In June 2019, the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare recommended a universal, single-payer, public pharmacare, estimating such a program would save Canada an estimated $5 billion per year. The report cited a list of medicines like the one used in the CLEAN Meds study as "a starting point" for determining which drugs all Canadians should have free access to.

The CLEAN Meds Trial focused on 128 essential medicines, adapted from the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines and removed treatments not needed in Canada. The medicines in the study included treatments for acute conditions, such as antibiotics and pain relievers, as well as chronic conditions, such as antipsychotics and HIV-AIDS medications.

The paper is the final result of the CLEAN Meds Trial. Preliminary results of the trial after one year of free medication indicated improved adherence, improvements in some health outcomes, and that free distribution of essential medicines led to a 160 per cent increase in the likelihood of participants being able to make ends meet.
Pollution affects us all, from the air we breathe, to the water we drink, to the food we eat. Sometimes it may not be very noticeable that we're breathing in polluted air, for example, but pollution is actually the largest environmental cause of multiple mental and physical diseases, as well as premature deaths, particularly amongst children, people with certain medical conditions and elderly citizens.

In Europe, noise pollution is the type of pollution most commonly complained about by citizens, but odour pollution is also a regular bugbear for many. However, it is poor air quality that is arguably the most pressing environmental challenge in many European countries - according to one 2018 report from the European Environment Agency (EEA), poor air quality is responsible for over 400000 premature deaths in the EU each year.

From a social perspective, pollution in all of its various guises does not affect everyone equally. People who live in poorer, more deprived areas tend to be more exposed to pollutants, as these areas are often located close to contaminated sites or near traffic-heavy road arteries.

The EU already has stringent environmental regulations that aim to tackle all major pollutants in order to benefit human health and preserve biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, the latter of which is a major EU ambition under its far-reaching European Green Deal. Specifically, the new EU Zero Pollution Action Plan, an important element of the Green Deal, is due to be formally adopted during spring 2021. This Action Plan aims to create a toxic-free environment across the EU by monitoring, reporting, preventing and - where necessary - remedying pollution from air, water, soil and consumer products.

In this month's special feature, we meet seven EU-funded projects under the Horizon 2020 programme that have been at the forefront of efforts to tackle the scourge of environmental pollutants, including air, odour, marine and tap water contaminants.

Other topics in this edition include the following highlights:
Jeffersonville, IN (47130)

Today

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
In this undated photo provided by Deborah Williams, a vervet monkey is seen in Dania Beach, Fla. Williams, is the lead author of a study that determined that a colony of monkeys in urban South Florida came from a group of monkeys that escaped from the Dania Chimpanzee Farm in 1948. (Deborah Williams via AP)

In this undated photo provided by Deborah Williams, a vervet monkey is seen in Dania Beach, Fla. Williams, is the lead author of a study that determined that a colony of monkeys in urban South Florida... (Deborah Williams via AP)
(Newser)  A Jewish man headed toward a pro-Israel rally over the current conflict in the Gaza Strip was beaten by a mob in New York City's Times Square earlier this week, with the relentless attack continuing for what the New York Daily News describes as "four terrifying minutes." Police say five or six men descended upon 29-year-old Joseph Borgen at around 6:30pm Thursday as he walked alone on Broadway, near 49th Street. Video shot by a bystander shows a portion of the assault from across the street, as the attackers can be seen kicking and hitting Borgen with various objects. "They were macing me for like a minute straight," Borgen, who says he was wearing his yarmulke, tells CBS New York, adding that the men also yelled antisemitic slurs at him. "Kicked me, punched me, beat me with crutches, hit me with flags." Borden says he couldn't see for hours afterward from the pepper spray, and he says he also has a concussion and is covered in bruises.

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"I'm generally sore and hurt," Borgen tells the Daily News. "But I want to say I'm a little thankful, because I saw the video and I could have died." Mayor Bill de Blasio, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, and the Anti-Defamation League have all decried the attack, with de Blasio calling it "absolutely disgusting and unacceptable." NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force says one man, 23-year-old Waseem Awawdeh, has already been arrested, accused of using a crutch to beat Borgen. Awawdeh has been charged with hate crime assault, gang assault, menacing, and criminal possession of a weapon. Borgen tells FOX 5 he has just one message to everyone in the wake of the attack: "Everyone get along. ... What happened yesterday is not the answer to anyone's problems." He adds to CNN, "Nothing in my life has ever made me want to do that to anybody." The task force says it's investigating the incident further and is asking anyone with information to call 1-800-577-TIPS. (Read more Jews stories.)
(Newser)  A white Connecticut teen has been arrested for a racist social media post about a Black classmate, a move supporters of civil rights are applauding. However, some free speech proponents, including the ACLU, have questioned the move as a potential infringement of the boy's First Amendment rights. Per the AP, the 16-year-old student in a classroom at Fairfield Warde High School allegedly took a photo of Jamar Medor, 16, and posted it on Snapchat on May 7 with a caption that included a racial slur and racist comments. According to Medor's mother, the post went so far as to ask "Why is he not in chains?" per CNN. The white teen, who is a juvenile and has not been named, was charged with breach of peace and with "ridicule on account of creed, religion, color, denomination, nationality or race," per the Hartford Courant.

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That second charge is what has some experts worried. The misdemeanor dating back to 1917 has been called an unconstitutional infringement on free speech rights by the ACLU of Connecticut and some law school professors. While it is common for students to be disciplined by school officials for such comments, it is unusual for students to be arrested for what they say on social media if it does not involve threats, incitement or a pattern of harassment. Despite the boy's arrest, Medor's mother says the family continues to feel unsafe. She told CNN that one week after the initial incident, her younger son received a FaceTime call in which the caller called him the N-word before hanging up and that the incidents have her considering installing a security system in their home.

(Read more Snapchat stories.)
Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., arrives as the House Republican Conference meets to elect a new chairman to replace Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who was ousted from the GOP leadership for her criticism of former President Donald Trump, at the Capitol in Washington, Friday, May 14, 2021. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., arrives as the House Republican Conference meets to elect a new chairman to replace Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., who was ousted from the GOP leadership for her criticism of former... (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
(Newser)  What could help bring about the downfall of North Korea if they're not reined in, according to state media? Mullets and skinny jeans, among other thingswhich is why Kim Jong Un has apparently banned them, reports Yahoo News. The outlet cites a recent editorial in the state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official paper of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, which says Kim's decree essentially outlaws the slim-fit pants (torn jeans are also a no-no in Kim's eyes, per the New York Daily News) and the mullet haircut, which features shorter hair in the front and longer hair in the backnot one of the 15 alternative haircuts allowed in North Korea. The mandate was reportedly issued due to the leader's fears that the Western world's "decadent" influence would affect young people in his country and threaten his regime, the editorial notes.

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"History teaches us a crucial lesson that a country can become vulnerable and eventually collapse like a damp wall, regardless of its economic and defense power, if we do not hold on to our own lifestyle," the editorial reads. "We must be wary of even the slightest sign of the capitalistic lifestyle and fight to get rid of them." The Daily Express reported last week that Kim has also banned spiked and dyed hair, as well as T-shirts with slogans on them and nose and lip piercings. The paper notes that these "draconian" measures come against the backdrop of Pyongyang officials also pushing back against pop music, including K-pop bands like South Korea's BTS. A propaganda website for the North Korean regime claims members in these types of groups are "treated as slaves after being robbed of their body, mind, and soul by the heads of vicious and corrupt art-related conglomerates." (Read more Kim Jong Un stories.)
(Newser)  A Utah man who authorities say filmed himself and others during the Jan. 6 US Capitol riots and went on to sell footage of the shooting death of rioter Ashli Babbitt won't end up profiting, after all. Federal authorities have seized $90,000 from John Earle Sullivan, the amount he's believed to have made from video of Babbitt being killed as she attempted to breach the doors to the hallway outside the House chambers where congresspeople were sheltering during the attack, per Reuters.

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Though he claims to have been a documentarian who was at the Capitol as an "activist and journalist" per Deseret News , US officials have now charged him with eight criminal counts that include weapons charges related to the riot. He's one of over 440 people who've been charged in the wake of the attack by Donald Trump supporters, which left Babbitt and four others dead. In court filings seen by Reuters, Sullivan is accused of boasting about the now seized footage being "worth like a million of dollars, millions of dollars." He reportedly sold the footage to multiple news outlets, the names of which were redacted from the warrant.

(Read more Capitol attack stories.)
(Newser)  Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City on Saturday in a defiant show of strength after the militants' 11-day war with Israel. Wearing military camouflage, the fighters walked past the mourning tent for Bassem Issa, a senior commander killed in the fighting. The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, paid his respects in his first public appearance since the war began. Israel bombed the house of Sinwar, along with that of other senior Hamas figures, as part of its attack on what it said was the group's military infrastructure. Israel's defense minister, Benny Gantz, has said that Israel delivered a punishing blow to Hamas, and that top Hamas figures remained targets. Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce. In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the AP reports, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

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Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory. The war has further sidelined Hamas' main political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas' popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem. On Friday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. "Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out," they shouted. It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinianswhether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israelover the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years. Despite his weakened status, Abbas will be the point of contact for any US diplomacy, since Israel and the West, including the US, consider Hamas a terrorist organization. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week.

(Read more Gaza Strip stories.)
The film tells the story of mother of two Bunny King, a rough-cut diamond with a sketchy past. While battling the system to reunite with her children, a confrontation leads her to take her niece Tonyah under her wing.

With the world against her and Tonyah, Bunny's battle has just begun.

"Films like this simply do not get made without the generosity and passion of many. The Justice of Bunny King is a film that celebrates the courage of ordinary women facing extraordinary struggles, and I look forward to bringing it home for the women of Aotearoa who inspired it," said Thavat.

Davis added: "I think it's a really important story and one that gives a voice to people who are often not heard. Bunny is a woman full of life and full of fury who will never give up on her children."

Commenting on what drew her to the project, McKenzie said: "I'm attracted to stories that mean something and that are worth telling. I knew that it was a female lead and it was using a female director, and director of photography, editor, producer, writer and so was really attracted to that power it had behind it."

The year 2021 is shaping up to be a barnstormer for McKenzie. She has a starring role in British director Edgar Wright's latest film Last Night in Soho along with roles in M Night Shyamalan's Old and Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog.

The Justice of Bunny King will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Fim Festival in New York later this month and will open in New Zealand cinemas on July 29.
A number of Kiwis deemed 'probable' cases of COVID-19 probably never had the disease, a new study has found.

Researchers looking at the Southland outbreak - the country's largest in early 2020 - initially wanted to figure out how many cases might have been missed.

In April, a separate study found 0.1 percent of Kiwis had antibodies to the virus - suggesting there may have been twice as many cases as health authorities have confirmed.

The Southland study saw 1214 people undergo blood tests between June and August last year, between four and 10 weeks after the last known community case in the region. Of that group, 78 were confirmed COVID-19 cases and nine probable. The remaining 1127 were considered high-risk for contracting the virus, eg. frontline workers.
By RNZ



Light pollution is one of the great environmental catastrophes of the past half-century, all the more insidious because many people are blissfully unaware of the problem, says renowned astronomer John Hearnshaw.

Astrotourism is a fast-growing niche tourism industry worldwide, and New Zealand, which has five Dark Sky sanctuaries, is playing a leading role.

Prof Hearnshaw has just launched the Aotearoa Astrotourism Academy, a school to train aspiring astrotourism guides. He is also poised to release the New Zealand Dark Sky Handbook, a manual for people interested in the protection of dark skies.

Globally light pollution is increasing at a level of 2 percent a year, so skies are getting brighter, he said.

Light pollution is making people sick and affecting the environment, said Prof Hearnshaw.

"It's making people sick because blue light from the new LED street lights is disrupting our hormones and especially melatonin and melatonin is only produced at night in the absence of blue light."

He said there is a lot of "light trespass", where street lights shine through people's bedroom windows - which is very detrimental to their health.

"It's well known that if you disrupt your hormones with blue light then it increases hypertension, it causes depression, it can even lead to suicidal tendencies so blue light at night is very serious."

He said although any blue light can cause health problems, "the real villain is the new LED, that's light-emitting diode, street lights which have a high blue component".

They are replacing mainly high-pressure sodium lights which have a very orange colour with very little blue, he said.

Prof Hearnshaw said that is happening because LED lights can produce a lot of light for not very much electricity and they require little maintenance.

But he said they should be replaced with a new type of LED called the phosphor-converted amber LED.

"It turns quite a lot, but not all, of the blue light into more yellow light, so they're the warmer more orange coloured LEDs which are now available."

This more orange type of LED is installed in the Mackenzie District around Lake Tekapo and Mt John Observatory, Prof Hearnshaw said.

He said originally that was in an effort to combat light pollution because it is bad for astronomy and Mt John Observatory is very close to Tekapo village.

Prof Hearnshaw said a lighting ordinance was introduced to the Mackenzie District Council's district plan to help astronomy, but light pollution is often now being combated because people recognise its environmental and human health damage.

"But most of New Zealand, and indeed most of the world, are getting blue-rich LEDs."

He said although these should be replaced with the more orange type of LED that is unlikely to happen.

The LED lights can be dimmed or switched off by a central computer control system and if they were dimmed it would lessen the light pollution, he said.
Seven thousand New Zealand soldiers were stationed on the Greek Island of Crete when Nazi soldiers invaded in 1941. At 102 years old, Wilson thinks of that bloody battle often.

"What I saw, you would never see in a lifetime."

Wilson is one of just three Kiwi veterans from the battle still living.

"Commemorations are always going to take place but with them around this is maybe the last time that we'll actually see them," said George Neonakis, the Consul of Greece in New Zealand.

More than 2000 Kiwi soldiers were taken as prisoners of war and many were injured, including Evan Nathan's father, who fought in the Maori Battalion.

Nathan wore his father's medals on Saturday.

"He was shot just below his right eye and the bullet came out in front of his ear," said Evan.

Amazingly his father survived that and went on to meet his wife in Greece before moving back here to start a family.

Proof that from fighting, came a long-lasting bond between Greece and New Zealand.

"I think it was a really important milestone in our relationship and it forged bonds that will never be forgotten," said Grant Robertson, the Deputy Prime Minister.

Wilson was among those welcomed to Parliament on Saturday, meeting ministers. But he'd trade all the ceremony in to have his buddies back.

"They're all gone and that speaks for itself. I'd rather have my cobbers back."

Friends from the battlefield who weren't present 80 years on, but were in everyone's thoughts.
A low-pressure system northeast of New Zealand is forecast to bring very strong southeasterly winds and heavy swells for the east coast of the North Island.

MetService says it's rapidly deepening - and even meeting the 'weather bomb' criteria.

And now new graphics show the size of the system as it rages towards New Zealand.
ACT leader David Seymour wants parliamentary terms extended to four years, to give the Government of the day "time to implement its agenda".

"The current three year cycle is relatively short by international standards and limits the ability of a Government to adopt a longer term approach, implementing the agenda it was elected on," he said.

Seymour has introduced a Member's Bill to change the existing three-year to four from 2026.

"Even a prepared Government needs time to implement its agenda which involves robust policy work, consulting the people affected, drafting laws, passing them through parliament, and implementing them. Doing that in a three year cycle is difficult and results in poorer law-making."

The catch is, select committees would have to be controlled by the Opposition - not the Government.

"Simply extending the term of Parliament bears a risk of overweighting the powers of the executive branch of Government without necessarily assisting in good policy making. It is important to enhance the accountability that can be imposed on the executive by the legislature.

"People were captivated by the Epidemic Response Committee, and not just because they couldnt leave their home during lockdown. They saw a select committee with an opposition majority and an opposition chair. It asked questions they wanted answers to, and calling witnesses the Government would have preferred not to hear from."
Greta Thunberg has called out China for fat-shaming her in a scathing article where she was mocked and labelled an "environmental princess".

In the article, published last week by the China Daily, a news outlet owned by the ruling communist party, the climate change activist was teased over her weight.

"Although she claims to be vegetarian, judging from the results of her growth, her carbon emissions are actually not low," said the writer, Tang Ge.

Thunberg, 18, shared the article to Twitter on Saturday saying that being "fat-shamed" by Chinese state-owned media was a "pretty weird experience".
Mass grave pits have been found near Moscow containing the remains of thousands of people executed by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin's secret police during his 'Great Terror' campaign of purges.

The graves were found over the course of three years at the Kommunarka shooting ground, a large wooded area southwest of Moscow that contains the bodies of 6609 people shot by the NKVD secret police in 1937-41, Russia's Gulag Museum said.

The find would at last make it possible for relatives, some of whom have been coming to leave flowers for years, to learn where their loved ones lay, said Anna Stadinchuk, a museum spokeswoman.

Relatives "just came to this forest, for instance attaching photographs to trees, leaving memorial signs. But no one knew where they were buried because information couldn't be found in any of the archives", she said.

"Now we can talk about creating a memorial complex in the future, knowing at least where the burial sites are," she said. Footpaths could be constructed at the site, "knowing that it hasn't been built on top of bones".
By Jamie Tahana of RNZ Pacific



Samoa's Head of State has cancelled Monday's scheduled sitting of Parliament without explanation, in an extraordinary intervention that deepens the political turmoil seen for more than a month.

In a brief proclamation issued late on Saturday night, Tuimalealiifano Vaaletoa Saluavi II said he was suspending Parliament "until such time as to be announced and for reasons that I will make known in due course".

There appeared to be no insight to when that explanation might be, although it appeared to catch many by surprise, even in an election that has had an unprecedented number of historic twists and turns.
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The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

Health Ministry yesterday announced excluding 12 sectors from the restricted entry decision meant for commercial and industrial stores.

Ministry earlier said that the entry to shopping malls is for individuals aged 18 and above, those who are vaccinated and completed 14 days after the second dose, and those who had recovered from COVID-19.

It, however, said that it exempts supermarkets, banks, pharmacies and hospital from the decision. Accordingly, the ministry said that it excludes 12 sectors whenever they are outside the commercial complexes, including :

 Hypermarkets, supermarkets, refrigerators and groceries, and fresh vegetable, fish and meat stores.

 Manual and automatic bakeries.

 Filling stations and natural gas filling stations.

 Private health institutions, except for some health services for which a circular is issued by the National Health Regulatory Authority for Professions and Services.

 Banks and money changers.

 Administrative offices of institutions and companies whose activities are not directly related to customers.

 Shops operating in the import, export and distribution of goods.

 Vehicles repair and maintenance workshops and garages, and spare parts stores.

 Construction and maintenance parts.

 Factories.

 Communications shops.

 Pharmacies.

Only those above 18 years of age are allowed entry to recreational facilities and stores selling toys.

Entry is also for those vaccinated and recovered from the pandemic, said the Health ministry in a statement. According to the decision, customers must adhere to wearing a mask at all times, except for times of physical activity.
The Kansas City-based junior college that leads adult career education at the Hillyard Technical Center is expected to step aside for North Central Missouri College to take over.

At a meeting late Thursday in Kansas City, the Metropolitan Community College Board of Trustees voted to approve a memorandum of understanding with North Central, which is based in Grundy County. North Central is to assume the service area including Buchanan County, the St. Joseph School District and the Hillyard Center.

Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, who has sought to promote a local role for North Central via the Missouri Legislature, said the new agreement meets this objective.

I think, clearly, my legislation prompted conversations between NCMC and MCC and there was a realization that NCMC was a better strategic fit for Buchanan County, he said. I think NCMC will be a great partner for St. Joseph. Ive had conversations with several of the top employers in our area and theyre very excited about this new partnership.

On Friday, Dr. Lenny Klaver, North Central president, said his college will be making no statement about the new agreement with Metropolitan, as the North Central Board of Trustees will next meet on Tuesday, May 25, to review its terms for possible approval. Until that time, the memorandum is not operative.

Metropolitan began offering adult education courses at Hillyard in the fall of 2019. Dr. Larry Rideaux Jr., president of the MCC-Maple Woods campus in the Kansas City Northland, said Friday that a number of decisions are yet to be made on the transition to North Central, in light of how that college still has to formally sign off.

It is not clear how North Central will divide academics between Hillyard in St. Joseph and the large investment it is making at an expansion campus in Andrew County in partnership with the Savannah R-III School District. North Central has previously stated it will eventually move the classes held at its small satellite campus at 6503 N. Belt Highway to Savannah, but that was before anyone knew all of Buchanan County would end up in its service area.

One thing is clear: Metropolitan will continue to offer classes at Hillyard through the end of the 2021-2022 academic year. Rideaux said he cant speak for North Central, but said he assumes Klavers administration has kept its Board of Trustees informed and that, at least de facto, the pact is a done deal.

Some of the programs are in the process of being transitioned, but we also have programs that will remain there ... for another year, Rideaux said, citing radiologic technology coursework as an example. Asked to specify if this meant someone can enroll for the first time this fall and then transfer elsewhere, Rideaux said, There you go. Youre right on point.

For its part, according to spokesman Kent Heier, Missouri Western State University has ... enjoyed a strong partnership with NCMC in the past, and looks forward to continuing that partnership as the transition moves forward.
Three local Rotary clubs gathered Friday at Remington Nature Center for the St. Joseph Shoes for Orphan Souls Caravan, packing donated shoes to be sent around the world.

Shoes for Orphan Souls started with Rotary clubs 20 years ago, and St. Joseph was one of the first participating communities.

It felt special to be back where the initiative started, Northern Missouri District Chair Larry Lunsford said.

Twenty years ago we started this with a full collection, just over at the old Holiday Inn here in St. Joseph, he said. So not only are we in the 20th anniversary, but were here 20 years later where this project actually began. And thats very meaningful to the St. Joseph Rotarians, theres a sense of ownership.

Whether it was Rotarians embracing the role as original members or an effort to unwind on a Friday, Lunsford said volunteers were extra enthusiastic today.

Thats why weve sort of planned for a 43rd caravan stop out of 44, on a Friday evening here in St. Joseph. Along the way that we had the shoes collection, a nice little party has broken out here at the Remington Nature Center, and it was important to round things off.

So far, 11,000 shoes have been gathered from across Northern Missouri. The goal is to reach 20,000 by projects end, Lunsford said. St. Joseph had accounted for more than 10% of donations after Fridays count.

Those numbers are powerful numbers for those in need, he said. And weve had a chance here just now to have all three of the St. Joseph Rotary clubs deliver their shoes, and its been over 1,400 pairs of shoes, (were) so thankful to the St. Joseph rotary clubs, the Rotarians and the community.

Lunsford has seen first-hand the difference those shoes can make. He has made trips to Russia, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic to meet children who benefitted from donations.

Its a motivating and inspirational experience to do that, Lunsford said. You know youre helping, but also youre really giving these children a gift, children that dont receive gifts.

This years donations will be shipped to Dallas before being sent to children in Honduras.
Like most of the characters in Dream Horse," I know sod all about race horses, but that doesnt stop that group of working class Welsh dreamers from forming a syndicate to breed, raise and train a horse into a champion. Thankfully, knowing or even being interested in horse racing isnt necessary to enjoy this sweet and inspiring true story.

Toni Collette (Muriels Wedding," Hereditary) is Jan, a former award winner in the area of pigeon husbandry in the early 2000s who is faced with an empty nest in more ways than one and an out-of-work husband, so she starts looking for something new to bring joy back into her life.

On a hunch, she starts researching the feasibility of raising a horse on her meager means and an idea is born - an idea that eventually involves and revitalizes nearly all of her friends and neighbors. It starts as an affordable group activity meant to be done just for the fun of the experience, but surprisingly turns into a true money and memory making endeavor.

Jans friends contribute just 10 pounds a week for two years to the syndicate while they buy a mare together and see it through pregnancy. By the time the foal is born, my heartstrings and theirs were officially pulled. A generous helping of Tom Jones and other festive native music only increases all the "feels." Comparisons to The Full Monty and The Commitments are inevitable and warranted, with similar pithy ensemble casts and a picking themselves up by their bootstraps vibe.

Damien Lewis (Band of Brothers," Homeland) is surprisingly effective as a man who does know about racehorses, so much so that he once almost lost everything due to bad luck in the industry. He plays up the everyman aspect of his character and isnt his usual mysterious and sultry at all. Dream Horse is also a good first feature film effort for Director Euros Lyn and Writer Neil McKay who had previously done television almost exclusively.

Because this is a true story, you can look up all the races Dream Alliance eventually runs and wins, but without spoilers, it culminates in the biggest race in the country, the Welsh National. The odds were against Dream and the syndicate every step of the way, but that is exactly why stories like this must be told.
Nice guys (and gals) finish last, the saying goes. Though this saying is old and popular, it does not ring true.

Sure, there are some mean people out there, and many of them do gain some measure of success. Some not-so-nice folks win by underhanded means. Others scowl and belittle their way to some form of success. In the end, though, are they that successful? Or, are they simply seen as achievers who are best left to themselves?

If you made a list of the three most influential people in your life, would they be these kinds of mean-spirited, self-centered achievers? Or, would your list be comprised of people who were kind and compassionate, even when they didnt necessarily have to be?

In surveys of most admired people,  names like Martin Luther King Jr., Billy Graham, Gandhi and Mother Theresa consistently top the lists. Year after year, people who impact the world around them through acts of kindness overshadow those whose only goals are to achieve at any price.

Also, while those who are bent on raw achievement without kindness reach prominence, their impact rarely lasts beyond a generation. On the other hand, those who go out of their way to demonstrate kindness and compassion make an impact for decades or more. Even lesser-known people  people whose success cannot be measured by great wealth or fame  can, through simple kindness, impact generations.

One example of this can be found in South Africa in the early 1940s. South Africa was in the early years of apartheid, a policy of enforced discrimination against Black South Africans. One afternoon, a little boy and his mother were walking down a sidewalk. They were Black South Africans. A white man walked toward them, and instead of staying on the sidewalk and forcing the mother and son to move aside and walk in the dirt (as was the custom of the day), the white man stopped, moved aside and tipped his hat as the young boys mother walked by. The young boy was astounded. He was barely 10 years old, but even he knew this to be out of the ordinary. His mother pulled his hand and urged him to come along.

He stopped again and said, But mama, that man moved out of the way and he tipped his hat to you! His mother smiled and said, That man was an Anglican clergyman. He is a man of God. That is why he moved, and that is why he paid us the respect of tipping his hat.

When I grow up, the young boy said, Perhaps I will be an Anglican clergyman, too.

The young boy did just that. Desmond Tutu not only became an Anglican clergyman, but he also became the bishop of South Africa and a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He is credited with helping save South Africa from civil war after apartheid fell.

Bishop Tutu has told this story often, and never once has he mentioned the clergypersons name. It is because he never learned who this Anglican priest was. We may never know either, but we do see the results of choosing kindness over self-centeredness in his life and in the lives of all of those who choose the same road.

Take a moment to be kind. It doesnt cost you much, if anything, and it can make a lasting difference.
NEW YORK (AP)  CNN is cutting ties with former Republican senator and current TV analyst Rick Santorum over disparaging comments he made about Native American culture.

On CNN, Santorum was a senior political commentator who was often tasked with giving the Republican point of view during campaign coverage. His parting ways with the network was confirmed Saturday by Alison Rudnick, vice president of HLN Communications and CNN Diversity and Inclusion.

He sparked controversy in an April 23 speech before the Young Americas Foundation, a conservative youth organization. Santorum said immigrants created a nation based on the Judeo-Christian ethic from a blank slate.

We birthed a nation from nothing, he said. Yes, there were Native Americans, but there isnt much Native American culture in American culture.

The comment prompted Fawn Sharp, president of the National Congress of American Indians, to call him an unhinged and embarrassing racist who disgraces CNN and any other media company that provides him a platform.

To correct the record, what European colonizers found in the Americas were thousands of complex, sophisticated, and sovereign tribal nations, each with millennia of distinct cultural, spiritual and technological development, she wrote in a statement.

Sharp called on CNN to fire Santorum or potentially face a boycott from more than 500 tribal nations and its allies worldwide.

Santorum later said on Chris Cuomos CNN show that he misspoke in the sense that it wasnt clear that he was speaking in the context of the founding of the United States government.

People say Im trying to dismiss what happened to the Native Americans, he said. Far from it. The way we treated Native Americans was horrific. It goes against every bone and everything Ive ever fought for as a leader in the Congress.

Santorum's comments have garnered blowback before, especially his views on gay marriage and homosexuality. In 2003, he infuriated gay rights advocates by appearing to compare homosexuality to pedophilia and bestiality
PHOENIX (AP)  Come fall, Arizona residents who want to have their favorite restaurant deliver a meal to their home may also be able to get a cocktail delivered.

Credit the coronavirus pandemic, which prompted Republican Gov. Doug Ducey to issue an executive order last May allowing the practice. That led to a protracted legal battle with bars who pay much more for their liquor licenses and objected to restaurants getting the chance to poach some of their business.

The bars won a court order in November saying Ducey had overstepped his bounds, and the practice ended. But cocktails to go had traction, and the Legislature worked for months to come up with a new law that satisfied both sides and allows mixed drink delivery to become a permanent part of the Arizona dining scene.

Ducey signed the legislation, championed by Republican Rep. Jeff Weninger of Chandler, on Friday. It allows restaurants to buy an additional permit to deliver drinks to patrons who order food delivered, using contract delivery services.

It also allows bars and liquor stores to do the same under complex legislation that was the result of months of negotiations involving restaurants, bars and grocery and convenience stories that currently have licenses to sell liquor, beer and wine, either for on-premises consumption or to take home.

Under the deal, about 3,000 restaurants will be able to get permits to sell cocktails to go, Weninger said. They will be charged an administrative fee by state liquor regulators and for five years have to pay another fee that will go into a fund to compensate bar and grocery store owners.

Not all of those outlets will get the money. It will be dispersed through a lottery system.

Restaurants will also be able to lease a license allowing them to deliver beer and wine.

But the bottom line is that consumers will be able to have a martini delivered with their steak or a margarita with their enchilada dinner.

This is one of the things that I've heard over and over from constituents that they thought was pretty cool, Weninger said in an interview. Secondly, my other constituents, which are bars and restaurants, want to do it and believe that they can derive revenue from it.

And, he added, the state gets some revenue too.

The deal shows that there are some good things, like the move to telemedicine, that have come from the pandemic, Weninger said.

You see that it's not the boogieman that people have made it out to be, and you put forward a reasonable policy and allow people a little more freedom, he said.

Ducey said in a statement business owners showed during the pandemic that offering to-go beverages can be done responsibly and safely.

The Arizona Restaurant Association praised the new law, which will go into effect late this summer.

Restaurants, bars and liquor stores throughout the state will have the opportunity to drastically expand their operations thanks to the signing of House Bill 2773, Steve Chucri, the group's president and CEO, said in a statement.
SALEM, Conn. (AP)  Hartford Healthcare has recognized those involved in saving a Connecticut butcher who suffered a near-fatal cut at work.

Adam Ritchotte, 28, was cutting beef shoulder with a razor-sharp 6-inch blade at Salem Prime Cuts in March when the blade slipped, bounced off a table and tore through his leg, severing his right femoral artery, The Day reported.

The health care network gave awards Thursday to eight emergency medical responders and firefighters  Deborah Caldwell, Patrick Gauthier, Alex Bias, Ben Mattingly, Stephanie Philopena, Cheryl Philopena, Ronald Prezsch and Charles Weinsteiger.

Ritchotte, a combat veteran, knew that he needed to remain calm and stop the bleeding. He asked co-worker Sean Kelley to kneel on the wound as a tourniquet was not an option due to the location of the cut.

Weve all heard stories in this job about this kind of cut, Kelley said. Its called the widow maker.

Ritchotte toured Afghanistan as a U.S. Army soldier in 2013 and said that his training helped him 100% in the moments following the cut.

I knew I had two choices: I was either going to die calm or die freaking out, he said.

Twelve minutes later, Weinsteiger arrived and immediately started packing the wound with gauze, keeping his hand pressed against Ritchotte's wound until they arrived at a hospital and the butcher underwent surgery.

Ritchotte wasn't able to walk for more than a month after the accident, but now he is back on his feet. When he returns to work, he said he will make sure he and his colleagues always wear chain-link aprons to protect them from the knives they work with.

I want to do everything I can to avoid something like this from happening, he said.
EAST HARTFORD, Conn. (AP)  The husband of a missing Connecticut mother whose body was found Friday in a heavily wooded area of an East Hartford park was charged hours later with manslaughter in connection with her death.

Tahj Hutchinson, 22, was taken into police custody on Friday evening, South Windsor Police said in a statement released on social media. He was being held on $1 million bond, charged with 1st degree manslaughter in the death of Jessica Edwards, 30.

Police said Hutchinson may face additional charges, pending results of the continuing police investigation and an autopsy being conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.

Edwards, the mother of a 7-month-old boy, had been missing since earlier this month. Her husband told police she left their home in South Windsor, one town over from East Hartford, on the morning of May 10 and hadnt been seen since.

Police initially said they believed Edwards had left in an unknown vehicle, but South Windsor Police Sgt. Mark Cleverdon said Friday that investigators don't believe that's exactly what happened." He did not elaborate.

Edwards' cell phone has been shut off since she went missing, which complicated search efforts. But Cleverdon said police were ultimately able to use location data obtained through search warrants from another, unidentified source to narrow where to look for the missing woman.

Local and state police found her decomposed body between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m. near a trail in the Hockanum River Linear Park with the help of police dogs and an aerial support unit.

I think every single day we were able to get a little closer to getting to the location where we ended up searching this morning, Cleverdon said.

Authorities were awaiting a cause and manner of death from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. Cleverdon said the case is still considered suspicious in nature but that could change depending on the medical examiner's report.

Manchester police confirmed they were a part of the ongoing investigation and had helped at a home related to the case.

Family members of Edwards were seen hugging in the East Hartford neighborhood near the park where police and the medical examiner's office responded Friday. Cleverdon said he and Deputy Chief Brian Eckblom spoke with Edwards' family earlier on Friday morning for about an hour and a half.

We feel for them and theres no other way to put that. They are grieving right now and they miss their daughter, their sister greatly, he said. So it is our obligation to make sure that were doing everything we can to find as much closure as possible for them.

The case has attracted statewide interest. Police and relatives had been urging the public to come forward with any information that would narrow their search. Family members and local residents distributed flyers throughout the Hartford area.

Jessica wouldnt leave without her baby, Kendra Getfield, Jessicas cousin, told the Journal Inquirer this week. This is not like her. She talks to her mother and sister every single day. It is a red flag."

Edwards, a student at Manchester Community College, missed a clinical class at Hartford Hospital on the morning of May 10. Her sister said Edwards' professor received an email at 2:20 a.m. that day saying she would not be attending the clinical session, but added it was strange she didn't also notify the hospital.
There are two eclipses coming.

The first  a lunar eclipse on May 26, isnt really worth bestirring yourself for. Despite the online hype  A Super Flower Blood Moon!!!  we wont really be able to see much of it at all.

Youll see it for maybe five minutes, said Geoff Chester, spokesman for the US Naval Observatory in Washington DC. Sorta.

But the second  a partial solar eclipse on June 10  is worth setting your alarm and getting those eclipse glasses you bought in 2017 out of storage. On that day. The sun will rise here more that half-hidden in shadow.

Its a fact, Jack, said amateur astronomer Cliff Wattley, of Ridgefield, who is readying himself for the event.

Bill Cloutier, of New Milford,  one of the directors of the John. J. McCarthy Observatory in New Milford  said hes heading to Cape Cod, or some beach to our north and east, then crossing his fingers for a clear, fog-free morning.

I want to see the horns of the sun at sunrise over the ocean, he said of the spectacle to come.

A lunar eclipse comes when the earth lines up between the sun and moon, throwing the moon into shadow. They only occur when theres a full moon.

Because the moon will be close to earth on May 26, it is billed a super moon, although any average Joe couldnt tell it apart from any other full moon. It is a May full moon, which in Native American lore is the flower moon.

And because in a lunar eclipse, the moon turns dark red, because of scattered light, it gets called a blood moon. Hence this being called a Super Flower Blood Moon.

Its a moot point moon in Connecticut.

Thats because the sun will rise in Danbury at 5:26 a.m. and the moon will set three minutes later at 5:29 a.m. It will be too light and the moon too low to see much of anything.

The lunar eclipse will really be in the daylight, Cloutier said.

You could, if you were a dedicated lunar eclipse chaser, catch the Red-Eye to L.A. or Honolulu.

On the West Coast, it will be spectacular, said Diana Hannikainen, observing editor of Sky & Telescope Magazine. In Hawaii, theyll be able to see the whole event.

Or you could wait for the next blood moon transfusion. There will be an almost-total lunar eclipse on Nov. 18, and the real thing  an easily-observable, moon-overhead total lunar eclipse  on May 15, 2022.

A solar eclipse occurs when the alignment is re-aligned  when the moon comes between the earth and sun and casts its shadow on us.

The June 10 event is an annular eclipse  when the moon is distant enough from the sun that it doesnt cover the suns face entirely. Instead, people in Greenland and northern Canada will see a black sun with a fiery ring around it.

In Connecticut, the moon will block about 80 percent of the sun at sunrise at 5:20 a.m. Its not enough to make the world dark  the sun is pretty bright even at 20 percent strength  but it will make the landscape a little shadowy.

Even if you dont get up to see it, try and notice the light if youre awake, said Hannikainen of Sky & Telescope. It will be darker. There should be something mysterious about it.

For those with a yen for sun-watching, you should get up before sunrise, and find a place with a good view to the east. Wearing protective eyewear  i.e. eclipse glasses  is a must.

You can buy eclipse glasses online. If you still have glasses from the Great American Eclipse of 2017, you can use them, but Hannikainen said to make sure there are no tears or pinholes in them.

Or you could buy a new pair now, then pack them away for three years. The next grand, total American eclipse  the Great North American Eclipse  will be April 8, 2024.

The narrow path of totality will cross Mexico into Texas, then head up across the Midwest, directly over Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo. It will then traverse the northern edge of Vermont into Canada, where it will pass over Montreal before heading for the northern Maritimes.

The fly in the eclipse ointment is it will be April. Think cloudy spring weather

Id see if I have any friends in Texas, Chester, of the Naval Observatory, said.

Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com
Higher costs and mail declines surpassed significant growth in Parcels business

OTTAWA, ON, May 21, 2021 /CNW/ - Canada Post recorded a loss before tax of $77 million in the first quarter of 2021, as higher operating costs and revenue declines in Transaction Mail and Direct Marketing exceeded the significant growth in Parcels revenue.

COVID-19 continued to have a significant impact on the postal service in the first quarter while we provided an essential service and kept employees safe. Canada Post's operating expenses increased by $287 million in the quarter, compared to 2020, due to higher costs. These costs included special leaves for employees during COVID-19 to enable child and elder care, additional health and safety supplies, increased overtime expenses, wage increases, and additional collection, processing and delivery costs from growing parcel volumes. An additional three paid days during the first quarter of 2021, which ended April 3, also contributed to the higher costs.

Year-over-year comparisons are affected by the fact the Corporation only began to see impacts from COVID-19 to its costs, revenue and volumes toward the end of the first quarter last year. In the first quarter of 2021, revenue for the Canada Post segment increased by $276 million or 12.8 per cent compared to the same period in 2020.

Canada Post's Parcels business continued to grow strongly in the first quarter of 2021 as Canadians continued to shop more online during the pandemic, part of a sustained shift to e-commerce. Declines in Transaction Mail and Direct Marketing during the quarter were due to businesses cancelling or delaying mailings in response to COVID-19 restrictions combined with the ongoing shift to digital alternatives. However, the growth in Parcels revenue more than offset declines in Transaction Mail and Direct Marketing revenue.

Parcels results

Parcels revenue and volumes increased significantly in the first quarter of 2021 compared to last year, as consumers continued shopping online more due to in-store restrictions during COVID-19. Total Parcels revenue increased by $286 million or 38.4 per cent in the first quarter,1 compared to the same period last year, while total volumes increased by 23 million pieces or 27.3 per cent.

Transaction Mail results

Transaction Mail is mostly letters, bills and statements. Ongoing revenue and volume declines continued in the first quarter of 2021, driven in part by COVID-19. Businesses are increasingly using electronic communication and converting their customers to digital alternatives. Transaction Mail volumes fell by 29 million pieces or 6.9 per cent in the first quarter and revenue fell by $10 million or 4.4 per cent, compared to the same quarter last year. Due to COVID-19, Canada Post decided to maintain stamp prices at 2020 levels through 2021 and minimize the impact of other price changes.

Direct Marketing results

Customers continued to delay or cancel marketing campaigns during the quarter due to the pandemic, adding to the impact of an ongoing move to digital channels. Direct Marketing revenue declined by $14 million or 8.8 per cent in the first quarter and volumes fell by 62 million pieces or 9.7 per cent, compared to the same quarter last year.

Group of Companies results

The Canada Post Group of Companies2 reported a loss before tax of $19 million in the first quarter of 2021, compared to a loss before tax of $53 million for the same quarter last year. The Group of Companies' loss in the first quarter was due to the loss in the Canada Post segment. The Purolator segment recorded a profit before tax of $51 million in the first quarter of 2021, an increase of $41 million compared to the same period last year.

Background

The operations of the Canada Post Group of Companies are funded by the revenue generated by the sale of its products and services, not taxpayer dollars.

1. In the first quarter of 2021, there were two additional business days and three additional paid days compared to the first quarter of 2020.

2. The Canada Post Group of Companies consists of the core Canada Post segment and its three non-wholly owned subsidiaries, Purolator Holdings Ltd., SCI Group Inc. and Innovapost Inc.

SOURCE Canada Post

For further information: Media Relations, 613-734-8888, [email protected]

Related Links

www.canadapost.ca


GATINEAU, QC, May 21, 2021 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is revitalizing the Parliamentary Precinct, preserving it for all Canadians, ensuring it meets the needs of a 21st-century Parliament and making it greener, safer and more accessible.

Today, the Honourable Anita Anand, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, officially launched the architectural design competition to redevelop Block 2, the city block facing Parliament Hill and surrounded by Wellington, Sparks, Metcalfe and O'Connor streets.

Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) invited 12 firms that qualified through a competitive process to participate in the competition. This is the first stage of a competition that will ultimately transform this mix of aging buildings into an innovative complex that will create a balance between heritage, accessibility, security and sustainability. The new and renovated facilities will provide needed space for the Senate and House of Commons while work is undertaken on other aging buildings within the Parliamentary Precinct. The buildings will also allow for the future consolidation of parliamentary accommodations, including space for the Library of Parliament, into Crown-owned assets. Retail space along Sparks Street will also be renovated and made available for rent following construction.

The following teams, listed alphabetically, are now invited to submit an outline design concept as part of stage 1 of the design competition:

Architecture49 Inc.( Ottawa, Canada ) in joint venture with Foster+Partners ( London, United Kingdom ) in association with DFS Inc. Architecture & Design (Montreal, Canada )

) in joint venture with Foster+Partners ( ) in association with DFS Inc. Architecture & Design (Montreal, ) BDP Quadrangle ( Toronto, Canada ) in joint venture with Herzog & de Meuron ( Basel, Switzerland )

) in joint venture with Herzog & de Meuron ( ) Diamond Schmitt Architects ( Toronto, Canada ) in joint venture with Bjarke Ingels Group ( New York , United States ), KWC Architects ( Ottawa, Canada ) and ERA Architects ( Toronto, Canada )

) in joint venture with Bjarke Ingels Group ( , ), KWC Architects ( ) and ERA Architects ( ) Grimshaw Architects ( New York , United States ) in association with Daoust Lestage Lizotte Stecker (Montreal, Canada )

Architects ( , ) in association with (Montreal, ) Hassell Ltd. ( Melbourne, Australia ) in association with Partisans ( Toronto, Canada )

) in association with Partisans ( ) Hopkins Architects ( London, United Kingdom ) in association with CORE Architects Inc. ( Toronto, Canada )

) in association with CORE Architects Inc. ( ) KPMB Architects ( Toronto, Canada )

) NEUF Architects ( Ottawa, Canada ) in joint venture with Renzo Piano Building Workshop ( Paris, France )

) in joint venture with Renzo Piano Building Workshop ( ) Provencher Roy + Associes Architectes Inc. (Montreal, Canada )

+ Associes Architectes Inc. (Montreal, ) Watson MacEwen Teramura Architects ( Ottawa, Canada ) in joint venture with Behnisch Architekten ( Boston , United States )

) in joint venture with Behnisch Architekten ( , ) Wilkinson Eyre ( London, United Kingdom ) in association with IDEA Inc. ( Ottawa, Canada )

) in association with IDEA Inc. ( ) Zeidler Architecture Inc. ( Toronto, Canada ) in association with David Chipperfield Architects ( London, United Kingdom )

In collaboration with the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada, a multidisciplinary independent jury will evaluate the design concepts submitted and select the 6 best designs to advance to stage 2 of the competition.

PSPC will continue to work closely with the Senate, the House of Commons, the Library of Parliament, the Parliamentary Protective Service and stakeholders such as the City of Ottawa, the National Capital Commission and the Federal Heritage Buildings Review Office in revitalizing the Parliamentary Precinct.

Quotes

"I look forward to seeing the new vision of the prominent city block facing Parliament Hill. This competition has assembled top architecture firms to develop designs that will complement one of the most unique settings of parliamentary buildings in the world, one in which Canadians can continue to take pride."

The Honourable Anita Anand

Minister of Public Services and Procurement

"The site facing Parliament Hill is of national significance, and the building program includes many issues critical to society today: urban revitalization, heritage integration, cultural reconciliation, sustainability and the 21stcentury workplace. A competition is sure to draw out the best responses."

Peter Ortved

Architect and Professional Advisor for the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Quick facts

The renewal of Block 2 is part of the government's continuing efforts to restore and modernize the buildings within the Parliamentary Precinct, and to provide Parliament with the modern facilities it requires to serve Canadians.

Block 2 is surrounded by Metcalfe , Wellington , O'Connor and Sparks streets. It covers an approximate area of 10,000 square metres and includes 2 vacant parcels and 11 buildings, many of which are designated heritage buildings.

, , O'Connor and Sparks streets. It covers an approximate area of 10,000 square metres and includes 2 vacant parcels and 11 buildings, many of which are designated heritage buildings. While the Indigenous Peoples' Space stands independently from the design competition, the department, in collaboration with its stakeholders, will ensure the design and construction for the entire block honours and respects the significance of this site, which sits at the heart of Canada's Parliamentary Precinct.

Parliamentary Precinct. Buildings within Block 2 are currently underutilized as they require rehabilitation and modernization work to meet current building codes and make best use of the space for future needs.

The redevelopment of Block 2 will include a combination of new build components, restoration and refit while preserving the heritage character of the historic streets.

The jury is composed of design professionals and respected members of Canadian academia and civil society, as well as parliamentary representatives. It will also be supported by technical experts, including urban planning, structural, sustainability and accessibility experts.

The Parliament buildings were originally conceived and built as a result of the country's first design competition.

The 12 selected teams had the highest evaluated scores out of the applications received following the Request for Qualification. All teams include at least one Canadian partner.

Associated links

Follow the architectural design competition for Block 2

Architectural design competition for Block 2

Jury for the architectural design competition for Block 2

Explore the blocks south of Wellington Street

Royal Architectural Institute of Canada

Request for Qualification on Buyandsell.gc.ca

Advance Procurement Notice on Buyandsell.gc.ca

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SOURCE Public Services and Procurement Canada

For further information: Cecely Roy, Press Secretary, Office of the Honourable Anita Anand, 343-549-7293; Media Relations: Public Services and Procurement Canada, 819-420-5501, [email protected]

Related Links

www.tpsgc-pwgsc.gc.ca


LIMERICK, Ireland, May 21, 2021 /CNW/ - kneat.com, inc. (TSXV: KSI) ("Kneat or the company") is pleased to announce the election of accomplished executive, Mrs. Nutan Behki, to its Board of Directors, the adoption of its new Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan, and the release date for the company's first quarter financial results.

Accomplished Technology Executive, Nutan Behki, is Elected to Join Kneat's Board of Directors

Further to the announcement of her nomination for the company's board of directors on April 22nd, 2021, Kneat is pleased to confirm Mrs. Nutan Behki's election to the company's Board of Directors following the Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held on May 20th, 2021.

Mrs. Behki brings over 25 years of global software development leadership experience to Kneat, in addition to significant experience leading large global teams and partner networks.

"The Board of Directors and I are very pleased to welcome Nutan to the team. Her experience in product strategy, SaaS development, and technical leadership will be invaluable to support our continued growth", said Mr. Ian Ainsworth, Chair of the Board.

Mrs. Behki's election is accompanied by the re-election of the six existing directors. The company's Board has now expanded to 7 directors, 5 of whom are independent.

Kneat Adopts New Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan

Kneat reports the adoption of the new Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan") was approved by the company's disinterested common shareholders at its Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders held on May 20th, 2021 for purposes of increasing the interest of, incentivizing, rewarding, attracting, and retaining plan participants.

The Plan permits such number of options (each, an "Option") to be granted equal to up to 10% of Kneat's issued and outstanding common shares. The maximum number of common shares available for issuance pursuant to the settlement of DSUs and RSUs shall be 4,000,000. Please refer to the company's Management Information Circular dated April 15th, 2021, which is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under Kneat's profile, for a copy and summary of the Omnibus Equity Incentive Plan.

Kneat Announces Release Date for First Quarter Financial Results

Kneat announces that the Company will release its Financial Results for the quarter ended March 31, 2021 after TSX-V market close on Tuesday, May 25th, 2021. Eddie Ryan, Chief Executive Officer and Hugh Kavanagh, Chief Financial Officer, will host a conference call and Q&A via webcast on Wednesday, May 26th at 09:00 EDT (14:00 BST).

Interested parties can register for the live webcast via the following link:

https://bit.ly/3eYgSDX

Or, attend via teleconference

Ireland +353 15 360 755

Canada +1 (647) 497-9389

United States +1 (951) 384-3421

United Kingdom +44 330 221 9922

The First Quarter Financial Results will be available from the Financial Information section of the Investors page on the Kneat Solutions website, at: https://kneat.com/investors/

About Kneat

Kneat, a Canadian company with operational headquarters in Limerick, Ireland, develops and markets the next generation Kneat Gx SaaS platform. Multiple business processes can be configured on Kneat Gx from equipment to computer system validation, through to quality document management.

Kneat Gx allows users to author, review, approve, execute testing online, manage any exceptions and post approve final deliverables in a controlled FDA 21 CFR Part 11/ Eudralex Annex 11 compliant platform. Macro and micro report dashboards enable powerful oversight into all systems, projects, and processes world-wide.

Customer case studies are reporting productivity improvements in excess of 100% and a higher data integrity and compliance standard. For more information visit www.kneat.com.

Cautionary and Forward-Looking Statements

Except for the statements of historical fact contained herein, certain information presented constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws. Such forward-looking information, includes, but is not limited to, the relationship between Kneat and the customer, Kneat's business development activities, the use and implementation timelines of Kneat's software within the customer's validation processes, the ability and intent of the customer to scale the use of Kneat's software within the customer's organization and the compliance of Kneat's platform under regulatory audit and inspection. While such forward-looking statements are expressed by Kneat, as stated in this release, in good faith and believed by Kneat to have a reasonable basis, they are subject to important risks and uncertainties. As a result of these risks and uncertainties, the events predicted in these forward-looking statements may differ materially from actual results or events.

These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, given that they involve risks and uncertainties. The forward-looking information in this press release does not include a full assessment or reflection of the unprecedented impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic occurring since the first quarter of 2020 and the ongoing and developing resulting indirect global and regional economic impacts. This has resulted in significant economic uncertainty and even though the company has to date experienced no significant impact to its operations, any potential impact on our future is difficult to understand or measure at this time.

Kneat does not undertake any obligation to release publicly revisions to any forward-looking statement, except as may be required under applicable securities laws. Investors should not assume that any lack of update to a previously issued forward-looking statement constitutes a reaffirmation of that statement. Continued reliance on forward-looking statements is at an investors' own risk.

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

SOURCE kneat.com, inc.

For further information: Hugh Kavanagh, Chief Financial Officer, kneat.com, inc., Kneat Solutions, Unit 7 Castletroy Business Park, Castletroy, Limerick, V94 KW28, Ireland T: +353 61 203826, E: [email protected]

Related Links

https://www.kneat.com/


Standardized tests are returning to the nations schools this spring, but millions of students will face shorter exams that carry lower stakes, and most families are being given the option to forgo testing entirely.

With new flexibility from the Biden administration, states are adopting a patchwork of testing plans that aim to curb the stress of exams while still capturing some data on student learning. The lenient approach means large swaths of students will go untested, shattering hopes for a full picture of how much learning has been set back by the pandemic.

We will end up with a highly imperfect set of data, said Robin Lake, director of the Center on Reinventing Public Education at the University of Washington. This is something our country will have to commit to tracking and learning about for at least the next few years, and maybe the next decade.

Some of the nations largest districts plan to test only a fraction of their students as many continue to learn remotely. In New York City, students must opt in to be tested this year. In Los Angeles, most students are not being asked to take state exams this year. Other districts are scaling back questions or testing in fewer subjects.

It's the latest episode in a long-fought battle over school testing and, as in the past, parents are polarized. Some are demanding tests to get a sense of their children's progress. Others see no need to put their children through that kind of stress.

As a teacher, Jay Wamsted believes there's value in testing. But when his sixth-grade daughter Kira asked to opt out this year, he saw no reason to object. He already knows she needs to catch up on math after months of remote learning. And as a teacher at her school, he knew that many other students were also backing out, undermining the value of the results.

I know shes a little behind, and I dont need that data, said Wamsted, who live in Smyrna, Georgia. To take a month to gather data that is not going to mean anything to any of their teachers next year  it seems like a waste of time.

Parent Abby Norman found her third-grade daughter crying in her bedroom the morning tests were scheduled to begin at her school near Atlanta. Priscilla, 9, had just returned to the classroom after learning remotely and was worried she wasn't prepared.

She was so nervous about this test that I dont care about at all, that does not matter to me, said Norman, who is a preacher. I literally ended up telling her, If you want to lick the test and give it back, I dont care.

With that reassurance, Abby agreed to take the tests and scored almost off the charts, her mom said. Still, Norman resents that students were put in that situation at all.

Several states lobbied the Biden administration to cancel standardized tests entirely for a second year, but the Education Department aimed for a middle ground: It told states to test as many student as possible without requiring them to come in just for exams. The goal, the agency said, should be to measure the pandemic's impact and identify how to help students recover.

Acknowledging the challenges of the pandemic, the agency invited states to shorten or delay tests, and it urged them to ease the stakes for students. But the department later granted additional leniency to certain states, prompting criticism that it failed to set a clear bar.

Washington, D.C., was granted permission to cancel tests because 88% of students were learning remotely, but the agency rejected similar requests from Michigan, New York and Georgia. Requests to scale back testing were granted in Colorado and Oregon, but a plan to narrow the testing pool in Washington state was rejected.

Those who opposed testing say its the last thing students need after such a challenging year. Schools have other ways to evaluate students, they say, and testing only takes away from classroom time.

Michigan's education chief has blasted the uneven flexibility granted to states. School across Michigan have already used other tests to assess students, he said, and more exams will inform precisely nothing about our childrens needs. State officials in New York argued that testing is unlikely to produce useful data given the variability in instruction during the pandemic.

In fact, the students most in need of state assessments  those receiving remote instruction  are the very children who are not required to take the test, the state's top education officials wrote in an April statement.

Testing advocates counter that theres still value in collecting as much data as possible. Lake, at the University of Washington, said even imperfect results can help illuminate the scope of the problem schools face as they help students recover.

Standardized tests at the state level are the most consistent data weve had to track academic progress, so it would be a huge missed opportunity to forgo those tests this year, she said. Flying blind is not a responsible position for a public official to take.

Some critics blame the Biden administration for allowing halfhearted attempts at evaluations. They point to places like New York City, where the outgoing schools chief urged parents in February to consider opting out of tests. Oregons two largest districts have voted to defy state orders and skip testing. The state says their penalty will be to submit a plan to come into compliance next year.

These states are simply playing games. Theyre not even pretending to make an effort to test students, and the Biden administration is letting them get away with it, said Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank.

If testing isn't feasible now, Petrilli said, it should be done in the fall. Maryland, New Jersey and Washington state have postponed tests, and it's an option for districts in California.

In some states, officials are pushing ahead with tests much as they have in the past. In Tennessee and Arkansas, education officials have said all healthy students are expected to take state exams, which are only being offered in-person. More than 1.4 million tests have already been given in Arkansas this spring, and the state is on track to test at least 95% of students, according to the state's education department.

In normal years, the federally required tests are used to gauge school effectiveness and chart the progress of students, both as individuals and in demographic groups. In some states, students must pass certain tests to move to the next grade or graduate from high school. But this year, most states are focusing on measuring student growth and letting schools and students off the hook for the results.

After last year's tests were canceled, there was hope that this year's exams would provide the most comprehensive look yet at the pandemic's impact on education. But the inconsistency between states now makes a broad analysis impossible, said Scott Marion, executive director of the nonprofit Center for Assessment, which helps states design and evaluate tests.

Still, he believes the results will have value. As schools begin the long process to help students recover, he said, this year's data will provide a foundation to measure against.

I do think the data can be a useful baseline going forward, he said. If this is the low point, or close to it, how are our kids going to come out of it going forward?
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  She called the police on an August afternoon last year after her husband sent her a text saying he bought a gun and wanted to end his life.

It never occurred to Alexis Hilbelink that the police might shoot her husband, Matthew, when they found him sitting cross-legged in an empty parking lot with a gun in his hand.

I just hoped they would talk to him, she recalled Thursday to the Salt Lake Tribune. Like they would help him. Because I knew he would not have shot himself or anybody. I thought they could just help him. I didnt think it would be this stand-off situation.

But thats what happened.

Officers surrounded Matthew Hilbelink. They tried to talk to him, to plead with him to put the gun down  but Hilbelink didnt respond. He had his finger on the trigger, according to the Salt Lake County District Attorneys Office, and at times pointed the gun in an officers direction or at himself.

The last time he pointed the gun toward an officer, Unified Police Officer Dave Jaroscak fired, striking Hilbelink in the head. He died in a hospital three days later.

When they told me they had shot him, I was like, What do you mean? Alexis Hilbelink said. It made no sense to me. Why would they do that? He wasnt going to do anything to anybody.

Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Thursday that Jaroscak was justified in killing Hilbelink, saying it was reasonable that the officer feared for the safety of a colleague.

But Gill questioned whether the shooting was necessary.

In essence, this was a shooting that did not need to happen, he said. But it was a shooting that was protected by the law.

The outcome of similar situations could be different going forward  after Utah lawmakers passed a bill clarifying that police officers shouldnt shoot at people who are only a threat to themselves.

Hilbelinks family hopes the new law will save lives. His brother, Stephan Hilbelink, said they felt Gills ruling was fair and correct according to the law the day of my brothers shooting.

My hope and prayer is that (the new law) will be used correctly, wisely and to its fullest extent, he said, so families can have another day to help, love and support their loved ones with mental illness.

Alexis Hilbelink said her husband had depression, which had deepened during the pandemic because group therapy and other support had been canceled or was done online.

She was shocked when he texted her on Aug. 8 saying he had just bought a firearm. She didnt know you could get a gun that quickly.

My husband has a gun and he said hes going to commit suicide, she told a dispatcher. And now hes not at my house and I dont know what to do. Im at work.

Officers were able to find Hilbelink, 39, in the parking lot near 3210 E. 6200 South in Holladay after his wife used an app to track his iPhone, according to Gills ruling.

When they arrived, three officers took cover behind a truck, according to Gill, and began talking to Hilbelink. Two had guns, and a third had a less-lethal soft-foam projectile weapon.

They tried to negotiate with Hilbelink for nearly 30 minutes.

We learned that he liked hiking, one officer later told investigators. So, I tried to kind of start talking about What hobbies do you like? Things of that nature. Talked about hiking and how we just went hiking, my wife and I. I talked about PTSD and how things could still be OK, just let us get the chance. ... He just wouldnt take it. And he just kept looking at us like he was ... kind of that zombie kind of look. There was no one home, it seemed like. Like a man totally lost.

Gills ruling said the officers kept talking to Hilbelink, but he never responded. He kept the gun in his hand, and at times pointed it at the officers and at himself.

A sergeant later told investigators he considered firing one of the foam bullets, but worried it would just agitate Hilbelink and cause him to shoot.

At that point, I was going through in my mind, Should I shoot him in the hand (with the less-lethal weapon), maybe break his hand so he cant pull the trigger? the sergeant recalled. Were not trained that way.

Officers told investigators that, at some point, they saw Hilbelinks expression change and he had what one officer described as a thousand-yard stare.

Jaroscak said in a statement that Hilbelink then began to raise the gun from his thigh, and it appeared he was aiming at (another officers) exposed upper body, face and head. I believed that Hilbelink was about to shoot (the officer) if immediate action wasnt taken. To protect (the officer), I shot Hilbelink.

Gill wrote that it was reasonable for Jaroscak to believe that the other officers life was in danger. But the district attorney said even though the case was justified, hes troubled with the outcome in which a suicidal man with a gun is shot and killed by police.

Gill said he questions if there was a better way for police to have responded. What was the training offered to the officers to deal with a suicidal man with a gun? Could a negotiator have been more readily available? Was there a better place to park the police truck to talk to Hilbelink? Whats the best way to protect the community while trying to contain the threat that Hilbelink posed?

Could this have ended differently? he said. The answer to this ultimate question, and the answers to other more specific questions related to this encounter, may alter the course of future police encounters with similar circumstances.

Alexis Hilbelink wasnt prepared for the onslaught of mental health issues her family would experience in the wake of her husbands death.

Her four kids struggled. She struggled.

But when it came clear she needed outside help, she said she couldnt find it. She thought as a nurse working at a cancer institute, she would have the resources. Maybe those resources were affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, but it wasnt there when they needed it.

Alexis Hilbelink recalled once calling a hospital mobile crisis outreach team for one of her children, but the wait was two hours. She had no other choice but to call the police.

Officers with the same department who killed her husband showed up at her door.

They would come to the house, she said, and I was like, My kids dont like you. But I need help.

The Holladay woman hopes that through the recent law change, no other family will go through what her family has.

Police officers in Utah are now prohibited from shooting at someone if the person is suicidal but isnt a threat to anyone else.

The state law previously said a police officer was allowed to use deadly force if a suspect poses a threat of serious bodily injury to the officer or to others.

Its expected that the new law will alter how police are trained, and allow them to retreat in situations where they are responding to a suicidal person who isnt threatening anyone else.

That gives Alexis Hilbelink hope.

When someone is experiencing a mental health crisis, when we call our police officers, we hope for help, she said. Not for them to shoot somebody. Hopefully, if a situation like this happens again, it gives me a little bit of comfort that maybe theyll just back off.
WEST HAVEN  Proponents of greenlit mixed-use development projects in the citys Allingtown section say the dream has seen major delays but is alive and well.

The development is going along and we try to support the developers with what resources we have, said city Corporation Counsel Lee Tiernan.

The University Commons project, a development project of Acorn Group to create several buildings with street-level commercial space and upper-level market-rate housing, effectively has been stalled during the coronavirus pandemic, with only two of up to four projects completed. With the city and local businesses beginning to resume many of the functions in place prior to the pandemic, officials believe the project will lead to greater improvements for the local economy, provide benefits for area students and keep taxes down.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Mayor Nancy Rossi said the first project, The Atwood, a 90,000-square-foot development that was completed in 2017, is now fully-leased, whereas the second project, the 61,000-square-foot Park View, has leased out its apartments but still is seeking commercial tenants.

I think COVID has made things challenging. Who is opening a new restaurant during COVID? I think as things loosen up youre going to see more activity, said Tiernan.

Acorn Group also is developing the old Forest Theatre site and has bid on the building used as the Allingtown library branch; on its website, the group has announced plans for a development called The Chester. The project would include renovation of the library building for medical/commercial/office space across 3 levels, according to the company.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Acorn Group representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

A gateway

Ed OBrien, the citys mayor at the time the development project began, said he believes the University Commons projects  as the Acorn developments in the neighborhood are collectively called  have been a benefit to the city. The projects includes housing and retail spaces, and are billed as being in proximity to the University of New Haven, Veterans Affairs medical center, Yale Bowl and two miles to Yale New Haven Hospital.

Its totally turned around that area and it brings tax revenue to the area, he said. Its bringing jobs and beautified the area.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

According to OBrien, adding the Atwood increased the blocks tax revenue from $35,000 to $400,000 annually.

For way too long our residents have had to leave our city to shop. The hope is that they will be able shop and spend their dollars in their own town and not have to go to surrounding towns, he said. This is a gateway to our city and it should look appealing when residents or visitors are coming into our city.

3 1 of 3 Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3





Critical to the economic viability of the mixed-use developments is the nearby University of New Haven, officials and others said.

Everyones hoping to have a more normal fall with the hope we will then be able to find retail tenants that would really benefit the community of West Haven and this section of Allingtown, said George Synodi, vice president for finance and administration for University of New Haven.

We certainly got the benefit of the housing, but the real benefit is going to be post-COVID when students can gather together and everyone can eat inside a retail establishment and the retail businesses can come back, Synodi said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Synodi said many students coming to the university are seeking a university experience  which may include renting an above-standard apartment as well as eating at restaurants and shopping.

The real benefits beyond student housing have been delayed. I think everyone is looking forward to that, he said.

Synodi said there was a retail study done years ago on University of New Haven students that demonstrated clearly there was a desire for retail offerings around the university.

Students can get in a car and drive down the Post Road and get what they need retail-wise, but would they rather just walk? From a convenience standpoint, I think so, he said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Community space

Although city and university officials herald the economic benefits of the Allingtown development, some longtime city residents feel ignored and forgotten.

Seniors and kids dont have places to go, said Carroll E. Brown, founder of the West Haven Black Coalition.

Brown said the University Commons development project has beautified the citys Allingtown section with new sidewalks and storefronts, but it has come at the expense of eroding the potential for community spaces for residents who are not affiliated with the university.

For example, she said, one of the Atwood commercial tenants is a casual-style gourmet burger restaurant chain, but members of the community are used to going to McDonalds for their hamburger fix.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

It feels like Allingtown is being displaced, said Brown. Its been very bad for the people of Allingtown. We pay taxes, but we cant see where our money is going. Theres no play areas and no grocery stores. Theyll rename it Collegetown, I guarantee you.

But Rossi said the benefit of development ultimately will fall on those who live in Allingtown.

If peoples taxes keep going up, you can give them all the programs they want, but if the tax base is going up its not going to be helpful, she said. Because of all the construction thats gone on there, their (Allingtown) grand list the past two years has grown the largest of all three fire districts.

(West Haven has three fire districts  Allingtown, Center and West Shore  each with its own fire district tax rate in addition to the city tax rate.)

In the recently-adopted city budget for the coming fiscal year, the Allingtown Fire District tax rate fell from 14.02 mills to 11.62 mills.

Brown said community stores  drugstores and beauty shops owned by local residents and people of color  have been forced out.

They didnt have to close Allingtown down, she said.

Rossi also said the city is in talks with various stakeholders, including community advocates, to discuss bringing a new library location to Allingtown.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Next steps

OBrien, who initiated the current University Commons development project and is one of two Democrats who has filed paperwork to run for mayor this year so far, said he believes an Allingtown senior center would be a natural next step.

I think Allingtown would be a great place for a senior center, he said.

Rossi said she believes that, as the University Commons project expands, it could lead to further development throughout the Allingtown section.

The whole thing is a game-changer, she said. Because of this, it could be contagious. Is it going to continue up the Post Road? I know there are people looking at it.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

Even outside Allingtown, Rossi said she believes the citys financial picture has created conditions where developers are more encouraged to come to West Haven.

We do have developers interested in coming forward and doing something here because we dont have a deficit, she said.

Arnold Gold / Hearst Connecticut Media

brian.zahn@hearstmediact.com
MESA, Ariz. (AP)  U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz, two of the Republican Partys most controversial figures, told a crowd of Trump supporters in the Phoenix area that an ongoing audit of the 2020 election in Arizona should be replicated in all the battleground states where President Donald Trump lost.

Greene and Gaetz took their America First Rally tour to Arizona to cheer the audit, which is testing conspiracy theories about the election on behalf of Republicans in the state Senate.

We are here in Arizona to stand in solidarity with the Arizona election audit, Gaetz said to a cheering crowd of several hundred supporters Friday night in Mesa.

He expressed hope that the Arizona effort will be just the beginning of a larger movement.

Its my belief that Arizona will be the launch pad for elections audits and election integrity efforts all over this great country, he added.

State Senate Republicans used their subpoena power to take possession of a wide range of equipment and documents from the 2020 election, including all 2.1 million ballots and the machines that counted them. Everything was handed over to a group of companies led by Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based cybersecurity consultant. Its founder, Doug Logan, has promoted baseless conspiracies suggesting Trumps losses in Arizona and other battleground states were marred by fraud.

The audit wont change the election results, but many Trump fans believe it will turn up evidence supporting his unfounded claims of fraud.

Election experts say the 2020 election was among the most secure in history and say the audit, which is not following standard procedures for election audits, is a threat to democracy by undermining faith in the electoral process.

Despite extensive reviews of the results after the election that produced no evidence of irregularities that would have changed the outcome, doubts persist among many of Trump's staunchest supporters.

Who do you think won Arizona on Nov 3? Greene said. The crowd responded with chants of Trump, Trump, Trump.

With their tour of rallies, Gaetz of Florida and Greene of Georgia appear to be positioning themselves as successors to Trump's populism. Greene's speech was light on issues and focused much more on rehashing the history of conflict with fellow members of Congress who are reviled by Trump fans, from Republican Liz Cheney to Democrats Maxine Waters and Alexandria Ocasio Cortez. Gaetz talked extensively about border security.

Both drew thunderous applause when denouncing mask and vaccine mandates as well as Dr. Anthony Fauci, a top public health official.

Gaetz has been the subject of a federal sex-trafficking investigation and may face escalating legal and political liability after an associate pleaded guilty Monday in a cooperation agreement with prosecutors. Gaetz, who has denied wrongdoing, did not address the allegations Friday but started his speech by telling the crowd, thank you for having my back.

Gaetz and Greene presented themselves as the allies of Trump fans in a contentious conflict with not just the Democrats but with much of the GOP.

Just because you have an R by your name and you say things doesnt mean youll do them when you run the country, Greene said. This is why so many people dont vote. They dont trust Republicans to do the job.

Pundits like to talk about a civil war in the GOP between traditional conservatives who dominated the party before Trumps election and populist Trump fans, Gaetz said.

The civil war is over, Gaetz said. Weve won.

The crowd erupted in chants of USA, USA.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  Coronavirus developments around New England:

MAINE

Maine Catholics will soon return to churches with greatly relaxed restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Diocese of Portland is changing its guidance for the 141 Catholic churches in Maine just as the state is preparing to eliminate mask requirements in most settings. Maine's indoor mask order goes away on Monday.

That same day, masks will no longer be required for any person at any time, inside or outside churches, the diocese said. Pew seating arrangements that establish six or more feet of distance between people are also eliminated that day, the diocese said.

The diocese said it's also restoring distribution of Communion to homebound Catholics, and indoor choir practices can be held without distancing.

Many churches will provide space in areas such as parish halls for spread out seating during services, the diocese said. Livestreaming of services will also continue, the diocese said.

"We hope that by continuing to offer a variety of ways to participate in Mass and through updating these protocols, all will feel welcomed to grow in their faith together in Christ," Bishop Robert Deeley said.

___

MASSACHUSETTS

The number of daily coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts has trended slightly upward over the last two weeks despite positive signs about the control of the spread of the virus.

The seven-day rolling average of daily deaths in Massachusetts has risen over the past two weeks from 8.29 deaths per day on May 6 to 10.14 deaths per day on May 20. That happened as the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Massachusetts fell. That average went from 967.43 new cases per day on May 6 to 572.57 new cases per day on May 20.

The AP is using data collected by Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering to measure outbreak caseloads and deaths across the United States.

The Massachusetts Department of Public Health reported late Friday that there have been 17,453 confirmed deaths from the coronavirus in the state since the start of the pandemic. The average age of patients who died of COVID-19 was 70, the agency reported.

___

VERMONT

Vermont will be distributing COVID-19 vaccines to primary care physicians, said Human Services Secretary Mike Smith.

The state will start with the Moderna vaccine, but will expand to Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines when enough supplies are available, he said Friday during the governors twice-weekly virus briefing.

Its part of the push to get 80% of eligible Vermonters vaccinated. Gov. Phil Scott said Friday that he would drop all pandemic-related restrictions early if the state reaches that vaccination rate before the July 4 full reopening plan.

People no longer have to sign up for vaccines and can walk in to clinics, pharmacies and school clinics and get a shot, Smith said.

The state is also renewing its effort to vaccinate vulnerable populations including the homeless and people under Department of Corrections supervision, he said.

___

NEW HAMPSHIRE

The coronavirus pandemic inspired smaller, more personal commencement ceremonies at the University of New Hampshire.

The campus is hosting a series of small ceremonies to recognize both 2020 and 2021 graduates. Graduate students got their degrees May 16, while undergraduate ceremonies were split up among several days. On Saturday, students graduating from the universitys business school and college of liberal arts will get their diplomas, and on Sunday, 2020 graduates who didnt get a ceremony last year will be honored.

Because of the smaller events, students will be called on by name to walk across the stage and accept their degrees. Attendees are required to show either proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of the ceremony.

___

RHODE ISLAND

New hospitalizations and new cases of the coronavirus are both falling in Rhode Island.

The Rhode Island Department of Health reported that this week's 81 new hospital admissions were a decrease from 117 the previous week. New cases per 100,000 of the population also fell from 157 to 117 this week.

The state has had more than 150,000 total cases of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

___

CONNECTICUT

Yale New Haven Health is closing mass vaccination sites, the New Haven Register reported.

Dr. Ohm Deshpande, associate chief clinical officer for the health system, told the Register that the system will cease first doses after May 25 and after that it will be open for second doses by appointment and on walk-in basis.

Deshpande said popup clinics will continue and the trailer from the Federal Emergency Management Agency will return to New Haven in June.
What else could billions of American tax dollars buy instead of innocent deaths?

by Sonali Kolhatkar

At the end of 2020, as the coronavirus pandemic was continuing to ravage the populations of many nations, Israel stood out as a success story, administering more doses of vaccines to its modest-sized 9-million-strong population than any other country after China, the U.S., and the UK. Today, more than 60 percent of Israelis are vaccinated, which is 20 percentage points higher than the United Statesa nation that happens to give more foreign aid to Israel than to any other country in the world.

Bibi at War

This largest beneficiary of foreign U.S. aid also experiences lower infant mortality and maternal mortality rates than the U.S., likely as a result of the universal health coverage its citizens enjoy. In fact, in 1995, Israel became the second-to-last developed nation in the world to ensure that all its citizens were fully insured, leaving the United States as the last wealthy nation on the planet to leave its people to fend for their own health care. One analyst, C.J. Werleman, has argued that Israel can afford to give its citizens universal healthcare because US taxpayers pay for its military.

Today Israel is back in the news, not so much for its achievements in combating COVID-19, but for its stunning success in increasing the mortality rate of Palestinians, especially children via sophisticated weaponry. Israel has launched a relentless barrage of airstrikes on Palestinians imprisoned inside a territory whose borders Israel controls, with the sort of military ferocity not seen since well, Israels previous attacks on Palestinians in 2018, and before that in 2014. The fact that it has done so during a global pandemic when most people the world over are worried about dying from an invisible virus showcases a level of impunity that ought to give U.S. taxpayers serious pause. The American largesse that the Israeli military taps into is being used to crush the dreams and the lives of a helplessly trapped population whose only defense is in the form of homemade inaccurate rockets controlled by one militant faction.

The United States in 2016 signed a 10-year agreement with Israel promising to give $38 billion in taxpayer funds as military aid to a nation that already possesses one of the most sophisticated and well-armed militaries in the world. Thats roughly equivalent to two tuition-free years for low- and middle-income students at historically Black, tribal and other minority-serving colleges in the U.S., and more than one-third of the cost of making community college entirely free for Americans. But instead of buying Americans a free college education, those tax dollars are fueling mass killings of Palestinians.

Saree Makdisi, a professor of English and comparative literature at UCLA, and author of Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation, explained to me in an interview that the Israelis literally, materially, couldnt do what theyre doing without the supply of weapons that comes from the U.S. One estimate for the amount of aid that the U.S. has cumulatively given Israel is nearly $150 billion. Thats enough to wipe out all of Californias student loan debts, freeing up nearly 4 million Californians from a financial chokehold.

Although corporate media outlets like to describe Israels assaults on Palestinians through euphemisms like dispute, conflict, or clashes, the lens we really ought to use is how our tax dollars are being weaponized. More specifically, do we want our tax dollars to be used to kill hundreds of Palestinians or to wipe out college debt for millions of Americans? It really is that simple. Why are we spending money on somebody elses war of aggression when we have desperate needs here at home in the U.S.? asked Makdisi.

One seemingly well-meaning analyst wrote in the Los Angeles Times that the best thing Americans could do about the conflict is to stay out of it. Rob Eshman, the national editor of the Forward, made absolutely no mention in his op-ed of U.S. military aid to Israel while he exhorted readers to question whether taking sides alone, in the long run, helps achieve an end to the violence. Eshmans principle is sound even as his avoidance of relevant facts reveals his own bias. The United States as a whole could literally stay out of it by ending military aid to Israel, and potentially staunch the relentless killing of Palestinians.

U.S. military aid to Israel is considered so sacrosanct that most commentators and media pundits choose to ignore it, accepting it as a natural aspect of American foreign relations. But given the terror that Israel wields against Palestiniansso much so that even Human Rights Watch now labels it apartheidU.S. funding ought to be central to any and all questions of how we are aiding and abetting mass violence in Gaza.

Yet, American government officials remain inexplicably subservient to Israeli decisions on how that military aid is used. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, when asked about why Israel bombed a building in Gaza that housed the offices of media agencies like the Associated Press, said, Shortly after the strike we did request additional details regarding the justification for it I have not seen any information provided. An Israeli spokesperson brushed off the request for justification, saying with cold impunity, Were in the middle of fighting. Thats in process and Im sure in due time that information will be presented. There is no incentive for Israel to explain itself to its dominant funder, because the U.S. has rarely, if ever, demanded accountability from its largest beneficiary.

According to Makdisi, while U.S. aid to Israel is unconditional in practical terms, by law there are conditions. There are stipulations in American law governing the export of weapons, he said. Theyre not to be used against civilian targets, obviously theyre not supposed to be used for war crimes, and yet they are, consistently.

Only in recent years have American lawmakers been demanding accountability from Israel. In 2019, then-presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) said, My solution is to say to Israel: You get $3.8 billion every year. If you want military aid, youre going to have to fundamentally change your relationship to the people of Gaza. His then-rival Joe Biden dismissed the notion as bizarre. More recently Sanders wrote in an op-ed, we provide nearly $4 billion a year in aid to Israel, and therefore, we can no longer be apologists for the right-wing Netanyahu government and its undemocratic and racist behavior.

As president, Biden also faces pressure from progressive House Democrats, with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) demanding in a personal encounter with him that the U.S. must stop enabling violence against Palestinians. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) is leading an effort to stop a $735 million arms sale to Israel, and Representative Betty McCollum (D-FL) introduced a historic bill in April prohibiting the use of U.S. aid in violating Palestinian rights.

As Israeli warplanes have pounded densely populated neighborhoods in Gaza, wiping out whole families, the contradictions between Bidens position on Israel and his stated commitment to human rights are on stark display. His administrations Interim National Security Strategic Guidance document published in March claimed that under Bidens leadership, the U.S. will defend and protect human rights and address discrimination, inequity, and marginalization in all its forms. But in that same document, Biden reiterated the U.S.s ironclad commitment to Israels security, with no mention of how Israel routinely violates Palestinian human rights.

This article was produced by Globetrotter.

Sonali Kolhatkar is the founder, host and executive producer of Rising Up With Sonali, a television and radio show that airs on Free Speech TV and Pacifica stations. She is a writing fellow at the Independent Media Institute.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP)  Nepals president dissolved Parliament and announced fresh elections on Saturday after the prime minister, who was heading a minority government and was unlikely to secure a vote of confidence in the chamber, recommended the move.

A notice issued by President Bidya Devi Bhandaris office set the elections for Nov. 12 and 19.

Nepal has been grappling with a political crisis at the same time it's struggling with a coronavirus surge and record numbers of daily infections and deaths, amid acute shortages of hospital beds, medication and oxygen.

Last year, Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Oli dissolved Parliament on his own due to feuds within his ruling Nepal Communist Party. However, several petitions were filed at the Supreme Court and the judges ordered Parliament to be reinstated.

The latest decision also is likely to be challenged in court and a decision could take weeks.

Oli had lost a vote of confidence earlier this month after a faction of his party refused to support him. He was again appointed to head a minority government but needed the support of half the lawmakers within a month to continue. It was, however, unlikely Oli could muster the vote.

He became prime minister after his Nepal Communist Party won two-thirds of seats in the 2017 parliamentary election. The strong showing gave hope of a stable, long-lasting government, but his party split earlier this year over differences concerning party leadership.

Oli has been criticized for giving too much attention to the party squabbles instead of the pandemic.
Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP

LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles police on Saturday announced the arrest of a suspect in an alleged attack by a pro-Palestinian group on Jewish men outside a restaurant earlier in the week.

A police statement, which did not identify the man, said he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon late Friday at a residence outside the city of Los Angeles with assistance from a U.S. Marshals Service task force.
SHELTON  Anna Valenti locked the doors of her bar, Annas Place, at 8 p.m. March 16, 2020, telling one of her customers she would see them in a couple of weeks.

More than a year later, she is finally reopening her doors.

I never dreamed that it would be 13 months, Valenti, owner and operator of Annas Place for 29 years, said about finally be allowed to reopen Wednesday after being shut down because of the pandemic.

It was just wonderful, she said about the reopening. It had been so long, I was nervous  surprising, but I was nervous. It really felt like I was opening for the first time. These customers are my friends  like second family.

Valenti said the bar  like nearby Cuppys Cafe which was also closed for the past year  is a staple of the downtown, one of those true neighborhood bars where nearly everyone knows each other's names.

Annas had been closed for so long, she said, routines that had become nearly unthinking action had truly escaped her.

I didnt even remember the prices, where the bottles were located when I went to mix drinks  it was weird, like I had to take a few minutes to relearn things that had become second nature over the past 29 years, she said.

Valenti said she was in the dark from day one during the pandemic, with no guidance from the state except she needed to remain closed as COVID-19 cases continued to rise throughout Connecticut. She remembers in April hearing a rumor that bars may reopen  then she watched a Lamont press conference and the word bar was covered with a big red X.

Luckily, she said, she did not have to go into personal savings for business expenses  but her barrels of beer didnt make the transition. Alcohol can be saved, but not the beer on tap.

I poured thousands of dollars down the drain, Valenti said.

In the end, the reopening went without a hitch as her regulars showed up as if the doors had never closed, she said.

"They were all looking forward to me reopening, Valenti said. It was a good night. Now it feels like I never left.

Valenti owns the building at 352 Coram Ave., which she says was a saving grace when no income was coming from her business. Because she did not have a regular dining menu, she was forced to remain closed where other bars that served food were allowed to open under limitations. But a strong 2019 allowed her to survive and not have to dip into personal savings to cover costs, she said.

Frank Capece Jr., owner of Cuppys Cafe, which was first opened in 1972 by his uncle, said he also owns his building but the need to cover a mortgage and other regular expenses forced him twice to apply for Paycheck Protection Program loans.

Its a fun business, a great business, Capece said. There are few mom and pops like us left. When all this started, I really thought about selling. I was frustrated, but this is my baby. It sucks the life out of you, but I love it.

Capece took over the business in 1986 by chance. He said he had just left a job in Florida, and while driving to New Hampshire to start his new life, stopped to visit his family in the Shelton area. In the end, he never left.

Capece reopened Cuppys Cafe at 366 Coram Ave.  located only steps away from Annas Place  on Friday. And with the reopening comes a fresh look which he said he hopes his returning regulars will appreciate.

I put a lot of money into the bar, Capece said. The new equipment, new bar, renovated interior and the addition of a small kitchen cost in the thousands of dollars he said.

It really started when a friend of mine helped me refinish the floors. I was really thinking about selling, but then I moved on to the next project. The place is totally redone now, Capece said. I know people are excited to see the changes. I know when I look at what we did  there were so many people who helped out here  I am amazed.

brian.gioiele@hearstmediact.com
BAGHDAD (AP)  A month after an explosives-laden drone targeted U.S. forces at an Iraq base, the top American commander for the Middle East says finding better ways to counter such attacks is a top priority, and the United States is still behind the curve on solutions.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters traveling with him that the use of small drones by Iranian-backed militia is only going to grow in the next few years. He spent the day in Iraq on Thursday, but for security reasons, media accompanying him were not allowed to report on his visit until after he left the region.

The drones, which are cheap and easy to buy, are often difficult to detect and problematic to defeat. McKenzie said the U.S. must find more ways to counter their use by America's enemies in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Were working very hard to find technical fixes that would allow us to be more effective against drones, McKenzie said. Efforts are underway, he said, to look for ways to cut command and control links between a drone and its operator, improve radar sensors to quickly identify the threat as it approaches, and find effective electronic and kinetic ways to bring them down. He added that fencing and high netting can also be used as protective measures.

Were open to all kinds of things he said. The Army is working it very hard. Still, I don t think were where we want to be.

In mid-April, an drone targeted U.S.-led coalition forces near a northern Iraq airport, causing a large fire and damage to a building. There were no casualties.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The U.S. has blamed Iran-backed militia groups for previous attacks, most of them rockets that have targeted the American presence in Baghdad, the capital, and military bases across Iraq.

Overall attacks against coalition troops have been frequent since a U.S.-directed drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport last year. Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack. The strike drew the ire of mostly Shiite Iraqi lawmakers and prompted parliament to pass a nonbinding resolution to pressure the Iraqi government to oust foreign troops from the country.

The Biden administration has resumed strategic talks with Baghdad, initiated under President Donald Trump, in which the future of U.S. troop presence in Iraq is a central point of discussion. McKenzie and others have expressed optimism that the U.S. will maintain a military presence in the country

The militia groups, McKenzie said, are frustrated because there had been some hope that U.S. forces would leave Iraq, particularly in the wake of the Soleimani strike.

They believe they can carry out attacks at a fairly low level that wont provoke a response, yet will create enough friction that will eventually induce us to leave, McKenzie told reporters traveling with him. I think its a dangerous situation.

He said he believes the U.S.-led coalition still has work to do in Iraq to help defeat the Islamic State group, which maintains some presence in western and northern Iraq. But he said the Iraqi security forces have done a good job battling IS.

After spending Thursday in Iraq, McKenzie was in Syria on Friday, meeting with U.S. and partner commanders and forces at four different bases.
President William McKinley rode the Great Gorge Railroad between Lewiston and Niagara Falls on September 6, 1901. He is the man in the center of the car.
Niagara Falls, NY (14301)

Today

A few clouds. Low 62F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Low 62F. Winds ENE at 10 to 15 mph.
An ex-aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, says it is sad that President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to Paris recently bu...





An ex-aide to former President Goodluck Jonathan, Reno Omokri, says it is sad that President Muhammadu Buhari travelled to Paris recently but did not attend the burial of his late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, in Abuja on Saturday.

Omokri tweeted, Sad that President Muhammadu Buhari did not attend the burial of the late Chief of Army Staff, (Lieutenant) General Attahiru. He was represented by his Defence Minister (Maj. Gen. Bashir Magashi (retd.)).

Attahiru died serving Nigeria. Buhari, who went to Paris for four days, could not go to Attahirus funeral for 30 minutes.

It was earlier reported that Buhari travelled to France for a four-day official visit and attended the African Finance Summit. The President came back on Thursday.

Attahiru and ten other military personnel died a day after  Friday  when a Beachcraft 350 aircraft crashed at the Kaduna International Airport.

Attahiru was buried at the National Military Cemetery in Abuja on Saturday afternoon in accordance to Islamic rites.

Remains of Ibrahim Attahiru, others arrive Abuja for burial

But while the Presidents Chief of Staff, Ibrahim Gambari; governors, Senators, House of Representatives members and other dignitaries travelled from their states to attend the funeral of Attahiru, Buhari was absent from the burial.

Earlier in a statement on Friday evening, the President had said he was deeply saddened by the air crash that claimed the lives of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and other military officers.

Continuing, Buhari had said, All of them are heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land.

This crash is one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our Armed Forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country.

My condolences to the families of the deceased, the entire military, and all Nigerians. The deaths of these officers will not be in vain!
The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, has directed the cancellation of events slated to mark the 65th anniversary of the Nig...

The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, has directed the cancellation of events slated to mark the 65th anniversary of the Nigerian Navy.

This was contained in a statement by the spokesperson for the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Suleman Dahun.

Dahun said that the decision followed the demise of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and some senior officers in the air crash of Friday, May 21 in Kaduna.Navy

The CNS commiserates with the nation and offers the condolences of officers and ratings of the Nigerian Navy to Mr President.

The Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force as well as families of the departed.

May their souls rest in peace, he said.

He said that the death of Attahiru, a service chief, like his colleague in the Navy, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, had put the Army, Navy, Air Force and the entire defence circle in a sober mood.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that no one can buy his conscience and support for anything. Obasanjo said this on Fri...

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that no one can buy his conscience and support for anything.

Obasanjo said this on Friday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, at the inauguration of the Prof Abayomi Oluwatosin Jiboku Building and Entrepreneurship Centre at the Lariken International College.

The ex-president said the displacement of values of honesty and hard work by the love for money and other material things as one of the causes of the problems before Nigeria.

He said the amount of money and number of cars, as well as houses built by individuals, should not be taken to determine their level of success but their positive contributions to society and the number of lives they affected.

Obasanjo said it was unfortunate that Nigerians had jettisoned the values of integrity, truthfulness and love for ones neighbours with the strong desire to get rich quickly and by all means.

Obasanjo said, One of the ways we have problems in our society today is the values we cherish. Money-making is the value now pervasive.

In Yorubaland, money-making is not one of the values that we take to. Omoluabi, truthfulness, integrity, truth, industry and hard work were our values. Where have they gone? Why have we put them aside and all we are striving for is money? Where is honour in our values?

Nowadays, anyone who has money can buy anything but not with me. If you have money, you cannot buy my conscience and support for anything. In any case, if you have all the money in the world, of what purpose will it be?

How do you describe success? I define success as you making a place better than you met it. It is not the amount of money you have, not the number of houses built, not the number of cars you have. It is how much you have contributed to making a place better than you find it.

He lauded the standards of the college while stressing that there was a need for school curriculum to be designed for the training of both the mind and the hands.

Obasanjo said, If we are going to get out of insecurity, banditry, Boko Haram, kidnapping and other criminalities, we will have a long gestation period of training and educating all Nigerian children.

Education is the beginning of the life well-lived. God has given each and every one of us innate abilities. It is when those innate abilities are developed that we can be the best in our own self-service, in the service of our nuclear and extended families, in the service of our community and in the service of our nation and the world.

The Director of Lariken International College, Mr Idowu Jiboku, said education would continue to evolve in line with the needs of society.

He said the school was laying emphasis on entrepreneurship because of the role this could play in addressing the unemployment problem in the country and by extension reducing poverty and insecurity.
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Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, has slammed some Nigerians celebrating the death of the C...

Senator Shehu Sani, who represented Kaduna Central in the 8th National Assembly, has slammed some Nigerians celebrating the death of the Chief Of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, who died alongside other top military officers in an air crash on Friday.

The army chief and other top military officers died on Friday evening when a military Beachcraft 350 conveying them crashed at the Kaduna International Airport.

While Nigerians mourn the officers, Shehu Sani on his official Facebook page on Saturday alleged that some Nigerians are rejoicing over the ugly incident.

He lamented how some elements would celebrate the death of other persons stressing that such people are evil.

According to him, When Abacha died, some people gloated. When the members of the IMN were callously massacred in Zaria, some people celebrated. When Nnamdi Kanu lost his parents, some people were happy.

And now some people are delighted over the tragedy that led to the loss of our gallant officers; Of what use is a mortal rejoicing over the death of another mortal?

Where is our empathy and humanity. Why have we become so evil in life and death?
Watertown, NY (13601)

Today

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 58F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Becoming partly cloudy after some evening light rain. Low 58F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Clarksville Fire Department firefighters work the scene of a fire that destroyed the George Rogers Clark home site in Clarksville, Ind. The cabin was built 20 years ago as a recreation of the home where Revolutionary War figure Clark spent his retirement years in southern Indiana.
Cecilia Yepiz, 49, vanished on Jan. 5. Two months later, her body was found in a clandestine grave on the southern outskirts of Nogales, Sonora.
A visitation for Officer Jeremy Brinton is set for Tuesday, June 1 at Nogales High School. The public is welcome from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The next day, a Mass celebration will be held at NHS at 10 a.m.
A Pearl River man was indicted by a St. Tammany Parish grand jury this week and accused of sex crimes involving children under 13 that began in 2015, according to 22nd Judicial District Attorney Warren Montgomery.

Doyle Eugene Glaze, 44, faces one count of first-degree rape of a victim under 13 and three counts of aggravated crime against nature of a victim under 13, a news release said.

He is accused of sexually abusing three different victims, with the alleged crimes occurring between January 2015 and August 2019.

He was booked into St. Tammany Parish jail on March 5, according to jail records. The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office investigated the case.

Glaze's bond was set at a total of $1 million, $500,000 for the rape count and $500,000 for the crimes against nature, according to jail records. He remains incarcerated.

He has sought a reduction in his bond, according to court records.
The St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office said Saturday that a person was killed near Pearl River.

It said it was investigating a homicide that occurred Friday night in the 73000 block of Mike Talley Road but did not release more details, and spokespersons for the agency did not return calls and emails seeking information.

The agency asked anyone with information about the crime to call (985) 898-2338.
Homicide investigators sought the public's help Saturday in finding a man accused of killing a woman in Old Jefferson.

They said they want to arrest Larry Richardson Jr., 40, of Metairie on charges of second-degree murder and obstruction of justice. He was last seen driving a silver 2020 Toyota Camry with Louisiana license plate 275DJG, the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office said.

Deputies think Richardson fled the 3400 block of Mole Cottage Street, a one-block dead end street near River Road, after fatally shooting the woman Friday night. He might have headed to Houston.

The Sheriff's Office did not provide other details.

Anyone with information was asked to call the homicide section at (504) 364-5641 or Crimestoppers Inc. at (504) 822.1111.
Tina Carter-Ross, 41, received her second college degree - with honors - on Saturday. She earned it while working full time and holding together her household of five.

Kimberly Dufrene, too, received a degree. Shes 55, a grandmother of six and mother of four.

Their newly minted congressman, Troy Carter, seemed to be speaking directly to them as he pushed the concept of lifelong learning during his commencement address at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans to graduates of Delgado Community College.

The beautiful thing about learning is that nobody can take it away from you. said Carter, quoting B.B. King.

Carter said he was determined not to fill his speech with stories of success. Often, we forget to talk about failures, he said, describing his lifes challenges.

After his parents divorced when he was young, his mother enrolled in classes Xavier University and often attended with some of her six children in tow. She ended up becoming a classroom teacher, a job she held for 40 years.

In the fourth row of chairs, Carter-Ross sat in her black cap and gown with a green-striped honors hood and nodded. She works as a transportation manager for a local charter school, creating the budgets, maps and scheduling to get students to and from campus. With Saturdays degree, an associates in business and management with a focus in logistics management, she is a mere 30 hours from a bachelors degree and poised for a rise to transportation director.

She, too, tells everyone she knows about the importance of education: It advances you. You have more opportunity. -  she tells the children who ride her buses and see her in the school lunchroom.

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At home this spring, as she prepared for finals for six Delgado classes, there were moments when her husband, Dwayne, expressed a longing for a hot meal. I do apologize, shed say, as she kept her focus on her studies and those of their children: Davon, 19, a new Edna Karr High School honors graduate; Davian, 15, and Jordyn, 13.

On weekdays, she studied from 6 to 7 in the mornings, before the buses began running, then again during a morning break. Weekends, there was little else. All day, Im studying.

Davon said his mothers devotion motivated him. I learned to never give up, he said.

Davian said that when his grades lagged a little, he watched his mothers drive and was inspired to maintain his honor student status. She pushed me to actually study, he said.

Carter, their congressman, graduated from O. Perry Walker High, now L.B. Landry College and Career Preparatory High and Xavier University. He worked six years in the office of Mayor Sidney Barthelemy then he held a series of elected offices in the Louisiana House of Representatives and on the City Council. In 2002, he ran for the office hed wanted his entire life: mayor of New Orleans.

+6 'Voters voted against wokeness:' How Troy Carter defeated Karen Carter Peterson On his first day as a congressman-elect on Sunday, Troy Carter slept only 90 minutes, attended seven Black church services in the New Orleans 

He lost. Gut punch, he said.

He later ran twice for U.S. Congress and lost both times. He decided to sit out for awhile before running for state Senate, a race he won handily.

We fail often. We dont always get it right, said Carter, who last month won the states 2nd Congressional District seat. But failures are merely steps toward success.
Do you remember the start of the pandemic when people rushed grocery stores and bought as much water as they could? And how those stores had to impose limits on how much individuals could purchase, lest they leave none on the shelves?

Grocers in Tallulah imposed such limits  three gallons of water per shopper  which may work fine as an anti-hoarding policy but doesnt acknowledge that in a town where the tap water is typically brown and icky, shoppers would legitimately have need to buy more.

Bryan Walker, a 27-year-old Tallulah resident, said his family would buy more than three gallon jugs per shopping trip if they could, but said he doesnt have the storage space for the 30 gallons a month hed need to buy every month if his family used bottled water to cook every meal.

Walker pays a single $73 bill for sewerage, garbage pickup and water every month. He spends another $25 to $30 for water hes not afraid to swallow. Thats up to $360 per year. Multiply that by every household in Tallulah. Because Walker said he doesnt know anybody in Tallulah who doesnt buy drinking water.

As reporter Sara Sneath notes in a story about the states decrepit water systems, about 44% of Tallulahs 6,666 people live in poverty. The per capita income is $14,832. Its not just an inconvenience that water customers have to pay more for water to drink. Its a financial burden.

The Louisiana Legislature wants to dedicate $300 million from federal COVID-19 relief money to the states water systems. The Biden administration says Louisiana needs $7 billion over the next 20 years to address its water infrastructure. Help will have to come from Baton Rouge and Washington because theres no way a town as poor as Tallulah can fix its water problems by itself.

According to Consumer Reports, in 1994, American consumers bought 11 gallons of water a year, and 42 gallons a year in 2018. In 2018 those purchases added up to $31 billion. Americans spent that much even though, the report notes, two-thirds of the water bottled in the U.S. is nothing but filtered tap water.

Americans have mostly fallen for the marketing campaign that promotes bottled over tap, and certainly there are people with disposable income who buy water not because they need to but because they can.

However, that 2019 story in Consumer Reports reveals that Black people and poor people spend the most per month on bottled water and are most likely to say its safer than tap.

Heres a thought: Maybe it is.

As Sneath reported, in a recent analysis of Environmental Protection Agency data, Kristi Pullen Fedinick, the Natural Resources Defense Councils Director of Science and Data, found that race had the strongest relationship to the length of time people had to live with drinking water violations.

Walker is White, but he lives in a town where eight out of 10 people are Black and where, as already noted, most people are struggling financially. Tallulah is the parish seat of Madison Parish, the second poorest of the states 64 parishes.

Not only does the brown water coming out of his taps force his family to spend money he wouldnt otherwise have to spend, but it forces them to rethink or reschedule tasks that others would do reflexively. Take bathing their 8-month-old and 23-month-old babies. When the water is looking particularly bad, Walker said, they wont even bathe them because you dont feel like youre getting clean if youre in dirty water. We would rather clean them up with a baby wipe or something and wait till the next night, try again.

If they leave a bowl, a cup, a babys bottle open-side-up in the dishwasher, it collects sediment and they have to wash it again. And because theyve seen what the water does to clothes, Walker said, We dont have any white linens at all.

Between October 2019 and 2020, Madison Parish had more boil water notices per person than any other parish. Such notices are issued whenever a drop in water pressure raises the likelihood of contamination.

But whats a boil water notice to Walker? Such an alert has no bearing on anyone in my family, he said. You have to treat it as if there was a boil water notice already.
Norman, OK (73070)

Today

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low 71F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. Low 71F. Winds SE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
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Mansfield, Pa. - The Mansfield University Public Safety Training Institute will host a police-community forum on Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m. in Allen Hall.

The forum will provide an opportunity for the public and police to share ideas, concerns, and recommendations for improving the relationship between community police and the citizens they serve.

The event features local community leaders, law enforcement professionals, and university representatives.

Panelists and moderators involved in the forum include:

Scott Henry - Mansfield University Chief of Police and Director of the Mansfield University Police Academy

- Mansfield University Chief of Police and Director of the Mansfield University Police Academy Erick Coolidge - Tioga County Commissioner and member of the Pennsylvania State Law Enforcement Advisory Commission

- Tioga County Commissioner and member of the Pennsylvania State Law Enforcement Advisory Commission Dan Selekman - Lieutenant (retired), Wilmington Delaware Police Department and Community Policing Expert

- Lieutenant (retired), Wilmington Delaware Police Department and Community Policing Expert Jim Bodine - Chief of Wellsboro Police Department

- Chief of Wellsboro Police Department Will Schlosser - Council member of Mansfield Borough Council

- Council member of Mansfield Borough Council Mel Chambliss - Chief Diversity Officer at Alfred State College (N.Y.) Police Academy

Moderators:

Kim Shelton - TRIO Director at Mansfield University

- TRIO Director at Mansfield University Nichole Book - Chair of the Diversity & Inclusion Council at Mansfield University

The in-person event is open to the public and will take place in 104 Allen Hall on campus from 7 to 9 p.m. Attendees must follow all Mansfield University Covid-19 Health & Safety guidelines including masking for individuals not fully vaccinated.

For more information on the MU Public Safety Training Institute.
Williamsport, Pa.  A convicted sex offender in the Jersey Shore area recently was sentenced a second time for failing to register with state police.

Dillon L. Zinck, 27, of Antes Fort, was sentenced on May 20 by Lycoming County Judge Marc F. Lovecchio to one felony count of failure to register as a sex offender.

Zinck was sentenced to 246 days to 18 months county jail, with 246 days credit for time served. He'll have to pay the cost of prosecution, register with PSP at his new address and comply with registry requirements.

Zinck was placed on the sex offender registry in 2015 for the sexual abuse of children and possession of child pornography in 2014.

Zinck is a Tier 1 Sexual Offender, which means he must register for 15 years and report annually.

This is the second time he's failed to register as a sex offender. Zinck was sentenced in 2018 by Lovecchio for the same thing.

Docket Sheet
Harrisburg, Pa. - A new bill in the state legislature would end Pennsylvanias participation in the three federal unemployment programs which are part of the Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation program as part of the American Recovery Plan.

My legislation will phase out Pas participation in the federal unemployment programs that are paying unemployment claimants to sit at home. A state can withdraw from these federal programs up to 30 days notice to the US Dept. of Labor, according to a memo by Rep. Jim Cox (R-Berks/Lancaster County).

H. B. 508 would provide an incentive for those who promptly discontinue their claims to accept and maintain employment.

The Back-to-Work-Bonus Program would provide a $300 bonus for former claimants who have worked for four consecutive weeks. And to further incentivize those remaining in the workforce, individuals who remain employed for 8 consecutive weeks with the same employer may receive a second $300 bonus.

The bonuses would be funded from the $154 million in federal funds and would reward those who take further steps into the workforce. Priority would be given to individuals who either discontinue the unemployment benefits early; are working full time at least 35 hours per week; or have been employed for eight consecutive weeks and are applying for the second bonus.

H. B. 508 is co-sponsored by Reps. Martin Causer, Eric Davanzo, Russ Diamond, Torren Ecker, Gregory, Joe Hamm, Sue Helm, John Hershey, Rich Irvin, Rob Kauffman, Kate Klunk, Frank Ryan, Ryan Mackenzie, David Maloney, Steven Mentzer, David Millard, Dan Moul, Eric Nelson, Clint Owlett, Frank Ryan, Stan Saylor, and David Zimmerman.
Harrisburg, Pa.  House lawmakers on Friday introduced a bill that would allow terminally ill patients to receive life-ending medication from their physicians.

Under the measure, patients must be sound of mind, have a terminal diagnosis and wait at least 48 hours before an end-of-life drug is prescribed. They could rescind the decision at any time.

"Its time to legalize medical, compassionate aid in dying for terminally-ill Pennsylvanians who face unbearable and unrelieved suffering during their final days," Reps. Angel Cruz and Carol Hill-Evans said in the bill's memo.

H.B. 1453 would require physicians to inform patients of alternatives to death like hospice care and pain control. Patients would be encouraged but not required to notify next of kin of their end-of-life decision.

"Death with dignity laws have been enacted in nine states and the District of Columbia that offer terminally-ill adults who meet specific, well-defined requirements the option to end their life peacefully and on their terms," Reps. Cruz and Hill-Evans said.

The bipartisan bill is co-sponsored by Reps. F. Todd Polinchock (R-Bucks), Benjamin Sanchez (D-Montgomery), Liz Hanbidge (D-Montgomery) and Mark Rozzi (D-Berks).

It was referred to the House Judiciary Committee.
WilliamsportThe YWCA will be receiving a boost thanks to the recently approved allocation of $40,000 from the Community Development Block Grant COVID (CDBG-CV) money.

We are pleased to support the Williamsport YWCA, Mayor Derek Slaughter said. The YWCA programs are effective at promoting a sense of safety, community, and restoration in the lives of many Williamsport residents.

The money will be used by the YWCA to make facility improvements including an outdoor play area for children and renovations to a permanent supportive housing kitchen.

In fiscal year 2020, the YWCA provided 9,203 nights of safe shelter to 237 women, men, and child survivors of domestic violence and/or sexual assault.

During this same timeframe, the YWCA provided 64 woman and children permanent supportive housing as they were recovering from substance abuse while experiencing homelessness.
Article shared with permission from First News Now

HARRISON VALLEY, Pa. - According to Pennsylvania State Police, 41-year-old, Jonathan E. Schave of Oklahoma was operating a 2016 Volvo D13 Semi truck along W. Main Street in Harrison Township when he lost control of his vehicle and traveled off the westbound side of the roadway and impacted a residence. The semi truck came to a final rest sitting inside the home.

The Bobtail Tractor Truck had crashed into the home located at 105 West Main Street in Harrison Valley Thursday morning, May 20, 2021, around 10:40AM, near the Hardware Store.

Fire crews from Harrison Valley, Crary Hose Company out of Westfield, Coudersport EMS, as well as, crews from Tri-Town fire and ambulance responded to the scene where the driver was trapped inside the smoking semi truck after it crashed through a home.

A hazmat trailer was requested to the scene from Crary Hose Fire Department to assist.

A medical helicopter was notified around 11:08AM. Crary Hose fire personnel set up a landing zone around 11:18AM. LifeNet Medical Helicopter was said to have taken off around 12:15PM and transported the driver to Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre for treatment.

Jonathan E. Schave was said to have suffered serious injuries in the crash. Schave's overall present condition is still unknown.

Homeowners Tom and Jeanie Sherman, were said to have been on their back porch at the time of the accident and were not injured. However, their home was severely damaged.

Pennsylvania State Police and fire crews were still on scene around 3:00PM, as state police investigated this accident.

State Route 49 was closed in both direction for several hours.

PennDOT crew was reported at the scene to assist as fire personnel worked. White's Towing was brought in to remove the semi truck from the structure and tow it away.

It was unknown when fire crews were cleared from this scene or when the road was reopened. It was learned later that the road was reported open before 4:00PM.

State Police noted that Schave was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

FNN has been able to confirm that the semi truck was traveling through the area at above the speed limit. Also there was a dog inside the truck that was gathered up and transported to a vet clinic for evaluation.
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Calhoun, GA (30701)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
Rome, GA (30161)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low near 70F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Elderly people, the very people we have gone through economic shutdowns to protect, generally dont hold on to their immunological protection as well as younger individuals, Dr. Michael Mina, an epidemiologist at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said during a recent town hall. I would be very surprised if we dont see a resurgence of cases, in a much smaller degree, this fall and winter. Those will end up getting into some of the senior living centers and nursing homes and we will see additional cases that are very worrying.
Roseburg, OR (97470)

Today

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 54F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with overcast skies overnight. Low 54F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
On May 21, the day her son would be found dead, she filed for an emergency pick-up order, which would have authorized law enforcement officials to go the condo and take the child. The petition cited a string of threatening and obscene texts he sent her that week, said the father hadnt taken him to school and that police couldnt locate them to check on his welfare.
George Bowers is the senior pastor of Antioch Church of the Brethren and has authored 16 books including Blessings Volume 3 which is a collection of these articles. It is available at Four Star Printing and Shenandoah Stuff. He can be reached through www.georgebowersministries.com or at gabowers@shentel.net.
Across Indiana there were 683 new cases, increasing the state's overall total to 739,626. New cases were reported Friday.

Across the state line, Calumet City reported 3,890 cases and Lansing reported 3,459 cases according to the Illinois Department of Public Health.

Seven-day positivity rates in Northwest Indiana included 6% in Lake County, 6.3% in Porter County, 7.8% in LaPorte County, 6% in Newton County and 10.3% in Jasper County.

Contact tracing can become difficult when the number exceeds 5%, and community spread is considered out of control when the positivity rate is greater than 10%.

A total of 41.5% of Indiana's total population have been fully vaccinated. To date, 2,414,328 Hoosiers have been fully vaccinated.

Appointments and walk-ins are welcome at the former Roosevelt High School in Gary, which is offering both the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines. The Gary clinic, which runs through June 2, is offering vaccinations from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 2401 Harrison St., Gary.
CHESTERTON  An accounting manager for the Duneland Chamber of Commerce faces charges of theft and conversion for over $11,000 in funds acquired between late 2019 and early 2020.

Sarah Potrzebowski, 40, of Chesterton, is accused of exerting unauthorized control over money belonging to the Chamber by pocketing funds collected from vendors at the town's European Market and other cash payments between September 12, 2019 and January 15, 2020. The money amounted to $11,018.05, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Porter Superior Court.

A certified public accountant reviewing the Chamber's bank records first alerted authorities Feb. 2 about the missing funds, records state.

Potrzebowski was booked on a felony charge of theft and misdemeanor count of conversion in Porter County Jail Wednesday, and has since bonded out.

Potrzebowski has an initial hearing scheduled June 2. Online records did not indicate Potrzebowski was represented yet by a defense attorney.
"This is a process that's going to be greatly involved by the community, by staff and our council as we look to best determine the uses and spaces of our downtown ... to make it more accessible," Mayor David Uran said.
Jurors were left to puzzle out the criminal liabilities without testimony from Hobson, who declined Thursday afternoon to take the witness stand, and an eyewitness account from Adams girlfriend which was initially garbled by the trauma of her head wound. The girlfriend said Hobson, who she had known from childhood, came July 14, 2018, to the Gary apartment she shared with Adams.

The trio smoked marijuana and then left the apartment, possibly to buy more marijuana.

Adams was armed with a handgun he had stolen earlier that day from a juvenile.

The prosecution said Hobson drove the victims to the Emerson neighborhood of Gary, which Wolf said is also called The Valley.

The girlfriend said all three were walking down a dark alley when Hobson fatally shot Adams and then pistol whipped and shot her, too.

She escaped the crime scene and was rushed to a Chicago hospital.

The details of what happened just before the shots were fired are unclear because the girlfriend has given conflicting accounts.

The defense argued the girlfriends credibility is too questionable to be relied on.
A fence near the hotel was adorned with pink heart-shaped balloons set by volunteers.

Other volunteers have dressed in bright colors and backpacks with music speakers to broadcast music to try getting Kyrin's attention.

Three moms banded together Friday to walk along the Little Calumet River and Hoosier Prairie.

Melody Nicholes, of Miller, said she empathizes on a personal level with Kyrins family.

I have a daughter with autism and I know if this was her missing, Id want everyone out here looking, Nicholes said.

She said she had a similar experience when her daughter was around 3 years old in Gary.

We were packing the van, going in and out, and when I went to see if she was ready to eat she was gone, Nicholes said. My heart dropped. I called police, there were helicopters. I called Officer Jay (of Gary) because he gave me his number. It turns on she had out on her swimsuit and gotten her beach towel and went to go to the beach. She was standing at Oak Street when Officer Jay found her, waiting to cross the street to go to the lake.

Suzanne Banaszak, of Demotte, has a grandson with autism, which she said has helped her understand Kyrin and what his actions may have been.
Civilian searchers still held on hope and came out to the Little Calumet River Saturday.

I just hope and pray Kyrin comes back safe to his parents, said Sylvia Roberson, of Hammond. Its been a week. Its so sad. I also just want to come out and say my prayers for him and his family.

Dana Starke, of Crown Point, has been joining civilian search efforts daily and tied pink ribbons to the trees behind the Hammond hotel because pink was said to be Kyrin Carter's favorite color. She said she has been coming to the stretch of the Little Calumet River since May 16.

"I met Kyrin's mom and introduced myself," Starke said. "She said 'Thank you, I want you to know I love you guys, no matter the outcome. Thank you.' I told her, 'Let me know what you need, if you need someone to get you food or anything at all. I am a mom, too. You have to eat, you have to take care of yourself.' She just broke down crying."

Starke said she has made new friends this past week among fellow searchers. They have been coordinating efforts together and some have even been providing water and snacks.

"Since I have been out here, it's been so humbling to see all of these strangers come from everywhere to help," Starke said. "That's the way the world should be."
Calumet City Fire Chief Glenn Bachert said last year the city took 3,200 patients to Franciscan Health in Hammond, and 3,700 in 2019. The next closest hospital to Calumet City is Ingalls in Harvey, which took in 400 patients from the city in 2020.

"Fifty percent of that was Medicare/Medicaid patients, and where are they going now?" Bachert said.

Maria Luna, a housekeeper at the hospital who lives in Munster, said she and other staff members also were surprised by the news a couple of weeks ago.

"We had an emergency meeting, and I thought I had said something wrong, and we all got together and they told us; just a surprise one morning," Luna said.

For Luna, the downsizing means her retirement might come sooner rather than later, as she's unsure if she will retain her position.

"I was hoping to work maybe five more years and possibly considering retiring," Luna said, noting she's hoping to pay off a car she just purchased.

She later added: "They didn't say anything in the meeting. I stayed for the town hall meeting, which was very vague, and (they) said that we would be transferred. They would try to fit us into Munster or Dyer, but there's too many of us to fit in those positions."
Neither the descriptions of the hospitalized people nor their conditions were made available as of Saturday afternoon. The vessel was towed from the crash site.
Clark was best known for his Revolutionary War role in leading American soldiers who defeated British forces in 1779 and captured Fort Sackville in Vincennes, located in southwestern Indiana along the Wabash River.

The site of Clark's home in present-day Clarksville has been known for nearly two centuries as Clarks Point. It overlooks a sharp curve along the Ohio River and offers commanding views up and down the waterway.

The site is also where Clarks younger brother, William, met Meriwether Lewis a year before they embarked in 1804 on an exploration of territory west to the Pacific Ocean.

Dan Bortner, the director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, said Friday afternoon in a statement that the agency was deeply saddened by the loss of the re-created 19th century cabin.

This is where Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first met, in 1803, and began their journey of discovery together. It has long served as a peaceful place for Americans to meet, reflect, and celebrate events in their lives, he said.

For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, Courier Journal.

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Terence Riley, who as an architectural curator and museum director was instrumental in bringing to fruition two of the most important works of 21st-century museum architecture, died on Monday at his home in Miami. He was 66.

His family said the death was sudden, caused by an underlying heart condition.

As the chief curator of architecture and design at the Museum of Modern Art, Mr. Riley helped select and guide the Tokyo-based architect Yoshio Taniguchi in the museums $858 million expansion, which was completed in 2004.

Later, as director of the Perez Art Museum Miami, he worked with the Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron to create a new home for the museum that has been acclaimed for its design and integration into its environment. Along with his museum duties, Mr. Riley maintained an architectural practice, founded in 1984, with John Keenen.

He always impressed me with his wicked sense of humor and his fierce intelligence, Glenn D. Lowry, MoMAs director, said in an interview. He seemed to remember details about every architect he ever talked to.
According to the police, the first noose was discovered on April 27, hanging from a steel beam on the second floor of the building, in an area that was not monitored by surveillance cameras and was accessible to hundreds of employees from various companies.

The police said that, according to the construction supervisor, the site safety team had documented the episode and discarded the noose.

Two days later, on April 29, detectives were notified that five additional ropes that could be interpreted as nooses were found in various places throughout the building, the police said. The ropes were collected as evidence and were to undergo testing, the police said, adding that no other messages or markings had been found.

On Wednesday, the Windsor police said that officers working on the site had been made aware of a seventh rope that could be interpreted as a noose hanging from a beam. Detectives collected the rope as evidence and planned to send it to the state lab for analysis, the police said.

The Town of Windsor prides itself in being an inclusive and diverse community, the police said. These incidents do not represent the character of our community. We stand united in condemning these acts that are hateful and intolerant.

Cases of racism on construction sites are not uncommon, according to Construction Dive, a news site focused on the construction and building industry, which said that 65 percent of the readers it surveyed last year had witnessed racist incidents on job sites. Those incidents included nooses, graffiti and slurs. Seventy-seven percent of readers said that nothing had been done to address the incidents.

The F.B.I. said it was lending resources and support to the Windsor police.

The implications of a hanging noose anywhere are unacceptable and will always generate the appropriate investigative response, David Sundberg, the special agent in charge of the New Haven field office, said in a statement.
One therapist I spoke to who specializes in trauma witnessed some of her patients, now free of so many of the distractions of ordinary life, able to participate more fully in their treatment. At the end of a session, Sarah Person, who practices in Brooklyn, recalled, people would always say, I meant to talk about this, but I spent the first 20 minutes talking about the man who shoved me on the train.

Over the course of the past year, she found that some clients managed to get to the holy grail  the point of termination, the end of therapy  because they finally had the bandwidth to focus. There was a feeling of I dont want to jump into the worst day of my life, but hey, I have nothing else to do right now, Ms. Person said. Many of my clients went through a reassessment and really doubled down and wanted to get on with it.

Tele-therapy is hardly a contemporary creation. First-generation video conferencing made telepsychology, as it was called, possible long enough ago that researchers had begun studying its effectiveness by the early 1960s. But it took the current crisis to bring it into wide use. Like nearly every other habit or institution upended by the pandemic, the hope for therapy is that it might now be remade, and remade more equitably.

In New York, the high cost of treatment is inextricably linked to the real-estate market. Traditionally, many of the best-trained and most-sought-after practitioners have been concentrated in the citys therapy alleys  parts of the Upper West Side, Upper East Side and Greenwich Village near the psychoanalytic institutes and often where the therapists themselves have lived. In New York, whether you are buying a bouquet of peonies, a pound of ham, or 50 minutes of psychic relief, you are always paying someones rent, and commercial rents in these places are high.

But if therapists catered to some (or even all) of their patients online, reducing their overhead, they might be able to broaden the community they served, offering treatment to the less privileged, for fees on a sliding scale. The increasing availability of temporary office space in the city  space leased for a single day or even just a few hours a week  could allow therapists to accommodate some patients part of the time, others all of the time, in effect operating on a hybrid model.

Aspects governing both how therapy is regulated and how it is covered by insurers would also require long term flexibility. During the pandemic, insurers have largely waived restrictions on reimbursement for treatments conducted online or by phone and proposed federal legislation could make that change permanent. Typically therapists are licensed to practice in a single state, but all the migration that took place during the pandemic and all the heightened need led many governors to allow for quick, temporary licenses so that a therapist practicing in New York, for example, could legally treat a patient online who had moved away. These changes, too, would require ongoing adjustments.

Despite the depth and extent of the mental health crisis prompted by Covid, suicides, according to government statistics, actually went down in 2020, by nearly 6 percent, to the lowest rate in four years. Experts have attributed this to a kind of comforting sense of social cohesion that disasters can bring but also to some of the ease around accessing help. Some forms of therapy  group, family, couples  will always be the most productive held in person. But not all the old ways are worth preserving.
METROPOLITAN

A cover article this weekend about brickyards in the Hudson Valley misstates the years that the Croton Aqueduct was constructed. It was the 1830s and 40s, not the 1870s.

SPECIAL SECTION: MUSEUMS

Because of an editing error, an article this weekend on Page 12 about Maya Lins art landscapes in the Pacific Northwest describes her work Bird Blind incorrectly. The structures slats are engraved with the common and scientific names of the 134 species Lewis and Clark noted in their journey, not only bird species. The article also misidentifies the creator of the model of the Vancouver Land Bridge that is the centerpiece of the exhibition Along the Columbia River: Maya Lin and the Confluence Project. It was created by Johnpaul Jones and his architectural firm, not Ms. Lin.

An article this weekend on Page 29 about a collection of works by Jean-Michel Basquiat on display at the Broad museum in Los Angeles misstates the background of the artists parents. Basquiats mother was of Puerto Rican descent and his father was an immigrant from Haiti, not the reverse.

THE MAGAZINE

An article last weekend about the dramatization of addiction in films referred incorrectly to the setting of Trainspotting. While the movie was shot primarily in Glasgow, the story is set in Edinburgh.
The desire to have influence and respect is universal, and its part of what is driving a lot of behavior in this country right now.

BRUCE A. WEBBER, the recently retired director of the Rural Studies Program at Oregon State University. In five counties in eastern Oregon, conservative residents are pushing to secede from the state and join their more like-minded neighbors in Idaho.
Political divisions in Oregon can to a great degree be measured by a river, the Deschutes, which winds its snaky, circuitous way through the states midsection. The river divides the high prairies of the eastern half  agricultural and politically conservative, largely  from the wetter, woodier western half, which has long been more populated and more liberal.

The statewide shutdown orders that accompanied the coronavirus pandemic last year deepened those divisions, crippling businesses at a time when some rural counties had few cases. The protests and riots over race and police conduct in Portland, the states largest city, widened the gap further still, and the defeat of former President Donald J. Trump, who won most counties but still lost the state by a big margin after President Bidens strong showing in the cities, capped off a litany of frustrations.

This week, all of that led thousands of east-bank residents to a single resonant but highly improbable word: secession. A majority of residents in five eastern counties said in nonbinding votes that they would like to leave Oregon and join with their more like-minded conservative neighbors further east in Idaho.

Those of us in rural Oregon are written off, said Mike McCarter, a retired agricultural nursery owner who has led the secession drive.
WASHINGTON  As a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas came together late Thursday afternoon, White House officials who helped to mediate the agreement were divided over a crucial next step: Should President Biden make a public announcement?

The downside was that the planned halt in fighting, set to take effect at 7 p.m. Washington time, could fall apart, burning the president. The upside was twofold: presenting him as a peacemaker and publicly locking in the two sides, making it less likely that either one would shatter the plan with a last-moment strike.

Mr. Biden went ahead, making brief remarks about an hour before the cease-fire took effect in which he implicitly struck back at critics who had accused him of doing too little to bring the fighting to a swifter conclusion by boasting of his administrations intense diplomatic engagement behind the scenes. The gamble paid off, as the agreement held and the cease-fire went into effect that night.

But now, having become the latest American president to walk the high-wire of mediating the long-running conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, Mr. Biden faces more challenges and risks ahead.
ROME  As Dr. Mario Sorlini sits patients down in a vaccination center near the badly affected Italian town of Bergamo, he explains a potential complication of the coronavirus vaccine.

The second dose, he tells patients with terror-stricken faces, will fall on a date during the summer holidays.

But Ill be in Sardinia then, he said that some had responded with distress. Others moan about hotel rooms theyve already booked. Some, he said, get up and leave.

For months, Italians have hungered for the vaccines that would give them safety, freedom from lockdown and a taste of normal life. After initial pitfalls and hurdles, the vaccination campaign is finally speeding up, but it is heading smack into the summer holidays that are sacred for many Italians and prompting fears among officials that a significant number would rather get away than get vaccinated.
A small skirmish at the Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Friday afternoon underscored the simmering tensions that gripped Israel only hours after an intense diplomatic effort brought about a fragile cease-fire.

The clash broke out shortly after the conclusion of midday prayers, as Israeli police officers entered the mosque compound and fired tear gas and sound grenades.

The Palestinian Red Crescent reported 21 injured, two of whom were taken to the hospital. Nine people were arrested, according to Israeli public radio.

A large raid by Israeli police officers more than a month ago at the mosque was one of the key catalysts that ignited the worst violence to rock the region in seven years.
Life will return, because this is not the first war, and it will not be the last war, said shop owner Ashraf Abu Mohammad. The heart is in pain, there have been disasters, families wiped from the civil registry, and this saddens us. But this is our fate in this land, to remain patient.
Those that slipped through Israels vaunted Iron Dome antimissile system crashed into the city with greater impact than in the past.

Two women died here in a direct strike on their building at the start of the fighting: Nella Gurevitz, 52, and Soumya Santosh, 32, a caregiver.

Even after the cease-fire took effect on Friday, Marina, an open-air leisure complex with a lagoon of anchored small yachts, ice cream parlors and fish restaurants  usually packed with people at the start of the weekend  was almost empty.

People dont trust it 100 percent, Liora Yaakobov, 25, a postal worker, said of the cease-fire.

Out walking with her partner for the first time since the violence started on May 10, Ms. Yaakobov also expressed a disappointment and concern felt by many here, that the truce had come too early, and that the latest bout of fighting would resolve nothing.

Im happy for the calm, she said, but Im waiting for the next round.

In one of the older neighborhoods  filled with dilapidated housing projects from the 1950s  small, reinforced concrete shelters dotted the sidewalk. But for many residents they were simply too far away to run and take cover in, with sirens providing only 10 or 15 seconds warning of incoming rockets.
Every year, National Tap Dance Day is celebrated on or around May 25  the birthday of Bill Robinson, the most prominent Black tap dancer of the first half of the 20th century. Seldom, though, do Tap Day events honor Robinson himself.

Since 2018, three of the contemporary scenes most prominent tap dancers  Derick K. Grant, Jason Samuels Smith and Dormeshia  have been celebrating Tap Day in Harlem with a festival they call Tap Family Reunion, a few days of classes and a show they collectively choreograph and direct. This year, its all virtual, and the show, presented for the first time by the Joyce Theater, is streaming on demand on the theaters website through June 3.

This one is about Robinson. Its called The Mayor of Harlem, after the honorary title that Robinson earned as an informal philanthropist in his neighborhood: appearing at countless benefit performances, covering back rent and bail. It tells his rags-to-riches story.

Or, really, it tells a rags-to-riches story that could almost be anyones. Maurice Chestnut, as Robinson, adds some routine narration to danced scenes of the train ride to the city, the big break, the Hollywood years. The familiar structure is essentially scaffolding for a series of period-style dance numbers.
By summer, he closed off half the store and planned an expansion. Sawdust mixed with incense as he knocked down walls, raised the ceiling, transformed an elevator shaft into an office and relocated the cash register from under the stairs. His second-floor tenant, Walm NDure, extended the fitness center he runs to the roof, configuring a rock-climbing course replete with netting and a retractable awning.

It has always been a fight, up and down, a lot of mishaps, Mr. George said. Despite all of that we always rise.

Mr. George never expected to peddle wordsmiths wares. Born in Tobago, he grew up going barefoot and sleeping on floors. His grandmother was illiterate and his formal education ended after the fifth grade. At 17, he migrated to East New York with his mother, Brenda, and twin brother, Derrick. It was a hard transition. One morning, Mr. George woke up with a cold and told his mother he was going outside to find herbs in a bush, the place he typically went for natural healing methods, and boil them.

She laughed.

I have to take you to a drugstore, she said.

What is at a drugstore? he said.

Medicine, she said.

He worked as a welder until suffering a slipped disk in his back. He found purpose in selling books on sidewalks in Manhattan before saving money to open a bookstore across the Hudson. His first shop was on Branford Place, where he developed a reputation as reserved. On payday, Masani Barnwell, a kindergarten teacher in Newark, walked in to buy books for students in her classroom with characters that looked like the children in her classroom. She wanted them to be inspired, and purchased copies of the author Fred Crumps series, which retell traditional fairy tales with Black characters. She saw a different side of Mr. George.

He wasnt that doggone quiet, she said. He approached me.
ACROSTIC  I think this is a very difficult solve! There are challenges in the clues, including two terms that are totally new to me, and an interesting sentence construction that threw me off  I mentally inserted some punctuation incorrectly and got led a bit astray. The passage is from an 1826 work called Reminiscences by Michael Kelly, a renowned opera tenor in England and Italy who wrote music and songs and befriended many artists of the classical era.

The excerpt concerns a wildly famous composers physical traits and extra-musical skills, namely, a popular parlor game. Because I did so poorly at the clues, I spent a lot of time deducing the passage and made some errors, starting with  hair, hair  instead of fair hair, progressing to precision instead of profusion and trim for thin.

Some of these errors were made possible, even probable, by tough entries like AFFLATUS and INDABA, which look wrong even when they are finally verified to be right. This is far from a gripe, however: Learning the meaning of INDABA was worth the price of admission today. Its a Zulu and Xhosa term from Southern Africa that describes a negotiating tactic thats used when many divergent, varied groups need to agree on critical matters, and it was put to use at the Paris climate talks in 2015 to bring 195 nations to unanimous accord. I cant similarly defend AFFLATUS except to say that yes, its a word.

My only easy wins to start this acrostic were KIWI FRUIT, ENGLISH and CLIFFORD, and that last one came after a long beat where my poor brain pictured the Big Red Dog but just kept helpfully offering Marmaduke. Marmaduke. Marmaduke. I feel like my brains field needs some rototilling, lately.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking into reports that a very small number of teenagers and young adults vaccinated against the coronavirus may have experienced heart problems, according to the agencys vaccine safety group.

The groups statement was sparse in details, saying only that there were relatively few cases and that they may be entirely unrelated to vaccination. The condition, called myocarditis, is an inflammation of the heart muscle, and can occur following certain infections.

The C.D.C.s review of the reports is in the early stages, and the agency has yet to determine whether there is any evidence that the vaccines caused the heart condition. The agency has posted guidance on its website urging doctors and clinicians to be alert to unusual heart symptoms among young people who had just received their shots.

It may simply be a coincidence that some people are developing myocarditis after vaccination, said Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at Bellevue Hospital Center in New York. Its more likely for something like that to happen by chance, because so many people are getting vaccinated right now.
On Friday, Ms. James proposed legislation that she said would strengthen police accountability. The proposal includes allowing officers to use force only as a last resort, and establishing criminal penalties for officers who violate the guidelines.

Prosecutors in cases where there may be a strong defense, particularly those that involve potential police misconduct, can present all sides to a grand jury; doing so can indicate how trial jurors may react to evidence.

Whether Ms. Jamess prosecutors presented the strongest case they could is difficult to determine, said Geoffrey Alpert, the expert from South Carolina who testified before the Rochester grand jury.

If the purpose of the grand jury is to get an indictment, then no, they could have called different witnesses, Mr. Alpert said in an interview. If the purpose of the grand jury was to give jurors several different perspectives, then they did.

But Michael Schiano, a lawyer for one of the officers, said that to him, it was as if the prosecutors put on a case for the defense.

Prosecutors put on the case that we would have put on anyway, Mr. Schiano said. They put on the witnesses we would have put on if there was a jury trial.

The transcripts show that two of the three Rochester officers who were facing potential indictment testified before the grand jury. Although the targets of investigations rarely testify, legal experts said it is more common in cases involving the police, particularly where an officer is claiming to have acted in self-defense.
With fewer overhead costs, and a smaller carbon footprint, hemp farmers who expand to grow cannabis for certain uses may even be able to undercut indoor-facility prices for at least part of the year, officials said. Hemp, which has much less of the intoxicating chemical found in cannabis, THC, is used to make CBD oil.

New Yorks law also permits individuals to grow as many as six marijuana plants for personal use; New Jerseys legislation does not allow so-called home grow.

In the coming months, both states are expected to issue regulations to govern the new industry. Each has framed legalization as a social justice imperative and has dedicated a large share of the anticipated tax revenue to communities of color disproportionately harmed by inequities in the criminal justice system.

Trying to balance the goal of building markets focused on social and racial equity against the inherent dominance of multistate corporations with early toeholds in the region will be crucial, officials in New York and New Jersey said.

They should have that ability to help jump start the market, Norman Birenbaum, New Yorks director of cannabis programs, said about the 10 medical marijuana companies already licensed to operate in the state. But it should not come at the expense of new entrants, he said.

Jeff Brown, who runs New Jerseys cannabis programs, said the market has room  and a crucial need  for newcomers.

The states current operators, he said, are not by themselves going to be able to supply the personal-use market.
As a result, many projects perish in what scientists call the valley of death, the vast gulf between basic discovery and F.D.A. approval.

The problem is bad enough at the best of times: The World Health Organization recently warned that without government intervention, the pipeline for new antibiotics would soon run dry. But its especially challenging for pandemic preparedness and response, which requires, in economic terms, inefficiencies  among them, investments in research and development around treatments that may never be needed.

What would someone have paid in July of 2019 for a SARS-CoV-2 drug? asked Dr. Nat Moorman, a professor of microbiology at the University of North Carolina and director of the Rapidly Emerging Antiviral Drug Discovery Initiative (READDI), a public-private partnership based at U.N.C. The answer, at the time, would have been, Whats a SARS-CoV-2? and nothing, he said. Were talking about very challenging markets, particularly if youre looking forward to the next pandemic.

But in DRIVE, Dr. Liotta and colleagues say theyve found a way forward, and its a model they believe can be replicated.

For one, the group focuses exclusively on the single-stranded RNA viruses responsible for the bulk of the viral disease burden worldwide. You have to choose an area, and you have to devote all of your personnel, all of your time, all of your resources to that area, Dr. Liotta told me in 2016. And what wed like to do is anticipate where the infectious disease markets of the future are going to emerge.

As a nonprofit, DRIVE has no shareholders or investors, meaning it can focus on treatments with little or no potential for return on investment. Yet unlike other efforts to develop drugs for neglected diseases, DRIVE doesnt rely solely on donations. Philanthropy can help, said Dr. Liotta, but with philanthropy alone, its very hard to sustain a development process that can last 10 to 12 years.

Instead, DRIVE pursues a mixed portfolio of major market and neglected diseases, using revenues generated by licensing out the former to subsidize its work on the latter. And it can do that because DRIVE negotiates directly with other companies and institutions, bypassing the layers of bureaucracy typical of academic governance.
Q: My husband and I are buying a co-op on the Upper East Side. The co-op board is requesting three to five letters of recommendation from people who know us. Our broker sent us examples of these letters and they are very long and effusive. This seems so false and forced, and I cant imagine anyone has time to write such letters. Why would a board want so many letters, and do I really need to do it?

A: The co-op board letter is an integral part of the board package, an oddity that is as much of an art as it is a source of misery for buyers. But in the quirky world of New York City real estate, there really is no way around it.

By now, youve likely assembled much of the board package, which can run hundreds of pages long and reveal your financial health in intimate detail. The reference letters from friends and associates introduce you to the co-op.

This may seem strange, arcane and a little neurotic, but a co-op is a corporation, and you are buying shares in it. The board wants to find out what kind of shareholder you will be. And so they ask your friends and co-workers to dish.
The spread of legalization has brought more players and consumers into the edibles market. Edibles are easy. Theyre portable. You dont have to find a space to step aside and smoke, said Sean Arnold, a founder of Terradigm Consulting, which advises cannabis companies on licensing, infrastructure and product development.

Edibles have come a long way from the days of pot brownies, when half a pastry could lead to hours of debilitated function or to nothing at all. Ten years ago it was the luck of the draw if you bought a brownie, said Henry Wykowski, a lawyer who has focused on cannabis law for 17 years. You didnt know where you would wind up.

Today, licensed manufacturers are required by states to test their products for potency and to label packages with the amount of THC in each dose, and in the entire package. Some edibles companies make products with small amounts of THC, allowing the inexperienced to experiment with dosages.

The accessibility of edibles and the discretion they afford has made them the fastest-growing category in cannabis, according to Surfside, a cannabis data-analytics company in New York. Surfside estimates that edibles have outpaced the growth of the rest of the cannabis market by 29 percent in the last three months compared with the same period in 2020.

Mr. Wykowski said that transgressions that may have escaped the notice of large corporations like Mars or Hersheys in the past are on their radar today because cannabis is big business now.

He teaches a course on cannabis law at University of Californias Hastings College of the Law, and one of the sessions deals with laws around likenesses of other products. Five or 10 years ago when cannabis was starting to take off, it was a joke to have something like Capn Punch, a cereal thats infused, Mr. Wykowski said. But the industry has matured, and the people who know what theyre doing no longer engage in that kind of conduct.
Under the deal, Noel and Thomas admit that they falsely filled out forms that theyd made rounds checking on inmates in the Special Housing Unit of the federal Metropolitan Correctional Center in lower Manhattan the night of Aug. 9, 2019 into the following morning. Noel and Thomas were captured on surveillance video neglecting their duties the night Epstein hanged himself.
Mr. Lewis said he spent years struggling financially and searching for credit as he built his cattle herd from a few cows on rented ground to about 200 cows and calves on more than 100 acres of his own land. At first, he said, farm agents did not return his calls. Banks scoffed at his plans. Some days, he could not afford to gas up the red pickup truck that would stall out as he went to fix fences and spread manure in his alfalfa fields. Like many farmers, he works a second job, on power transmission lines.

Getting his government loan paid off now could change everything: He said he could pay down other loans on his livestock. Expand the patchwork of fields he owns to compete against established farmers. Get financing to build a home so he and his wife can escape their one-bedroom apartment.

Itll open up a whole lot of doors, he said. Maybe these local banks that didnt have time for minorities will open up to us.

But several of his white neighbors in Lewis County, where 77 percent of voters supported Mr. Trump in November, see it differently.

Now, raw conversations about discrimination in farming are unfolding at farmers markets and on rural social media channels where race is often an uncomfortable subject.

Its a bunch of crap, said Jeffrey Lay, who grows corn and soybeans on 2,000 acres and is president of the county farm bureau. They talk about they want to get rid of discrimination. But theyre not even thinking about the fact that theyre discriminating against us.

Even in a county that is 94 percent white, Mr. Lay said the federal governments renewed focus on helping farmers of color made him feel like he was losing ground, a sign to him of the countrys demographic shifts.
Tom Stritikus, president of Fort Lewis College in the mountains of rural Colorado, described how representatives of the nearby Southern Ute Indian Tribe approached the campus to arrange the vaccination of their members who are enrolled at the university. Then, in an effort to create a protective bubble around those students, the tribes medical team went one step further and offered vaccinations to the students roommates and professors.

Seeing that kind of commitment made it easy to announce the requirement for the campus as a whole: Any political blowback we would get, we think its worth it, he said.

For the most part, the colleges choosing to enforce vaccine mandates in states that voted for Mr. Trump are private, name-brand schools not worried about meeting enrollment targets. The list reads like a roster of the most prestigious universities in those states: Tulane University in Louisiana, the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, Vanderbilt University in Tennessee and Duke and Wake Forest Universities in North Carolina.

Most others are still trying to figure out what is best for their students and what is best for them.

Ronald S. Rochon, president of the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, said many of his students were local in a county where only 38 percent of the population has been fully vaccinated. The university has seen a 2 percent drop in enrollment during the pandemic, he said.

That number tells me something significant about my community, he said of the vaccination rate. Enrollment does not drive all decisions, but I need to be mindful of that element.

Regarding a vaccine mandate, he said there was still time: I have not ruled it out, and I have not ruled it in.

Jack Begg contributed research.
Vaccinations in many American prisons, jails and detention centers are lagging far behind the United States as a whole, prompting public health officials to worry that these settings will remain fertile ground for frequent, fast-spreading coronavirus outbreaks for a long time to come.

Nationally, more than 61 percent of people ages 18 or older have received at least one dose of vaccine so far. But only about 40 percent of federal prison inmates, and half of those in the largest state prison systems, have done so. And in immigration detention centers, the figure is just 20 percent.

With the overall pace of vaccinations slowing in the United States  down to about 1.87 million doses a day on average, according to federal data  the Biden administration has been stepping up efforts to win over the hesitant and to reach people in underserved and vulnerable communities and those facing access issues.

Over the course of the pandemic, prison inmates have been more than three times as likely as other Americans to become infected with the virus, according to a New York Times database. The virus has killed prisoners at higher rates than the general population, the data shows, and at least 2,700 have died in custody.
We will be watching this closely over the next several months, Mr. San Filippo said. Certainly weve been aware of this as a possibility since we began hearing about more people bringing pets home during the pandemic. But so far we havent seen any evidence of a corresponding increase in surrenders.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals also said in a statement there was no evidence of an increase in owner surrenders or stray intakes across the United States.

It said one reason was that shelters and rescue organizations continue to have conversations with adopters to ensure they are making good matches and that pets match their adopters lifestyles, even when those owners return to a post-pandemic schedule.

Monthly reports from PetPoint, a website that aggregates data from more than 1,100 animal welfare organizations in the United States, suggest that while shelters have experienced an increase in pets coming in, their numbers are merely returning to the levels reported before the pandemic.

In April, for example, 15,906 dogs were surrendered by their owners  an increase of nearly 80 percent over April 2020, according to PetPoint. But many shelters curtailed operations in April 2020, meaning fewer pets could be returned that month. And the numbers were still well below the 20,289 dogs that were surrendered in April 2019, before the coronavirus upended life and commerce.

The numbers also tell a more nuanced story about the rates of pandemic pet adoptions. Despite reports of waiting lists and long lines at shelters, adoptions were actually down in 2020, according to animal welfare groups. About 280,270 dogs were adopted in 2020, a roughly 19 percent decrease from the previous year, according to PetPoint. Cat adoptions fell by about 11 percent.

There has not been much chatter about people offloading pandemic cats as they return to offices. Most cats, of course, can stay home alone when you go to work.
Luis and Florinda Argueta were fed up, according to court documents.

Their son, Joe Argueta, 19, had been feuding with another teenager and his friends who had been harassing the family for weeks, slashing their car tires and shooting at their house in Houston, the Harris County Sheriffs Office and a lawyer for the younger Mr. Argueta said.

Florinda Argueta, 39, hatched a plan: The family would stay up all night, wait for the teenager and his friends and deal with them, according to a report filed by a Harris County prosecutor.

Late on Monday night, Ms. Arguetas brother, Margarito Alcantar, waited near the end of a street in an SUV, prosecutors said.

At around 11:30 p.m., a dark-colored Dodge that the family believed belonged to one of their harassers pulled up near the Arguetas house and the family pounced, the report said.
No, I havent heard that.

It was Republicans who brought back ballot harvesting in Florida under former Governor Bush and embraced widespread mail-in voting. What changed from then to now?

I mean, OK, but that doesnt mean I have to support it.

I understand. Im interested in what you think changed in the party from then to now, for a whole community of Republicans to say thats something that they dont support?

I think the premise of your question is wrong. Its not about what changed in the party. Political parties are made up of people, individuals who vote and politicians and candidates who run for office. Thats the basis of a political party. Theres no monolithic line of thinking that shifts every two to four years. Thats not the case. I cant speak to what happened when former people were elected. I can speak to myself and what Ive done.

Do you think that those laws would have happened without the false claims from former President Trump about a rigged election? It does seem to stretch belief to say none of these new laws are related to politics and Trump. Is that what were saying?

Looking at our election process is something, specifically in Florida, we continuously do. We passed an election law before 2020. We passed it in 2018 and 2019. We have reforms, I believe, in 2014 or 2015. So Florida, weve always been looking at our election laws, doing everything we can to make sure its a better law going forward.

So as the supposition of your question, that we anticipated what Donald Trump might say, in the winter of 2020. And thats why we made election law changes in 2019 and 2018. Come on, seriously?

Have you followed any of the new election laws in other states?

Yes, I think Georgia actually has a very good law. And frankly, its sad and, in my view, disgusting that the president referred to it as Jim Crow. It cheapens the history in our country with respect to actual Jim Crow, a disgusting relic of our past. And to try to equate that to what Georgia did, to me, is just completely illogical. It reeks of just the nastiest politics that you could ever want to bring up, to try to divide Americans and divide Georgians.
Mr. Ellsberg quietly posted the full study online in 2017, when he published a book, Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner. One of its footnotes mentions in passing that passages and pages omitted from the study are available on his website.

But he did not quote the studys material in his book, he said, because lawyers for his publisher worried about potential legal liability. He also did little else to draw attention to the fact that its redacted pages are visible in the version he posted. As a result, few noticed it.

One of the few who did was William Burr, a senior analyst at George Washington Universitys National Security Archive, who mentioned it in a footnote in a March blog post about threats to use nuclear weapons in the Cold War.

Mr. Burr said he had tried about two decades ago to use the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a new declassification review of the study  which was written by Morton H. Halperin for the RAND Corporation  but the Pentagon was unable to locate an unabridged copy in its files. (RAND, a nongovernmental think tank, is not itself subject to information act requests.)

Mr. Ellsberg said tensions over Taiwan did not seem as urgent in 2017. But the uptick in saber-rattling  he pointed to a recent cover of The Economist magazine that labeled Taiwan the most dangerous place on Earth and a recent opinion column by The Timess Thomas L. Friedman titled, Is There a War Coming Between China and the U.S.?  prompted him to conclude it was important to get the information into greater public view.

Michael Szonyi, a Harvard University historian and author of a book about one of the offshore islands at the heart of the crisis, Cold War Island: Quemoy on the Front Line, called the materials availability hugely interesting.

Any new confrontation over Taiwan could escalate and officials today would be asking themselves the same questions that these folks were asking in 1958, he said, linking the risks created by dramatic miscalculations and misunderstandings during serious planning for the use of nuclear weapons in 1958 and todays tensions.
In 2008, deep-blue California banned same-sex marriage. In 2018, steadfastly conservative Arkansas and Missouri increased their minimum wage. And last year, Republican-controlled Arizona and Montana legalized recreational marijuana.

These moves were all the product of ballot initiatives, a century-old fixture of American democracy that allows voters to bypass their legislatures to enact new laws, often with results that defy the desires of the states elected representatives. While they have been a tool of both parties in the past, Democrats have been particularly successful in recent years at using ballot initiatives to advance their agenda in conservative states where they have few other avenues.

But this year, Republican-led legislatures in Florida, Idaho, South Dakota and other states have passed laws limiting the use of the practice, one piece of a broader G.O.P. attempt to lock in political control for years to come, along with new laws to restrict voting access and the partisan redrawing of congressional districts that will take place in the coming months.

So far in 2021, Republicans have introduced 144 bills to restrict the ballot initiative processes in 32 states, according to the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center, a liberal group that tracks and assists citizen-driven referendums. Of those bills, 19 have been signed into law by nine Republican governors. In three states, Republican lawmakers have asked voters to approve ballot initiatives that in fact limit their own right to bring and pass future ballot initiatives.
KATHMANDU, Nepal  Nepals Parliament was dissolved on Saturday for the second time in five months, deepening a political crisis in the Himalayan nation as it struggles with a devastating Covid-19 outbreak.

President Bidya Devi Bhandari announced the move shortly after midnight, saying that new elections would be held in November. Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli and various opposition groups have been trying unsuccessfully for weeks to form a government.

Opposition politicians expressed surprise, apparently daunted by the prospect of planning for an election while the coronavirus is wreaking havoc. Nepal, an impoverished nation of 30 million that borders India, has been recording about 7,000 new infections per day, and because testing is limited, experts believe that is a significant undercount.

We may not be able to organize big rallies because of Covid right now, said Prakash Sharan Mahat, an opposition leader. But these sorts of unconstitutional and undemocratic acts will be challenged at the court of law again, and we will politically campaign across the country.
AUCKLAND, New Zealand  The Pacific island nation of Samoa hurtled toward a constitutional crisis on Saturday, when the countrys head of state announced that he was suspending Parliament just two days before it was scheduled to swear in the countrys first new prime minister in more than two decades.

In a single-page letter posted to Facebook, Vaaletoa Sualauvi II, Samoas appointed head of state, announced that Parliament would be suspended until such time as to be announced and for reasons that I will make known in due course.

Samoas Parliament had been scheduled to officially reopen on Monday, fulfilling a constitutional requirement to convene within a 45-day window of the April 9 election. Fiame Naomi Mataafa, the leader of the newcomer party FAST, was to be sworn in as prime minister, ending Prime Minister Tuilaepa Aiono Sailele Malielegaois 22-year tenure.

Speaking by phone from Samoa early Sunday, Ms. Mataafa said the proclamation was an attempt to prevent her party from taking power. This is a coup, she said. Mr. Tuilaepa could not be reached for comment.
At polling stations, many voters told Pennsylvania news outlets that they had been driven to vote in particular because of the ballot questions on executive power. Previously, a governor could issue a declaration for up to 90 days and extend it indefinitely and the legislature would need a two-thirds majority to stop a declaration. Mr. Wolfs first 90-day virus emergency went into effect in March 2020, and his latest extension ends this week. But all of the remaining capacity restrictions on businesses and social gatherings in Pennsylvania end on May 31.

We had a long period to see how the current system works, and there was some thought that we could do better, Mr. Wolf said this week. So Im looking forward to working with the legislature to figure out how to make this work.

In New Jersey, a Democratic-led legislature took the initial step this week to roll back dozens of Covid-related orders issued by Gov. Philip D. Murphy, also a Democrat. But the bill that was introduced also leaves the governor with expansive powers to apply new measures in an emergency. Mr. Murphy is one of two governors to keep an indoor mask mandate, even for vaccinated people; the other is Hawaiis.

New executive orders related to the pandemic are still being announced. Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas, a Republican, said on Tuesday that counties, cities, public health authorities and local government officials in his state would be prohibited from requiring people to wear masks. His order came days after federal health officials announced new guidance that encouraged people who were fully vaccinated to forgo masks in most situations.

Democratic lawmakers in Connecticut, though, supported an extension this week of Gov. Ned Lamonts expanded pandemic powers through mid-July. They were set to expire this week. Lawmakers argued that executive orders were still needed to manage the vaccine rollout and federal relief funds.
If youre in Europe, chances are the competition will be broadcast live on TV.

For those tuning in from the United States, the final can be watched live via the streaming service Peacock from 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. It will then be available on demand. Peacock is a subscription service, but it offers a seven-day free trial.

You can also watch it on the Swedish streaming service SVT Play, which is allowing anyone in the world to stream the final for free via their website.
All over the world, countries are confronting population stagnation and a fertility bust, a dizzying reversal unmatched in recorded history that will make first-birthday parties a rarer sight than funerals, and empty homes a common eyesore.

Maternity wards are already shutting down in Italy. Ghost cities are appearing in northeastern China. Universities in South Korea cant find enough students, and in Germany, hundreds of thousands of properties have been razed, with the land turned into parks.

Like an avalanche, the demographic forces  pushing toward more deaths than births  seem to be expanding and accelerating. Though some countries continue to see their populations grow, especially in Africa, fertility rates are falling nearly everywhere else. Demographers now predict that by the latter half of the century or possibly earlier, the global population will enter a sustained decline for the first time.

A planet with fewer people could ease pressure on resources, slow the destructive impact of climate change and reduce household burdens for women. But the census announcements this month from China and the United States, which showed the slowest rates of population growth in decades for both countries, also point to hard-to-fathom adjustments.
The command post is built for operations based heavily on intelligence and carried out from the air or by small groups of special forces. It compiles information from disparate agencies into one database and translates it into operational terms.

It is a place where people are measured by the number of approved targets  warehouses, tunnels or weapons that the military can attack. When a senior officer approves one, it is added to a Targets Book that the chief of staff reviews once a month.

Over the last two decades, the targets have increasingly been people  like senior Hamas figures.

The military is well aware of the criticism of its tactics, and the loss of innocent lives, which have drawn condemnation from inside and outside the country.

One senior officer, aiming to show that Israel had tried to minimize civilian deaths, points to detailed aerial photographs of an operation that he said had been canceled because its target was a Hamas facility near a Gaza hospital. He said many others had been similarly canceled out of concern for civilian casualties.

The head of the Intelligence Divisions Targets Branch, identified as Lt. Col. S. because the military does not allow the intelligence officers to be named in the news media, said he did not think soldiers became coldhearted by reducing people to targets.

Another commander working in the bunker said, however, You cant kill someone without something dying in you, too.
For now, the military standoff has played out with ships shadowing one anothers vessels during exercises, long-range bomber overflights and jamming of navigation broadcasts, a Russian specialty.

In March, the Russian Navy surfaced three submarines simultaneously through pack ice and, lest the feat go unnoticed, filmed it with a drone and posted the footage online. The United States this month sailed the U.S.S. New Mexico, a Virginia-class submarine, into Tromso, Norway, for a rare call at a civilian port.

In the same vein, the tour for foreign journalists to some of Russias most remote and secretive military facilities in the Arctic Ocean seemed intended to highlight the countrys capabilities.

Inviting journalists to come look at these modernized, reinvigorated Cold War sites is all about signaling, said Marisol Maddox, an Arctic analyst at the Polar Institute of the Woodrow Wilson Center, a research organization in Washington.

Russia, she said, wants to keep up its strongman persona in an era of climate change.
An Offaly YouTuber and charity activist has been named as one of Ireland's most outstanding young people.

Sean McLoughlin, or JackSepticEye, as he is commonly known, was named alongside the likes of Limerick's Collison brothers and jockey Rachael Blackmore as part of the 'Ten Outstanding Young Persons Awards (TOYP), JCI Irelands Flagship Project.

Sean was chosen in the cultural achievement category. Other categories included academic leadership and/or accomplishment; business, economic and/or entrepreneurial accomplishment; Medical innovation; Political, legal and/or governmental affairs

and scientific and/or technological development.

Sean William McLoughlin (Jacksepticeye) is an Irish YouTuber, best known for his vlogs and comedic Let's Play series. As of May 2021, his channel has over 14.1 billion views and 27 million subscribers, and is the most-subscribed Irish channel. Since 2017, McLoughlin has raised more than $6 million in total in charity livestreams.

The project was launched in March in the presence of Roderic OGorman, Minister for Children, Equality, Disability,

Integration and Youth, who said that, "JCI Ireland is an organisation filled with young people who are absolutely committed to making a really positive impact in their own communities.

"The different programmes and projects offered by JCI Ireland support young people to take action and make positive change in their society."

The month-long nomination process culminated into the Final Awards ceremony held virtually on May 15, 2021. During the nomination phase, communities across the island were called upon to nominate young people aged 18-40 who have been working for the betterment of society in the 10 different categories.

Speaking at the Award Ceremony, Guest of Honour Dr Fergal Lynch, Secretary General of the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth said that he was impressed by the organization of this award as it gave the opportunity to recognise the hard work and achievement from the young people in Ireland.

National President of JCI Ireland, Carol Ho said that, "Immense support from the local communities in Ireland in promoting their local heroes who have been working for the betterment of the society is a sign of a strong sustainable community which is thriving. The generous support from the government Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth and Huawei Ireland as the National Sponsor for the TOYP awards shows their commitment towards supporting young people and

building sustainable communities in Ireland."



Concluding the award ceremony, National TOYP Project Lead, Anuj Agarwal took the opportunity to thank the project team both at the National and Local level without whose support the project could not have succeeded. Quoting him, "This year the project team worked with immense dedication because of which it was possible to create a new partnership with Huawei as well as several other departments of the government. The awareness about TOYP and JCI Ireland within the country have also reached new heights."
An Offaly boy has reared and sold his first calf and kindly given all the proceeds to help build a hospice for the midlands.

Patrick Kelly, 9, who lives in Glebe, Annabrack in Offaly and goes to school in Castlecuffe NS got a record sum for his Simmental calf that he called Paddy.

The two year old calf was sold at auction in Tullamore Mart last Thursday May 20, for 2,100.

Below: Patrick and Paddy at the mart.

Patrick himself was brought up on the podium to help pull the heartstrings of buyers, and it worked a treat, with the calf getting an estimated 500 to 600 above value, bought by a regular customer of the mart from Northern Ireland.

He told the Leinster Express all about it.

"I had heard my daddy and grandad talking about Hooves for Hospice, and they had given me a calf to mind, so I just decided to do it. I enjoyed feeding him and dosing him and minding him. I was with him most days."

Getting up on the podium and hearing all the bids come in was a big moment.

"It was exciting, I liked that," he said.

His parents Amanda and Brendan are hugely proud of his generosity.

"Patrick didn't realise the significance of his donation, he's only 9, but he will when he is older. We are very proud of him. It is such a worthy cause," said Amanda.

Brendan said that Patrick, the third of their four children Niamh, Emma and Daire, has always had an interest in farming, and visits his grandad Gerry Kelly in Clonaslee after school every day where he helps out.

"It was his first time to rear a calf. We don't normally have calves, I rear bullocks but we had bought a cow in calf so we gave it to Patrick. He shows a strong interest in farming. We are all very proud of him," he said.

Antoinette Daly, manager of the mart also praised Patrick.

"Patrick is a lovely young lad who took the day off school to be at the mart. I think it helped that we can have everyone physically back at the mart now, they could see him on the rostrum. I am thrilled for him. Almost every week we have a farmer selling an animal for Hooves 4 Hospice, it is getting a great response. Farmers are being very both in giving donations and in bidding," she said.

Hooves 4 Hospice is a fundraiser begun by Tullamore Lions Club aimed at farmers, to raise money for a Midlands hospice. The hospice is proposed to be based in Tullamore serving Laois, Offaly, Westmeath and Longford, the only region in Ireland left without an in-patient hospice.

Each county is asked to give money towards building it, a request met with some resistance by county hospice groups who want to use their funds locally. Amanda said for them there is no county border issue.

"A hospice would be good for the midlands as a whole, we live on the Laois Offaly border, we do a lot of stuff in both counties so we are neutral. A hospice would still be for the local region so people wouldn't have to travel too far when they are sick and need care, it would be good to do something for the locality," she said.

Brendan said farmers in general have responded hugely to the Hooves 4 Hospice fundraiser, where they are asked to rear cattle and sell them specifically for the fundraiser.

"They have been overwhelmed with the amount of farmers who took it on, above and beyond what they expected. It's very important, it's badly needed. While no-one close to me has been in need of a hospice, we have close friends who have been. It's an exceptionally great cause," he said.

Meanwhile, asked what he wants to be when he grows up, Patrick had a bit of a surprise.

"I want to be a lorry driver, and a farmer too," he said.

See Hooves 4 Hospice website here.

The Midlands hospice would cost 9.5 million to build, with five hospice groups asked to contribute. After that the HSE will pay the 2.5m annual running costs.

CEO of the Irish Hospice Foundation Sharon Foley from Laois has described the region as a "blackspot" for palliative care.

Everyone deserves a good death and we have a duty to work together to ensure that can happen. This is about people who are dying and the families that are left behind. The Midlands is being very much denied a full range of palliative care services.
COUNCILLOR Frank Moran has asked Offaly county council to procure the Bank of Ireland in Clara for the purposes of setting up a working hub. He said this could be done under the rural regeneration fund.

"The Ulster Bank is gone from Clara and the Bank of Ireland is finishing in September. That has all the infrastructure in place to produce a remote working hub in Clara with all the infrastructure in place,'' he said at this month's meeting of Tullamore Municipal District.

"Rather than waiting until it closes. Could we link in with them for the benefit of the town of Clara," he asked.
An elderly Kilkenny man who harassed an RTE presenter with semen stained letters has been jailed for two years.

The man has also been ordered to have no contact with the presenter forever.

The man appeared before Kilkenny Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to 13 counts on indictment - two of harassment and 11 counts of sending indecent, obscene, grossly offensive or menacing items by post contrary to S55 (1) (b) of the Communication Regulation (Postal Services) Act 2011.

Before the court was Anthony Lennon, Knockroe Lane, Ballyragget.

Evidence was also heard he sent voluminous emails to the presenter, when printed out covered 220 pages.



Mr Lennon was charged with one count of harassment between November 28, 2016, and August 12, 2019; a second count between November 7, 2019, and November 25, 2019.

The postal offences occurred between July 11, 2019, and November 11, 2019.



Evidence was heard that on July 11, 2019, the presenter became aware that a suspicious letter had been received at the RTE studios in Dublin. It was addressed personally to the presenter and seemed to contain bodily fluid. It was sent for forensic analysis.

On August 7, 2019, another letter was received at RTE, addressed to the presenter and stained with a bodily fluid.

A similar letter arrived on August 8. Gardai were made aware of another five letters on August 10. All were stained with bodily fluid.

Gardai were able to establish the letters were all sent by Mr Lennon.

Gardai called to Mr Lennon, cautioned him and told him to refrain from further communication.

The presenter had made contact with gardai. She wanted Mr Lennon to stop but was in favour of a graduated response at that stage.

Mr Lennon acknowledged he sent the letters and said it was an effort to have his music played on RTE.

He said he had already sent another letter. That arrived at RTE on September 10.

On September 19 the presenter became aware that a further letter, addressed to her from Mr Lennon, had been received at her parents home in Co. Cork. Three letters were sent to this address and they again appeared to be stained with bodily fluid.

The letters were sent for DNA testing at Forensic Science Ireland and it was confirmed the fluid was semen.

After the letters to her parents home the presenter decided to make a formal complaint to gardai.

She had also received a significant number of unwanted emails to her RTE address that amount to 220 printed pages.

The nature of the emails was that Mr Lennon wanted his music played on RTE and also general current affairs.

The presenter told gardai she received the first email in 2016. The tone was very familiar and he wanted to send her his music. She wanted to be polite and told him to send it to her work office. A tape arrived. She listened to it. She did not work in a music department of RTE and there was nothing she could do.

Mr Lennon sent another email and the presenter replied.

A significant number of emails followed. At the start his emails were looking for a wife which the presenter found disquieting. She stopped reading the emails.

Between July and November 2019 13 letters were sent to her at RTE. They were intercepted by security because they looked suspicious. The letters were all from Mr Lennon and the presenter did not engage with the letters. They made her feel physically sick. SHe didnt want this to be happening.

The presenter got concerned when the letters started arriving at her family home and felt she had no choice but to make a statement to gardai.

On December 2, 2019, gardai obtained a warrant to search Mr Lennons home. A number of items were seized including written notes in a notebook and an envelope addressed to the presenter. He was arrested and taken to Kilkenny Garda Station. His DNA was taken.

Mr Lennon cooperated with gardai. During interview he said the presenter was not known to him personally but he knew her as a presenter with an interest in music and the arts, and a good looking girl and a country, quiet type person.

Mr Lennon admitted sending hundreds of emails, mostly about Brexit negotiations and the agenda he saw RTE advancing. He said he had strong views. He said his letters contained poetry and lyrics of songs he wished to have published.

Mr Lennon told gardai he was aware there was an inclusion of semen but thought it was only on three letters.

When asked why he did this Mr Lennon said he was frustrated he was getting no response and wanted to provoke a reaction.

He said he was sorry and he shouldnt have sent them.

He said he sent letters to the presenters family home in Cork to bypass RTE and she might reply.

Mr Lennon told gardai he was not obsessed with the presenter. A lot of his efforts were to advance hsi work.

He said he was ashamed.

Mr Lennon told gardai: Im awfully sorry this is where it ended up. I should have given up a long time ago. I truly regret it all.

He also told gardai: Can you tell the girl I apologise and am genuinely sorry. It was not my intention to do that, I just took it too far.

Kevin White, BL, prosecuting, read a victim impact statement from the presenter, who was not in court.

In her statement she said the actions of Mr Lennon had caused considerable stress to her and her family. She said as a minor public figure she accepted some level of nuisance but Mr Lennons actions went beyond what was reasonable. She said he was a man who needed help but he refused to do that and persisted with his campaign of disgusting letters.

The presenter said she had no desire for an elderly man to go to prison on her account but it disturbed her he had already defied instructions not to contact her.

She said she would have preferred not to have had to make a complaint, to save his family the humiliation, but when he contacted her family he took the matter out of her hands. She appealed to him to leave me and my family in peace.

The court heard that Mr Lennon is 76 and from a farming background. His wife died several years ago and he found this traumatic. He still very much misses her. His two adult children live in Dublin and New Zealand.

He has the support of close friends.

Mr Lennons defence barrister handed a psychiatric report into court and referring to it said his client was found to have difficulty processing emotions and this was compounded by feelings of frustration. Further support for Mr Lennon was needed, the report said. He fully engaged with the assessment and is prepared to undertake recommendations. He does not intend to write to the presenter again.

He had no previous convictions.

Judge James McCourt said Mr Lennon knew what he was doing and he knew it was wrong. You did harass this woman over a protracted period.

What aggravated the situation was that Mr Lennon persisted when asked to stop.

Harassment of this nature is a horrible violation of someones personal space, the judge said.

Judge McCourt said the appropriate sentence for harassment was three years imprisonment, with the final year suspended on condition that Mr Lennon engage fully with the psychiatric and psychological services. If he does that then Mr Lennon will be bound to the peace for two years, on his own bond of 2,000, following his release.

On the 11 postal offences Judge McCourt imposed a one-year sentence on each charge, suspended on the same terms.

Judge McCourt said it was all very well to contact a broadcaster to vent and air one's grievances with their product or output, but to contact one, single person in this way can be seen as an obsession.

Mr Lennon was ordered to have no contact with the presenter or any members of her family, at any time, for any reason whatsoever forever.

The judge also directed that Mr Lennon engage with a psychiatrist and follow such further engagements as maybe directed by them.

An application to defer the start of the sentence for 14 days to allow Mr Lennon to get his affairs in order was approved.

Judge McCourt asked that the anonymity of the victim be protected.
County councillors are set to get a substantial pay rise following confirmation that the Cabinet is set to approve an 8,000-a-year pay increase for the countrys 947 local politicians.

Taoiseach Micheal Martin and his ministerial colleagues at the Cabinet table sign off on the rise which was included in the Fianna Fail, Fine Gael, Green Party programme for Government.

It's the biggest change affecting local councillors since hundreds of public representatives were cut by the previous Government under a public spending austerity drive.

The increase was given the green light following proposals presented by Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Darragh OBrien TD, Minister of State, Peter Burke TD and Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Michael McGrath TD based on recommendations from the Moorhead Report.

At present councillors receive a basic salary of 17,359 a year, along with an expenses allowance worth up to 5,335, and committee memberships worth up to 6,000 extra.

They can also claim vouched expenses for mobile phone bills, broadband, office costs, training and mileage for attending conferences. Mayors or county council chairpersons get an allowance of 30,000 for the year.

The Association of Irish Local Government (AILG) is a national representative body that represents and says it supports the role of our elected councillors. It welcomed what it described as 'the long-awaited increase'.

AILG President Cllr Mary Hoade spoke on behalf of members of the body in Laois and other counties.

The decision by Cabinet today is a really welcome step in recognising the value and important role of our 949 Elected Members. It is imperative that councillors are provided with a proper salary, at a realistic level, which is vital to not only to attract and sustain new councillors but to also retain existing councillors to serve at Local Authority level.

This announcement has been the result of an extensive campaign by AILG and others, over the last number of years, to ensure that our members have an appropriate salary reflective of the important work and time commitment that they dedicate to their role as a local councillor, she said.

"The independent Moorhead report was published in June 2020 which reviewed the role and remuneration of Local Authority Elected Members. Ms. Moorhead was unequivocal in her report when she stated that she has no hesitation in recommending an increase in remuneration for councillors and her acceptance that our members workload has increased significantly since 2014, concluded the public representative.

Cabinet has also approved a 12 month implementation period starting from July 1.

Its the most significant announcement affecting councillors since former minister Phil Hogan axed hundreds of councillor as part of an austerity cut by the Fine Gael and Labour government which saw many town councils abolished.
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FILE - This Oct. 8, 2019, photo shows the Apple Pay app on an iPhone in New York. Many paycheck advance apps and services let users borrow a small amount of their expected earnings, usually in exchange for a small fee. These advances are offered through your employer as a workplace benefit or directly to you through an app. In both cases, the employee decides when to take a loan and commits to paying it back on their next payday.
Mount Nyiragongo is an active stratovolcano with an elevation of 3,470 m (11,385 ft) in the Virunga Mountains associated with the Albertine Rift. It is located inside Virunga National Park, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, about 12 km (7.5 mi) north of the town of Goma and Lake Kivu and just west of the border with Rwanda. The main crater is about two kilometres (1 mi) wide and usually contains a lava lake. The crater presently has two distinct cooled lava benches within the crater walls  one at about 3,175 m (10,417 ft) and a lower one at about 2,975 m (9,760 ft).
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The drab, dinky little airport was tucked in between U.S. 1 and State Road 84, and I-595 didnt exist. Broward was rigidly segregated and political power was concentrated in the hands of a few white men on the east side of town. Downtown was deserted at night and Las Olas shopkeepers shut their doors at 5 p.m. and again for the oppressively hot summers, escaping to Petoskey, Mich., and elsewhere, until after Labor Day.
Relations between China and the United States have grown increasingly tense, with the worlds two largest economies clashing over everything from Taiwan and Chinas human rights record.
Argentina was already hurtling toward its second sovereign default in 20 years when the COVID pandemic struck. President Alberto Fernandez is in Europe this week, seeking support for extra time to pay.
George Floyd's family will travel to The White House Tuesday to meet with President Biden on the first anniversary of Floyd's murder ... this according to The Hill. Biden has history with the family ... he spoke with them several times after
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The stage is set for a musical European showdown tonight, as the final of the Eurovision Song Contest prepares to get under way.
In a communique, the Group of Seven nations - the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan - plus the European Union said "international investments in unabated coal must stop now".
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Around 3,000 officers are on duty this weekend for multiple large demonstrations in the German capital. Politicians denounced antisemitic acts at pro-Palestinian protests earlier this month.
The Michigan congresswoman is coming off a week in which she greeted President Joe Biden as he toured a Ford facility in her district.


The UN Security Council urged aid to Gaza in its first statement on the most recent Israel-Hamas conflict. The truce seemed to be holding as rallies across Israel called for peace and Hamas militants paraded Gaza.
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Khris Middleton's jumper with 0.5 to go in overtime lifted the Milwaukee Bucks to a 109-107 win in Game 1 against the Miami Heat.


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The ceasefire began before dawn on Friday, and Palestinians and Israelis are now assessing the damage from 11 days of hostilities.
President Biden said the U.S. and South Korea are both deeply concerned about the situation in North Korea, and announced he is appointing Ambassador Sung Kim as special envoy to the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea (DPRK).
Vice President Harris met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in Friday, without the participation of President Biden, and then the two appeared together to make a statement. A bilateral meeting at the White House between a U.S. vice president and a visiting head of state followed by a joint appearance featuring the two is highly unusual.
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A DNA analyst says blood found in the trunk of a farmworker's vehicle was an exact match for a University of Iowa student who was abducted and killed while out for a run in 2018. (May 21)


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The tobacconist's shop in Tolox, the only one in the village, has been part of Pilar Moreno's life since she was a child. She inherited it from her father when she was eight years old, and started running it ten years later.

"I must have been one of the youngest tobacconists in Spain," says Pilar, who is known in the village not only as the owner of the shop in the Plaza de los Poyos but also for having her own clothing brand called Afrikaans, for which her two daughters are the image.

In fact, her interest in fashion began because of her daughters, Adela and Helena.

The fabric Pilar uses for her designs comes from Cameroon, which is where her partner, the girls' father, is from

"When they were little, a friend told me they could be child models. I took them to Malaga, and when they were six and seven they were featured in an haute couture magazine," she told SUR.

From then on, the girls modelled for several well-known brands. "They have been in fashion shows in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, and have even been in the Italian Vogue magazine," said Pilar.

Although they have been to many different places in Spain, they always come back to Tolox. "I like living here, the quality of life is good," said Pilar, who has always kept her tobacconists open. "My partner and I take turns to be in the shop, and it is next to my house. It's very convenient," she said.

Six years ago, after accompanying her daughters to different fashion events, she decided it would be a good time to start a new project: her own line of clothing.

"My partner is from Cameroon. His mother, the girls' grandmother, used to send us beautiful fabrics from there. They were very unusual, but they were African patterns and people were not used to seeing them here. One evening, when I was bored at home, I decided to use some of the material to create dresses in a more European style," she explained.

That is how Afrikaans was born. At first, she designed clothing for teenagers. "You see plenty of clothes for children and adults, but not so much for that age. I started designing for my daughters, and then we began to incorporate other garments and accessories, such as bags and belts," she said.

The name of the brand evokes its multicultural aspect. "There is a mixture of cultures in Africa, and my designs reflect that," she added.

Urban collections

Her daughters' experience in modelling made them the perfect image for the brand, and Pilar's designs began to sell all over Spain. "They are casual, very urban collections. The fabric is 100 per cent cotton, combined with some Andalusian influences," she said. In fact, one of the collections created by Pilar and her team was called 'Aires de Andalucia', featuring lace and crochet.

All the designs are made in Tolox, with the help of several professional seamstresses. "I have a catalogue, although we usually sell most at fashion shows because when you see the garments in person they are much more striking," said Pilar, who also participates in charity events and has organised shows in Tolox to raise funds for children in need in Africa.

But that was not enough for someone with such an entrepreneurial spirit. As well as running the tobacconists and being a fashion designer, last December she opened a restaurant business in her village.

"Part of it is the restaurant, serving traditional dishes, and there is also an exhibition area where people can enjoy music shows and film screenings. We need more cultural and leisure facilities here," she said. The restaurant is run by her son Mario, and it has become very popular with the numerous foreign residents of Tolox, especially at weekends.
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Macau Shows Robust Rebound for Those Who are Truly Patient in New Morgan Stanley Report

Published May 21, 2021 by Lee R

According to MS research, the long game will prevail in Macau, with drivers of growth visible by 2022.

The Macau project is undeniably vital to the iGaming industry.

The Comeback Trail

An economy that relies on gambling like no other jurisdiction, long term plans if not protocols are being put in place to restore Macau to its former grandeur, whenever that might be.

2022 Closes In

But after a year of stifling closures, a prudent project that focuses on 2022 does not seem so distant anymorenor so bad of a wait.

New Researchers

Morgan Stanley analysts Praveen Choudhary, Thomas Allen and Gareth Leung recently slowed things down a bit for a more realistic look at recovery in Macau, putting their findings in a research note entitled Welcome to 2022: Beyond reopening.

The New Macau

What they came up with is a new-look Macau for the post-COVID world that provides a realistic Road Map for Macau's recovery.

The new-look Macau promises to be better prepare for the changing face of the Chinese consumer, with greater emphasis on increasing supplemental services such as high end hotel rooms.

GGR Rebound Predicted

The Morgan Stanley optimistically estimates that gross gaming revenues in Macau will recover from around 55% of 2019 levels in 2021 to 97% by 2022.

The MS analysts report that Macau stocks are up 16% [year to date], while recommending to investors to focus beyond 2022 for specific reasons that are grounds for optimism.

IR Projects Remain Robust

This includes the Macau Cotai IR hotel capacity increased by 13% in 2022, with fixed operating expenses down 4% resulting to drive an estimated 15% increase in EBITDA.

Other IR projects are not shying away either, with SJM Holdings staying on schedule to open Grand Lisboa Palace in mid-2021.

More Supplemental Services

The researchers make a more general reference to high end premium mass services which will greet visitors in the post-Pandemic Macau in 2022, calling such near term catalysts only the beginning of extended growth for investors who buy into the new Macau at this ground-floor stage.

Outlook

In an economy whose private concessionaires lost over $4 billion, the supply in Macau for gaming and gaming-related services is being diversified to meet the demand that continues to exist and made Macau famous.
On Sunday morning, 16 May, Pope Francis presided over a Mass for peace and reconciliation in Myanmar with Romes Burmese Catholic community, at the Altar of the Chair in Saint Peters Basilica. At the end of the celebration, during which the first and second Readings of the Seventh Sunday of Easter were read in Burmese, Father Bosco Mung Sawng, a young priest from Myanmar, thanked the Pope for his affection for this small flock. In the last three months, he pointed out, the Holy Father has prayed for peace in Myanmar, more than six times. The following is the English text of Pope Francis homily.

In the last hours of his life, Jesus prays. In those sorrowful moments, as he prepares to take leave of his disciples and this world, Jesus prays for his friends. Even though he bears in his heart and in his flesh all the sin of the world, Jesus continues to love us and pray for us. From his prayer, we learn how to deal with dramatic and painful moments in our own lives. Let us think about one particular word that Jesus uses in his prayer to Father: it is the word keep. Dear brothers and sisters, in these days when your beloved country of Myanmar is experiencing violence, conflict and repression, let us ask ourselves: what are we being called to keep?

In the first place, to keep the faith. We need to keep the faith lest we yield to grief or plunge into the despair of those who no longer see a way out. In the Gospel, John tells us that Jesus, before uttering a word, looked up to heaven (Jn 17:1). In these, the final hours of his life, Jesus is weighed down by anguish at the prospect of his passion, conscious of the dark night he is about to endure, feeling betrayed and abandoned. Yet in the same moment, he looks up to heaven. Jesus lifts his eyes to God. He does not resign himself to evil; he does not let himself be overwhelmed by grief; he does not retreat into the bitterness of the defeated and disappointed; instead, he looks to heaven. This was the same advice he had given his disciples: when Jerusalem is invaded by armies, and people are fleeing in dismay amid fear and devastation, he tells them to stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near (Lk 21:28). To keep the faith is to keep our gaze lifted up to heaven, as here on earth, battles are fought and innocent blood is shed. To keep the faith is to refuse to yield to the logic of hatred and vengeance, but to keep our gaze fixed on the God of love, who calls us to be brothers and sisters to one another.

Prayer leads us to trust in God even in times of difficulty. It helps us to hope when things seem hopeless and it sustains us in our everyday struggles. Prayer is not a retreat, an escape, in the face of problems. Instead, it is the only weapon at our disposal for keeping love and hope alive amid the weapons of death. It is not easy to lift our gaze when we are hurting, but faith helps us resist the temptation to turn in on ourselves. We may want to protest, to cry out to God in our pain. We should not be afraid to do so, for this too is prayer. An elderly woman once said to her grandchildren: being angry with God can also be a form of prayer; the wisdom of the just and the simple, who know when to lift up their eyes in difficult moments At times it is a prayer that God hears more than others, since it comes from a wounded heart and the Lord always hears the cry of his people and dries their tears. Dear brothers and sisters, keep looking up to heaven. Keep the faith!

Second, to keep unity. Jesus asks the Father to preserve the unity of his disciples, so that they may be completely one (Jn 17:21), one family in which love and fraternity reign. He knew what was in the heart of his disciples; he had seen them argue at times about who was the greatest, who should be in charge. This is a deadly disease: the disease of division. We experience it in our hearts, because we are divided within; we experience it in families and communities, among peoples, even in the Church. Sins against unity abound: envy, jealousy, the pursuit of personal interests rather than the common good, the tendency to judge others. Those little conflicts of ours find a reflection in great conflicts, like the one your country is experiencing in these days. Once partisan interests and the thirst for profit and power take over, conflicts and divisions inevitably break out. The final appeal that Jesus makes before his Passover is an appeal for unity. For division is of the devil, the great divider and the great liar who always creates division.

We are called to keep unity, to take seriously this heartfelt plea of Jesus to the Father: to be completely one, to be a family, to find the courage to live in friendship, love and fraternity. What great need we have, especially today, for fraternity! I know that some political and social situations are bigger than we are. Yet commitment to peace and fraternity always comes from below: each person, in little things, can play his or her part. Each of you can make an effort to be, in little things, a builder of fraternity, a sower of fraternity, someone who works to rebuild what is broken rather than fomenting violence. We are also called to do this as a Church; let us promote dialogue, respect for others, care for our brothers and sisters, communion! We cannot allow a partisan way of thinking to enter into the Church, a way of thinking that divides, that puts each individual in first place while casting others aside. This is very destructive: it destroys the family, the Church, the society and every one of us.

Finally, and third, we are called to keep the truth. Jesus asks the Father to consecrate his disciples in truth as they will be sent throughout the world to carry on his mission. Keeping the truth does not mean defending ideas, becoming guardians of a system of doctrines and dogmas, but remaining bound to Christ and being devoted to his Gospel. Truth, for the apostle John, is Christ himself, the revelation of the Fathers love. Jesus prays that his disciples, although living in the world, will not follow the criteria of this world. They are not to let themselves be enticed by idols, but to keep their friendship with him; they are not to bend the Gospel to human and worldly ways of thinking, but to preserve his message in its integrity. To keep the truth means to be a prophet in every situation in life, in other words to be consecrated to the Gospel and bear witness to it even when that means going against the current. At times, we Christians want to compromise, but the Gospel asks us to be steadfast in the truth and for the truth, offering our lives for others. Amid war, violence and hatred, fidelity to the Gospel and being peacemakers calls for commitment, also through social and political choices, even at the risk of our lives. Only in this way can things change. The Lord has no use for the lukewarm. He wants us to be consecrated in the truth and the beauty of the Gospel, so that we can testify to the joy of Gods kingdom even in the dark night of grief, even when evil seems to have the upper hand.

Dear brothers and sisters, today I wish to lay upon the Lords altar the sufferings of his people and to join you in praying that God will convert all hearts to peace. Jesus prayer helps us keep the faith, even in times of difficulty, to be builders of unity and to risk our lives for the truth of the Gospel. Please, do not lose hope: even today, Jesus is interceding before the Father, he stands before the Father in his prayer. He shows the Father, in his prayer, the wounds with which he paid for our salvation. In this prayer Jesus intercedes for all of us, praying that the Father will keep us from the evil one and set us free from evils power.
Ottumwa, IA (52501)

Today

Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 68F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Isolated thunderstorms this evening becoming more widespread overnight. Low 68F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
The International Organisation for Migrations (IOM) is one of the associations chosen by the British government to help UK nationals living in the EU to secure their rights as residents post-Brexit.

Alicia Garate, who coordinates the UK Nationals Support Fund project for IOM Spain, speaks to SUR in English about the barriers some vulnerable residents are up against. She encourages British citizens who were legal residents in Spain before 31 December 2020 to register.

"There is still time," she says. "If people have any questions, they can contact IOM's legal team."

How many people has IOM helped so far through the programme?

So far, IOM Spain has provided support to around 3,000 UK nationals. We have also been continuously sharing information on the residency process through our website, social media and distributing guides and leaflets in the areas where IOM Spain is implementing the project: Andalucia, Murcia, Madrid, Castilla La Mancha, Castilla y Leon, Extremadura, Ceuta and Melilla.

Contact IOM Spain Emailuknationalssp@iom.int Helplines Andalucia650 339 754 / 616 825 704. Helpline Murcia and Almeria648 642 543. Helpline Madrid699 581 855. WebsiteHere

What is the typical profile of the people who need help with their residency papers?

IOM provides direct support to UK nationals facing specific challenges, such as people living with disabilities, those grappling with chronic illnesses and those facing specific barriers related to language, literacy, access to technology or who live in remote areas. Most UK nationals who have received support in Andalucia are elderly people who consider Spain as their home and are without relevant connections in the UK. For instance, many of them have sold their houses in the UK and have moved to Spain on a permanent basis. If they cannot register as residents in Spain returning to the UK is not a viable option for many of them. Many live on campsites or residential areas inland, making physical access to the immigration offices and police stations a particular challenge. The challenging residency process is even more difficult when you do not have language skills in Spanish.

What are the most common problems experienced by the people who go to you for support?

UK nationals are usually unsure of the documents they need to obtain to prove their residency in Spain. They may need to request documents from the UK, translate them into Spanish or obtain further documents in the local town halls. They are sometimes unsure of where and how to submit their applications, or even if they are entitled to apply.

And what solutions can you give them?

We inform them on the process to follow in order to obtain residency, ask for appointments in the immigration office and police stations and check the supporting documents for their application, among other things. We obviously answer any enquiry related to the residency process in Spain.

Do you mediate with the Spanish authorities on behalf of British nationals in general? Do you take up individual cases with them?

As an international organisation, we do not legally represent UK nationals on their applications. Nevertheless, we liaise with the regional authorities to keep track of all the circulars issued by the Spanish authorities on the application of the Withdrawal Agreement and their implications at the local level. In specific cases where the beneficiary is facing particular problems, we can contact the regional immigration office in order, for instance, to check the status of their residency application.

How are you reaching the vulnerable people in Andalucia who could still need your support?

From the beginning of the project we contacted local NGOs and charities, schools, care homes and also prisons in Andalucia to share details of the UK Nationals Support Fund Project and how IOM Spain could help those who needed to register and may be more at-risk. Since July 2020, we have been organising outreach events across Andalucia, especially in the most remote areas.

What is the solution for people whose applications have been rejected? Are their appeals likely to be successful?

UK nationals with rejected applications can appeal the decision within one month of receiving the outcome of their residency process. IOM legal advisors can provide support on these appeals. Appeals are studied on a case-by-case basis as there are not two identical cases.

Whether the first appeal will be successful or not does not fall in our scope, since this depends on the immigration office's interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement signed between the UK and the EU. If the UK national decides to submit a second appeal in court, the decision will depend on the Spanish judge's interpretation of the Withdrawal Agreement.

The British government recently released more funds for the support organisations like yours in the EU. What will those extra funds mean for the service offered by the IOM?

Those funds allocated by the FCDO will allow us to continue providing support through 2021.

How long will the service be available for?

We will continue providing support until October 2021.

What other types of projects does the IOM run in Spain?

IOM, as the United Nations Agency for Migration, is the principal intergovernmental organisation working in the field of migration. IOM has been working for the last 75 years to promote humane and orderly migration by providing services and advice to governments and migrants. In Spain IOM projects are dedicated to the integration of migrants and resettled and relocated refugees.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the groups top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants' 11-day war with Israel.

Saturday marked the first full day of a cease-fire, and Egyptian mediators held talks to firm up the truce which ended the fourth Israel-Hamas war in just over a decade.

In the fighting, Israel unleashed hundreds of airstrikes against militant targets in Gaza, while Hamas and other militants fired more than 4,000 rockets toward Israel. More than 250 people were killed, the vast majority of them Palestinians.

In Gaza City, residents began assessing damage.

One of Gaza City's busiest commercial areas, Omar al-Mukhtar Street, was covered in debris, smashed cars and twisted metal after a 13-floor building in its center was flattened in an Israeli airstrike. Merchandise was covered in soot and strewn inside smashed stores and on the pavement. Municipal workers swept broken glass and twisted metal from streets and sidewalks.

We really didnt expect this amount of damage," said Ashour Subeih, who sells baby clothes. We thought the strike was a bit further from us. But as you can see not an area of the shop is intact. Having been in business for one year, Subeih estimated his losses were double what he has made so far.

Drone video and photos showed some city blocks reduced to rubble, in between homes and businesses left standing.

Both Israel and Hamas have claimed victory.

On Saturday, hundreds of Hamas fighters wearing military camouflage paraded past the mourning tent for Bassem Issa, a senior commander killed in the fighting. The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, paid his respects in his first public appearance since the war began.

Israel bombed the house of Sinwar, along with that of other senior Hamas figures, as part of its attack on what it said was the group's military infrastructure. Israel's defense minister, Benny Gantz, has said Israel delivered a punishing blow to Hamas, and that top Hamas figures remained targets.

Still, there was a widespread expectation that the cease-fire would stick for now, even if another round of fighting at some point seems inevitable. Underlying issues remain unresolved, including an Israeli-Egyptian border blockade, now in its 14th year, that is choking Gaza's more than 2 million residents and a refusal by the Islamic militant Hamas to disarm.

The U.N. Security Council released a statement Saturday, welcoming the cease-fire and stressing the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza.

Thousands rallied in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

The war has further sidelined Hamas' main political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas' popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.

On Friday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out," they shouted, and "The people want the president to leave.

It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years.

Despite his weakened status, Abbas will be the point of contact for any renewed U.S. diplomacy, since Israel and the West, including the United States, consider Hamas a terrorist organization.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet with Abbas and Israeli leaders when he visits in the coming week. Abbas is expected to raise demands that any Gaza reconstruction plans go through the Palestinian Authority to avoid strengthening Hamas.

Abbas met Saturday with Egyptian mediators, discussing the rebuilding of Gaza and internal Palestinian relations, according to the official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

An Egyptian diplomat said that two teams of mediators were in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a cease-fire deal and securing long-term calm.

The diplomat said discussions include implementing agreed-on measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to prevent practices that led to the latest fighting. He did not elaborate. He was apparently referring to violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the planned eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations.

Separately, a 130-truck convoy with humanitarian aid and medical supplies reached the Gaza border from Egypt on Saturday, according to a senior Egyptian official at the border crossing. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to reporters.

Across Gaza, an assessment of the damage to the territory's already decrepit infrastructure began.

The ministry of public works and housing said that 769 housing and commercial units were rendered uninhabitable, at least 1,042 units in 258 buildings were destroyed and just over 14,500 units suffered minor damage.

The United Nations said about 800,000 people in Gaza do not have regular access to clean piped water, as nearly 50% of the water network was damaged in the fighting.

Israel has said it was targeting Hamas' military infrastructure, including a vast tunnel system running under roads and homes, as well as command centers, rocket launchers and the homes of commanders. The Israeli military has said it was trying to minimize harm to civilians and accused Hamas of using civilians as human shields.

The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 248 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children and 39 women, with 1,910 people wounded. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. Twelve people were killed in Israel, all but one of them civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl.

Israel has accused Hamas and the smaller militant group of Islamic Jihad of hiding the actual number of fighters killed in the war. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Friday that more than 200 militants were killed, including 25 senior commanders.

Islamic Jihad on Saturday gave a first account of deaths within its ranks, saying that 19 of its commanders and fighters were killed, including the head of the rocket unit in northern Gaza.

___

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed reporting.
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP)  Police in Germany say they are investigating a Jewish man's report of being punched in the face and abused with antisemitic language while walking home in Berlin early Saturday.

A Berlin police news release said the 41-year-old man wearing a traditional skullcap, or kippa, passed three other men in Duerer Square at about 2:15 a.m. One of three punched him in the face, knocking him against a shop window, and added an antisemitic insult, the man told police when he reported the incident at a local precinct.
As national and global economies experience shifts in supply chains, Northwood University hosted a webinar Thursday afternoon with Kevin McCormack to discuss the current situation and what to expect in the future.

McCormack is the president of DRK Research, a global research network and a professor at Northwood University and Skema Business School. He explained the current pandemic is not a unique situation, as there have been similar events in the past; instead he questioned how countries were not prepared to deal with this incident and how we as a national community could be better prepared for similar occurrences in the future.

This has never happened on a global basis, McCormack said.

While some supplies and services including oil, mining and hospitality saw a decline in demand at the start of the pandemic, other goods including medical supplies and transportation became in high demand. The housing market saw a big boom and construction material prices soared.

For example, a sheet of plywood cost five, six, seven times what it did in 2019. Construction has added $20,000-$30,000 per house just in lumber costs, McCormack said.

McCormack observed there is a current housing boom and estimated the bubble will burst next year. He cautioned those who are in the housing market and planning to build new homes to wait. In regard to mid-Michigan residents whose homes were affected by the dam failures last May, McCormack was concerned about getting building supplies. Based on the reports he has heard, McCormack advised those whose homes were damaged to wait until next year to do any work on their homes and wait until lumber costs decrease.

Its been hell trying to get supplies to repair your house or to buy a new home. I have friends in the construction business in Midland and theyre telling me its very risky to start a new house with the lumber prices being what they are, McCormack said.

Another consequence of the pandemic was a bullwhip effect through every sector of the economy, according to McCormack, where demand forecasts dont align with supplies, which affects all entities in a supply chain from a retailer to a supplier. To stabilize the supply chain, companies are looking to increase visibility of different supply levels and to obtain their supplies closer to home; the U.S. is looking at suppliers from South and Central America while European nations are focusing on Africa and eastern Europe.

Its going to take a couple years to organize this, but I expect it will occur and be sustainable, McCormack said.

With more visibility and geographic dispersion, McCormack believes supply chains will become more responsive and reliable when a similar event takes place in the future.

There will be a next time. This is not a black swan event. This will occur again, McCormack said.
MSU Extension of Midland County and cooperating parent educators sponsor the Parents Corner. Send submissions to Midland County MSU Extension Educator, Lisa Treiber, 220 W. Ellsworth St., Midland, MI 48640

NEMCSA Head Start Preschool. Preschool aged children wanted for the 21-22 school year! NEMCSA Head Start offers preschool experiences at no cost to families of children 3-4 years old. Head Start also serves children with special needs and/or disabilities. NEMCSA Head Start is a member of the Midland County Regional Preschool Partnership. The 1st step to enroll is to complete an online interest form at www.michiganpreschool.org. NEMCSA Head Start offers full day and half day programming that run four days a week. Classrooms are offered in Midland, Sanford, and Mills area: Sites include the Longview Early Childhood Center, M-20 locations, Washington St. location, Sanford Early Childhood Center, and North Midland Family Center. For more information, or to learn if your family is eligible for NEMCSA Head Start, contact Ashley Bryce 989-590-0088 or Kelly Scoles 989-492-7702 ext. 1301.

Bird Walk. Spring migration is underway with new birds arriving every day at Chippewa Nature Center. CNCs variety of habitats support over 200 bird species making this an excellent wildlife hotspot. On May 22 from 8 to 10 a.m., learn to identify birds by using field markers, listening for songs and calls, watching flight patterns, and using habitat clues. Birders of all experience levels are welcome. Loaner binoculars are available or bring your own. Ages 9+ are invited (under 18 w/adult). Pre-registration is required, visit www.chippewanaturecenter.org. Masks are required.

Michigan Cottage Food Law. Thinking of selling your homemade food items? Learn how to prepare and sell foods to the public under Michigans Cottage Food Law. MSU Extension will host this two-hour online workshop which combines education about the Cottage Food Law and food safety aspects of preparing and selling your cottage foods safely. Guest speakers include an educator from MSUs Product Center and an inspector from Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. Join the team to learn more on from 10 a.m. to noon May 22 or from 6 to 8 p.m. May 24. To register for this free event: https://www.canr.msu.edu/cottage_food_law/events

Food Safety Q & A. MSU Extension offers a week 30-minute informational program about food preservation. A short presentation will be shared focusing on a timely topic, leaving plenty of time for Q & A. The next session title is: Planting and Growing Strawberries. Join in on this quick free presentation at 1 p.m. May 24. To register, visit: https://events.anr.msu.edu/SpringFoodSafetyQA/

Safe Food = Healthy Kids. Looking for a training for your childcare center or home? Michigan State University Extension is hosting several online sessions with education credits. Learn what the best practices are for food safety to help keep kids safe. Topics include cleaning and sanitizing, cooking, storing food, common allergens, and personal hygiene. The workshop can count towards annual training hours for licensed childcare providers. This is also an approved training of Great Start to Quality. The next class will be offered from 6 to 9 p.m. May 24. To register visit: https://events.anr.msu.edu/SFHKSpring21 There is no charge to participate in this session. Other dates will be offered, they are included on the link listed.

Wildflower Walk. Spring wildflowers bloom quickly on the forest floor before tree leaves open at Chippewa Nature Center. Take a woodland walk with a CNC naturalist to find and identify these colorful beauties from 10 to 11:30 a.m. May 26. Learn to recognize the diversity of shapes, patterns and unique pollination strategies. Ages 9+ are invited (under 18 w/adult). Pre-registration is required, visit www.chippewanaturecenter.org. Masks are required.

Investigating Food with Science. Michigan State University Extension offers an after-school online program, exploring how cooking is an experiment and baking is a science. Each week MSU Extension educators will explore the science behind food-related topics and food safety along with a fun, kid-friendly recipe, or experiment demonstration. The demonstrations will be designed for youth to experiment at home if they desire and provide youth a chance to share their experience the following week. On May 26, the topic: Thirsty Plant. The session runs from 4 to 4:30 p.m. Visit: https://www.canr.msu.edu/events/investigating-food-with-science-spring2021 to register for this free session.

Full Moon Stroll. Wildflowers bloom in abundance as walkers walk under the light of the Flower Moon at Chippewa Nature Center. Venture out to look and listen for crepuscular and nocturnal wildlife, enjoy the spring evening and hopefully see the moon rise after sunset, from 8:30 to 10 p.m. May 26. Wear dark clothing and bring a flashlight. Ages 9+ are invited (under 18 w/adult). Pre-registration is required, visit www.chippewanaturecenter.org. Masks are required.

Nature Adventures: Nature Games. Calling all gamers! Nature Adventures is going completely play-based with Nature Games! Opportunities for individual play and team play will be explored as your child plays game after game, all with nature twists. This program takes place from 2 to 3:30 p.m. May 28. Ages 5-12 are invited. Fee $10/CNC members $8. To learn more, visit www.chippewanaturecenter.org. Masks are required.

Guiding Principles for Highly Successful Parenting Webinar Series. Looking for parenting support? Join MSU Extension's Guiding Principles for Highly Successful Parenting Webinar series starting June 1. This free online series for parents of toddlers to teens will help you develop family routines, build emotional control in your child, be a calm, assertive parent, develop consistent rules and relationships and develop empathy as a parent. Registration is open now. Class will run once a week for five weeks from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Certificates available for up to 7.5 parenting education hours. For more information or to register visit: http://bit.ly/GPJune2021. Registration ends May 25.

Cooking for Crowds. Is your organization preparing for a food event? The Cooking for Crowds class educates groups who offer food fundraisers and events such as dinners, soup suppers and bake sales. Join MSU Extension to learn how to keep the community safe and prevent foodborne illness. Note: this course does not take the place of the 8-hour ServSafe Manager Course for the Person in Charge, it is designed for volunteers. This online class is being offered at different times, the next session is from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. June 2. Cost is $15/participant. Each participant will receive a food safety manual, food safety posters, accompanying food safety information and instruction from the three-hour online session. For more information or to register, please visit: https://events.anr.msu.edu/C4CSpring21/. Questions, please contact Lisa Treiber, email treiber@msu.edu or phone, 989-832-6643 (leave a message).

Michigan 4-H Virtual Puppy Pals Camp. Do you love dogs? Do you like to create things while learning? This camp is for you! The Michigan 4-H Puppy Pals: Kick off to Summer Virtual Camp takes place from 1 to 2 p.m. June 21-25. Space is limited. Receive camp kits and t-shirts along with supplies. Meet on Zoom three times during camp week to go over activities and learn all about canine science. This camp is designed for youth ages 5-10. Visit: https://events.anr.msu.edu/MI4HCaninePuppyPalsCamp/ to learn more!
SHADDADI, Syria (AP)  The Iraqi government is expected to bring home about 100 Iraqi families from a sprawling camp in Syria next week, a first-time move that U.S. officials see as a hopeful sign in a long-frustrated effort to repatriate thousands from a site known as a breeding ground for young insurgents.

During a visit Friday to Syria, where he met with troops and commanders, the top U.S. general for the Middle East expressed optimism that the transfer from the al-Hol camp will happen. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie has repeatedly warned that the youth in the camps are being radicalized and will become the next generation of dangerous militants.

It would be the first step in many such repatriations, and I think thats going to be the key to bringing down the population in the al-Hol camp, and indeed in other camps across the region, McKenzie told reporters traveling with him, Nations need to bring back their citizens, repatriate them, reintegrate them, deradicalize them when necessary and make them productive elements of society.

A U.S. official said the transfer of people from the camp in northeast Syria is one of a number of issues the U.S. and Iraqi governments are discussing as they work out a road map for future diplomatic and military relations. The issue came up during meetings on Thursday, when McKenzie stopped in Baghdad, the Iraqi capital. The official was not authorized to public discuss internal deliberations and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Iraqi leaders earlier this year talked about repatriating some of their citizens, but did not follow through. So the plans for next week have been met with a bit of skepticism, and it appeared unclear whether it might be more than a one-time deal.

The al-Hol camp is home to as many as 70,000 people  mostly women and children  who have been displaced by the civil war in Syria and the battle against the Islamic State group. As many as half are Iraqis. About 10,000 foreigners are housed in a secure annex, and many in the camp remain die-hard IS supporters.

Many countries have refused to repatriate their citizens who were among those from around the world who came to join IS after the extremists declared their caliphate in 2014. The groups physical hold on territory was ended in 2017, but many countries balk at repatriating their citizens, fearing their links to IS.

In late March, the main U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force in northeast Syria conducted a five-day sweep inside al-Hol that was assisted by U.S. forces. At least 125 suspects were arrested.

Since then, McKenzie said, security has gotten better at the camp. But, he added, security has no real impact on the radicalization of the youth there.

Thats what concerns me, he said as he stood at a base in northeast Syria, not far from the Turkish border. The ability of ISIS to reach out, touch these young people and turn them  in a way that unless we can find a way to take it back its going to make us pay a steep price down the road.

As McKenzie crisscrossed eastern Syria, stopping at four U.S. outposts, his message was short and direct: U.S. forces remain in Syria to fight the remnants of IS, so the militants cant regroup. Pockets of IS are still active, particularly west of the Euphrates River in vast stretches of ungoverned territory that are controlled by the Syrian government led by President Bashar Assad.

Out there and in the camps, the underlying conditions of poverty and sectarianism that gave rise to IS still exist, said British Brig. Gen. Richard Bell, the deputy commanding general for the coalition fight against IS in Iraq and Syria, who traveled with McKenzie.

McKenzie said it was important to keep the pressure on IS because the militants still have "an aspirational goal to attack the United States homeland. We want to prevent that from happening.

He spoke to reporters from The Associated Press and ABC News who agreed because of security concerns not to report on the Syria trip until they left the country. As he spoke, a row of M-2 Bradley fighting vehicles were lined up behind him  a reminder of clashes U.S. forces had last year with Russian troops in the north. At the time, McKenzie requested and got more troops and armored vehicles to deter what the U.S. said was Russian aggression against patrols by U.S. and Syrian Democratic Forces.

But he said they also represented Americas continued commitment to the mission in Syria, to assist the SDF in the battle against IS.

Look at the Bradleys behind me, look at the base that were sitting in right now, McKenzie said. I think its a pretty strong testament to our commitment.

Bell said the ongoing coalition commitment is a concern the SDF asks about. The answer, he said, is a political decision for nation's leaders, but the coalition is in Syria to ensure the enduring defeat of IS.

They are attempting to reconstitute themselves, Bell said. Until the last remnants are completely defeated, and that their will is also broken to stop them from trying to come back, then I think theres going to be requirements to assist our partner forces.

But when asked how long U.S. troops will stay, he quickly says it is up to President Joe Biden.

During his daylong visit, McKenzie met with the SDF commander, Mazloum Abdi, at an undisclosed military base in eastern Syria. In a tweet Saturday, Abdi said they discussed security and economic challenges in the region. He added that "we have received messages about the continued presence of Coalition forces, joint cooperation to combat ISIS & efforts to protect & stabilize the region.

Biden has ordered a full withdrawal from Afghanistan, but so far has said little about the close to 1,000 U.S. troops in Syria and the roughly 2,500 in Iraq. Americas presence in Syria is part of a global posture review now being done by the Pentagon.
A number of students from the area have been named to the Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) Winter 2021 President's List.

The winter term runs from January to May. Full-time students who have earned a minimum grade-point average of 3.700 and above are named to the President's List. Full-time status is achieved by earning 12 credits.
The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office. Compiled by reporter Andrew Mullin.

Wednesday, May 20:

11:51  Deputies were on a traffic stop when another vehicle pulled off the side of the road and stopped with its hazard lights flashing. Deputies cleared the traffic stop and checked on the driver who was having a mild epileptic seizure. The 18-year-old female driver stated she did not take her medication today and when she saw the patrol lights flashing, it triggered the seizure. The female refused EMS. Deputies made sure the female was OK and she was driven home by friends. A request for driver evaluation form was completed by deputies and forwarded to the Secretary of State.

8:26 p.m.  Deputies responded to an Ingersoll Township residence to assist child protective services regarding a complaint of a 10-year-old female with scratches on her legs. Deputies contacted the residents and forwarded all information obtained during the interviews to child protective services.

8:08 p.m.  A deputy responded to a Homer Township business for a private property accident. A UD-10 crash report was completed.

1:34 p.m.  Deputies responded to a Jerome Township location for a single vehicle property damage traffic crash. A UD-10 traffic crash report has been completed.

1:07 p.m.  Deputies dispatched to a Warren Township residence reference a domestic assault. A 79-year-old male reported his 51-year-old son assaulted him. The parties were separated, and a report is being sent to the Midland Prosecuting Attorneys Office for review.

10:08 p.m.  A 41-year-old Larkin Township man reported he received a product he ordered in the mail back in February. The man just opened the box recently and it had a note requesting help and the police with an address. The box and language were likely from Austria and the information was turned over to a federal agency to attempt to have local authorities conduct a well check at the address.

1:29 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to an Edenville Township residence regarding a 4-year-old that was taken from an apartment in the City of Midland. A 19-year-old Edenville Township girl removed her 4-year-old niece from her 25-year-old sister's house after she discovered her sister was letting her boyfriend stay at the residence in violation of a conditional bond that was protecting the 25-year-old sister.

1:11 a.m.  Deputies responded to a Lee Township residence for a reported assault between a 38-year-old St. Louis woman and a 43-year-old St. Louis woman. Upon arrival, deputies interviewed all parties involved. It was determined the parties would be separated for the night. A report was sent to the Midland Prosecuting Attorneys Office for review.

12:14 a.m.  A deputy was dispatched to a Homer Township location for a report of a 35-year-old Homer Township male who was walking in the roadway. The deputy located the male at a Homer Township business, and he was advised to not walk in the roadway.
if the people of Biafra want Republic of Biafra, it will be a reality during my administration. ----Donald Trump Donald Trump I wi...
An informal memorial service for George Alvin Kerschner, 74 of Palestine will be held Friday, June 11, 2021 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Bailey & Foster Chapel. Arrangements have been entrusted to Bailey & Foster Funeral Home. Please feel free to come and go as you please. To view online
Comprehensive personal-health and sex education would be required to be taught in every Illinois school district, if it's taught at all, under a bill pending in the Illinois House after receiving party-line approval Thursday in the Senate.

Emotional debate preceded the 37-18 vote in the Senate, with several Democrats, including Doris Turner of Springfield, listed as not voting.

The measure, which received no votes from Republicans, would go to Gov. JB Pritzker for his approval if passed by the House.

"The goal is to ensure that our youth have age- and developmentally appropriate, medically accurate information," said state Sen. Ram Villivalam, D-Chicago, the sponsor of Senate Bill 818.

Advocates said 30 states have comprehensive sex education standards, but Illinois is not among them.

They said statewide standards are needed because the accuracy and breadth of information taught varies too much around the state.

They said students need information to develop healthy friendships, avoid becoming victims of sexual abuse, avoid unplanned pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases and promote empathy to head off bullying of LGBTQ students.

Opponents said they worry inappropriate information would be taught, and children would be taught at too young of an age about gender and sexuality, types of sexual activities and abortion.

Even though the bill would allow parents and guardians to opt their children out of the curriculum, opponents said they believe many school districts would decide to opt out of the curriculum entirely. In that case, the bill would require that nothing about personal health and sexuality is taught.

Sen. Steve McClure, R-Springfield, said the bill would take away local control from school districts and mandate education standards that were developed by unelected, "dark-money groups."

"That's not the way things should work," he said.

Also voting against the bill from the Springfield area was Sen. Sally Turner, R-Beason.

Sen. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, who is running for the Republican nomination for governor, said in debate on the Senate floor the educational standards called for in the bill were "absolute nonsense" and would result in "putting perversion in our schools."

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Sen. Neil Anderson, R-Moline, said there is "good intent" in the bill "that serves as the fig leaf to a lot of bad things." Villivalam said Republicans were using "ridiculous" and "Trumpian" talking points.

"Families come in all different shapes and sizes," he said.

Doris Turner, who has expressed support for the bill, said in debate the national sex education standards referred to in the bill were developed by public health experts.

"No one has the right to define what a family should consist of," she said. Turner couldn't be reached for comment on Friday.

Sen. Patricia Van Pelt, D-Chicago, said she is a former preacher and is aware sex education curriculums may not reflect what is taught in church. But she said she sees value in the statewide standards and more knowledge for students, especially since parents can opt their children out.

"Children are being molested every day and don't even know what's going on," she said.

Brigid Leahy, senior director of public policy for Planned Parenthood Illinois Action, said opponents of the bill are "very uncomfortable with teaching sex education at all."

The bill would require all Illinois public and charter schools teach comprehensive personal health and safety education in kindergarten through fifth grade and comprehensive sexual health education in grades six through 12 that is age appropriate, medically accurate, culturally appropriate and takes into account "marginalized communities."

Thomas Bertrand, executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards, said his organization opposed an earlier version of the bill because that version wouldn't have allowed districts to opt out of teaching personal health and sex education.

The association is analyzing the version that passed the Senate to decide whether to withdraw its opposition, he said. But Bertrand said the association remains concerned about the "very prescriptive" language in the bill.

If passed, the Illinois State Board of Education would have to adopt educational standards that align with national sex education standards by Aug. 1, 2022.

Public and charter schools would have to develop their own curriculums to carry out the standards and begin teaching children based on those standards by July 1, 2023.

Advocates for comprehensive health and sex education include the American Civil Liberties Union, AIDS Foundation of Chicago, Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Illinois Public Health Association, Prairie Pride Coalition, Equality Illinois, Chicago Abortion Fund and Planned Parenthood Illinois Action.

Opponents include Illinois Federation for Right to Life, Pro-Family Alliance and religious groups.

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Illinois Senator Dick Durbin was in Springfield Friday to discuss legislation in Congress to replace lead water pipes in federal housing. Meanwhile, a similar bill makes its way through the state legislature.

"This is what's at stake here: to make sure that the housing for lower-income families is safe to live," Durbin said.

His bill the, "Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act," would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development to modernize measures to prevent lead poisoning in federal housing.

Durbin is also advocating for Congress to pass the American Jobs Plan sought by President Joe Biden. The plan includes $45 billion to replace all of the nation's lead pipes. For Durbin, getting the problem fixed to keep kids healthy is his main concern.

"How in the world could you as a parent keep you kids in a place where they have elevated lead levels?" Durbin said.

Durbin said Springfield has about 10,000 lead water lines and many people around the country don't know they're being exposed to lead. Dr. Doug Carlson, medical director at St. John's Children's Hospital, called lead in drinking water the "silent epidemic" because it slowly causes brain injuries.

"The children that live in certain zip codes in Springfield and Illinois are at much higher risk for lead poisoning. We should not live in a society where the neighborhood you live in is a major determinate of long term health outcomes," Carlson said.

City Water, Light, and Power keeps a map showing where the city's lead water pipes are located. Almost all are concentrated in areas of downtown or near downtown Springfield.

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While the country has moved away from lead construction, Durbin said it only ended relatively recently. He said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told him the city had required water pipes to be lead until 1978. Doug Brown, chief utility engineer at CWLP, said much of the pipes in Springfield were installed prior to the 1930s.

"No level of lead is acceptable," Carlson said.

Drinking water contaminated by lead was also a major cause of the water crisis Flint, Michigan endured for five years. Thousands of people were exposed to lead in their drinking water, which is especially risky for children. Several officials were charged with crimes from the crisis.

Durbin said he plans to introduce the bill in Congress next week with South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott.

Illinois lawmakers have also been taking their own action. State Rep. Lamont Robinson, Jr., D-Chicago, passed a bill through the Illinois House in April to replace the state's lead water pipes.

"This is a safety issue across our state and the time is now to... put this to bed," Robinson said.

Illinois has more lead water pipes than any state in the country. Under House bill 3739, federal funds would be the first option municipalities could use to replace their lead pipes. Durbin's bill could be key to the success of Robinson's bill by appropriating those funds. If federal funds aren't available, municipalities would have until 2027 to figure out a funding source, which he said would be most easily available through a low-interest Environmental Protection Agency loan.

CWLP officials are currently using a $888,000 EPA loan to replace 150 lead pipes on Springfield's east side.

Robinson's bill is awaiting a Senate vote before heading to the governor.

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This is a developing story and will be updated.

SPRINGFIELD  Senate and House Redistricting Committees on Friday released a proposed map of new legislative boundaries.

Democrats, which control the mapmaking process, in a statement said the map incorporates suggestions from more than 45 public hearings.

Redistricting is about making sure all voices are heard, and thats exactly what this map accomplishes. This is a fair map that reflects the great diversity of our state and ensures every person receives equal representation in the General Assembly, said Sen. Omar Aquino, D-Chicago, chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, in a statement.

Republicans have said the process is partisan and unfair.

"Nothing says transparency like releasing new state legislative maps on a Friday night," said U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, in a tweet.

Said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy: "For months now, Democrat politicians have shown they would be willing to subvert the will of the people, go back on their word, and rig the system to their benefit by drawing partisan gerrymandered maps."

Four hearings are scheduled next week.

Illinois population dropped by more than 18,000 people over the last decade, and the state will see its U.S. House representation drop from 18 members to 17 next year, according to figures from the 2020 U.S. census released Monday.

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The new boundaries will take effect with the March primary next year. Democrats now hold a 13-5 majority in the states House delegation.

Democrats control the Illinois legislature and the governors office, which also gives them control of the mapmaking process for the General Assembly as well as Congress with no input required from Republicans.

The Congressional map has not been released.

NEW MAPS

ILLINOIS OLD MAP

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The media landscape has changed dramatically so far in the 21st century.

We can access information in manners we'd only imagined a mere 20 years ago.

That's been enough of a challenge for those who were struggling with becoming accustomed to the World Wide Web when that disrupted lives. Imagine the challenge of learning to navigate the minefield of today's internet.

OUR VIEW: Fill posts with talent, not pals Its long been clear that Illinois political appointments to public service jobs have proven problematic.

That's part of the thought behind a bill that's advanced out of a Senate committee. High schools in Illinois would be required to offer instruction in how to understand and evaluate news and social media as part of their computer literacy courses.

Critical thinking is a skill, and one that must be continually refined. Just because someone can create an attractive and persuasive graphic or craft a well-written sentence or paragraph doesn't mean their information is correct.

We've all been fooled by the internet at some point. And with technology racing faster than our ability to grasp or harness it, we're going to need to use all of our wits, along with the wits of others, to understand truths in our world.

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Deepfakes are a recent numbing development. Deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images of fake events. The British newspaper The Guardian calls it the 21st centurys answer to Photoshopping. (Although photo manipulation has existed since the 19th century.)

If we have trouble discerning and explaining the manipulation of facts, how do learn to differentiate real and fake moving images?

Critical thinking is one of the most important tools we use in daily life. Instruction in developing the skill from the earliest age possible is vital to our society.

Republican Sen. Terri Bryant questioned how objective schools could be in teaching students how to evaluate news stories by separating factual news from fake news. If thats a concern, we have more to worry about than teaching critical thinking. Teachers are trained in how to instruct students in media usage.

Were living in a contentious time where we can sometimes argue about what actually is the truth. One person's propaganda is another person's absolute, and vice versa.

It shouldnt take a law for this to be taught as a common-sense approach to the world. But were at a point in time where the move is required.

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Pauls Valley, OK (73075)

Today

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 72F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely. Rainfall will be locally heavy at times. Low 72F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
The Upper East Regional Minister, Mr Stephen Yakubu, has reiterated the governments commitment to promote responsible and safe mining by ensuring that all mining companies comply with the mining laws of the country.

We cannot allow you to operate as if there is no tomorrow; we must do all we can to ensure that mining activities are done in line with the law. I can assure you that I will insist that all mining companies in this region obey the laws, he added.



The minister said this when he led members of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) to Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region to inspect the activities of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited, a Chinese mining company which supports the Yenyeya and Pubortaaba Mining groups, two local small-scale mining entities in the area.



Rationale



The visit was necessitated by recent moves by the government to ensure that all illegal mining, popularly known as galamsey, and other activities that were detrimental to the environment and human lives were stopped.



The visit was also to enable the REGSEC to acquaint itself with activities of the mining companies and to ensure that mining laws and regulations were strictly adhered to.



According to the minister, who is also the Chairman of the REGSEC, irresponsible mining was destroying the environment, including water bodies and forest reserves.



Activities of illegal mining are destroying our environment because people are not following the rules and regulations governing the sector which is under the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Yakubu said.



Local content



Apart from paying the right taxes to the government, the minister said all mining companies must also incorporate local content in their operations to ensure indigenous people benefitted from their activities to promote sustainable growth in those communities.



He commended Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited and its small-scale mining partners for engaging in underground mining which Mr Yakubu said was environmentally- friendly.



The General Manager of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited, Mr Li Jianguo, said since its inception in 2008, the company and its partners had worked to improve the lives of the people in the area through a memorandum of understanding signed between the companies and the community.



The Public Relations Officer of the company, Mr Maxwell Wooma, said currently, they were providing technical, managerial, logistical and other support services to the two mining companies which had a combined concession of 50 acres.



He said the company had five shafts and a processing plant which produced about 2,000 ores of gold per day, adding that it had a tailings dam which was fenced with well pipes connected to it to collect waste materials in conformity with the mining laws.













Source: graphiconline.com









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The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, has asked traditional leaders to lend a hand to the countrys fight against illegal mining and deforestation.

He said there was the need for chiefs to get involved to help the government to succeed as the government desired to sanitise the mining sector and rid it of illegal mining, commonly called galamsey.



We are here to seek advice on how to preserve the landscape and forest of our country, he said.



It was in this regard that the minister and his counterpart from the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, Mr Ebenezer Kojo Kum, held a closed door meeting with the members of the National House of Chiefs to brief them on Operation Halt and other government efforts aimed at ending illegal mining.



Collaboration



He described the meeting with the National House of Chiefs as an important step in the fight against galamsey, saying the chiefs represented the entire nation.



He said the meeting was also important because the chiefs of this country and the National House of Chiefs constitute the moral conscience of our nation.



It is so because in all matters of disputation, whether it has to do with mining or administration of our lands or our forest reserves, we end up in the palaces of our chiefs, he explained.



Again, he said, it would not be possible to have an effective management of the lands and natural resources of the country without the involvement of the chiefs.



He said the ministry would also seek the support of the National House of Chiefs in addressing other issues such as the land administration and forest degradation.



Illegal small scale mining seems to have caught the attention of the country, but a careful examination of lands and natural resources as a whole would reveal that there are even more difficult and complicated issues relating to land administration and forest degradation in our country, he stated.



Chieftaincy



The Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs Minister said his presence was to formally introduce himself to the chiefs, and to also seek their support towards his duties.



He said the chieftaincy institution was fraught with lots of issues, including chieftaincy disputes across the country, and expressed the hope that with the support of the house, we will together try to resolve all outstanding chieftaincy disputes.



He said owing to the pivotal role of chiefs in land administration, the President had tasked his ministry, the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources, and the Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation to find lasting solutions to the galamsey menace.



Support



Earlier, the President of the National House of Chiefs, Sefwi Anwhiasohene Ogyeahoho Yaw Gyebi, asked the members to support the government in the fight against illegal mining.



There is no doubt that illegal mining is gradually undermining our water bodies and forest cover, and causing destruction to the environment.



If the menace is not checked and uprooted or regulated to safeguard the future of the country, the unborn generation would have reasonable cause to blame us and the ministers and the politicians put in charge to protect the environment, he stated.









Source: graphiconline.com









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Traders engaged in bulk breaking activities in and around the central business district (CBD) of Accra have been given up to July 1 to relocate to the Adjen Kotoku Market in the Ga West Municipal Assembly (GWMA).



After the deadline, the Greater Accra Regional Coordinating Council (GARCC), together with a security task force, will move into full gear on a massive decongestion exercise to remove all structures within their trade areas.



The Greater Accra Regional Minister, Mr Henry Quartey, who gave the directive, said the move was in concert with the Lets Make Accra Work initiative by the GARCC.



The minister stated this when he held a meeting with the leaders of some onion sellers associations in Accra yesterday.



The leaders were from the Progressive Cooperative Onion Farmers and Traders Association, Patriotic Onion Traders Association, Accra Onion Sellers Association and Ghana Youth Onion Association.



To prevent any inconveniences, Mr Quartey said the council had budgeted some amount of money to assist the traders in transporting their wares.



Adjen Kotoku market



The Adjen Kotoku Market is a bulk breaking market complex which was started in 2008 and completed in 2011.



It was originally built to accommodate traders in the Agbogbloshie Market to ease congestion in the area.



The project comprises a free draining platform for loading and unloading of goods and 95 sectional storage units of approximately 30 metres square each with secure locking facilities.



It also has a senior high school (SHS), a health centre, a police station as well as a fire station.



However, since its completion, the market has been abandoned without any governmental intervention.



Arrangements



Already, Mr Quartey said he had personally paid an inspection tour to the market and was certain that the place was more suitable for bulk breaking business.



He observed that because the CBD was a busy market area, many traders within the region were eager to trade there.



That, he said, had resulted in several spillover traders scattered along the streets, which had caused too much congestion in the city.



To bring back sanity and ensure discipline, Mr Quartey said the GARCC would not relent in its effort to ensure that the vision of making Accra work was achieved.



To ensure proper allocation of spaces to the traders, the regional minister urged the leaders of the various associations to provide data on their members.



Already, he said, the council had engaged with the chiefs of Adjen Kotoku to provide an extra land to ensure an expansion of the market to accommodate as many traders as possible.



Whatever happens, there is going to be a massive decongestion exercise but we dont want to apply force and that is why we are using concerted efforts. There is time for everything and this time around, we wont take any excuses, Mr Quartey said.



Commendation



The Chairman of the Ghanaian Onion Sellers Association, Alhaji Tijani Mohammed, commended the minister for giving them much time to prepare ahead of the relocation exercise.



We will make sure that we will make all the necessary preparations to move our wares, Alhaji Mohammed said.





Source: graphiconline.com









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The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) has embarked on a special exercise to recover unpaid taxes from oil marketing companies across the country.

As part of the exercise, the yesterday locked up two oil marketing companies, Grid Petroleum Ghana Limited and Sonnidom Petroleum, for defaulting in tax payment of more than GH1. 2 million and GH862,000 respectively over a period of two years.



Other companies the task force chased yesterday were Santol Limited for owing GH57.39 million in taxes; Life Petroleum, GH1.14 million; Sawiz Petroleum, GH5.12 million; Delian and Co Limited, GH11.63 million and Petra Energy, GH20.73 million.



The debt was accrued on failure to pay petroleum taxes and levies to the state.



Apart from the two companies that were locked up, the others after hours of deliberating with a team from the Debt Management Compliance and Enforcement Unit of the GRA, separately reached a payment agreement.



In line with a court warrant obtained by the Commissioner General of the GRA to effect the exercise, the team locked up a fuel service station, offices and a supermarket belonging to the Grid Petroleum Ghana Limited at Dome.



The management of the Grid Company engaged members of the special task force in a lengthy discussion which hit a deadlock.



Assets seized



The Chief Revenue Officer of the GRA, Mr Nathaniel Nii Okai Tettey, said Grid had defaulted in taxes to the tune of GH1, 253,169,51 while the authority had made numerous attempts to get the management to pay the debt, including putting in place arrangements to get them to pay in instalments.



The scene was similar at Sonnidom Petroleum.



Later when the team went to another fuel service station known as SAWIZ Petroleum Limited where it projected to collect a tax debt of more than GH5 million, it was discovered that a new company had taken over; hence, the inability of the GRA team to carry out its mandate.



Mr Tettey explained that the team would track the company and recover the debt.



He said oil marketing companies after lifting oil were to pay the petroleum taxes and levies within 21 days and a grace period of four days after taking their profit margins.



"Unfortunately, some of them decide to add the government taxes to their profit margins and deny the state of the needed revenue," he said.



The task force also went to the offices of the other service stations where the management agreed to clear the debt based on a payment plan.









Source: graphiconline.com









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The Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, Friday called for a closer partnership between Ghana and China to curb the illegal mining activities across the country.



He said the two countries must work closely to efficiently regulate the small-scale mining sector.



The Minister made the call when the new Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Lu Kun, paid a Courtesy call on him at the Ministry in Accra.



Mr Jinapor said Ghana would continue to work with the Chinese Government for greater development for their respective citizens.



Mr Lu Kun, on his part, recounted the bilateral relations between Ghana and China and said it had blossom and enjoyed a sound momentum of development over the past 60 years.



Ghana and China relations have been enhanced since they established diplomatic ties in the 1960s.

Source: GNA









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The Chinese government will not condone the participation of Chinese in illegal small-scale mining in Ghana.



Besides, the Chinese government did not approve the procedures some Chinese nationals and other foreigners used to mine.



The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, Mr Lu Kun, who made this known, said: They [Chinese illegal miners in Ghana] were neither organized by the Chinese government nor the embassy.



They come by themselves, he stated.



Paying a courtesy call on the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, Mr Samuel Abu Jinapor, in his office in Accra yesterday, Mr Lu said: Every country has its laws and should therefore protect its environment. This is very important.



He said the Chinese government would support the government of Ghana to protect the environment.



The visit was to allow the two to familiarise themselves with each other and discuss pertinent issues bordering on small-scale mining, especially the involvement of Chinese in the business and how Ghana and China could work together to tackle the menace of illegal mining (galamsey).



Local support



Mr Lu noted that Ghana was a land of gold for which it had remained famous for such natural resource.



He explained that it was because Ghana was attractive that some Chinese would want to live here and contribute to the economic growth of the country.



He, however, emphasized the commitment of the Chinese government to help Ghana deal with those who would breach the laws of the country and be dealt with under the law.



The Ambassador expressed worry that some of the Chinese participating in illegal mining were doing so because they enjoyed the cooperation of some local assemblies and chiefs, saying this is the root and the problem.



"So, we agree that our government should cooperate in dealing with this illegal mining, he stated.



Tighten borders



While stressing that the Chinese government would endeavour to control its nationals coming into the country to engage in illegal mining, the ambassador also indicated that the Ghana government must tighten the countrys borders to stop people from getting into the country to engage in illegal mining.



Scholarships



Mr Lu noted that every year, the Chinese government provided scholarships to many Ghanaian students to study in China for their undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.



"The Chinese government will pay them to let them study and pay for their stay in China. At this moment, Ghana has 6,070 citizens living and studying in China to get their degrees, he said.



Fruitful relations



Mr Lu added that China and Ghana have had a very strong relationship for the past 61 years, a friendship that had seen China become a reliable partner to Ghana.



Apart from education, he said China had also supported Ghana particularly in the areas of economic and infrastructural development.



He particularly mentioned the construction of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, water projects, hydropower stations and other infrastructure projects as testament to the growing relations between the two nations.



Respect our laws



Earlier, Mr Jinapor reiterated the governments strong opposition to the participation of foreign nationals in small-scale mining in the country



He explained that the mining laws of the country prohibited foreigners from participating in small-scale mining and therefore urged foreigners participating in the sector to respect the laws of the country.



The mining laws stipulate clearly that foreigners are not to participate in small-scale mining but rather they are allowed to be involved in large-scale mining, he stated.



Working together



According to the minister, everywhere in the world, foreigners were required to be law-abiding.



We expect Ghanaians in China to obey the laws of China and conversely we also expect citizens of China to be law-abiding.



At this stage, we can agree to be a little blunt that in the case of small-scale mining, some of our friends and brothers are actively involved and the law does not permit that, he said.



Mr Jinapor particularly expressed worry that the methods that were being used to mine, especially the deployment of Changfang, were taking a heavy toll on water bodies and the environment in general.



But I believe that if we work together as partners and cooperate, we certainly will be able to reduce the incidence of illegality in the small-scale mining industry, he said.



He acknowledged that there were a number of decent Chinese in Ghana who were contributing to the development of the country.













Source: Graphiconline.com









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The Bono Regional Police Command is investigating the death of Leticia Kyere Pinaman, a final year student of the Miracle Preparatory Junior/Senior High School, in Sunyani.



Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Patrick Okai, the Commands Staff Officer, told the Ghana News Agency (GNA) on Friday that the Command would address the media when necessary.



The body of the 14-year-old student, who allegedly committed suicide, was found hanging at the Schools dining hall at Baakoniaba, a suburb of Sunyani on Monday, May 17, around 1930 hours.



That was at the time other students were attending Bible Studies at the Schools Auditorium.



The Police have since deposited the body at the Sunyani Municipal Hospital Mortuary for autopsy.



Meanwhile, Mr Agya Owusu, the Abusuapanin (family-head) of the deceased, said the family was still in shock about the mysterious death of their daughter and would cooperate with the Police to conduct thorough investigations into the incident.



He told the GNA in an interview at Asufufu, a suburb of Sunyani, that the family was ready to go every length to unravel the mystery surrounding the death of their beloved daughter.



Mr Owusu expressed the hope that the Police would conduct independent and expeditious investigations into the case.

The family was still convinced that as a staunch Adventist and a member of the singing band, there was no way Pinaman would commit suicide, he said.



Asked about preparations towards her burial, Mr Owusu said the family was waiting for the police and would subsequently give her a befitting burial after the investigation was completed.

Source: GNA









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Mr David Yiridong Issaka, Director of Centre for Social Development (CSD), a non-governmental organization (NGO), has appealed to government to increase the feeding fee for prison inmates in the country.



He said currently prison inmates were marked GH1.80p daily to take care of three square meals, and indicated it was woefully inadequate.



He made the appeal during the launch of "Harnessing Opportunities for Prisoners and Ex-convicts (HOPE) project, in Tamale.



The project, implemented by CSD with funding support from the French Embassy in Ghana through its DWABO Project, seeks to improve on the well-being of prisoners and ex-convicts in the Northern Region.



The 12-month project is expected to improve on access to justice delivery services, promotion of non-custodial sentencing and enhanced community reintegration opportunities for both prisoners and ex-convicts in the Tamale Central Prison.



He reiterated that the current feeding fee for inmates was not sufficient for their well-being, and urged stakeholders and other corporate bodies to support the inmates with food and other consumables to enhance their well-being.



Mr Issaka noted that HOPE project would assist inmates to have fair legal representation to re-examine their cases.



Reverend Father Gerald Zienaa, a Member of the Board of Directors of CSD Reform, said the CSD would be partnering Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), Legal Aid Commission and the Tamale Central Prison among other partners to implement the project.



He stated that the project would also focus on building the capacity of staff of the Tamale Central Prison to provide para-legal services to inmates.



The Northern Regional Commander of Prison Service, Deputy Director of Prisons (DDP) Samuel Sapak Zoogah, called on government and other partners to support the inmates to have access to quality health care.



He noted that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) does not cover some of the illnesses of inmates, and said they needed support from government and benevolent organizations to access health care.



He appealed to the CSD Reform to extend their services to other inmates in the Northern Region to help improve on their conditions while in Prison.



The CSD Reform is an NGO working to promote social inclusion and economic justice for poor and vulnerable people in Northern Ghana.

Source: GNA









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Governance Expert, Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah, has asked President Nana Akufo-Addo to sack any District Chief Executive (DCE) who allows for galamsey activities in his or her district.



According to him, the President should warn all his DCEs and government officials not to misconduct themselves but support the fight against galamsey.



Dr. Benjamin Otchere-Ankrah expressed disgust over the galamsey activities in Ghana.



He sought to find out how the illegal miners got access to the lands if they had no assistance.



"No poor person is doing galamsey. It's the rich people who are doing it. How do they do it? They go for the lands belonging to farmers and Chiefs and use them, then we turn around to say the lands have been destroyed. We, ourselves, are the ones destroying the lands," he fumed.



"Let's hold people accountable. Let's hold people responsible," he stressed.







Source: Ameyaw Adu Gyamfi/Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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Former President John Dramani Mahama has, in a letter to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, withdrawn his acceptance of the continental bodys appointment as its High Representative for Somalia.



While thanking the AU for the confidence reposed in him, Mr Mahama noted that, the high political importance of the proposed assignment requires that the High Representative enjoy the unalloyed support and co-operation of all political stakeholders.



A statement issued by the former Ghanaian leaders special aide Joyce Bawah Mogtari on Thursday, 20 May 2021, said Mr Mahama, whose appointment as the AU envoy has been roundly welcomed by the Council of Presidential Candidates of Somalia, and the Coalition of Somalias Federal Member States, further cautioned in his letter to the AU Chairperson, Moussa Faki Mahamat, that the lack of support by the federal government could jeopardise the whole process and undermine the hopes that the entire world has in bringing peace to the esteemed land of Somalia.



The statement said Mr Mahama, who continues to receive requests from various international bodies and groups and is widely respected for his commitment to democratic consolidation, peace-building and development, used the opportunity to reaffirm his commitment to the African Unions vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, that includes Somalia.



Background



About a week ago, Somalia rejected the appointment of Mr Mahama as the AUs special envoy to help mediate its political impasse with Kenya.



Somalia argued that the former head of state has extensive links with Kenya, and has written to AU Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat, notifying him that Somalia will no longer support Mr Mahama in his new role.



'Not impartial'



Mohamed Abdirazak, Somalias Foreign and International Cooperation Minister, said the Ghanaian ex-leader is closely associated with the leadership in Kenya, without specifying who in particular.



Based on this alone, he said Mr Mahama cannot be trusted to be impartial and deliver an acceptable solution.



In a letter riddled with grammatical mistakes, Mr Abdirazak claimed that the AU did not thoroughly scrutinise Mr Mahamas background before appointing him to the role.



It is, indeed, surprising that a candidate with extensive links with Kenyas leadership has been chosen by the AU to facilitate talks on a political impasse partly engineered by those the Kenyan leadership has supported, the letter dated May 9 but which was circulated among diplomats on Tuesday says.



Given the politically sensitive nature of the task of a high representative in any case, I am certain you will appreciate the importance of any candidate for such a post to be seen as impartial and without any links to the region.



Mr Mahama, who ruled Ghana between 2012 and 2017, was named the High Representative of the African Union for Somalias political mediation. A statement from the AU said he "will work with the Somali stakeholders to reach a mutually acceptable compromise towards an all-encompassing resolution for the holding of Somali elections in the shortest possible time."



In fulfilling his mandate, the High Representative will be supported by Amisom to ensure that the mediation efforts and the peace support operation work together seamlessly.



It is likely that the continental body picked Mr Mahama based on its own assessment of his qualities as a mediator. In 2017, he led election observers for the Commonwealth Observer Mission at the Kenyan polls.



However, he angered a number of Kenyan opposition leaders for endorsing the vote as credible and inclusive, but the election was later overturned by the Supreme Court.



He became an unpopular figure in Nairobi after that.



But Somalias accusation now means that he cannot take up the role. Mogadishus argument is also a longshot that prevents Mr Mahama from ever engaging in the countrys political mediations.



No longer necessary



According to Mr Abdirazak, the decision to name a special envoy has been overtaken by events, given that Prime Minister Hussein Roble had already brokered a deal to have parties resume discussions for holding indirect elections.



It is my concern, [that] deploying an envoy in the process now will only confuse the present amicable arrangements and at worse risk the politicisation of the process further than necessary, he wrote.



Last week, Qatars Special Envoy of the Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, Dr Mutlaq bin Majed al-Qahtani, helped broker a deal between opposition groups and the Federal Government of Somalia.



Qatar, previously loathed by opposition groups, also beat the AU to the Somalia-Kenya mediation role after deploying the special envoy earlier and getting the Horn country to reconsider severing ties. Shortly after his visit, Somalia announced that it would be restoring diplomatic ties with Kenya.



The UN, however, had endorsed Mr Mahama as mediator for the African Union. In a statement, Stephane Dujarric, the Spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said the global agency would give full support for this African Union initiative.





Source: classfmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Police is waiting for the Attorney General's advice on the slain Mfantsiman Member of Parliament (MP) Ekow Quansah Hayford, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Fuseini Yakubu, told an Accra Circuit Court when sitting resumed on Wednesday.



Eight persons have so far been arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder and robbery of the deceased legislator.



They are Alhassan Abubakar, aka, Abu Fulani, Naziru Fudailu Nash, aka, SP, Alhassan Mahama Yahaya, aka, Mystical Cloud, Amadu Yakubu, Haruna Osmanu, Adam Alhassan, Fuseini Alhassan, aka, Black Smith and one Mohammed.



The others are said to be at large.



The accused persons are facing various charges of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery and remanded into custody by the Court, presided over by Mrs Evelyn Asamoah.



On October 8, last year, the MP was killed after he had filed his nomination for re-election and returning from a campaign tour within his constituency.



He was allegedly attacked and shot by the robbers.



The matter has been adjourned to June 15.







Source: GNA









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Former Speaker of Parliament and Chairman of Africa Public Policy Institute (APPI), Hon. Prof. Aaron Michael Oquaye has stated emphatically that he has nowhere endorsed anyone as the 2024 flagbearer of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).



He issued a rejoinder to some publications suggesting that he (Michael Oquaye) said "Bawumia should be NPP's 2024 Flagbearer".



According to him, he granted an interview on Monday, May 17, 2021, to Okyeman TV's host, Raymond Kumah and that interview was not about flagbearship of the party.



He stated that: It centered on NPP and what it stands for from ancient to modern, including Ghana's Digitisation Progress. It must be emphasized that no comparison was made with any of those interested in flagbearship. It featured President Kufuor prominently in specific areas. No endorsement was suggested to me and I did not endorse anybody.



Hon. Prof. Michael Oquaye also stated that when he was asked about the progress of Ghana's digitization initiative under Dr. Bawumia, he answered by indicating categorically that, "It will be fantastic if we are able to continue with this digitization, automation and ICT. This complements the good work being done by Hon. Ursula at the Ministry of Communications."



According to him, he considers Dr. Bawumia as an 'A Plus' performer so as other NPP stalwarts, including Hon. Kyerematen, Dr. Akoto, Hon. Ursula, Dr. Prempeh.



These are all excellent material and I will continue to say so in context. The Trade Minister is today a global authority on International Trade, Business and Investment. The headquarters of the Africa Trade Organisation, etc., exemplify him. Also, Dr. Akoto complements development in our agro-based industry for our food both home and abroad. His work stands unprecedented in Ghana. The brilliance of Hon. Ursula in the application of ICT for national development must be spoken about, entirely without prejudice. She is also 'A plus'. Similarly, Dr. Prempeh is managing the challenges in the Energy Ministry just like he did in the Education Ministry and we are all looking up to him and other brilliant stars which we the elders are proud of.



The rejoinder noted that, similarly, while he was going to deliver the Re Akoto Lectures, some well-wishers called to say his involvement might be misinterpreted as support for one particular aspirant but undeniably, the story about the good NPP tradition must be told.



He stated that, we should be able to extol the President's men and women to show what the NPP is doing and is capable of. If the NPP fails to tell the world about the great achievements of President Akufo-Addo and his Ministers, we shall be heading for disaster in 2024.



He however cautioned the party against pitching people against each other saying, Let us not be pitching people against each other and I will never do this. To have misconstrued and misrepresented the comment on Ghana's digitization progress as an indication for a particular individual to be the Flagbearer of the NPP in 2024 is not only inaccurate but a complete falsehood.



He called on the general public to disregard the misleading publication in the media.

Source: modern ghana









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The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Hon. Sarah Adwoa Safo has rescinded her decision after sacking the National Coordinator of the School Feeding Programme, Mrs Gertrude Quashigah.



She said it was an administrative error.



On Tuesday, May 18, 2021, a letter from the aforementioned Ministry signed by its Minister and addressed to Mrs Gertrude Quashigah noted that her appointment has been terminated.



This is to inform you of the termination of your appointment as the National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme. You will be paid one months salary in lieu of notice as stipulated in your contract agreement, the letter stated.



Three days later, the Minister has backtracked on her decision with a new letter signed by Hon. Adwoa Safo explaining that there was some administrative error leading to the first decision.



I write in respect to the above subject matter [withdraw] of termination of appointment].



This is to inform you of my decision to withdraw my earlier letter dated 18th May 2021.



I wish to state that my earlier letter was as a result of administrative error, the letter from the Gender Ministry dated May 21, has said.















Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Director of Elections of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has revealed that the decision of his party to stay away from activities of the Electoral Commission (EC) is short-term.



He told Abena Tabi on the Key Points on TV3 Saturday May 22 that the party will partake in events of the EC only when the Chair of the Commission Jean Mensa and her deputies have reformed their attitude



He also said that Mr Bossman Asare who is a deputy Chair of the Commission must withdraw his comments to the effect the NDC is a threat to Ghanas democracy.



Our boycott of IPAC is temporary, he said.



He further explained that since the Jean Mensa and Bossman Asare took over, their attitude, posture body language, utterances towards the NDC have been consistently negative and bias.



He added that currently the ECs Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) has been reduced to information sharing platform rather than a consultative platform.



Mr Bernard Mona, a former National Chairman of the Peoples National Convention (PNC), said the EC must reduce its arrogance and carry all the political parties especially the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the NDC along as the commission embarks on electoral reforms.



He also told Abena Tabi, that whatever reforms that the EC undertakes will have to be sent to parliament for approval and given that both the NPP and the NDC have equal numbers in the legislature, the EC will need the support of both parties. This makes it logical that the EC listens to the concerns from these two parties.



The NDC boycotted the two-day event held by the EC to examine the 2020 elections.



The party further dismissed claims by the chairperson of the EC Jean Mensa that the 2020 election was the most successful in Ghanas history which demands celebration.



According to the party, there are several examples to show the election was flawed and poorly organized.



At a press conference in Accra, Director of Elections of the NDC, Elvis Afriyie Ankrah said the death of at least six persons, vote padding, widespread irregularities and the unprecedented number of rejected ballots, point to a process that was contrived and poorly organized.



Bernard Mona said The Electoral Commission claimed they went for an IPAC meeting. In the current dispensation whether we like it or not only two parties exist. I am saying this because I contested and put in every efforts to become a member of parliament but I was roundly rejected , the PNC as a political party was roundly rejected at both the presidential and parliamentary elections. I am sure it is only the New Patriotic Party and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that the people of Ghana thought worthy enough to give them opportunity to represent us at parliament.



If the electoral commission is seeking electoral reforms and does not have the patience to wait or to work out how they will be able to work a major parties or the two parties that are currently in parliament , some of the reforms you are requesting will go to parliament ton, so you will need a bipartisan support in parliament to be able to carry out the reforms you are looking for .



And so if you decide that you will ignore, at this point in time the EC must reduce itself to a persuasive institution that comes out to carry everybody along.



I think that the electoral commission in this matter should reduce its pomposity, come to the level, there is anger particularly from the NDC because they the EC was unfair to them in the processes leading to elections 2020 and after the 2020 elections.







Source: 3news.com









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Veteran journalist Kweku Baako intends to reject UPSA's honorary doctorate degree.



A letter signed by the Vice-Chancellor of the UPSA, Prof. Abednego F.O Martey read:



Im pleased to inform you that the Governing Council of the University of Professional Studies, Accra has approved your nomination for the conferment of an honorary doctorate degree.



In approving your nomination, the Governing Council and Management took note of your many years of selfless public service to Ghana. The nationwide respect you have earned for your fight against dictatorship and for press freedom. Your excellent journalistic skills which have led you to train and mentor dozens of journalist in Ghana to include Anas Aremeyaw Anas; a renowned investigative journalist, your tenure as the longest service panelist on Newsfile making it a household name and your service as a regular panelist on many other morning shows have contributed to the robust and enviable press freedom laws now enjoyed by members of the media and media organizations in Ghana.



For your information, UPSA is empowered to confer honorary degrees by the University of Professional Studies, Accra by Act 850. The horary doctorate degree will be conferred on you during the UPSA congregation ceremony scheduled for 8:30 am on Saturday 24th July, 2021. The University hereby respectfully wishes to invite you to the congregation ceremony to take place in the UPSA new auditorium. We will like to extend an invitation to your entourage who will accompany you to mark this important achievement. Congratulations, and we look forward to welcome you to campus on July 24, 2021.



However, Kweku Baako who has been running' away from such offers said he doesn't intend to accept this one too.



The Managing Editor of the New Crusading Guide newspaper who was a panelist on Joy Newsfile, programme, Saturday told the host of the show, Samson Lardi Anyenini, that same old story (of he rejecting) will happen.



Samson however disagrees insisting that he deserves it. He went further to ask fans to share their views on the issue for the renowned journalist to know that an "overwhelming number of the populace believe hes worthy of it"



Meanwhile, Kweku Baako faced same reaction when he appeared on Wednesdays edition of Peace FM morning show Kokrokoo



Watch video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The University of Professional Studies, Accra, (UPSA) will on 24th July 2021, confer an honorary doctorate degree on the Editor-In-Chief of the New Crusading Guide Newspaper, Abdul Malik Kweku Baako.



A letter signed by the Vice-Chancellor of the UPSA, Prof. Abednego F.O Martey and read by Kwami Sefa Kayi during Wednesday's edition of Peace FM's Morning show 'Kokrokoo' said:



Im pleased to inform you that the Governing Council of the University of Professional Studies, Accra has approved your nomination for the conferment of an honorary doctorate degree.



In approving your nomination, the Governing Council and Management took note of your many years of selfless public service to Ghana. The nationwide respect you have earned for your fight against dictatorship and for press freedom. Your excellent journalistic skills which have led you to train and mentor dozens of journalist in Ghana to include Anas Aremeyaw Anas; a renowned investigative journalist, your tenure as the longest service panelist on Newsfile making it a household name and your service as a regular panelist on many other morning shows have contributed to the robust and enviable press freedom laws now enjoyed by members of the media and media organizations in Ghana.



For your information, UPSA is empowered to confer honorary degrees by the University of Professional Studies, Accra by Act 850. The horary doctorate degree will be conferred on you during the UPSA congregation ceremony scheduled for 8:30 am on Saturday 24th July, 2021. The University hereby respectfully wishes to invite you to the congregation ceremony to take place in the UPSA new auditorium. We will like to extend an invitation to your entourage who will accompany you to mark this important achievement. Congratulations, and we look forward to welcome you to campus on July 24, 2021.



Reacting to this, on the 'Kokrokoo' morning show, Kweku Baako who has rejected other offers in the past said he's not decided whether or not to accept UPSA's.



"You have been very diabolical...this came to my notice about two or three months and it's delayed (his response) because I'm not sure...I wanted to contact them on the quiet...I'm beginning to suspect that this thing is a conspiracy between you (Sefa Kayi) and Anas" he added.



Listen to the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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Kuwait-based Jazeera Airways has confirmed that the airline will go into testing of the IATA Travel Pass, thus becoming the first low-cost carrier in the region to join the programme.

IATA Travel Pass is a mobile app that helps travellers to store and manage their verified certifications for Covid-19 tests or vaccines.

It provides governments with the means to verify the authenticity of tests or vaccinations and the identity of those presenting their certificates and gives airlines the ability to provide accurate information to their passengers on test requirements and verify that a passenger meets the requirements for travel.

Travel Pass has been trialled by many airlines already, including Emirates Airline, Etihad Airways, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, British Airways, Swiss, and Virgin Atlantic.

From May 1, passengers travelling to Singapore have been able to use the pass as part of an ongoing collaboration between the Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore (CAAS) and IATA.

The digital solution will allow travellers to store their passport, Covid vaccinations and negative test results in one place to prove they meet travel requirements. All personal data is secure.

According to Jazeera, the Travel Pass will be integrated into its official app to make the system convenient.

It is the first country where government, airline and IATA are working together on one system for opening up travel. Travel Pass is expected to be adopted as the gold standard around the world to enable the free and safe movement of travellers, it added.

CEO Rohit Ramachandran said: "We are pleased to be working with IATA on this significant technological development for international air travel. It is important for Kuwait that we are part of this global solution to enable citizens and residents to travel safely."

Jazeeras recent Big Travel Survey revealed the importance of contactless journeys for passengers during these times.

The responses showed that there is a very high preference with over 90% of respondents saying they would prefer to use self-check-in alternatives, mobile boarding passes and e-gates when travelling.

Kamil Al Awadhi, IATA Regional VP, Africa and the Middle East said: "Travel Pass has been successfully tested with a number of airlines and Jazeera will be the first low-cost airline in the region to join the development and roll-out."

"We will support them in every way we can to implement it quickly for the airline and its passengers," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
BC Liberal leadership candidate Kevin Falcon says he left politics to spend more time with his family, including daughters Josephine, 11, and Rose, 8, but is jumping in again now to help secure their future.
Michael Coard, Esq. can be followed on Twitter, Instagram, and his YouTube channel as well as at AvengingTheAncestors.com. His Radio Courtroom show can be heard on WURD 96.1 FM or 900 AM. And his TV Courtroom show can be seen on PhillyCAM/Verizon Fios/Comcast.

The views expressed in this column are not necessarily those of The Philadelphia Tribune.
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The Ministry of Health and Medical Industry of Turkmenistan held a briefing on the implementation of the 2021 Preparedness and Response Plan of Turkmenistan to Acute Infectious Disease.

The briefing was attended by Turkmen and foreign journalists, representatives of diplomatic missions accredited in Ashgabat and health workers of Turkmenistan.

It was noted at the briefing that Turkmenistan jointly with the UN agencies developed an updated plan for the country's preparedness to counter and respond to an acute infectious disease in accordance with the WHO COVID-19 Strategic Preparedness and Response Plan. The new plan, in fact, provides for widespread vaccination of the country's population against COVID-19 and pays special attention to targeted support for the country's health system.

The UN Resident Coordinator a.i. in Turkmenistan Christine Weigand noted at the briefing that WHO welcomes the effective measures that the government is taking to vaccinate the population of Turkmenistan.

 TURKMENISTAN.RU, 2021
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Just weeks after the first ship visited its brand new Leatherman Terminal, the State Ports Authority already is looking ahead to what happens after the North Charleston site hits its capacity sometime in the mid-2030s.

The answer likely will lie a few miles north along the Cooper River, and it involves an ambitious plan to replace the Don N. Holt Bridge with a taller span that will let some of the world's largest vessels make their way to a refurbished North Charleston Terminal, giving the Port of Charleston enough real estate to operate well into the mid-century.

"I think we have an obligation to answer the question of what comes next after Leatherman in the Charleston market," said Jim Newsome, the SPA's president and CEO.

The first phase of the Leatherman Terminal greeted its first ship April 9, and once completed the site is designed to handle 2.4 million containers a year  doubling the port's current capacity.

But port directors play the long game.

"Modern port authorities are never status quo," said Ron Brinson, a North Charleston Councilman who spent 16 years as president and CEO of the Port of New Orleans. "You always have to be looking at your next expansion plan if you are serious about growing in the marketplace."

Steps are already being taken to pave the way for a new bridge crossing the Cooper River along Interstate 526, with a 198-foot clearance that would match the Ravenel Bridge's. The Don Holt has a 158-foot clearance  too low for the so-called megaships that commonly stack 15,000 or more boxes on their decks.

Of the port's 25 weekly container routes, only five use vessels that can fit under the Don Holt. As lines deploy larger ships to the East Coast, the number that can navigate to the North Charleston Terminal will continue to dwindle  unless the bridge is raised.

A new span is part of a two-part, $5 billion plan to upgrade and widen I-526 from Paul Cantrell Boulevard in West Ashley to U.S. Highway 17 in Mount Pleasant. An environmental impact study for the first phase, the western portion, should be completed this fall with construction to start in 2026.

The second segment  including new bridges over the Cooper and Wando rivers  is in the planning and environmental linkage stage, which defines the project's overall scope.

Among the biggest concerns with the second phase is the elevated causeway that links North Charleston to the Don Holt. That road does not meet earthquake standards, and engineers will have to find a way to make it more durable. Construction of the second, or eastern, phase likely won't begin until late this decade.

"The short answer is that we do intend to replace both bridges as part of the I-526 project and we do intend to raise the height of the (Holt) bridge to equal the Ravenel so that the ships can get under it," said Robert Robbins, a commissioner for the S.C. Department of Transportation representing the Charleston area. "We get in trouble when we start trying to give people timelines on things that are part of a federal process and hard to gauge, but I'm sure they'll be able to project some things in the not-too-distant future."

Significant capacity

The Ravenel Bridge linking the Charleston peninsula and Mount Pleasant took more than four years to build, but more than a decade before its 2001 groundbreaking to find the money for construction.

If a new Don Holt is built by the mid-2030s, the timing will coincide with the Leatherman Terminal's buildout and a long-range plan to turn the older North Charleston Terminal off Remount Road and next to the Westrock paper mill into a major containerized cargo hub. The Cooper River would also have to be dredged to a 52-foot depth to handle the bigger, heavier ships. A program in place now calls for deepening that section of the waterway to 48 feet.

Initial plans would call for removal of a grain elevator at the site, giving the terminal three berths capable of handling ships roughly 1,200 feet in length and providing "significantly enhanced capacity," Newsome said.

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The North Charleston Terminal handled just 204,195 containers last year  a 26.4 percent drop from 2019. Meanwhile, the workhorse Wando Welch Terminal in Mount Pleasant  which isn't restricted by bridge heights  handled nearly 1.1 million cargo boxes in 2020. The North Charleston Terminal used to handle about a third of the port's containers. It now accounts for about 15 percent of total volume.

Newsome estimated the 201-acre North Charleston Terminal could move as many as 2 million containers if the site is upgraded and the bridge is replaced.

"The most effective way to gain more capacity is to improve an existing terminal rather than building a new terminal," he said. "I really don't know that there's a location for another greenfield terminal in the Charleston area. So North Charleston appears to be the best bet, assuming that the bridge can be replaced in a timely fashion and a whole host of other issues can be solved."

Among those issues is the impact a new bridge and a busier container terminal would have on the city of North Charleston.

"We've already said we've got some concerns about the bridge and about how it's going to take off and land in our city," said Brinson, the city councilman and former ports executive. A new bridge and terminal "portend great impacts to those residential and business communities around them and, sure, we're concerned about it. But we've also told the Department of Transportation, 'Let's go to work on it.'"

Newsome said the SPA would "completely engage" North Charleston on traffic concerns, such as how trucks would enter and leave an enlarged terminal, and other impacts to residents and businesses, but adds the proposal "is really very much in the conceptual phase right now."

Expansion timeline

How quickly a beefed up North Charleston Terminal is needed depends largely on how fast cargo grows at the port's existing terminals.

A manufacturing boom in the 2010s helped the SPA grow its cargo base by 5.4 percent a year between 2010 and 2020. Newsome thinks growth at Charleston's port won't match that level this decade, but an increased focus on retail-related imports and exports of commodities like plastic pellets  combined with manufacturing  will keep its growth above the national average.

If that means 4 percent annually, the Leatherman Terminal will reach capacity by about 2040. A 3 percent growth rate would buy the port another five years, until 2045.

The North Charleston Terminal's emergence as the next growth area for the state's waterfront comes as efforts to kickstart work on a new terminal in Jasper County are under way. The Jasper Ocean Terminal, proposed for the South Carolina side of the Savannah River, was supposed to be developed jointly by the SPA and its Georgia counterpart.

The project has had little support from either side, however, and the SPA recently washed its hands of the project by transferring its half-interest to Jasper County. Georgia has until Sept. 1 to say if it will develop the new port with county officials.

Expansion in North Charleston has been on the drawing board for years, even while the SPA was a 50 percent partner in the Jasper project. In a June 23, 2019, email to state Sen. Hugh Leatherman, namesake for the port's newest terminal, Newsome said the SPA "will need to turn our attention to Jasper unless we can build a new Don Holt bridge, whereby a significant amount of new capacity could be available more cost-effectively in North Charleston."

Newsome told The Post and Courier that demographics have changed since the Jasper port project was conceived nearly 15 years ago, with the site more of a complement to the Port of Savannah just across the river than it would be to Charleston more than 100 miles away.

"Everyone assumed the Southeast port market was just one big market," he said. "But the Charleston market and the Savannah market have emerged in very different ways. They're pretty close together, but the hinterland they serve is different. I don't see what we do in North Charleston having much of a relationship with what happens in Jasper."
LEXINGTON  On May 5, 1890, a Black teenager named Willie Leaphart sat in a Lexington County cell waiting on a new trial ordered by the governor after evidence surfaced proving his innocence in the attempted rape of a White girl.

But the 17-year-old never had a chance to win his exoneration. An angry mob of 100 burst into the Main Street jail and poured dozens of bullets into him.

Leaphart had just become the countys first recorded lynching victim. Ten more would follow through 1921.

Its a story that likely would remain obscured if not for the efforts of Michael Burgess, a River Bluff High School history teacher who began digging into Leapharts fate in March after a student asked whether the county had ever had a lynching.

Since then, hes given lectures on Leaphart's story to community organizations and helped co-found a group, the Lexington County Truth and Reconciliation Collaboration, dedicated to accurately chronicling the areas racially complex history.

The group wants to see a marker erected at the site of Leaphart's murder, and Burgess hopes to eventually win him a pardon.

Burgess envisions town hall-style talks, cultural events and other education functions in the county of 300,000  South Carolina's sixth largest  with Leaphart's death a springboard.

The group's first project is engaging the Alabama-based Equal Justice Initiative, the group behind the massive lynching memorial in Montgomery, to help make a Leaphart recognition happen. The initiative helped to get a plaque installed in downtown Abbeville in 2016 to commemorate the 1916 lynching of Anthony Crawford, and is working with a group in Union County cataloguing the lives of 17 lost to vigilante justice there between 1865 and 1930.

Its a powerful image to be right there in the town, but Lexington is huge and we certainly don't want to neglect telling those other stories as well, said Christina Isenhower, a social worker and a co-founder of the Lexington collaboration.

In the tale of Leaphart, Burgess saw a timely symbol of Lexingtons need for reconciliation and honesty in a period of turmoil and upheaval.

"What happened on this site has completely disappeared. It's just not talked about," Burgess said steps from where Leaphart was shot. A historical marker nearby describes the history and construction of the courthouse grounds.

"It's hard to build a diverse, tolerant community when you haven't engaged in the reality of the past. We're losing the roots of our story," Burgess said. "This community has ignored this and other pieces of history and there are still racial issues in Lexington, and the ability to begin to address those begins with accountability of the past."

He began wearing a rubber band on his left wrist after learning of Leaphart's killing. The slight but constant pressure and occasional pinch is an admonition the departed teenager still has things to say.

I put it on there about a week into this to remind myself to do something every day for Willie Leaphart," the Lexington One educator said. "I don't go waving it around but to me it's a personal reminder that this young man could have been one of my students."

Burgess has been in touch with Town Council member Steve Baker and Terrence Green, the towns first Black police chief, and James Gates, president of the Lexington County NAACP, to help build connections with other Black leaders.

Bobby Donaldson, director of The Center for Civil Rights History and Research at the University of South Carolina and a scholar with Columbia's civil rights history initiative, connected Burgess with Isenhower.

People are daring to tell the truth," Donaldson said. "I think if the citizens today weren't doing the work they're doing, this is a story that would be buried and long forgotten.

A most atrocious crime

Thousands have traveled past the site of Leapharts death in the 131 years since, given it occurred on whats now the county courthouse complex in downtown Lexington. It's across from a mortgage company and blocks away from an Italian restaurant and an ax-throwing venue.

At the time, Leapharts case became a media sensation, with dispatches on the jailhouse killing filed to newspapers as far away as Los Angeles and Vancouver, British Columbia.

Part of the interest, said Lexington County Museum head J.R. Fennell, is due to a promise made upon the honor of prominent residents at the time that no harm would come to Leaphart as he waited for court proceedings to start again.

He was granted a new trial by Gov. John Richardson III based on an alibi unearthed by G.M. Graham, Leaphart's attorney, and other evidence proving the teen wasn't near the crime scene.

And then there was the explosive testimony of the victimized girl, Rosa Cannon, who at the time of the attack was staying at the home of former congressman Simeon Corley.

Cannons brother told the court Rosa was pressured to name Leaphart by Corley.

On Feb. 13, 1890, Cannon wrote to her mother that she was unsure Leaphart had anything to do with the crime.

Mr. Corley wants the boy punished an says it is Willie Leaphart, an mey (sic) have been, I dont say positive it is, Cannon wrote.

Her comments were published in several newspapers that dedicated pages to testimony given under oath after Richardson released affidavits related to the case.

Fennell, who has studied the Leaphart case, said no information has been found that would point to why Corley implicated Leaphart, certainly knowing what would come of it.

In that time period if an African American was accused of something, they were basically assumed to be guilty, Fennell said.

The posse initially wanted to hang Leaphart from a tree in Graham's front yard, but he fought off the attackers until they turned to guns and carried out a kind of justice swifter than a court could provide, a newspaper account recorded.

"Five men successively attempted to enter the cell and were cracked over their heads. After several hundred shots had been fired a bullet struck Leaphart in the head, hurling him to the floor," a May 14, 1890 Manning Times article stated. "He was then dragged out and sixteen balls from a Winchester were fired into him."

The Topeka State Journal in Kansas ran a story about Leapharts murder under the headline: "Shot to Death, Though Innocent," and a May 11, 1890, editorial in The Charleston News and Courier condemned the shooting, calling it a most atrocious crime.

It adds another hideous chapter to the criminal history of the State, and goes far to sustain the adverse criticism of those who charge our people with having but little regard for the sanctity of human life, the newspaper wrote.

Even Cannons father was skeptical of Leapharts involvement. An April 1891 Augusta Chronicle article revealed that a deathbed confession from Patrick Cannons stenographer heard of and read her letters declaring the boys innocence.

Leaphart is thought to be the first of 12 lynching victims between 1890 and 1921 in this rapidly growing Midlands county  and among the 189 reported statewide between 1877 and 1950, according to the Equal Justice Initiative.

Newspaper reports of the time suggest Richardson may have lost his party's support due to the decision that Leaphart be given a new trial. In November 1890, post-Civil War white supremacist Ben Tillman sailed past A.C. Haskell in the gubernatorial election, capturing almost 80 percent of the vote. Richardson is best known for having established Clemson College, now Clemson University, during his term.

Any kind of leniency shown is seen as weakness or bowing to the race question, Fennell said.

Many of the main players in this act are also buried within feet of each other at the cemetery of St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Lexington, where Burgess attends.

Theres the sheriff, George Drafts, who Burgess said threw his keys down to the armed posse. Theres F.C. Caughman, one of the mobs instigators and another Tillman associate. And theres the eclectic Corley, who was also a lifelong vegan and went on to be a special agent for the federal Treasury Department, according to his congressional biography.

Caughman, who was arrested in June 1890 for his role in Leapharts death, was acquitted and later won a patronage job as clerk of the S.C. Senate, the Augusta Chronicle reported in August 1891.

A ceiling on the future

For Burgess and others involved in the Leaphart reclamation movement, the hope is to eventually win a pardon. It's an act that may begin the long process of healing and spark frank discussion in a community Burgess says needs it badly.

Lexington is one of the fast-growing communities in the state, and as this community grows and continues to become more diverse, there is a ceiling on our future if we have such a limited, closed misunderstanding of our past, Burgess said.

Donaldson helped connect Burgess with Isenhower, and is impressed with their commitment to the venture.

Its an untold story in that community, Donaldson said. I think it reminds people of the trauma and the violence African Americans endured in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Even if Leaphart had been tried fairly and sentenced to hang, the indignity of his death would remain, Isenhower said.

The greater picture here about lynchings is that this violence and these White men in most cases did not allow justice to happen as they would have for someone that looked like them. That to me is the story, she said.
COLUMBIA  A week after a 10-year-old special needs student in West Columbia was briefly handcuffed following an altercation on a school bus, the mother and community groups said a school resource officer should never have gotten involved.

Springdale Police Chief Andrew Richbourg said the act was necessary to keep the girl, other students and staff safe after she had assaulted several students, punched a bus window and bit a teacher

The cuffs were immediately removed once the girl calmed down, he said.

Sonya Lewis, an activist with One Common Cause, said officials should have done more to de-escalate what the girl's mother called a "meltdown" of her mentally disabled child.

Police should not have been involved in a "mental health emergency," Lewis told reporters outside the Lexington 2 school district office May 21. She called it an example of police unfairly treating "youth of color."

District spokeswoman Dawn Kujawa said officials are working with law enforcement while conducting an internal investigation.

Every child, regardless of race, gender or other status is deserving of a safe and secure learning environment, she said in a statement.

According to a Springdale police report, the girl assaulted several students on a bus ride home May 12 from Springdale Elementary, prompting the driver to return to campus. Two students were treated by the school nurse for scratches on their faces and other minor injuries, the report said.

After staff escorted the student to the front office to wait on a parent, the child began to hit windows and pulled an employee's hair. That's when she was cuffed, with her hands in front of her, the report said.

"We do not make it a common practice to handcuff an elementary-age student, but due to the extenuating circumstance, it was necessary," Richbourg said in a statement.

Activists and the girl's mother said the incident was blown out of proportion, and adults should have used behavioral intervention.

They are expected to address Lexington Two board members at their next meeting.
GEORGETOWN  Time and again, Marilyn Hemingway said Georgetown's Gullah Geechee community has not had the opportunity to honor its enslaved ancestors.

The reinterring and recognition of their commingled, previously mishandled remains is a good place to start, she said.

"This isn't healing everything, at all, but I do believe this gives us an opportunity to create a process on how we honor and respect our ancestors," said Hemingway, president of the Gullah Geechee Chamber of Commerce.

Holy Cross Faith Memorial Church in Litchfield's Rev. Will Keith and lead forensic analyst of the remains Bill Stevens attended a reintering ceremony May 23 to pray over and speak on the history of the enslaved.

The names of these individuals and the full stories of their lives are unknown. But they are not forgotten, said Georgetown County Administrator Angela Christian. Its time to lay them to rest again with all the dignity and respect they deserve.

The remains were originally unearthed and commingled during residential construction on Hagley Plantation in 2006, according to a press release about the event. The developer alerted the county of its findings and according to the county, that is when Stevens, Richland County deputy coroner and forensic anthropologist, was brought in to analyze the remains further.

Through Stevens' years of research alongside Georgetown County's coroner at the time, Kenny Johnson, he and Johnson found that the remains were originally buried at what was St. Mary's Chapel on the plantation. The chapel is believed to have been built in 1859 by an enslaved master carpenter named Renty Tucker.

Stevens said Tucker's enslavers, the Weston family, sent him to England to learn how to build intricate and beautiful chapels such as St. Mary's. The Westons, like many other slave-owning families, were of Episcopal faith.

The Westons were known to be less cruel than other slave families, Stevens said, which is why they likely wanted him to learn master carpentry. Stevens emphasized, though, that this does not excuse the fact they still enslaved people such as Tucker.

Hemingway said owners such as the Westons are believed to have instilled their faiths onto their slaves, though, as a form of oppression, complicating the idea that the Westons wanting Tucker to know carpentry is a positive one.

"These slaves more than likely were Islamic, not Christian," Hemingway said, emphasizing the importance of understanding slave culture and heritage.

Tucker's chapel was burned in 1931, though the head stones and grave markers of the cemetery remained. Stevens found that while the remains were unearthed in 2006, the grave markers were bulldozed in the late 1970s by the funeral home that was contracted to move them by the residential developer.

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Unfortunately, Stevens said, that moving of the remains never happened.

"(The developer) hired the services of a funeral home to ... relocate the cemetery to another location, but we don't believe that that happened," Stevens said.

Hemingway said that in the past, Holy Cross Faith Memorial Church was a predominantly Black church, and Keith explained that the church came to be after the Emancipation Proclamation when former slaves gathered to educate their children.

It was from those school houses the church was born, Keith said. While the church's makeup is quite different now, it is an important mission for Keith to continue to honor his church's heritage and be inspired by it rather than halted by it.

Keith also said he understands the Episcopal faith was sometimes oppressively instilled onto slaves. Because of this, while he looks forward to honoring the remains of the enslaved, he hopes to not be the spotlight of the ceremony.

"I don't know if it's my place to be front and center, and luckily in our worship tradition the leader of the service certainly doesn't have to be in the spotlight," Keith said. "The mechanics of (the service) are my responsibility, but as far as the issues related to race, I think others will speak better on it."

Hemingway is grateful those who found the remains in 2006 gave them to the county, and that the county wants to honor her Gullah Geechee ancestors. She hoped that this reinterring would be the beginning of a conversation on how to form an official process for honoring slave remains that are found during development.

With the high volume of development in Georgetown County, specifically in the Waccamaw Neck, this won't be the last time remains are found, she said.

"I think if we develop a process for who should be involved when bones are discovered  from the cultural point of view, the heritage point of view  then moving forward we can continue to have these events that will lead to closure on a certain part of our history," Hemingway said.

While the remains were laid to rest, Stevens said DNA had been collected from them and will continue to be tested. Stevens said he hopes to register the DNA in public databases so they can be found on sites such as 23andMe and Ancestry.com.

Maybe, Stevens said, folks can research their lineage easier this way, and better understand and appreciate their ancestors and heritage.
GREENVILLE  The tourism agency that markets the Greenville area to the world has a new leader.

Sheryl Lang will lead VisitGreenvilleSC as president and CEO the agency announced May 21 after its board voted to hire her after a nationwide search.

Lang starts June 2, stepping in at a time when the publicly funded agency with a budget totaling more than $4 million manages unprecedented tourism interest in Greenville.

The post was vacated by former president and CEO Chris Stone, who retired at the end of last year after leading what began as the Greenville Convention and Visitor's Bureau in 1984.

Lang leaves her job as chief strategy officer at The LJS Group, a hospitality consulting agency in Arlington, Virginia. She has extensive experience in the hotel industry in the greater New York area.

Sheryl is bringing a wealth of experience from the hospitality industry that will further augment an already talented VGSC team," board chairman Dave Edwards, president and CEO of the Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District, said in a statement. " Her past experience in business and talent development, sales and marketing, and community and stakeholder engagement will help to position VGSC as an organization that can meet and exceed the expectations of its stakeholders."

The move comes as Greenville emerges from the challenge of the pandemic.

"Without a doubt recovery from COVID-19 is on everyones mind and I know that with all of the offerings, and the multitude of things to do here, Greenville is in a prime spot for a strong and consistent rebound.

The agency reports that 5.5 million overnight visitors annually have a nearly $1.4 billion economic impact.
Summerville, SC (29483)

Today

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable..

Tonight

A few clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds light and variable.
The mantra became accepted wisdom: South Carolinas public schools have struggled for decades due to a crippling lack of money. And what they did get was hampered by enough bureaucratic morass to stifle any whiff of innovation.

Student test scores fell behind. Racial disparities widened. School buildings crumbled.

But now a deluge of federal COVID-19 relief money is giving local school boards a nearly $3 billion opportunity to change that. If they use it wisely, the historic cash flow could transform education as we know it in South Carolina.

If they dont, they will have wasted a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity  maybe two or three lifetimes  and substantiated every excuse the state Legislature has ever given for not sending them more resources: waste, incompetence and corruption.

Thats what will keep me up at night and terrify me, said Patrick Kelly, a high school history teacher and lobbyist for the Palmetto State Teachers Association. If schools dont move the needle on student achievement over the next two years, then I get really worried.

The sheer volume of money is more than three times what public schools normally get from the federal government. And its flowing into local district coffers with little oversight.

State legislators cant touch it. Nor can they let it supplant state spending. The state Department of Education can only make sure the spending is legal under federal law, which gives broad categories for its use.

Instead, accountability for the infusion of cash rests with local school boards  elected officials who often bring neither teaching experience nor financial expertise. They run the gamut of effective arbiters of education to toxic partisans.

Even the most adept boards have scant experience handling this volume of money, a sudden deluge that will dry up in 2024.

Justin Farnsworth, who sits on the Dorchester District 2 board, said they just want to make sure we get the best bang for the buck and not put ourselves in a hole for future years.

The influx of money comes several years after a Post and Courier investigation in 2018 called Minimally Adequate, which detailed how the states schools remained mired in inequities. As a whole, they trailed other states in nearly every measure. While lawmakers shirked their own funding requirements, gaps in achievement and resources widened.

After the series ran, lawmakers pledged to overhaul the tangled, antiquated way the state funds public schools and direct more money to classrooms. As promised, House Speaker Jay Lucas introduced a massive, 84-page bill in January 2019 aimed at beginning to transform the system, though it didn't touch funding formulas. That was supposed to be next.

The bill quickly met backlash from teachers in the newly formed advocacy group SC for Ed, who complained the bill was written without their input. They fought hard to kill it and start over.

The state House overwhelmingly passed the bill anyway in March 2019. The Senate passed its own vastly different version a year later  in March 2020.

And then COVID hit.

The larger effort floundered, although pieces of it have passed since, or will soon. Teachers got their largest pay hike in 35 years. And an upcoming vote could expand state-paid, full-day kindergarten to all at-risk 4-year-olds.

Yet, the $3 billion coming down the pike could impact schools far more than the big reform bill might have.

For teachers, the enormity of relief matches the enormity of their exhaustion.

Since March 2020, they have traversed a gantlet of ever-changing rules. They juggled in-person and online teaching. They watched parents and politicians spar over face masks. They counseled students struggling with worsening mental health problems  all while grappling with their own fears of contracting the virus.

Its been nonstop, fourth grade Anderson County teacher Justus Cox said. We all feel it.

Meanwhile, more students fell behind.

Only 30 percent of the states third through eighth graders are now projected to meet grade-level proficiency in math and English.

Thats why The Post and Courier is launching a new ongoing investigation called Promises. It will follow the massive amount of federal aid flowing into local districts to see how their school boards spend the money  and what outcomes they achieve with it.

As state Education Superintendent Molly Spearman told the newspaper in 2018: We keep kicking the can down the road and keeping things like they are. I dont know if we can ever get everybody to sit down at the table and really change it.

Now, they have to. The race is on to figure out how to spend so much money.

As Spearman told the newspaper last week: "It's an opportunity weve never had before.

Making plans

South Carolina's school districts will get $2.94 billion total from three packages of COVID relief money approved by Congress since the pandemic began.

So far, districts across South Carolina have spent just under 70 percent of the $194.7 million Congress allotted in the first aid package from when the coronavirus first forced schools and businesses to shut down.

They have spent less than 1 percent of the $846.4 million they will get from the second wave. Roughly one in four of the states 79 traditional school districts still havent even submitted plans for spending it. No-shows include the states two largest districts: Charleston and Greenville counties.

And now comes the third  and largest  wave. It will make for a busy summer.

Two-thirds of the $1.9 billion in this latest package will flow into the state on Monday, and local districts can start drawing from it then. Four days later, the deadline will loom for districts to send Spearmans office their strategies for catching up students who have fallen behind.

The state will use those strategies to craft its overall plan, due to the federal government June 7. The rest of the money will become available when the states plan is approved.

Its a quickly winding clock, Kelly, the high school teacher, said. The money we are talking about coming in is not only beyond a districts federal allocation but starting to push doubling a districts budget. Theyre not staffed to deal with that money.

And many school districts already struggled with financial acumen, even before the pandemic hit.

Spearman has assumed management of three rural school districts since 2017 due to abysmal academic performance  and financial ills.

In February 2019, she also declared a fiscal emergency in a fourth, Sumter County, publicly putting that district on warning the state might take it over, too. With budgeting help, the county rid itself of that emergency designation last year.

Then last fall, Spearman declared a financial takeover of Clarendon District 1 in Summerton. The district was operating in the red and had failed to withhold taxes or pay into employees retirement.

Blame and finger-pointing over schools financial woes aren't new. They have persisted over the past two-plus decades as the states academic performance fell from bad to worse, to dead last in some measures, behind even Mississippi.

School boards faulted legislators for shortchanging them. Legislators faulted school boards for making bad decisions locally.

Amid that blame game comes the chance to make real progress, especially for students who most need the help.

At least 20 percent of the relief money from Congress' latest aid package must help catch students up academically from so-called COVID slide, learning lost to the pandemic.

Like all states, South Carolina suspended standardized testing last spring. But, beginning last summer, districts administered other tests that gauge individual student growth.

The results are troubling.

Seven in 10 students in third through eighth grades arent projected to meet grade-level proficiency in math and English language arts. And fall-to-winter growth was far below what is expected in all grades for reading and for most grades in math.

After COVID forced the sudden closure of schools, districts created a hodgepodge of remote learning efforts. Some students connected to their teachers online while others relied solely on paper-packet instruction picked up and dropped off weekly.

And tens of thousands of students stopped communicating with their teachers altogether for the rest of the school year.

Now districts must figure out how to reboot and meet their needs  quickly.

The academic recovery plans due to Spearmans office on May 28 must explain how districts will help students who fall into three levels, from a little to significantly behind, using their own testing data. They can include tactics like high-dosage one-on-one tutoring, year-round calendars and promoting students to the next grade but keeping them with their same teacher as last year.

More detailed plans are due in late August, after school districts seek public input on how to spend the money.

Some districts are struggling, said Jon Butzon, a state Board of Education member and former director of the Charleston Education Network. They dont know how to write a plan. Theyre not sure how to get their heads around it.

Spearman said guidance from her agency includes frequent webinars and an assigned coordinator to each district whose full-time job is to help local officials develop strategies and budget their plans. The office is hiring four more coordinators, for a total of 10, who will be part of a new division.

Although her agency cant force districts to take the advice offered, We are telling them if they do something with the money theyre not supposed to, they have to pay it back.

Her staff will be tasked with oversight  but it will come on the back end and won't focus on whether districts spent the money effectively. Instead, monitoring will include whether districts followed their own rules for things like procurement and whether receipts match what they reported they bought.

Meeting Street model

The phones at Meeting Street Schools have been ringing more than usual. Districts across the state want to know how its schools have boosted student performance using an infusion of extra money.

Meeting Street runs three public-private elementary schools: two in North Charleston and one in Spartanburg. They all get the usual per-student state and federal dollars. But they also receive another 5 to 15 percent more from companies like Boeing and individuals including its founders, Charleston businessman Ben Navarro and his wife Kelly.

And that money has given its schools a leg up with the kinds of improvements other schools are now considering with their COVID relief money: two teachers per classroom, comprehensive mental health and social-emotional support, and extended learning time in the form of afterschool and summer programs.

The schools data shows the impact of those additions.

At Meeting Street Elementary @Brentwood in North Charleston, for instance, students placed in the 73rd percentile in math and 53rd percentile for reading. That far outperforms other elementary schools with similar poverty levels in North Charleston, which averaged in the 23rd percentile for both reading and math, according to data collected in 2018. That is the most recent available.

Even before the latest round of COVID relief money, more districts had begun to consider creating public-private schools like those operated by Meeting Street. Lawmakers made it more doable last month with a bill that got overwhelming support in both chambers.

On April 23, Gov. Henry McMaster signed the bill, which allows school districts to operate multiple schools of innovation, which get more flexibility from state laws and regulations.

Couple that with passage of the latest federal COVID aid package, and Meeting Street CEO Christopher Ruszkowski has been hearing from superintendents. They want to know how to follow its model.

The stimulus provides an opportunity for recovery but also some degree of reinvention as well, he said.

Leona Davis attended Burns Elementary before it partnered with Meeting Street. Davis, whose niece is a fourth grader there now, said the difference is night and day.

She is especially grateful for the schools two-teacher model, which pairs a new teacher with a veteran in its classrooms. Her nieces teachers have her phone number in case anything goes wrong, and she feels close relationships with them.

"The involvement that they have with the students and our families is so phenomenal," Davis said. "There's no comparison to it. The children are loved and at the same time the parents are aware of everything that goes on in the school."

Meaningful changes

Over the next three years, South Carolina and other states can try many upgrades normally out of financial reach.

But some educators worry that 79 districts might do 79 different things. School administrators are already getting bombarded by companies eager to sell them their products.

We have to be really careful to avoid these disjointed initiatives  something here, something there, something someplace else  that doesn't form a cohesive and comprehensive approach," Charleston County School District superintendent Gerrita Postlewait said.

Charleston County will have $249.2 million total to spend on its approach, second only to Greenville County's $254.6 million share.

Recent Post and Courier interviews with teachers and other education experts yielded key areas most would like districts to focus on:

 Two teachers per classroom

Intensive instruction tops the list. And few ideas get more support than two teachers per classroom, especially for younger students.

Cox, the fourth grade teacher, works at Varennes Elementary School, a high-poverty school in Anderson. He is starting his fifth year teaching and about to finish his master's degree.

Pairing new teachers with experienced ones in a classroom could boost retention significantly, he said.

We are thrown into the fire, he said. We can read all the theories and all the great psychology, but youre not going to really learn until youre in that room. Thats the part were missing.

However, the federal money will dry up in three years. Schools cant go out and hire 1,000 new teachers only to lay them off then.

The states severe teacher shortage wont help either. Already at crisis level, the shortage worsened amid the pandemic, as fewer hires over the summer created a spike in vacancies when the school year started. As of February, 515 openings remained across South Carolina, representing 1 percent of the state's K-12 teaching positions, according to the state Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention and Advancement.

But lawmakers recently made it more lucrative for retired teachers to jump back in.

And Kelly offered a novel idea: tap third-year college education majors, the states future teachers. They could take a gap year to work as the second teachers in classrooms.

That would give established teachers help  and the student teachers invaluable classroom experience. Districts would pay them with COVID aid money and could throw in senior year tuition payment to lure them to schools most in need.

This strategy also could yield a trove of data to gauge how much impact two teachers make on a broader range of students than Meeting Street schools alone can provide.

Heres the case study, Kelly said. For the next two years, lets lean in on those things weve said we should try.

 Mental health assistance

Given the pandemics toll, students desperately need more access to mental health professionals.

The mental health crisis is growing and is real in schools right now, Kelly said.

Most students who receive mental health care get it through their schools, yet entire school districts lack even a single full-time psychologist.

National guidelines for guidance counselors recommend one per 250 students. In South Carolina, schools run closer to one per 347.

 Summer and afterschool programs

One of the states foremost schools experts is Terry Peterson, who served as chief education adviser to Richard Riley, a former U.S. education secretary and South Carolina governor.

Peterson has long extolled the need for quality summer and after-school programs. This includes camps, career and college exploration, and apprentice-style projects.

Now, he is advising groups in about eight states to consider their best use of the COVID relief money. He hopes South Carolina schools will use their funds this way and points to two local groups already offering this type of help: Engaging Creative Minds and WINGS for Kids.

Dorchester District 2 is among many districts targeting major chunks of the new money at summer learning, Superintendent Joe Pye said.

The district will receive a total of $62.1 million from the three waves of funding. It will use the third one, about $40.5 million, to help pay teachers for summer math and reading camps through 2024.

This may not solve the problems totally, Pye said, but it will certainly keep things moving along.

The road ahead

Unable to dictate local decisions, Spearman plans to promote certain ideas with an offer districts "would be foolish not to take advantage of," she said: a slice of the $327 million her agency will get in federal COVID aid, in the form of matching funds for ideas proven to work.

That is the extent of what were able to do," she said. "So, were going to be using that tactic.

This summer, districts must seek public input for spending the money coming their way. Given the opportunity for big changes, Spearman urged the public to get engaged. Attend public board meetings. Ask questions.

And dont wait for local districts to hand out their spending proposals. Federal law doesnt require the boards post their third-wave plans for the public to see until they already are finalized and approved  right as the next school year begins.
Syndicated and guest columns represent the personal views of the writers, not necessarily those of the editorial staff. The editorial department operates entirely independently of the news department and is not involved in newsroom operations.
The South Carolina Democratic Party concluded its annual political convention on May 22, which they hosted virtually as the COVID-19 pandemic begins to ease up across the Palmetto State.

The live-streamed event was highlighted by prominent South Carolina Democrats such as U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison and former U.S. Representative turned gubernatorial candidate Joe Cunningham.

Its always an exciting time to gather with Democrats from across South Carolina to discuss the future of our party," Jay Parmley, the SCDP's executive director, said. "Meeting virtually while respecting everyone's safety and health does not dampen our enthusiasm for talking about 2022 and beyond.

While the video speeches were often inconvenienced by technical errors, streaming delays and sound issues, it did not deter the energy from many of the speakers who tried to paint an optimistic future for South Carolina Democrats despite some tough losses in the 2020 election.

"More people voted for Democrats in South Carolina than ever before," said Harrison, whose historic $130 million haul for his bid against Sen. Lindsey Graham still wasn't enough to clench the office.

"And we still got a lot of work to do," he said. "But hell or high water, we're going to flip this state blue."

This past election cycle was a win for Democrats nationwide by propelling President Joe Biden to the White House and delivering control of the Senate. But in South Carolina, it was a different story.

Bolstered by Donald Trump at the top of the Republican ticket, Nancy Mace upset Cunningham to reclaim South Carolina's 1st Congressional District, which had been a Republican seat for 40 years before it was interrupted by a single term in Democratic hands.

South Carolina Republicans expanded their majorities to historic levels in both the state Senate and House. GOP challengers picked off longtime incumbents who included the Democrats 2010 and 2014 gubernatorial nominee, state Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Camden, and their 2018 lieutenant governor nominee, state Rep. Mandy Powers Norrell of Lancaster.

Republicans also won two other Upstate Senate seats held by Democratic incumbents.

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But there were a few wins in 2020 for Democrats, mostly in Charleston County. The Democratic challenger for Charleston sheriff, Kristin Graziano, upset Republican incumbent Al Cannon in one of the partys top victories and several endangered state House Democrats held on for reelection.

Additionally, Democrats picked up a Charleston-area seat in the state House of Representatives after Spencer Wetmore won a special election on James Island this past August.

And, as Democrats look to make gains in 2022, they're looking back at their past successes as an example of how they can win. Cunningham, who has turned his sights on unseating McMaster in the governor's mansion, laid out his hopes and policy proposals during the convention.

"We need a change from the failed leadership that got us here in the first place," Cunningham said. "I know we can win, because I've won tough races before."

Cunningham's opponent, activist Gary Votour, also addressed the convention.

Democrats are preparing to take on Sen. Tim Scott, who is up for reelection in 2022. State Sen. Krystal Matthews, D-Ladson, and Spartanburg Democratic Party Chairwoman Angela Geter have both announced their candidacy and spoke at the convention.

State. Sen. Mia McLeod, D-Columbia, gave one of the closing speeches of the convention where she tried to rally the party to be bold and optimistic about some of the tough challenges they face next cycle.

"We didn't quite get there in 2020, but we're going to get there in 2022," McLeod said.

Later that evening, Trav Robertson was reelected as the South Carolina Democratic Party chairman. The longtime political operative in the Palmetto State has held his current role since 2017.

"I look forward to getting to work," Robertson said on Twitter. "Thank you to my fellow Democrats for the trust and the decisive victory!"
The Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific awarded a $49 million multiple-award contract for cultural resource management services at various locations throughout the Pacific, according to a press release.

Work will be performed in the NAVFAC Pacific area of operations including Guam, Hawaii and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands by the following three businesses - Garcia and Associates of San Anselmo, California; International Archaeology, LLC of Honolulu, Hawaii; and Pacific Consulting Services, Inc. of Honolulu, Hawaii, the release states.

The Cultural Resources Multiple Award Contract provides for a wide variety of cultural resources services such as archaeological monitoring of construction, historic preservation services and vital resources management planning, said NAVFAC Pacific Cultural Resources Branch Supervisor Karen Desilets. This contract serves our supported commands and provides essential mission support across the Pacific AO.

Under this contract, cultural resources services are performed by qualified professionals that meet the Secretary of the Interior standards for archaeologist, historian and historical architect.

The term of the contract is not to exceed 60 months, with an expected completion date of May 2026.

This will likely be welcome news for Guam, where military projects continue as part of the Department of Defense's pivot to the Pacific. A $12 million cultural repository is under construction. The repository will house artifacts and other finds as a result of the projects to build facilities on Guam for the nearly 5,000 Marines being relocated from Okinawa.
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This screen image is from the May 12 panel discussion hosted by the Baker Center for Excellence on the topic of employee stock ownership plans. Shown left to right in the top row are: Kyle Longacre, MCCC Dean of Workforce and Economic Development; Paul K. Johnson, MCCC marketing/management assistant professor; and David Zellers Jr., director of commerce, Montgomery County. In the bottom row left to right are: Ford Smith, estimator, employee owner, at IT Landes; Edward Renenger, president and CEO, SES ESOP Industries; and Kenneth Baker, CEO, NewAge Industries.
Thomas Pyle Middle School is in my backyard. Not literally. Literally, its a five minute walk from my house.

Both of my daughters attended Pyle. Neither liked it much. But who likes middle school?

Whatever the schools shortcomings, my daughters got through it largely unscathed and without being indoctrinated. There was a liberal slant to some of the instruction, but nothing shocking. Certainly, they were not taught that we arent one human family and that its racist to think we are, or that America is a white supremacist enterprise intent on bringing about the demise of Blacks.

But that was then  20 years ago. This is now.

Judicial Watch reports:

In Thomas Pyle Middle Schools social justice class course curriculum, there is a slide titled What is systemic racism? in which students are shown a pyramid slide depicting Differences between overt and covert hateful white supremacy. According to the pyramid, Make America Great Again is an example of covert white supremacy that is socially unacceptable. The phrase is ranked on a pyramid just below racial slurs. Examples of other unacceptable covert white supremacy include thinking but were just one human family, colorblindness, cultural appropriation, celebration of Columbus Day, police murdering POC [people of color], and bootstrap theory.

It might be worth taking the class just to discover how colorblindness can amount to white supremacy. But I doubt theres any coherent attempt to explain this rhetorical sleight of hand.

As for bootstrap theory, I assume this means that people should try to pull themselves up, rather than relying on others  especially the government  to do it for them. It has worked for generation after generation of Americans, including immigrants, many of whom were discriminated against when they arrived here.

But left-wing activists arent satisfied with the extent to which its working for Blacks these days. Thus, the concept of self-reliance is deemed unacceptable.

Theres more:

A class slide titled Implicit Bias, Structural Racism states: *Race is created to justify enslaving people from Africa (economic engine of country). *National narrative (ideology, belief system) about people of color being less than human (and less than white) justifies mistreatment and inequality (white supremacy). *Dominant narratives about race (family, media, society) coupled with racialized structural arrangements and differential outcomes by race all prime us to believe that people of color are inferior to white people 

I dont think it ever occurred to my daughters that people of color are inferior to white people. Maybe it would have occurred to them if they had taken a class in middle school that insisted this is what we are primed to believe.

The insanity continues:

The students are asked: What is White Privilege? and are instructed that white privilege includes, among other things: having a positive relationship with the police, generally; . . . The class is provided definitions created by www.racialequitytools.org. The terms that are defined include: Black Lives Matter, which is defined as A political movement to address systemic and state violence against African Americans. It claims that Black Lives Matter is an ideological and political intervention in a world where Black lives are systematically and intentionally targeted for demise. Power, defined among other things as: Wealth, whiteness, citizenship, patriarchy, heterosexism, and education are a few key social mechanisms through which power operates. Racist policies, is defined with the statement, There is no such thing as a nonracist or race-neutral policy. White Privilege, which is defined as to the unquestioned and unearned set of advantages, entitlements, benefits and choices bestowed on people solely because they are white. And Structure white privilege is described as A system of white domination that creates and maintains belief systems that make current racial advantages and disadvantages seem normal. Under the heading White Supremacy, White supremacy culture, is defined as referring, to the dominant, unquestioned standards of behavior and ways of functioning embodied by the vast majority of institutions in the United States. White supremacy culture is further defined as the glue that binds together white-controlled institutions into systems and white-controlled systems into the global white supremacy system.

(Emphasis added)

Students are advised to view a Ted Talk interview with Patrisse Cullors, a founder of Black Lives Matter. Maybe they should also review her high-priced properties to learn about the privileges associated with race hustling and promoting divisions among Americans.

Mercifully, this class is not yet part of the required curriculum at Pyle. The County describes it as one-week Summer Boost class. An awful lot of jargon-laden claptrap is being crammed into one week. Much more, one hopes, than the students can absorb.

The County also noted that no grades were given and no actual work [was] due. The course thus represents a perfect match of form and content.

But while the class apparently involved no required work, there was a recommended assignment. Students were encouraged to fill out a form letter with contact information addressed to federal, state, and county education officials asking for more critical race theory classes in schools.

Action civics at work.

Unfortunately, students may not need to ask to be subjected to this exercise in self-hating, race-baiting, and America-bashing. The left is pushing hard to impose just these sort of teachings  the class taught at Pyle isnt an outlier  in classrooms all across America. The Biden administration is poised to assist.

Unless we fight back, critical race theory will be coming to all of our backyards, and with a vengeance.

JOHN adds: Paul is right, critical race theory is coming to all of our backyards. It has already arrived in many of them. My organization is about to launch a 16-stop tour of the State of Minnesota, informing parents, and citizens generally, about the hateful doctrines of critical race theory, and how we can fight them.
Meeting Medal of Honor recipient Leo Thorsness was perhaps the most awesome experience I owe to writing for Power Line. I had the great good fortune of meeting Colonel Thorsness in the summer of 2008 through the offices of McCain campaign midwest spokesman Tom Steward (now with Johns crew at Center of the American Experiment).

As events unfolded, I ended up writing the introduction to the paperback edition of Leos memoir Surviving Hell on the invitation of Encounter Books publisher Roger Kimball. I told the rest of the story in the obituary I wrote when Leo died in May 2017.

Our friends at Encounter Books have a folder of photos of Leo and Gaylee Thorsness that they would like to return to the Thorsness family. I am advised theyve tried every public email address and phone number for their daughter Dawn to no avail. Leo, by the way, dedicated his memoir to Gaylee and Dawn.

If you have any contact information for Dawn Thorsness that might facilitate the return of the photos, please write to my attention at [email protected]

UPDATE: We have heard back from Dawn and are connecting her with Encounter Books. Thanks to all of the several readers who pitched in.
My old Faegre partner and friend Patrick Schiltz is United States District Judge for the District of Minnesota. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Judge Schiltz clerked for Justice Scalia for two years  one year on the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and one year on the Supreme Court. He is a brilliant and no-nonsense kind of guy.

Judge Schiltz is in the news because he has taken note of the unlawful leaks to the New York Times and Star Tribune in the Chauvin and related cases. Although I have focused especially on the leak underlying the April 29 Star Tribune story by Andy Mannix, I have discussed these leaks several times.

According to a source whose affiliation was not even hinted, Mannix jauntily reported that the Department of Justice would seek federal indictments of Derek Chauvin and his three former colleagues in the death of George Floyd. The unidentified source leaked this and related news to Mannix.

I have assumed, perhaps mistakenly, that Mannixs source is affiliated with the Department of Justice, either the Office of the United States Attorney for Minnesota or the local office of the FBI. Mannix himself did not note that the problematic nature of the leak on which he based his story. The problematic nature of the leak must be the reason the identity of Mannixs source was entirely shielded from view in his story.

As everybody knows, Chauvin was just convicted in state court of second-degree murder for Floyds death. He is to be sentenced on June 25. The State is seeking a sentence enhanced beyond the otherwise applicable sentencing guidelines. Whatever sentence is handed down, Chauvin will be going away for a long time. The case against the three other officers has been reschedule for trial in state court next March. The leak to Mannix can only prejudice their case. The redundant federal civil rights prosecution of all four officers has not been set for trial.

The Star Tribune reports:

U.S. District Judge Patrick Schiltz ordered the U.S. Attorneys Office and the Minnesota attorney general to provide a list of every person to whom they disclosed grand jury activity. He also ordered the U.S. Attorneys Office to explain why he shouldnt appoint an independent prosecutor to investigate and file criminal contempt of court charges for the disclosures. Schiltz wants the responses filed under seal no later than June 4. At issue are stories published by the Star Tribune and the New York Times detailing the possibility of federal charges against the former police officers in Floyds murder. On April 29, the Star Tribune published a story with the headline, Feds plan to indict Chauvin, three other ex-officers on civil rights charges. On Feb. 23, the New York Times published a story about the grand jury with the headline, With New Grand Jury, Justice Department Revives Investigation Into Death of George Floyd. The New York Times story came out days before the beginning of jury selection in the state trial of Derek Chauvin, the officer who knelt on Floyds neck and was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder and manslaughter. Former officers J. Alexander Kueng, Thomas Lane and Tou Thao face charges of aiding and abetting second-degree murder and manslaughter. The three are scheduled to stand trial in state court next March. Days after Chauvins conviction, the Star Tribune story revealed that the Justice Department had been working to indict him on federal charges, and if he had been acquitted in state court, the feds planned to arrest him at the courthouse, the story said, citing an unidentified source. But Chauvin was convicted in state court and on May 8, the four former officers were indicted by the federal grand jury. In his five-page order signed May 5, Schiltz cited the U.S. Supreme Courts reasons for protecting the secrecy of grand jury proceedings: preventing the escape of those indicted, influence on deliberations, perjury or jury tampering. In order to safeguard the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, federal prosecutors are generally prohibited from disclosing matters occurring before a grand jury, Schiltz wrote. In this case, federal prosecutors were given permission to provide information to Attorney General Keith Ellisons office, which is handling the prosecution of the four former officers. Ellisons office then was prohibited from disclosing the information for anything other than investigative or prosecutorial reasons, Schiltz noted. Jane Kirtley, professor and director of the Silha Center for Media Ethics and Law, said Schiltz appears to be conducting an investigation to find the source of the leaks without compelling journalists to divulge their sources. Theres always a risk theyll conclude they have no recourse other than to go to the journalists, she said. Lets hope that doesnt become necessary. Star Tribune Managing Editor Suki Dardarian said, I have no comment on the courts actions, but I will say that the Star Tribune stands resolutely behind its pledge not to reveal the identities of anonymous sources. A spokeswoman for the New York Times declined to comment.

The newspapers are not immune from legal process. They nevertheless believe they are above the law as they ply their trade and have not the slightest compunction about compromising the constitutional fair trial rights of these particular defendants.
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, have expressed sadness over the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru.

Mr Attahiru, a lieutenant-general, died along with seven other top military officers, in a plane crash while on an official trip to Kaduna on Friday.

The Nigerian Air Force confirmed that a crash occurred but did not provide any details.

But separate statements by the presidency and Mr Malami, who is also the Minister of Justice, prayed for the repose of Mr Attahirus soul in first official statements confirming his death.

President Muhammadu Buhari is deeply saddened over the air crash that claimed the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and other military officers, a statement signed by a presidential spokesperson, Femi Adesina read.

Mr Buhari, who described Mr Attahiru and others who died in the crash as the nations heroes, also condoled with the deceased persons families.

The President condoles with families of the deceased, the military, and Nigerians in general, describing them as heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land.

While praying that God receives the souls of the patriots, the President says the crash is one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country., the statement also read.

It added that the President pledged that the departed would not die in vain.

Malami speaks

In a separate statement, Mr Malami described the military aircraft crash that caused the death of Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru as a national tragedy.

The statement signed by the AGFs spokesperson, Umar Gwandu, said Malami received the news of the crash of the military aircraft in Kano while attending to guests in preparation for the wedding ceremony of his second son, Abiru Rahman Malami billed for tomorrow (Saturday).

Malami described the Late Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Ibrahim Attahiru and members of his team as dedicated patriotic Nigerians whose efforts to improve the security situation of the country was manifest.

Malami prayed Allah to grant eternal salvation for all that lost their lives in the air mishap.

He also prayed that the family members have the fortitude to bear the loss, the statement added.

The minister said the late army officer, who died in active service to the nation, will always be remembered as a selfless and patriotic Nigerian who is passionate in duty.

Malami who thanked all the guests at the wedding ceremony said the wedding fatiha will be low keyed in view of the national tragedy and for strict observations to the laid down COVID-19 protocols and guidelines.

He said many of the intended functions will be shelved to honour the deceased, the statement added.

Background

Daily Trust had quoted Edward Gabkwet, the air force spokesperson, as saying in a statement that @An air crash involving a @NigAirForce aircraft occurred this evening near the Kaduna International Airport.

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The immediate cause of the crash is still being ascertained. More details to follow soon, the statement had added.

PRNigeria reported that some of Mr Attahirus aides also died in the crash.

Mr Attahiru was recently appointed the chief of army staff by President Buhari.

Until his appointment in January, he was the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu.

With service number 8406, he was a member of Regular Course 35 of the Nigerian Defence Academy.

At a time, he was the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole until he was sacked in 2017 for alleged incompetence.

Under his watch, suicide bombings and attacks on military formations were on the rise.
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The burial proceedings of the late Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Ibrahim Attahiru, and six other senior officers has been slated for Saturday in Abuja.

The deceased lost their lives in a military plane crash in Kaduna on Friday.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Mohammed Yerima, said the event would commence at the National Mosque and National Christian Centre, Abuja by 10 a.m. respectively.

Mr Yerima said that the internment for the late COAS and six other senior officers would take place at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja by 1p.m.

More Nigerians have been reacting to the death of the army chief and others in Fridays plane crash.

The Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi, described as a rude shock the death of Mr Attahiru, barely four months in the saddle.

Mr Magashi said that the mishap that claimed the lives of the Chief of Army Staff, alongside others senior officers and his aides, represents a huge national disaster.

Mr Magashi stated this in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mohammad Abdulkadir, on Saturday in Abuja.

He condoled President Muhammadu Buhari, the military and the Nigerian Army in particular as well as his immediate family and Nigeria in general.

Mr Magashi described late Mr Attahiru as a gallant, dogged, disciplined and dedicated senior officer who died in the line of duty to his fatherland.

He recalled his unblemished track records of service to the nation as Director Army Public Relations (DAPR), Theatre Commander Operation Lafiya Dole and as General Officer Commanding, GOC.

He said these dedicated services culminated in his elevation to the enviable three-star status as Chief of Army Staff (COAS) in January.

According to Mr Magashi, the emergence of Mr Attahiru as army boss at such a critical time in the nations efforts at surmounting internal security challenges is symbolically strategic but impactful in the annals of the service.

Although, the late General died when his service is needed most, his short but eventful tenure as the Chief of Army Staff and over three decades of dedicated, selfless and patriotic service will never be forgotten, he said.

Mr Magashi prayed Almighty Allah to forgive the deceased and to grant him Alijannat Firdaus as well as prayed God to grant the nation, the military constituency and his beloved family the fortitude to bear the irreplaceable loss.

(NAN)
COVID-19 is notoriously hard to control, and political leaders are only part of the calculus when it comes to pandemic management.

But some current and former world leaders have made little effort to combat outbreaks in their country, whether by downplaying the pandemics severity, disregarding science or ignoring critical health interventions like social distancing and masks. All of the men on this list committed at least one of those mistakes, and some committed all of them  with deadly consequences.

Narendra Modi of India

Sumit Ganguly, Indiana University

India is the new epicentre of the global pandemic, recording some 400,000 new cases per day by May 2021. However grim, this statistic fails to capture the sheer horror unfolding there.

COVID-19 patients are dying in hospitals because doctors have no oxygen to give and no lifesaving drugs like remdesivir. The sick are turned away from clinics that have no free beds.

Many Indians blame one man for the countrys tragedy: Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In January 2021, Modi declared at a global forum that India had saved humanity  by containing corona effectively. In March, his health minister proclaimed that the pandemic was reaching an endgame.

COVID-19 was actually gaining strength in India and worldwide  but his government made no preparations for possible contingencies, such as the emergence of a deadlier and more contagious COVID-19 variant.

Even as significant pockets of the country had not fully suppressed the virus, Modi and other members of his party held jampacked outdoor campaign rallies before April elections.

Few attendees wore masks. Modi also allowed a religious festival that draws millions to proceed from January to March. Public health officials now believe the festival may have been a super spreader event and was an enormous mistake.

As Modi touted his successes last year, India  the worlds largest vaccine manufacturer  sent over 10 million vaccine doses to neighboring countries. Yet just 1.9 per cent of Indias 1.3 billion people had been fully inoculated against COVID-19 by early May.

Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil

Elize Massard da Fonseca, Fundacao Getulio Vargas and Scott L. Greer, University of Michigan

Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro did not just fail to respond to COVID-19  which he derides as a little flu  he actively worsened the crisis in Brazil.

Bolsonaro used his constitutional powers to interfere in the Health Ministrys administrative matters, such as clinical protocols, data disclosure and vaccine procurement.

He vetoed legislation that would have both mandated the use of masks in religious sites and compensated health professionals permanently harmed by the pandemic, for example. And he obstructed state government efforts to promote social distancing and used his decree power to allow many businesses to remain open as essential, including spas and gyms.

Bolsonaro also aggressively promoted unproven medicines, notably hydroxychloroquine, to treat COVID-19 patients.

Bolsonaro used his public profile as president to shape the debate around the coronavirus crisis, fostering a false dilemma between economic catastrophe and social distancing and misrepresenting science.

He has blamed Brazilian state governments, China and the World Health Organization for the COVID-19 crisis, and has never taken responsibility for managing his own countrys outbreak.

In December, Bolsonaro declared that he would not take the vaccine because of side effects. If you turn into a crocodile, its your problem, he said.

Bolsonaros pandemic mismanagement created conflict within his government. Brazil cycled through four health ministers in less than a year. Brazils uncontrolled outbreak gave rise to several new coronavirus variants, including the P.1 variant, which appears more contagious.

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Brazils COVID-19 transmission rate is finally starting to drop, but the situation is still worrisome.

Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus

Elizabeth J. King and Scott L. Greer, University of Michigan

Many countries around the world have responded to COVID-19 with tragically inadequate policies. However, we argue that the worse pandemic leaders are those handful who chose total denialism over ineffective action.

Alexander Lukashenko, the longtime authoritarian leader of Belarus, has never acknowledged the threat of COVID-19. Early in the pandemic, as other countries were enforcing lockdowns, Lukashenko opted not to implement any restrictive measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Instead, he claimed the virus could be prevented by drinking vodka, visiting the sauna and working in the fields. This denialism essentially left preventative measures and pandemic aid to individuals and crowdfunding campaigns.

Over the summer of 2020, Lukashenko stated that he had been diagnosed with COVID-19 but that he was asymptomatic, which allowed him to continue insisting that the virus was not a serious threat. Allegedly thwarting the disease and visiting COVID-19 hospitals without a mask also supported his desired image of a strong man.

Belarus has just started vaccination efforts, but Lukashenko says he wont get vaccinated. Currently, fewer than 3% of Belarusians are inoculated against COVID-19.

Donald Trump of the United States

Dorothy Chin, University of California, Los Angeles

Trump is out of office, but his mishandling of the pandemic continues to have devastating long-term consequences on the United States  particularly on the health and welfare of communities of color.

Trumps early denial of the pandemic, active propagation of misinformation about mask-wearing and treatments and incoherent leadership harmed the country as a whole  but the outcome was much worse for some groups than others.

Communities of color suffered disproportionate illness and deaths. Although African Americans and Latinos make up only 31% of the U.S. population, for example, they account for over 55% of COVID-19 cases. Indigenous Americans were hospitalized 3.5 times more and suffered 2.4 times the mortality rate of whites.

Unemployment rates are also disproportionate. During the worst of the U.S. pandemic, they soared to 17.6% for Latino Americans, 16.8% for African Americans and 15% for Asian Americans, compared with 12.4% for white Americans.

These crushing gaps amplified existing inequities such as poverty, housing instability and quality of schooling  and will likely continue to do so for some time to come. For example, while the overall U.S. economy shows signs of recovery, minority groups have not made equivalent progress.

Finally, Trumps blame of China for COVID-19  which included such racial epithets as calling the virus the kung flu  immediately preceded a nearly twofold increase in attacks on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in the past year. This disturbing trend shows no signs of abating.

The Trump administration supported the countrys initial development of the vaccine, an achievement few world leaders can claim. But the misinformation and anti-science rhetoric he broadcast continues to compromise Americas path out of the pandemic. Latest polling suggests 24% of all Americans and 41% of Republicans say they will not get vaccinated.

Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of Mexico

Salvador Vazquez del Mercado, Centro de Investigacion y Docencia Economicas

With 9.2% of its COVID-19 patients dying from the disease, Mexico has the highest case fatality rate in the world.

Recent estimates show that it has likely suffered 617,000 deaths  on par with the U.S. and India, both countries with much larger populations.

A combination of factors contributed to Mexicos prolonged, extreme COVID-19 outbreaks. And inadequate national leadership was one of them.

Throughout the pandemic, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador sought to minimise the gravity of the situation in Mexico. In the very beginning, he resisted calls to enact a nationwide lockdown and continued holding rallies nationwide before eventually, on March 23, 2020, Mexico shuttered for two months. He frequently refused to wear a mask.

Having inherited an underfunded patchwork of health services when he took office in 2018, Lopez Obrador increased health-related expenditures during the pandemic only slightly. Experts said hospital budgets are insufficient to the enormous task facing them.

Even before the pandemic broke out, Lopez Obradors policy of extreme fiscal austerity  in place since 2018  had made tackling a health crisis much more difficult by significantly limiting the COVID-19 financial aid available to citizens and businesses.

That, in turn, aggravated the economic shock caused by the pandemic in Mexico, feeding the need to keep the economy open all last year, well into the ferocious winter second wave, from which Mexico is only beginning to emerge.

Eventually, another lockdown became inevitable. Mexico shut down again briefly in December 2020.

Today, mask-wearing is up and Mexico has fully vaccinated 10% of its population, compared with 1% in neighboring Guatemala. Things are improving, but Mexicos road to recovery is long.
The Nigerian Army has arranged the burial proceedings of the late Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, and ten other senior officers for 10 a.m. on Saturday.

The late COAS, alongside other senior officers, died on Friday in a plane crash while on an official trip to Kaduna State.

Neither the Airforce nor the Army has given full details of the occupants in the ill-fated aircraft in the statements by their spokespersons.

Mr Attahiru, born in Kaduna on August 10, 1966, was a major general before his appointment by President Muhammadu Buhari as COAS in January 2021.

This was after the resignation of Tukur Buratai, a lieutenant general.

Before his appointment, the late army major, was the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu.

Mr Attahiru was at a time the Theatre Commander of the Operation Lafiya Dole until 2017 when he was redeployed.

He had barely spent four months in his new post before the shocking news of his sudden demise on Friday.

PREMIUM TIMES will provide live updates of the ongoing burial proceedings of the late COAS and ten other officers rescheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Meanwhile, the venue for the Church Service has been changed from National Christian Centre to Nigerian Airforce Protestant Church, Bill Clinton Drive Airport Road Abuja.

The arrangement for the National Mosque remains the same.

The internment would take place at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja.

The time for the final interment prayer has now been shifted from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Guests are still trooping into the premises of the National Mosque.

Wife of the late Army Chief, Fatima Attahiru arriving the National mosque, venue of the funeral prayer. She is flanked by friends and relatives Wife of the late Army Chief, Fatima Attahiru arriving the National mosque, venue of the funeral prayer. She is flanked by friends and relatives Wife of the late Army Chief, Fatima Attahiru arriving the National mosque, venue of the funeral prayer. She is flanked by friends and relatives

Similarly, the Army has also changed the venue of the Christian service from National Christian Centre, Abuja to Nigerian Airforce Protestant Church, Bill Clinton Drive Airport Road Abuja.

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Army spokesperson, Mohammed Yerima, made this known in a statement on Saturday morning.

Both the mosque and church service would hold simultaneously.

12:32 p.m.: Choir Ministration ongoing at Nigerian Airforce Protestant Church, Bill Clinton Drive, Airport Road, Abuja.

Caskets of five of the late Nigerian Army officers laid on the altar.

12:39 p.m.: Family, friends, colleagues and sympathisers of the deceased officers are still coming into the venue of the funeral.

The wife of the late Army Chief, Fatima Attahiru, and wife of one of the late generals, identified as Kuliya, have just arrived at the venue.

12:41 p.m.- The Chief of Air Staff, Isiaka Oladayo, an air Marshall, concluded his remarks about the late Mr Attahiru and other officers who died in the plane crash.

He described the fallen officers as patriotic and selfless all through their service to the country.

12:47 p.m -The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, walked into the venue.

His presence was recognised by the priest in charge, D.B Gani.

The remains of one of the brigadier generals, C. M. Kuliya The remains of one of the brigadier generals, CM Kuliya The remains of one of the brigadier generals, Abdulkadir. Until his death, he was the principal staff officer of the COAS

12:51: Mr Gani commenced his teaching on Confidence.

1:01 p.m.: Mr Gani implored all officers present to put their confidence in the Lord as confidence in ones marriage, community and even worldly positions may let one down.

He concluded his preaching at exactly 1:05 p.m.

1:06 p.m.: The priest invited the families of the deceased officers to the altar and raised some prayer points on their behalf.

Ministers of Defence, Bashir Magashi, Minister of Communications, Ali Pantami, NSA, Babagana Mongono and former defence minister, Mansur Dan Ali, are also in attendance.

The Muslim zuhur prayers will be observed, to be followed immediately by the funeral prayers.

1:12pm: The church is singing the closing hymns amidst the heartbreaking cries of family members of the deceased military officers.

Also in attendance are Governor of Borno State, Babagana Zulum, the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali, Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, and former Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazau.

Others are former Governors Kashim Shettima, Aliyu Wammako and the Director-General of SSS, Yusuf Bichi.

More dignitaries are trooping in. Prominent among them are Senate President Ahmed Lawan, and members of the National Assembly.

1:15 p.m.: The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, mounted the altar to deliver the message of the President Muhammadu Buhari.

He described the moment as one filled with sorrow and grief.

Mr Mustapha said, our safety is domicile in the confidence of God.

He expressed the governments deepest condolences and prayed for strength for the families of the deceased and the Nigerian Army at large to shoulder the loss.

I extend the deepest condolences to the families of the late officers and the entire members of the Nigerian Army, he said.

Caskets of late Nigerian Army officers leaving the church for National Military Cemetery.

Dignitaries are arriving at the military cemetery for the final internment of the military officers. Notable amongst them are the Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, and Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala-Buni. Other dignitaries in attendance are Information Minister, Lai Mohammed, Chief of Defence Staff, Lucky Irabor, Chief of Air Staff, Oladayo Amao, Chief of Naval Staff, Awwal Gambo. 2:36 p.m. PREMIUM TIMES counted 11 graves dug at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja. President Muhammadu Buhari was represented by the Minister of Defence, Bashir Magashi. The presence of the Kaduna State Governor, Nadir El-Rufai; Senate President, Ahmed Lawan; Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Muhammed and Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, was also recognised at the cemetery. People are gathered to witness the burial activities of the late officers. The Chief of Policy and Planning, Ahanotu, a major general, is now reading the funeral oration of the late COAS. He is basically reading the citation of Mr Attahiru. From the citation, it is observed that he attained all his ranks on January 19 of different years, except his last promotion to lieutenant general, which he attained on March 5, 2021, upon his assumption of office as COAS. 3:32 p.m.: Men of the Nigerian Army marching towards the graves to lower the caskets of the eleven officers. The caskets of the eleven late officers were finally lowered to the ground at 4:22pm after priests and imams in charge gave their final remarks amidst the wailings of family members and loved ones


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The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, on Friday expressed condolences over the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru.

Mr Attahiru, a lieutenant-general, died alongside others in a plane crash in Kaduna on Friday.

Mr Gbajabiamila said in a statement by his media aide, Lanre Lasisi, that Mr Attahiru had shown a lot of commitment in tackling the security situation in the country.

The speaker described Mr Attahiru as a core professional officer.

He said the Nigerian military, especially the Nigeria Army, had lost a dedicated and committed senior officer whose services to the fatherland will be sorely missed.

According to the statement, the speaker also sent his condolences to President Muhammadu Buhari, the Nigerian military, and the Attahiru family over the loss. He prayed for the repose of the souls of Attahiru and the seven others.

The House is scheduled to commence a summit on Monday to address the rising insecurity across the nation, which has tasked the efficiency of the military in recent months.
A Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senator representing Cross River South District, Gershom Bassey, has said he would not defect to the All Progressives Congress (APC) after the governor of his state, Ben Ayades defection to the ruling party.

I am not moving to APC, I am a founding member of the PDP, I will continue to remain in PDP, Mr Bassey told PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday shortly after Mr Ayade publicly dumbed the platform that brought him to power in 2015.

Mr Bassey, who said the governors defection did not come as a surprise because its been a long time coming, said the Cross River State Caucus in the National Assembly which he chairs would issue a statement soon on the development.

The senator said the PDP was beyond the control of any particular person.

The truth is that the PDP is a very unique party, it belongs to everybody. It doesnt belong to one person. And that is the nature of the PDP right from inception.

So when you have a situation where one person may want to own the party, he may run into problems. The PDP does not belong to anybody, it belongs to the men and women of Nigeria. Its a national party, he said.

The senator said Cross River was fully PDP despite Mr Ayades defection.

Meanwhile, a political ally of Mr Ayade, Stephen Odey, who was spotted at the brief defection ceremony, said on Thursday that he remained a member of the PDP.

Mr Odey, a former Chairman of the Cross River State Universal Education Board, was quoted by an online newspaper, CrossRiverWatch, as saying, I did not defect, I was only there because he (Ayade) is my boss so I have to attend, I did not defect.

Mr. Odey had served as Mr Ayades aide when the latter was a senator.

PDP sacks caretaker committee in the state

The PDP, in apparent reaction to Mr Ayades defection, has announced the dissolution of the partys caretaker committee in Cross River State.

The national spokesperson of the party, Kola Ologbondiyan who disclosed this in a statement in Abuja on Friday said the dissolution has been approved by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP.

The caretaker committee is now headed by Efiok Cobham.

The new secretary and spokesperson for the PDP in the state are Eko Atu and Rita Ayim respectively, Mr Ologbondiyan said in the statement.

Other members of the caretaker committee are Attah Ochinke, Uke Enun, Walter Mboto, Mike Usibe, Christopher Ekpo, Victor Effiom Okon and Prince K.J. Agba.

The party structure at the local government and ward levels, however, remained unchanged, Mr Ologbondiyan said.

With his defection, Mr Ayade becomes the only APC governor from the South-South geopolitical zone.

The ruling party had lost its only governor in the zone last year when Godwin Obaseki of Edo crossed to the PDP months to the governorship election in that state. He won reelection on that platform.

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With Mr Ayade in the kitty, the APC now has 21 governors, the PDP 14 and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) one.

Mr Ayades defection came six months after his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi, also left the PDP.

Mr Umahi left the PDP last November citing injustice meted out to the South-east by the party as the reason for his departure.
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The Oba of Benin, Oba Ewuare II, has expressed displeasure that some groups of individuals, using pseudo names, are negotiating the recovery of stolen Benin artworks on behalf of the throne.

The monarch made this known on Friday in his palace in Benin, when Andreas Gorgen, the Director-General of the Directorate of Culture and Communications of the German Embassy in Nigeria, led a top German delegation on an assessment tour of the Obas palace in Benin.

The Benin traditional ruler frowned at the development, saying that the palace would not fold its hands to see such abominable development take place.

According to the monarch, prestigious Benin artefacts were largely looted from the Obas palace during the invasion of 1897 by British and other foreign nations.

He said These artefacts should be returned to the original owner, insisting that no third party must negotiate or receive the materials on behalf of the Benin kingdom.

Mr Ewuare said that the Benin artworks have deep spiritual, traditional and cultural significance to the kingdom.

He noted that when returned, they would boost tourism sector in the state.

He reiterated that the throne will collaborate with relevant stakeholders, including the Oba Ewaure foundation and the government, in the struggle to recover all the Benin looted artefacts from various countries.

In his response, Gorgen told the traditional ruler that the German government acknowledged some objects from Benin in its custody, adding that Berlin is seeking ways with relevant stakeholders, especially with the Oba, on how to return the Benin artworks.

(NAN)

IMEL/NCI/VAO
The ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza was holding Saturday, as humanitarian aid began to enter the Israeli-blockaded enclave ravaged by 11 days of bloodshed.

As thousands of displaced Palestinians returned to their homes, and Israelis began to resume normal life on Friday, international focus turned to the reconstruction of the bomb-shattered Gaza Strip.

In Jerusalem, however, Israeli police cracked down on stone-throwing protesters at the highly sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound, in a sign of how volatile the situation remains, two weeks after similar clashes sparked the conflicts worst escalation in years.

Israeli forces beat an AFP photographer who was covering the unrest there.

Clashes also broke out in several other parts of Israeli-occupied east Jerusalem, and at the crossing point between Jerusalem and the West Bank, Israeli police said, adding that hundreds of officers and border guards had been mobilised.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he had told the Israelis to stop intercommunal fighting in Jerusalem, and pledged to help organise efforts to rebuild Gaza.

He also stressed we still need a two-state solution. It is the only answer, the only answer.

Aid arrives

Convoys of lorries carrying aid began passing into Gaza through the Kerem Shalom crossing after it was reopened by Israel, bringing much-needed medicine, food and fuel.

The UNs Central Emergency Response Fund said it had released $18.5 million for humanitarian efforts.

Tens of thousands of Gaza residents ventured out on Friday for the first time in days, checking on neighbours, examining devastated buildings, visiting the sea and burying their dead.

Rescuers there said they were working with meagre resources to reach any survivors still trapped under the rubble.

Nazmi Dahdouh, 70, said an Israeli strike had destroyed his home in Gaza City.

We dont have another home. Ill live in a tent on top of the rubble of my home until its rebuilt, the father of five said.

In total, Israeli air strikes have killed 248 people including 66 children since May 10, and wounded 1,948 others, the health ministry has said. Fighters are also among those killed.

Large areas have been flattened and some 120,000 people have been displaced, according to Hamas.

The Israeli army said Gaza militants fired more than 4,300 rockets towards Israel, of which 90 per cent were intercepted by its air defences.

The rockets claimed 12 lives in Israel, including one child, a teenager and an Israeli soldier, with one Indian and two Thai nationals among those killed, Israeli authorities say. Some 357 people in Israel were wounded.

Our message to the enemy is clearif you come back, well come back too, a spokesperson for the armed groups in Gaza said at a press conference, while Israeli defence minister Benny Gantz warned that the enemy had no immunity.

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Both sides claim victory

Both sides claimed victory after the Egypt-brokered truce, which also included Gazas second most powerful armed group, Islamic Jihad.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israels bombing campaign had killed more than 200 terrorists in Gaza, including 25 senior commandersan exceptional success.

For its part, Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh said they had dealt a painful and severe blow that will leave its deep marks on Israel.

He also thanked Iran for providing funds and weapons.

Truce sparks mixed reactions in East Jerusalem

Iran itself praised a historic victory and reaffirmed Tehrans support for the Palestinian cause, while there were demonstrations in support of Palestinians in Jordan, Libya and elsewhere.

Egyptian state media said two Egyptian security delegations had arrived to monitor the deal from either side.

Genuine opportunity

World leaders welcomed the truce.

I believe we have a genuine opportunity to make progress and Im committed to working toward it, Biden said.

The European Union echoed his call for a two-state solution to the conflict.

The U.S. State Department said top diplomat Antony Blinken would meet with Israeli, Palestinian and regional counterparts in the coming days to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians.

Russia and China called for a return to peace talks, and UN chief Antonio Guterres said Israel and the Palestinians must now have a serious dialogue to address the root causes of the conflict.

He too called for robust reconstruction aid.

The flare-up began in Jerusalem, sacred to Jews, Muslims and Christians.

Its holy sites have sparked many of the worst episodes of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

On May 10, an Israeli police crackdown on Palestinian worshippers at the Al-Aqsa mosque compound prompted Hamas to launch rockets into the Jewish state.

READ ALSO:

Israels military responded with air strikes on what it described as military targets in Gazathough Palestinian and international groups have accused it of recklessly hitting non-military sites in the densely populated strip.

Israel says it makes efforts to avoid civilian casualties, including by phoning residents to warn them of imminent strikes.

It blames Hamas for placing military sites in densely populated areas.

The unrest also fuelled violence between Jews and Israeli Arabs in mixed cities.

Security forces have clashed with Palestinian protesters in the West Bank and east Jerusalem. At least 25 Palestinians have been killed.

Israel said at least five had attempted to attack its forces.

(AFP)
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The Minority Caucus of the House of Representatives has called for an investigation into the crash that killed the Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attairu.

Mr Attahiru, a lieutenant general, died alongside 10 others after their plane crashed in Kaduna State on Friday.

The caucus, in a statement by its leader, Ndudi Elumelu (PDP, Delta), called for a system-wide investigation into this crash and two other military plane crashes.

Our caucus calls for a system-wide investigation into the cause of the crash as well as the last two crashes of our military planes which also led to the loss of lives of our gallant and promising officers, the caucus said.

The group also charged the military not to be weighed down by the tragic event but to remain focused and undeterred so as to ensure that the heroes did not die in vain.

Noting that the Minority caucus is grief-stricken by this huge tragedy which has befallen our dear nation and we demand a full-scale investigation into the unfortunate incident.

Gen. Attahiru and the other officers were very courageous and patriotic soldiers, who gave all in the defence of our dear fatherland.

Three military crashes in 2021

Military jet, King Air 350, crashed in Abuja in February, after reporting engine failure en route Minna.

The crash recorded seven casualties.

The crash led to the death of Flight Haruna Gadzama (Captain), Henry Piyo (Co-Pilot), Micheal Okpara (Airborne Tactical Observation System (ATOS) Specialist), Bassey Etim (ATOS Specialist), Olasunkanmi Olawunmi (ATOS Specialist), Ugochukwu Oluka (ATOS Specialist), and Adewale Johnson (Onboard Technician).

In March, an Alpha Jet lost the radar in Borno State. The fighter jet, supporting ground troops, went missing with two crew members.

Aside from the military crashes, on Wednesday, the House resolved to probe two airlines; Dana Air and Aero Contractors for negligence over two commercial flights mishap.

The Committee on Aviation was mandated to conduct the investigation.
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Abidemi Rufai, an aide to Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State, is on the verge of being released from detention after getting a surety.

Mr Rufai, who is currently enmeshed in a $350,000 COVID-19 unemployment fraud in the United States, was denied bail on Wednesday after his brother, Alaba Rufai, who is listed in court records, was unable to place the $300,000 surety bond for his bail.

A surety was, however, presented in court on Friday as Federal Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes ruled that a New York state resident and family friend of Mr Rufais could post the bond.

He would be restricted to travel in New York City and Western Washington and would be monitored with electronic surveillance.

The court also said the surety will serve as Mr Rufais custodian until his trial in federal court in Tacoma.

Following this, Nekpen Soyemi, a registered nurse, whose family comes from Nigeria, told the court that she would guarantee the $300,000 bond and allow Mr Rufai to stay at her and her husbands home.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that Mr Reyes, however, delayed Mr Rufais release until Tuesday to give enough time to federal prosecutors to appeal the order.

In reaction to this, Emily Langlie, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Western District of Washington told The Seattle Times that: Justice requires that Mr. Rufai faces these charges in the Western District of Washington. The government will take all necessary steps to ensure that occurs.

In any instance where a defendant is being released to a surety and a residence, the government does its due diligence to ensure the residence and those monitoring the defendant are qualified for the task.

On his part, Mr Rufais lawyer, Michael Barrows, said the conditions of his bail were appropriate to secure his future attendance in court.

PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported the argument of the U.S. government on why it is dangerous to release Mr Rufai, on bail.

The Acting U.S. Attorney, Tessa Gorma, in a letter obtained exclusively by PREMIUM TIMES on Thursday said Mr Rufai presents an extreme risk of flight and if he does escape to Nigeria, extradition will be extraordinarily difficult or impossible because of his ties to the Nigerian government.

The suspect was nabbed while trying to jet out of the U.S. around 7:45 p.m. on May 14 after allegedly using the identities of more than 100 Washington residents to steal more than $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

He allegedly bypassed security systems at the Employment Security Department using a simple feature of Googles free Gmail service.

He has been suspended by Mr Abiodun after the report on his alleged involvement in fraud in the U.S.
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In contrast with the mournful mood of the nation, the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike on Saturday held a political rally in Port Harcourt to receive some prominent members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who defected from the party to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mr Wikes political rally coincided with the day and the exact hours Nigeria was holding a burial at the National Military Cemetery, Abuja, for the countrys Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, and six other senior officers who died in a plane crash on Friday.

The Port Harcourt rally was briefly broadcast live by Channels Television before the station quickly switched over to the live broadcast of the burial at about 3:30 p.m.

The political rally continued, nonetheless.

The jubilant crowd danced to drumming and loud music. They sang the states PDP victory song Stand up for Jesus!

The PDP Chairman in Rivers, Desmond Akawor, told Mr Wike and the crowd that the rally was the final burial for the APC in the oil-rich state.

Today, the pillars of that party (APC), those who left during the hard times, who thought they would have seen greener pastures, they have toiled day and night and they have discovered that there is no other better place than home, and they have decided to come back home (the PDP) today, Mr Akawor said before receiving the defectors.

One of the defectors said he went to the APC on loan to save a sinking ship, while another said that the APC has been destroyed in Rivers because of the insincerity of the party leaders.

Governor Wike said at the rally that the PDP would continue to win elections in Rivers.

Insensitive?

Several Nigerians believe the Port Harcourt rally was a display of insensitivity to the national mourning mood.

There is something called national mood, a Facebook user said of the rally. What is so special about Wike hosting APC decampees today that cant wait till another day?

PREMIUM TIMES could not immediately get a comment from the Rivers State government, as the Commissioner for Information in the state, Paulinus Nsirim did not respond to calls from the newspaper.

Officers death colossal loss to Nigeria  Wike

Governor Wike, in a statement earlier on Saturday, however, described the death of Mr Attahiru and other officers as a colossal loss to Nigeria.

It is with profound sadness that I convey the deepest condolences of the Government and people of Rivers State to the Nigerian Armed Forces and bereaved families of Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru and other military personnel on board the ill-fated aircraft.

We feel deeply saddened by the colossal loss of these patriotic and thoroughbred officers who sacrificed their lives to make our nation safe. Our thoughts are with the Nigerian Armed Forces and affected families in this hour of grief, the governor said in the statement from his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri.

Mr Wikes party, the PDP has described the late officers as heroes who gave their lives for the security of our nation.
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

A few passing clouds. Low 73F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. Low 73F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph.
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Amid the national grief over the death of the Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, in a plane crash, about five governors on Saturday attended the wedding ceremony of a son of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in Kano State.

Also at the wedding were ministers and federal lawmakers, according to a statement by the media aide of Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje.

Mr Attahiru died on Friday alongside other military officers in the plane crash in Kaduna.

The burial of the officers in Abuja coincided with the wedding in Kano but the governors still managed to honour their invitations to the joyous event.

Governor Gandujes media aide, Abubakar Ibrahim, in the statement, said Abirul-Rahman Malami wedded Aisha Umar at Alfurqan Jumaat mosque in the Kano metropolis.

Mr Ibrahim said Mr Ganduje was the brides trustee while his Sokoto counterpart, Aminu Tambuwal, served as grooms trustee.

Other governors at the event were Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi State and Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State.

Also at the event were ministers and federal lawmakers, the statement said.

The remains of Mr Attahiru and some of the other officers were buried at the National Cemetry in Abuja after prayers were said at the National Mosque.
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Dare-devil armed men attacked an expatriate in Umuahia, Abia State, on Friday, killing his police orderly and driver.

The police spokesperson in Abia, Godfrey Ogbonna, who confirmed the attack, said the bandits robbed the expatriate of N3 million.

Mr Ogbonna, a superintendent of police, told reporters that the expatriate, said to be a Chinese, escaped unhurt.

The man was said to have come from Aba to withdraw money from a bank in Umuahia and was returning, when the bandits trailed him.

It was learnt that the mans SUV was intercepted in a traffic hold-up on Mission Hill, near the office of the Nigerian Correctional Service at about noon.

A witness said, They intercepted the man at Mission Hill and shot his orderly dead, while his driver sustained gunshot injuries.

The driver was said to have been taken to the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, where he later died.

The robbers shot sporadically while fleeing the scene, causing panic and pandemonium, as motorists and people around Okpara Square fled from the scene.

Businesses hurriedly closed shops, following the rumour that the town had been invaded by unknown gunmen.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that Abia has in recent time come under deadly attacks by gunmen.

The assailants have burnt down seven police formations and offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency in Ohafia.

Several police operatives in the state have been killed in the attacks, which appear to be coordinated.

(NAN)
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Protesters demanding a Yoruba nation have stormed Akure, the capital of Ondo State, agitating for the breakaway of the ethnic group from Nigeria.

PREMIUM TIMES learnt that the protesters, who are currently holding their rally, have grounded activities in the state capital.

Some parts of the roads are blocked, obstructing vehicular movements.

The agitators are members of a proYoruba nation group, Ilana Omo Oodua.

PREMIUM TIMES saw pictures of hundreds of the agitators with placards, on Saturday morning.

Witnesses told our correspondent that security operatives are currently at the scenes of the rally.

Meanwhile, the state police spokesperson, Tee Leo-Ikoro, did not respond to our correspondents calls and text messages.

PREMIUM TIMES reported the same activities took place in Osogbo, Osun state last week.

During the rally, a self-styled Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, threatened to disrupt the 2023 general elections in Southwest states of Nigeria.

A similar rally by Yoruba nation agitators earlier took place in Ibadan, Oyo State capital and Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Some high profile Nigerians have said only an urgent restructuring would save Nigeria from breaking up.

It would be recalled that 17 southern governors in Nigeria also called for restructuring but President Muhammadu Buhari appears not to be perturbed by the development.
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Another gas explosion has occurred in Abeokuta, injuring two people.

The explosion occurred on Friday, barely 24 hours after one person was killed and another injured in a gas explosion at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, and a few days after two people died in another gas explosion at a hotel owned by former governor Gbenga Daniel.

NAN reports that Fridays explosion occurred at the CSCC construction yard at the Onikoko area of Abeokuta.

Two people were seriously injured while vehicles were destroyed by the explosion.

It was gathered that the injured victims were rushed to a nearby hospital for medical attention.

NAN also gathered that the explosion occurred from a cylinder filled with gas but not in use.

The explosion affected many buildings on the Onikoko-Adigbe axis, vehicles, and a teacher in a classroom at St. Louis College, Abeokuta.

The state Commissioner for Special Duties, Femi Ogunbanwo, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Kehinde Onasanya, and some other officials of the state, urgently visited the scene of the incident to assess the damage.

Meanwhile, the state government has stopped the sale of industrial gas to avert further explosions.

Mr Ogunbanwo made this known during a stakeholders meeting in Abeokuta.

The commissioner said that the state government had put a temporary stop to the sale of industrial gas in the state, as a result of multiple gas explosions in recent times.

Mr Ogunbanwo said that all major players were expected to abide by the directive, warning that anyone selling adulterated gas products or violating safety protocols would face the full wrath of the law.

He said that the governor, Dapo Abiodun, had been in consultations with relevant agencies of government and the Nigeria Police Force to investigate and bring to book those engaging in sharp practices that could cause gas explosion.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Environment, Ola Oresanya, described the incident as ugly, urging that it must be nipped in the bud.

Earlier, a team consisting of Messrs Ogunbanwo, Oresanya, and some other government officials visited scenes of gas explosion and some gas plant outlets.

This led to the sealing of two gas plants in Omida and Idi-Ori in Abeokuta.

(NAN)
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The Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission (OYSIEC) has suspended the ongoing local council election in Ido Local Government Area of the state.

The OYSIEC Chairman, Isiaka Olagunju, announced this on Saturday in Ibadan after a monitoring exercise, disclosing that the decision was taken due to the omission of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) logo on the ballot papers.

I was just informed that inadvertently the logo of ZLP was omitted in the ballot papers for Ido Local Government. This is a serious error on our part.

We have, therefore, decided to suspend the election in Ido local government pending a final decision on it in few hours, said Mr Olagunju.

The OYSIEC chairman said the conduct of the election was generally okay, but could still be improved upon.

Meanwhile, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Oyo Command, has urged residents to alert security agencies of any observed security issues in their areas.

The state Commandant, Iskilu Akinsanya, gave the advice while monitoring the conduct of the local government election within Ibadan metropolis.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the security boss visited the following areas: Agodi-Gate, Beere, Mapo, Molete, Challenge, Toll gate, Iwo road among others.

He said that there had so far not been any record of security breach, promising that security agencies were up to the task of managing the security of lives and property.

On the team of the NSCDC on the inspection included the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Uche Chukwurah, and officials of the Director of the State Security Service (SSS). (NAN)
Sterling Heights, MI (48312)

Today

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 63F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 63F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Click here and then look to the right side for the sign up to the morning newsletter for The News Herald, and you can get the top headlines de
PLATTSBURGH [mdash] Anthony Tarricone, 94, of Plattsburgh, passed away Monday in his home with his loving wife by his side and under the care of hospice. He was born in Yonkers on Aug. 13, 1926, the son of George and Nancy Tarricone. He graduated Horton High School in Yonkers. He also gradua
In his speech, Xi urged the international community to put the people and their lives first and demonstrate a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and make extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge.

No effort must be spared to attend every case, save every patient, and truly respect the value and dignity of every human life, and it is also important to minimize the potential impact on people's life and maintain general order in our society, Xi said.

Members of the G20 should adopt responsible macroeconomic policies to ensure the safe and smooth operation of the global industrial chain and supply chain, while continuing to support developing countries, he said.

Noting that the pandemic is yet another reminder that humanity rise and fall together with a shared future, Xi said that political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response, and it would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world.

Calling for countries to abstain from vaccine nationalism, Xi called for the promotion of fair distribution of vaccines and items' accessibility and affordability in developing countries. Major vaccine-developing and producing countries need to take up their responsibility to provide more vaccines to developing countries in urgent need.

It is important to strengthen and leverage the role of the UN and the WHO and uphold the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, Xi said.

China will provide an additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries, Xi said.

China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability, he said.

China supports its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them, he said.

"Let us join hands and stand shoulder to shoulder with each other to firmly advance international cooperation against COVID-19, build a global community of health for all, and work for a healthier and brighter future for humanity!" said Xi.

Link: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qf_v-f-kKF0

SOURCE CCTV+
MAKKAH, Saudi Arabia, May 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Muslim World League (MWL) welcomes the announcement of an unconditional cease-fire to end the recent hostilities in Gaza, Jerusalem and elsewhere. The MWL now urges immediate efforts to address the long-standing grievances of the Palestinian people.

The MWL, which is headquartered in the Holy City of Makkah and represents the interests of the world's 1.8 billion Muslims, believes that preserving the sanctity of life for innocent men, women and children must be paramount. Too many innocent people died in the recent violence.

The League emphasizes the peaceful nature of the true, moderate Islam, and notes that Muslims, Christians and Jews share a common Abrahamic heritage. All of our religions hold as sacred the principles of harmonious and peaceful coexistence. We need to focus on these values. Violence cannot and will never be the answer.

The MWL concurrently demands that authorities preserve the sanctity of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem and elsewhere, and avert any evictions or other provocative actions against the Palestinians that would only risk reigniting the crisis.

It is now more important than ever that leaders put the interests of their people above all else. We need all sides to come together to re-establish the foundational principles of peace, coexistence and understanding through dialogue and interaction. Only through such engagement, conducted in good faith, can we better understand and identify the common ground and shared values that will allow everyone to enjoy a just and comprehensive peace and security, with opportunity to prosper.

As humans, there is so much more that unites us than divides us. And the children of Abraham should be partners in global efforts to combat extremism and terrorism, and reject those who see the inevitability of a clash of civilizations.

This is why the MWL advocates for a just and comprehensive peace that establishes a viable state for the Palestinian people, using the Arab Peace Initiative as the basis for a settlement. Such an agreement not only would ensure the Palestinians receive their legitimate rights, but also advance a sustainable peace and collective security for the region.

SOURCE Muslim World League
Local businesses, residents, and the Chamber of Commerce came out to show their support for the new location in this growing community. The attendees enjoyed music, giveaways, and special treats from Kona Ice  the mobile shaved ice company. The staff also provided office tours to the guests to showcase the office's unique decor, which was designed to honor the long-standing history of the city's annual Hot Air Balloon Festival.

Pediatric Specialists Matthew Zimmer, DMD, Kaitlin Valerio, DDS, and David E. Thome, DDS, performed the ceremonial ribbon cutting.

"It's amazing to see the community come together to celebrate our official grand reopening and the unveiling of our new building," said Dr. Matthew Zimmer. "We now have an office that is bigger and can see more patients. We have new technology that we have brought in, and we are excited to celebrate with everyone."

Statesville Pediatric Dentistry's mission is to provide quality care to every guest and patient through attentiveness, open communication, and education. The pediatric dental practice is suited to create a unique experience for all guests and patients, from its contemporary interiors to its up-to-date equipment.

About Matthew Zimmer, DMD

Dr. Matthew Zimmer, a Board-Certified Pediatric Dentist of over seven years, strives for perfection and works tirelessly to educate patients on good overall dental health and proper dental hygiene. He is an expert in his field and has served as a trusted local source for dental-related topics and needs throughout the community. Dr. Matthew Zimmer is a Diplomat of the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry, a member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, and the American Dental Society.

To learn more about Dr. Matthew Zimmer, read his biography at StatesvillePediatricDentistry.com/

About David E. Thome, DDS, FAAPD

Dr. David E. Thome, a Board-Certified Pediatric Dentist of over 19 years, strives to make every child's visit an enjoyable experience to help them and their parents understand the essentials for building good oral health. In 2019, the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry (AAPD) renewed Dr. David E. Thome's fellowship and membership status, FAAPD. This fellowship honors and recognizes pediatric specialists who go above and beyond in the field of pediatric dentistry and organized dentistry. Dr. David E. Thome also serves as a Diplomate to the American Board of Pediatric Dentistry.

To learn more about Dr. David E. Thome, read his biography at NCPediatricdentistry.com/David-Thome/.

About Kaitlin Valerio, DDS

As a pediatric dentist, Dr. Valerio strives to create a safe, fun, and inviting environment for her patients and their families. Her energetic and passionate personality allows her patients to feel comfortable so she can provide the best care possible. Dr. Kaitlin Valerio is a proud member of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry and the American Dental Association.

To learn more about Dr. Kaitlin Valerio, read her biography at StatesvillePediatricDentistry.com/.

About Statesville Pediatric Dentistry

Statesville Pediatric Dentistry is a trusted pediatric dental practice with a modern approach to oral care. Based on a genuinely patient-centered model, Statesville Pediatric Dentistry is just as dedicated to the community as it is to its patients through the support of various local and regional charitable organizations. Statesville Pediatric Dentistry is a proud affiliate of NC Pediatric Dentistry.

Press Contact:

Denica Harrell

980-223-2607

https://statesvillepediatricdentistry.com

SOURCE Statesville Pediatric Dentistry

Related Links

https://statesvillepediatricdentistry.com


WEST CHESTER, Pa., May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Everett Stern, Republican US Senate Candidate for Pennsylvania will be attending the "Stand Up For Israel" Stationary Rally to be held at 16th Street and Ben Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia on Sunday, May 23. The rally is expected to draw a wide range of guest speakers, religious leaders, elected officials and community leaders. The Rally billed as a "Stand against Terrorism" starts at 2 p.m., and will include songs and prayers. Stern, who is a Pro-Israel Candidate for Senate, has a long history of working to combat terrorism through his company Tactical Rabbit, a private intelligence agency.

Stand Up For Israel Rally

Contact: everettstern.com, [email protected].

SOURCE Everett Stern US Senate Campaign

Related Links

http://www.everettstern.com


Download Free Sample Pages

Key Highlights Offered in the Report:

Information on how to identify strategic and tactical negotiation levels that will help achieve the best prices.

Gain information on relevant pricing levels, detailed explanation of the pros and cons of prevalent pricing models.

Methods to help engage with the right suppliers and discover KPI's to evaluate incumbent suppliers.

Request a Free Sample Report for More Information

Insights into buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers:

Several strategic and tactical negotiation levers are explained in the report to help buyers achieve the best prices for Marketing Services market. The report also aids buyers with relevant Marketing Services pricing levels, pros, and cons of prevalent pricing models such as volume-based pricing, spot pricing, and cost-plus pricing and category management strategies and best practices to fulfill their category objectives.

Insights on buyer strategies and tactical negotiation levers

Key Drivers and Trends Fueling Market Growth:

The pressure from substitutes and a moderate level of threat from new entrants have resulted in the low bargaining power of suppliers.

Price forecasts are beneficial in purchase planning, especially when supplemented by the constant monitoring of price influencing factors.

Identify favorable opportunities in Promotional Products TCO (total cost of ownership).

Expected changes in price forecast and factors driving the current and future price changes.

Identify pricing models that offer the most rewarding opportunities.

Some of the top Marketing Services suppliers listed in this report:

This Marketing Services procurement intelligence report has enlisted the top suppliers and their cost structures, SLA terms, best selection criteria, and negotiation strategies.

Harte Hanks Inc.

Dentsu Group Inc.

Publicis Groupe SA

The Interpublic Group of Companies Inc.

MacAndrews & Forbes Inc.

Omnicom Group Inc.

Related Report on Marketing Include:

To access the definite purchasing guide on the Marketing Services that answers all your key questions on price trends and analysis:

Am I paying/getting the right prices? Is my Marketing Services TCO (total cost of ownership) favorable?

How is the price forecast expected to change? What is driving the current and future price changes?

Which pricing models offer the most rewarding opportunities?

Table of Content

Executive Summary

Market Insights

Category Pricing Insights

Cost-saving Opportunities

Best Practices

Category Ecosystem

Category Management Strategy

Category Management Enablers

Suppliers Selection

Suppliers under Coverage

US Market Insights

Category scope

Appendix

About SpendEdge:

SpendEdge shares your passion for driving sourcing and procurement excellence. We are the preferred procurement market intelligence partner for 120+ Fortune 500 firms and other leading companies across numerous industries. Our strength lies in delivering robust, real-time procurement market intelligence reports and solutions.

To know more https://www.spendedge.com/request-for-demo

Contacts:

SpendEdge

Anirban Choudhury

Marketing Manager

Ph No: +1 (872) 206-9340

https://www.spendedge.com/contact-us

SOURCE SpendEdge
A former member of the UK Parliament (MP) (2010 to 2015), Mike was a fierce champion of intellectual property rights, serving as the first, and only, Intellectual Property Rights Advisor to Prime Minister David Cameron. During his tenure, he authored four internationally acclaimed reports which transformed the UK approach to intellectual property: Search Engines and Piracy ; Follow the Money ; Copyright , Education and Awareness ; and Safe Harbour Provisions and Online Service Providers . Most recently, Mike was named to the 2020 edition of IAM Strategy 300: The World's Leading IP Strategists .

Mike's passion for intellectual property stemmed from his love of music, especially heavy metal. He famously promised constituents to wear his Iron Maiden t-shirt in the House of Commons once elected, a promise he was only able to partially fulfil after the speaker said, no. In his capacity as MPLC CEO, Mike could be seen wearing his Iron Maiden t-shirts on casual dress days.

Mike began his tenure in MPLC's UK organization in 2007. As Vice President, Europe, he worked closely with Finance and European Rights Holders. In May 2015, after concluding his time in parliament, he returned to the firm as Vice Chairman, splitting his time between Los Angeles and Eastbourne. His responsibilities included international rights holder and government relations, worldwide group finance, and corporate and strategic development. He was instrumental in MPLC's renewed Asia expansion, overseeing the launch of the firm's Hong Kong office in 2018.

In January 2019, Mike was named CEO and quickly implemented an ambitious growth strategy for the firm, negotiating a partnership with Tenzing Private Equity, a London-based growth equity investor. A series of strategic executive hires followed as well as continued expansion into Taiwan, Thailand, and western Asia. Mike summarized his ambitions for this phase of the firm's growth with a simple strapline he evangelized to both employees and rights holders, "to become the de facto standard and most professional non-theatrical licensing company in the world."

Louise Rogers, Chair-elect of the MPLC Board, has been named interim CEO. "Mike was an amazing CEO, a mentor, and an inspirational leader. He loved being CEO and was determined to beat his illness and get back to helping us drive forward. He never gave up and never failed to put MPLC, and all of us, before himself. He was a visionary and will be sorely missed."

About MPLC: MPLC is the global leader in non-theatrical licensing, supporting legal public performances of motion pictures, television, and other audiovisual content in more than 40 countries around the world. Under the Umbrella License, a blanket license for public performance, MPLC represents rights holders ranging from major Hollywood studios to independent producers. MPLC licensees include government, corporations, and non-profit organizations. Hundreds of thousands of locations around the world publicly perform content legally with the Umbrella License.

SOURCE MPLC

Related Links

http://www.mplc.com


POINCIANA, Fla., May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Based in Florida, USA, SafeBlast is a platform for autonomous yields and liquid generation procedures. It is referred to as one of the best providers in the industry because of its unique nature. Wherever a purchase or sales transaction of the token is complete, the accumulative supply goes down, and as a result, HODlers scoop returns. BLAST operates on a unique supply model where its current supply decreases gradually every day. Along with that any other digital transaction that generates liquidity gets into a lock-in period automatically of up to 5 years.

How it Works:

Blast operates by deducting roughly around 10 % for every transaction that takes place on its platform. The division comes into two distinct segments, that is, "rewards and liquidity." The Reward segment attracts a 5 % transaction fee distributed to any other digital wallet that retains SafeBLAST based on a given percentage. Now, it's important to note that the more SafeBLAST a user has, the more the returns at the end of the day, and lets typically receive a higher percentage for burn-outs. Besides this, SafeBLAST comes with another crucial segment known as LP Generation, referred to by many as "Liquidity." This segment attracts a fee of 5 % for every transaction completed or a deposit made in the PancakeSwap liquidity pool. Deposits made here also come with a lock-in period of 5 years.

How to Buy SafeBLAST:

Downloading SafeBLAST is easy. A detailed guide for the same is disclosed in the next segment. First, Download Metatask or TrustWallet and set up a wallet. After that, head on to Pancakeswap and click on the "Connect" button. Simply copy the SafeBlast token address and then navigate to click on the settings button available on the right-top of the Pancakeswap interface. Set slippage to 11 %. After this, the user is certified to deposit funds. Just input the amounts and click on Swap. Most importantly, remember to have sufficient BNB or any other asset to swap for additional charges. For more details refer to SafeBLAST's official page.

Upcoming Events

SafeBLAST is very active in terms of events and announcements, and it has many significant events coming up soon. This comprises all partnerships with financial entities and blockchain companies. These partnerships will aid in the overall promotion of BLAST exchange in the global crypto market. Similarly, there are first and second marketing campaigns, exchange listings, give back programs, and promotional video launches among the many important events the company is looking forward to shortly. In their Q4, the Non-Fungible Token service will be launched soon for the client's best experience. Furthermore, another event dubbed AMA is set for June 7th, 2021, at 3 PM UTC.

As part of their marketing campaigns, SafeBLAST anticipates using the most suitable methods to reach its clients. Much consideration will be put on programs like Airdrop and bounty campaigns since they are the best methods in the current crypto space. Additionally, the company will also offer free tokens throughout the events.

Fast and Secure

Apart from meeting crypto transaction needs, SafeBLAST also exists to solve problems emerging in the crypto marketplace. There are plights such as interoperability issues of concern, costlier transaction charges, delayed transactions due to slow processing capacity, and the ongoing global mining chip shortage which has forced companies such as Riot Blockchain, Inc. to pay 50% more for mining model that is less advanced than the ones it bought last year. While that's the case, SafeBLAST has come up with long-lasting solutions to ensure customer satisfaction. Its platform provides users with high levels of interoperability, fewer fees, and a fast and secure channel for transactional processes. This is what also helps SafeBLAST stay unique in the crypto space.

https://www.SafeBlastCrypto.com

SOURCE SafeBLAST

Related Links

https://safeblastcrypto.com


ST. LOUIS, May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Midwest Institute for Non-Surgical Therapy (MINT) is leading the way in providing early diagnosis and innovative treatments for St. Louis, Missouri, patients who suffer from vascular disease, greatly reducing the need for amputations.

Midwest Institute for Nonsurgical Therapy

Led by Dr. Goke Akinwande, a board-certified endovascular specialist, the Vascular Center at MINT is one of the few centers in St. Louis dedicated to the outpatient treatment of venous and arterial diseases. Since the Center opened in 2019, MINT has become a regional leader in preventing potentially life-threatening amputations among patients who suffer from diabetes. Dr. Akinwande and his team use innovative technology and non-surgical techniques to treat diabetic sores and prevent amputations.

Data from the Amputee Coalition shows that nearly 4,000 amputations were performed in Missouri in 2014 alone, with most amputations performed on older male patients.

"We were aggressive with our outreach initiatives because we understand the urgency of this problem," said Akinwande. "The rates of diabetes and obesity keep rising, and it goes hand in hand with the rates of diabetic amputations. If we don't act fast, we will lose a lot of limbs and a lot of lives."

Most amputations performed in Missouri are the result of a condition known as critical limb ischemia (CLI), often referred to as "poor circulation." CLI is an advanced form of PAD.

PAD is a complication of diabetes that causes the arteries in the legs to narrow, leading to pain, tingling, numbness, and difficulty walking. As PAD advances, it can quickly lead to wounds and sores on the feet that risk becoming infected and requiring amputation. Risk factors, such as long-term smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, and high cholesterol can worsen PAD symptoms and make amputation more likely to be necessary.

In Missouri, rates of adult smoking, obesity, and physical inactivity are higher than the national average, according to data reported in the 2021 County Health Rankings Report.

The rate of patients who have been diagnosed with diabetes is also continuing to rise in Missouri, making it important for local medical professionals to provide people with access to proper screening and care. Convenient and affordable access to care can greatly help prevent amputations related to diabetes and PAD.

In response to this growing medical concern, the Midwest Institute for Non-Surgical Therapy is leading the way in the fight against preventable amputations in Missouri residents who suffer from peripheral vascular disease. Dr. Akinwande and the team of professionals at MINT are using minimally invasive treatment techniques to address PAD symptoms and improve the quality of life for patients. If caught early, patients can successfully avoid amputations and more invasive procedures down the road.

"This is a health care epidemic that is just as bad as the COVID pandemic," continued Akinwande. "My issue with this condition is that there are options and ways to prevent amputations, but patients don't know their options. Opening up blood vessels improves leg pain, but if a patient has a footsore, it can heal the wound faster. If you have a wound that has not healed for several weeks or months, I recommend those people get a second opinion."

Dr. Akinwande and the team at MINT have also spent much of their time and resources raising awareness through grassroots efforts and community initiatives at local and national levels.

Dr. Akinwande's minimally invasive procedure involves making a small incision to access a blood vessel. A small laser is then used to shave harmful plaque from the vessel. Then, a balloon or stent is inserted to open the artery and improve blood flow to the legs. The entire procedure takes about one hour to complete. At MINT, all procedures are done at the clinic and patients get to go home the same day.

It's important to promptly seek medical attention as soon as any foot sores or ulcers develop. Dr. Akinwande encourages people to get screened as early as possible for PAD, which is why he offers free screenings five days a week at MINT.

According to the Mayo Clinic, people with PAD may have mild or no symptoms or discomfort that is triggered by activity.

Common symptoms of peripheral vascular disease include:

Muscle cramps in hips, thighs or calves after physical activity

Leg numbness or weakness

Coldness in lower leg or foot, usually focused to one side

Sores on toes, feet or legs that don't heal on their own

Skin discoloration in legs

Hair loss or slower leg hair growth

About the Midwest Institute for Non-Surgical Therapy (MINT)



The Vascular Center at MINT is St. Louis' first and only outpatient center dedicated to the non-surgical treatment of venous and arterial disease. The center specializes in complex arterial reconstruction including tibioperoneal and pedal loop reconstruction, as well as improving wound healing in diabetic patients. The Vascular Center also has a comprehensive practice that treats venous disorders. Treatments at MINT are performed exclusively by Dr. Goke Akinwande. For more information, visit www.mintstl.com.

Related Images



dr-akinwande.jpg

Dr. Akinwande

SOURCE Midwest Institute for Nonsurgical Therapy
New Delhi, May 22 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Daniel B. Smith, the US Charge D'Affaires to India, on Friday held a discussion on working together to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a statement, the Chief Minister's Office said Kejriwal and Smith discussed how the Delhi government and the US can jointly and collectively address the Covid-19 pandemic.

Kejriwal also inquired about the health of the US embassy officials. Both said that once the Covid pandemic situation gets better, they would hold in-person discussions.

The Chief Minister's Office tweeted: "H.E. Daniel B. Smith, Charge D'Affaires, USA @USAmbIndia called on Hon'ble CM Shri @ArvindKejriwal today. Both the leaders deliberated on how the State of Delhi and the USA can work together to address the COVID pandemic."

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
United Nations, May 22 : Thirteen truckloads of cargo for UN agencies and their partners entered Gaza Friday and $18 million in aid allocated after the Israeli-Palestinian cease-fire went into effect, UN humanitarians said.

The vehicles entered through the commercial Kerem Shalom crossing carrying food, Covid-19 vaccines, medical disposables, and medicine, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said. The Erez crossing also opened temporarily for humanitarian officials, Xinhua reported.

The number of people seeking protection in schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees known as UNRWA decreased drastically to less than 1,000 from the more than 66,000 people displaced during bombardments, the humanitarians said.

The agency supplied the displaced people with water, sanitary facilities, masks and other protective equipment, to help contain Covid-19, and also used generators to provide electricity during outages.

Undersecretary-General Mark Lowcock, the UN emergency relief coordinator, allocated $18.6 million for rising humanitarian needs in Gaza, including $4.5 million from the United Nation's Central Emergency Response Fund and $14.1 million from country-based pooled funds.

The world organization expects to have a three-month inter-agency flash appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory next week. Substantial financial support is crucial to meet needs, especially in Gaza but also for the West Bank.

Humanitarian needs in Gaza were already high before the latest hostilities because of almost 14 years of the Israeli blockade, internal Palestinian political division and the pandemic, the humanitarians said.

It is crucial the UN Palestinian humanitarian fund, a flexible tool to quickly respond to urgent needs, is replenished, OCHA said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kathmandu, May 22 : In a dramatic turn of events, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari on Friday midnight dissolved the Parliament as per the recommendation of the government and declared to hold midterm elections on November 12 and 19.

As per the constitutional provision, the President has authenticated the recommendation made by the Cabinet to dissolve the House and declare the snap polls for November 12 and 19, a notice issued by the President Office read.

This is for the second time that the House has been dissolved. Earlier, President Bhandari had dissolved the House on December 20 last year but later it was reinstated on February 23. The decision to dissolve the house came hours after a new government formation bid failed.

While invalidating both petitions registered by Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress president Sher Bahadur Deuba staking claim for the post of prime minister, Bhandari has stated that the claims made by the both Oli and Deuba have failed to meet the required provisions and as such, neither Oli or Deuba can form the new government.

On Thursday, President Bhandari had called on to form the new government as per the Article 76-5 of the Constitution. Before the deadline expired, Oli and Deuba claimed the formation of the new government with majority of the signatures.

Later, President Bhandari issued a statement saying that she did not see any reliable reason behind claims made by Oli and Deuba to form the new government and therefore she is not going to appoint a new Prime Minister.

The claim made by both Oli and Deuba was insufficient, a statement by the President Office said, hence the claim made by both leaders could not meet the required numbers. Based on the signatures and claims by the both sides, the President Office said that there is no concrete basis for both the claimants to get a vote of confidence from the Parliament as per the Article 76-5 of the Constitution.
Rome, May 22 : The European Union is planning to donate at least 100 million coronavirus vaccine doses to the global vaccine-sharing initiative COVAX by the end of 2021, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.

She announced the move at the Global Health Summit, a special online meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) of industrialized and emerging economies organised by the European Commission and Italy, DPA news agency reported.

The COVAX programme is a World Health Organization-backed effort to deliver coronavirus vaccines for the world's neediest people, however it has been beset by shortages of doses.

The EU would also spend 1 billion euros ($1.21 billion) to support the construction of vaccine production plants in Africa, von der Leyen said.

The coronavirus crisis had shown the importance of international cooperation in the fight against the pandemic, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi said in his opening speech.

The EU and Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, are hosting the summit to enable participants to exchange insights gained during the pandemic.

The goal of the online meeting was to agree on the "Rome Declaration," a paper setting guidelines for preventing future health crises and ensuring better preparation for such cases.

The declaration lays out 16 principles that G20 countries agreed to, including promising more cooperation and better vaccine distribution.

In light of the dispute over waiving vaccine patents, von der Leyen said that the pandemic has shown how important those rights are for speeding up production and said the EU plans to clarify the use of licences in crisis times with a World Trade Organization proposal.

Von der Leyen hinted that the EU proposal could be a kind of middle ground, after US President Joe Biden had pushed for waiving the rights, to which the European Union refused to give its backing.

According to a statement, the G20 countries also want to set up an early warning system to share information about possible pandemics in the future and stressed the importance of open global supply chains.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said experience had shown that the pandemic would only ever be over when everyone had access to jabs.

After the event, Merkel said Germany would donate a further 30 million doses to the COVAX programme, as long as the country was able to secure all those that have been ordered. Germany will also give another 100 million euros to COVAX, bringing its total financial support for vaccine assistance to 1 billion euros, she said.

During the summit, many speakers pointed to Africa, where the inoculation campaign is progressing slowly and vaccine supplies are slim, not least because the G20 member states had acquired large amounts for themselves.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned of the damage the coronavirus could cause during the months ahead and called for more equitable access to tests and vaccines.

"The pandemic is still very much with us, thriving and mutating.

As winter approaches in the Global South, I fear the worst is yet to come," he said.

Several coronavirus vaccine manufacturers also pledged to deliver over 1 billion doses to countries in need by the end of the year, including BioNTech/Pfizer (about 1 billion doses), Moderna (about 95 million doses) and Johnson & Johnson (about 200 million doses).

Deliveries for developing and emerging countries are scheduled to start in the second half of the year. More than 1 billion doses are also to be made available in 2022. According to the plan, the poorest countries will only have to pay the manufacturing costs, while a lower price will apply for developing countries.
Hyderabad, May 22 : Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the Director General of Police, all the district collectors and police officers to implement the lock down guidelines and restrictions strictly.

He said on Friday that the state government imposed the lockdown keeping view the overall health of the people without bothering about incurring heavy revenue losses in the state.

He also instructed the officials concerned to expedite the paddy procurement programme in the next week or 10 days, as severe summer situation would prevail in the state at the advent of Rohini Karte.

The chief minister, who visited Warangal on Friday, said that present MGM Hospital in Warangal will be converted into Mother and Child Hospital and the present Jail premises would be converted into a multi super specialty hospital with the latest technology, equipment and medical services.

He said a jail would be built on the lines of Cherlapally Open Air Jail in a sprawling campus on the outskirts of Warangal.

The Chief Minister visited the MGM Hospital and went around ICU and general wards. He interacted with the patients admitted there. He went to each and every bed and spoke with the patients and enquired about the treatment given, medicines administered and the quality of food being supplied.

He also inquired about their personal details and instilled confidence in them saying they would all get well soon and advised them not to entertain any fear or anxiety over Covid.

Rao also inspected the way sanitation is maintained and other facilities there. He enquired with the doctors about the medical facilities and treatment given to the people.

The CM has instructed the senior medical and health officials to provide the required facilities and treatment to the patients and they should not worry anything about availability of funds.

He also enquired with the hospital staff and nurses about the problems faced by them and congratulated them for the services that they are rendering.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, later visited the Warangal Central Jail. He examined the handloom and other products made by the prisoners. He went around the barracks and interacted with the prisoners serving sentence there.

He enquired about their personal details gave patient hearing to their problems. He also enquired about the facilities in the jail and received their petitions.

The Chief Minister then visited district Collector's office and held a video-conference with the DGP, District Collectors, Commissioners of Police and SPs. He enquired with them about the actual situation of Corona and what is the action plan being implanted to curtail its spread. The CM instructed them to impose the lockdown strictly. He also instructed the officials to complete the procurement of paddy within 10 days.

He expressed his unhappiness over lockdown not being implemented properly in some districts. He made it clear that lock down should be implemented in toto. He said in villages, sarpanches and other public representatives are implementing the lock down voluntarily and in the urban areas cities it should be implemented more effectively.

"Except the four hours relaxation period, lock down should be implemented for the rest 20 hours. Only people having the emergency passes and essential services should be exempted. Don't show any laxity or lenience. But at the same time, the paddy procurement should be done on a fast track," he said.
Washington, May 22 : The US and South Korea are "deeply concerned" about North Korea's nuclear weapons programme and want to focus on a diplomatic solution, US President Joe Biden has said, while announcing the appointment of US diplomat Sung Kim as a North Korea envoy.

Biden made the comments on Friday at a press conference after receiving his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in at the White House. Talks with Pyongyang must focus on "pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," Biden said, DPA news agency reported.

"We are under no illusions how difficult this is," Biden said.

Meanwhile, Moon welcomed the appointment of Sung Kim, and the US government's willingness to work diplomatically to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

"I have high expectations," he said.

"The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," he added.

Biden promised the US would work closely with South Korea on the approach towards Pyongyang.

He called the "ironclad" alliance with Seoul the "linchpin" of peace, security and prosperity in the region.

Moon is in his final year in office, and his opportunity to advance peace with the North running short. Meanwhile Biden is confronting a goal that has eluded predecessors stretching back to Bill Clinton: stamping out Pyongyang's nuclear programme.

North Korea's rogue regime test-fired short-range missiles in March. It was seen as a challenge to the new Biden administration and propelled Pyongyang to one of the president's most pressing foreign policy issues.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Pentagon boss Lloyd Austin travelled to Seoul in recent months as part of Washington's efforts to coordinate strategy with the South.

Moon's trip to the White House marked only the second visit by a foreign leader since Biden took office in January.

In April, Biden hosted Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, another key ally for Washington in East Asia.

Biden has promised "responses" if North Korea escalates, but has not offered a detailed outline of his approach beyond efforts to pursue talks with North Korea.

Former US president Donald Trump engaged in face-to-face diplomacy with North Korean ruler Kim Jong Un, with whom he had a famously hot and cold relationship.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked by a reporter on Thursday if a Biden-Kim encounter was possible.

"I don't expect that to be top on his agenda," she said.
Washington, May 22 : Former US President Donald Trump has been sued by a Chinese-American civil rights group for calling Covid-19 the "China virus".

The complaint, filed in a federal court in New York on Thursday by the Chinese Americans Civil Rights Coalition (CACRC), alleged that Trump's use of that phrase and other similar racist slurs is baseless, since the origin of the coronavirus is not yet determined, and that the former President's conduct harmed the community, reorts Xinhua news agency.

Trump's "extreme and outrageous conduct was carried out throughout the pandemic with reckless disregard of whether such conduct would cause Chinese Americans to suffer emotional distress", stated the suit.

The coronavirus pandemic has led to a spike in violence against Asian Americans, a sizable portion of them Americans of Chinese descent, which activists have blamed on Trump's rhetoric.

One of the worst incidents of violence against Asian-Americans took place on March 17 when a gunman shot eight people, six of them women of Asian descent, in three attacks on massage parlours in and around Atlanta.

The suit further alleged that Trump continued to use those derogatory words to refer to the coronavirus even as he knew that the virus didn't necessarily come from China.

"The truth matters, words have consequences especially from those in powerful and influential positions," the complaint said.

"(Trump) intentionally repeated those defamatory words to serve his own personal and political interest with astonishing level of actual malice and negligence, hence severely injuring the Chinese/Asian Americans communities in the process." The CACRC is asking that $1 be paid to every Asian American and Pacific Islander living in the US as an apology, which would total $22.9 million.

The plaintiffs said they would use the money to establish a museum that will showcase the history of Asian American and Pacific Islanders communities and their contribution to the US.

Responding to the suit, Jason Miller, senior adviser for Trump, told The Hill news website in a statement: "This is an insane and idiotic lawsuit that is specious at best, and it will be dismissed if it ever sees a courtroom.

"It's a complete joke, and if I was the lawyer that brought it I'd be worried about getting sanctioned." The lawsuit was filed the same day when President Joe Biden also signed a bill that addressed the rise in hate crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Ottawa, May 22 : The Canadian government has announced the extension of restrictions on inbound flights from India and Pakistan for another month until June 21.

"Today, the Government of Canada is extending the temporary travel measures restricting entry into Canada by foreign nationals until June 21," said the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in a statement on Friday.

"To continue managing the elevated risk of imported Covid-19 cases into Canada, the Government of Canada has extended the Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) restricting all direct commercial and private passenger flights to Canada from India and Pakistan until June 21," Xinhua news agency quoted the PHAC as saying.

Canada also extends the requirement for air passengers who depart India or Pakistan to Canada, via an indirect route, to obtain a Covid-19 pre-departure test from a third country before continuing their journey to Canada and continues the mandatory pre-arrival, on-arrival, and post-arrival testing requirements; mandatory hotel stopover for air travellers; and mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers.

"It has been decided based on public health advice that this is not the right time to loosen any border control measures," Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said at a press conference on Friday.

Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Howard Njoo said given the spread of the variants in Canada, infection prevention at the border is critical.

"What we're finding right now based on the latest data is that about less than one per cent of all travellers coming into Canada are testing positive for Covid-19 but if you look at the actual metrics, about half of those are actually the B.1.1.7 variant and now there's a growing percentage for the other variant of concern the B.1.617," Njoo added.

Canada has identified four variants of concern within the country's borders: the B.1.1.7 variant, which remains the most prevalent, followed by the P.1 variant, the B.1.351, and the B.1.617.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced to extend the ban on non-essential travel across the Canada-US border until June 21.

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-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Rome, May 22 : The G20 leaders have issued a joint declaration at the close of the Global Health Summit aimed at coordinating worldwide efforts against the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Rome Declaration is made up of 16 "mutually reinforcing principles" that "reconfirm our commitment to global solidarity, equity, and multilateral cooperation" and to promoting "sustained financing for global health", the G20 leaders said on Friday.

"We affirm our support for efforts to strengthen supply chains and boost and diversify global vaccine-manufacturing capacity, including for the materials needed to produce vaccines, including by sharing risks, and welcome the vaccines technology transfer hub launched by the WHO," the declaration read.

During a joint press conference at the close of the summit, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the event, which was organised by the Italian G20 Presidency in partnership with the European Commission.

"I am very pleased with this summit because of the strength of the commitments that were undertaken, and the absolute conviction and sincerity with which they were made," Draghi told reporters.

The Rome Declaration is "groundbreaking and historical because for the first time you have the G20 (members) all committing to basic principles", von der Leyen said.

The most important of those principles, she said, is multilateralism, which runs like a golden thread through the Declaration.

"This is a very clear 'no' to health nationalism, to export bans, to bottlenecks," von der Leyen explained.

"Supply chains have to be open. All the G20 members have agreed on that." Draghi followed up by saying that "the involvement of multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will be the forums where countries will agree on the removal of export bans, the removal of property rights, and ensuring the continuous flow of the supply chains

"We have discovered that a complete openness of boundaries is essential to produce vaccines in huge quantities and to make sure they are distributed to everybody," the Prime Minister said.

Von der Leyen stressed that the three leading Western manufacturers of Covid vaccines have made major pledges going forward.

"Pfizer/BioNTech has committed to delivering one billion doses of their vaccine this year to low-income countries, at zero profit," she said, adding that Johnson & Johnson has committed to delivering 200 million doses and Moderna said it will deliver 100 million doses, under the same terms, this year.

Von der Leyen added that Team Europe, which consists of the EU, its member states, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), will donate 100 million doses to low-income countries this year.

Also taking part in the summit was WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said closing remarks on Friday: "Yesterday alone, more than 13,000 people around the world lost their lives to Covid-19, nine every single minute. Today the number will be similar and people will continue to die as long as the global disparity in vaccines persists." The WHO chief went on to say that while "the rapid development of Covid-19 vaccines is a triumph of science, their inequitable distribution is a failure for humanity".

Also attending the one-day virtual conference were representatives from international organisations such as the UN, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Apart from the G20 members, Singapore, Spain and the Netherlands attended the summit as guest countries.

Friday's summit built on the Coronavirus Global Response, which is the European Commission's campaign for universal access to affordable coronavirus vaccination, treatment and testing.

The campaign launched in May last year has raised 15.9 billion euros ($19.4 billion) so far in pledges.

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London, May 22 : UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that he was "obviously very concerned" about the findings of the inquiry into the BBC's 1995 interview with the late Princess Diana, which said that the broadcaster "fell below its high standards of integrity and transparency".

"I can only imagine the feelings of the royal family and I hope very much that the BBC will be taking every possible step to make sure nothing like this ever happens again," Xinhua news agency quoted Johnson as saying on Friday.

His remarks came as the Met Police said it will assess the contents of the inquiry into former BBC reporter Martin Bashir's interview with the late Princess of Wales to ensure there is no "significant new evidence" to support a criminal investigation.

In a statement on Friday, the Met said: "Following the publication of Lord Dyson's report we will assess its contents to ensure there is no significant new evidence." In March this year, the police said it was "not appropriate" to launch a criminal investigation into "unlawful activity" in connection with the interview, but adding that "should any significant new evidence emerge it would be assessed".

Meanwhile, British senior officials said on Friday that the latest independent inquiry, by retired judge Lord Dyson, has raised "very serious questions" about the corporation.

Justice Secretary Robert Buckland said it "raises some very serious questions" and "issues around governance" within the BBC.

"I think an apology is a start, but I don't think it's the end of it," he told Sky News.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said: "The media themselves and our broadcasters, and the national broadcaster, has a huge sense of responsibility with the way in which they investigate, review and conduct their own media reports.

"So there will be very, very strong and searching questions for the BBC post the publication of this report." Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said on Thursday night said the report "reveals damning failings at the heart of the BBC" and he will "consider whether further governance reforms are needed".

Both Prince William and his brother Harry have both criticised the BBC's failures surrounding the Panorama interview with their mother.

Prince William said the interview made a "major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse," adding it has "since hurt countless others".

"But what saddens me most, is that if the BBC had properly investigated the complaints and concerns first raised in 1995, my mother would have known that she had been deceived," he said.

"She was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions." Prince William said the original Panorama interview program had "no legitimacy" and should never be aired again.

A report published on Thursday by the independent inquiry said the BBC fell short of "high standards of integrity and transparency" over its interview.

Former BBC reporter Martin Bashir had acted in a "deceitful" way and faked documents to obtain the interview while the BBC's own internal probe in 1996 into what happened was "woefully ineffective", the inquiry said.

The BBC has apologized by saying that the report showed "clear failings," admitting it should have made more effort to get to the bottom of what happened at the time.

The corporation has sent personal apologies to the Prince of Wales, the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex, and Diana's brother Earl Spencer, according to the BBC.

The inquiry found Bashir mocked up fake bank statements that falsely suggested individuals were being paid for keeping the princess under surveillance.

He later showed the fake documents to Diana's brother Spencer, to gain his trust to gain access to Diana and persuade her to agree to give the interview.

The BBC carried out its own investigation into the issue in 1996, but it "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency", according to the inquiry.

Bashir, who is one of the UK's best known journalists and had also made headlines for his 2003 interview with the late pop star Michael Jackson, has stepped down from his role as the BBC's religion editor, the corporation confirmed last week.

According to the the BBC, this was the first time a serving British Royal had spoken openly about her life, including her "unhappy marriage" to Prince Charles, their affairs and her bulimia.
Brussels, May 22 : The European Union's (EU) Covid-19 passport scheme will be up and running from July 1, European Commissioner for Justice Didier Reynders said.

The announcement on Friday came a day after negotiators from EU member states, the European Parliament and the European Commission agreed on the regulations that will govern this Covid-19 travel document, Xinhua news agency reported.

The freshly struck deal on the scheme will allow travel in summer, Reynders said at a press conference here, adding that this was "good news for all European citizens".

"All member states must get fully ready during the month of June, so they can hit the ground running," Reynders said.

He added that the European Commission was offering technical support and up to a million euros per state to help.

There will be a six-week transition period for member states that need more time.

The scheme will allow EU citizens to travel more freely within the EU in total health safety and will support economic sectors dependent on free movement, Reynders told journalists.

Three types of certificates will be available free of charge, in paper or digital format: one attesting vaccination with an EU-approved shot; a second showing negative test results; and the third for people who have recovered after having been infected with Covid-19.

Regarding the cost of the required tests, Reynders said the Commission will also mobilise an additional 100 million euros to support member states in providing affordable tests.

The regulation underlines that member states shall refrain from imposing additional travel restrictions on the holders of an EU Digital Covid-19 Certificate, unless they are necessary and proportionate to safeguard public health.

"It is in all of our interests to make this work. Citizens will be able to travel safely. Businesses will be able to benefit from their spending, and transport will be able to operate," Reynders said.

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New Delhi, May 22 : Commonwealth health ministers, led by India, have called for swift and equal access to Covid-19 vaccines for everyone around the world.

In a joint statement on Friday on behalf of the 54 Commonwealth member countries, they expressed deep concern over the stark gaps in access and delivery of doses, especially in poor countries, and called for "fair and transparent" pricing for the vaccine.

Only 0.3 per cent of the life-saving vaccine doses have been administered in 29 poor countries. About 84 per cent of shots have been given in high and upper-middle-income countries.

Speaking at the meeting, Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland said: "The science is clear: vaccination works and is the clear and only sustainable route out of this pandemic for the whole world.

"The rise of new variants shows that until everyone is safe no one is safe. No plan to tackle this virus will work until everyone agrees to work together.

"We must talk with each other to move away from some stockpiling vaccines, while many low-middle income countries still do not have access to the much-needed vaccines supplies for the vulnerable populations in their countries. So, cooperation to develop a global immunisation plan to deliver equal access to vaccines must be a top priority." Health ministers appreciated the global vaccine equity initiative 'COVAX' and encouraged all partners to support government efforts on boosting vaccine confidence and immunisation drives.

Recognising the acute gaps in research and development of new tests, vaccines and therapies in the Commonwealth, they stressed enhanced collaboration with scientists, academics and business leaders.

In his guest address, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "Vaccines are reducing severe disease and death in countries that are fortunate enough to have them in sufficient quantities, and early results suggest that vaccines might also drive down transmission.

"The shocking global disparity in access to vaccines remains one of the biggest risks to ending the pandemic. We seek the support of the Commonwealth in solving the global vaccine crisis by funding the ACT Accelerator, advocating for greater sharing of technology, know-how and intellectual property, and sharing doses with COVAX." Ministers further backed a potential treaty on the fight against pandemics and a Commonwealth mechanism to share and distribute extra medical supplies such as ventilators and medicines.

They called on Heads of Government to allocate resources for strengthening health systems, especially through primary healthcare, towards attaining universal health coverage.

Chairing the meeting, India's Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said: "Accelerating coordinated action for ensuring equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines and building resilient global healthcare systems is the need of the hour.

"In our closely interlinked world, we need greater transparency to quickly identify and contain emerging health threats. Sharing best practices, strategies and solutions shall ensure preparedness against all future challenges." Health ministers welcomed the creation of a technical group to share practical solutions and policy advice on helping countries with the pandemic response and recovery.

New data shows 60 immunisation campaigns for other health threats are currently suspended in 50 countries due to Covid-19. Such delays could cause significant avoidable mortality.

Disruptions to HIV/AIDS services, for instance, could lead to five thousand excess deaths globally.

Ministers, therefore, committed to keeping essential health services running and sustaining the gains made towards tackling threats such as malaria, HIV/AIDS, avoidable blindness and non-communicable diseases while dealing with an influx of Covid-19 cases.

In their statement, they further voiced their support for a common framework for sovereign debt treatments, cooperation with the WHO and improved compliance with the International Health Regulation -- international laws for preventing the spread of disease.

This is the second time that Commonwealth health ministers met virtually for their annual gathering due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The meeting, hosted by the Commonwealth Secretariat, took place on May 20 and 21.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Kabul, May 22 : About 40 Taliban militants and five policemen were killed in the latest spate of violence in Afghanistan as massive gun-battles raged across the war-torn country, according to multiple sources.

On Friday, Taliban militants took control of Jalrez district in Wardak province after days of heavy clashes, Xinhua news agency reported citing local media as saying.

The local media said that nearly 40 security forces members were captured after militants seized government office buildings in the district, 60 km west of the capital Kabul.

The security forces have been in siege for a couple of days in the district where a key provincial road passes, connecting Kabul to central parts of the country.

Meanwhile, the Afghan Air Force targeted the militants in the district, killing 10 of them, injuring one and destroying a vehicle, a motorcycle and some weapons, the Defence Ministry said.

"The operations of Afghan National Defense and Security Forces continue in Jalrez and the district will be cleared off terrorists soon," the Ministry said in a statement late Friday.

Jalrez is the third district captured by the militants this month.

On Thursday, Taliban overran Dawlat Shah district in Laghman province, after capturing Nirkh district south of Jalrez on May 11.

About 15 out of 407 Afghan districts remain under Taliban's control while 40 districts have been facing high threats from militants and 30 per cent of the districts were contested, according to official figures.

In Zabul province, five policemen and seven militants were killed during armed clashes at a police station on Thursday might.

The mountainous province has been the scene of heavy clashes in recent years.

In Helmand province, 14 Taliban militants were killed and 11 others wounded when Afghan Air Force targeted militant positions in Bolan, an area on the outskirts of provincial capital Lashkar Gah city on Thursday night, an army source said.

Five militants were killed and two others wounded by a separate airstrike in nearby Surgudar locality, according to the source.

The Taliban have conducted multiple attacks outside Lashkar Gah in recent days and tried to take over control of the key city in the region.

Besides, three Taliban fighters were killed and three others wounded when Afghan warplanes targeted a centre in Khash Rod district of Nimroz province on Thursday night.

The militants were illegally collecting tax from cargo trucks driving along a provincial road in the province, bordering Iran.

Violence lingers in the Asian country as Taliban militants have been attempting to seize small towns or districts by launching hit-and-run ambushes against Afghan national security forces.

While the US and NATO troops have been leaving the country, violence in the country is on the rise.
Tehran, May 22 : The Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected a recent ruling by a Canadian court on the Ukrainian plane crash near Tehran in January 2020.

"Everyone knows that the Canadian court has no authority to rule about this plane crash ... which took place outside of Canada," Xinhua news agency quoted Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh as saying on Friday.

On Thursday, the Ontario Supreme Court reportedly announced that the shooting down of the plane was "intentional and a terrorist act".

But Khatibzadeh dismissed the ruling as "political".

The Kiev-bound Ukrainian Boeing 737 passenger plane with 179 people on board crashed on January 8, 2020, shortly after taking off from the Iranian capital of Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.

The aircraft was shot down by Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps with two missiles.

Later, Iran's armed forces confirmed that an "unintentional" launch of a military missile by the country was the cause of the incident.

In July 2020, the transcript of the black boxes from the plane confirmed the fact of an illegal interference with the plane.
May 22 : Vicky Kaushal starrer The Immortal Ashwatthama has been in the news for quite some time now. The actor has been prepping for his role and taking horse-riding lessons as well as hitting the gym to build a certain physique. Now, it is reported that the makers of the film are planning to take it on floors this year.

Helmed by Aditya Dhar and produced by Ronnie Screwvala, the film also features Sara Ali Khan in a crucial role. Vicky Kaushal, Ronnie Screwvala, and Aditya Dhar had earlier joined hands for Uri: The Surgical Strike. Based on the character King Ashwatthama from The Mahabharata, the forthcoming film is a modern-day superhero film. Even after the first look posters were released, not much is known about the film till date.

However, it is now reported that the film is expected to go on floors by September or latest by December this year, and it will be a five-month-long schedule. Initially, the shoot schedule was slated to be in June this year, which cannot happen due to the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic. While the production team has been prepping for the costliest film for the last two years, both Vicky and Sara are also preparing for their roles and learning new forms of action.

Initially, extensive shooting was planned in European countries, but now, owning to travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the makers have decided to shoot in the USA and Iceland, besides India. Since the film requires heavy post-production work as well as maintain international standards, makers aim for a 2023 release.

On two years of the release of Uri: The Surgical Strike, Vicky had shared the first look of the poster of The Immortal Ashwatthama, and wrote that he cannot wait to get onto the journey with his dream team. Earlier, in a statement, the actor described the film as Adityas dream project with the backing of a visionary like Ronnie. The actor also said that the film will be a new space for him as he will explore some new form of technology.
Nay Pyi Taw, May 22 : Myanmar's Union Election Commission held talks with political parties on findings related to voting irregularities in the November 2020 general elections.

The commission has conducted investigations in 306 out of 315 townships across the country so far and fraud was found to have been committed, Xinhua news agency quoted Commission Chairman U Thein Soe as saying at the meeting on Friday where 59 political parties were in attendance.

"The systematic decision is needed to be made on whether to dissolve the National League for Democracy (NLD) that intentionally committed election fraud or to take actions against it for betraying the country," the Chairman said.

At present, former President U Win Myint is facing two court charges, while six cases have been filed against former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military had alleged that there was massive voting fraud in the country's November 2020 general elections, which saw the NLD win a majority of seats in both houses of parliament.

Earlier in February, the State Administration Council reformed the Union Election Commission, taking steps to review the process of the general elections.

The state power was transferred to Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Sen-Gen Min Aung Hlaing after the declaration of a state of emergency in the country on February 1.
San Francisco, May 22 : Apple CEO Tim Cook faced some harsh questions during the ongoing Epic Games-Apple trial over the removal of Fortnite game from the App Store, but he offered a mild, "carefully tended ignorance" that left several key questions unanswered.

The company called CEO Tim Cook to conclude three weeks of testimony in Epic vs Apple legal battle on Friday and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers engaged Cook in a surprisingly tense exchange over Apple's business model, reports The Verge.

When asked what the problem is with allowing users to have choice, especially in a gaming context, to have a cheaper option for content, Cook replied: "I think they have a choice today. They have a choice between many different Android models of smartphone or an iPhone, and that iPhone has a certain set of principles behind it, from safety and security to privacy".

Rogers then argued: "But if they wanted to go and get a cheaper Battle Pass or V-Bucks, and they don't know they've got that option, what is the problem with Apple giving them that option? Or at least the information that they can go and have a different option for making purchases?" Cook replied: "If we allowed people to link out like that, we would in essence give up our total return on our IP (intellectual property)." The much-reported trial between Apple and Epic Games began on May 5, as the companies got involved in a legal battle over the use of an in-game payment system.

While Epic Games argues about Apple's monopoly over the app market and treats 30 per cent standard fee amount to anti-competitive behaviour that must be regulated by antitrust law, Apple contends that "the whole antitrust allegation and associated dust-kicking is little more than a PR stunt".

The Fortnite game was removed from App Store in August last year after the company allegedly violated rules by adding an in-game payment system aimed at depriving Apple of its commission on in-app purchases from App Store.

Rogers asked Cook that the gaming industry seems to be generating a disproportionate amount of money relative to the IP that you are giving them and everybody else and "in a sense, it's almost as if they're subsidising everybody else".

Cook replied that the bulk of the apps on the App Store are free, so you're right that there is some sort of subsidy there.

"However, the way I look at that, Your Honor, is that by having such a large number of apps that are free on the store, it increases the traffic to the store dramatically, so the benefit somebody gets is a much higher audience to sell to than they would otherwise if there weren't free apps there," he told the judge.
Kathmandu, May 22 : Nepal Prime Minister KP Olis decision to dissolve Parliament has led to controversy, uproar and opposition in the Himalayan nation.

On the recommendation of Oli's Cabinet, President Bidhya Devi Bhandari on Friday midnight dissolved the House and declared snap polls for November 12 and 19.

The decision is likely to polarise the politics of Himalayan nation for the time-being, where opinions are largely divided over whether elections can take place or not.

Another looming question is whether to take part in the elections which, according to some, are carried out in an unconstitutional and undemocratic way.

"Dissolution of the House is an attempt to political coup and declaration of so-called elections is a fraud," former Prime Minister and ruling party leader Madhav Kumar Nepal said in a statement on Saturday.

Though Oli and Nepal are in the same party, the latter's faction is running a parallel structure after serious differences erupted between the two.

Oli is the chairman of Nepal Communist Party -UML.

"This is regression and this is also the attempt to rape Parliament. The President's Office has hit back the Constitution. This is regression part two. I condemned the act of the Prime Minister and have asked all to protest against it," said Nepal.

According to party leaders, the proximity between the President and Prime Minister is the reason behind this attempt.

Oli had earlier dissolved the House on December 20, 2020, but the Supreme Court reinstated it this February 23.

Ram Chandra Poudel, a senior leader of the opposition Nepali Congress party, said Bhandari and Oli have committed a fraud against the Constitution.

"At a time when opposition parties stake claim over the new government with the majority vote, the sudden dissolution of the House is an unconstitutional and undemocratic act and we will fight legal, political and constitutional battles against it," he said.

The decision to dissolve the House came hours after a new government formation bid had failed.

President Bhandari on Thursday called on the formation of a new government by Friday 5 p.m. as per Article 76 (5) of the Constitution.

After failing to win the House's confidence, Oli recommended the President to initiate the new government formation.

Before the deadline ended, Oli and opposition party leader and President of Nepali Congress Sher Bahadur Deuba had stake claims over the new government with respective majority support.

While invalidating both petitions registered by Oli and Deuba, Bhandari stated that the claims made by the two failed to meet the required provisions and hence neither can form the government.

Some lawmakers have signed both sides and some took action against those who supported beyond the party line, so claims made by both Oli and Deuba did not meet the criteria, a notice issued by the President Office said late Friday.

Nepali Congress has called a meeting of opposition parties on Saturday to chart out a future plan against the dissolution and declaration of the midterm elections.

Former Prime Minister and Maoist leader Baburam Bhattarai said that in the midst of the alarmingly rising Covid-19 pandemic, the dissolution has plunged Nepal into an endless crisis and may lead to a full counter-revolution.

"There may be no election and the federal democratic constitution may collapse, resist it," he warned.
As the hostilities from Gaza have halted, we enter a very delicate and sensitive period in hope that the terrorist organisations in the coastal enclave will indeed honour the ceasefire, and stop the indiscriminate rocket attack against Israels civil population.

On Thursday night, Israel's Security Cabinet unanimously accepted the recommendation of all of the relevant security officials, the IDF Chief-of-Staff and the head of the ISA, as well as of the heads of the Mossad and the National Security Council, to accept the Egyptian initiative for a mutual ceasefire without pre-conditions. The security officials have briefed the Israeli Cabinet Ministers on Israel's significant achievements in the operation to date, some of which are unprecedented.

During operation "Guardian of the Walls", Israel was able to restore deterrence and bring about cease of hostility (quiet) quickly after the Palestinians provoked the current round of fighting. The ceasefire entered into effect on Friday night, and since, no hostilities have been recorded. However, the actual reality on the ground will determine the future and sustainability of this arrangement.

Hamas is embedded deeply in civilian areas and chose to target civilians while hiding behind civilians using them as human shields. Despite Hamas' blatant disregard for international law or its citizen's wellbeing, Israel did everything feasible in order to prevent, or at least minimize, harm to the Palestinian civilian population, often at the cost of operational advantage. In doing so, Israel employs precautions that exceed the requirements of international law, as well as the practices commonly employed by advanced militaries of other like-minded states. Fighting an enemy that deliberately abuses the Law of Armed Conflict in the most cynical way, raises grave challenges for Israeli soldiers. Nevertheless, Israeli commanders strictly apply international law, including the principle of proportionality, in every military action.

One must not ignore the question of who put Gazan civilians in danger in the first place. Hamas pays no price for its war crimes against its own civilians and, indeed, often it is Israel that is wrongfully blamed. This situation provides an incentive to Hamas to continue with its heinous practices.

Make no mistake, the moral responsibility for this deterioration, and for those harmed on both sides, falls entirely on Hamas and the terrorist organizations in Gaza. The rocket fire and terrorist activities against Israeli civilians must be unequivocally condemned by the international community, while recognizing Israel's right to protect its citizens, and working with the Palestinian Authority to immediately stop the incitement and violence.

Hopefully this will be the last cycle of violence initiated by the terrorist organizations from Gaza as their efforts should be directed at providing a better environment for the people of Gaza.

For now, we pray for peace and security in our region.

(Zadka is the Consul General of Israel to South India. All views expressed are personal.)
New Delhi, May 22 : Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday hit out at the BJP government saying due to the mismanagement of Modi system there is now an epidemic of black fungus along with Covid infections in India.

In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said, "It is only in India that there is an epidemic of black fungus along with the Covid pandemic due to the inefficiency of Modi system. There is shortage of vaccines as well as of medicines. And to deal with this, the Prime Minister will be telling people to clang utensils and clap." His remarks came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi choked while interacting with the frontline workers of his parliamentary constituency of Varanasi.

Rahul Gandhi has been highlighting the shortage of vaccines and medicines for several days.

On Saturday India recorded 2.57 lakh cases of Covid infections with 4,194 deaths in the last 24 hours.

Several people across the country have also been infected by black fungus, while several states have declared it an epidemic.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 22 : India's engineering goods exports to 23 key markets, including the US, China and Germany recorded positive year-on-year growth in April 2021, EEPC India said on Saturday.

According to the council, overall merchandise trade from the country surged primarily on account of base effect.

Last year's corresponding period had seen exports plummet as outbreak of coronavirus disrupted the supply chain globally.

"All the product groups other than 'ships, boats and floating structures' recorded positive growth during this period. The growth momentum has continued for the past few months despite Covid shadow," said Mahesh Desai, Chairman, EEPC India.

"The high growth rate in outbound shipment is mainly due to the low base of FY21 but recovery is indeed impressive. It mirrors global trends." EEPC India's data showed that engineering goods exports in April soared 229.74 per cent in value terms to $7.60 billion from $2.31 billion in the corresponding month last year.

Presently, engineering goods account for about one-fourth of the total merchandise exports from India and therefore it has significantly contributed to the recovery in the country's external trade.

As per the data, among the top 25 export destinations for India's engineering goods, negative growth was seen only in the case of Malaysia and Singapore.

Besides, the US continued to be the biggest market for India's engineering goods exporters followed by China.

"While exports to the US jumped more than 400 per cent year-on-year in April this fiscal, shipments to India's second largest export destination China clocked monthly growth of 143.3 per cent during this period," the statement said.

Furthermore, the data showed that amongst the 32 engineering goods categories which posted positive growth, exports of iron and steel recorded a massive jump of 210 per cent in April 2021 compared to the same period last year.

"Non-ferrous segment as a whole comprising aluminium, zinc, nickel, lead, tin and other products witnessed 110.5 per cent growth in exports during this period." "Within industrial machinery, overall there has been growth in monthly exports to the extent of 703 per cent from $146.21 million in April 2020 to $1174.23 million in April 2021." In terms of electrical machinery, exports increased from $245.43 million in April 2020 to $853.1 million in April 2021 witnessing a growth of more than 247 per cent unlike the pattern observed in the previous months.

"Exports of aircraft, spacecraft and parts exhibited positive monthly growth by more than 200 per cent in April 2021 scaling up from $24.1 million in April 2020 to $74.5 million in April 2021." "Exports of ships, boats and floating structures was the only engineering panel witnessing negative growth to the extent of 32.8 per cent from $677.4 million in April 2020 to $455.4 million in April 2021."
Tall Ship Pinta Docked in Grand Rivers for Tours

GRAND RIVERS - Tall Ship Pinta in Grand Rivers thru June 1The Pinta, a replica of Christopher Columbus famous ship, is open for public tours in Grand Rivers.The ship is docked at Green Turtle Bay Resort until her departure on June 1st.The original Pinta was the first ship to sight land on Columbus' voyage to the New World in 1492. Historians consider the caravel the Space Shuttle of the fifteenth century.The Pinta replica is on tour as a sailing museum. The public is invited to visit the ship for a self- guided tour. The ship will be open every day from 10 am to 5 pm from May 21-31. No reservations are necessary.Admission charges are $6.50 for adults, $6 for seniors, and $5.50 for students ages 5-16 years-old. Children 4 and under are free.Teachers or organizations wishing to schedule a 30-minute guided tour with a crew member can call 1-850-686-3612 or visit: ninapinta.org and click take a tour. Minimum of 15 for group rate at $4.50 per person.
Dharamsala, May 22 : Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama on Saturday expressed condolences on the demise of noted environmentalist and his "good friend" Sunderlal Bahuguna.

"I offer my condolences to his family, as well as his many admirers and friends, and I will offer prayers for him," His Holiness wrote "I deeply admired the way he made 'ahimsa' the core of his tireless campaigns to protect the environment. Having grown up in the Garwhal in Uttarakhand he was not only acutely aware of the need to preserve the rivers, forests and hills of the Himalayan region, but felt it was his mission to draw other people's attention to it too.

"On one occasion, Bahuguna asked me to spread the word about the importance of planting trees and caring for them whenever I can. I agreed to do so and when I visit places like Ladakh, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and elsewhere I urge people to go out of their way to care for the environment, which has ramifications far beyond the regions where they live.

"Although he has left us, having led a long and meaningful life, Shri Bahuguna's spirit will live on.

"The best tribute we can pay him will be to continue to support the movement he began to plant trees, take care of them, and protect our Earth," he added.

Bahuguna, a pioneer of the Chipko Movement against deforestation in the 1970s, died in Uttarakhand on Friday. He was 94 years old.
Bengaluru, May 22 : Karnataka which took nearly six months to breach the 4,000 death-mark in the state during first wave of Covid last year, India's tech hub - Bengaluru - broke this dubious record within just 20 days since May 1, which proves that the second wave of Covid is deadlier than the first one that had gripped the state last year since mid-March.

Ever since the pandemic broke out on March 8, within less than 100 hours, earned its dubious record by announcing the country's first Covid death on March 12 with a 76-year-old man succumbing to virus in Kalaburagi district.

After India's first Covid death reported on March 12, 2020, Karnataka crossed 4000-mark by registering cumulatively 4,062 deaths on August 17, 2020, which is just over six months during the first Covid wave.

According to the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike Covid data, Bengaluru's fatalities stood at 6,538 on May 1 and it has reached 10,557 on May 21.

After India's first Covid death reported on March 12, 2020, Bengaluru's death toll steadily rose during the first wave and since then breached 6,500-mark on May 1 and it took just 20 days to cross 10,500-mark on May 21, such is the impact of second Covid wave that has gripped the state since last one month.

Among these 20 days, fatalities have been relatively high during the first half of this period. Between May 1 and May 11, it turned out be worst affected with 2,052 patients succumbing to the virus, while between May 12 to May 21, the tally stood at 1,967 deaths which reflected that the ongoing lockdown imposed by Karnataka government has helped to contain the virus to an extent.

Ever since the pandemic broke out in Karnataka, tech-hub Bengaluru has remained epicentre of the deadly virulent spread since mid-March last year.

Among these 10,557 deaths, nearly 80 per cent of deaths have occurred in the age group of above 50 years with 5,454 men and 3,092 women succumbing to the virulent, while between age group of above 0 to 49 years, 1,419 are men and 697 were women, which accounts less than 20 per cent of the total deaths, a release stated.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
London, May 22 : The UK government has launched plans for a new "Global Pandemic Radar" to identify emerging Covid-19 variants and track new diseases around the world.

The World Health Organization (WHO) will lead an implementation group, supported by the Wellcome Trust, to launch this new international partnership to identify, track and share data on new the variants and monitor vaccine resistance in populations, according to a statement issued by the government on Friday.

The "Global Pandemic Radar" is expected to be fully up and running with a network of surveillance hubs before the end of 2021, Xinhua news agency quoted the statement as saying.

"We need to build a system of disease surveillance fit for the 21st century, with real-time data sharing and rapid genomic sequencing and response," Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in the statement.

"A 'Global Pandemic Radar' will ensure that we are vigilant to new variants and emerging pathogens, and can rapidly develop the vaccines and treatments needed to stop them in their tracks," he added.

Almost 3,000 cases of the coronavirus variant first detected in India have been reported in Britain, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Thursday.

According to Hancock, surge testing and vaccinations will be deployed in the affected areas including Bedford, Burnley, Hounslow, Kirklees, Leicester and North Tyneside.

The Scottish government is also taking similar steps in Glasgow and Moray, he added.

The spread of the Indian variant has raised concerns that England's final step of the roadmap out of Covid-19 restrictions scheduled for June 21 might be delayed.

Prime Minister Johnson told lawmakers earlier this week that there is "increasing confidence" that the current vaccines will be effective against all variants of the virus, including the Indian strain.

The UK has so far reported 4,473,772 Covid-19 cases and 127,972 deaths.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Washington, May 22 : The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned backyard poultry farmers that their chickens may be linked to a growing Salmonella outbreak.

The notice of investigation, posted late Thursday, said that 163 people are confirmed to have fallen sick across 43 states, reports Xinhua news agency.

While none has died, a third of those affected were children under five years of age.

The CDC warned that there are likely many more cases as few people are tested for Salmonella, a bacterial infection that in most people resolves on its own in a week or less after causing diarrhoea, fever and stomach cramps.

People younger than five or older than 65 are likelier to experience more severe illness and are at increased risk of hospitalisation.

Safety tips shared by the public health agency include having hand sanitizer near the coop and frequently washing hands after touching poultry.

"Don't kiss or snuggle backyard poultry, and don't eat or drink around them," the CDC wrote.

"This can spread Salmonella germs to your mouth and make you sick." The agency said children are more likely to get sick from Salmonella, and advised supervising them around flocks, and preventing children under five years of age from touching the birds.

There were 17 multi-state Salmonella outbreaks linked to backyard flock contact in all 50 states in 2020.

"The number of illnesses reported (in 2020) was higher than the number reported during any of the past years' outbreaks linked to backyard flocks," the CDC wrote, adding that salmonella outbreaks linked to backyard poultry flocks were reported every year from 2020 back to 2017.
New Delhi, May 22 : The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has asked all social media platforms to immediately remove all content that refers to or implies "Indian variant" of coronavirus.

In an advisory to social media platforms, MEIT said this is in line with earlier advisories to curb fake news, misinformation concerning coronavirus on platforms.

The Ministry said it has come to its notice that a false statement is being circulated online which implies that an "Indian variant" of coronavirus is spreading across the countries.

"This is completely false. There is no such variant of Covid 19 scientifically called as such by the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO has not associated the term "Indian variant" with the B1617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports", the Ministry said.

This has already been clarified by the Health Ministry on May 12 and now social media platforms have been asked to remove all contents which refers to an "Indian variant" of Covid.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, May 22 : Homegrown micro-blogging platform Koo on Saturday said it has met the compliance requirements of the new IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules 2021 ahead of its May 25 deadline set by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

The ministry has asked social media platform to abide by the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 else face action.

Koo said it has close to 6 million downloads which makes it a major social media intermediary.

"Complying with the new social media guidelines published by the government of India within time clearly shows why it's important to have Indian social media players thriving in the country," said Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-Founder and CEO of Koo.

Koo said it has also implemented a due diligence and grievance redressal mechanism supported by an Indian resident Chief Compliance Officer, Nodal Officer and Grievance Officer.

"Given that we had 3 months to comply with the new guidelines, we interviewed candidates and finally identified experienced colleagues from within the team. They are already familiar with the systems we have in place and will be the best people to further build on top of it," informed Mayank Bidawatka, Co-Founder of Koo.

The MeitY had announced its draft new IT (Intermediary Guidelines) Rules for social media platforms on February 25.

As per the new rules, the social media platforms will have to remove offending content within 36 hours after a government directive or a legal order.

The new rules mandate that the intermediaries, including social media intermediaries, must establish a grievance redressal mechanism for receiving/resolving complaints from the users or victims.
New Delhi, May 22 : British Airways on Saturday said that another one of its relief flight has touched down in India for the second time in two weeks as the crisis continues to grip the country.

"The cargo only flight (BA257F) departed London at 5 p.m. on Friday 21 May and landed in Delhi at 5.45 a.m. this morning." According to the airline, the total weight of the medical aid was 18 tonnes, made up of five thousand pieces.

Amongst the medical equipment the airline cited were hundreds of oxygen concentrators from charities including Oxfam, Khalsa Aid, Christian Aid and LPSUK.

Besides, it said the flight was supported by fuel partner, Air bp and British Airways ensured the flight was carbon offset.

"Earlier this week, we welcomed customers back on board as international travel starts to open up, but we are mindful that the fight against Covid-19 is not over yet," said British Airways' Chairman and Chief Executive Sean Doyle.

"Our business has a deep connection with India, it is only right that we continue to support by joining our travel and charity partners to transport much needed medical equipment to India." The airline said the special charter flight was funded by British Airways, Air bp, NATS, HAL and Indian ground handlers.

"Over the last 10 days, British Airways has been coordinating with charities and aviation partners both in the UK and India to plan the meticulous load of this aircraft."
Abuja, May 22 : Nigeria's Chief of Army Staff Ibrahim Attahiru and 10 other officers died in an air force plane crash in the country's Kaduna state, a military spokesman said.

The 11 victims were en route to the city of Kaduna from Abuja on Friday when their plane crashed near an international airport in the state, Xinhua news agency quoted spokesman Mohammed Yerima as saying in a statement.

Some military sources told Xinhua that Attahiru, who was appointed the Chief of Army Staff on January 26, was on an official trip to Kaduna when the incident occurred.

The immediate cause of the crash is yet to be ascertained, said Edward Gabkwet, the spokesperson for the air force.

Also, the identities of the other officers aboard the aircraft are yet to be revealed.

President Muhammadu Buhari expressed shock at the incident, saying he was "deeply saddened over the air crash".

"The crash is one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country," Buhari said in a statement, describing thevictims as "heroes who paid the ultimate price for peace and security in the land".

The Nigerian leader further pledged that "the departed would not die in vain".
New Delhi, May 22 : To reduce uncertainty among students, the Central government will take a decision on Sunday over proposals for the conduct of exams for Class 12th and entrance examinations for professional courses.

The decision will be taken in a high-level virtual meeting with Education Ministers, Education Secretaries and Chairpersons of State Examination Boards and all stakeholders of the States and Union Territories (UT), Ministry of Education said on Saturday.

The meeting will be chaired by Defence Minister Rajnath Singh in presence of Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank', Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Zubin Irani and Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.

In view of the prevailing situation, almost all the state education boards, CBSE and ICSE have postponed their Class 12 examinations, 2021. Similarly, the National Testing Agency (NTA) and other National exam conducting institutions have also postponed the entrance exams for admissions to professional courses.

As the conduct of Class 12 examinations impacts upon state board exams and other entrance exams across the country, and to reduce uncertainty among students it is desirable that a considered decision based on inputs of different state governments and UT administrations is taken about Class 12 CBSE examinations in the interest of all the students across the country.

In a letter written by the Union Education Minister to states and UTs, he has stated that the Department of School Education and Literacy, Ministry of Education and CBSE are exploring options regarding the conduct of examinations, keeping in mind the safety and security of the students and the teachers.

The Department of Higher Education is also deliberating upon the finalization of the dates of examinations for institutions of higher learning.

The letter has noted that Covid-19 pandemic has affected various areas including the education sector, particularly the board exams and entrance exams.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Washington, May 22 : US President Joe Biden and his visiting South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in have voiced willingness to engage with Pyongyang, while reaffirming the goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Moon is the second foreign leader, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in April, to make an official working visit to the White House after Biden became the President in January, reports Xinhua news agency.

During a joint press conference at the White House following their meeting on Friday, Biden said he and Moon discussed the shared approach towards North Korea.

"Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with North Korea, to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"We're under no illusions how difficult this is, none whatsoever," Biden told reporters. "And the past four administrations have not achieved the objective. It's an incredibly difficult objective." Biden announced that career diplomat Sung Kim will act as the US Special Envoy for North Korea to drive diplomatic efforts.

Moon, in his remarks, called achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula as the "most urgent common task" that the two allies must undertake.

He noted that Biden expressed support for the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation.

"Under close cooperation with the US, we will work to facilitate progress in inter-Korean relations, so as to achieve a virtuous cycle with US-North Korea dialogue." Biden did not rule out a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but stressed a precondition of the meeting would be Pyongyang's commitment to discussing its nuclear weapons.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation on issues of regional security, emerging technology, climate change, and Covid-19 vaccines.

The two countries have agreed to establish a comprehensive vaccine partnership, and the US will provide vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean troops working in close contact with American forces.

The Biden administration at the end of April completed its policy review towards North Korea.

The White House said that it had reached out to Pyongyang through several channels but had not yet received any response.

Kim and former US President Donald Trump held their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing on a complete denuclearization of and a lasting peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.
Vaccine Walk-ins Open at McCracken Health Clinic

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - Beginning Monday, walk-ins to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine are welcome at the McCracken County Health Center Clinic at 916 Kentucky Ave.The Purchase District Health Department says the vaccine will be administered Mondays through Wednesdays from 8 a.m.-2 p.m to patients 18 and older.There is also no appointment needed at the drive thru on Thursdays from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. in the parking lot behind the Purchase District Health Department at the blue tent. The drive thru will offer the Johnson&Johnson vaccine only.Vaccines will not be administered on Fridays.If you would like a vaccine card sleeve pick one up at either the McCracken County Health Center or the Ballard County Health Center.
New Delhi, May 22: Cleric-politician Mirwaiz Farooq, President of Awami Action Committee (AAC), and the Peoples Conference (PC) founder-president, Abdul Gani Lone, met an identical fate. While Mirwaiz was shot dead in a terror strike at his Nageen residence on May 21, 1990, Lone with two Police guards was gunned down at Srinagars sprawling Eidgah grounds at the end of a commemoration ceremony for Mirwaiz on May 21, 2002.

Both the Kashmiri politicians shared much with each other for decades of their political practice. While Mirwaiz was the National Conference (NC) founder Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah's arch rival in the State's summer capital, Lone was his bAte noire in the Kupwara district of northern Kashmir. Neither of them was a match to Sheikh's charismatic stature as their influence was limited respectively to the interiors of downtown Srinagar and the Handwara segment of Kupwara.

Bringing the infamous Sher-Bakra strife in Srinagar to an end, the NC President and Sheikh Abdullah's successor, Farooq Abdullah, made Mirwaiz a part and parcel of an alliance with the NC and the Congress party under Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1986. Lone did not join either the so-called 'double-Farooq alliance' or the Jamaat-e-Islami dominated Muslim United Front (MUF). In the 1987 Assembly elections, Mirwaiz got a small share of two seats in Srinagar. Being the alliance candidates, both of his nominees-Mohammad Shafi Khan and Peer Mohammad Shafi-were elected in Srinagar.

In the historic Assembly elections of 1977, Mirwaiz and Lone were part of a large anti-Sheikh, anti-NC alliance forged by the Janata Party under the leadership of Prime Minister Morarji Desai. Atal Behari Vajpayee was the Union Minister of External Affairs.

The ailing Sheikh's NC swept the polls, winning 38 of the 42 segments in Kashmir. The Janata Party had to be content with just two seats. On the Janata Party ticket, Lone was returned from Handwara and Mirwaiz Farooq's nominee, Abdul Rashid Kabli, from Eidgah, Srinagar.

Unlike Mirwaiz, however, Lone had a longtime tryst with the Congress party. He was declared elected twice as a Congress candidate from Handwara-uncontested in the largely rigged elections in 1967 and in a multi-cornered contest in 1972. With Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, Mohammad Shafi Qureshi, Syed Mir Qasim and GM Sadiq, he played a key role in laying the Congress party's foundation in Jammu and Kashmir in 1964-72. He also served as a Cabinet Minister in Syed Mir Qasim's Congress government.

When JKLF's Maqbool Bhat, convicted for a murder, was executed in Delhi's Tihar Jail immediately after the Indian diplomat Ravinder Mhatre's kidnapping and killing in Birmingham in February 1984, the only call for protest and shutdown came from Lone. It was completely ignored by the Kashmiris. Lone was known to be close to Bhat as well as the JKLF founder Amanullah Khan whose daughter, years later, became his daughter-in-law.

The eruption of the militancy in 1989-90 marginalised all the mainstream leaders. Mirwaiz was eliminated before he would emerge as a threat for the JeI-controlled Hizbul Mujahideen and other staunch pro-Pakistan organisations. He assailed Rubaiya Sayeed's kidnapping and refused to lead the massive Azadi rallies January through May in 1990. Years later in 2004, his brother-in-law, Maulvi Mushtaq, too was shot dead and the Mirwaiz-controlled Islamia School burned down.

Mirwaiz's successor-son, Umar Farooq, and Lone were among the cream of the valley's separatist leaders who launched the 'All-party Hurriyat Conference' (APHC), an amalgamation of over two dozen separatist political, religious and social organisations in 1993. Once Lone invited Taliban to the 'Kashmir freedom struggle' and on another occasion his picture with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa jihadist Mast Gul at Chrar-e-Sharief appeared in the newspapers.

Lone, however, went through a watershed in 2002 when the ISI top brass reportedly smelt him planning participation in the Assembly elections and began arm twisting this separatist stalwart. It has been widely reported that his conversations with the agency officials in Islamabad and Dubai led to the plan of his assassination on the 12th death anniversary of Mirwaiz Farooq. Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah reportedly called him more than once and requested him against attending the Mirwaiz remembrance ceremony. He ignored the alerts and lost his life in the crowd of over 10,000 people.

Lone's son Sajad turned the separatist hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani back from his house and told the journalists that the ISI had executed his father's assassination. Later he retracted but, according to Geelani, the PC fielded 'proxy candidates' in the Assembly elections. One of them, namely Ghulam Mohiuddin Sofi, was inducted as a Minister in Mufti Sayeed's PDP-Congress government.

Geenali sought 'action' against the PC which was ignored by the then APHC chairman Mirwaiz Umar. As Sajad's elder brother Bilal continued to represent the PC in the APHC, Geelani broke away from the conglomerate in protest. It led to Hurriyat's split in 2003. Years later, Sajad directly participated in the elections. His nominee was defeated in the Lok Sabha elections but Lone and his colleague Bashir Ahmad Dar were returned from Handwara and Kupwara respectively in 2014. Lone was inducted as a Minister in Mufti's Cabinet from the BJP quota.

All these assassinations, apparently aimed at boosting the hardliners and promoting radicalism, proved counterproductive for the planners. An insider like the two-times Hurriyat chairman Prof Abdul Gani Bhat has candidly admitted that these all were executed "by our own men, not by India".

For the first time, National Anti-terrorism Day was observed in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday, 21 May, as the senior officers of the Police and civil administration pledged to fight terrorism and violence of all sorts. The day has a particular relevance for J&K. While the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a terror attack on 21 May 1991, Mirwaiz and Lone too were killed on the same day in 1990 and 2002, respectively.

(This content is being carried under an arrangement with indianarrative.com) --indianarrative/
Mumbai, May 22 : Green is in for Sunny Leone, as she gets into the mood for random peekaboo with fans in her new social media post on Saturday.

Sunny posted a boomerang video on Instagram wearing a floor-sweeping green frilled shoulder dress. In the clip, she does a quick peekaboo action, covering her face and then revealing it.

"Peekaboo," she wrote as caption.

Sunny is currently in Kerala shooting the upcoming psychological thriller film "Shero". The film is directed by Sreejith Vijayan and is scheduled to be released in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam.

The actress is all set to make her digital debut with the web series "Anamika", helmed by Vikram Bhatt.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 22 : Vaccination for the youth (aged between 18-44 years) in Delhi has been halted from Saturday, except in a few centres, since no stocks of the anti-Covid vaccine for the age group now remain with the Delhi government.

All centres administering vaccine jabs to youth have been temporarily shut from Saturday and will remain closed until the Delhi government receives further supply of vaccines from the Centre.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said he has written to the Centre and requested it to provide vaccines for those aged between 18-44 years.

"Delhi has been provided 16 lakh doses of vaccines in May for 18-44 age group. Delhi needs around 80 lakh doses of vaccines per month," Kejriwal said.

For the month of June, Delhi would get only 8 lakh doses of vaccines. "The Central Government in a letter to Delhi government has informed that we would be given only 8 lakh does of vaccines in June. If the vaccination drive moves at this speed, it will take more than three years to vaccinate all the people in the Capital," added the chief minister.

"When we started inoculating the youth between 18-44, the programme was running in nearly 99 schools, at 368 sites. Covaxin's supply had already ended and Covishield's supply is also nearing its end. So, as of today, those between 18-44 are being vaccinated in only 46 schools," AAP leader and Kalkaji MLA Atishi had told mediapersons on Friday evening.

However, 661 vaccination centres in 499 locations for those aged more than 45 year, along with healthcare/frontline workers will remain operational. The Covaxin stock for this age group is likely to last for less than a day and the Covishield stock is enough for another eight days.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Dubai, May 22 : Healthcare groups in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have offered work to nurses from Kerala who have been stranded in the country due to Covid job scams, according to a news report.

In a report on Wednesday, Gulf News said: "Several nurses from the south Indian state were stranded after being duped by recruitment agencies who charged exorbitant commissions ranging from Rs 200,000 to Rs 350,000. They were offered jobs at Covid-19 vaccination and testing centres in the UAE." Following this report, prominent healthcare groups have now offered jobs to the affected nurses.

Speaking to Gulf News on Friday, Azad Moopen, chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, said: "We are ready to hire whoever is qualified and have sufficient experience with or without licence. They should be able to perform well in the interview.

"If they don't have a licence, we can start processing their visas and provide them support to try for licence." Sanjay M. Paithankar, Managing Director of Right Health, said his group was also willing to hire up to 40 nurses.

"We have just opened five more facilities in Dubai. They can join immediately. There are flats ready to accommodate them. We will arrange visa, accommodation, transportation plus basic salary till they get the DHA license. Our company will also help them appear for tests to get DHA licence," he told Gulf News.

Speaking to Gulf News on Wednesday, Aman Puri, Consul General of India in Dubai, said stranded nurses must report the matter to the mission so that they can be assisted with repatriation.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Los Angeles, May 22 : Hollywood star Henry Cavill is in talks to essay a starring role in the "Highlander" reboot.

"John Wick" director Chad Stahelski will direct the film, sources told deadline.com, while Kerry Williamson has penned the script.

The original 1986 "Highlander" film starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown as immortal beings, hunting down one another and collecting power.

The catchphrase of the film -- "There can be only one" -- became popular, and there were four sequels and three television series including a hit series starring Adrian Paul.

The plot of the new film is being kept under wraps, as well as whether Cavill will play a brand new character or a character from previous projects if he signs the film.

The reboot has been in development for a while with names like Ryan Reynolds and "Fast & Furious 9" director Justin Lin being associated with the project at some point.

Cavill is currently shooting for the second season of the web series "The Witcher". He is also set to return as Sherlock Holmes in the sequel to "Enola Holmes", with Millie Bobby Brown returning in the title role.
Washington, May 22 : The US said it would cut off aid to several authorities in El Salvador after the country's new government dismissed constitutional judges.

Funding will no longer go to El Salvador's Parliament, the constitutional chamber of its Supreme Court, the Attorney General's office, the police and the Institute for Access to Public Information, dpa news agency quoted USAID as saying in a statement on Friday.

Instead it will be redirected to human rights organizations and civil society groups, USAID said.

The total amount of the budget was not mentioned.

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele criticized the move on Twitter.

"It is good that they are financed from abroad because they will not get a cent from the Salvadoran people. Each invests in their own priority," he wrote in Spanish.

He later added in English that if any Salvadoran at the US border was asked the reason why they fled their country, 99.9 per cent would say "lack of a job" or "insecurity".

"It's very revealing that USAID chose to stop funding... Security. Is the real plan to create more immigration?" Bukele asked.

In their first session on May 1, El Salvador's newly elected parliament dismissed all five constitutional judges from the Supreme Court and the Attorney General.

The decision was welcomed by right-wing populist Bukele, who had clashed with the constitutional judges after they overturned several of his decrees to contain the pandemic.

The opposition accused him of trying to bring the judiciary under the government's control.
Berlin, May 22 : Germany is adjusting its classification of the UK to identify it as a "virus variant area" due to the spread of the coronavirus strain first identified in India, the Robert Koch institute (RKI) for disease control said.

The move means significant restrictions on travel will come into force on Sunday, reports dpa news agency.

Airlines, rail and bus companies will only be able to bring German citizens or residents into the country.

Arrivals in Germany will have to spend two weeks in quarantine, with no possible reduction even if they test negative for the virus.

"This step is hard for Britain but it is necessary to prevent the fast spread of the Indian variant in Germany," a spokesman for German Health Minister Jens Spahn told dpa news on Friday.

"If we want to continue to push down infection numbers, we must prevent contagious virus variants from jeopardizing the positive developments," he said.

"We will only be armed against this kind of danger when more people are vaccinated." The UK is the first country in Europe to be identified as a virus variant area, Germany's highest risk category, for some time.

The category currently applies to 11 countries in Asia, Africa and South America.

The Indian variant also known as B.1.617.2 is thought to be more contagious than other strains and is considered the driving factor behind the devastating second wave in the country.

The UK recorded more than 3,400 cases of the variant as of May 19.

Germany's RKI said it lacked data about the Indian variant.

It is assumed to be more transmissible, according to the institute's chief Lothar Wiele, who said Friday he suspected vaccines provided slightly less protection against the strain.

The UK was recently removed from Germany's list of risky areas altogether after a fast-paced vaccination campaign and tough lockdowns massively reduced case numbers.

But last week it returned to the list in the lowest risk category due to the presence of the Indian variant.
Jaipur, May 22 : The Indian Army has been standing upfront in a war against the invisible enemy -- Covid-19 in the desert state and is extending a big support on medical and social fronts.

It recently set up a 50-bed hospital in Shri Ganganagar, is distributing dry ration kits to folk artists in Barmer besides running a defence online OPD which has been launched recently in Rajasthan.

Rajasthan presently has over 1.31 lakh active Covid cases and has reported 7,475 cumulative deaths.

The Sudarshan Chakra Division of the Indian Army recently extended a 50-bed hospital in Sri Ganganagar which is dedicated to the citizens to combat the rapid surge in the COVID-19 cases in the district.

The level 2 COVID-19 facility provides COVID care including oxygen to the citizens of Sri Ganganagar and adjoining areas. Indian Army Doctors and para medical staff have setup the facility with assistance from District Officials and Jan Sewa Hospital in record time, said Lt Col Amitabh Sharma, PRO Defence, Rajasthan.

The Indian Army is also providing dedicated medical staff and equipment to fight the pandemic. Ambulance services have also been provided for the patients by the Army. Admissions to the facility will be coordinated by District Medical Administration and Jan Sewa Hospital, said Lt Col Sharma.

The facility was inaugurated on Friday by Zakir Hussain, DM, Sriganganagar and the Indian Army has assured all possible assistance to the State to fight the battle against COVID-19.

Similarly, Konark Corps, Army's Southern Command headquartered at Jodhpur, is providing dry ration kits to folk artists in Barmer.

Jalipa Mil Station on behalf of Konark Corps extended assistance to the group of folk artists and provided ration and Covid preventive care items to 25 families of village Nimla in Sheo Tehsil of Barmer on Thursday.

Each family was provided a 25-30 Kg dry ration kit comprising atta, rice, cooking oil, dal and sugar along with masks and sanitizers.

Folk artists in Barmer have been facing hardships due to Covid, since no events are happening to help them earn livelihood.

In this situation, an NGO of these artists "Pragati Lok Kalyan Vikas Sansthan" approached Konark Corps for any possible assistance for artists.

The group provided assistance in year 2020 also during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Also, defence online OPD has been launched in Rajasthan. Civilians including those living in remote areas can log in on http://eSanjeevaniopd.in, which is open for all and can benefit from the online consultation from veteran AFMS doctors, added Lt Col Sharma.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Berlin, May 22 : Police in Berlin are on guard for anti-Semitic outbursts at two pro-Palestinian rallies set to take place in the German capital city on Saturday.

Around 2,000 people are expected to attend the larger of the two protests, dpa news agency reported.

Organisers of the Potsdamer Platz event describe it as a "rally against Israeli aggression in Palestine".

Some 3,000 police officers will be on duty at the weekend to ensure public safety and crowd control, including monitoring a major demonstration on Sunday against rent prices in the German capital.

The focus, however, is on the protests that have cropped up in German cities recently as the fighting between Hamas militants and Israel intensified.

The two sides struck a ceasefire that went into effect on Friday.

Some of the demonstrations have seen Israeli flag burned, Hamas flags flown and anti-Semitic slogans shouted, with skirmishes erupting between police and protesters.

The activity has prompted German politicians to demand tougher measures against acts seen as anti-Semitic.

Chancellor Angela Merkel said in her weekly video message that Germany's constitution, or Basic Law, "guarantees the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly".

"But it leaves no room for attacks against people of other faiths, no room for violence, racism and agitation.

"Anyone who brings hatred of Jews onto our streets, who expresses seditious insults, is outside of our Basic Law. Such acts must be punished consistently and have noticeable consequences for the perpetrators," Merkel said.
Seoul, May 22 : Popular K-Pop band BTS have announced an online live-streaming event, BTS 2021 Muster SOWOOZOO, to celebrate the eighth anniversary of the band and their fandom, known as ARMY. The two-day event will be held on June 13 and 14.

June 14 will see the 'World Tour Version' and showcase the group's foreign language songs.

The group made the announcement with an official poster of the event, which has the seven-member band standing together against a backdrop of nature, holding planets of the solar system on strings like balloons.

BTS have just released their new single "Butter". The music video of the song, released on Friday, broke their own record for the biggest music video premiere on YouTube, racking up 3.9 million peak concurrents. The song has amassed over 100 million views within 21 hours.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Cases for Paducah Murder Suspects Move Forward

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - Three southern Illinois men facing murder charges from a 2020 Paducah shooting incident were in court on Friday.Jermaine Harris and Christopher Howard of Cairo, and Demonta Woodward of Mounds appeared for a pretrial conference. The McCracken Circuit Court Clerk said a jury trial was scheduled for Harris and Howard on October 26. Woodward's pretrial conference was continued to June 28.Paducah police said the shooting took place at the city's annual August 8th emancipation celebration activities. The confrontation resulted from an ongoing feud between two groups from Mounds and Cairo. When the groups saw each other on Boyd Street, they exchanged words before several people pulled out guns and began shooting.Keyshawn Childress of Mounds died from wounds he received in the shooting. Four others were struck by gunfire.Each defendant faces charges of murder, first-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, and first-degree criminal mischief. Harris and Howard also face a charge of possession of a handgun by a convicted felon.
New Delhi, May 22 : As several countries get ready to reopen their borders for vaccinated foreign travellers, Indians who have received Bharat Biotech's Covid-19 vaccine Covaxin jabs may not qualify for travelling abroad as many countries are yet to approve the vaccine.

Multiple reports said that over 130 countries across the globe currently accept Serum Institute of India's (SII) Covishield vaccine to enter their country while Covaxin is accepted in only nine nations.

Also, Covaxin is not yet on the World Health Organisation's (WHO) Emergency Use Listing (EUL).

The latest WHO guidance document shows that Bharat Biotech has submitted its Expression of Interest (EoI) but "more information is required".

Bharat Biotech was yet to react to the reports.

However, a peer-review publication Clinical Infectious Diseases has noted that Covaxin demonstrates protection against the new Covid-19 variants.

The study found that vaccination with Covaxin produced neutralising titres against all key emerging variants tested including B1617 and B117, first identified in India and the UK, respectively.

A modest reduction in neutralisation by a factor of 1.95 was observed against the B1617 variant compared to the vaccine variant.

Top officials in the country said this week that they will begin clinical trials to test the Covaxin vaccine's efficacy in children between two to 18 years of age in 10-12 days.

"Covaxin has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for Phase 2 and 3 clinical trials in the age group of two to 18 years. I have been told that trials will begin in the next 10-12 days," V.K. Paul, NITI Aayog's Member Health, had said.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, May 22 : In a surprise development, the Maharashtra Governor's secretariat has stated that the list of Governor's nominees to the State Legislative Council is not available with, as per a reply to a RTI query released here on Saturday.

On April 22, RTI activist Anil Galgali had sought details of the list - cleared by the Maharashtra cabinet in November 2020 in a query to the Raj Bhavan.

"The Governor's Secretariat has given the shocking information that the list recommended by the state cabinet for appointment as nominated members of the State Legislative Council is not available with them," Galgali said.

He had filed an application seeking the status of the proposal submitted by the Chief Minister's Office to Raj Bhavan but the Under Secretary at Raj Bhavan Jayaram Chaudhary informed two days ago that it (the list) was not available with them.

"I have now filed a first appeal against this misleading information. The Chief Minister and other Ministers say the list has been sent to Raj Bhavan. The CMO has refused to provide the list as no final decision has been taken on it by the Governor which is giving a different answer," Galgali pointed out.

The development came a day after the Bombay High Court sought an explanation on why Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari has still not taken any decision on the issue, hanging now since more than six months.

A division bench comprising Justice S. J. Kathawalla and Justice S. P. Tavade asked the state to reply by when the Governor would consider the nominations made on Nov. 6, 2020, and dispose off the matter.

The ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) allies Shiv Sena-Nationalist Congress Party-Congress have repeatedly in the past appealed to the Governor to clear the nominated members list.

Galgali said that either the Raj Bhavan or the CMO should make the information public, and if the Governor has the list, he should take an appropriate decision in the matter.

Bharatiya Janata Party leader Ashish Shelar on Saturday defended the Governor saying he would take decisions as per the law.
Mumbai, May 22 : A cat adds a quirky touch to Jacqueline Fernandez's latest Instagram post on Saturday, where the actress is seen practicing yoga.

The video captures Jacqueline practices yoga in a medium long-shot frame, even as the cat flits in and out of the frame in the near end of the camera.

"Cat yoga," wrote Jacqueline, along with the video clip.

The actress currently has her kitty full with films over the next few months. She co-stars with Akshay Kumar in "Ram Setu" and "Bachchan Pandey", and returns with Salman Khan in "Kick 2".

"Cirkus" casts her with Ranveer Singh while Jacqueline also features in the horror comedy "Bhoot Police", with Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, and Yami Gautam.

Image Source: IANS News

-- Syndicated from IANS
Panaji, May 22 : Trust a Goa beach, even a lesser known one, to make ripples even amidst the ongoing curfew and the surge of Covid-19 cases in Goa.

The construction of a 'retaining wall' along North Goa's Vainguinim beach by the promoters of an adjoining five star resort has raised the hackles of the civil society, which has called the wall illegal, even as the hospitality group, Fomento Resorts and Hotels Limited, has maintained that the wall is being built in its own property and with permissions from the state government's Water Resources department.

The issue erupted after local resident uploaded photos of a JCB being used on the beach for the construction of the wall last month.

While officials of the local village and the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority have inspected the construction site, local residents as well as green activists have questioned the inability of the BJP-led coalition government in Goa to stop the construction of the wall, calling it a violation and encroachment of public property, even as the Authority has issued a show cause notice to the hotel management.

"...there is a concrete wall being built without permission in spite of many representations being made to collector, flying squad, GCZMA. Is the lockdown to keep people out of the way so that private commercial enterprises in cohorts with the local body can illegally build or operate?" says environmentalist Tallulah D'Silva.

"All this has been happening while Goa is under Covid pandemic curfew. The social media is filled with photographs and video reports of what is happening at the beach, day and night. At site, the work continues without any fear of interference," the state's top green NGO, Goa Foundation also said in a statement.

Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has extended the ongoing Covid-linked curfew to May 31.

The Vainguinim beach is relatively off the mainstream tourist circuit and lies in close proximity to the Dona Paula jetty and is popular among locals as a day-picnic spot.

An online petition 'Save Vainguinim Beach', demanding the stoppage of the construction work has seen 4,459 signatories in quick time.

"While Goa still recovers from cyclone Tauktae. A hotel at Vainguinim Beach Goa continues to construct a concrete slab along the entire high tide line on a public beach!" the petition states.

"For all of you who live, travel or have moved here during the pandemic, we welcome you with open arms and hope you stand with us to save one of the very reasons you love Goa so much, OUR BEACHES. This maybe a small local beach today but what happens when it's used as a precedent by hotels to build structures illegally on public beaches? Think about it! Thus could happen at a beach close to YOU, next!" the petition adds.

When asked, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority was "examining the matter".

Reacting to the criticism, Fomento Resorts and Hotels Limited has issued a public statement claiming that the construction work was being carried out after consulting a government agency.

"Fomento Resorts and Hotels Limited has undertaken only repair work on the retaining wall in thier own property to prevent further erosion of the beach and restore damage from heavy rains over the past two years," the statement said.

"We have acquired all requisite permissions and began work after consulting the Water Resources department, Government of Goa. Fomento has always been committed to environmental preservation and will continue to protect and preserve Goa's natural resources and biodiversity," it added.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- Except for the title, this story has not been edited by Prokerala team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed
New Delhi, May 22 : The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday filed a charge sheet against three Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) terrorists in connection with the snatching of service weapons of the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir's Kishtwar.

An NIA spokesperson here said that the anti-terror probe agency filed a charge sheet against HM terrorists -- Jaffer Hussain, Tanveer Ahmed Malik and Taraq Hussain Giri before a Jammu court. The official said that the charges will be abated against other three terrorists involved in the crime -- Osama Bin Javed, Haroon Abbas Wani and Zahid Hussain, who have been killed in encounters with security forces.

The official said that a case was registered on March 8, 2019 at Kishtwar district of Jammu and Kashmir relating to the snatching of service weapon of the escort in-charge of DC Kishtwar.

The NIA took over the probe on November 2, 2019. The official said that during the probe it was found that the instant case was one of the several terrorist acts committed by Hizbul Mujahideen during the years 2018 - 2019 in Kishtwar. "The objective of all these terror acts was to revive militancy in Kishtwar by looting arms and targeting prominent persons of a particular community to create terror among the members of that community," the official said.

The official also said that Osama Bin Javed, Haroon Abbas Wani and Zahid Hussain were killed in encounters with security forces at different places in the years 2019 and 2020. They were terrorists of HM in Doda-kishtwar belt and were involved in many terror acts in Kishtwar.

The official said that Jaffer Hussain, Tanveer Ahmed Malik and Taraq Hussain Giri were providing logistics support and organising shelter for the HM terrorists involved in the multiple terrorist incidents.
Kolkata, May 22 : Sonali Guha, the turncoat Trinamool Congress leader, who switched to the saffron camp just before the Assembly polls in West Bengal, has written to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressing her willingness to return to her old party.

Guha left Trinamool Congress and joined the BJP after she was denied a ticket to contest the polls.

Guha said that she had left the party out of extreme emotion and in a fit of temper, but now she has realised that she has made a huge mistake.

In an emotional tweet in Bengali addressed to the Chief Minister, the former Trinamool MLA wrote, "'Sekhane nijeke maniye nite parini. Mach jemon jol chara thakte pare na, temoni ami apnake chara banchte parbo na. Didi ami khomaprathri, daya kore amake khoma kore din. Apni na khoma kore ami bancho na' (I could not fit myself there (BJP). The way a fish cannot stay out of water, I will not be able to live without you. Didi, I seek your forgiveness. If you don't pardon me, I won't be able to live)." Expressing her willingness to return to the Trinamool fold again, the former Deputy Speaker of the Assembly wrote, "'Apnar aanchaler tolae amake tene niye baki jibonta amake apnar snehatole thakar sujog kore din' (Take me under your fold and allow me to live the rest of my life under your guidance and blessings)." Though there was no official reaction from the Trinamool Congress on Guha's tweet, senior party leaders are not in favour of taking her back into the party.

"Mamata Banerjee gave her everything, but what did she do? She deserted her (Banerjee) and the Trinamool just before the elections when the party needed her the most. If she comes back to the party, it will send out a wrong signal to our workers and all the people who had left the party and joined the BJP before the polls," a senior Trinamool leader said.

Guha, a four-time MLA and once considered to be the 'shadow' of Chief Minister Banerjee, was among the slew of Trinamool leaders who jumped ship to the BJP ahead of the Assembly elections.

Guha had won from Bishnupur in South 24 Parganas district in 2016 and became the Deputy Speaker, but she was denied ticket this time.

Guha did not fight the elections this time, but had said that she would work to strengthen the BJP.

When contacted, Guha said that she felt "unwanted" in the saffron camp.

"My decision to join the BJP was a wrong one and I can feel that today. I did not bother to tell the BJP about leaving that party. I always felt unwanted there. They tried to use me and asked me to badmouth Mamata-di. I could not do that," she said.

Guha also expressed her willingness to meet the Chief Minister next week and try to resolve the issue.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 22 : In relief to Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) founder Lalu Prasad, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given him a clean chit in connection with a bribery case involving DLF.

According to CBI sources, the central probe agency had initiated a preliminary enquiry for corruption against Lalu Prasad and the real estate developer DLF group in January 2018. The CBI PE was to probe over the allegations if the DLF Group, eyeing rail land lease project in Mumbai's Bandra and upgradation of New Delhi Railway Station, had bribed Lalu Prasad, a former railway minister with a property in an upscale South Delhi's New Friend Colony.

The source said that it was alleged that AB Exports, an alleged shell company, had bought a property in New Friends Colony for nearly Rs 5 crore in December 2007 while its actual circle rate was Rs 30 crore at that time. The transaction for buying the property was allegedly funded by DLF Home Developers and routed through Lexis Infotech and a few other shell companies.

However, in 2011, Tejashwi Yadav, and Lalu Prasad's daughters - Chanda Yadav and Ragini - allegedly bought over AB Exports for a mere Rs 4 lakh by transfer of shares. Thus the property of New Friends Colony was transferred to them. The source said that the CBI had also probed the role of Praveen Jain and Amit Katyal, who executed the transactions between the DLF Group and RJD leader.

The CBI source said that the "PE has been closed as no case has been made out of the allegations".

According to sources, the clean chit to the RJD leader was given by Rishi Kumar Shukla before his retirement from the top post. Lalu Prasad was granted bail by Jharkhand High Court in April this year in a Dumka treasury case, which is linked to Bihar fodder scam case. He was accused of withdrawing over Rs 3 crore from the treasury. Before granted bail, Lalu Prasad spent more than three years in jail
Chandigarh, May 22 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab President Bhagwant Mann and Delhi legislator Raghav Chadha on Saturday wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting him to resume talks with the farmers' leaders who are opposing the three farm laws for the last six months.

In a letter to Modi, Lok Sabha member Bhagwant Mann and Chadha said the farmers of Punjab along with various other states had been protesting on Delhi borders for the last six months to demand withdrawal of three agricultural laws made by the Union government.

They said the farmers had so far lost 470 of their fellows during this struggle, that was unfortunate and painful.

The AAP leaders said that although 11 rounds of talks had been held between the farmers' representatives and the government to find a solution to the problem, no conclusion had been reached so far.

"The government has not made any attempt to negotiate with the farmers since January 22, which is not in the interest of the farmers and the nation," they added. The leaders said the farmers are the backbone of the country and without agriculture this country could not be imagined.

They said that even during the current Covid pandemic, there had been a sharp decline in all sectors except agriculture. "With the strengthening of the agricultural sector, the rural infrastructure of Punjab and the rest of the country has survived," they said.

They further said the farmers of the country, who were rendering their services by replenishing the foodgrains of the country and in every field, had to protest for their demands at the cost of their lives during the Covid pandemic.

"Concerned about their future, the country's farmers, including the elderly, children and women, have left their homes and settled on the borders of Delhi, which is also against human rights," they added.

In their letter, the AAP leaders wrote to the Prime Minister that, now the farmers' leaders have once again called for talks, the Prime Minister should also accept the invitation with humility and generosity and resume talks on the issue, resolving it permanently.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
Mumbai, May 22 : The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the Akhil Bharatiya Navik Sangh (ABNS) demanded on Saturday that the Mumbai Police should lodge criminal proceedings against the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation Ltd (ONGC), Afcons Infrastructure Ltd (AIL) and others for the massive tragedy involving the Barge Papaa-305 in the Arabian Sea that has killed 60 persons till now.

NCP's Minister for Minority Affairs, Nawab Malik, demanded that offences of culpable homicide not amounting to murder should be lodged against ONGC, its contractors and the barge owners, naming them as co-accused in the case.

"The barge owners, AIL, and the principal employer, ONGC, did not take the warnings of the IMD and the Maharashtra government on the cyclone (Tauktae) seriously, leading to the tragedy. Even shocking is the complete silence of Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who has just appointed a probe committee," Malik said.

In a memorandum, the ABNS led by BJP MLA Ashish Shelar urged the Mumbai Police Commissioner to conduct a thorough probe and launch criminal proceedings against the AIL, its directors and management, the barge owners and all the others involved in the incident, which led to the huge loss of human lives and assets.

Shelar claimed that the AIL had operated the vessel - which sank late on Monday - without the approval of ONGC, Offshore Defence Advisory Group in the Arabian Sea beyond May 15, violating norms.

He further alleged that the AIL had not got any extension of the mandatory Naval Security Certificate to operate in the ONGC's Bombay High Fields, around 175 km off Mumbai in the Arabian Sea.

"Unfortunately, despite well-defined and described warnings about the gravity of the cyclone, Afcons continued with its commercial operation, disregarding the eventuality of vulnerability of human life and assets. Afcons could have easily made arrangements to move the barge to a safer place to secure precious human lives and assets of the contractors/sub-contractors," the ABNS said.

The ABNS contended that one of the technical marine partners was not available in the project and so AIL could not handle the prevailing situation and its "irresponsible behaviour" resulted in the barge sinking with many lives lost.

Meanwhile, the Union Petroleum Ministry has set up a three-member committee to probe the sequence of events leading to the stranding of ONGC's and other vessels in the wake of Cyclone Tautkae, which ravaged the states on the west coast of India earlier this week.

-- The story has been published from a wire feed without any modifications to the text
New Delhi, May 22 : Her Highness Sheikha Sana Al Maktoum has founded her eponymous jewellery brand Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery. Presenting this versatile brand from Dubai to the world is iconic auction house Christie's.

Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery will have its first ever pop-up event in collaboration with Christie's Dubai, from May 5 to 12, 2021, at the Christie's gallery in DIFC. On exhibit will be Sheikha Sana's 'My Treasure' collection -- a selection of 13 unique jewellery pieces. This will be the first time the collection will be open for public viewing in collaboration with Christie's.

The brand appeals to multiple ethnicities of young, successful, and professional women who want to develop their own individual style. The pieces are created to celebrate memorable milestones and as collector's items and family heirlooms with stones sourced ethically from around the world. The pieces from the collection feature ethically sourced diamonds, alongside pink, yellow, or blue sapphires, and encased in 18-carat white gold, yellow gold, or rose gold and carry the 'Sana Al Maktoum' signature, thereby enabling the buyer to own a piece of royalty. Whether it's the Soulmate ring or the Treasure choker, the 'My Treasure' collection offers a series of earrings, rings, bracelets, and necklaces featuring butterflies.

Her Highness speaks exclusively to IANSlife in an interview which talks about the treasures and her foray into the world of gems and jewellery.

Read Excerpts: Q: It has been six months since the launch of your eponymous jewellery brand, has it been as rewarding as you expected it to be and what was most gratifying about the process?

A: Yes, absolutely. It is very gratifying to be working with some of the best professionals in their fields that share a similar passion towards their work, it just enhances everything we do as a brand.

Q: Sana Al Maktoum Fine Jewellery, was unveiled exclusively to an invite-only local and international media representatives at an event, however the collaboration with Christie's will give a larger audience the chance to view the collection. Please share your views on this.

A: As a new business founded during the pandemic, we had to be sensitive to the times and hence had to find the right balance to showcase the brand and ensuring everyone's safety. We did a socially-distant press launch during the end of February to present the brand and pieces for the press, after which we started our private viewings once we got the word out about our brand in a more extensive way.

We understand the power of collaboration and our relationship with Christie's Dubai was very organic from the start and the perfect brand partnership. We look forward to facilitating and growing our relationship together and are very thankful to work with them. While we are not negating the thought of setting up our own flagship someday, for now we are largely an online business. The pop-up is a great opportunity to interact with our clients in person and to let them enjoy the tactile experience of seeing the jewellery and its craftsmanship first-hand and understanding what the brand stands for. It also helps us get to know our client's needs better. The feedback so far has been fantastic.

Q: The 'My Treasure' collection -- is a selection of 13 unique jewellery pieces, designed by you, can you please share the inspiration behind the pieces.

A: The 'My Treasure' collection is dedicated to my grandmother, the late Sheikha Sana. She led a very private life but she cared for the people of the UAE. She was very entrepreneurial and was in a man's world. She was strong and her own person. I call her my "guardian butterfly", as I often feel her presence fluttering around me. The butterflies are representative of my fondest memories with her. She had a profound impact on my life, so she has become my own "Treasure".

I want to share my grandmother's legacy and the celebration of a women's individual strength and metamorphosis through this collection, depicted by the butterflies. I continue to share her love of butterflies, and the "My Treasure" collection is in her honour. The concept of 'My Treasure' is based on a woman's inner strength and resilience above all else.

Q: In India we believe gems have healing and extraordinary properties, do you share this belief and what do gemstones mean to you. Which is your favourite? A: I get this question very often about my favourite stone, and honestly it is very hard to choose. Each gemstone has its unique properties that draw me to it.

Purchasing a piece of jewellery is mostly associated with a special occasion or moment in one's lives. Jewellery is always a gift now and a family heirloom later, which makes it timeless and carries with it a sense of sentimentality. The spiritual properties of the stones also add to its appeal, making the perfect present to celebrate a milestone in one's life and a true collector's item.

Q: Not all jewellery has to be heirloom, haute joilliere or larger than life, sometimes daily wear jewellery is the best kind, do you agree? A: Yes, I agree, which is why a lot of the pieces featured in the collection 'My Treasure' are designed for daily wear. They are versatile and flattering and can be worn day to night. They are also eye-catching enough to draw attention to their unique craftsmanship.

Q: How important is it for a woman to finish her ensemble with a few pieces of jewellery? A: I think individual expression is extremely important and empowering to the wearer. Everyone feels a little more confident when they know how they want to style themselves. The jewellery serves as an important reminder of how far we have come and celebrates a memory of a milestone in one's life and many more to come.

During the exhibition at Christie's, visitors will have the opportunity to get a first look at the limited edition 'Treasure' choker -- with the opportunity to own one of only ten pieces in the world.

(IANSlife Features can be contacted at ianslife@ians.in)
New Delhi, May 22 : Continuing its attack against wastage of Covid vaccines in Rajasthan, the BJP on Saturday said that the Ashok Gehlot government is solely responsible for it.

The saffron party also said that while former Congress president Rahul Gandhi is blaming and cursing Centre and shedding crocodile tears, reports of vaccine wastage and negligence are coming from his party ruled Rajasthan.

Rajasthan BJP Chief Satish Poonia told IANS that wastage happens only due to misinformation campaign run by Congress and Gehlot against vaccine. Around 11.5 lakh doses of wastage has been reported across the desert state.

"First Gehlot ran a misinformation campaign against vaccine along with Rahul Gandhi and other senior Congress leaders. Secondly, when vaccine is available, Gehlot government completely mismanaged the whole process to administer the doses," Poonia said.

Poonia alleged that due to misinformation campaign against the vaccine there are hesitancy among people. "When the government opened the vaccination process for people above 18 years, people above 80 years were seen in the queue at the vaccine centres to take the jab. Are they (above 80 plus) not supposed to get vaccinated months ago? Only due to misinformation campaign against the vaccine, people did not came up to get vaccinated," Poonia said.

The Rajasthan BJP Chief said that many districts of the state have reported wastage of vaccines doses and maximum wastage of around 40 per cent was reported from Churu district followed by Hanumangarh, Bharatpur, Kota and others.

"We request the Gehlot government to take people's health seriously and act promptly to save lives instead of blaming Union Government and BJP," Poonia said.

BJP national secretary Alka Gurjar tweeted, "Due to irresponsible government in Rajasthan, not only the black marketing of the vaccine happened but the dose also got wasted. Ashok Gehlot's misgovernance at the time of disaster." BJP National in-charge of Information and Technology department, Amit Malviya tweeted, "In Rajasthan, 11.50 lakh vaccine doses have been wasted. Nearly 40 per cent of the vaccines in Churu district wasted. Similar negligence was also observed in Rajasthan with respect to oxygen, Remdesivir and ventilators. And on the other hand, Rahul Gandhi is blaming the central government and shedding crocodile tears."
Shimla, May 22 : Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Saturday launched home isolation kit and asked the legislators to provide them to Covid-19 patients at their doorstep.

Simultaneously, he launched Himachal Covid Care Application and e-Sanjeevani OPD to connect people with the AIIMS in Bilaspur for online consultation and treatment.

Speaking on the occasion, Thakur said the home isolation kits would be provided to the patients by MLAs.

He urged the elected representatives to ensure that the kits were made available to the patients at the earliest.

The Chief Minister said e-Sanjeevani OPD would ensure effective communication between the patient and the doctor.

He said the Covid Care App would provide an effective mechanism for monitoring the patients in home isolation.

Thakur said over 18 lakh tests have been conducted in the state and about 175,000 persons had tested Covid-19 positive.

A total of 2,638 people had lost their lives.

He said the positivity rate in the state during the first phase was 5.53, whereas it has increased to 15.67 per cent in the second wave.

The bed capacity has been increased from 1,200 to about 5,000. Similarly the state has increased the storage capacity of oxygen by 25 metric tons.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 22 : Amid the ongoing second wave of Covid-19, the Bar Council of Delhi spent Rs 3.5 crore in providing relief measures to nearly 2500 lawyers and their family members.

Like many other sectors, the Covid-19 second wave also impacted the legal industry, where thousands of lawyers had to face health and economic issues.

According to a statement issued by the Bar council of Delhi, the lawyers' body set up a war room which has been instrumental in providing Covid relief measures to close to 2,500 of its members in various capacities. The lawyers' body created a Covid fund to provide quality treatment to its members and to their families, and also the nodal officer appointed by the state government provided ample support for smooth hospitalisation of lawyers and their immediate relatives.

"The details of various help are as follows: Lawyer under Home Quarantine - 15,000/- INR (To date, 2287 lawyers are already benefited). Lawyer under Hospitalisation, who are not covered under insurance - 50,000/- INR (To date, 33 lawyers are already benefited). The facility of 110 oxygen cylinder in circulation (home delivery and refilling facility)", said the statement. The lawyers' body said to date 2320 enrolled lawyers and their immediate family has already been benefited, and Rs 3, 59, 55,000 has already been spent towards the cause.

Manoj K Singh, chairman, executive committee and spokesperson, Bar Council of Delhi, said, "As we know how severe the second wave of the pandemic has been for all and same goes for our legal fraternity as well. Many of our members are unable to get the medical help they need because of financial problems, and hence in these challenging times, if we don't come forward, who else will. We are happy and humbled to have touched upon so many lives, and we will not stop until this pandemic is over." The lawyers' body will also launch a crowdfunding initiative to contribute towards a Covid relief drive.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, May 22 : Actress Nia Sharma brings out 'desi' girl vibes in her Saturday post on social media, while celebrating the success of a new music video that features her.

Nia posted a string of pictures on Instagram dressed in burnt orange salwar kameez. In the two images that she shared she covers her head with a dupatta.

"Caramel be like... #tumbewafaho is 7M and counting. Thankkk you," she wrote as caption.

The reference is to the video of the song "Tum bewafa ho", featuring Nia with Arjun Bijlani and Soumya Joshi, and the fact that it has already scored seven million views on YouTube since release on May 20. At the last count, the video had garnered 8,096,046 views and over 124K likes on its official YouTube page.

Sung by Payal Dev and Stebin Ben, and with music is by Payal Dev, the number has lyrics by Kunaal Vermaa.

Nia was recently seen in season two of the web series "Jamai 2.0", along with Ravi Dubey and Achint Kaur. She rose to fame with shows such as "Kaali: Ek Agnipariksha", "Ek Hazaaron Mein Meri Behna Hai" and "Jamai Raja".
New Delhi, May 22 : A Delhi court on Saturday dismissed a plea by Delhi Police seeking custody of businessperson Navneet Kalra in the black marketing of oxygen concentrators matter.

Metropolitan magistrate Vasundhra Azad said: "In my considered opinion, police remand is not warranted." The court will hear Kalra's bail plea on May 25. Kalra was sent to 14-day judicial custody in the case, as the court decided that no case was made out for further extension of police custody. He was arrested on May 16 from his brother-in-law's farmhouse in Gurugram and then remanded to three days' police custody.

In the hearing today, additional public prosecutor (APP) Atul Shrivastav, representing the police, argued that Kalra needs to be confronted with mobile phone data and bank account details. He added that some WhatsApp screenshots are available with the police, where people have asked for refund for concentrators, which were not working. The APP also cited expert opinion provided by AIIMS stating that oxygen concentrators supplied by Kalra were useless.

Kalra, who was present for hearing via video conference from jail, was permitted to speak during the hearing in the matter. Kalra said he is not the manufacturer or importer of these machines. He cited messages where people have said the concentrators supplied by him saved lives.

Advocate Vineet Malhotra, representing Kalra, submitted his client does not manufacture oxygen concentrators, and he had got 700 concentrators from Matrix and they were stored on his premises for distribution to some friends, relatives and customers. He added that his client had already given his bank account details to the police. On the aspect of poor quality of oxygen concentrators, Malhotra argued the police had supplied 450 of concentrators to Covid care centres, after their recovery from his client, and added that his client has been made a scapegoat.

Kalra was on the run since the seizure of 524 oxygen concentrators from three restaurants -- Khan Chacha, Town Hall, and Nege & Ju -- owned by him. The High Court on May 14 declined to grant him any interim protection from arrest while his plea for anticipatory bail was pending before it.

Four employees of Matrix Cellular company, including its CEO and vice president, who were also arrested, were granted bail in the case. Kalra bought oxygen concentrators from Matrix Cellular which imported them.

On May 5, a case was registered against Kalra under Section 420 (cheating), 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was also registered under Essential Commodities Act and Epidemic Diseases Act.
Srinagar, May 22 : The corona curfew across Jammu and Kashmir has been extended by a week in the wake of a surge in Covid cases.

An official statement said that the lockdown will be strictly imposed howeverAfew essential services are exempted.

"The Corona Curfew imposed in all 20 distts of J&K till 7 am on Monday, 24/5/21 is extended further till 7 am on Monday, 31/5/21. Curfew will be strict except for a few essential services. DCs being given limited flexibility to ensure economic activities do not suffer," the official statement said.

On Friday 3848 new Covid positive cases were reported in Jammu and Kashmir including 1442 from Jammu and 2406 from the Kashmir division.

There were 43 Covid deaths also reported in the Union Territory on Saturday including 27 from Jammu region and 16 from Kashmir division.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 22 : Union Minister and senior BJP leader Prakash Javadekar on Saturday slammed former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Congress leader Kamal Nath for calling a Covid variant as the Indian variant.

Javadekar said, "Kamal Nath is insulting the country by calling the B1617 variant of the Coronavirus as the Indian variant. He further said 'Hamari Pehchan, Mera Bharat Covid'. Many other Congress leaders also gave similar statements. While WHO clarified that no country's name has been attributed to any variant." In a video Kamal Nath was seen referring to the B1167 variant of Covid as the Indian variant. "The pandemic started with Chinese corona and now its Indian variant corona," Nath had said.

The Union Minister alleged that instead of playing a constructive role the opposition has weakened the fight against Covid and created doubts about the vaccines. "When Covaxin was developed, they called it the BJP vaccine. Now opposition are spreading doubts and fears that there will be a travel ban because Covaxin is not in the list of globally recognised vaccines. As far as I know, WHO has not taken any such decision. Congress's statements show the party is not only insulting the country but also weakening the fight against Covid," Javadekar said.

Javadekar said that Congress Interim President Sonia Gandhi should explain why her party is doing negative politics and why she did not condemn Nath's statement.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Kolkata, May 22 : Rozina Islam, who was arrested while filming and removing secret documents at the Health Ministry office in Bangladesh, was on a mission to ferret out a secret file considered crucial by some corporates .

The 62-page file contained the Health Ministry's decision about the clearance to three local companies to jointly produce Covid vaccines in collaboration with foreign principals. Many other companies had applied, at least two of them to jointly produce Chinese Covid vaccines, but only three of them were cleared.

"The content of this file would be of great value for the local companies which applied, especially those which had tied up with Chinese companies. Rozina was trying to get the file for one or more such clients," said a top Health Ministry official, who questioned the journalist immediately after the police caught her filming the documents.

The official, however, was unwilling to be named but he made available to IANS a video file drawn from the CCTV footage that shows Rozina begging to be let off even if it meant giving an 'muchlekha' (undertaking) from her side.

The official said the only joint production deal completely cleared was the one involving Russia's Sputnik and Bangladesh's Incepta Pharma, which also owns the Channel I TV channel.

"Business rivals were trying to block the Incepta-Sputnik deal, especially local companies who had tied up with Chinese vaccine makers," the official said, requesting anonymity, because he is not officially authorised to brief mediapersons.

"She is neither the heroine the civil society is making her out to be, nor the villain the government claimed her to be. She was just doing a job assigned to her by the corporates who paid her for obtaining secrets, which involved no journalism," said a Bangladesh police investigator, again not willing to be named.

Protest rallies by civil society and media groups, backed by foreign rights bodies, have been held attacking the Bangladesh government for preventing the exposure of graft.

But the police official said that Rozina has obliged multiple corporate bosses before for a price and was once caught stealing documents from the Shipping Ministry.

Her husband Monirul Islam Mithu is a contractor in the Health Ministry and has executed orders worth 100 million taka ($ 3.2 million) by supplying Covid related equipment using three of his companies -- One Construction, R.M. Enterprise and S.S. Network.

"He started getting the orders after Rozina started covering the Health Ministry," the police official told IANS, adding: "Rozina along with her husband Mithu formed a triad with a former secretary in the Health Ministry and two lesser officials, but she started adverse reporting when a new secretary took charge recently and questioned some of her husband's deals." Rozina is a senior reporter for the Bengali daily 'Prothom Alo', one of the two media properties of the TRANSCOM group which acquired Eskayef Pharmaceutical Limited (SK+F), a successor to world-renowned multinational pharmaceutical company, SmithKline & French (SK&F), USA.

TRANSCOM acquired this company in 1990 in the wake of the merger between SmithKline & French, USA, and Beecham. After the acquisition of SK&F by TRANSCOM, the new company was named Eskayef Pharmaceutical Limited and it has become one of the leading pharmaceutical companies in Bangladesh.

"Rapid business growth since its inception has propelled Eskayef to a position of eminence among the pharmaceutical companies operating in Bangladesh today," claims the company's website.
New Delhi, May 22 : With cyclonic storm 'Yaas' expected to reach West Bengal and adjoining northern Odisha coasts by May 26 evening, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba has emphasised that all measures should be taken in a timely manner to minimise loss of lives and destruction of property.

Reviewing the preparedness of central and state agencies during the National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) meeting, Gauba further emphasised on the early evacuation of people from the areas likely to be affected by the cyclone along with ensuring the return of all boats and vessels to the shores, so that there is zero loss of life.

Gauba also stressed that safety of Covid patients be ensured and disruption of functioning of Covid hospitals and centres avoided. He also advised that steps be taken to maintain the generation and movement of oxygen from the cyclone affected areas, to other parts of the country.

The officer also said that preparatory arrangements should be made to restore power, telecom and other important services and directed the concerned agencies to work in close co-ordination and extend all requisite assistance to the states and the Union Territories (UTs).

Director General of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mrutyunjay Mohapatra briefed the committee that the cyclone is expected to reach the West Bengal and adjoining northern Odisha coasts by the evening of May 26, with wind speeds ranging from 155 to 165 kmph, accompanied by heavy rainfall and storm surges in the coastal districts of these states.

Chief Secretaries of the concerned states apprised the committee of the preparatory measures put in place to deal with the cyclonic storm.

Evacuation of people from the low-lying areas is being carried out. Adequate stocks of foodgrains, drinking water and other essential supplies have been arranged and preparations made to maintain essential services such as Power and Telecommunications, the Chief Secretaries informed during NCMC meeting.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General informed that the force's 65 teams are deployed, and 20 more teams are on standby. Rescue and relief teams of the Army, Navy and Coast Guard along with ships and aircrafts have also been deployed.

Necessary arrangements are also being made to ensure uninterrupted functioning of hospitals and Covid Care Centres, alongwith ensuring generation and supply of oxygen to Covid facilities across the country.

The meeting was attended by Chief Secretaries and officers of West Bengal, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar and Puducherry. Secretaries of Ministries of Home, Power, Shipping, Telecom, Petroleum & Natural Gas, Civil Aviation, Fisheries, Chairman Railway Board, Member Secretary NDMA, Chief IDS and DGs of Coast Guard, NDRF and IMD also participated in the meeting.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, May 22 : Bollywood superstar Akshay Kumar has refuted speculations and doing the rounds over the release date of his two forthcoming films -- "Sooryavanshi" and Bell Bottom". Akshay issued a statement on Saturday reacting to unconfirmed reports that both films will arrive on Independence Day in August.

The statement issued by Akshay reads: "I'm humbled at the excitement and eagerness of my fans regarding the release of Sooryavanshi and Bell Bottom, and want to thank them from the bottom of my heart for all their love. However, at this point, it is purely speculative to say that both films will release on Independence Day. The producers of both films are working out the release dates and will make announcements at the right time." Akshay Kumar-starrer spy thriller "Bell Bottom" also stars Vaani Kapoor, Lara Dutta and Huma Qureshi. The period espionage thriller, set in the eighties, was initially scheduled to release in May.

Rohit Shetty's big ticket cop drama "Sooryavanshi" will feature Katrina Kaif alongside Akshay. The film was initially scheduled to release on April 30.
Four Hurt, One Arrested After West McCracken Crash

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - Four people were injured, a business was damaged and one driver went to jail after a collision in west McCracken County on Thursday.Deputies said 28-year-old Dalton Blakey was driving on McKendree Church Road when he drove through a stop sign on Old Highway 60 and struck a vehicle driven by 18-year-old Lydia Bowles.One car hit the awning of Mansfield's Auto Parts store and knocked over the gas pumps.Officers said Blakey's girlfriend, 26-year-old Renata Veljacic, was thrown from the vehicle. She was flown to an out-of-state hospital for treatment.Blakey, a 4-year-old passenger in Blakey's vehicle, and Bowles were taken to a local hospital for treatment.Blakey was arrested and charged with DUI, second-degree assault, first-degree wanton endangerment, and failure to maintain insurance.He was lodged in the McCracken County Jail.
Bengaluru, May 22 : A day after the Karnataka government announced the second leg of a two-week long lockdown, the Karnataka Poultry Farmers and Breeders Association (KPFBA) on Saturday appealed to the state government to extend the operation of chicken retail units till 2 p.m.

The Covid-induced lockdown has severely impacted chicken sales across the state, KPFBA said in a statement.

The poultry farmers also expressed concern that the prolonged lockdown would not only have severe financial ramifications for providing feed to the chickens for an extended period of time but will also affect the health of the birds.

The statement said that there is an urgent need to sell the birds within 40 days as the chicken meat, particularly of those below 40 days, has been proved scientifically to be the healthiest for human consumption.

KPFBA president Sushanth Rai said that broiler chickens have begun piling up in poultry farms across the state due to poor off-take in view of the lockdown and to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

"On a daily basis, an estimated 15 lakh live chickens get ready for sale in the state at 20,000 poultry farms, where they are reared; the demand has now come down drastically due to closure of hotels and restaurants, besides cancellation of marriages and other community gatherings.

"And even the retail chicken shops, where the meat is available for purchase by consumers, have a limited window period for sale -- between 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. As a result of this, farmers and breeders are staring at a severe financial loss," Rai added.

He said that the KPFBA had sought 'urgent help' from the state government to dispose off the 'perishable' poultry products by extending the window period for sale of chickens from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. to at least till 2 p.m. every day.

"The production expenses incurred by the farmers include the daily feed comprising of maize, soya and other raw materials, which cost about Rs 30 crore per day in the state," Rai said in a letter to the Commissioner in the Department of Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 22 : A high-powered committee will meet on Monday evening to select the new Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), sources said on Saturday.

A top source related to the development told IANS, "A meeting is scheduled at the residence of the Prime Minister to discuss the new CBI chief on Monday evening." The CBI got an acting Director in the form of Praveen Sinha after the term of R.K. Shukla ended on February 3.

According to sources, several officers of the 1985 and 1986 batch are in the race for the top post, including Y.C. Modi, who is currently the chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), and 1985 batch IPS officer Hitesh Chandra Awasthi.

A source said that Rakesh Asthana, who is currently holding several key posts such as DG Border Security Force and also the additional charge of DG in the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), is also in the race for the top job.

Besides Asthana, M.A. Ganapathy, a 1986 batch IPS officer of Uttarakhand cadre and currently serving as the Director General of the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), is also said to be in the race for the CBI chief's job.

Even the name of Kerala Police DGP Loknath Behura, a 1985 batch IPS officer of Kerala cadre, is doing the rounds for the top post in the CBI.

Behura had been in the CBI earlier and had probed several sensitive cases such as the Purulia arms drop case and the Mumbai serial blasts case. He was also one of the founding members of the NIA in 2009.

After the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) chooses the names of at least three or four officers for the CBI Director's post, they would be sent to the Select Committee comprising the Prime Minister, the Chief Justice of India and the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, who will decide the final pick for a fixed term of two years.

Currently the Congress is the largest opposition party in the Lok Sabha.

According to the guidelines set by the Supreme Court in 2004, officers from the four oldest serving batches of IPS will be in contention for the top post.

As per the guidelines, officials having experience in anti-corruption investigations or CBI, from the senior most four batches of IPS cadre, will be empanelled, following which a screening of three officers would be sent to the Appointments' Committee of the Cabinet headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
New Delhi, May 22 : Multiple estimates now suggest a significant undercounting of Covid deaths globally.

As per estimates of the World Health Organisation (WHO) the actual number of deaths could be even 2 or 3 times high.

"WHO estimates show that #COVID19 was responsible for at least 3 million excess deaths in 2020. That's 1.2 million more deaths than officially reported. The actual number could even be 2 or 3 times high", Samira Asma, Assistant Director General , @WHO for Data, Analytics and Delivery for Impact said in a tweet.

WHO in a report "The true death toll of Covid-Estimating global excess mortality", says that preliminary estimates suggest the total number of global deaths attributable to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 is at least 3 million, representing 1.2 million more deaths than officially reported.

With the latest Covid-19 deaths reported to WHO now exceeding 3.3 million, based on the excess mortality estimates produced for 2020, we are likely facing a significant undercount of total deaths directly and indirectly attributed to Covid-19.

WHO said Covid-19 deaths are a key indicator to track the evolution of the pandemic. However, many countries still lack functioning civil registration and vital statistics systems with the capacity to provide accurate, complete and timely data on births, deaths and causes of death. A recent assessment found that the percentage of registered deaths ranged from 98% in the European region to only 10% in the African region.

Countries also use different processes to test and report Covid-19 deaths, making comparisons difficult. To overcome these challenges, many countries have turned to excess mortality as a more accurate measure of the true impact of the pandemic, WHO said.

Excess mortality is defined as the difference in the total number of deaths in a crisis compared to those expected under normal conditions. Covid-19 excess mortality accounts for both the total number of deaths directly attributed to the virus as well as the indirect impact, such as disruption to essential health services or travel disruptions.

For 2020, excess mortality attributable to Covid-19 is defined as the difference between the total observed deaths for the year and those expected in the absence of Covid-19. The measure cannot be determined for all countries due to data gaps within some countries.

WHO said at the regional level, Covid-19 excess mortality estimates range from 1.34-1.46 million in the Region of the Americas to 1.11-1.21 million in the European Region in 2020. This represents about 60% and 50% more than reported Covid-19 deaths, respectively.

Other reports say that based on a comparison of Coronavirus deaths in 204 countries relative to their population, Hungary had the most losses to Covid-19 up until May 21, 2021.

The Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington School of Medicine is projecting about 9.2 million deaths globally by September 1. "Cases globally are declining but mortality is stagnant. Still, the detection rate of Covid-19 infections is very low, about 7% globally. Based on the seroprevalence surveys that we track at IHME, we estimate about 24% of the public have been infected, so it means that many people are still susceptible out there. Effective R is above 1 in 63 countries, indicating that cases will increase in the coming weeks in these locations." Globally, Covid-19 has caused approximately 6.9 million deaths, more than double what official numbers show, IHME said.

The updated analysis shows that the United States has had more COVID-19 deaths to-date than any other country, a total of more than 905,000. By region, Latin America and the Caribbean and Central Europe, Eastern Europe and Central Asia were the hardest hit in terms of total deaths.

Many deaths from Covid-19 go unreported because countries only report deaths that occur in hospitals or in patients with a confirmed infection. In many places, weak health reporting systems and low access to health care magnify this challenge.

IHME's analysis found that the largest number of unreported deaths occurred in countries that have had the largest epidemics to-date. However, some countries with relatively smaller epidemics saw a large increase in the death rate when accounting for unreported deaths. This analysis shows that they may be at greater risk for a wider epidemic than previously thought.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
New Delhi, May 22 : In a stinging attack on Ramdev, the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has alleged that the yoga guru is creating a false sense of fear and frustration in the public at large so that he can sell his 'illegal' and 'unapproved' so-called medicines and make money at the cost of the people.

"IMA brings to the notice of our Health Minister, a video circulating in social media portraying the celebrated Yoga guruji addressing 'ALLOPATHY EK AISI STUPID AUR DIWALIYA SCIENCE HAI'. In the past too, he had uttered modern medical doctors as murderers in the presence of the Health Minister himself on the pretext of the release of his wonder drugs," the IMA said in a statement.

"However, it is a well-known fact that the said yoga guruji and his associate Balkrishna Ji have been taking modern medical allopathy treatment as and when they get into illness. Now to mislead the public at large, he is making all false and baseless acquisitions so that he can sell his illegal and unapproved drugs," IMA said.

"In this address, he has further claimed that Remdesivir, Faviflu and all other approved drugs by the DCGI have failed, and stated that 'LAKHO LOGO KI MAUT ALLOPHATHY KI DAWAI KHANE SE HUI HAI', challenging the wisdom and integrity of DCGI and the head of all these, our Health Minister," the statement said.

Remdesivir and Faviflu have been approved by the Central Drug Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) and were notified for use for Covid patients by the Central government in June-July, 2020. The said notification was made by the Central government u/s 2A of the Epidemic Decease Act, 1897.

"Therefore, u/s 3 of the Epidemic Decease Act read with Section 188 of IPC, Ramdev deserves to be prosecuted for disobeying and causing danger to the lives of many by making them believe not to take the advice of allopathy drugs. His quote about Favipiravir as medicine against fever/antipyretic is laughable and childish, and demonstrates his in-depth scientific knowledge," IMA added.

"Besides being an internationally adorned yoga guru, he is a corporate giant of a pharmaceutical unit and has made several false acquisitions about his company products time and again to mislead the public. The controversies over Coronil and Swasari are well-known to all, and the criminal complaint in Muzaffarour court by social worker Tamanna Hashmi for misleading and putting to risk the lives of a large number of people is a proof to his misadventures," the statement added.
London, May 22 : The race to see who will qualify for Europe takes centre stage in the Premier League last round on Sunday as Liverpool, Chelsea and Leicester City compete for the last two places in next season's UEFA Champions League.

Meanwhile, West Ham, Tottenham and Everton are fighting for a place in next season's Europa League and Arsenal have an outside chance of finishing seventh and reaching the new Conference League, reports Xinhua.

Chelsea's win at home to Leicester City on Tuesday put them in the driving season to finish in the top four, and a win away to Aston Villa will assure their place in the Champions League no matter what happens in next weekend's final against Premier League champions Manchester City.

Liverpool's 3-0 win away to Burnley took them above Leicester into fourth place on goal average and means they have taken 23 points from the last 27. There will be 10,000 fans in Anfield to see them entertain Crystal Palace (who they beat 7-0 five months ago) and another win would almost certainly guarantee fourth place.

In theory, Leicester could claim the fourth spot even if Liverpool win, but the reality is they would need to beat Sunday's rivals Tottenham by four more goals than Liverpool beat Palace to overturn an inferior goal difference.

Tottenham also have plenty at stake and they have to win away to Leicester and hope sixth-place West Ham lose their home game to Southampton in order to secure a place in next season's Europa League.

West Ham can't finish fifth, but a point against a rival whose season has faded badly would assure a return to Europe after an impressive season under David Moyes.

Everton also have a slight chance of finishing sixth, but it would take an unlikely series of results for that to happens, with them winning away to Manchester City while both Tottenham and West Ham lose.
Guwahati, May 22 : After a month, ULFA-I on Saturday released ONGCs third technical staff Ritul Saikia in Nagaland and he has reached his home in eastern Assam's Jorhat, top police officials said.

Director General of Assam Police Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta said that due to the personal initiative of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Saikia was released from the captivity of the ULFA-I (United Liberation Front of Asom-Independent).

Sarma in a tweet said: "Heartily welcome release of Ritul Saikia, ONGC employee abducted by ULFA, early today ! Grateful to Hon'ble UHM Amit Shah for constant guidance. Hope an era of peace & development is firmly established in state with cooperation of one and all. Pray to Almighty for His Blessings." Assam Governor Jagdish Mukhi, while addressing the first session of the new state assembly on its second day on Saturday, said that Saikia's release and ULFA-I's recent announcement of a unilateral ceasefire for three months are very positive gestures for enduring peace in Assam.

An Assam police official earlier said in Guwahati that Saikia reached Longwa in Nagaland's Mon district near the India-Myanmar border early on Saturday morning.

"Saikia was handed over to the Assam police officials by the Assam Rifles. He then tested negative for Covid-19. Immediately after his release, Saikia talked to his aged mother over phone.

"Before the evening Saikia reached home at Borhalla in Jorhat district," the official said.

After the abduction of Saikia, who has a four-month-old child, his aged parents and wife spent sleepless nights worrying about his safety.

Following the abduction of three ONGC technical staff, the Assam police have arrested 14 collaborators and a police constable for their suspected role in the kidnappings.

The ULFA-I led by self-styled 'commander-in-chief' Paresh Baruah had, on April 21, kidnapped the three ONGC staffers from a drilling site at Lakwa in eastern Assam's Sibsagar district.

The Army, along with Assam Rifles troopers, rescued two hostages -- Mohini Mohan Gogoi, 35, and Alakesh Saikia, 28, -- from the militants' custody following a fierce gun battle on April 23 night, but Ritul Saikia, 33, remained in the captivity of the banned outfit.

Gogoi and Ritul Saikia are junior technicians, production, while Alakesh Saikia is a junior engineering assistant, production. Gogoi is a resident of Dibrugarh district and the other two employees are inhabitants of Jorhat district.

ULFA-I on May 15 announced a unilateral ceasefire for three months with immediate effect.

The outfit, in a statement, said that in view of the Covid-19 pandemic it has "unilaterally suspended all kinds of military operations in Assam for three months from May 15". The statement, in Assamese language, also alleged that the security forces had hatched a clandestine plan to malign the ULFA-I.

After 2006, this is the second time the banned outfit has announced a unilateral ceasefire in the state.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, after taking oath as the 15th Chief Minister of Assam on May 10, had urged ULFA-I supremo Paresh Baruah and other militant groups to shun the path of violence and join the mainstream.

ULFA-I had recently released radio operator Ram Kumar, a resident of Bihar, and drilling superintendent Pranab Kumar Gogoi of Sivasagar district, after more than 100 days after the two employees of Delhi-based private oil and gas exploration company Quippo Oil and Gas Infrastructure Ltd were abducted from Arunachal Pradesh on December 21 last year.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Mumbai, May 22 : Bollywood actress Huma Qureshi on Saturday posted a couple of funny pictures from the set of her international release "Army Of The Dead". Huma plays Geeta, a single mother in the new Zack Snyder directorial, which has dropped digitally.

Taking to Instagram, Huma shared a couple of funny photos with co-star Richard Cetrone who is dressed in character as the Zombie King. In one of the pictures, Huma makes a mock gesture as if teaching the Zombie King how to scare people.

"Me and the super talented @stunt_batman aka Zombie King seen in happier times ... Slide to see me teaching him some scary moves. Chalo darra kar dikao sabko !!! Shabaash !! #shoot #tbs #armyofthedead #aotd #zombie #zombies #shootshenanigans #zacksnyder #scary," Huma wrote as caption.

Huma's upcoming roster includes the Akshay Kumar-starrer spy thriller "Bell Bottom". She will also be seen in the political drama web series "Maharani", which is slated to release on May 28 on an OTT platform. The series directed by Karan Sharma, also stars Sohum Shah, Amit Sial, Kani Kusruti and Inaamulhaq.
Mumbai, May 22 : The Indian Navy has recovered six more bodies from the Arabian Sea as it launched rescue efforts with diving teams and specialised vessels to search for the remaining missing persons after the tragedy that befell Barge Papaa-305 last Monday, officials said here on Saturday.

With this, the toll has shot up to 66 and another around 10 are still reported missing, while 188 persons have been rescued safely so far.

On Saturday morning, the INS Makar and INS Tarasa set out for the Bombay High Fields, around 175 km off Mumbai, to make an underwater search for the wreckage of Barge Papaa-305 and an anchor-handling tugboat, Varaprada, using experts and special equipment.

INS Makar is a lead ship of the Makar-class of Catamarans used for hydrographic surveys by the Navy for producing navigational charts and is capable of collecting marine environmental information by conducting limited oceanographic surveys.

INS Tarasa is a Navy patrol vessel of the Car Nicobar-class in the series of four Water Jet Fast Attack Craft.

Besides, a p81 long-range multi-mission maritime patrol aircraft conducted reconnaissance missions over the designated areas along with helicopters like ALH, Seaking and Chetak, besides ships such as INS Kolkata, INS Kochi, INS Betwa and INS Beas that are still in the vicinity to trace more bodies.

"To augment the ongoing SAR operations for the crew of Barge Papaa-305 and Tug Varapradha, the specialised diving teams onboard INS Makar (with sonar) and INS Tarasa sailed out early morning today from Mumbai for carrying out an underwater search," an Indian Navy spokesperson said.
Itanagar, May 22 : An Assam Rifles jawan was killed while two others were injured in an encounter with suspected members of the militant outfit National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Khaplang-Yung Aung) in Arunachal Pradeshs Changlang district on Saturday.

Officials of Arunachal Pradesh police have confirmed the incident while the defence officials said that they are collecting the details of the exchange of fire between the Assam Rifles troopers and the militants.

According to the police, acting on a tip-off about the presence of armed militants near Longvi village, the Assam Rifles troopers launched a combing operation on Saturday morning and soon after the extremists fired upon the jawans who also retaliated.

The two injured soldiers have been airlifted to the nearest Army hospital.

Further details are awaited.
Parma, May 22 : American teenager Coco Gauff won her second career WTA singles title at the Emilia-Romagna Open, dispatching China's Wang Qiang 6-1, 6-3 in Parma on Saturday.

Coco, the world No. 30, needed an hour and 14 minutes to overcome the challenge from the 48th-ranked Chinese and add to her singles title collection, which she started as a lucky loser in Linz in 2019.

The American dropped only one set en route to her title here.

The 17-year-old Coco has excelled on the clay courts in Italy over the past fortnight, with a semi-final run at the Italian Open last week leading to a title triumph this week.

Coco has now won 20 of her last 26 matches on Tour as she rapidly racks up match-wins this season. By contrast, she won 21 matches in 2019 and 2020 combined.

She won more than three-quarters of her first-service points and fended off each and every one of the four break points she faced in her first encounter with the 29-year-old Wang.

Wang had a resurgent week in Parma, as the former World No.12 was just 4-11 on the year coming into the event. The Chinese broke through to her fifth career singles final -- her first since 2018 -- but was unable to win her third career title, and her first outside of her home country.

Coco has a chance to make a clean sweep of the titles in Parma when she pairs with compatriot Caty McNally in the doubles final against No. 2 seeds Darija Jurak (Croatia) and Andreja Klepac (Slovenia).
Amaravati, May 22 : Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has called for a roll back of the provision by which private hospitals are allowed to directly procure Covid vaccines and administer them at rates of their choice.

In a letter to the Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Reddy said that at a time when vaccine shortages are affecting free inoculation campaigns of the government, private hospitals are charging between Rs 2,000 and Rs 25,000 for the jabs.

As per the liberalised policy, the private hospitals willing to provide vaccination services may procure vaccine doses directly from the manufacturers, exclusively from the 50 per cent earmarked for 'other than government's' channel.

"Vaccine is for the public good and it needs to be given for free or at least at affordable rates" Reddy pointed out in his note.

Andhra Pradesh has currently put on hold, its vaccination drive for people in the age group of 18-40, on account of vaccines shortage, under both channels of supply.

"Making available various options to the public to get vaccinated, in both government and private hospitals, would be a good idea only if there is a surplus supply and availability of vaccines, wherein anyone can choose any mode as per their choice or financial capability," Reddy added.

Under the circumstances, the chief minister felt that the Centre must stop dispensing vaccines to private hospitals, so that the adequate vaccine supply for the government to smoothly provide vaccination to the public.
New Delhi, May 22 : India's two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar, who was on the run for over a fortnight for alleged links with the murder of former international wrestler Sagar Dhankar, was arrested by Delhi Police on Saturday, according to a source.

"Kumar has been arrested near Jalandhar. His associate Ajay Kumar, accused in the case, has also been arrested," a source told IANS.

On May 18, Kumar had moved an anticipatory bail in New Delhi's Rohini court, but the court rejected his bail plea.

Last week, Delhi Police had announced a cash award of Rs 1 lakh for feedback on the celebrated wrestler who was absconding since May 4.

On May 4, two groups of wrestlers clashed with each other at Chhatrasal Stadium leading to the death of 23-year-old Dhankar due to injuries he sustained during the brawl.

The Delhi court had also issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Kumar.

Delhi Police issued a lookout notice for Kumar.

"A lookout notice has been issued for Kumar," Dr Guriqbal Singh Sidhu, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West Delhi) had said.

Kumar, employed with the Indian Railways, is posted as an Officer on Special Duty (OSD) at Chhattrasal Stadium, where the brawl allegedly took place.

Kumar won bronze in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games and silver in 2012 London Olympic Games in 66 kg category.
New Delhi, May 22 : Both the government-run and private school administrations in the national capital have recommended that the Class XII board exams (CBSE board) should be canceled in view of the severe pandemic situation, Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia, said on Saturday.

Sisodia's statement came after he held a meeting on Saturday with the principals and teachers of both Delhi government-run and private schools of the national capital to discuss and solicit suggestions on the matter.

"Keeping in mind the severity of the second wave of the pandemic and the emergence of new variants like black fungus etc., many students, teachers and their families are apprehensive about holding the Class XII board exams.

"They feel that the exam centers might become super spreaders. They have recommended that the most appropriate decision with regard to Class XII board exams would be to completely cancel them," Sisodia said.

Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank is scheduled to chair a virtual meeting with the state education ministers and senior officials to discuss the Class XII board exams on Sunday.

Sisodia also held a virtual meeting with several students and parents, all eager to know the fate of the crucial board exams in the shadow of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The consensus that emerged from all the meetings with these key stakeholders is that in the absence of vaccines for children, conducting any kind of examination will only make our students and teachers more vulnerable to the virus," said Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio in Delhi government.

"They have suggested that the final grades should be awarded on the basis of unit tests, practical exams, general tests and pre-board exams already conducted in February-March 2021," Sisodia added.

The CBSE board exams for Class X and Class XII were supposed to begin from May 4. However, due to the raging second wave of the pandemic, the Class X board exams were cancelled on April 15, while the Class XII exams were postponed until further notice.

When the CBSE had announced the postponement of Class XII board exams, it had said that a final decision on the matter will be announced on June 1.
Mumbai, May 22 : Maharashtras Covid death toll shot past the 87,000-mark on Saturday though new infections dropped and remained below the 30,000 level, health officials said.

Compared to with the peak of 1,263 deaths reported on Friday, the state's fatalities dropped to 682 on Saturday, taking its overall death toll to 87,300, the worst in the country.

The number of fresh cases remained below the 30,000-mark at 26,133, taking the state's Covid tally to 55,53,225 till now.

In Mumbai, 1,268 new cases took the city's Covid tally to 695,483 till date, after touching the highest daily spike of 11,206 cases on April 4 last month, while 52 fatalities mounted its Covid death toll to 14,516.

The state's death rate continued to remain stable at 1.57 per cent, while its active caseload stood at 352,247 on Saturday.

On a brighter note, 40,294 fully cured patients returned home on Saturday, more than the number of fresh infections, taking the state's overall recoveries to 51,11,095, as the recovery rate improved from 91.74 per cent on Friday to 92.04 per cent now.

The Mumbai Circle (MMR) - comprising Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts - recorded a drop in new cases, from 3,780 a day before to 3,603 now, compared to the peak of 19,953 infections recorded on April 11.

With the latest additions, MMR's caseload has shot up to 15,04,985, while 106 fatalities on Saturday took its death toll to 26,720.

Of the day's 682 deaths, Pune and Beed led the chart with 53 fatalities each, followed by 52 in Mumbai, 43 each in Solapur and Kolhapur, 37 in Aurangabd, 36 each in Ahmednagar and Sangli, 32 in Raigad, 31 in Nashik, 29 in Gadchiroli, 18 in Wardha, 17 each in Sindhudurg, Osmanabad and Amravati, 16 in Latur, 15 in Satara, 14 each in Ratnagiri and Nagpur, 13 in Yavatmal, 12 each in Palghar and Jalgaon, 11 in Akola, 10 in Thane, 9 each in Nanded and Chandrapur, 8 in Washim, 7 in Jalna, 6 in Hingoli, 4 each in Parbhani and Buldhana, and 2 each in Dhule and Nandurbar.

Meanwhile, the number of people under home isolation in the state stood at 27,55,729, while 22,103 persons were shunted to institutional quarantine on Saturday.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
Bengaluru, May 23 : With the arrest of four persons, Bengaluru police claimed to have cracked a murder and an ATM robbery case after four years.

According to the police, the arrested were identified as N. Kumar, (23), M. B. Prasanna (31), K. Madhusudhan (23) and U. Mahesh (22).

Deputy Commissioner of police (East Division), S. D. Sharnappa told reporters that two of the accused Kumar and Prasanna worked as drivers of Yes Bank ATM cash delivery vehicles for a substantial period of time to gather enough information of various vehicles that transport cash as well the routes they take.

Basically both accused worked as drivers until they got all the information to hatch a meticulous plan to rob a cash carrying vehicle after he had left the job," the police officer explained.

According to him, after Kumar and Prasanna leave their jobs at different points of time and for the same vehicles, other drivers get appointed.

"They succeed in convincing one of these drivers - Abdul Shahid - who was working with the ATM cash delivery vehicles by offering him a major share of the loot. Shahid took the bait and followed these people's directions and fled with a cash laden vehicle once security guards and cash depositors entered the ATM leaving Shahid alone," the police said. .

"After fleeing from the spot, Shaid joins these four accused that were following him in a separate vehicle, where they succeed in shifting cash bags and a trunk containing Rs 75 lakh into their vehicle," the police added.

"But after this entire robbery operation, Shahid develops cold feet and pleads with these four accused to leave him alone to his fate and assure that he would not disclose their names," the DCP added.

The police said that as soon as Shahid backtracks after the robbery, the quartet drove the vehicle straight to Sakleshpura Taluk in Hassan district.

"The quartet murder Shahid and dumped him from 'Beauty Spot', a scenic spot as well as deepest gorge exists here," the police added.

The DCP added that when this robbery case was reported the complaint was booked against Shahid as prime suspect, but after his body was recovered by Sakleshpur police changed the direction of investigation entirely and it took relentless efforts Kumar was arrested who spilled the beans and following his disclosure, other three accused were also arrested.

The police has registered a case and is investigating.
Bengaluru, May 23 : With the Covid second wave sweeping though the state, the Indian Army on Saturday augmented the medical infrastructure of state administration by setting up a 100-bed Covid Care Centre at Ulsoor in Bengaluru.

In a statement, the army stated that with the increasing numbers of Covid-19 positive cases across Karnataka, state-run medical resources are being overstretched to meet the daily bed requirement.

"In this hour of need, the Indian Army has augmented the medical infrastructure of state administration by setting up a 100 bed Covid Care Centre in Ulsoor, Bengaluru," the statement by the Defence Ministry said.

The state administration took on the responsibility of provisioning medical staff and equipment while the Army shouldered with the administrative support for maintaining the high standards of the facility and ensuring best possible patient care.

This 100-bed Covid Care Centre will cater to mild symptomatic and asymptomatic Covid patients referred by BBMP after bed allotment, the statement stated.

The General Officer Commanding, Karnataka and Kerala Sub Area handed over the facility to the state government. The facility was established for the needy inhabitants of "Namma Bengaluru" suffering from the deadly second wave of Corona.

Latest updates on Coronavirus (COVID-19)
People are experiencing a lot of grief right now and sadness. A lot of my callers need someone to listen to them. It is important to recognize Mental Health Awareness Month for people who need us and share resources available.

AltaPointe Health clinicians can attest that people are hurting and in need of mental health help. Calls to a mental health hotline prove the pandemic is taking a toll on people of all ages and backgrounds.

AltaPointe Health, along with its partner, WKRG-TV 5 in Mobile, recognizes Mental Health Awareness Month by hosting a mental health hotline. AltaPointe staff members answered calls from the public for ten hours on May 18. Callers ranged in age, but all expressed concern over their mental health or someone they love.

"The impact of COVID-19 isolation was a common theme among many callers, isolated in their homes due to the pandemic," said Trinette Law, a therapist with AltaPointe Health. "Depression, anxiety, and financial stress were often relayed on the line."

"There is a lot of grief out there," Eddie Pratt, a therapist with AltaPointe Health, added. "A lot of my calls are people who have experienced the loss of a loved one and have not fully recovered. Many of my callers just needed someone to listen to them talk. This mental health hotline gives them an avenue to reach out and see what resources are available."

Other callers included mothers seeking mental health treatment for their children living with mental illness or substance abuse issues, a man calling from the hospital concerned over the mental health of his spouse, a grandmother calling for her grandson, and several people experiencing grief over the loss of a loved one, and veterans seeking information.

Behavioral health experts estimate that one in five adults will experience a mental health crisis in their life. Behavioral health experts expect that number to rise as the impacts of the pandemic continue to surface. AltaPointe Health's Access to Care answered more than 40 thousand calls for mental health treatment in the last six months.

If you need help, you can call AltaPointe at (251) 450-2211. It provided more than 1 million mental health, substance abuse, intellectual disabilities, and primary care services in 2020.
The sport fishing will be great, said TWRA Fisheries Biologist John Hammonds. Be patient, and get ready for great fishing after that, based on examples where the same thing happened across the country, like in Lake Cumberland in Kentucky,

Boone Lake, named after famed frontiersman Daniel Boone, is an impoundment on the South Fork of the Holston and Watauga rivers in northeast Tennessee.

Boone Dam impounds the 4,400-acre Reservoir located in Sullivan and Washington counties, near Johnson City and Kingsport, Tennessee. Both the South Holston and Wilbur tailwaters, which support two of Tennessees most renowned trout fisheries, flow into Boone Reservoir. People travel from several surrounding states to fish for the legendary trophy trout in the South Holston and Watauga tailwaters.

In the coming years, the bass populations in the reservoir are predicted to explode, making it a destination for those seeking large bass, a result of the drawdown because of problems with the dam.

Once known for its striper and smallmouth fishing, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began drawing down the reservoir in 2014 to repair seepage around the structure.

CONSEQUENCES OF DRAWDOWN

Fisheries biologists with the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA) contend it can be good for a reservoir when water levels fluctuate yearly, but when they stay down it can cause a shortage of prey, leading to a decrease of game fish populations. When water levels go back up, however, the population will explode for the first couple of years.

TVA officials began refilling the reservoir in March, and are predicting it will be at full pool again in July 2021. While lowered, vegetation grew in the exposed coves and fingers. TVA has been mulching and clearing brush in the main channels and developed areas with a lot of recreational boat traffic, but some will remain in the shallower areas where fish spawn, creating a productive nursery needed for young fish to start the life cycle. Bass will utilize this habitat, and grow quickly because of the plentiful prey.

The sport fishing will be great, said TWRA Fisheries Biologist John Hammonds. The good news is it doesnt take too many nests to hatch successfully for bass populations to recover. Be patient, and get ready for great fishing after that, based on examples where the same thing happened across the country, like in Lake Cumberland in Kentucky, he said.

A BIGGER, MORE AGGRESSIVE BASS

Hammonds said TVA and TWRA are also placing stake beds and wreath balls in the reservoir for additional structure, as well as planting willow trees in undeveloped spots.

In mid-summer TWRA will stock stripers, crappie and F1 (hybrid) bass, which are a cross between Florida-strain and native Northern bass. The agency normally doesnt stock bass -- which reproduce prolifically on their own  but will stock hybrids in an effort to improve the size and fight of this species (which anglers had requested).

The first pure Florida strains were stocked in Chickamauga 20 years ago, and these eventually hybridized with the native northern largemouth. These, like the pure strain Florida bass, grow quicker, and are more aggressive.

The agency has since stocked these in Kentucky, Nickajack, Fort Loudoun and Watts Bar reservoirs. TWRA sampling and fin clippings on these reservoirs concluded fish weighing over 8 pounds harvested from there are F1 hybrids.

As a result of the original Florida strain stockings, anglers are harvesting larger bass in those reservoirs, and more often. Hammonds said TWRA is proposing to stock 50,000 (11.1 fish/acre) F1 bass into Boone in 2021, 2022, and 2023. After the agency evaluates that effort to ensure the stocked fish are recruiting to the population they will likely be stocked annually. The agency also plans to stock 22,600 (5 fish/acre) striped bass, and that same number of hybrid striped bass. It will also release 41,600 (9.2 fish/acre) black crappie.

These conditions are all aligning to make Boone Lake a desired destination for bass anglers in coming years, especially those who seek large, hard fighting bass, the most popular game fish in North America. The other species should also do well, and together could provide an experience comparable to the exceptional trout fishing found nearby.
"Jim tells it like it is, because he's been there," said Michael Behn, the whistleblower's lawyer and former federal prosecutor.

A prominent Chicago whistleblower and his lawyer, who were both featured on the CBS Whistleblower series, gave rare insight into what its like to be a whistleblower against one of the most powerful corporations in the world.

The podcast Fraud in America features the gripping tale of whistleblower James Holzrichter and his lawyer Michael I. Behn. The whistleblower and his legal team fought defense contractor Northrop Grumman Corporation in a case that lasted more than 16 years and resulted in Northrop paying $134 million. Hear the podcast at http://www.bit.ly/BehnPodcast.

Behn and Holzrichter sat down to discuss their experiences and thoughts on whistleblowing with Jeb White. White is the President of Taxpayers Against Fraud, a non-profit organization dedicated to fighting fraud against the government by helping whistleblowers. The resulting Fraud in America podcast tells of Holzrichters fight for justice from his discovering accounting anomalies inside the company, through extraordinary personal challenges and a grueling legal battle, to a successful conclusion for the taxpaying public.

Jim tells it like it is, because hes been there, said Behn, a former federal prosecutor who has been representing whistleblowers for decades. Holzrichters case alleged that Northrops Chicago-area facility had cheated the government on contracts to build radar jammers for the B-2 Stealth bomber, the F-15 Eagle fighter, and other military aircraft. (U.S. ex rel. Robinson and Holzrichter v. Northrop, 89 C 6111, N.D. IL).

Holzrichters case is a real life David versus Goliath, added Behn. Jim fought Northrops extraordinary power to pursue his case to a successful end for the taxpaying public. Holzrichter partnered with Behn and other lawyers to hold Northrop accountable under a federal law enacted by Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War called the False Claims Act. The law serves to protect whistleblowers (called relators) who report fraud against the government, and incentivizes integrity by providing that successful relators get 15-30% of any recovery by the government.

According to Holzrichter, the cost of pursuing such an action is high, and obtaining great legal representation is the key: I went from a Fortune 500 company to living in a homeless shelter, but Mike was always there to take my phone calls and was very understanding and supportive. Behn and Holzrichter's extraordinary partnership was featured in an article by Leading Lawyers magazine, available at http://www.bit.ly/BehnForWhistleblowers. Holzrichter went on to write a book about his experiences, titled A Just Cause, available through Amazon and other booksellers.

Behn specializes in representing whistleblowers under the False Claims Act, and under the SEC, CFTC, and IRS whistleblower provisions to fight securities, futures, and tax fraud. Behn was formerly a federal prosecutor with the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Southern District of New York (Securities and Futures Fraud Unit) and with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. He founded the law firm Behn & Wyetzner Chartered to focus on combatting fraud and advocating on behalf of whistleblowers (http://www.BehnWyetzner.com).

Behn & Wyetzner, Chartered has achieved extensive recoveries for the government and taxpayers through false claims actions brought for whistleblower clients. Recent cases recovered over $120 million in multi-state Medicaid fraud settlements of drug switching allegations against Walgreens, CVS, and Omnicare. All three qui tam whistleblower cases were filed under federal and state False Claims Acts in the U.S. District Court in Chicago, Illinois, docket numbers 03 C 744 (Walgreens), 03 C 742 (CVS) and 01 C 7433 (Omnicare).

Behn & Wyetzner also represented the pharmacist whistleblower alleging that Johnson & Johnson paid kickbacks to influence drug selections in nursing homes, which recovered over $170 million (D. Mass. 07 CV 10288-RGS). Other major cases have recovered hundreds of millions in taxpayer funds for fraud in defense contracting and other federally funded industries. (For more information, visit: http://www.bit.ly/BehnWhistleblowersWin.)

Further details about Behn & Wyetzner, Chartered qui tam actions, relators, Medicare and Medicaid fraud, pharmaceutical and pharmacy fraud, and procurement fraud can be found at http://www.BehnWyetzner.com.
Sean is a tremendous talent, and we had a successful partnership for the past eight years,' said Julie Talbott, President of Premiere Networks. 'He will truly be missed on hundreds of stations across the country. We wish him all the best for the future as he takes on this next chapter of his career.

After an entertaining and successful 35 years of syndication, Radio Hall of Fame inductee, Sean Hollywood Hamilton has announced his retirement from all three of his national radio programs  Hollywood Hamiltons The Weekend Top30, The Remix Top30 with Hollywood Hamilton, and The Weekend Top30 with DJ Pup Dawg. Hamiltons popular weekday afternoon program continues to be heard on iHeartRadios 103.5 KTU in New York City.

Its time to spend more quality time with my family and continue developing new projects Ive been passionate about, said Hamilton. Ill be announcing new endeavors in Spring 2022.

Hamilton, known as Hollywood since his earliest days working in syndicated radio, first teamed up in the 1980s with Dick Clark and the late Steve Rivers to pioneer one of the first live, pop/mainstream satellite programs called Hangin with Hollywood on the Transtar/Unistar Radio Network.

In 1998, he debuted three iterations of his popular franchise: The Weekend Top30 and the multiple award-winning, dance music version, The Remix Top30 for CHR/Top 40-formatted stations, and a CHR/Rhythmic-formatted version of The Weekend Top30, most recently hosted by DJ Pup Dawg.

The Weekend Top30 and The Remix Top30 were first launched into national syndication with Andy Denmark and his team at United Stations before joining Premiere Networks national lineup in 2013, where they will conclude the weekend of June 26 and 27, 2021.

First and foremost, I want to give thanks to the more than 150 program directors that stuck with me all these years, added Hamilton. You have no idea how much that meant to me. None of this would be possible without the incredible producer/production team of Eric Weiss, Michelle Parisi, Eric Hertzog, DD, Dwayne Crawford, DJ Pup Dawg and my wife, Marina. Without this group, the shows would never have lasted this long, while continuing to stay on top. I also want to thank my enormously talented Premiere Networks family  youre the best in the business.

Sean is a tremendous talent, and we had a successful partnership for the past eight years, said Julie Talbott, President of Premiere Networks. He will truly be missed on hundreds of stations across the country. We wish him all the best for the future as he takes on this next chapter of his career.

Media Contact for Hollywood Hamilton:

EMILY TAN MEDIA RELATIONS

attn: Emily Tan

+1(917) 318-3758

EmilyTan@EmilyTanMediaRelations.com

https://www.EmilyTanMediaRelations.com

Media Contact for Premiere Networks:

PREMIERE NETWORKS

attn: Rachel Nelson

rnelson@premierenetworks.com

# # #
Woburn, MA (01801)

Today

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 56F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Showers this evening, becoming a steady rain overnight. Low 56F. Winds S at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Griggs Requests More in Next Fiscal Year's Budget

By Bill Hughes

PADUCAH - The McCracken County Clerk discussed her budget for the next fiscal year at a meeting on May 18.Julie Griggs told West Kentucky Star she has requested additional funding from the Fiscal Court to cover office expenses and additional costs related to elections.Last year's election was obviously different because of the pandemic, and Griggs' office spent $80,000 instead of $35,000 on printing costs, about $10,000 more on advertising, plus postage to mail ballots to all voters instead of just absentees. Nobody could anticipate any of that when the 2020 budget was set.Griggs said, "The primary election was all mail-in ballots. There was no way that we would have known, so those things - postage, printing and advertising - were significantly more than what we had budgeted for."The budget requests an increase of about 40 percent for election expenses. That includes $20,000 for election advertising, $55,000 for election printing, and $22,000 for voting machine maintenance.The largest expense will be for voting machines, but it could have been much more. Griggs applied for and received a $535,000 grant from the Tech & Civic Life Foundation in November, and used it to purchase 42 voting machines in December. She had addressed the Fiscal Court before the pandemic in early 2020 about the need to replace the machines soon.She requested money in the budget to get four more machines, at a cost of $11,000 each. She said they won't need as many machines as before."We're going to consolidate some of the precincts," Griggs said. "We've got 54 now, we're going to try to get it down to about 44, so we're not going to need as many machines as what we normally would have, but we'll have to have it for all of those locations, plus House Bill 574 established that we will have one super-center voting location - like what we did in the general election - which will be in the county clerk's office in the courthouse."Her office budget is set to increase by about 11 percent, which includes money related to hiring a new employee. Contracted services will have a budget of about $107,000.Griggs anticipates that officials will approve her budget requests for next year.Related to elections, Griggs said most if not all county clerks have expressed concern about an item in the recently-passed House Bill 574. It stipulates that only three days of early in-person voting would be available, and those same three days would also be set aside for absentee voting.Griggs said her office would normally open up for absentee voting at least a month before the election, so clerks across the Commonwealth are hoping legislators will revisit that part of the law before the 2022 primary.Mail-in absentee voting would still be available, as always, for those who qualify.
Board certified internist Dr. Michael Farzam of House Call Doctor Los Angeles Convenience is just one reason that house call doctors are very much here to stay.

A May 15 article on KTLA reports that more than half of California residents have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and roughly 38% of residents are fully vaccinated. The article also reports on findings from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that ranks California 12th in the country for states with the highest percentage of vaccinated residents. Los Angeles-based and board-certified physician Dr. Michael Farzam of House Call Doctor Los Angeles welcomes this news, saying as the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter, people can continue to take advantage of at-home options for doctors on call available for all types of medical needs, including coronavirus testing both at-home and via drive-through.

Dr. Farzam says that due to stay-at-home orders over the last year, individuals realized how many things could be accomplished at home, including medical appointments with house call doctors. In Los Angeles, where traffic can double or triple the amount of time it takes to drive anywhere, the Southern California physician says being able to do see a doctor from home has obvious benefits. Dr. Farzam notes that convenience is just one reason that house call doctors are very much here to stay.

The Los Angeles-based doctor says that thanks to modern technology and medical advancements, much of the standard equipment used in a traditional doctors office are now miniaturized and easily portable. Dr. Farzam says that this makes it easy for doctors to bring quality care directly to patients doorsteps, whether its an at-home COVID test or ordinary checkup. This allows individuals to stay safely isolated at home, away from crammed waiting rooms with other ill and potentially infectious patients, he adds.

Dr. Farzam says that house call doctors can also provide patients with more personalized and unhurried care while treating them at home. He notes that while the average appointment time at a doctors office lasts is usually less than 20 minutes and sometimes barely 10 minutes, his appointments tend to last closer to 45 minutes. The doctor says this allows him to fully address any questions or concerns his patients might have in addition to providing a more accurate diagnosis.

Readers who are interested in learning more about the services of board-certified physician Dr. Michael Farzam and House Call Doctor Los Angeles are welcome to call (310) 849-7991 or visit https://www.housecalldoctorla.com/. Dr. Farzam serves patients throughout the Greater Los Angeles area.
Hyundai of Mankato thanks servicemen and women with $500 bonus offer.

In addition to the lineup of new vehicle sales and incentives going on during the dealerships Memorial Day sale, Hyundai of Mankato is offering qualifying military members and first responders a new Hyundai bonus. Now through May 31, Hyundai of Mankato is providing a $500 service bonus to eligible shoppers to put towards their purchase of a new 2020, 2021 or 2022 Hyundai vehicle.

Bonus recipients are able to use their reward towards any new and in-stock qualifying Hyundai model, including the latest additions such as the 2022 Hyundai Tucson and 2021 Hyundai Santa Fe.

Hyundai of Mankatos exclusive offer for military personnel is available for active duty, reservist, National Guard, veteran and retired U.S. military members. Customers must fall under one of the designated program eligibility categories or be the spouse of a qualifying military member to receive the $500 bonus offer. Eligible members are defined as serving or having served in the United States Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Marine Corps, Navy, National Guard or Reserves.

Similar to the military program offer, Hyundai of Mankato provides eligible first responders with a $500 service bonus to emergency first responders. This $500 offer is available to qualifying customers and their spouses. The first responders program is available to active police officers, 911 dispatchers, EMT/paramedics, correctional officers, state troopers, sheriffs, sheriff deputies, federal law enforcement officers and paid or volunteer firefighters.

Additional terms and conditions may apply for both offers.

Anyone looking for additional information on the military or first responders offer at Hyundai of Mankato can find designated information pages on the dealership website, hyundaiofmankato.com. For a more personal interaction, dealership representatives are available to assist with any questions by phone, 507-550-1175.
The year-over-year trends remind us how far the housing market has come over the past year. Sales plummeted for 4-8 weeks last March and April before Americans realized one thing: home had become more important than ever to them. Housing has been a big driver of economic growth ever since.

Today, the experts at Zonda, the housing industrys foremost advisors, released the New Home Pending Sales Index (PSI) for April 2021. The New Home PSI shows pending sales flattened month-over-month but increased year-over-year across the United States. The index is a leading residential real estate indicator based on the number of new home sales contracts signed across the country.



The New Home PSI came in at 161.3 for April, representing a 78.6% increase from a weak April 2020.

The housing market faced a pandemic-induced crash in March and April 2020. Looking at the two-year picture provides better context. The index is 49.5% above April 2019 levels.

On a month-over-month basis, new home sales flattened from March to April.

The New Home PSI is a unique measure of the housing market because it is made up of two components*: new home orders and the average sales rate per community. The new home orders component rose 40% year-over-year in April and the average sales rate per community input rose 80% year-over-year. Both are down modestly month-over-month.

New home orders look at total sales and will fall based purely on limited supply. The average sales rate per community captures how well builders are selling at the open communities and strips out the supply side. Both, however, can be negatively impacted by builders intentionally capping sales, which 91% of builders reported doing in April.

The year-over-year trends remind us how far the housing market has come over the past year, said Ali Wolf, Zondas chief economist. Sales plummeted for 4-8 weeks last March and April before Americans realized one thing: home had become more important than ever to them. Housing has been a big driver of economic growth ever since.

Pending new home sales trended above April 2020 levels in all of our top markets. The best new home markets were the ones hardest hit during the brief but sharp housing slowdown last year: Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Riverside/San Bernardino. Given the year-over-year comparisons are dependent on how much local housing markets slowed during April of 2020, the month-over-month is a better gauge this month. Contract sales in Seattle, Austin, and Cincinnati posted the best change on a month-over-month basis.

The input components give great color when trying to make sense of supply and demand. For example, the spread between the average sale rate and new home orders is highest in Riverside/San Bernardino, Los Angeles/OC, Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Tampa, which suggests a big supply and demand imbalance. This list includes some of the hottest markets in the country as well as those that are facing a particularly pronounced lot shortage.

Affordability is and will remain the top risk for the housing market, said Wolf. Buyers are eager to jump into todays markets, but with limited inventory, prices are skyrocketing, and competition is fierce. We are anticipating a bottom in inventory in the coming months, which should help normalize the market.

New home data is susceptible to outsized swings in contract activity based on shifts in the number of actively selling communities. As a result, Zonda normalizes the data to ensure consistency across the index. The New Home PSI blends the cumulative sales of active or recently sold-out projects with the average sales rate per community, which adjusts for fluctuations in supply. Furthermore, the New Home PSI is seasonally adjusted based on each markets specific seasonality and removes outliers. The index is baselined to 100 for June 2016. Todays national New Home PSI is 61% above the base level.

The next Zonda New Home PSI press release, featuring May 2021 data, will be issued on Monday, June 21, 2021 at 9:00 a.m. ET.

*Note that the PSI calculation includes weights and seasonal adjustments. The year-over-year changes related to the components removes both and are just looking at the raw index values.

Methodology

The Zonda New Home Pending Sales Index (PSI) is built on proprietary, industry-leading data that covers 60% of the production new home market across the United States. Reported number of new home pending contracts are gathered and analyzed each month. Released on the 15th business day of each month, the New Home PSI is a leading indicator of housing demand compared to closings because it is based on the number of signed contracts at a new home community. Zonda monitors 18,000 active communities in the country and the homes tracked can be in any stage of construction.

The new home market represents roughly 10% of all transactions, allowing little movements in supply to cause outsized swings in market activity. As a result, the New Home PSI blends the cumulative sales of activity recently sold out projects with the average sales rate per community, which adjusts for fluctuations in supply. Furthermore, the New Home PSI is seasonally adjusted based on each markets specific seasonality, removes outliers, and uses June 2016 as the base month. The foundation of the index is a monthly survey conducted by Zonda. It is necessary to monitor both new and existing home sales to establish an accurate picture of the relative health of the residential real estate market.

About Zonda

Zonda provides data-driven housing market solutions to the homebuilding and multifamily industries. From builders to building product manufacturers, mortgage clients, and multifamily executives, we work hand-in-hand with our customers to streamline access to housing data to empower smarter decisions. As a leading brand in residential construction, our mission is to advance the home building industry, because we believe better homes mean better lives and stronger communities. Together, we are building the future of housing.
The results of this survey are very clear: no matter who they voted for, people want infrastructure and manufacturing to be the focus of our economic recovery, and they want to make these investments to build a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable economy, said Jason Walsh, Executive Director of

Ninety percent of voters across six key states and across the political spectrum prioritize repairing and modernizing Americas aging physical infrastructure and rebuilding and retooling American manufacturing to build more products and technology here in the United States, according to a new survey released today by the BlueGreen Alliance. The survey, conducted April 5-13 by Hart Research in Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, showed strong supportacross the political spectrum with Democratic, Republican, and independent votersfor investments like those proposed in President Joe Bidens American Jobs Plan.

The voters also placed a high priority on strengthening Americas social infrastructure, public services, and human service workforce (84%). Increasing the production of clean energy and investing in innovative clean technologies was widely supported (72%).

The results of this survey are very clear: no matter who they voted for, people want infrastructure and manufacturing to be the focus of our economic recovery, and they want to make these investments to build a cleaner, healthier, and more equitable economy, said Jason Walsh, Executive Director of the BlueGreen Alliance. Whats more is that there is wide agreement that this recovery must bring good-paying jobs back to the United States, focus on communities that have been left behind, and include measures that ensure that the economy we rebuild today creates the good-paying jobs of the future across the country.

The survey of 1,607 registered voters showed 67% of respondents said the federal government should take a much more or somewhat more active role in addressing our nations economic problems. The voters overwhelmingly supported requirements that ensure the creation of high-quality jobs and environmental protections when the federal government spends taxpayer dollars on projects to rebuild and retool American manufacturing and repair and modernize our infrastructureand for investments in clean energy.

Our workers are ready to repair and modernize our infrastructure systems across the board, said Utility Workers Union of America President James Slevin. Rebuilding the nations infrastructurefrom our aging water systems to modernizing our electric grid for the 21st centurywill not just create good jobs and reduce energy and water waste, but it will set our nation up for success for generations to come. Voters support this and Congress should act now on the American Jobs Plan to deliver for their constituents.

Voters strongly support investment in care jobs to transform the lives not just of individual workers but of whole communities, said Service Employees International Union (SEIU) International President Mary Kay Henry. President Biden has recognized this need and proposed a $400 billion investment in care in the American Jobs Plan that would for the first time recognize the care work done by predominantly women of color and immigrant women as valuable and important. Now its time for Congress to make that investment a reality.

Respondents also registered strong support for key measures to strengthen American manufacturing and rebuild and strengthen the nations infrastructure systems:



94% support improving and enforcing trade policies to stop the offshoring of good jobs and industries, and closing corporate tax loopholes that reward companies that outsource jobs;

93% support ensuring major public investments in infrastructure and clean energy technologies include requirements that the products, technologies, and materials used are made in America and the jobs provide good pay and benefits;

91% support making investments to modernize U.S. industries like steel, aluminum, and glass, in order to manufacture these products in a way that produces less pollution; and

84% support making investments to retool factories to produce the cutting-edge products of the future, like clean vehicles and clean energy technologies.

The majority of Americans support common-sense initiatives like rebuilding our infrastructure, strengthening our supply chains, and modernizing our manufacturing sector because they understand that our success as a nation hinges on having good jobs today and in the future, said United Steelworkers (USW) International President Tom Conway. Now, we must carry this unity forward and make the robust investments that will keep our communities safe and allow us to remain globally competitive.

Voters in the Midwest support investing in clean energy to sustain and create millions of good-paying jobs across a wide range of professions here in the United States, said League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski. They support companies operating in an environmentally friendly way that reduces pollution. They want policies that will stop offshoring and support making products here in America. Its time for the White House and Congress to deliver on what voters want and pass the full American Jobs Plan to address the inter-related challenges of climate change, economic inequality, and environmental injustice.

To view the full findings, you can access the survey results here.

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The BlueGreen Alliance unites labor unions and environmental organizations to solve todays environmental challenges in ways that create and maintain quality jobs and build a clean, thriving, and equitable economy. Visit http://www.bluegreenalliance.org.
In Committed (HMH, July), Adam Stern, a psychiatrist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, reflects on his time as a resident. People struggling with mental illness are human beings and the people trying to take care of them are human beings, he says. We all share the same complex set of emotions. The book traces his growth as a doctor over four years, from naive 20-something, hampered by imposter syndrome, to young professional, eager and ready to help others navigate their turbulent minds. Stern spoke with PW about his misunderstood profession and the taboos around discussing mental health.

How did you land on the books title?

Its a word with a tremendous amount of baggage. I went into this field wanting to treat patients who wanted to be treated. Part of the training and part of my work now sometimes involves treating patients who dont want to be treated, but society says they must be treated because theyre either a danger to themselves or to someone else. That line is difficult to navigate. Commitment is generally assumed to be a positive thing: Im committed to the ideals of the profession, or Im committed to a relationship. In the world of psychiatry, commitment is a double-edged sword: a necessary restriction of someones rights that is difficult even on the person doing the restricting.

What do you hope readers learn about your profession?

The power of psychiatry is built upon a foundation of human connection. Everything happens after youve established Im a person, youre a person, and were both trying to figure out how to help you. Theres shared humanity between the psychiatrists, the physicians, and the residents who are working and learning, and the patients.

What challenges did you face in writing this memoir?

I was limited to what happened in real life, and so there were times when I thought, If only things had happened slightly differently, it wouldve been more interesting to the reader. Writing a memoir is not telling the story of your life, but rather telling a story from your life. I had to define the story that I was telling, and then keep it within the realm of what happened to me. I also had to keep in mind the privacies of everyone involved. The book captures the humor that exists in this world, without dehumanizing the patients. It takes very seriously the suffering that the patients are experiencing while reflecting the lightness and heaviness of real life.

Why is your memoir relevant now?

Mental health is having its moment. Its a part of medicine that was largely stigmatized and not spoken about; now, its more accepted to talk openly about mental health. When Meghan Markle told Oprah that she was experiencing suicidal thoughts and wanted to seek treatmentthat was a groundbreaking moment. What was so remarkable was societys acceptance of that, and welcoming of it as a sign of strength. I hope that my book does a small part in humanizing the experience of seeking help.

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Katie Kitamuras new novel, Intimacies (Riverhead, July), is an elegant and gripping story about a female interpreter who is thrust into one of the International Criminal Courts high-profile cases. The impetus for the book, Kitamura says, was the 2009 trial of Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president, who was eventually found guilty of aiding and abetting war crimes and crimes against humanity. He was grandiose and monstrous, but so compelling, she recalls, speaking via Zoom from her apartment in New York City. I knew there was something there for me in fictional terms.

The case also, unexpectedly, made Kitamura think about language, as the courtrooms translator for Taylor was ever present. I was fascinated by the act of interpretation, she says. The incredible mutability of language, the fact that its so pliable, and that wonderful language can be perverted.

Kitamuras other sources of inspiration are more literary and include Marguerite Duras, Javier Marias, and Patricia Highsmith. She cites the elliptical intensity of Duras and Marias and adds that Highsmith is a masterher work takes the thriller narrative into territory thats entirely psychological.

Kitamuras 2009 debut, The Longshot, won critical acclaim, and her third novel, A Separation, is now being adapted into a film. She says she finds shes attracted to genre elements. Some of her novels start as mysteries or thrillers, but shes more interested in how the characters respond to the escalating events around them than she is in conventional plot structures. Its not about who did itits about what happens as a result, she explains.

Kitamura began writing Intimacies, which will be her fourth novel, in 2019, several years after Taylors first trial. She has since realized that it takes this long for her to commit to a book. Its subject needs to have haunted her, she says.

As part of her research, Kitamura visited the International Criminal Court in 2016 to watch the trial of Laurent Gbagbo, the former president of the Ivory Coast, who was charged with crimes against humanity. There, she saw a number of Ivorians who continued to express support for him, despite the terrible accusations he faced.

Intimacies is not just concerned with the lives of those in the courtroom, though; its also a love story. The unnamed narrator has moved to the Hague from New York City to work as an interpreter for the court. She has begun making friends and has fallen for a man named Adriaan, who is recently separated from his wife. The narrator prides herself on her adaptability and worldlinessshe has lived in many countries and speaks several languagesand at first seems to flourish.

But things start to fall apart. A stranger tells the narrator worrying information about Adriaans marriage at a party. She is assigned a role as an interpreter for the former dictator of an unnamed African country who is standing trial, and the case proves to be demanding. In a disquieting twist, the stranger from the party is revealed to be a member of the dictators defense team. Adriaan travels to Portugal to get a divorce and fails to keep in touch. The narrator becomes preoccupied with her friends brother, who was badly assaulted in a street crime. Amid the growing uncertainty, it seems as if the dictator is the only person in her life who has any regard for her, though his apparent esteem may be influenced by his need for her to express his words and thoughts.

Kitamura says she derived satisfaction from the interpreter losing her grip on her life. I like that I put her in tricky places, she adds. I was interested in her being destabilizedto make her question her judgment. She is so invested in the idea of her own competence, her neutrality as a translator. I am always interested in uncertainty, and characters who dont know. Over the last four or five years, weve been conditioned to polarity, to absolutes. A novel is not good at that. Im incapable of a hot take. It takes me 10 years to figure out what I think. Ive just learned to resign myself to the fact that Im never going to be dynamic like that.

As a lecturer in NYU, Kitamura is very attuned to the challenges presented by contemporary culture and our shifting certainties. I think a lot of young writers that I love are writing in very complex ways about ambiguity, she says. She also feels that teaching has made her a better editor and writer.

On the editing front, Kitamura also has help outside the classroom: her husband, the writer Hari Kunzru, is always her first reader. Their writing styles are different, she says, but there is nobody she trusts more.

Kitamura sees writing as part of her journey to better understand things. I need to write, she says. Its become my way of thinking about the world.

Sinead OShea is a writer and filmmaker in Dublin. She has contributed to Al Jazeera English, the Guardian, and the New York Times.
In May 1953, 25 publishers and librarians met at a country club in Westchester County, N.Y., to create the Freedom to Read Statement. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was at its peak. Americans who were considered disloyal were being fired based on the books they read, the music they liked, and the art that hung on their walls. In Oklahoma, librarian Ruth Brown was dismissed for subscribing to the Nation, the New Republic, Soviet Russia Today, the Negro Digest, and Consumer Reports.

The authors of the Freedom to Read Statement explained that they were responding to the growing popular sentiment that our national tradition of free expression is no longer valid; that censorship and suppression are needed to counter threats to safety and national security. Librarians at the American Library Association convention in June adopted the statement overwhelmingly. The New York Times called it one of Americas outstanding state papers and joined the Washington Post in publishing the full text.

We are living through another age of deep ideological division. Many people sincerely believe that the best way to fight ideas they consider dangerous is to deny them an airingor as we now say, a platform.

Book publishers are once again under intense pressure to engage in censorship. And I dont use that word carelessly. Censorship involves more than the government suppression that is banned by the First Amendment. Private companies play a critical role in protecting free speech.

Many people in publishing are unhappy with their employers and rightly complain about the lack of diversity at all levels of the industry. They also strongly object to their companies publishing books that they believe are harmful, even dangerous. Amplified by vocal support on social media, these critics are having an impact. Contracts have been canceled. Books have been withdrawn from publication.

At a time when a new civil rights movement is demanding an end to centuries of injustice, it is easy to lose sight of the importanceand fragilityof the freedom to read. This freedom is actually a recent development in American history. The battle to read what we want began in the 1920s and won its major legal victories in the 50s and 60s.

If we are to preserve this crucial liberty, we must continue to defend the principles set forth in the Freedom to Read Statement:

1. It is in the public interest for publishers and librarians to make available the widest diversity of views and expressions, including those that are unorthodox, unpopular, or considered dangerous.

2. Publishers, librarians, and booksellers do not need to endorse every idea or presentation they make available. It would conflict with the public interest for them to establish their own political, moral, or aesthetic views as a standard for determining what should be published or circulated.

3. It is contrary to the public interest for publishers or librarians to bar access to writings on the basis of personal history or political affiliations of the author.

4. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians, as guardians of the peoples freedom to read, to contest encroachments upon that freedom by individuals or groups seeking to impose their own standards or tastes upon the community at large.

5. It is the responsibility of publishers and librarians to give full meaning to the freedom to read by providing books that enrich the quality and diversity of thought and expression. By the exercise of this affirmative responsibility, they can demonstrate that the answer to a bad book is a good one, the answer to a bad idea is a good one.

The claim that the best answer to bad speech is more speech seems naive to many of us who have seen the power of social media to spread misinformation and outright lies. But the publishers and librarians who gathered in Westchester readily acknowledged the perils of free speech: We do not state these propositions in the comfortable belief that what people read is unimportant, they wrote. We believe that what people read is deeply important; that ideas can be dangerous; but that the suppression of ideas is fatal to a democratic society.

As the statement concludes: Freedom itself is a dangerous way of life, but it is ours.

Christopher M. Finan is the executive director of the National Coalition Against Censorship and the author of From the Palmer Raids to the Patriot Act: A History of the Fight for Free Speech in America.
Many independent bookstore owners and managers across the country view the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions loosening of mask guidelines for vaccinated people as a failure of public policy, according to a recent informal survey by PW. Of the 31 booksellers we spoke with, 47% said the guidelineswhich advise that vaccinated people no longer need to wear masks in most settingsare unclear and unhelpful, while another 33% said the announcement makes no difference for their bookstores operations. Only one in five respondents reported finding the guidelines useful. Two-thirds say they will continue to require masks in their stores.

For Nicole Sullivan at BookBar in Denver, the announcement was a frustrating disruption to her stores careful planning. We were unprepared for this, so we scrambled to come up with policies and messaging, she said. BookBar will continue to require masks indoors, until the U.S. vaccination rate is at 70% and vaccines have been approved for children under 12 years of age. As of the third week of May, Colorados vaccination rate was just shy of 42%.

Other booksellers cited vaccine distribution disparities as a major factor in their decision to continue to require masks. Chris Abouzeid, co-owner of Belmont Books in Belmont, Mass., called the guidance overly broad. His store is in a county that was pummeled by the virus, and, he said, the safety of all our employees and customers remains our top priority. We will continue to require masks at all times in the store until we can be sure that either everyone is vaccinated or the risk of infection has been reduced enough to no longer be a concern.

Kenny Brechner, owner of Devaney, Doak, and Garrett Booksellers in Farmington, Maine, said he deeply resents the guidance. I will be continuing to require masks because the safety of unvaccinated children and immunocompromised customers is a paramount concern, he noted. Losing the business of people who do not respect that is a cost I would rather pay than the alternative.

Other booksellers cited conflicting state and local guidance in their reaction to the CDC guidelines. At Keplers Books & Magazines in Palo Alto, Calif., CEO Praveen Madan noted that the California Nurses Association had urged California to reject the CDCs recommendations. The guidance is premature, misinformed, and harmful, and it is causing confusion among the public, Madan said.

In Baltimore, Md., Atomic Books co-owner Benn Ray is less angered, but only because he sees the guidance as being less relevant, given a customer base that is supportive of a stricter mask policy and rules set by the city government that remain in place. Instead, he said, the issue is the lack of uniform guidance from place to place. You have people travelingcoming in from out of the city, out of state, where their regulations are differentand not taking the time to check out how where theyre going might be operating, and they may miss even the most obvious signage when entering a business, he added.

Fears of confrontation

Much of booksellers disappointment stems from the fact that they are now responsible for enforcing mask wearing. Fewer than half of the bookstores said they felt comfortable enforcing their own rules, and 39% said their employees do not feel they can safely work in an open bookstore given the CDC guidance.

One bookstore owner from the Upper Midwest, who wished not to be named, wrote, The majority of our clientele are the sort of people to be socially responsible and have been vaccinated, but the majority of the population of our state has not been, making it difficult to feel safe allowing unmasked activities. The people who opposed wearing masks in the first place are the people most likely to lie about having been vaccinated. The honor system cant work in a society where trust doesnt exist.

With a box of masks by the front door, Kate Jacobs, co-owner of Little City Books in Hoboken, N.J., said she is concerned, even though New Jersey has not yet relaxed its indoor mask mandate. We expect more conversation and confrontation, she added.

Dorothy Massey, owner of Collected Works Bookstore in Santa Fe, N.Mex., said shes already been involved in confrontations over her stores rules. Over the past 15 months, Collected Works has been closed to in-person browsing, offering pickup from a window instead. Particularly last summer, people were downtown, walking around, and I had some pretty aggressive people asking to come in, Massey explained. I heard some extraordinary language, and in a couple of instances, I got called something I had to look up on Google to see what it was.

Massey thinks much has changed since last summer, and she expects to reopen on June 1 with a mask requirement for all customers, as well as for staff, regardless of vaccination status. A veteran bookseller, she said she also has no problem enforcing the rules and thinks most people will abide by them.

Some have certainty

Not all booksellers are upset by the CDCs announcement. One Upper Midwest bookstore owner wrote that their stores staff is vaccinated, and they plan to comply with the guidelines. Another store owner in the western U.S. wrote that they do not wear masks, do not require customers to wear them, and do not believe they are effective in preventing the spread of an airborne virus.

Alice Hutchinson, owner of Byrds Books in Bethel, Conn., was one among a number of booksellers who felt the guidance was clear but was thrown off by the suddenness of the announcement. It would have been easier for us if there was some kind of stepping up for the openings, she said. In response to the guidelines, she made a firm and quick decision: I do not want to be the mask police, so I am requiring masks in the store, if only to protect kids. Also, I am not sure opening up a store on the vaccine honor system is as reliable as we hope it is.

Erin Matthews, owner of Books with a Past in Glenwood and Savage, Md., is certain that it is not. She said she has seen more than one person on her towns Facebook page boasting that they are unvaccinated and planning to go into stores without a mask. Meanwhile, her staff will not be fully vaccinated for another three weeks. She said she will continue to require masks but has told staff not to confront customers who arent wearing them, since doing so might be a safety risk.

I wish clear and unhelpful was an option, Matthews said of PWs survey questions. I know exactly what the CDC is saying, and its a disaster. Basically, it allows people who are unvaccinated to lie and say they are.
The books of 2021 were planned long before the multiple miseries of 2020 disrupted lives. Yet the religious and spiritual books by women for women releasing this summer and fall seem prescient: title after title pulses with messages of encouragement and empowerment, with inspiring tales of resilience and survival, and with advice on ways to relate to loved ones, the church, and society under every kind of stress imaginable. The women in these books are fear fighters, armed with faithin God, in their own spiritual resources, and in themselves.

Theres always been an interest in fearlessness, says Stephanie Milner, senior acquisitions editor, DK Life, publisher of Michal Oshmans What Would You Do If You Werent Afraid? Discover a Life Filled with Purpose and Joy Through the Secrets of Jewish Wisdom, which was released earlier this month. Seeking empowerment is just another way of saying that you want to be more brave, to discover what opportunities lie on the other side of your fear. You already possess the solutions to live fearlessly.

In I Am Here: The Journey from Fear to Freedom (Harper One, out now), author Ashley LeMieux, founder of the Shine Project for empowering women, shares life-changing lessons found in the darkest seasons of life. We are living in a beautiful moment where women are publicly giving voice to their struggles and fears so that other women can be encouraged that theyre not alone, said HarperOne senior editor Kathryn Hamilton. Authors like Ashley LeMieux are taking their lessons forged in fire and turning them into inspirational guides that show women how to not let the fear keep them stuck.

The battles women fight are often close to home. Megachurch pastor and abuse survivor Nicole Cranks I Will Thrive: Find Your Fight to Claim True Freedom (FaithWords, June) revs up a call for courage to face the past and allow a daring spirit to rise up in those who have forgotten how to be brave, says editor Karen Longino.

Catherine DeVries, publisher at Kregel Publications, says 2020 was a time of digging deepermaking sacrifices, doing more with less, juggling schedules, and being more flexible than ever. But, she adds, if we dont take care of ourselves, we wont be able to take care of those around us nearly as well. She points to trauma expert and abuse survivor Karen DeArmond Gardner, who counsels women to rely on God as the ultimate source of hope in Hope for Healing from Domestic Abuse: Reaching for Gods Promise of Real Freedom, due out in July.

Allie Marie Smith, founder of an organization for teen girls and young women, offers more encouragement to persevere in Wonderfully Made: Discover the Identity, Love, and Worth You Were Created For (Moody, Oct.). Ginger Stache, chief creative officer for Joyce Meyer Ministries, tells women God means them to stand out and has amazing adventures in mind in her book Chasing Wonder: Small Steps Toward a Life of Big Adventures (Worthy Books, June).

At IVP, associate publisher and director of editorial Cindy Bunch says the time has never been more right for a book like Women Rising: Learning to Listen, Reclaiming Our Voice (out now) by Christian blogger and podcaster Meghan Tschanz. Tschanz writes that women are rising to challenge for equal treatment in the church and the society, daring to speak when theyve been told to sit down.

Standing up for women

People have argued for millennia over the Apostle Pauls words that women should be silent in church. Todays women are having none of that. Wilda C. Gafney, professor of Hebrew Bible at Brite Divinity School, is writing a four-volume collection of readings (the first two volumes of which release in August) that disrupt the male-centric Sunday readings in most churches by highlighting women in the Scriptures, titled A Womans Lectionary for the Whole Church (Church Publishing). And five authors have joined up to offer wisdom and support for their sisters in the pulpit in a time of national upheaval with This Band of Sisterhood: Black Women Bishops on Race, Faith, and the Church (Morehouse, July), edited by Westina Matthews, an adjunct professor for the Center for Christian Spirituality at General Theological Seminary. At Encourage Publishing, author and therapist Kim Daffner cajoles women to let go of whatever fear, insecurity, or hidden secrets hold them back from trusting their spiritual gifts and stepping in to leadership in the church with Sister, I Feel Ya: A Call to Wake Up (Oct.).

It may seem contradictory: rise up, slow down. But many authors say spiritual flourishingand surviving the frenzied timeslies in trusting the lessons of Scripture and faith. In When Strivings Cease: Replacing the Gospel of Self-Improvement with the Gospel of Life-Transforming Grace (Nelson, Oct.) bestselling author Ruth Chou Simons uses personal story, original art, and biblical insights to guide women toward the realization that Gods favor is the only currency we need.

Llewellyn Publishing suggests a different pathlooking inwardwith magical arts teacher Tess Whitehursts The Self-Love Superpower: The Magical Art of Approving of Yourself (No Matter What), coming out in September. According to the publisher, Whitehurst dares you to experience the liberation, healing, and empowerment that come when you make a spiritual practice out of learning to love yourself.

Esteeming oneself means accepting, even championing, ones body. The essays by United Church of Christ pastor Christina Kukuk in Loving What Doesnt Last: An Adoration of the Body (Morehouse, Oct.) explore how birth, food, love, pain, death, and water become skin-wrapped windows into the holy, according to the publisher.

Resilience and survival

While events like a pandemic or upheaval in the streets or at the nations capitol loom large, the deep and lingering pains women faceloss of loved ones, disability, depression, unequal treatment, diminished opportunitiescall for a resilient spirit. This year, women will have many titles by inspiring authors who share how they survived.

Shannon Dingle, who describes herself as a disability activist, freelance writer, sex trafficking survivor, and recovering perfectionist, wrote Living Brave: Lessons from Hurt, Lighting the Way to Hope (HarperOne, June) after her husband was killed by a rogue wave at the beach. The book models how to keep on standing in a place of strong faith.

Hope Carpenter was sure her life as a wife, mother, and megachurch worship leader had imploded when her pastor husband announced from the pulpit that their marriage was over. Her book, The Most Beautiful Disaster: How God Makes Miracles Out of Our Mistakes (FaithWords, out now) digs deeply into the spiritual life she relied upon to rebuild her life.

Sarah J. Robinson wrote a guide for Christians crushed with mental illness who realize they need more help than cliches like pray more. Her book, I Love Jesus, but I Want to Die: Finding Hope in the Darkness of Depression (WaterBrook, out now), helps readers reconnect with the God who is present in our deepest anguish and discover that they are worth everything it takes to get better, according to the publisher.

Karen Casey wrote a spiritual classic of meditations nearly 40 years ago in the wake of her struggle with alcoholism. Now, with Each Day a New Renewed Beginning: Meditations for Peaceful Journey (Conari, out now) she aims to help more women, the publisher says.

This summer, Paraclete Press launches Iron Pen, a new imprint for inspirational nonfiction, with a memoir by Catholic sister Sharon Hunter, who confronted her painful memories of a childhood marked by addiction in a poetry collection, To Shatter Glass (Aug.), and maps how one can strive for reconciliation through self-examination and forgiveness.

Forgiving and going forward

B&H zeroes in on one of the most challenging topics for women in the church with Its Not Just You, Freeing Women to Talk about Sexual Sin and Fight It Well (Aug.), by Ashley Chesnut, associate young adult minister at the Church of Brook Hills. Her goal is to equip women who struggle with sinful temptations to find victory in understanding Gods idea for sexuality. Also from B&H is a compendium of advice by professors, ministry leaders, and others on serving women in faith, The Whole Woman: Ministering to Her Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength (Oct.).

Christian parenting and faith blogger Mary Katherine Backstroms Holy Hot Mess (Worthy, Aug.) says women should celebrate their imperfections, because you are the person God created you to be, even if youre a work in progress, according to the publisher.

Depleted by the demands of motherhood? Shannon K. Evans, a Catholic writer and columnist for the Jesuits website, shows how contemplative traditions can guide women in returning to a more natural experience of motherhood in Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Feminine Spirituality (Brazos, Sept.).

Shari Zook learned to let go of her supermom persona when she was overwhelmed by the grief of a miscarriage, parenting a difficult child, and falling into depression and doubt. Her book, Peanut Butter and Dragon Wings: A Mothers Search for Grace, out from Herald Press in July, says women can find freedom when we give ourselves permission to admit our own need, to others and to God, and to receive the abundant love and care that surrounds us, says acquisitions editor Laura Leonard.

April White was a mother and pharmacist when a rare illness and widowhood derailed her old life. She redirected her efforts to become a writer and a chronic illness warrior [who] draws strength daily with Jesus, coffee, and afternoon naps, according to her book Destination Hope: A Travel Companion When Life Falls Apart (Ambassador International, Sept.), written with Marilyn Nutter.

Karen Ehman, author of 17 books chiefly encouraging people to love God and each other, says the path to peace is to escape the prison of other peoples expectations in When Making Others Happy Is Making You Miserable: How to Break the Pattern of People-Pleasing and Confidently Live Your Life, due in August from Zondervan. Also from Zondervan in August is podcaster Sarah Braggs advice to be your authentic self to your kids and your God in A Mothers Guide to Raising Herself: What Parenting Taught Me About Life, Faith, and Myself.

Facing truth, hearing truth, telling truth

Two veteran Christian counselors teamed to write When Words Matter Most: Speaking Truth with Grace to Those You Love (Crossway, Sept.). Cheryl Marshall and Caroline Newheiser note that they draw on their own experiences to guide women seeking to encourage the worried, strengthen the weak, reprove the wayward, and comfort the weeping.

The authenticity door swings both ways. Sometimes a parent has to expand her heart and spirit in response to her childs reality. So says Staci Frenes, a Christian music publisher, artist, and mother of an LGBTQ daughter, in her book Love Makes Room: And Other Things I Learned When My Daughter Came Out (Broadleaf, out now). As she came to terms with the challenge of a new reality, she found an expanding faith, and a greater understanding of how people are more the same than different, according to the publisher.

Evangelical author and speaker Anne Graham Lotz and her daughter Rachel-Ruth Lotz Wright show how to build a legacy of faith in Jesus Followers: Real-Life Lessons for Igniting Faith in the Next Generation (Multnomah, Oct.), in which they share family stories of the deep spiritual life nurtured in them by Annes father, the late Billy Graham. The baton is passed through witness, worship, walk, and work, they write.
The International Friendship Program, housed in the Office of International Students and Scholars (ISS), needs new faculty and staff volunteers who are willing to befriend new international students arriving in July and August.

Opportunities for host and student involvement through the International Friendship Program abound, beginning in mid-July with the students in the Undergraduate Research Experience  Colombia, here for six months. IFP host participants are encouraged to meet socially once a month with their assigned students, who are eager to get connected, make new friends and to get better acquainted with Greater Lafayette.

To learn more about what in-person meetings will look like, faculty and staff can view a host orientation online and then register to attend a 30-minute online Q&A session. Upon registration, participants will receive a Zoom link to join the meeting.

June 1, 15, 22 and 30 -- Noon to 1 p.m.

June 3, 10, 23 and 29 -- 4:30-5:30 p.m.

July 8, 14, 20 and 28 -- Noon to 1 p.m.

July 13, 21 and 27 -- 4:30-5:30 p.m.

Hosts who have participated in IFP before and would like to be matched with a new student for 2021-22 can log into their host account to update their information and register for Fall semester 2021.

Visit the program's webpage for new hosts for more information.
Memorial Day Message From Randy Bridges

By Representative Randy Bridges

PADUCAH - This week I want to focus on remembrance and renewal as we discuss what Memorial Day means to so many of us.Originally known as Decoration Day, our nation first set aside a day to recognize those who sacrificed their lives for the sake of liberty just following the Civil War in 1868. As they were rebuilding this nation and healing the wounds of families torn apart, Americans chose to come together to honor and remember those who answered Americas call to service and paid the ultimate price.We observe Memorial Day to reflect on the sacrifices made by our nations heroes and to be reminded that each of us are blessed with the many freedoms we enjoy because of the brave men and women of our armed forces. And without them, we as a nation, would not be what we are today. From our nations revolution to combatting global terrorism, America is a shining city on a hill because of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, and because of the sacrifices they make for us. This great experiment we all enjoy is only one generation away from extinction. Do not forget to reflect on the meaning of the sacrifice these brave men and women have made for you and me.As we remember those we have lost in service to our country, let us also take that time to renew our spirits. Let us gather together again and use this past year or so to remind ourselves who we are as Americans. We are a naturally reflective people and I think most of us want to make sense of what we have collectively been through over the past 14 months.In many ways, I think we were faced with the challenges of 2020 and 2021 to show us, and make us appreciate more, what we have. Some of you have lost loved ones during this pandemic. My heart breaks for anyone that suffered a loss over these past several months. Businesses and livelihoods, many that have taken a lifetime to build, were shuttered and lost. And an already ravaging opioid epidemic was exacerbated further by isolation and fear of the unknown. We lost so much this past year that now, when faced with the imminent re-opening of our state, we cant help but breathe a sigh of relief and say a prayer of gratitude that we are seeing an end to this pandemic.As Kentucky completely opens back up this summer, my family and I will enjoy spending time with neighbors and friends and we will take to the road to enjoy what this great state has to offer. Let us never again take for granted how beautiful Kentucky is and how dependent we are upon one another to move our state forward after we have faced tough times.I hope you use this weekend to reflect and renew your own spirit. For the past several months we have been discussing our new normal. Let us now get back to more than normal and use what we have been through to lead us into a better tomorrow.As always, please contact me with your thoughts and ideas on topics we may address in the upcoming interim and during the 2022 legislative session. I can be reached here at home anytime, or through the toll-free message line in Frankfort at 1-800-372-7181. You can also reach out to me through email at Randy.Bridges@lrc.ky.gov. If you would like more information, please visit the legislature's website www.legislature.ky.gov.
LATEST UPDATES ON SONYA DEVILLE STALKING CASE

There are several updates on the criminal case against WWE star Sonya Deville's alleged stalker Phillip A. Thomas.

On 5/14, Judge Barbara Twine Thomas issued a five page ruling that Thomas was incompetent to stand criminal trial based on the results of a court-ordered medical examination. Due to that mental health evaluation, Thomas was hereby committed to the Department of Children and Families to be placed in a mental health treatment facility pursuant to local Florida statutes.

In her ruling, Thomas noted:

The Defendant is manifestly incapable of surviving alone or with the help of willing and responsible family or friends, including available alternative services, and, without treatment, the Defendant is likely to suffer from neglect or to refuse to care for himself/herself, and such neglect or refusal poses a real and present threat of substantive harm to the Defendant's well-being; or, there is a substantial likelihood that in the near future the Defendant will inflict serious bodily harm on himself/herself or another person, as evidenced by behaviors causing, attempting, or threatening such harm. b. All available, less restrictive treatment alternatives, including treatment in community residential facilities or community inpatient or outpatient settings, which would offer an opportunity for improvement of the Defendants condition have been judged to be inappropriate; and c. There is substantial probability that the mental illness causing the Defendants incompetence to proceed will respond to treatment and the Defendant will regain competency to proceed in the reasonably foreseeable future.

It was also ordered that Thomas not be released without further order from the court, so unless something changes, he will be committed for the foreseeable future. The commitment likely means the end of the criminal case unless the court rules something has changed in his status.

Deville was provided another extension of her injunction order of protection against Thomas. Deville had been previously granted an order of protection injunction indefinitely through the resolution of the criminal case against Thomas. The order states Thomas "shall not commit, or cause any other person to commit, any acts of stalking against Petitioner, including stalking, cyber-stalking, aggravated stalking, or any criminal offense resulting in physical injury or death. Respondent shall not commit any other violation of this injunction through an intentional unlawful threat, word, or act to do violence to Petitioner."

The existing, temporary order also prevents Thomas (who has remained incarcerated in Tampa) from going near Deville's home, within 100 feet of her vehicles or any places requested by Deville where she, members of her family or those closely associated with her "regularly frequent." The current injunction prevents Thomas from using or possessing any firearm or ammunition.

There will be another hearing on 10/7 at 9 AM regarding the order of protection.

As previously reported, Thomas has been charged with Aggravated Stalking, Armed Burglary of a Dwelling, Attempted Armed Kidnapping, and Criminal Mischief. Tampa authorities have alleged that Thomas had been planning to kidnap Deville for months and drove from South Carolina to Deville's Florida home in order to do so. Around midnight Sunday morning 8/16/20, Thomas parked his car and found the Deville's home, cut a hole in the patio screen and remained there for hours, watching and listening through the home's windows. He entered the home around 2:43 AM after Deville went to bed, triggering an alarm by entering through a glass sliding door. Deville saw Thomas and fled the home with another person who was a guest on the property, calling 911.

When authorities arrived, Thomas was still in the home and was found "carrying a knife, plastic zip ties, duct tape, mace and other items and told deputies he was planning to take the homeowner hostage." Thomas' social media featured many references to her as well as responses to Deville and others who wrote about her. Deville testified that Thomas sent threatening messages about her, her ex-girlfriend, her mother, her father, her sisters, her niece and Mandy Rose.

Deville returned to WWE programming in January 2021 with the storyline being that she has been reinstated after losing a "Loser Leaves WWE" match to Mandy Rose at Summerslam 2020. That match took place just days after the home invasion - that departure was to provide Deville with time off after the home invasion. Since her return, Deville has appeared on camera playing a WWE official.

Thanks to Richard Trionfo.

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NJPW STRONG REPORT: NO DQ MATCH AND MORE

We are in Los Angeles, California and your announcers are Shigeki Kiyono and Hiroshi Tanahashi (in Japanese) or Kevin Kelly and Alex Koslov (in English).

Match Number One: Alex Coughlin versus Bateman

They lock up and Alex with a waist lock. Bateman with a wrist lock and Alex escapes and tries for a full nelson but decides to apply and arm bar. Alex with a hammer lock and Bateman with an elbow and forearm. Bateman with a side head lock but Alex with a top wrist lock into a take down and hammer lock. Bateman gets to his feet but Alex holds on to the wrist lock.

Bateman tries to escape but Alex takes him back down to the mat. Alex gets a near fall. Alex with a side head lock. Bateman with a fish hook to escape and Alex backs Bateman into the ropes and chops on the break. Bateman chops back.

We get a deliberate chop exchange and Bateman kicks Alex in the throat and snap mares Alex but Alex with a hammer lock.Alex kicks bateman in the shoulder and goes for a gutwrench suplex but Bateman blocks it. Bateman with a knee to the back of the head followed by a Northern Lariat. Bateman with an elbow to the back of the neck. Alex with a knee and elbow but Bateman with a chop. Bateman with a belly-to-back suplex for a near fall. Bateman with a rear chin lock. Alex gets to the ropes to force a break but Bateman with a knee to the back of the head.

Bateman with a forearm and Alex with a European uppercut. Bateman with forearms and Alex with chops. Alex with a flying shoulder tackle and chop. Alex with an Irish whip and clothesline into the corner followed by shoulders and a suplex. Alex with a dead lift gutwrench suplex for a near fall. Alex with European uppercuts but Bateman with a clothesline and a brainbuster slam for a near fall. Alex with a Fujiwara arm bar. Alex with a rollup for a near fall. Alex with a kick and he goes for a slam but Bateman with a forearm to the back of the neck and a tombstone piledriver for the three count.

Winner: Bateman

Match Number Two: Danny Limelight and JR Kratos versus Karl Fredericks and Brody King

Kratos and Limelight attack Fredericks and King before the bell rings and they fight to the floor. Kratos sends King into the ring post and then Limelight and Fredericks get into the ring. Limelight with a forearm but Fredericks with knees. Kratos tags in and he kicks Fredericks. Kratos with an Irish whip and a shoulder tackle. Kratos with a kick and he gets a near fall. Fredericks with punches and chops but Kratos with a punch. Limelight tags in and he kicks Fredericks in the ribs. Limelight chokes Fredericks in the ropes and then kicks the ropes while Fredericks is hanging on the middle rope. Limelight with a front face lock and Kratos tags in and punches Fredericks in the ribs. Kratos kicks Fredericks in the head and he slaps Fredericks. Kratos knocks King down on the apron. Fredericks with a chop and forearms. Kratos with a clothesline.

Kratos with a reverse chin lock and elbow to the head. Kratos with a forearm in the corner and Limelight tags in and connects with a forearm and kick. Limelight wraps the arm in the ropes and he kicks the shoulders. Fredericks wants Limelight to continue with the kicks and Limelight with a back heel kick. Fredericks with a spinebuster and both men are down.

Kratos and King tag in and King with forearms and chops. Limelight tries to get involved and King chops him and then sends Limelight into Kratos with a Death Valley Driver. King press slams Limelight onto Kratos on the floor. King with a clothesline for a near fall. Fredericks tags in but Kratos backs King into Fredericks. Kratos with a clothesline in the corner. Limelight with a double stomp onto Kings back and then he rolls through and hits a cutter on Fredericks. Kratos gets a near fall. Limelight tags in and Kratos sends Limelight into the corner for a drop kick and Kratos with a flying boot but Limelight can only get a near fall when King breaks up the cover. King and Kratos battle on the floor. Fredericks catches Limelight off the ropes. They exchange forearms and Limelight with a back elbow but Fredericks blocks an elbow and Fredericks with a sleeper into a impaler DDT for the three count.

Winners: Karl Fredericks and Brody King

We go to the back and King says a win is a win. King says they didnt want to play dirty. Fredericks says all that talk meant nothing because one second and I took off your head.

We go to the Cleaning and Disinfection Break.

Match Number Three: Fred Rosser versus Hikuleo in a No Disqualification Match

Hikuleo waits for Rosser to come through the entrance but Rosser comes up behind Hikuleo and hits him from the apron and then hits a clothesline off the turnbuckles. The referee starts the match.

Rosser with forearms and punches. Hikuleo with a boot and power slam and then he follows with forearms. Hikuleo chokes Rossesr. Hikuleo with a kick and Rosser with a forearm. Hikuleo with a forearm and elbow. Rosser is sent into the turnbuckles. Hikuleo with a chop and he gets Rosser up for a slam but Rosser gets back to his feet and he punches Hikuleo. Rosser gets Hikuleo up but Hikuleo grabs the ropes to get off his shoulders. Hikuleo with forearms and then he sends Rosser over the top rope to the floor. Hikuleo follows Rosser to the floor and he connects with a forearm. Rosser chokes Hikuleo with a cable but Hikuleo punches Rosser and sends him into the apron. Hikuleo looks under the ring and gets a chair but when he swings he misses a few times and Hikuleo hits the ring post instead. Rosser is sent into the ring post a few times. Hikuleo finds a table under the ring and sets it up but Rosser throws something and hits Hikuleo in the back of the head. Hikuleo with a forearm and punches. Rosser with elbows and punches. Hikuleo goes for a choke slam onto the edge of the table but Rosser escapes and he rakes the back. Rosser with a punch and they go into the back.

Hikuleo is sent into a stack of boxes. Rosser chokes Hikuleo with his wrist tape and he punches Hikuleo. Hikuleo sends Rosser through a door and they fight outside the building. Rosser with a kick and Hikuleo with a forearm that sends Rosser into the back of a truck. Hikuleo sends Roser into the inside walls of the truck. Rossser with chops and punches. Hikuleo sends Rosser into the wall again but Rosser with a punch. Rosser with elbows to Hikuleos head. Rosser with boots to the back of the head followed by a leg drop but Rosser appears to have hurt his hip. Rosser tries to close the back of the truck onto Hikuleo but Hikuleo with a low blow. Hikuleo pulls the back of the truck down but misses Rosser. Rosser kicks Hikuleo and then hits a running forearm out of the truck. Rosser chokes Hikuleo with a hose. Hikuleo with a forearm to the back of the head. They exchange punches and Hikuleo with forearms before they return to the building. They exchange punches as they return to the ringside area. Rosser with a clothesline but Hikuleo with boots and then he sends Rosser face first into the ring post. Hikuleo hot shots Rosser on the guardrails and then he sets up the table on the floor. Hikuleo goes to the apron and he pulls Rosser up as well. Hikuleo with a chop and he gets Rosser on his shoulders but Rosser gets to his feet and he bulldogs Hikuleo off the apron into the table.

Rosser gets to his feet first and he punches Hikuleo. Rosser with another punch and he pulls Hikuleo back into the ring. Rosser gets Hikuleo on his shoulders and he hits a double knee gutbuster followed by a sliding kick to the head for the three count.

Winner: Fred Rosser

We go to credits.

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The 2021-22 year

Pa. administrators and their schools of thought

Pa. education officials talk about impact of COVID on schools, what future has in store
Religion digest

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints names new area leader
Traverse City, MI (49684)

Today

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. A stray afternoon thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy this evening with more clouds for overnight. A stray afternoon thunderstorm is possible. Low 64F. Winds E at 5 to 10 mph.
Paducah Murder Suspect Appears in Court

By West Kentucky Star Staff

PADUCAH - A Paducah man facing murder and other charges stemming from a fatal crash was in court Friday.Ancinio Friar appeared for a pretrial conference. The McCracken Circuit Court Clerk said the hearing was continued to July 16.Friar was arrested on August 8 after a deadly crash on Old Mayfield Road that claimed the life of 29-year-old Ronneka Hampton. McCracken County deputies reportedly clocked Friar traveling 92 mph in a 35 mph zone shortly before the crash.He faces charges of murder, DUI, evading police, speeding 26 mph or more, and reckless driving.
Greenville, NC (27833)

Today

Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 71F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 71F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall near an inch. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 54F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Beckley, WV (25801)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms this evening followed by occasional showers overnight. Low 64F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Tip Leads to Drug Charges for Paducah Woman

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MCCRACKEN COUNTY - An investigation into drug trafficking led to the arrest of a Paducah woman Friday afternoon.McCracken County drug detectives received numerous complaints alleging that 22-year-old Chelsea Figley was selling methamphetamine. The investigation led detectives to obtain a search warrant for her home on Nace Lane.The search reportedly uncovered 49 grams of methamphetamine, a handgun, hydrocodone, marijuana, cash, and drug paraphernalia.Figley was arrested and charged with first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (methamphetamine, firearm enhanced), first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance (drug unspecified, firearm enhanced), possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, failure to notify D.O.T. of an address change, possession of marijuana and drug paraphernalia.She was lodged in the McCracken County Jail.
Beckley, WV (25801)

Today

Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight with light rain possible. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, then mainly cloudy after midnight with light rain possible. Low 64F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
NEW HAVEN  Two young men were shot Thursday night in New Haven, according to New Haven police, as a violent period in the city continues.

Officers responded to White Street between its intersections with Congress and Columbus avenues around 8:27 p.m. after 911 calls reported that two people had been wounded, Officer Scott Shumway said in an email.

Responding Officers located a 22-year-old Waterbury man, and a 23-year-old New Haven man, each suffering from a single gunshot wound. American Medical Response transported both males to Yale New Haven Hospital where they were listed in stable condition with non-life-threatening injuries, Shumway said.

Shumway asked anyone with information about the incident to contact the New Haven Police Department at 203-946-6304.

Callers may remain anonymous, he said, or submit tips anonymously by calling 1-866-888-TIPS(8477), or texting NHPD plus your message to 274637 (CRIMES).

There have been three homicides and three other shootings in New Haven since last Friday.

There have been 13 homicides so far this year. There were 20 in all of 2020, with three coming by May 9, according to New Haven police.

Tashawn Brown, 18, was fatally wounded near Ella T. Grasso Boulevards intersection with Edgewood Avenue Wednesday night, according to police.

Jack Hopeton, 44, with a last known address in Waterbury, was fatally wounded shortly before 6 a.m. on George Street near Orchard Street Tuesday, according to police.

Mariyah Inthirath, 20, died after being shot on Sheffield Avenue Saturday.

Before the deaths of Brown, Hopeton and Inthirath, Alfreda Youmans, Jeffery Dotson, Jorge Osorio-Caballero, Marquis Winfrey, Joseph Mattei, Kevin Jiang, Angel Rodriguez, Dwaneia Turner, and Alessia Mesquita had been killed in the city to date this year.

william.lambert@hearstmediact.com
File / Michael Cummo / Hearst Connecticut Media

STAMFORD  One man was shot and another was pistol-whipped after a gunman ordered them to strip during in an early morning robbery on the citys West Side on Thursday, according to police.

The two men were sitting in a car in the parking lot of a condominium complex at 37 Greenwich Ave. early Thursday morning when an armed man approached and entered their car, Lt. Tom Scanlon said Friday.
We would love for you to join us to share your memories of Daryl with family and friends. Daryls full obituary can be view at http://www.myersmortuary.com/ A celebration of life will be held from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM on 2021-06-27 at Fraternal Order of Eagles , 2140 N Lebanon St, Lebanon, IN 4
3 Arrested After Shots Fired Toward Pulaski Deputy

By West Kentucky Star Staff

MOUND CITY - Three men were arrested Thursday in connection to an incident where a shot was fired toward a deputy in Pulaski County last Tuesday.The deputy was at the scene of a house fire when he got into an altercation with several individuals who allegedly attempted to obstruct the investigation.The deputy detained a woman and placed her in the back seat of his vehicle.While the deputy was taking a second individual into custody, someone fired a gun in the direction of the deputy and struck the detained woman. She was taken to a hospital for treatment and released.On Thursday, police arrested 24-year-old Kendall L.D. Mcelmurry, 26-year-old Demarko K. Ransom, and 21-year-old Andre L. Mcelmurry.Kendall and Andre were charged with aggravated battery of a peace officer and aggravated assault of a peace officer. Kendall was additionally charged with obstructing justice and resisting a peace officer.Ransom was charged with obstructing justice in furtherance of gang activity, obstructing justice, obstructing a peace officer, and resisting a peace officer.Anyone with additional information about the incident is asked to contact Illinois State Police at 618-542-2171, extension 1207.On the Net:
Although it seems like everyone is talking about cicadas these days, a top researcher said the highly anticipated Brood X emergence may not come to fruition in Schuylkill County this spring.

Marten Edwards, Ph.D., professor and chair of biology at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, is a leading Pennsylvania cicada researcher and has been working since 2004 to update cicada emergence maps with his students.

Most people rely on maps that are based on a 1923 study by Charles Lester Marlatt that had the best estimates for the time on where to expect the broods, Edwards explained. His maps keep getting perpetuated, which is kind of a pity since they are very inaccurate according to what we know now. This is actually why we need to keep studying cicadas.

Community scientists neededAccording to his data, Edwards believes most of Schuylkill County will need to wait until 2030 for the next big cicada event, since the area experienced a Brood II emergence in 2013.

But given that only three researchers were searching and recording Brood X cicadas back in 2004, not every nook and cranny of Schuylkill County was documented.

It is very possible that there will be places in Schuylkill County that will have Brood X in places that I dont expect them to be, Edwards said. I know stereotypical scientists dont like to be wrong, but when it comes to mapping predictions, we love to be wrong. Thats what keeps it interesting.

In fact, Edwards is requesting that everyone download the Cicada Safari app and track sightings. Researchers verify all submissions, so you know recorded sightings on the app are legit.

Schuylkill emergences will be very interesting to science, and any reports to the Cicada Safari site from this county will be especially important, since this is where the borders are going to be defined, he said. I will personally check out any patterns of Cicada Safari records that show up in this county.

A phenomenon of the natural world

Cicada broods are locally synchronized populations of three species that share a common emergence schedule. There are 3,000 cicada species around the world, but only three species of 17-year cicadas.

With a uniquely long life cycle, cicada nymphs spend years underground, where they feed on roots before emerging as adults in May. (Dont worry, this isnt harming your trees!)

These periodical cicadas are different from the annual cicadas that we see each year, and have evolved to survive underground and emerge in gigantic broods to ensure the species survival.

Native Americans knew about these cicadas for centuries, although Pilgrims made the first known recording of their emergence in 1634.

Cicadas puts the awe in awesome

Whether you see cicadas this spring or you have to wait for another year, Edwards urges everyone to embrace this natural phenomenon.

First, if you live in an area with a loud, heavy emergence, be proud. Cicadas nymphs rely on tree roots to survive their many years of digging, tunneling and feeding in the soil 18 inches under the surface.

The fact that cicadas are coming out means that the land has been taken care of for the last 17 years. It hasnt been poisoned. The trees havent been cut down. Thats something to celebrate, Edwards said.

Dont use insecticides. If youre in an emergence area, theres no way you can kill all cicadas, and Edwards said youre wasting money on chemicals. Beyond that, a cicada full of insecticides can harm birds, pets and other animals that ingest a poisoned cicada.

Female cicadas lay their eggs on the tips of tree branches, so when the young hatch out, they may nibble on the ends of trees, causing a temporary browning at the tips. Thankfully, this is not life threatening. The only caveat? If you have very young trees, simply cover them with netting with a mesh size less than 1 centimeter to protect them from damage.

And if cicadas arent emerging in the coming days in your neck of the woods, consider going to them to witness this incredible event.

Edwards suggested anticipated hotspots like Lake Nockamixon in Bucks County and Green Lane Park in Montgomery County, adding that your very best bet is to use the Cicada Safari app and see where the verified reports are coming from.

But most of all, be in the moment, and embrace the ingenuity and magnificence of nature.

Its an emotional experience for me, even though Ive seen it hundreds of times, Edwards said. Its something that only happens in the Eastern United States.

And when youre in the woods with the full-blown chorus, its one of these things you just have to admire  youre filled with awe with nature.

(Zerbe can be reached at

leah.zerbe@gmail.com)
Two franchises in a popular fast food pizza chain are slated to open this summer, while a longtime Pottsville restaurant has closed.

Dominos pizza restaurants are coming to the Miners Plaza on the Pottsville-Minersville Highway (Route 901) in Branch Township and the plaza at 368 Center Ave. (Route 61) in Schuylkill Haven, said Flavia Ferreira, who works in administrative support for East Orange, New Jersey-based MSK Management, which owns both sites.

The Miners Plaza franchise will be 2,018 square feet and is slated to open by mid-June, while the Schuylkill Haven one is 1,278 square feet and is scheduled to start serving customers July 1.

Both will only offer takeout of Dominos food products. The restaurant chain, headquartered in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is known for its pizza and breadsticks.

There was no activity at either location in recent weeks, with brown paper covering the windows.

A repair permit from the Borough of Schuylkill Haven is taped to the window at that location, while a large sign with information on hiring is in the window of the Miners Plaza restaurant.

The restaurants join an existing Dominos on Route 61 in Pottsville, which MSK also owns, Ferreira said.

Meanwhile, after closing temporarily in December, Grammas Restaurant at 2082 W. Market St. wont reopen.

Management confirmed the closure on its Facebook page Friday, citing the ongoing coronavirus pandemic as the reason.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the restaurant industry has suffered severe financial and staffing repercussions from the extended lockdowns and closures of businesses across our county, it reads. Sadly, due to these unprecedented circumstances, Grammas Restaurant has made the difficult decision to not reopen.

Jake Weaver, a landlord for the property along with his father, Bob Weaver, said Friday that many of the customers were older and most affected by the virus.

Also that day, the Grammas Restaurant signs were no longer on the building and there were trailers in the parking lot.

Hugo Leon, who also owns Original Italian Pizza on Mauch Chunk Street, had been leasing the restaurant from the Weavers, who run the nearby Bob Weaver Auto at 2174 W. Market St.

Bob Weaver bought the restaurant property from former owners Jason Zulick and Brian Schumacher, both of Pottsville, in December 2019; the two had owned it since 2017.

Leon and his fiancee, Steph Vito, began managing the restaurant in December 2019. Efforts to reach Leon this week were unsuccessful.

The restaurant was owned by John and Barbara Pugh from 1982 until John Pughs death in 2012. Barbara Pugh continued to run it until selling it to Zulick and Schumacher.

Grammas also had a location on Main Street in Schuylkill Haven, which John Pugh operated from 1986 to 2001.

The restaurant had stayed open during the height of the pandemic last year, offering takeout, but it closed temporarily in November after an employee tested positive for COVID-19.

In December, management had announced on Grammas Facebook page that the restaurant would close temporarily again due to the devastating effects of the pandemic on our newly established business.
POTTSVILLE  What began as a space for a private collection of classic cars has turned into one of the countys most popular tourism sites.

Jerrys Classic Cars & Collectibles Museum is celebrating 25 years in business this year and on Friday, officials at Explore Schuylkill were on hand celebrate the anniversary.

Owner Jerry Enders bought the building that now houses the museum at 394 S. Centre St. with his wife Janet in 1994 to store their classic cars. But shortly after the purchase, they discovered records inside the building that it was the Morgan Studebaker Dealership. Inspired by his time working at an Atlantic gas station in Schuylkill Haven, the North Manheim Township resident then decided to capitalize on its history, acquired more memorabilia and opened the museum in June 1996.

I never intended for it to be a museum, he said Friday morning. The museum created itself.

That afternoon, Explore Schuylkill Executive Director Regina Gargano presented Enders with a certificate of appreciation honoring the museum on its 25th anniversary. She was joined by Commissioner Gary J. Hess, state Rep. Joe Kerwin, R-125, Lykens, and members of Explore Schuylkills board, including Hesss wife, Sandy, whom he runs Hess Catering with in Schuylkill Haven. Dave Clews, a member of the city council and president of the Pottsville Business Association, also stopped by.

A 1966 Dodge Coronet 500 convertible, the Enders first classic car purchase, sat outside the museum, while a tray of cookies from Momma Millies Bakery at 216 N. Centre St. and flowers from Pottsville resident Noami Ost sat on the ticket counter.

The museum houses more than 20,000 items and attracts several thousand visitors a year, many of whom are car enthusiasts. Enders, who also owns Jerrys Northeast Auto Sales on Route 61 just outside the city, said the majority are from outside Schuylkill County and he has welcomed people from across the country and the world, with tourists from the Netherlands, Sweden and Germany among those who have visited. On Friday afternoon, a group of students and instructors in the Schuylkill Technology Centers automotive program looked around the museum.

Its amazing, he said when asked how he felt about the museum marking 25 years. Ive loved every aspect of sharing automotive history with visitors and the history of the museum over 25 years. Car people are fun people and every car has a story.

Items housed in the museum include classic cars, records, signs, countertops and other historic artifacts. While most of them date to the 1950s and 60s, the oldest item in the collection is an 1818 penny. Many of them have been donated.

Enders has also partnered with D.G Yuengling & Son Inc. on 420 Mahantongo St. for bus tours and big events. Debbie Yuengling, employee engagement and culture manager, was on hand for the presentation.

I think its exciting and great for the community, she said of the anniversary. We work well together. Hes a great community advocate and were lucky to have him.

The support we have received from family, friends and the community has been great, he said.

Gargano said after presenting the certificate that the museum is example of historical restoration.

The museum is open from noon to 5 p.m. Fridays through Sundays from May through October, with special hours and days for bus tours available.
Innocent is an anthology TV series that was broadcasted on ITV for four consecutive nights between May 14 and 17, 2018. Innocent series 1 stars Lee Ingleby, Daniel Ryan, Hermione Norris, Adrian Rawlins and others. The story revolves around a man who was convicted of murdering his wife and after seven years of imprisonment, he was acquitted on a legal technicality. He tries to reveal the truth of who killed his wife, along with his wifes sister, who now has the custody of their children. Read ahead to find out where was Innocent series 1 filmed and know more about Innocent series 1 shooting locations.

Where was Innocent series 1 filmed?

According to The Sun, the first series of Innocent was filmed in Malahide in Ireland and the South Downs in England. Most of Phil's (played by Daniel Ryan) house and the dramatic aerial shots were filmed in the South Downs whereas, Malahide was used to creating the rest of the small town where they all live. Speaking about filming in Malahide (North of Dubine), David Collins, who played the role of Lee, told the Radio Times that in Malahide, there was a nice place, a seaside small village, and they used a bit of that too.

One of the Innocent series 1 filming locations was Bosham, West Sussex. This place has been previously featured in an episode of Midsomer Murders. At one point in the show where David mentions that they live in Hailsham is a town in East Sussex. The cast was taken to Dublin for two months and later brought back to the south coast of England for a week, to film in Bosham Harbour. The shooting also took place in The Inn on the Beach pub in Hayling Island, Hampshire which was taken over for filming for the day back in 2016.

About Innocent series 2

Innocent series 2 aired in 2021 starring Katherine Kelly, Andrew Tiernan, Priyanga Burford and Jamie Bamber in the lead. The plot revolves around a 16-year-old schoolboy who was brutally murdered in the quiet Lake District. Five years after the incident, the accused is found not guilty and released from prison.

(IMAGE: A STILL FROM INNOCENT SERIES 1 TRAILER)

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Anvee Bhutani, an Indian-origin Human Sciences student from Magdalen College at the University of Oxford, has pledged to fight for students rights in her role as the new president-elect of the Oxford Student Union (SU).

Bhutani, who was declared the winner at the end of a closely fought byelection at the Oxford SU on Thursday evening, said she felt humbled by the support she had received and excited about her plans for her upcoming term. She had fought on a platform of reform across key areas of access and mental health at the university and feels that is what won her the backing in a byelection that saw the highest-ever turnout.

Oxford has historically been a place for the white elite to attend university, so to even be here feels like a great honour. I never imagined Id one day be standing for the presidency of the SU and have the chance to represent the entire student body and I feel so humbled to have won, said Bhutani.

"The SU fundamentally needs to be a union that fights for students rights and Im really excited to have run on a platform to bring reform to four key areas: access and academics, community affairs, welfare and mental health, and societies and clubs. I want the SU to go back to being a hub that supports students and provides them with the resources they need, she said.

Id genuinely like to extend a massive thank you to everyone who voted for me. Im so excited for where Ill take things with the other sabbatical officers this year and I am eternally grateful for your support, she added, in reference to her new Oxford SU team.

The vice-president elect in the team for the 2021-22 academic year is also of Indian-origin, Devika, as is trustee-elect Dhitee Goel.

Bhutanis experience includes being co-chair of the Campaign for Racial Awareness and Equality (CRAE) at Oxford SU and President of the Oxford India Society.

She has also worked as a shift leader at Turl Street Homeless Action, and in her manifesto suggests working with this group to support the local homeless population via food and supply donations.

Bhutani had used her manifesto to detail priorities of campaigning for the implementation of the Oxford living wage, delinking welfare services and disciplinary action, and diversifying the curriculum.

Use suggestions from student campaigns to work with initiatives like the Oxford and Colonialism hub to push for a more diverse curriculum, reads her winning manifesto.

Lobby for more funding towards existing mental health support programmes including for graduate students; work towards more access and lower wait times for university counselling services, it notes.

Around 2,506 students turned out to vote in the leadership contest, which had the highest turnout and also the maximum number of candidates in an Oxford SU presidential election, with Bhutani beating 10 other students for the top spot.

The byelection followed the resignation of Indian student Rashmi Samant, who was forced to step down soon after her election to the post in February amid a row over her past social media posts.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Twenty-six Jharkhand migrant workers stuck in Nepal due to COVID-induced lockdown there on Saturday reached India-Nepal border and boarded a bus for their home in Dumka, a top official said. These migrant workers from Jharkhand,engaged in a project in Nepal by Larsen & Tourbro,through a contractor,had been stranded due to lockdown in the Himalayan country to rein in coronavirus surge and had been sending SOS messages including video messages to the Jharkhand government for rescue. The workers reached Viratnagar on Bihar-Nepal border and boarded the bus to travel to Dumka, around 245 km away.

"Our worker brothers have reached India-Nepal border. Soon they will depart for Dumka. Team of officers and paramedics are at Viratnagar on Bihar-Nepal border to bring them home safely. "RAT kits, dry ration, oxygen cylinder equipped ambulance have all been sent from Dumka," said Deputy Commissioner Dumka, Rajeshwari B, who had flagged off a bus from Indoor stadium to Nepal border alongwith officials for the ferrying workers Friday.

A migrant worker coming home thanked Hemant Soren-led government for their rescue. "We are sitting in a bus sent by the Jharkhand government. We have been provided food.Apart from Subh Sandesh Foundation, Indian Youth Association, Nepal too helped us besides Chief Minister Hemant Soren, legislator Basant Soren and DC among others.Nepal people also helped us including media persons ...," Narayan Das, a migrant worker, said in a video message.

The migrant workers hailing from Dumka district had appealed to the government for rescue, saying they were unwell and held up in Sindhupalchok district of Nepal. Former legislator Kunal Sarangi, JMM Legislator Basant Soren took up their cause and chief minister Hemant Soren as well as Indian Embassy in Nepal also intervened.

"A prompt action was initiated for the return of migrant 26 workers stuck in Nepal at the instance of chief minister Hemant Soren. The state government took up the issue with the Nepal government. "As a result of the initiatives, the workers will be returning to Jharkhand on Saturday," a state government official had said.

Sarangi said members of Janata Samajwadi Party Nepal helped in locating the workers and also in their return back home. Chief Minister's office said a bus and an ambulance were rushed to the Indo-Nepal border to bring back workers. Approval from Nepal government had already been sought for this, the official added. On their return, the workers will undergo health check and COVID tests, the official said.

The Jharkhand government has imposed lockdown-like restrictions that mandate compulsory seven-day quarantine for people coming to the state. The workers will be brought to Dumka's indoor stadium first. Former legislator and BJP leader Kunal Sarangi among others had escalated the matter urging the Ministry of External Affairs besides Indian Embassy in Nepal and others thanked the Indian Embassy in Nepal too for swinging into action. A Larsen & Toubro spokesperson confirmed that the workers were engaged by the company at a project site through a contractor.

Chief minister Soren had on Thursday retweeted a message by a non-profit body Shubh Sandesh Foundation: "Doing our best to assist 26 Jharkhand migrants stuck in Nepal. Our friends in Nepal are in touch coordinating food, travel pass, medicine etc for them."

Earlier, former legislator Sarangi had tweeted: "I sincerely request @DrSJaishankar Sir & @IndiaInNepal to get it looked into. These poor migrant labourers from Jharkhand are stuck in Nepal and they are very unwell. Pls rescue them." In earlier video messages the migrant workers were seen appealing to the Jharkhand government to rescue them while saying that they are stranded in Nepal due to the lockdown and most of them have fallen sick but are not getting any medical attention and food. In a separate message later, the workers said that they have received a communication from the Shubh Sandesh Foundation that arrangements are being done for their safe return.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Amid the unprecedented second wave and shortage of coronavirus vaccine across the country, Sputnik-V is going to start the production of its COVID-19 vaccines by the month of August, confirmed Indian Envoy to Russia DB Venkatesh Varma.

While speaking to the media, Varma said, "For Sputnik, 150,000 doses plus 60,000 doses supplied to India. By May-end about 3 mn doses will be supplied in bulk. Those will be filled in India. In June, it's expected to increase to 5 mn & production in India expected to start in August."

'Almost 65-70% of Sputnik-V produced will be from India'

He added, "The present plan is that over 850 million doses of the Sputnik vaccine will finally be produced in India. Almost 65-70% of Sputnik produced anywhere in the world will be from India, finally. "

Explaining the production process, he further said, "Sputnik will be produced in India in 3-phases. First, supply from Russia - fully made - which has already started. Second, RDIF will send to India in bulk. It will be ready for use but it will have to be filled in various bottles in India. Third, the Russian side will transfer the technology to the Indian company & the Indian company will produce it fully in India. All these 3 put together will be about 850 million doses."

"The Russian side has also proposed Sputnik Light. The regulatory approvals for that in India are still not completed. But once those regulatory approvals are given, Sputnik Light will be one more area of cooperation between India and Russia: Indian Envoy to Russia, in St Petersburg," stated Varma.

He added, "In the last quarter of 2021, the contract will start to be implemented. We have a team in Russia that's part of the training program for the crew that will be operating the systems, they're already in Russia for training."

Meanwhile, the pricing of the Sputnik-V vaccine is expected to come down once the local manufacturing of the vaccine begins, a company spokesperson from Dr. Reddy's Laboratories had said on May 20. At present, the pricing of the Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine is capped at Rs 948 + 5% GST per dose.

Sputnik-V In India

In April 2021, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) gave approval to Dr. Reddy's Laboratories for the emergency use of Sputnik V. Russia was the first country to have registered for the COVID-19 vaccine, Sputnik V. Developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, Dr Reddy's and RDIF later in September entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V.
After Cyclone Tauktae, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a warning for Cyclone 'Yaas' which is expected to make landfall on the states of Odisha and West Bengal on the morning of May 26. Low pressure is likely to form on the North Andaman Sea which is predicted to intensify into cyclone Yaas. Apart from West Bengal and Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Andara Pradesh, Andaman, and Nicobar are also on high alert.

Kolkata Metrological Department head, Dr. Sanjib Bandyopadhyay informed that rainfall is predicted to start from 25th May.

"It would continue to move northwestwards, intensify further and reach North Bay of Bengal near Odisha, West Bengal coast around 26th May morning. Light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy rainfall at isolated places, likely to commence at coastal districts of Gangetic West Bengal from 25th May," added Dr. Sanjib Bandyopadhyay.

According to the IMD's official statement, a cyclonic circulation is forming on the Southeast and adjoining Central Bay of Bengal.

 A cyclonic circulation lies over Southeast & adjoining Central Bay of Bengal between 3.1 km & 5.8 km above mean sea level. Under its influence, a Low Pressure Area is very likely to form over Eastcentral Bay of Bengal & adjoining north Andaman Sea around 22nd May, 2021.  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 21, 2021

Fisherman warning

Fishermen conducting operations at fishing hamlets of the coastal regions are directed not to venture into the sea from May 21 to 26.

 Fishermen Warning: The fishermen are advised not to venture into southeast Bay of Bengal & south Andaman Sea from 21 May onwards, into central Bay of Bengal from 23 25 May and into north Bay of Bengal and along & off West Bengal  Odisha  Bangladesh coasts from 24  26 May.  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 21, 2021

Following this, fishermen in deep sea are advised to return to the coast by May 23. Fresh warnings were also issued for fishermen working at the coastal regions of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Goa, Kerala, and Karnataka ahead of the Cyclone Tauktae and despite the warnings, few fishermen were stranded on their boats in Gujarat as heavy rainfall along with high wind speed were witnessed. As the IMD sounded the cyclonic warning, forces started with their preventive measures. The Indian Coast Guard ships at Andaman and Nicobar informed about the weather warning to Marinos and fishermen and urged them to return to shore so that no casualties are reported.

Ramped up preparations

The Centre has also asked all the targeted states to make sure all the health departments are equipped with essential supplies amid pandemic. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday reviewed the preparedness as cyclone warnings were issued. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has also swung into action with deployment of one C-17, three C-130s, and two An-32s for transportation of NDRF personnel from Jamnagar to Bhubaneswar and Kolkata.

After cyclone Amphan lashed on West Bengal and Odisha last year, the states are now bracing for Yaas.
In a shocking case, police on Saturday, police have arrested two women on suspicion of espionage from Mahu village in Indore. Gawli Police and ATS are currently interrogating the two women on espionage activities. Sources state that an Indian Army official is also under suspicion in the same case.

2 women arrested for espionage

Speaking to reporters, Indore IG Hari Narayan Chari Mishra said, "Police are investigating based on inputs. The interrogation is being done on espionage charges. Mobile, laptops are also being investigated".

Other espionage arrests

In February, the NIA filed a supplementary charge sheet against an Indian agent of Pakistan's spy agency ISI Rajakbhai Kumbhar for his alleged involvement in espionage. The case was initially registered in January last year in Lucknow after the arrest of Md. Rashid of Uttar Pradesh's Chandoli district for supplying sensitive information, photos and videos of vital installations of strategic importance to ISI operatives based in Pakistan. Kumbhar, who was arrested on September 30 last year, had visited Pakistan twice on legal documents and during his return in the course of second visit, he had come in contact with Pakistani ISI operatives Hamid and joined the conspiracy with the co-accused, the NIA official said.

Previously in September 2020, Delhi police revealed that journalist Rajeev Sharma had been was picked up from his Pitampura residence on September 14 after he was allegedly found to be in possession of classified defence documents. Sharma has been in journalism for 40 years and has worked for several media houses like - United News of India (UNI), Tribune, Free Press Journal, Sakaal, Hindustan Times, Times of India and Chinese mouthpiece Global Times. Delhi police claimed that Sharma had been in contact with Chinese intelligence officers since 2016 via his two accomplices - a Chinese national and a Nepalese national, who were also arrested.

Police claimed that Sharma had come in contact with a Chinese officer named Michael via Linkedin, and was invited to a Chinese city where he was given lucrative offers to share information. Talking about the shell company dealing allegedly with medicine sale, set up by the Chinese and Nepalese individual for the alleged spying, police stated that Sharma received huge amounts via Hawala transactions. Police added that Sharma was contacted by another Chinese intelligence official - George, in 2019 where sensitive information regarding Army deployment, procurement and India- China relations was allegedly passed on. Several meetings were allegedly held in various places like Laos, Maldives.
Joe Biden Reiterates 'no Shift In Commitment To Israel's Security'; Backs Two-state Plan

Reiterating the USA's continued diplomacy towards both Israel and Palestine, US President Joe Biden on Saturday, said that there is no shift in his commitment to the security of Israel. But he added that the shift is that a two-state solution is the only answer to the century-old issue. As of date, at least 232 people have died in Gaza as a result of the Israeli bombing including 65 children and 12 in Israel in the 11-day war which ended in a ceasefire on Friday morning.

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Raipur Police Issues Notice To Ex-Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh On 'Congress Toolkit'

Further intensifying the 'Congress Toolkit controversy', Raipur police on Friday, has issued notice to ex-CM Raman Singh to be present at his residence for questioning on May 24. The police want to know if the Twitter account @drramansingh belonged to Singh and how he got his hands on the 'AICC Research' documents. An FIR has been filed at the Civil Lines police station against Singh and Sambit Patra for allegedly spreading fake news and promoting enmity between classes in the toolkit row.

Raipur | Civil Lines Police issues notice to former Chhattisgarh CM & BJP leader Raman Singh, asking him to be present at his residence at 12:30 pm on May 24 for recording statement in connection with alleged fake toolkit case



FIR has been filed against him & BJP's Sambit Patra  ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2021

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25 One-rupee Clinics At Mumbai Railway Stations To Offer COVID Treatment From June 1

In a boost to Mumbai's COVID battle, the city's 25 one-rupee clinics will start providing Covid related services such as RT PCR test, antigen test, blood test, antibody test, CT Scan, consultation and medication from June 1, reported sources on Saturday. These clinics which are located at local train stations across Mumbai will be classified as Covid clinics to provide treatment at affordable rates. Mumbai, which is currently seeing a dip in COVID cases, has 6,95,080 cases of which 29,103 are active and 6,49,389 have recovered. 14,522 people have succumbed to COVID-19.

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White House Teams Up With Dating Apps To Boost Vaccination: 'COVID-19 Shot Biggest Flex'

"We have finally found one thing that makes us more attractive, Vaccination!"  the White House said on Friday as it announced its latest efforts to encourage the participation of the youth in the vaccination roll-out. Taking the engagement of people in the vaccination roll-out up a notch, the White House shared that it has partnered with dating apps to provide unique incentives to users who had gotten the live-saving jab in the US.

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Nepal President Dissolves Lower House & Declares Fresh Polls; Rival Claims Rejected

In a big development on Saturday morning, Nepal President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives and announced that mid-term polls will be held on November 12 and 19. This comes after Bhandari rejected the claims of both Nepal PM KP Sharma Oli and opposition leader Sher Bahadur Deuba for government formation. While Oli claimed that he had the support of 153 lawmakers including members of the Janata Samajbadi Party, Nepali Congress president Deuba submitted signatures of 149 parliamentarians comprising 27 members of the CPN-UML rival faction led by Madhav Kumar Nepal.

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Amid rising cases of Mucormycosis or Black Fungus, leading doctor from All India Institute Of Medical Science (AIIMS), Dr. Nikhil Tandon has cautioned that the rare fungal infection can spread through air. The Professor and Head, Dept of Endocrinology & Metabolism of AIIMS also added that people with strong immunity can fight Mucor. Recently, the Centre had directed states to review preparations to fight the deadly fungal infection.

Dr. Nikhil Tandon also added that the chances of Mucor entering into lungs are very low.

Mucor can spread through air. It wont cause any problem if person is healthy. Mucor may enter into lungs but the chances are very low. Our body is capable to fight it if the immunity is strong: Dr. Nikhil Tandon, Prof & Head, Dept of Endocrinology & Metabolism, AIIMS, New Delhi pic.twitter.com/n59bdGFzF9  ANI (@ANI) May 22, 2021

In recent times, there has been a sudden rise in Black Fungus cases that are getting reported from COVID-19 patients. On Friday, the Central Government issued several guidelines to control the infection and deal with rising cases. The union government also asked states to declare mucormycosis or "black fungus" an epidemic. The Ministry also noted that it is rare however it is a fatal infection. Recently, Delhi's AIIMS hospital developed separate wards for fungal infected patients.

Rising cases of Black Fungus

Warning the condition is severe, AIIMS' top Neurologist, Dr. MV Padma Srivastava, on Thursday said that the cases have risen from single-digit to triple-digit mark. According to the doctor, patients with diabetes should keep a strict check of their sugar. On Friday, PM Modi declared the fungal infection as a new challenge and asked to undertake precautions to deal with the disease.

Hinting upon chances of import of the drug, Centre has also decided to enhance the production of the infection's medicine, Amphotericin-B. Delhi and Maharashtra have also signalled a shortage of medicine. Meanwhile, taking an account of Centre's advisory, Uttar Pradesh has decided to declare the Black Fungus infection as a notifiable disease.

Black-fungus case in children

In a tense situation, first case of Black Fungus in child was reported from Gujarat. The 14-year-old from Ahmedabad who was also COVID-19 positive underwent an operation on Friday. Moreover, Tamil Nadu suspected first death due to the infection in a 57-year-old COVID positive individual however, official confirmation is awaited. Maharashtra has been reporting highest number of Mucormycosis or Black-Fungus infections. Till now, there have been 2000 cases and 90 deaths in Maharashtra, followed by Gujarat with 1163 cases.

(Inputs from ANI) (Image: ANI)
In a key development, the Union ministry of Civil Aviation in a set of guidelines issued last week made a negative RT-PCR test report with a QR code mandatory for passengers traveling abroad from Saturday. "The airline operators are advised to accept only those passengers who are carrying a negative RT-PCR test report with QR code for boarding international flights departing from India after 0001 hours on 22nd May 2021," the ministry said in a release.

The rule, however, is applied to only those passengers who are required to carry a negative RT-PCR test report as per the guidelines issued by their destination countries, the release added. It is pertinent to mention here that a negative RT-PCR test report with QR code has been mandatory to allow for verification with minimum physical contact and delays.

Air India issues notification

In view of the guidelines issued by the Ministry, Air India issued notification for all its passengers. In a tweet, the National Carrier of India informed, "Effective 22nd May 2021, passengers carrying negative RT-PCR report as per the requirement of their destination country, must ensure that the report has a QR code linking to the original report."

#FlyWithIX : Attention Passengers Boarding International Flights From India 



Effective 22nd May 2021, passengers carrying negative RT-PCR report as per the requirement of their destination country, must ensure that the report has a QR code linking to the original report. pic.twitter.com/tOzIOWBCHI  Air India Express (@FlyWithIX) May 14, 2021

It is pertinent to mention here that international passenger flights are under suspension till May 31. The suspension was imposed on international flights on March 23, 2020, and flights have been inoperational ever since, with the exception of a few flights operating under the Vande Bharat Mission since May and under bilateral 'air bubble' arrangements with selected countries since July. India has an 'air bubble' arrangement with 27 countries, include the US, the UK, the UAE, Kenya, Bhutan, and France among others, as per which special flights can be operated by the airlines between the countries.

However, with the increasing cases in India in the second wave, many countries like including the United States, Australia, Canada, the UAE, and Britain banned flights from India.

COVID situation in India

Since April 15, India had been witnessing a steep rise in the number of COVID-19 cases. On April 4, the country recorded over 1 lakh cases, which doubled in a span of ten days and saw a searing rise thereafter, with fresh cases fluctuating between 3 to 4 lakh, till the purported peak was reached, and fresh cases were over 4-lakh for four consecutive days in the last week. There has, however, been a decline in cases now, and for the sixth consecutive day, the country has reported less than 3-lakh cases.

On Saturday, the country registered 2,57,299 new infections and 3,57,630 recoveries, taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 2,62,89,290 and the recoveries to 2,30,70,365. The active cases have come down to 29,23,400 comprising 11.63 percent of the total infections while the recovery rate has risen to 87.76

(Credit-PTI)
Days after a few White fungus or Aspergillosis cases found in Bihar and other parts of the country, the Medical Director at Delhi's LNJP Hospital Dr. Suresh Kumar on Saturday said that White fungus is not as dangerous as a black fungus as the treatment for the latter can continue for 1-1.5 months hence early diagnosis is critical. This came after several medical earlier claimed that white fungus is more dangerous than black fungus.

Dr. Kumar said, "White fungus is not as dangerous as a black fungus. The treatment for the latter can continue for 1-1.5 months hence early diagnosis is critical. Don't take steroids to treat COVID-19 without consulting your doctor."

Explaining ways to avoid fungal infections, he added, "Fungus grows in cramped & humid spaces so keep ensure that your surroundings are cleaned regularly. Avoid consuming eatables refrigerated for days, eat fresh fruits, let sunlight in your house & wash your masks daily."

While talking about black fungus, he further said, "There are 12-13 patients of black fungus at LNJP, out of these, most patients have type 2 diabetes. They took steroids continuously for 20-22 days. People should take steroids only if prescribed by doctors. The steroid should not be used for more than 10 days during COVID treatment."

A few days ago, after the first four white fungus cases were reported in Bihar, Chief of Microbiology at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) Dr. S N Singh had explained and informed that the people who are infected by White Fungus showed coronavirus-type symptoms but they were not COVID patients. He had also stated that just like Black Fungus, White Fungus is also more dangerous for diabetes patients and those who are taking steroids for a long period of time.

Symptoms of White Fungal infection

As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the symptoms of white fungus infection mainly depend on where the fungus is growing in the body. While the most common form of infection is the skin, the white fungus can confuse medical experts as the severe form of the disease impacts lungs in the same manner that SARS-CoV-2 does that causes COVID-19. Following are symptoms of white fungus infection:

Small, painless bump on the skin that can develop any time from 1 to 12 weeks after exposure to the fungus which eventually grows bigger.

For lung infection, symptoms include cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, and fever.

If the infection is disseminated, it depends on the affected body part. Infections in joints can cause joint pain that may be confused with rheumatoid arthritis. Infections of the central nervous system can involve difficulty thinking, headache, and seizures.

(With ANI Inputs)
Bahraich (UP), May 22 (PTI) A man was arrested from Rupaidiha area on the India-Nepal border with contraband worth Rs one crore in the international market, police said on Saturday.

During the joint patrolling by the police and the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) along the border, the accused carrying 106 grams smack was nabbed Friday night, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ashok Kumar said.

The accused has been identified as Raju, a resident of Visheshwarganj police station area of Bahraich district.

A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 was registered against him and efforts are on to identify the others involved in the illegal drug trade.

PTI CORR SAB SRY

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Mhow (MP), May 22 (PTI) Three persons, including two women, were detained for allegedly indulging in "suspicious activities" in the Army area here in Madhya Pradesh and being questioned by intelligence agencies and the police, officials said on Saturday.

Indore Zone Inspector General of Police HC Mishra said the trio was not taken into custody yet as preliminary questioning is on.

When asked if the trio was communicating with their "contacts" in Pakistan over the phone, the IG said, Not only on phone, there are some facts which could be confirmed only during the investigation. All material recovered from them is being examined thoroughly".

Based on the intelligence inputs, two women and a man were detained. Their interrogation so far revealed that they were involved in suspicious activities. Apart from the police multiple agencies are involved in questioning the trio," he said.

The detained man and women are residents of Lakshmi Vihar colony situated at Gawli Palasiya village in Mhow, located about 37 km away from Indore, police said.

According to sources, Army intelligence personnel had been tailing the trio for the last one month and found them clicking pictures of the Military Hospital and other Army buildings situated near Mall Road in Mhow on Wednesday evening.

Thereafter with the help of civil police, both the women were detained and when sensitive information was found in their mobile phones, senior police and Army officers were informed about it, they said.

The trio was then taken to their house where they are interrogated, sources said.

It is not yet clear whether the trio was related to each other.

Though they have not been arrested yet, police personnel are deployed in front of the house, they said, adding the trio was not allowed to venture out.

Teams of the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and personnel from the Army intelligence are interrogating the trio at the house, according to sources.

"A sub-inspector, an ASI (assistant sub-inspector) and two constables have been deployed at the house by the Mhow police to keep a watch. Nobody is allowed to meet the detainees," local police officer Ajeet Singh Bais said.

He said the father of the women had worked as a sepoy in the Army Medical Corps. After his retirement, he started working for a nationalized bank as a security guard. He had died five years ago.

The family is a native of Bicholi village near Mhow and they had constructed the present house about ten years ago. One of the women had also worked as a casual employee in the MPEB but left her job two years ago after working for six months, he added. Some residents of the housing colony told media persons that the activities of the family members were suspicious as there were no fixed timings to their stepping out of the house and returning. Also, they were not on talking terms with other residents, they added. PTI COR LAL NSK NSK

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Eminent lawyer and senior Supreme Court advocate Gaurav Pachnanda, who practises commercial and corporate litigation was the latest guest on the show Legal Eagle with Republic Media Networks Executive Editor - Law and Governance - Rhythm Anand Bhardwaj. Having practised law at the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in his initial years, Pachnanda went on to become a door tenant at the Fountain Courts Chamber in London.

In the latest episode of Legal Eagle, the senior advocate recalled his experience representing the erstwhile state of J&K at the top court and rekindled his fond memories working under the guidance of late attorney and Union Minister Arun Jaitley. Pachnanda, who is a registered foreign lawyer at Singapore courts, also shared his views on commercial litigation and arbitration in India.

Education and early years

Pachnanda shared that he grew up in the small town of Jammu, in a family of doctors. Towards the end of my schooling careers, everyone was expecting me to become to doctor. But when I couldnt manage into a medical college and I surfaced the aspiration to become a lawyer, my father was very encouraging, he said.

One of the most interesting things that happened when I joined law college was being introduced to Justice Tirath Singh Thakur, who eventually retired as the Chief Justice of India. At that time, he was a leading lawyer in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. He took a shine to me and asked me to attend his chambers as an intern. I continued as a running intern in his office for nearly four years. It was a blend of a typical small-town education with a bit of exposure to excellence from time to time, Pachnanda said.

I had never aspired to learn in Oxford. One of my teachers in college, Dr Kotwal encouraged me to apply for Oxford and it was a life-changing experience. The law faculty in the University is very strong and the manner of teaching is so different and Socratic. There is a lot of dialogue and analytical discourse amongst all participants. It was a milestone for my professional career, he stated.

Experience working at the J&K HC

It was a bit unconventional, Pachnanda said. Most of my Indian colleagues at Oxford decided to come back to bigger cities in the country but I was drawn back to my home state. I was also keen on learning the process of rial work and cross-examination, so I went back to my home court where I could have a broader spectrum, he explained. A large bulk of my practice was before the district court in Jammu and I joined the chambers of Justice Pramod Kohli who eventually got elevated at retired as a Chief Justice. That was a very good learning experience in the practical aspect of law. I got a very good exposure to trial work and the original civil litigation in Jammu.

He added, But as was natural, in about 5 to 6 years time, the broader horizon of Delhi started attracting me. In 1999, I met former Union Minister Arun Jaitley, who is related to me through my wife. He encouraged me to start moving out of the state and explores. The seeds were sown that time for me to look outside Jammu.

Took Arun Jaitleys advice on serving as a law officer for J&K

Pachnanda said his first experience in Delhi was that I became a part of a leading law firm for 3-4 years. During those years he was doing top-end commercial litigation. Following that, he had done a short stint in the chambers of Mr Jaitley. I worked with him for two years.

In 2010, when I was offered the opportunity to represent J&K as a law officer in the Supreme Court, I sought his advice. Mr Jaitley said this would make a valuable part of my experience. So, I represented the state in the SC for about 4 years. During that period, I was often able to offer candid advice to the government when I did not agree with a particular course of action. I also took a fair stand in the court, which was sometimes beyond my brief. Not only was it a very good learning experience as an advocate, but I also got to understand the functioning of a government, the advocate shared.

In terms of cases, luckily, I was not involved in many political causes. But there are a few cases of great significance. I got the opportunity in connection with the BSF Act, had the opportunity of arguing a very intricate principle of Statutory Interpretation, in which I was opposed by a very senior lawyer. I look back to that hearing as a very satisfying one. It was a very interesting experience in terms of learning of courts craft, he recalled.

How will India find its place in arbitration? What attracts you to commercial law?

Whenever we talk about commercial litigation and arbitration in India, the starting point has to be an acknowledgement that our civil court system is under a lot of stress in terms of volume. It is over burned, said Pachnanda. Generally, civil litigation is a very long-drawn process and arbitration of course has developed as a substitute for civil and commercial litigation. In the rest of the world, I dont think they perceive the two types of litigation as a substitute to each other. They both run parallel, he said.

What I noticed from my little experience in Singapore is that there are efforts to focus on developing civil and commercial litigation as a market to provide excellent services. There is a lot to learn from Singapore in these things. Over the years in Singapore has promoted commercial litigation to meet the international benchmark. That is happening in India as well. There is a significant change in the way courts approach arbitrations in India. But the only thing which I think is lacking is some fresh air, by that, I mean greater interaction at the policy level between professionals and thinking minds in other countries. he said.

Pachnanda believes commercial courts for commercial disputes are the future. Similarly, conducting arbitrations in a manner that is done internationally will really determine where our ecosystem moves forward.

Can the Judiciary, Executive and legislator have separate powers in todays world?

It is possible to have 3 separate institutions and a very good working experiment, the advocate said. According to him, Even in those systems where it is said that one limb of the state is overstepping its limits, those are discourses that are a part of the separation of powers and each limb of the state complimenting each other. Even that kind of discourse is a positive sign in recognising the roles that the institutions play. Having said that, we cannot overlook the fact that there can be absolute separation. I still think it is workable in all successful democracies, he asserted.

'Virtual courts are here to stay'

Pachnanda said virtual courts have been an opportunity to innovate to upgrade. Very effective and successful hearings are taking place virtually both in India and abroad. Courts and lawyers have adapted to virtual hearings very well. In some sense, virtual hearings are here to stay.

The larger advantage is that it has made us conscious of the importance of technology. It is an opportunity to adapt and accept other tools in conducting hearings  like real-time transcription, he added.

How does the role of seniors evolve in the legal profession?

The advocate recalled, When I was in Jammu, my seniors were very kind to me. But, when I moved to Delhi and had Mr Jaitley as a senior, he took a lot of interest in my professional career. He was a father figure in the life of nearly all juniors who worked with me. In my international practice, I was very inspired and proactively mentored by Peter Goldsmith, who had just demitted office as Attorney General in England. At that time, I was doing a very high-level commercial arbitration both in London and India and during that course he developed a fondness for me. I worked with him on several matters after that. These are the people from whom I have learnt a lot. Not only do I identify with them, I feel that they have a kind of ownership on how I am doing, he added.

'I really admire Mr Harish Salve'

Other than my own seniors, I really admire (Former Solicitor General of India) Mr Harish Salve. In a generation above us, what he has achieved nationally and internationally is outstanding. I admire the manner in which he can think on his feet and completely develop a new argument. I had the opportunity of working with senior SC advocate KK Venugopal and he has been a great mentor too. He has to be the number one senior among all those in his chamber. The culture of seniors taking a lot of interest in the careers of their juniors still remains. It is one of the finest things in our professions, said Pachnanda.

Rhythm Anand Bhardwaj is the Executive Editor - Law & Governance at Republic Media Network. She has over a decade's experience in covering courts, and politics. She has covered ICJ hearings at the Hague and extradition hearings at London. She has reported from Kabul. She was also a Supreme Court Lawyer. Reach out to her at @Rhythms22
China's Large High Altitude Air Shower Observatory(LHAASO) have detected a dozen sources of ultra-high-energy gamma rays. The Chinese cosmic ray observatory has found 12 sources of ultrahigh-energy photons and detected a photon with a record-breaking energy level of 1.4 peta-electron volt. Gamma rays with such high energy have never been detected before, according to the study published in the journal Nature.

LHAASO detected 12 stable gamma ray sources with energies up to about 1 PeV and significances of the photon signals seven standard deviations greater than the surrounding background. These sources are located at positions in our galaxy that can be measured with an accuracy better than 0.3. They are the brightest Milky Way gamma ray sources in LHAASO's field of view. Scientists led by the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences made the discoveries after an 11-month observation period. These findings overturn the traditional understanding of the Milky Way and open up an era of UHE gamma astronomy. Cao Zhen, chief scientist of LHAASO said these observations will encourage us to explore more deeply violent celestial phenomena and their physical processes, according to the news release of LHAASO.

"These findings overturn our traditional understanding of the Milky Way and open up an era of UHE gamma astronomy. These observations will prompt us to rethink the mechanism by which high-energy particles are generated and propagated in the Milky Way", said Cao Zhen.

The findings of the first 11 months of observation have revealed that all these sources emit gamma rays above 0.1 PeV. The new discovery shows that the Milky Way is full of PeVatrons. The findings would help the scientists to find the origins of extremely high-energy cosmic rays. Yang Ruizhi, one of the corresponding authors of the paper said that these bodies include young massive star clusters, supernova remnants, pulsar wind nebulas represented by Cygnus star-forming regions and the Crab nebula.

IMAGE: AP
Demonstraters in the Algerian city of Bejaia defied a government ban on protest on Friday, demanding change, with some calling for a boycott the June 12 legislative elections.

On Thursday candidates launched their campaigns under a new system that aims to weed out corruption and open voter rolls  a major step in President Abdelmadjid Tebboune's promise of a "new Algeria."

But a crackdown on the pro-democracy Hirak movement, which police stopped from holding a weekly protest Friday in Algiers, cast a pall over presidential efforts to give a new face to a nation whose army plays a backseat role in governance.

Hirak supporters, including parties from the so-called "democratic movement," have vowed to boycott the elections  the first since former President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was forced from office in 2019 after 20 years in power.

It was pressure from marchers of the Hirak movement and from the army chief at the time that decided Bouteflika's fate.

The tide turned on Hirak when protesters returned to the streets Feb. 22 after a yearlong pause to its Friday marches due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The marches have drawn fewer supporters than in their first year amid rumors of the presence of militants from Rachad, along with arrests by security forces.

Earlier this month, the Interior Ministry ordered Hirak to get authorization for marches and specify the march route and organizers.

Among those arrested are numerous protesters who are being held for attacking national unity.

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Watson, Kimberly

Ms. Kimberly Watson, 62 of Kevil, KY passed away peacefully at her home on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Kim can be described as a free spirit who never met a stranger and was most generous and hospitable to everyone whose paths crossed hers. She was kind and giving and was a great lover of animals. Kim was also a gourmet cook and had a passion for life that could easily be described as contagious. She was a member of the Church of Christ. Born Thursday, July 31, 1958, in Louisville, KY, she was the daughter of the late Dr. William Edward Adams, Jr. and the late Norma Roberts Adams. She was predeceased by her parents, sister, Suzanne Adams, and brother, William Edward Adams, III. Kim requested that a special thanks be extended to her cousins who survive, Emily Sanders, husband Tim, of Paducah, KY; Jack Telle, wife Terri, of Benton, KY, and Larry Telle, wife Joy, of Louisville, KY, and to Jennifer Story, of Lourdes Hospice. Her presence will be missed by her family and many friends. In respect for Kim's wishes, no formal public services will be conducted. To honor her love of all creatures, expressions of sympathy may take the form of contributions to Project Hope, P. O. Box 1125, Metropolis, IL 62960-0125, a no-kill animal shelter. Collier Funeral Home, 211 West 5th St. Benton, KY is handling the arrangements.
STORY: Senegal MidEast Protest - Senegalese Muslims show support for Palestinians

LENGTH: 02:39

FIRST RUN: 2326

RESTRICTIONS:

TYPE: Wolof/Natsound

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

STORY NUMBER: 4327184

DATELINE: 21 May 2021 - Dakar

SHOTLIST:

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Dakar - 21 May 2021

1. Wide of crowd, many carrying Palestine flags, protesting

2. Mid of people demonstrating, boy with a flag on his head reading "Palestine"

3. Men shouting (Arabic) "God is the greatest" and carrying a banner reading (French) "Israel is an usurping entity"

4. Wide of men carrying a banner reading (French) "Senegal-Palestine Solidarity Collective"

5. Tracking shot of men protesting carrying a banner reading (French) "Israel is an usurping entity

6. Close of banner reading (French) "Israel is a terrorist state"

7. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Arfang Diouf, Coordinator of the National Alliance for the Palestinian Cause in Senegal:

"How many children have died in Palestine? How many women? How many old people have died? How many buildings have been destroyed? How many institutes have been pulverized? So this is what hurts us. We feel that it is our responsibility to show our support when an individual is mistreated, so we must defend them so that they can have their rights. So, it is a problem of justice, humanitarianism, so that we can have peace in the world. This is why we organised this event to ask Israel to show respect and to go to the negotiation table so that peace can come back between Israel and Palestine."

8. Women demonstrating

9. Men demonstrating

10. Pan of Sokhana Awa and other woman crying

11. SOUNDBITE (Wolof) Sokhna Awa, demonstrator:

"The Muslim world has remained passive while they (Palestinians) are being killed and subjected to atrocities, even though they are believers (Muslims). Today no Senegalese should stay at home because all we have is due to the prophet Mohamed and those in whom we place our hope here below (earth) are placing their hope in Mohamed, so our hope is in him. So our prophet remains the only constant and that is what pushed me to come here."

12. Men carrying a flag and shouting (Arabic) "God is the greatest"

13. Various of men trying to set fire on an Israeli flag and hitting it with the Palestinian flag

14. Mid of demonstrators carrying banners reading (English) "Power to Palestine. Respect Jerusalem" and "Palestine can not breathe"

15. Pan of men carrying a flag and singing

STORYLINE:

Hundreds of Senegalese gathered in Dakar on Friday to demonstrate solidarity with Palestinians and protest against Israel.

Carrying Palestinian flags and banners with anti-Israel slogans, the demonstrators condemned the Israeli attacks on Gaza.

"Today no Senegalese should stay at home", said demonstrator Sokhna Awa.

The protest was organized by the National Alliance for the Palestinian Cause in Senegal.

Arfang Diouf, the coordinator of the group, called on Israel "to show respect and to go to the negotiation table".

The protest comes in the wake of the latest Gaza war, which had left more than 250 dead - the vast majority Palestinians - and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict.

Like the three previous wars, the 11-day round of fighting ended inconclusively.

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Thousands of pro-Palestinian supporters took to the streets of major Australian cities on Saturday. In Adelaide, hundreds of protesters gathered outside Parliament House before marching through the city centre. "We need to remember that just because they announced a ceasefire doesn't mean it's over. It will never be over until Palestine is free," said Australian Palestinian community member Jana Fandi who attended the rally.

In Sydney, thousands of protesters gathered in Hyde Park before marching through the streets, chanting and waving banners aloft. "Palestinians continue to face violence from Israeli occupation forces and it's not going to end until the occupation comes to an end," Palestine Action Group activist Dalia Al-Haj Qasem said.

Further rallies also took place in Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane. Celebrations erupted in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem after the cease-fire was announced between Israel and Hamas on Thursday. The 11-day war left more than 250 dead - the vast majority Palestinians - and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

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The European Union (EU) parliament has also extended its support to India-South Africas joint proposal for COVID-19 vaccine patent waiver to enable large-scale production of jabs that are in dire need. The support comes from an indirect route as the EU lawmakers approved a resolution to tackle the AIDS epidemic which includes a Left demand for waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines. After initially being split about the waivers, the EUs Lefts Co-President Manon Aubry said, Thanks to our amendment, the European Parliament now officially supports the TRIPS waiver. With 162 abstentions, the resolution was supported by 468 votes and opposed by 63.

Parliament is sending a clear message to the Council and the Commission whove been persistently opposing India and South Africas proposal in the WTO. It is now time for them to stop defending Big Pharma profits above peoples lives. Inaction kills and the world is watching us, Aubry added.

The EU move came after earlier this month, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on May 6 said that she is open for discussion on ways to ramp up COVID-19 vaccine production for global immunisation. Prior to this, the United States, in a bold bid, decided to support waive patents on much-needed COVID-19 vaccines joining the stance of over 120 countries.

However, the move was quickly opposed by Germany on May 6 that could still potentially derail the proposal at the World Trade Organisation, which requires the consensus of all members to pass. Even pharmaceutical companies have expressed their disagreement with growing support for coronavirus vaccine patent waiver, proponents also view the move as essential for the wider distribution of the jabs across the globe.

Who opposes waiver and why?

The India-South Africa proposal of October 2020 says that the property rights such as patents, industrial designs, copyright and protection of undisclosed information delays the timely access to affordable vaccines and medicines that are essential to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. The nations have also demanded the waiver to be practised for an unspecified time period allowing yearly review until its termination.

Reportedly, huge drug and pharmaceutical companies oppose the proposed patent waivers including nations such as Britain, Switzerland, Germany among others. As per the Bloomberg report, spokesperson for German Chancellor Angela Merkel on May 6 said that the leader weighed in against Americas support of the waiver saying that it would create severe complications for the production of vaccines.

While the US has marked a reversal on its stance, the critics of the waiver reportedly argue that vaccine development is unpredictable and costly. Therefore, according to big players in the industry such as Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, IP protection has helped them to provide the incentive for the development of jabs in record time and the same will happen as the firms continue to tackle the new emerging variants of the coronavirus. However, proponents have also said that some of the money that drugs company are saying was utilised in vaccine production, was public funds.

IMAGE: AP/PTI
Fearing deportation to Morocco or fleeing overcrowded reception centers, hundreds of migrants and asylum seekers slept rough in the streets of Ceuta on Saturday. Some have chosen an abandoned prison while others find shelter between rocks at the port breakwater planning their next move.

The men are not only from Morocco but also Mali, Guinea, Chad and even Liberia and have yet to get access to lawyers to exert their right to seek asylum. Mohamed Bangoura, a 19-year-old from Guinea said he has attempted to reach Europe many times, but says it was "not possible" until now.

"We are here, we sleep in the streets, it's been four days we have been in the streets. There is nothing, no one will support us. So, we just suffer here," he said. Hundreds of thousands of asylum-seekers attempt to reach Europe from Africa each year. So far, authorities have confirmed 438 unaccompanied minors were among more than 8,000 people who arrived in Ceuta from Morocco between Monday and Wednesday by scaling a border fence or swimming around it.

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The French Chief of Defence Staff, General Francois Lecointre, recently said that France should avoid being drawn into the growing rivalry between China and the US, which will become a central geopolitical confrontation of the future. While speaking to a daily newspaper, Lecointre said that the future international arena will revolve around the standoff between Beijing and Washington, in which all third states will have to pick a side, something neither France nor Europe is interested in. He said that Frances relationship with the US is of vital importance but he also added that France must not allow itself to be drawn into the rivalry between China and Beijing.

Lecointre said, While it is not about questioning our relationship with the United States, which is of vital importance, we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into... the confrontation that threatens to unfold between China and the United States.

He added, This confrontation is dangerous.

Further, the General mentioned concerns of the Eastern European nations over Russias rearmament, as Moscow, in his opinion, along with Beijing, is becoming an increasingly dangerous rival in space and underwater. He said that Moscow was also trying to weaken the democratic model by acting in the field of digital technologies. Lecointre went on to note that the presence of Russia, Turkey or China in Africa was also disturbing and destabilising.

US-Russia united against hegemony

Meanwhile, China and Russia have repeatedly stated that the era of the US hegemony was over and the world needed to move toward a multilateral model. Back in March, the two countries also showed the strength of their strategic alliance by coordinating positions against the US hegemony. According to Global Times, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov earlier this year and urged the US to rethink the damage it has caused to international peace.

China and Russia said that the US should stop its bullying activities, stop interfering in other countries internal affairs, and stop forming cliques to confront other countries. They added that all countries should follow the principle of the UN Charter to boost the democratization of international relations. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also said that China and Russia, standing shoulder to shoulder with close cooperation and firm opposition to hegemony and bullying, have been a pillar of world peace and stability.

(With ANI inputs)
A pair of rare Persian leopard has been spotted in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan in Pakistan. The Balochistan Department of Forests and Wildlife has shared the picture of the the rare species on Facebook. The pair of Persian leopard were reportedly sighted few months ago by the forest guards. The forest officials then started the search for the animals and were successful in capturing the rare species on camera in mountainous area of Chiltan range. These rare species of leopards have habitat mostly in Iran to Central Asia and Balochistan.

Rare Persian leopard spotted

As per local reports, the endangered pair of leopards were sighted by the Forest Department officials six months ago at Chilton Park. The team of forest guards had started to search the rare species and have succeeded to capture it on camera this month. Sharifuddin Baloch, Chief Conservator of Forests told BBC Urdu that these leopards have become in some parts of the world. He further added that they are trying to protect the rare species. The Persian Leopard is one of the sub species of leopard and International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN) has listed it among the endangered species.

Meanwhile, a leopard at a zoo in Philadelphia caught the internets attention after it was seen playing with the cat plush toy during the zoos organized Play Date. The footage was shared out of the Philly zoos Instagram account. In the now-viral clip a child clad in a pink hoodie was seen playing with the ferocious cat from the other side of the glass enclosure. The zoo leopard, in the heart-melting clip, responds to the child as it pretends to put up a fight with the toy cat by scratching its paws on the glass wall each time the kid gestures movements. I love how they stop playing when the child stops moving it! This is so adorable, one said, admiring the clip.

IMAGE: Balochistan Forest and Wildlife Department/Facebook
STORY: Nicaragua Police Raid - Chamorro meets Nicaragua prosecutors after raids

LENGTH: 02:31

FIRST RUN: 2331

RESTRICTIONS:

TYPE: Spanish/Natsound

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS

STORY NUMBER: 4327186

DATELINE: 21 May 2021 - Managua

SHOTLIST:

RESTRICTION SUMMARY:

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Managua - 21 May 2021

1. Cristiana Chamorro arriving at the prosecutor's office

2. Supporters chanting "Freedom, viva Nicaragua!"

3. Cristiana Chamorro entering prosecutor's office

4. Various Cristiana Chamorro walking after exiting prosecutor's office

5. Cristiana Chamorro speaking with reporters

6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Cristiana Chamorro, presidential pre-candidate:

"The outrages that happened in these past weeks, both to "Confidencial" (media outlet), and to the parties legally constituted and to the candidates, indicate that this is an assault by the dictatorship against the people of Nicaragua. It is not only against us, but against each one of you, against the freedom of expression, against our human rights, against public liberties."

7. Various activist Violeta Delgado Sarmiento listening to Cristiana Chamorro

8. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Violeta Delgado Sarmiento, Gender Rights Activist:

"We will vote to get Ortega out, as we did in 1990 through civic means, through democratic means, in spite of everything he does, using the institutional system, with his millions, his shock forces, his police, and paramilitary forces."

9. Various riot policemen looking on

10. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Cristiana Chamorro, presidential pre-candidate:

"Daniel Ortega is afraid of the people of Nicaragua. This is a man who is terrified to death because we, united, are going to defeat him in the next elections."

11. Various of clothing stand owner Wilber Espinosa arranging his stand

12. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Wilber Espinosa, Clothing Stand Owner:

"I have never known her to be with the poor as the President, the Comandante (President Daniel Ortega), has been. The Comandante has been there at all times, and these types of people have never been there, nor will they be when they supposedly become President."

13. Various of pro-government t-shirts at clothing stand

14. Various of avenue with Hugo Chavez billboard

STORYLINE:

Nicaraguan journalist Cristiana Chamorro, daughter of a former president and potential challenger to President Daniel Ortega, met with authorities Friday regarding allegations of money laundering.

The previous day, national police raided the offices of the Violeta Barrios de Chamorro Foundation for Reconciliation and Democracy, the nongovernmental organization named after her mother and led by Chamorro until recently and the offices of the independent news outlet run by her brother Carlos Fernando Chamorro.

Cristiana Chamorro met with officials at the Interior Ministry Thursday and Friday entered the public prosecutor's offices. Her lawyer was not allowed to accompany her.

"The outrages that happened in these past weeks (...) indicate that this is an assault by the dictatorship against the people of Nicaragua," she said, surrounded by journalists.

Several political opposition leaders said Friday police kept them from leaving their homes to go support Chamorro.

The Nicaraguan government announced Thursday that Chamorro was under investigation for alleged financial irregularities and money laundering related to the foundation.

Cristiana Chamorro has not ruled out the possibility of running for President in the November elections.

In January, she stepped down from her role at the foundation. A month later, it closed its operations in Nicaragua after passage of a "foreign agents" law that aimed to track foreign funding of organizations operating in the country.

She said the new accusations are Ortega's attempt to keep her out of the race for the November 7 elections.

52-year-old Wilber Espinosa and his wife have been selling clothes at their stand at a bus stop for the past 19 years.

Their shop is filled now with pro-government t-shirts and hats in anticipation to November's elections.

"I have never known her to be with the poor as the President, the Comandante, has been," he said when asked about Chamorro.

Ortega is seeking his fourth consecutive presidential term in November.

Nicaragua's Supreme Electoral Council and congress have been narrowing the space for manoeuvre for the country's opposition.

On Tuesday, the council cancelled the legal status of the Democratic Restoration Party, which was expected to potentially be a vehicle for an opposition coalition bid against Ortega.

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro beat Ortega to win the presidency in 1990 and served until 1997. Her husband Pedro Joaquin Chamorro ran La Prensa, his family newspaper, and was jailed and forced into exile multiple times before his assassination in 1978. Cristiana Chamorro is the vice president of La Prensa.

His killing galvanized opposition forces against dictator Anastasio Somoza and propelled the Sandinista revolution led by Ortega that resulted in his ouster.

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The United States and South Korea have agreed to cooperate on the issue of Taiwan Strait as tensions budding from the 180-kilometre waterways continues to rise. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who is visiting America, met with US President Joe Biden in a bilateral summit on May 21, as per news agency ANI. During the post-summit press conference, Biden informed that both leaders talked about issues that are relevant for regional stability such as maintaining freedom of navigation in the South China Sea and upholding peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Moon also said that he and Biden agreed to work together on the matter.

ANI quoted Moon saying, "We've shared the view that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait are extremely important, and we agreed to work together on that matter while considering special characteristics in relations between China and Taiwan.

The focus of some countries shifted to the Taiwan strait as china has ramped up political pressure and armed threats against the self-ruled democratic island including daily incursions into Taipeis air defence identification zone. Most recently, the United States Navy destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG 54) transited the Taiwan Strait to showcase Americas dedication to ensure a free and open Indo-Pacific region against Chinas territorial expansions.

Today President Biden welcomed Republic of Korea President Moon Jae-in to the White House.



Our alliance and close cooperation with the Republic of Korea will help us face some of the most pressing challenges of our times including global health, climate change, and development. pic.twitter.com/XibS56f3oi  The White House (@WhiteHouse) May 22, 2021

China Protests US Latest Passage Through Taiwan Strait

US Navys passage drew flack from China and Beijing accused Wahington of provocation and threatening peace and stability of the Taiwan Strait after a US warship sailed through the sensitive waterway. On Wednesday, China protested the latest passage by the US Navy and said that the actions send wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces. A spokesman for China's Eastern Theatre Command Col. Zhang Chunhui also added that the US latest move is endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.

Chunhui said, The US actions send the wrong signals to Taiwan independence forces, deliberately disrupting the regional situation and endangering peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait. He added that Chinese forces tracked and monitored the ship and strictly guarded against all threats and provocations.

IMAGE: AP
Canadas most populous province is resuming use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, but only as a second dose for those who'd received it initially, officials said Friday.

Ontario and several other provinces stopped giving out first doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca earlier this month on concerns over reported links to rare blood clots, which previously led some European countries to restrict its use.

The Ontario government said that decision was also based on the increased supply of alternative vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna and a downward trend in cases.

The province also has delayed giving second vaccine doses in order to get as many people covered by a first shot as possible. While protocols initially called for a three-week interval, studies found a longer gap often was more effective.

Ontarios chief medical officer for health, Dr. David Williams, said informed consent is needed to get the second dose of AstraZeneca. Those who got the first dose between March 10 and March 19 will be eligible as soon as next week for the second shot.

The government said data from the U.K. strongly suggests a much-reduced risk of the rare blood cots in second doses of AstraZeneca. Williams said it is one in 600,000.

Ontario has more than 50,000 doses of the vaccine set to expire at the end of the month and officials don't want to waste them.

The province said nearly a million Ontarians aged 40 and over received the AstraZeneca vaccine as their first dose between March 10 and May 11.

Canada has overtaken the U.S. in the percentage of people with at least one dose, but Canada has only fully vaccinated about 3% of the population. Second doses are expected to be administered for most adults in June and July in Canada.

Canada has relied largely on the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Plans to distribute the first 300,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine in Canada remain on hold after Health Canada learned part of them were manufactured at a Maryland facility where the U.S. Food and Drug Administration had uncovered manufacturing violations.

Meanwhile, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Canada is extending the ban on direct passenger flights from India and Pakistan for another 30 days until June 21. There had been a disproportionately higher number of positive cases among those traveling on flights from India and Pakistan.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Vietnam has gone on high alert as the fourth wave of COVID-19, which began late last month, is the countrys biggest yet. According to Nikkei Asia, Vietnam on May 21 reported 131 more local coronavirus cases, pushing its community tally wave since April to 1,892. In just a few weeks, the country has recorded over 1,600 cases and Bac Giang Province, the epicentre, alone recorded 99 infections on Friday.

As per reports, the particularly transmissible B16172 variant, a sub-lineage of the B1617 variant first identified in India, has been found in several community cases sampled. Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam Vu Duc Dam has asked the authorities to bolster efforts to prevent supply chain disruptions, especially in the troubled northern provinces. Dam reportedly said that the priority in the north is to ensure adequate disease precautions to let multinational manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics sustain their operations.

On Friday, Dam said that besides closely monitoring outbreaks and strictly managing workers in industrial parks, Bac Ninh and Bac Giang need to quickly allow businesses to resume operations if safety, hygiene and epidemiological measures can be ensured. The Deputy Vice President focused on enterprises involved in large supply chains stretching nationwide and globally.

First real wave

Epidemiologist Michael Toole from Melbourne's Burnet Institute, on the other hand, told Straits Times that in reality, the current wave is Vietnams first real wave. He said that the other waves were just blips. It is worth noting that since the pandemic began, the country has had only around 4,600 cases, which is fewer than a tenth of Singapores.

However, the vaccination in Vietnam has reportedly been slow. As of Tuesday, only 28,852 people had been fully vaccinated. Around one million doses have to date been administered from the AstraZeneca vaccine supply it received through direct purchase or the Covax scheme. Moreover, the country is also negotiating to buy doses of Pfizer-BioNTechs vaccine to accelerate the inoculation.

(Image: Pixabay/AP)


BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the Global Health Summit via video in Beijing on Friday.

Please see the attachment for the translation of the full text of the speech.

Working Together to Build a Global Community of Health for All

Remarks by H.E. Xi Jinping

President of the People's Republic of China

At the Global Health Summit

21 May 2021

Your Excellency Prime Minister Mario Draghi,

Your Excellency President Ursula von der Leyen,

Dear Colleagues,

It gives me great pleasure to attend the Global Health Summit. Last year, the G20 successfully held an Extraordinary Leaders Summit on COVID-19 and the Riyadh Summit. Many important common understandings were reached on promoting global solidarity against the virus and boosting world economic recovery.

The past year and more have seen repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus. The most serious pandemic in a century is still wreaking havoc. To clinch an early victory against COVID-19 and restore economic growth remains the top priority for the international community. G20 members need to shoulder responsibilities in global cooperation against the virus. In the meantime, we need to draw on experience both positive and otherwise, and lose no time in remedying deficiencies, closing loopholes and strengthening weak links in a bid to enhance preparedness and capacity for coping with major public health emergencies. Here, I want to make five points on what we need to do.

First, we must put people and their lives first. The battle with COVID-19 is one for the people and by the people. What has happened proves that to completely defeat the virus, we must put peoples lives and health front and center, demonstrate a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and make extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge. No effort must be spared to attend every case, save every patient, and truly respect the value and dignity of every human life. Meanwhile, it is also important to minimize the potential impact on peoples life and maintain general order in our society.

Second, we must follow science-based policies and ensure a coordinated and systemic response. Faced with this new infectious disease, we should advocate the spirit of science, adopt a science-based approach, and follow the law of science. The fight against COVID-19 is an all-out war that calls for a systemic response to coordinate pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions, balance targeted routine COVID-19 protocols and emergency measures, and ensure both epidemic control and socio-economic development. G20 members need to adopt responsible macro-economic policies and step up coordination to keep the global industrial and supply chains safe and smooth. It is essential to give continued support by such means as debt suspension and development aid to developing countries, especially vulnerable countries facing exceptional difficulties.

Third, we must stick together and promote solidarity and cooperation. The pandemic is yet another reminder that we humanity rise and fall together with a shared future. Confronted by a pandemic like COVID-19, we must champion the vision of building a global community of health for all, tide over this trying time through solidarity and cooperation, and firmly reject any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus. Political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response on the domestic front. It would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world.

Fourth, we must uphold fairness and equity as we strive to close the immunization gap. A year ago, I proposed that vaccines should be made a global public good. Today, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute. It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries. Major vaccine-developing and producing countries need to take up their responsibility to provide more vaccines to developing countries in urgent need, and they also need to support their businesses in joint research and authorized production with other countries having the relevant capacity. Multilateral financial institutions should provide inclusive financing support for vaccine procurement of developing countries. The World Health Organization (WHO) should speed up efforts under the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility.

Fifth, we must address both the symptoms and root causes as we improve the governance system. The pandemic is an extensive test of the global health governance system. It is important that we strengthen and leverage the role of the UN and the WHO and improve the global disease prevention and control system to better prevent and respond to future pandemics. It is important that we uphold the spirit of extensive consultation, joint contribution and shared benefits, fully heed the views of developing countries, and better reflect their legitimate concerns. It is also important that we enhance our capacity of monitoring, early-warning and emergency response, our capacity of treatment of major pandemics, of contingency reserve and logistics, of fighting disinformation, and of providing support to developing countries.

Colleagues,

In this unprecedented battle against the pandemic, China has, while receiving support and help from many countries, mounted a massive global humanitarian operation. At the 73rd World Health Assembly held in May last year, I announced five measures that China would take to support global anti-pandemic cooperation. Implementation of those measures is well underway. Notwithstanding the limited production capacity and enormous demand at home, China has honored its commitment by providing free vaccines to more than 80 developing countries in urgent need and exporting vaccines to 43 countries. We have provided 2 billion US dollars in assistance for the COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries hit by the pandemic. We have sent medical supplies to more than 150 countries and 13 international organizations, providing more than 280 billion masks, 3.4 billion protective suits and 4 billion testing kits to the world. A cooperation mechanism has been established for Chinese hospitals to pair up with 41 African hospitals, and construction for the China-assisted project of the Africa CDC headquarters officially started at the end of last year. Important progress has also been made in the China-UN joint project to set up in China a global humanitarian response depot and hub. China is fully implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has so far put off debt repayment exceeding 1.3 billion US dollars, the highest deferral amount among G20 members.

In continued support for global solidarity against COVID-19, I wish to announce the following:

 China will provide an additional 3 billion US dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.

 Having already supplied 300 million doses of vaccines to the world, China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability.

 China supports its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them.

 Having announced support for waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, China also supports the World Trade Organization and other international institutions in making an early decision on this matter.

 China proposes setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

Colleagues,

The ancient Roman philosopher Seneca said, "We are all waves of the same sea." Let us join hands and stand shoulder to shoulder with each other to firmly advance international cooperation against COVID-19, build a global community of health for all, and work for a healthier and brighter future for humanity.

(Source: Xinhua)
Peruvian and Bolivian authorities joined forces Friday to vaccinate the Aymara community in the Andean region that straddles the two countries.

Dozens of people lined up in the Desaguardero international bridge to get the vaccine.

Authorities estimate more than three million Aymara people live in the Andean region, which is shared by Bolivia, Peru and Chile.

Desaguardero, 100 kilometers west of the Bolivian capital La Paz, is an important crossing that has ceased some activities during the past year.

Authorities from both countries are keen to rehabilitate the local economy.

The initiative comes as Peru and Bolivia report a further surge in COVID-19 cases, which authorities believe is due to a new, more contagious variant of the virus.

(Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed; only the image & headline may have been reworked by www.republicworld.com)
Political interference keeps activists in jail, but frees the wealthy and connected.

Recent decisions by Cambodian courts have underscored the problem of state control of the countrys judiciary, marked by an entrenched system of political interference in cases threatening the power of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the ruling Cambodian Peoples Party, Cambodian sources say.

The Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday denied bail to seven environmental activists whose period of pretrial detention at Prey Sar Prison has already exceeded the limit allowed by law, their lawyer Sam Chamroeun told RFA.

Charged with incitement to create social chaos for their campaigns to protect Cambodias natural resources and environment, the activists have already been held in custody for nine months, three months over the mandated maximum, Sam Chamroeun said.

We presented strong legal reasons for the court to release them on bail, the lawyer said, noting that the judge hearing their request had allowed them each to make statements but had asked no questions himself.

The seven activists, members of the Khmer Thavrak youth group and the Khmer Student Intelligent League Association, are now suffering ill health in custody, Sam Chamroeun said.

Thach Thida, mother of activist Chhoeun Daravy, expressed disappointment with the courts decision, insisting on her daughters innocence of the charges made against her, and demanding that she and the other activists be freed.

According to the law, they should have been released four to six months ago. I am so disappointed, she said.

Heng Kimhong, Head of the Research and Advocacy Program of the Cambodian Youth Network, also called on the court to release the seven activists from detention, telling RFA he had been present at their hearing.

They have already been detained for nine months, and yet the court has not brought them to trial, claiming concerns over COVID-19. If the court continues to detain them, this will be a violation of their right to freedom, he said.

Attempts to reach Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesperson Y Rin were unsuccessful Friday.

'Treason' case delayed

Also on Friday, Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) spokesman Sok Ey San told RFA that former opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) chief Kem Sokha, now under house arrest while awaiting trial on charges of treason, will not be allowed to take part in elections scheduled for 2022 and 2023.

The court has not yet finished with his case, so he will not be present for the upcoming elections, Sok Ey San said while refusing to comment on the long delay in bringing Kem Sokha to trial and saying the courts decision in the case had been made free from political influence.

Cambodias Supreme Court dissolved the CNRP in November 2017 and barred its members from taking part in political activities, two months after Kem Sokhas arrest for his role in an alleged plot to topple Hun Sens government.

The ban, along with a wider crackdown on NGOs and the independent media, paved the way for the CPP to win all 125 parliamentary seats in the countrys 2018 general election.

Kem Sokha was put on trial in January 2020, but the hearings were suspended two months later on the pretext of containing the spread of COVI-19. Hun Sen has hinted that the trial may not resume for years, and may not conclude until 2024, long after the next election cycle.

Speaking to RFA, Kem Sokhas lawyer Pheng Heng said that the final outcome of Khem Sokhas case will depend on politics, and that his absence from coming elections will damage Cambodias reputation on the world stage.

The national and international community want to see more space for democracy in Cambodia so that potential opposition parties can freely compete in elections, he said. Continuing to ignore Kem Sokha will only affect Cambodias reputation.

Political analyst Em Sovanara agreed that Kem Sokhas case will be decided by the government rather than the courts, adding that the CPP wants to continue to delay his trial so that the ruling party will win again in 2022 and 2023 in the absence of viable competitors.

The [CNRPs] bargaining power is weak now. It does not have the power to push the ruling party to the table for talks, but the dissolved party can demand justice to speed up the court case and urge the international community to monitor the proceedings, he said.

Double standards of justice

Chak Sopheap, Executive Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), told RFA it is imperative for Cambodias court system to provide equal justice for all if the country hopes to bring an end to the culture of impunity.

Her comments came after Hun Sen appeared to intervene in the case of Mean Pich Rita, a 20-year-old TV presenter and former Miss Grand Cambodia, who had been arrested days earlier on a charge of aggravated theft for allegedly stealing the mobile phone of an influential business tycoon.

After Hun Sen announced that he would form a legal team to assist in her defense, Mean Pich Rita was quickly released on bail by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, prompting complaints that Cambodias judiciary maintains a double standard of justice.

Previously, we only saw communities facing land issues, activists, and those who were unjustly accused demanding justice, Chak Sopheap said. And many wealthy people, or people not impacted by these problems, were always criticizing human rights and environmental activists for complaining and making demands.

But when problems happen to them, they also cry out for justice, she said.

Political control, corruption

Cambodias constitution provides for an independent judiciary, the U.S. State Department noted in an annual report released this year on human rights practices around the world in 2020.

But the government did not respect judicial independence, exerting extensive control over the courts, and court decisions were often subject to political influence, the State Department said, adding that judicial officials often simultaneously held positions in the ruling party.

Corruption among judges, prosecutors, and court officials was widespread, the State Department added.

In an Oct. 18, 2017 report, the International Commission of Jurists noted that Cambodia had successfully weaponized the law and was relying on judges and prosecutors to silence dissent and dismantle democracy.

The rule of law is not only about passing and implementing laws, said KInglsey Abbottt, Senior International Legal Adviser at ICJs regional office in Bangok.

Rather, those laws should be drafted and applied in accordance with international human rights law and without discrimination, based on political or other opinion, Abbott added.

Reported by RFAs Khmer Service. Translated by Samean Yun and Sok Ry Sum. Written in English by Richard Finney and Joshua Lipes.
"We both are deeply concerned about the situation," Joe Biden says after talks with Seoul's Moon Jae-in.

US President Joe Biden (R) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in participate in a press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, May 21, 2021.

U.S. President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday said they would pursue diplomacy with North Korea to try to reduce tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and missile programs.

"We both are deeply concerned about the situation," Biden said after talks with Moon at the White House. Total denuclearization is our objective.

Biden, hosting his second foreign leader since he took office in January, said he had appointed Ambassador Sung Kim, a veteran North Korea hand, to be special representative to address the North and would coordinate policy toward Pyongyang with ally South Korea and take pragmatic steps to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean peninsula, he said at a media appearance.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy and Biden would seek a third way between predecessor Donald Trumps personal outreach to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, whom he met three times, and Barack Obamas strategic patience toward Pyongyang.

"President Moon welcomes the conclusion of the United States DPRK policy review, which takes a calibrated and practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy with the DPRK to make tangible progress that increases the security of the United States and the Republic of Korea," they said in a joint statement, referring to North Korea by its official name, the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea.

"We also reaffirm our common belief that diplomacy and dialogue, based on previous inter-Korean and U.S.-DPRK commitments such as the 2018 Panmunjom Declaration and Singapore Joint Statement, are essential to achieve the complete denuclearization and establishment of permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula<' it said of agreements Biden's predecessor Donald Trump reached with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea analyst Frank Aum, of the U.S. Institute of Peace, said the Biden administrations policy toward Pyongyang wasnt revealed Friday in Washington but is likely to be shared by Seoul.

The U.S. government does not tend to share details because: 1) the strategy is classified and 2) it likes to maintain strategic ambiguity to maintain flexibility and prevent exposure to criticism, he told RFA.

On the other hand, I wouldnt be surprised if the ROK government shares more details about the discussions given how the ROK media and domestic public wants more information about important security matters related to North Korea, said Aum.

'Disappointment' for Moon

Soo Kim, a policy analyst at the RAND Corporation, said the meeting falls within the range of outcomes we had expected from the summit and underscores a divergence in tactics between Washington and Seoul despite their professed shared goal of denuclearization.

In the months prior, we had a pretty good sense as to the Biden administrations line on North Korea. No matter how it is worded or packaged, denuclearization was a non-negotiable for Biden, she told RFAs Korean Service.

Kim said that outcome is disappointing for Moon, whose government had proactively advocated for Washingtons flexibility on the North Korean nuclear issue.

On human rights in North Korea, another issue where Moon has tried to placate the North while Washington has been highly critical of Pyongyang, the two leaders vowed to collaborate.

"We agree to work together to improve the human rights situation in the DPRK and commit to continue facilitating the provision of humanitarian aid to the neediest North Koreans," the joint statement said.

Moon told the news conference he and Biden had reaffirmed the strength of the nations 68-year-old alliance and affirmed the common vision for developing it into an even stronger one.

"And Korea will closely work with the U.S. to achieve complete denuclearization and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula," he said.

North's Kim may exploit talks

Fridays meeting followed comments this week by White House senior Asia adviser Kurt Campbell that the administration of Biden, the sixth U.S. president to face Pyongyangs nuclear program, is now looking for a new and different approach to achieving the complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Previous approaches have failed. We are under no illusions on how challenging this is, Campbell said in a May 18 interview with South Koreas Yonhap news service.

This is one of the hardest national security problems the world is facing. Thats why we have to try with everything we have, but also have realistic expectations, Campbell said, adding that it is still too soon to discuss sanctions relief as an inducement for Pyongyang to return to talks.

United Nations sanctions on the DPRK remain in place, and we will continue to enforce them, Campbell said.

The U.S. will reach out to the United Nations and North Koreas neighbors for help in finding diplomatic solutions, and will build its own efforts on agreements made by previous administrations, Campbell said.

Those efforts include a denuclearization agreement signed in Singapore between former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June 2018 in which both sides pledged to work toward better relations and a stable peace on the Korean peninsula.

A second meeting between the two leaders held in February 2019 in Hanoi, and a third held at the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea in July that same year, ended with no further progress made.

Mathew Ha, a research analyst, at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, said that given North Koreas previous stance toward nuclear talks, the two allies needed to move forward based on a realistic assessment of the underlying assumptions regarding Kim Jong Uns strategic rationale.

Thus far, Kim Jong-un has not demonstrated he has made the strategic decision to verifiably dismantle his nuclear weapons and missile programs. Rather, it seems the opposite as he continues to develop newer missile capabilities and build up his arsenal, he told RFA.

Providing concessions indeed may reopen negotiations, but if Kim still refuses to relinquish his nuclear capability, his regime will continue only to exploit talks to gain even more concessions without any reciprocity, sad Ha.

Reported by Soyoung Kim and Kyung Ha Rhee for RFA's Korean Service. Written in English by Paul Eckert and Richard Finney.
A Belarusian political activist who was sentenced in January to five years in prison for participating in anti-government protests has reportedly died.

The precise circumstances of Vitold Ashuraks death werent immediately clear. The news website Onliner and other media said he suffered a heart attack in a prison facility in eastern Belarus.

Ashurak, 50, was a member of the Belarusian Popular Front opposition party and a coordinator of the For Freedom movement.

At a closed-door trial in January, a court found him guilty of gross violations of public order and violence against police.

Exiled opposition leader Svyatlana Tsikhanouskaya condemned prison authorities for allowing Ashuraks death.

"People are not just suffering, people die because of the regime in Belarus," she said in a post to Twitter.

Tens of thousands of Belarusians took to the streets for months last year after Alyaksandr Lukashenka declared a landslide reelection victory in a vote in August that was widely disputed.

Tsikhanouskaya has called for new elections, something Lukashenka has refused to agree to.

The European Union and the United States have sanctioned Lukashenka and dozens of officials and businessmen with asset freezes and visa bans.

In response to Ashurak's death, European Union spokesman Peter Stano said the bloc "demands the immediate release" of all political prisoners.

With reporting by AFP
Belarusian security forces raided a Minsk studio used by a Polish-based TV station that has produced investigations critical of authoritarian Belarusian leader Alyaksandr Lukashenka and his associates.

Belsat said uniformed officers broke into a studio on May 21 used for producing a talk show, detaining six people, including four cameramen.

The host of the talk show, Hleb Labadzenka, confirmed that the raid had taken place but told Euroradio that he was not detained.

The studio was being prepared for a future program and no filming was taking place when the raid took place, the outlet said.

There was no immediate confirmation of the detentions from Belarusian law enforcement.

In April, the channel published an investigation into the business dealings of the daughter-in-law of the countrys strongman leader, Alyaksandr Lukashenka, and others associated with him.

Earlier this year, two journalists for Belsat were handed what their lawyers called an "absurd" sentence of two years in prison each for reporting live from a rally in Minsk in November.

Separately on May 21, Belsat said two freelance journalists had been detained in Minsk and were taken to a police facility. They were to appear in court on May 24, the report said, although details were not available.

Broadcasting in Belarusian, Belsat TV is a subsidiary of Poland's public broadcaster, Telewizja Polska. Its correspondents have been harassed and detained in the past by Belarusian agents. It is also funded by several European governments and foundations and had correspondents in Ukraine, Russia, Lithuania, and other European countries.

Belarus has been gripped by nearly unprecedented political turmoil since last August, when Lukashenka declared victory in a disputed presidential election.

Belarusians have taken to the streets around the country to protest and in some cases have clashed with security officials, who have arrested thousands, including dozens of journalists who covered the rallies. Most of the top opposition figures have been pushed out of the country.

Authorities have also stepped up pressure on independent media and stripped accreditation from a host of correspondents from international news organizations.

Earlier this week, police launched a probe of the country's largest independent online media outlet, Tut.by, searching the homes of several of its editors and blocking its website.

Meanwhile, a Minsk court on May 21 sentenced another reporter who covered the police raid on Tut.by to a 15-day prison sentence, a media advocacy group said.

The Belarusian Association of Journalists said 27 media workers are currently behind bars, either awaiting trial or serving sentences.
Less than a month before Irans June 18 presidential election, there are few signs of enthusiasm about the vote.

For many Iranians, voting in the Islamic republic has often been a choice between bad or worse.

Elections in Iran are tightly restricted, with candidates being preselected by hard-liners on the countrys unelected Guardians Council.

Frustrated by the limited powers of elected officials, their failure to deliver on promises, and the absence of meaningful change to the lives of ordinary citizens, some Iranians have concluded that staying away from the ballot box is the right choice this year.

Among them is Maryam (not her real name), a Tehran-based office manager who says she will not be lured to vote in June.

Fresh in her mind is the deadly November 2019 crackdown by authorities against antiestablishment protesters. According to Amnesty International, at least 300 people were killed.

She also remembers the deaths of many Iranians in the downing of a Ukrainian passenger jet near Tehran by the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRCG) in January 2020, a tragedy that led to anger and protests against what was seen as an initial cover-up attempt.

There is no way I will vote, she says. My vote has never brought any change anyway. Things have only gotten worse.

Opinion polls and debates on social media suggest many others also will stay away from the polls due to a long list of grievances.

There is dissatisfaction with an ailing economy crushed by ongoing U.S. sanctions. State repression is on the rise, as well as poverty, corruption, and perceived nepotism.

Many politicians are seen as incompetent. There has also been frustration over the mishandling by authorities of the coronavirus pandemic and a slow vaccination drive.

Turnout for the 2019 parliamentary elections hit a new historical low for the Islamic republic, a disconcerting sign for leaders who often refer to high election turnout figures as a claim to their legitimacy.

Official opinion polls suggest turnout for the presidential vote could also hit a new low.

The results of one telephone poll published on May 15 by the state-owned Iranian Student Polling Agency (ISPA) predicted turnout in June could be as low as 40 percent. It said 43.8 percent of respondents indicated they will definitely participate in the presidential election, while only 5.5 percent said they were very likely to participate.

The ISPA concluded that due to lack of cooperation with pollsters and slight conservatism in the telephone poll, the [expected] turnout is currently estimated at 40 percent.

I couldnt imagine that my 19-year-old innocent Reza would be killed in the street. I call on the people not to vote because one day their children could meet the same fate.

Another poll by state-controlled television in early May found that 51 percent of voters in the survey said they don't plan to vote in June. By comparison, only 30 percent said they would cast a ballot.

During Irans last presidential election in 2017, turnout was 73 percent, according to the Interior Ministry. Many said they had voted for the self-proclaimed moderate, incumbent President Hassan Rohani, in order to block hard-line cleric Ebrahim Raisi from winning.

Earlier this week, 230 activists within Iran signed an open letter calling for an election boycott in order to bring about a nonviolent transition from the Islamic republic to the rule of the people, by the people, and for the people.

We boycott the June 18 presidential election show so that the current anti-people establishment does not endure, the letter said. Signatories included political activists such as jailed filmmaker Mohammad Nurizad and former political prisoner Heshmatollah Tabarzadi.

The main barrier for a secular and democratic system is the Islamic republic, Tabarzadi told RFE/RLs Radio Farda in a telephone interview from Tehran. [The authorities] know themselves that the majority of people do not support them.

The establishment does not react to these calls, Tabarzadi said. They have reached the conclusion that the best thing to do is to remain silent in reaction to these statements and campaigns because, as you see, there are many supporting these [boycott] calls.

There have also been boycott calls on social media by some parents of children who have been killed in state repression, such as the November 2019 crackdown. Theyve been using the hashtag, in Persian, of #Notovoting.

Id like to tell the Iranian people that, as a mother, I didnt think I would lose my son like this, the mother of Reza Moazami Goudarzi said in a video posted online recently.

Goudarzi was shot dead in the crackdown against the November 2019 protests, which were sparked by a sudden rise in the price of gasoline.

I couldnt imagine that my 19-year-old innocent Reza would be killed in the street, she said. I call on the people not to vote because one day their children could meet the same fate.

Mohammad Karimbeigi says he also wont be voting because he wants to protest 42 years of injustice, inequality, killings, unemployment, and poverty.

Karimbeigi is the father of Mostafa Karimbeigi, who was killed at the age of 26 in the 2009 crackdown against protesters who disputed Iran's official presidential election results.

Berlin-based Iranian journalist Ehsan Mehrabi told RFE/RL that Iranian authorities appear to be bracing for a low turnout in June.

Some of the hard-liners have said for months that, despite a decrease in turnout, what is important is electing an efficient [president], Mehrabi said. Therefore, it appears that authorities in the Islamic republic are ready, to some extent, for a lower turnout than usual.

Mehrabi predicted that Iranian authorities also could try to blame the coronavirus pandemic for voter apathy.

Speaking to the Associated Press on May 19, Guardians Council spokesman Abbas Ali Kadkhodaei argued that a low turnout in June would not damage the legitimacy of the establishment.

The public, social, and political expectations always desire a high turnout, Kadkhodaei said. Nevertheless, from the legal and lawful point of view, low turnout does not bring about any legal problems with the election's credibility.

RFE/RL Radio Farda reporter Roya Maleki contributed to this report
Russian police detained four people at a meeting of opposition figures and municipal deputies in the city of Novgorod, in the latest crackdown on Kremlin critics ahead of elections later this year.

Yulia Galyamina, an opposition leader from Moscow; Vitaly Bovar, a municipal deputy from St. Petersburg; Yamalo-Nenets lawmaker Aleksandr Bondarchuk; and Viktor Shalyakin, the head of the Novgorod Yabloko party, were all detained on May 22.

Police broke up the meeting at the Rossia hotel soon after it started, citing a breach of coronavirus rules.

Andrei Nikitin, the governor of the Novgorod region, banned gatherings of more than 30 people in one room in a decree on May 8.

Gatherings of more than 30 people in one room are banned. Police claimed 31 people were present, although organizers said only 25 people were in attendance.

"This is political persecution," said Galyamina, who posted a video of herself being taken into police custody.

In March, Russian police detained around 200 people, mostly opposition figures and municipal deputies, at an event in Moscow.

Among the detainees were prominent Putin critics, including senior Open Russia leaders Andrey Pivovarov and Anastasia Burakova; former Yekaterinburg Mayor Yevgeny Roizman; opposition politician Vladimir Kara-Murza; and city deputy Ilya Yashin.

The detentions were the latest crackdown on Russias opposition since Kremlin critic Aleksei Navalny was arrested, put on trial, and imprisoned in the wake of his January return from Germany, where he had been recovering from a nerve agent poisoning he blames on Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Navalny's team has accused authorities of seeking to further intimidate critics ahead of general elections in September.

Navalny and his supporters have developed a "smart-voting" system, which is aimed at undoing United Russias stranglehold on political power in the upcoming election through better coordination of voters at the local level.

With reporting by dpa

CORRECTION: This article has been amended to correct the Novgorod governor's first name as well as to clarify that four people were detained and the events took place in the city of Novgorod.
The sweaty, tanned, dirt-stained face drags on a cigarette about three-quarters into the 105-minute film, pensive piano music in the background, and says: "Americans: They're fighting for democracy. And we are [fighting] for justice."

The latest entry into the genre of high-energy, kinetic war-action films has arrived in the form of The Tourist, a movie that debuted in Russia in a midweek broadcast on state-funded NTV.

Set in the Central African Republic, the film features a group of heroic Russian military trainers sent to bolster the professionalism of beleaguered security forces until they're caught up in an attempted coup on the eve of a presidential election.

With tightly framed shots of furrowed brows, curling cigarette smoke, Kalashnikov magazine clips, and bodies flung skyward by explosions, the movie's cinematography, soundtrack, and even at times canned dialogue is virtually indistinguishable from scores of Hollywood action flicks. Think of the Arnold Schwarzenegger film Commando but set in Africa, with Russian and French dialogue.

There's a subtext to this film, however, that sharp-eyed observers were quick to pick up on: a gauzy look at Russian mercenaries who in real life play an increasingly outsized role as tools for official foreign policy goals.

The film itself is littered with clues pointing to the direct involvement of one or more private military companies. In fact, according to the online news outlet Meduza, it appears to have been financed by the parent company that is widely believed to control Russia's most notorious private military organization.

What is Vagner?

In recent years, researchers, journalists, open-source sleuths, not to mention United Nations investigators, have documented private Russian companies conducting operations in places like Ukraine, Syria, Libya, and Mozambique.

The Central African Republic, in particular, has been the focus of intense scrutiny amid concerns that private soldiers from a Russian company known as Vagner have come to dominate the governments security forces.

In 2018, the country's government signed a formal contract with Vagner to train the national military and help battle an insurgency that erupted five years earlier.

Outside the capital, Bangui, the countryside is largely a chaotic vacuum, with militias and insurgent groups vying for control of lucrative natural resources.

French, Russian, and other reports say that the several hundred Russian soldiers who deployed there have been overseeing one or more mines where diamonds and gold are dug up, as well as the export of valuable timber.

And they have been linked to atrocities in the country.

According to a United Nations report in March, experts have recorded "serious violations of human rights" including "mass summary executions, arbitrary detentions, torture during interrogation, enforced disappearances, forced displacement of the civilian population, [and] indiscriminate targeting of civilian facilities," among other things.

The violations, the report said, were "attributable to private soldiers operating jointly with the Central African Armed Forces and, in some cases, with United Nations peacekeeping forces."

On May 3, two weeks before the Russian film had its public debut in the Central African Republic, a report by Radio France International found that Vagner soldiers were allegedly involved in gang rapes, robberies, and the killings of civilians.

Private military companies give the Kremlin and Russian elites the strategic latitude they need to operate beyond the dictates of international humanitarian law, said Candace Rondeaux, a researcher at the Center on the Future of War at Arizona State University.

'Putin's Chef'

Vagner is linked to the St. Petersburg businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin, whose Kremlin catering contracts led to him being dubbed "Putin's chef." He's funded the notorious "troll factory" that churned out disinformation that U.S. officials say was aimed at sowing discord during U.S. elections.

He was indicted in the United States in 2018 on conspiracy and other charges. . Two years later, the U.S. Justice Department dropped its case against him.

Among the more egregious allegations linked to Vagner in the Central African Republic: the July 2018 killings of three Russian journalists who were in the country to make a documentary about the company's activities. Investigators from a research organization funded by exiled oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky alleged that Vagner mercenaries and official police units were responsible.

In Syria, Vagner mercenaries, and companies linked to Prigozhin, have been involved in secret deals to control the export of oil from facilities there. Vagner soldiers have been linked to at least one gruesome torture of a detainee, in which a video shows Russian men using a sledgehammer to crush the hand of local man whose body is later burned.

Citing three unnamed people, including a film consultant and a former Prigozhin employee, Meduza reported that Prigozhin indeed financed the film, with the goal of whitewashing the company's reputation.

Two people who spoke to Meduza, and one to the BBC, said it appeared that actual professionally trained private soldiers were cast in the film, as extras or secondary characters, alongside regular actors. Some of the equipment and vehicles used in the film were identical to vehicles used by Vagner units in Syria.

The film's closing credits do not mention Prigozhin or any of his companies, saying only that the film's producer is a company called Parity Film LLC, which was registered in St. Petersburg in February 2021.

The same company is also producing a film about the outbreak of fighting in eastern Ukraine, in 2014, according to the BBC.

An e-mail sent to Prigozhin's main company mailing address in St. Petersburg was not immediately replied to. But Prigozhin responded to queries from a Meduza reporter about the film by calling her an "enemy of the people" who "in Soviet times" would be shot.

Cessna Clues

There's another clue in the film pointing to the direct involvement of Prigozhin companies: a Cessna light aircraft whose identifying markers are visible, mistakenly, in at least one short segment of the film, according to RFE/RL's Russian Service.

Using aircraft databases and corporate records, RFE/RL's Russian Service and Current Time, the Russian-language network run by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA, determined that an aircraft with identical markings was registered to several of Prigozhin's companies, at a minimum, between December 2017 and April 2018.

Still other observers noticed what appear to be intentional clues -- known informally as "Easter eggs" in popular culture -- that appeared aimed at signaling to knowledgeable viewers.

One is a close-up of a sledgehammer, resting against the wheel of a Russian truck.

With reporting by RFE/RL Russian Service correspondent Mark Krutov
The United States formally blacklisted more than a dozen Russian ships involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, days after exempting the pipeline's Russian operator and CEO.

The widely expected move, announced late on May 21 by the U.S. Treasury Department, came amid vehement criticism from congressional Republicans about the White House's earlier announcement that it would not include the pipeline's Russian-owned operator in the new sanctions.

Nearly complete, the Baltic Sea pipeline will bring Russian gas directly to Germany, bypassing land routes through Ukraine, Belarus, and other countries.

Critics said it will increase German dependence on Russian energy supplies and make Berlin more susceptible to Russian politics. It will also deprive Ukraine and other countries of lucrative transit fees.

However, the pipeline has been backed by the government of Chancellor Angela Merkel. Political observers said President Joe Biden appeared to not want to pick a fight with a U.S. ally over the issue.

The State Department earlier this week announced the intention not to sanction the pipeline's Russian-owned operator, Nord Stream 2 AG, or its CEO, Matthias Warnig, who is an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Republican senators say they will introduce legislation to reinstate the sanctions.

"I don't understand. Do they not want to make Putin mad? I don't get that. Do they not want to get Germany mad?" Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters on May 20.

With reporting by Reuters
MANSFIELD  Jeff Monica said there are several things he cant figure out in the current employment chaos.

He owns and operates nine McDonalds restaurants in the area with his brother, Larry. Seven of them are in Richland County. Due to lack of employees during the pandemic, the restaurants have been drive-thru only.

There are 40 workers on average at each store, Monica said. With the summer coming, he needs another 10 people at every location. But hiring has been challenging.

The franchisee said he does not know if it is because of the unemployment benefits or the area is simply short of the workforce. He also has not figured out why applicants often do not show up for interviews.

You call them back. They don't even answer. They don't tell us they got another job. They dont say anything, Monica said. That's kind of weird, too. Its never been like that.

To attract more people to work, the Monicas raised wages a dollar in May. Monica said regular employees now start at $11 an hour and maintenance workers start at $14. Those who show up at every shift can earn another $2 bonus every hour.

Monica said the business is flexible with employee hours.

We'll work around anybody's schedule. This is as long as you tell us (in advance), he said.

So, if you want to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday, OK, please, come to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

The local McDonalds keeps offering high school students the $2,500 scholarship and hopes the benefit will bring in more workers, Jeff said. The scholarship can be used for college, trade school and any public or private education.

With the workforce of high school students, Monica said he expects to open indoor dining at all nine restaurants by Memorial Day.

A problem across the board

The hiring issue exists in multiple industries and jobs with different skill levels, according to different sources to whom Richland Source reached out.

Whitney Shopbell owns Black Dog Property Management, LLC of Mansfield with her husband, James. She said, unlike before, people have not responded to their call for skilled workers. The business offers landscaping, lawn mowing and many other outdoor contract services.

Shopbell said they are booked out for about a month and a half because only James and she can work constantly. She would like to add at least three people with basic knowledge of the equipment they use to handle the growing business.

We're willing to pay based on experience, she said.

Labor shortage does not only impact businesses. It affects the consumers  the public  as well.

The Golden Burrito Mexican Grill on Park Avenue East raised the price two weeks ago. A chicken burrito, for example, now costs $9.95, instead of $9.25.

Cirilo Martinez, co-owner and chef, said the price rise resulted from the significantly increased price of meat, which most customers can understand. The restaurant pays two to three times what it paid before to get the same amount of chicken and steak.

According to the deliverers, meat suppliers raised the price because they could not find enough employees and are paying more to those who come to work, Martinez said. The deliverers also said the price might keep going up.

This is crazy. I lost a lot of money at this moment, Martinez said.

Jennifer Crutchfield, human resource manager for Staffing Partners of Mansfield, said the agency serves many light industrial companies and has seen a 50 percent decrease in job applications from last year.

Many employers are offering a variety of incentives, including pay raise and different bonus programs, Crutchfield said. Some also asked if the agency could change the terms of temp-to-hire contracts so that the companies will get full-time employees sooner.

On the other hand, some employers chose to train existing employees, especially for a position with very specific skills, according to Jodie Perry, president and CEO of Richland Area Chamber and Economic Development.

Some employers have done that for years, but many haven't had to because they were able to find that skilled labor. So, we're seeing that, she said.

Unemployment benefit is not the only thing to blame

Plenty of business owners said people do not return to the job market because they can earn more by collecting the unemployment benefits. That will change before long.

Beginning on May 23, Ohioans have to meet the weekly work-search requirements to collect the benefits, according to Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The requirements, including applying for a job and attending a resume writing course, were suspended last year.

Moreover, Gov. DeWine announced that Ohio will leave a federal unemployment program that provides $300 per week on June 26. The additional benefit is discouraging people from going back to work in some cases, the governor said.

Crutchfield said Staffing Partners has seen more people looking for jobs since the governors announcement on May 13. They put in actual applications and respond to phone calls.

Perry said the labor shortage has been an ongoing issue in Richland County and was exacerbated by the pandemic. But the reason that people do not seek jobs may be more than the unemployment benefits.

For instance, many parents have to stay home and take care of their children during this time, Perry said. Some frontline workers were burned out because of the pressure and extra work caused by the pandemic.

The recovery of employment will take some time, even with the state governments recent acts, according to Clint Knight, workforce development director for the chamber.

I don't think things are going to immediately change for employers who are looking to find employees, he said. But I think over time, we'll see a number of people reengage in the workforce.

Perry said some people probably will switch their careers when coming back to the job market. The opportunities that the community could offer would be important.

The chamber is planning a late summer job fair likely in August, Perry said. Employers will have some time to figure out their needs and how to connect to job seekers after Ohio exits the federal unemployment program at the end of June.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Global Health Summit and delivers a speech via video in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]

 It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

-- In the face of continuing ravages of the pandemic, with repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus, Xi called for putting people's lives and health front and center.

 The Chinese president called for championing the vision of building a global community of health for all and firmly rejecting any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus.

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pledged to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to the best of China's ability to the world, calling for rejection of vaccine nationalism to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

Xi made the remarks via video at the Global Health Summit, which was co-hosted by Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, and the European Commission.

Rejecting Vaccine Nationalism

"It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries," Xi said, calling for upholding fairness and equity to close the immunization gap.

A medical worker shows China's COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Feb. 3, 2021. [Photo by Umar Qayyum/Xinhua]

Having already supplied 300 million doses of vaccines to the world, China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability, he said.

The Chinese president also pledged to support its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them.

"Having announced support for waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, China also supports the World Trade Organization and other international institutions in making an early decision on this matter," he said.

A man receives a dose of China's COVID-19 vaccine in the city of Tabatinga, Brazil, Jan. 19, 2021. [Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua]

Xi proposed setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

"Vaccines are powerful tools in the fight against the pandemic. Yet, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute, as some developed Western countries are hoarding vaccines while offering nothing but superficial lip service to countries in urgent need," said Su Xiaohui, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.

Notwithstanding the limited production capacity and enormous demand at home, China has honored its commitment by providing free vaccines to more than 80 developing countries in urgent need and exporting vaccines to 43 countries.

Making Extraordinary Response

In the face of continuing ravages of the pandemic, with repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus, Xi called for putting people's lives and health front and center, demonstrating a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and making extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge.

He called on G20 members to adopt responsible macro-economic policies and step up coordination to keep the global industrial and supply chains safe and smooth.

"It is essential to give continued support by such means as debt suspension and development aid to developing countries, especially vulnerable countries facing exceptional difficulties," Xi said.

China is fully implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has so far put off debt repayment exceeding 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, the highest deferral amount among G20 members. China has also provided 2 billion U.S. dollars in assistance for the COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries hit by the pandemic.

Members of the Chinese medical expert team communicate with local frontline health workers at a COVID-19 testing facility in Juba, South Sudan, Aug. 21, 2020. [Chinese Embassy in South Sudan/Handout via Xinhua]

At the summit, Xi announced that China will provide an additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.

In addition to financial aid, China has sent medical supplies to more than 150 countries and 13 international organizations, providing more than 280 billion masks, 3.4 billion protective suits and 4 billion testing kits to the world.

"China has indeed walked the talk, demonstrating its undertaking as a major responsible country," Su said.

Experts of the Chinese medical team and local medical staff pose for a photo amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, May 26, 2020. [Xinhua]

Building a Community of Health for All

"The pandemic is yet another reminder that we humanity rise and fall together with a shared future," Xi stressed.

The Chinese president called for championing the vision of building a global community of health for all and firmly rejecting any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus.

Chinese expert medical team members help a local doctor changing her mask in Belgrade, Serbia, on April 4, 2020. [Xinhua]

Political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response on the domestic front. It would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world, he said.

Xi said G20 members need to shoulder responsibilities in global cooperation against the virus, and lose no time in remedying deficiencies, closing loopholes and strengthening weak links in a bid to enhance preparedness and capacity for coping with major public health emergencies.

Stressing the need to address both the symptoms and root causes, Xi suggested strengthening and leveraging the role of the UN and the WHO and improving the global disease prevention and control system to better prevent and respond to future pandemics.

Workers unload vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac on its arrival in Montevideo, Uruguay, March 16, 2021. [Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua]

"It is also important that we enhance our capacity of monitoring, early-warning and emergency response, our capacity of treatment of major pandemics, of contingency reserve and logistics, of fighting disinformation, and of providing support to developing countries," Xi said.

"The virus respects no borders or races, and COVID-19 serves as a stark reminder that countries must rise above differences in geography, race, history, culture and social system and work together for a community with a shared future," said Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(Source: Xinhua)
MANSFIELD -- Richland County Commissioner Cliff Mears peered down Friday at the Black Fork, moving slowly 200 feet above the river.

He spotted a logjam blocking the flow of the river near Shelby.

"If that was my artery, I would be very sick," Mears said as he and other Richland and Crawford county elected officials watched 2 1/2 hours of drone footage over 18 miles of the winding waterway.

The aerial view of the river was the next step for a joint ditch project that began Feb. 24 when the City of Shelby and rural community members filed a ditch petition, asking for a project that could improve drainage and reduce flooding.

(View the complete video here.)

The group, which included commissioners from both counties, Richland County Engineer Adam Gove and Shelby Mayor Steve Schag, watched the thorough drone work by Matt Wallace, agriculture technician for the Richland Soil & Water Conservation District.

Wallace shot the footage over several days, though it was recorded before the May 9 heavy rains that led to high water in several locations along the Black Fork, including Shelby.

The Black Fork rises about seven miles west of Mansfield in Richland County and initially flows northward through the City of Shelby, then eastward across northern Richland County before turning southeast for the remainder of its course through eastern Richland and southern Ashland counties.

Flooding along the Black Fork has been a frequent and recurring problem, especially in the Shelby area.

After watching the footage, Richland County Commissioner Tony Vero said he noted nine "major" and 61 "minor" blockages, the latter of which could be as simple as a dead tree laying over the water.

"It's a little better than I expected," Vero said, adding he was concerned after a "physical viewing" of blockages during a walking visit to the Black Fork on Thursday afternoon. "I saw some major debris on Thursday and I was wondering, 'What if we have a lot of these over the 18-mile stretch?'

"Some work could definitely help the flow," Vero said.

The petition asks commissioners from the two counties "to study and examine the economic benefits to the City of Shelby and the approximately 70,000 acres of the agricultural community that lie within the petitioned watershed area."

If approved by commissioners, owners of about 10,000 parcels of land could be assessed to pay for the work, which would clean and maintain the river annually by removing felled trees, leaning logs, log jams and debris piles.

The work would improve flow and drainage, but would not completely eliminate flooding, according to Wallace.

"It would reduce the severity (of flooding) and reduce the amount of time that lands under water," he said Friday. "But if we get several five-inch rains, there is only so much you can do. Cleaning the channel and removing debris will reduce it."

The next step in the process will be a public hearing Aug. 5 at 6:30 p.m. at the Longview Center, which will include a preliminary cost estimate from Gove. That dollar estimate will be key to whether the project advances.

"Our decision is to be solely based on whether the benefits will outweigh the costs," said Crawford County Commissioner Doug Weisenauer, whose county is included since some of the parcels involved that would benefit from the effort are in Crawford.

Mears and Vero urged interested residents to attend the public hearing. About two dozen residents attended the river walk on Thursday, many posing questions about costs and property that commissioners said would be addressed at the hearing.

"We want to make an informed decision," Mears said. "We have a large room (at Longview) and can accommodate a lot of people."

If it goes forward, the joint ditch project would be a continuation of two phases already privately planned and organized by Shelby residents at a cost of about $367,000.

RSWCD Administrator Erica Thomas said in March that phase one cleared the waterway from Ohio 13 to State Street in Shelby and that a second phase, clearing the river from State Street to Mickey Road was nearing completion.

The joint ditch project would cover the Black Fork from the Mickey Road bridge in Shelby to the eastern edge of the water course bridge at Ohio 13 in Franklin Township.
Sadly, we know child deaths due to abuse are far too common. The National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System estimated that 1,840 children died from abuse and neglect in 2019, and we know those numbers probably dont even tell the full story

Right now, the lack of a clear definition for child maltreatment fatality lets too many kids slip through the cracks. We cant solve the problem if we dont even have accurate data on how bad it is.

Thats why I joined my Republican colleague, Senator Roy Blunt, to reintroduce our bipartisan Child Abuse Death Disclosure Act, to provide policymakers and public health officials with a clearer picture on exactly how many children we are losing each year.

Our bill would require the Department of Health and Human Services to consult with state and local officials, child welfare practitioners, pediatricians, public health officials, and law enforcement to develop a national standard definition related to child abuse deaths

Without a standard, national definition, we are never going to be able to accurately track this problem and advance potential solutions.

The bill would also require states to report case specific information to the National Center for Fatality Review and Prevention to better understand the circumstances around a childs death. This would include requiring states to look into whether the family had access to housing, mental health services, or drug treatment services.

In addition, the bill would provide resources to improve culturally competent training for pediatricians and medical professionals, to better identify and respond to injuries in infants that could be signs of abuse

Our bill has the support multiple child advocacy organizations, including the National Childrens Alliance and the National Child Abuse Coalition.

The fight to end child abuse and neglect deaths starts with community awareness and responding to at-risk families before they are in crisis. It includes better training medical professional, and creating national standards.

We need to treat child abuse prevention like the public health crisis that it is. Im hopeful that we can make real bipartisan progress on this commonsense plan to save childrens lives.
Richmond, KY (40475)

Today

Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 67F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 100%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Weather Alert

...AIR QUALITY ADVISORY ISSUED FOR KENOSHA, RACINE, WALWORTH, WAUKESHA, JEFFERSON, WASHINGTON, DODGE, AND FOND DU LAC COUNTIES... The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources has issued an Air Quality Advisory for Ozone which will remain in effect until 11:00 PM CDT June 11. This advisory affects people living in Kenosha, Racine, Walworth, Waukesha, Jefferson, Washington, Dodge, and Fond du Lac Counties. The air quality index is expected to reach the UNHEALTHY FOR SENSITIVE GROUPS level. Sensitive groups, including children, elderly people, individuals with respiratory and cardiac problems, and anyone engaged in strenuous outdoor activities for a prolonged period of time, should avoid extended outdoor exposure. For more information on current air quality, please see: https://airquality.wi.gov
Management at The Oaks Course is dedicated to growing the game of golf. One segment of the population that is a focus is junior golf. The Oaks regularly hosts junior events where young players can develop the future of the game and have fun. On Friday, June 11, The Oaks hosted a US Kids Golf Click for more.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-21 00:25:33|Editor: huaxia

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A refugee from Ethiopia (L) receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at Buluk Police Hospital in Juba, capital of South Sudan, May 20, 2021. The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Thursday hailed South Sudan for facilitating the vaccination of the first group of refugees against COVID-19. (Photo by Denis Elamu/Xinhua)

JUBA, May 20 (Xinhua) -- The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) Thursday hailed South Sudan for facilitating the vaccination of the first group of refugees against COVID-19.

Arafat Jamal, UNHCR's Country Representative lauded the government for its COVID-19 response plan that has allowed some 10 refugees from the Gorom refugee settlement located 20 km outside the capital to receive COVID Jabs.

"Safeguarding refugee health also protects the health of their host communities and wider society, and UNHCR is working with the ministry of health, the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and partners to support the roll-out in all refugee-hosting locations," said Jamal in a statement issued in Juba.

Jamal said South Sudan joins other countries like Ethiopia, Rwanda, Sudan, and Uganda in extending COVID-19 vaccination for refugees in the East African region.

Ojullu Ochan Ochan, a refugee from Ethiopia who received his COVID jab said he felt fine and relieved, encouraging other refugees and internally displaced people (IDPs) to turn up for vaccination.

Dut Yual Agoth, a volunteer health worker from the host community who also got vaccinated said she will help sensitize members of her community to turn up for vaccination.

On March 25, Juba received 132,000 doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines from the COVAX facility.

The country is expected to receive a total of 732,000 doses of vaccines within the first six months of 2021. The country aims to vaccinate 2.4 million people out of the country's estimated population of 12 million, according to the ministry of health.

The ministry of health recently said that it was stuck with more than 126,000 doses of AstraZeneca vaccines due to low turn up. As of Thursday, the ministry confirmed 10,669 total COVID-19 cases, 10,514 recoveries, and 115 deaths. Enditem
Rocky Mount, NC (27804)

Today

Thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible..

Tonight

Thunderstorms early, then cloudy skies after midnight. Low around 70F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 60%. Locally heavy rainfall possible.
Rutland, VT (05701)

Today

Rain. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain. Low near 55F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.
Danvers, MA (01923)

Today

Rain likely. Low around 55F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain likely. Low around 55F. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Sanford, NC (27330)

Today

Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%..

Tonight

Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low 68F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 50%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-21 22:41:21|Editor: huaxia

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-- Northeast China has reported more sightings of Siberian tigers in recent years. Conservationists and wildlife officials have interpreted this as a sign of a growing population and expanded territories of the endangered big cat.

-- On April 23, a wild tiger strayed into a village in Heilongjiang, injuring a local resident. Wildlife authorities captured it and released it into another safe spot on Tuesday. This is the first time that China has rescued a wild Siberian tiger and released it into its natural habitat.

-- In recent years, China has launched initiatives including afforestation, bans on commercial logging and detrapping operations to restore the felines' natural habitats.

-- The protection of the tigers also benefited from China's enhanced international cooperation, particularly with Russia, to build wildlife migration channels.

Undated photo taken by a far infrared camera shows a wild Siberian tiger at the Suiyang branch of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park management bureau in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua)

by Xinhua Writers Yao Yuan, Li Baojie, Wang Chunyu, Sun Xiaoyu, Wang Song

HARBIN, May 21 (Xinhua) -- An improving eco-system in northeast China is adding to a cheerful yet stressful situation for conservationists: more wild Siberian tigers are showing up, sometimes even in human settlements.

Siberian tigers, also known as Amur or Manchurian tigers, were once elusive in the China-Russia border region, but this year they have been sighted multiple times in China's Heilongjiang and Jilin.

On April 23, a wild tiger strayed into a village in Heilongjiang, injuring a local resident. Wildlife authorities captured it, and after an evaluation that confirmed its health, released it into the wild on Tuesday.

This is the first time that China has rescued a wild Siberian tiger and released it into its natural habitat, officials said.

The animal's appearance in the city of Mishan outside its traditional habitat shows its population is growing and its territory expanding, said Zhou Shaochun, an expert on endangered wildlife at Heilongjiang Academy of Forestry.

"It was an important finding and something we conservationists and researchers have been anticipating avidly," said Zhang Minghai, an expert on wildlife and habitat protection at the Northeast Forestry University.

The city of Mishan lies in a cross-border corridor designed for Siberian tigers in China and Russia, Zhang said. Officials have expected the ecological corridor to link up tigers' segmented habitats and facilitate their migration and gene exchanges.

Prior to this direct tiger-human encounter, more evidence of tigers' habitat expansion had surfaced. Their footmarks were found in an artificial forest in the city of Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, earlier this year. In November, a police officer spotted a wandering tiger when driving a car to patrol a tree farm in Jilin.

About 500 Siberian tigers, one of the world's most endangered species, are believed to be living in the wild. In 1988, some experts predicted the wild Siberian tigers, pushed to the brink of extinction due to lumbering and hunting, would disappear from China in four decades.

The video screenshot shows a wild Siberian tiger released back into the wild in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on May 18, 2021. (Xinhua)

EXPANDED SAFE ZONE

In recent years, government initiatives including afforestation, bans on commercial logging and detrapping operations have helped restore the felines' natural habitats.

Satellite data showed in 2019, the vegetation quality in Heilongjiang was 27 percent higher than that in 2000, and the best in the past two decades. Between 2016 and 2020, the province completed afforestation on 388,000 hectares of land to raise its forest coverage rate to 47.3 percent.

China is also piloting the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park as a sanctuary for Siberian tigers and Amur leopards. Spanning 1.46 million hectares in Jilin and Heilongjiang, the park is hailed as a "highland" for the highly endangered species.

Local authorities regularly send forest rangers to patrol the park and the neighboring area and clear traps set by poachers. With the improving environment, infrared cameras set up in the park have captured more of the big cats in recent years, indicating their rising population.

Aerial photo taken on May 19, 2021, shows a view of the pilot area of Suiyang branch of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park management bureau in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Photo by Gu Jingkun/Xinhua)

"We have set up about 400 far infrared cameras on the mountain, and we collect and maintain data in May, July and October every year," said Guo Wenliang, a researcher with the Suiyang branch of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park management bureau.

The 40-year-old, who previously worked as a timber salesman for the bureau, switched to his current job after commercial logging was banned in major state forests in Heilongjiang in 2014.

The Suiyang branch administers 256,000 hectares under the national park. It is China's top-priority zone for the protection of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards, providing an important space for their free migration and breeding.

"The camera has captured pictures of Siberian tigers, sika deers and wild boars, showing that the wild animals are under better protection," said Guo with a big smile when checking a camera in the park.

According to the bureau, monitoring cameras in the Suiyang branch have captured Siberian tigers 190 times since October 2017, offering additional evidence of the species' growing population.

Photo taken by a far infrared camera on Dec. 20, 2019, shows a wild Siberian tiger at the Suiyang branch of the Northeast China Tiger and Leopard National Park management bureau in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. (Xinhua)

CHINA-RUSSIA COOPERATION

The protection of the tigers also benefited from China's enhanced international cooperation, particularly with Russia, to build wildlife migration channels.

In 2020, a wild Siberian tiger and cub from Russia roamed into a nature reserve in Heilongjiang, where she stayed for about a month before returning to Russia. Around 100 Chinese and Russian tiger protection staff joined the tracking, research and protection of the family.

In June 2019, China and Russia signed a joint statement on developing a comprehensive strategic partnership of coordination for a new era that includes joint construction of an ecological corridor to ensure the free migration of Siberian tigers and Amur leopards on the Sino-Russian border.

Protection of wild Siberian tigers is a complex issue that demands transnational cooperation, said Jiang Guangshun, executive deputy director of the feline research center of the State Forestry and Grassland Administration.

While maintaining the good momentum, China and Russia should expand the cooperation depth and scope, and gradually form standardized and institutionalized cooperation and exchange channels, Jiang said.

(Video reporters: Wang Chunyu, Wang Song, Sun Xiaoyu. Video editor: Zhang Qiru) 
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 00:51:41|Editor: huaxia

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Namibia's Vice President Nangolo Mbumba receives his first jab of Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Windhoek, Namibia, on May 21, 2021. Namibia is pushing ahead with the COVID-19 vaccination drive to meet the required 60 percent herd immunity in a move to lower the country's infection rate as well as reduce the number of hospitalized persons, the country's Vice President Nangolo Mbumba said Friday. Mbumba said this following his successful inoculation at Namibia's Windhoek Central Hospital. (Photo by Musa C Kaseke/Xinhua)

WINDHOEK, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Namibia is pushing ahead with the COVID-19 vaccination drive to meet the required 60 percent herd immunity in a move to lower the country's infection rate as well as reduce the number of hospitalized persons, the country's Vice President Nangolo Mbumba said Friday.

Mbumba said this following his successful inoculation at Namibia's Windhoek Central Hospital, accompanied by his wife Sustjie Mbumba.

The Vice President who received his first COVID-19 jab of Sinopharm donated to Namibia by the Chinese government said Namibians must get vaccinated as the southwestern African country pushes to avoid rising numbers and being attacked by the mutating virus.

"We are here to get vaccinated and we want to encourage everyone to be vaccinated and drastically reduce the number of people that will be hospitalized or attacked by the virus. It is also important to continue abiding by the laid-down regulations to avoid super spreading of the pandemic," he said.

Mbumba, a survivor of COVID-19, said vaccination is one of the sure ways of protecting the population from the pandemic.

The government will continue to avail financial resources to drive the vaccination campaign as well as make sure the vaccine is easily accessible to everyone who needs it free of charge, he added.

According to the country's Ministry of Health and Social Services, Namibia has managed to vaccinate 59,114 people as of Thursday. Enditem
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Jedediah Bila, an anchor who billed herself as holding libertarian perspectives and who was once a co-host at ABCs The View, is leaving the weekend edition of Fox & Friends, the anchor and network announced Friday.

We have mutually and amicably parted ways with Jedediah Bila and wish her all the best, Fox News said in a statement. The new co-host of Fox & Friends Weekend will be named soon. Emily Compagno, a co-host of the weekday program, Outnumbered, will fill in for Bila on Saturday.

Her departure was reported previously by People.

Bila returned to Fox News Channel as a contributor in 2018 after doing a stint at The View. She first came to Fox News as a contributor in 2013, appearing regularly on programs such as Outnumbered and The Five. Prior to that, she was a high school academic dean and Spanish teacher at a private New York City school, and had taught middle school, high school, and college students. She is a graduate of Wagner College and received her Master of Arts from Columbia University.

She has over the past few years held forth alongside Fox & Friends Weekend co-hosts Pete Hegseth, as well as, more recently, Will Cain.

Thank you to the Fox News reporters, anchors, contributors, and producers who have been an absolute pleasure to work with these last few years, Bila said in a statement To the viewers who supported me throughout my journey there  Im deeply grateful for you and hopeful youll join me on my next adventure. Im really excited for whats to come.

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Catholic missionaries first started venturing into the Alaska territory in the late 19th century, not long after Russia sold the land to the United States for 2 cents per acre.

The Catholic church built missions and churches, and in the 1950s, bought land in the Copper River Valley from the U.S. government for a mission school largely serving Native students. Even at a modest $1.25 per acre, the sale netted the U.S. government a tidy return on investment.

Now, 50 years after the once-thriving school was shuttered, the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau wants to sell the 462-acre property back to its Indigenous inhabitants for more than $4,000 an acre  or put it up for sale on the open market.

And that has the citizens of the tiny Native Village of Tazlina  a federally recognized tribe  scrambling to raise the $1.86 million asking price so they can regain stewardship of its ancestral lands.

Its the Copper River. Its where weve always fished traditionally  for thousands and thousands of years, Gloria Stickwan, president of the Tazlina Village Council, told Indian Country Today. I would like to see that land back for our tribal members because  if that land is sold (to outsiders) our fishing sites could be taken away and that concerns me for tribal members not to be able to fish. Its how they provide for their families.

By all accounts the village and the church share a warm relationship, and the church reached out to the village about the sale. It is less clear how readily the church could sell the property on the open market or how it arrived at its asking price.

Congress placed restrictions on the property in 1953 when it enacted Private Law 151, the statute that authorized the sale of the land. It states that the land is to be used for a mission school and that the coal and other mineral deposits in the land shall remain the property of the federal government. When the church tried once before to sell the land, in 1976, those restrictions scuttled the deal. A subsequent effort to get Congress to rewrite the 1953 law stalled, and the same restrictions that torpedoed the 1976 sale remain in force today.

Further, the deed to the property issued in 1956 states that the churchs rights to the property do not supersede preexisting fishing rights as may be recognized and acknowledged by the local customs.

The title to that property is clouded, said Matt Newman, a staff attorney with the Native American Rights Funds Anchorage office. This just isnt a viable commercial property.  It could not be available for purchase in any way besides to the people who have historical use of the land.

Church officials declined to comment on the proposed sale.

The Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau does not discuss details of its business transactions, Chancellor John Harmon wrote in an email to Indian Country Today. The Archdiocese has established a very good working relationship with the Village of Tazlina and looks forward to the sale of the property.

A TROUBLED HISTORY

The Copper River drains off the Wrangell and Chugach mountains in southcentral Alaska, east of Anchorage, feeding once-abundant salmon fisheries as it coursed through major points of the territorys history.

Ahtna Athabaskan hunters discovered the copper deposits in the river valley that featured prominently in ancient regional trade routes.

Russian fur seekers ventured up the valley in the 18th century initiating some of Alaskas first Indigenous-colonial contacts. And the trans-Alaska pipeline  which transformed the states economy in the 1970s  is still visible along stretches of the Richardson Highway that parallel the river.

By the 1940s, Jesuit Priest John Buchanan was pushing for development of a school for Native youth. In 1953, Congress agreed, authorizing the Department of the Interior to sell the acreage to the church for the purpose of establishing a mission school.

The priest opened the Copper Valley School a couple of years later with a combined staff and student body of about 70 people. Enrollment peaked at more than 150 in the mid-1960s, as Native and some non-Native students were brought in from around the state. It was one of 367 Indian boarding schools across the country established in the 19th and 20th centuries.

A 2005 survey, Thirty years later: The Long-Term Effect of Boarding Schools on Alaska Natives and Their Communities, by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, documented the impact of boarding schools in the state.

The history of formal schooling for Alaska Natives, from the time of the U.S. acquisition of Alaska in 1867 to the present, is a troubled one, the survey concluded. The goal of many educators at the time of mandatory boarding schools was to assimilate people of different cultures and ethnicities into the dominant culture. This cost many students not only the loss of their language, but also their culture and identity. These practices had lasting effects on individual students, their families, and communities.

The Copper Valley School shut down in 1971 when the state of Alaska  after numerous lawsuits  agreed to build schools in communities throughout the state rather than continue a mandatory boarding school policy for Native students.

In 1976, the structure was destroyed by fire and the church made its first effort to sell the land.

That year, construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline  which winds down through the Copper River Valley  was in full swing. Large quantities of high-quality gravel and sand were needed for the work, and yards of it lay right near the surface along the Richardson Highway on the boarding school property. The church seized a business opportunity and sold the property to a group called One-Eleven Associates that planned to sell the gravel and build housing to provide shelter for workers along the pipeline route.

But One-Eleven ran into roadblocks. Officials realized they didnt own the rights to the gravel on the property and the restrictions in the deed prevented the use of the land by owners for housing, or purposes other than a mission school, according to Congressional documents.

The company, unable to get financing, lobbied Congress to remove the mission school reference and amend the mineral rights language from the 1953 act authorizing the sale of the property.

The bill with the amended language sailed through a Senate committee but ran into headwinds when Interior Secretary John Kyl balked at relinquishing the rights to the sand and gravel under the property.

That would appear to be a generous gift of large quantities of mineral materials to the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska or a purchaser from him, Kyl wrote in June 1976 to Rep. James A. Haley, a Florida Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

The value of the material was not included in the price paid for the land and the conveyance to One-Eleven Associates did not include title to the minerals, he wrote. We know of no basis or justification of giving the Catholic Bishop or One-Eleven Associates this extra benefit and therefore oppose the enactment of this provision.

The bill died and the church resumed ownership of the property from One-Eleven Associates, with the original restrictions on the property intact.

Legal issues surfaced again in a claim brought in 2014 against the church for a portion of the Copper River property. The case was argued in state court by Newman, who represented the family of Stickwan in an effort to regain possession of a family fishing site.

For generations, family members had operated a fish wheel on the banks of the Copper River. A fish wheel resembles a watermill that harnesses a rivers current to spin a wheel fitted with baskets that can scoop up salmon as they travel to spawning grounds upstream. It is a traditional fishing apparatus ubiquitous in Alaska that often plays a central role for families and communities.

It wasnt just fishing at fish camp, said Tazlina Village citizen Donna Renard, who was not a party to the lawsuit but who has fished her whole life in the region. We learned our life lessons down there. That ground is where generations of my family walked, so everywhere I walk at fish camp Im walking in their footprints.

In 2015, the Stickwan family prevailed and won possession of its 1.3-acre fish wheel site on the river and a legal right-of-way to it over other church property. Many other Tazlina families could bring similar claims, according to Newman, though none has come forward.

Individuals have a very strong claim to large swaths of that church land, he said, noting that any potential buyer of the property would surely weigh the possibility of future litigation.

Stickwan remains puzzled that her family is alone in asserting claims to fishing sites.

I tried to talk to other families that were using that area, tribal members, but they did not get involved, she said. And I couldnt force them to. I couldnt speak up for them because its their responsibility to talk for themselves and they wouldnt. 

QUESTIONABLE PRICE

The reluctance may be rooted in the general atmosphere of comity that pervades the relationship between the Catholic church and Tazlina.

Although the school has been closed for generations of students, an active alumni association still exists and holds reunions every August in the village.

We get about 50 every year, said Copper Valley School Association President Stephen Gemmell. One year we had more than 300. It was RVs and tents for as far as you could see.

And it persists despite sometimes strained relations.

After the school burned in 1976, the site fell into ruin and became a dumping ground. For decades, villagers complained of the eyesore and environmental dangers at the site.

Eventually, federal regulators stepped in. In 2013, Environmental Protection Agency investigators identified asbestos contamination and ordered the archdiocese to clean up the 30-acre school building site. The church complied and the work was completed later that year, EPA records show.

The cleanup costs apparently factored into the calculations behind the churchs asking price for the boarding school land. Tazlina villagers said church officials told them the church set the price for the property at $1.86 million  which comes to $4,025 per acre  because the church has to recoup the money it spent on the cleanup. Various published reports have put that figure at between $1 million and $3 million.

The asking price appears high, according to a review by Indian Country Today of online listings of undeveloped acreage for sale in Interior Alaska.

At that price (the property) would have to have some substantial improvements, said James W. Riley, a Realtor in Willow, Alaska. There are no structures on the property.

LOOKING AHEAD

Nonetheless, Tazlina villagers are pressing ahead with fundraising.

The terms of the original contract the village signed with the archdiocese gave the villagers until October 2021 to raise the money. Last year, because of the pandemic, the church extended the deadline to October 2022.

Before the church put the land on the open market, they did reach out to Tazlina because of the great partnership weve had over the years, said Marce Simeon, village administrator and a tribal citizen.

Were especially grateful and thankful that the church was able to provide that one-year extension for us. It definitely makes it more of a possible goal, she said.

The Villages GoFundMe page had raised more than $100,000 as of Friday and the Great Land Trust of Southeastern Alaska has pledged about $600,000 to purchase a portion of the property to put in a conservation easement.

We have a long way to go, said Kristin Carpenter, an outside consultant hired by the village to assist in fundraising. But were optimistic.

And hopeful.

We really appreciate the Catholic church working with us and we really hope to be able to secure this for future generations for our tribal members and community members alike, said Simeon.

Villagers are also driven to reclaim the land as the salmon runs appear to be dwindling.

There have been several years now that the fish run has been low, Stickwan said. We have not been able to catch what we usually catch. I remember when we used to be able to catch maybe 300 a day. That was the norm. But we dont see that anymore. Its just not the same. Sockeye runs are not the same. The King Salmon are small. The sockeyes are small. The run is not healthy. And we have a large family and they all use the wheel and we share what we have.

We have our family site protected, but I am concerned about other tribal members.
NEW YORK (AP)  Monifa Bandele became a community organizer in the late 1990s, after New York City police fatally shot a young, unarmed Black immigrant named Amadou Diallo in the Bronx.

In the two decades since, she repeatedly witnessed police reforms that failed to stop Black people from dying at the hands of officers. Some of those reforms are now part of federal legislation being negotiated in the name of George Floyd, the Black man whose murder under the knee of a white Minneapolis officer last year sparked worldwide protests.

For instance, the legislation calls for banning chokeholds, a step already taken by New York City prior to the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who in an encounter with the NYPD uttered the same last words as Floyd: I cant breathe.

As the anniversary of Floyds death approaches, some reform supporters say the best way to honor him would be for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But many activists warn that some of the proposed reforms have not been enough to stop past police abuses, reflecting a divide within the movement over what would constitute real progress.

What weve come to realize over the past decades is that police departments, with their oversized budgets and their outsized political power, are able to rise above reformist policies, said Bandele, an organizer with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 150 Black-led advocacy organizations that opposes the Floyd legislation because it does not hit hard enough at systemic racism.

The bill also includes prohibitions on no-knock police raids like the one in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed Breonna Taylor, a young Black front-line worker. It would create a national registry for officers who are disciplined for serious misconduct, among other proposals.

Although Bandele thinks the bill is well-meaning, now is not the time to settle for the same old ideas, she said.

Our duty is that we have to make a bigger demand, she said.

In Congress, hopes of passing a package by the May 25 anniversary have faded as negotiations between the House and Senate grind on. But top negotiator Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat, said she remains hopeful of an eventual compromise.

The House approved the sweeping police overhaul earlier this year, but it faces stiff resistance from Republicans in the closely divided Senate. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has a more modest alternative, and the parties have been engaged in long, private negotiations over a potential compromise.

It is more important that we get it right, and that we have a substantive bill, versus do something ceremonial because of the date, Bass told reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

One key debate has been whether to allow individual police officers to be sued over their actions, changing the so-called qualified immunity protections for law enforcement. Republicans largely object to that approach and prefer to hold the officers employers responsible.

One top Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking Black lawmaker in Congress, has suggested he would be open to a compromise, and Bass said she agreed with his broader point that its not worth walking away from a deal if Democrats cannot include every priority.

I also agree that the day that President Biden signs this bill, the next day, we keep working, Bass said. Because this bill, I think, will be significant. But in no way, shape or form do I think its going to be enough.

Police have killed roughly 1,000 people in the U.S. each year since 2015, and a disproportionate number of the victims have been Black. Studies of criminal justice data show Black Americans are far more likely than white Americans to be pulled over by police and are as much as three times more likely to be searched.

Black men were about 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police between 2013 and 2018, according to a 2019 study published by the National Academy of Sciences. Black women were 1.4 more times likely than white women to be killed by police, according to the same study.

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows most Americans think big changes are necessary to reform the criminal justice system. Overall, 25% think it needs a complete overhaul, while another 43% think it needs major changes. Twenty-seven percent think it needs minor changes, while just 4% think no changes are needed.

The poll finds a majority of Americans support specific reforms such as requiring officers to wear body cameras, establishing clear standards for use of force, mandating that officers report misconduct, penalizing officers who engage in racially biased policing and requiring that law enforcement agencies have independent review boards.

A majority  58%  say they also oppose reducing funding for law enforcement agencies.

The level of support for reform varies along racial and party lines. The poll shows majorities of Black, white, Hispanic and Asian Americans think major changes or an overhaul are needed, though Black Americans are especially likely to call for the most drastic changes, with 48% saying a complete overhaul is needed and another 36% saying the justice system needs major changes.

By comparison, among white Americans, 20% think the system needs a complete overhaul, 44% think it needs major changes and 32% think it needs minor changes, with 3% saying no changes are needed.

Close to 9 in 10 Democrats think the justice system needs either major changes or a complete overhaul. Republicans are more likely to say only modest reform is necessary, with 13% saying an overhaul is needed and 32% wanting major changes, but 47% saying only minor changes are needed and 7% saying none are.

Jim Burch, president of the nonpartisan National Police Foundation, which supports the advancement and reform of policing through science and innovation, said he is encouraged by the focus on policing reforms at the federal level.

The legislation named after Floyd offers many worthy proposals, as well as some requiring further analysis and clarity in order to make a positive impact in the manner intended, Burch said in an email.

Last July, the Movement for Black Lives sought support in Congress for its BREATHE Act, which would, among other proposals, eliminate the Drug Enforcement Administration and ban the use of surveillance technology on communities that activists say are over-policed.

Its not that we want less safety. We are often criticized when we say defund (the police) or when we promote the BREATHE Act. We actually want more safety than the police can deliver, Bandele said.

Selwyn Jones, an uncle of George Floyd on his mother's side of the family, told the AP that he was disappointed that Congress would not pass the Floyd legislation next week.

We don't live in a perfect world, he said Friday. We, as Black people, have been fighting a battle for 400 years."

___

Swanson reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington also contributed to this report.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,842 adults was conducted April 29-May 3 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

___

Morrison is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
Derontae Martin was a playful and outgoing 19-year-old, a former football standout and a big kid who looked out for his friends and family.

Now, his mother, grandmother and racial injustice activists are questioning the official account of how the young Black man ended up shot to death during a prom party inside the rural Missouri home of a middle-aged white man with a history of bigoted social media postings. They don't believe the findings of a preliminary investigation indicating that he took his own life inside the attic of that home.

Its heartbreaking, Martin's grandmother Kimberly Lotts said. "He wasnt a kid that caused trouble, ran around or beat up folks, or robbed or stole. He wasnt that kind of a kid. He was a very loving, fun-filled kid. He was a loyal, faithful friend to those that he cared about.

Martin's family lived in the St. Louis area until about a decade ago, when they moved to Park Hills, a town of 8,500 residents in Missouri's Old Lead Belt region about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of St. Louis.

Though that area of Missouri is about 95% white, Martin was popular and happy, his relatives said. Ericka Lotts recalled how her son donned bunny ears during this year's Easter service to amuse the small children.

He was just a big kid, she said. I told him all the time he was 19, but inside he was about 12.

At Central High School, Martin was a star defensive tackle who earned a scholarship to a small out-of-state college. He graduated in 2020 but needed to bring up his entrance exam score before he could go to college. Ericka Lotts said he spent the past year working at a Walmart store and a restaurant.

Ericka Lotts recently bought a house in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson, and Martin was living with her. But on the night of April 24 he was back in the Park Hills area. He went to a prom party at a home near the Madison County town of Fredericktown, 27 miles (43 kilometers) south of Park Hills.

The home is owned by a man who on Facebook has mocked foreign accents and defended the Confederate flag. He recently posted a meme showing a hand flipping the finger. It reads: Here's my apology for being white."

Because the man is not charged with a crime, The Associated Press is not naming him. He does not have a listed phone number.

Madison County Sheriff Katy McCutcheon declined to comment, but a brief news release said deputies and EMTs were called to the rural home at 3:01 a.m. on April 25. They found Martin in the attic, dead.

McCutcheon said an initial autopsy indicated Martin died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the head. Her news release did not say who owned the gun, or how Martin got it.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol was asked to review Madison County's investigation, and concurred with the initial finding of suicide, though additional witnesses are still being sought, patrol Sgt. Clark Parrott said.

The investigation has been met with broad skepticism among racial injustice activists, about 100 of whom staged a protest march in Fredericktown last week. The Rev. Darryl Gray, a St. Louis activist leader, said counter-protesters tossed two nooses at protesters and yelled racial slurs. That area of Missouri was home to Frank Ancona, a Missouri Ku Klux Klan leader shot to death by his wife in 2017.

Gray said that despite the slurs and the threats, activists won't rest until the mysteries of Martin's death are solved.

The whole thing is that it was a suspicious death," Gray said. How and why did Derontae end up in the house at this party, and how did he end up in the attic? At the very least ... there is negligence here.

Gray and Ericka Lotts met last week with Madison County Prosecuting Attorney M. Dwight Robbins, who asked the Missouri attorney general's office to investigate. A spokesman for Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a Republican who is running for the U.S. Senate, declined to say if the office would get involved.

Ericka Lotts questioned how Martin, who was right-handed, could shoot himself with a full cast on his broken right arm. She said she's heard several different accounts about what really happened and doesn't know what to believe.

All I do know is that somebody shot him, Lotts said.
GOMA, Congo (AP)  Congos Mount Nyiragongo erupted for the first time in nearly two decades Saturday, turning the night sky a fiery red and sending lava onto a major highway as panicked residents tried to flee Goma, a city of nearly 2 million.

There was no immediate word on any casualties, but witnesses said that lava already had engulfed one highway that connects Goma with the city of Beni in North Kivu province.

Mount Nyiragongos last eruption, in 2002, left hundreds dead and coated airport runways in lava. More than 100,000 people were left homeless in the aftermath, adding to the fear in Goma on Saturday night.

We are already in a total psychosis, resident Zacharie Paluku told The Associated Press. Everyone is afraid; people are running away. We really dont know what to do.

Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said he would be returning home on Sunday from Europe earlier than planned in order to help coordinate relief efforts.

The government said an evacuation plan was being activated, but the official announcement came several hours after the sky turned a fiery red, and many already had fled on foot in hopes of crossing the Rwandan border post just outside town. Car horns honked and motorcycle taxis weaved as people attempted to escape in panic.

Rwandan immigration authorities reported that some 3,000 people already had officially crossed over from Congo to escape the volcano's eruption, according to the national broadcaster.

The U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO tweeted dramatic footage of the city alit, saying it was conducting reconnaissance flights over Goma where it maintains a large base.

The lava doesn't seem to be headed toward the city of Goma. We remain on alert, it said.

Some sought refuge aboard boats on Lake Kivu, while others fled to Mount Goma, the highest point in the metropolitan area. Dorcas Mbulayi left her home about an hour after the volcano first showed signs of erupting.

We were eating when a friend of dads called him on the phone and told him to go and look outside, said Mbulayi, who was still a child the last time the volcano erupted. "Dad told us that the volcano was erupting and that we were going to go to Mount Goma to escape the lava of the volcano.

She also blamed authorities for not informing us in time about the possible volcanic eruption.

The lack of immediate announcements from authorities and conflicting accounts circulating on social media only added to the sense of chaos in Goma.

Authorities at the Goma Volcano Observatory initially said it was the nearby Nyamulagira volcano that had erupted. The two volcanos are located about 13 kilometers (8.1 miles) apart.

Volcanologist Charles Balagizi said the observatorys report was based on the direction in which the lava appeared to be flowing, which was toward Rwanda rather than Goma.

Goma sits along the border between Congo and neighboring Rwanda, and is a regional hub for many humanitarian agencies in the region, as well as the U.N. peacekeeping mission known as MONUSCO.

The volcano erupting is also close the Virunga National Park, home to some of the last mountain gorillas in the world. While Goma is home to many U.N. peacekeepers and aid workers, much of the surrounding eastern Congo is also under threat from a myriad of armed groups vying for control of the region's mineral resources.

___

Maliro reported from Beni, Congo. Associated Press writer Krista Larson in Dakar, Senegal contributed.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 04:57:25|Editor: huaxia

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Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (2nd R) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (3rd R) co-chair the Global Health Summit in Rome, Italy, on May 21, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)

The Rome Declaration is made up of 16 "mutually reinforcing principles" that "reconfirm our commitment to global solidarity, equity, and multilateral cooperation" and to promoting "sustained financing for global health," the G20 leaders wrote.

ROME, May 21 (Xinhua) -- The leaders of the Group of Twenty (G20) issued here Friday a joint declaration at the close of the Global Health Summit aimed at coordinating worldwide efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Rome Declaration is made up of 16 "mutually reinforcing principles" that "reconfirm our commitment to global solidarity, equity, and multilateral cooperation" and to promoting "sustained financing for global health," the G20 leaders wrote.

"We affirm our support for efforts to strengthen supply chains and boost and diversify global vaccine-manufacturing capacity, including for the materials needed to produce vaccines, including by sharing risks, and welcome the vaccines technology transfer hub launched by the WHO," the declaration read.

During a joint press conference at the close of the summit, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen expressed their satisfaction with the outcome of the event, which was organized by the Italian G20 Presidency in partnership with the European Commission.

"I am very pleased with this summit because of the strength of the commitments that were undertaken, and the absolute conviction and sincerity with which they were made," Draghi told reporters.

The Rome Declaration is "groundbreaking and historical because for the first time you have the G20 (members) all committing to basic principles," von der Leyen said.

The most important of those principles, she said, is multilateralism, which runs like a golden thread through the Declaration.

"This is a very clear 'no' to health nationalism, to export bans, to bottlenecks," von der Leyen explained. "Supply chains have to be open. All the G20 members have agreed on that."

Draghi followed up by saying that: "the involvement of multilateral organizations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) will be the forums where countries will agree on the removal of export bans, the removal of property rights, and ensuring the continuous flow of the supply chains ..."

"We have discovered that a complete openness of boundaries is essential to produce vaccines in huge quantities and to make sure they are distributed to everybody," the Italian prime minister pointed out.

Von der Leyen stressed that the three leading Western manufacturers of COVID-19 vaccines have made major pledges going forward.

"Pfizer/BioNTech has committed to delivering one billion doses of their vaccine this year to low-income countries, at zero profit," she said, adding that Johnson & Johnson has committed to delivering 200 million doses and Moderna said it will deliver 100 million doses, under the same terms, this year.

A medical worker prepares a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at the San Filippo Neri Hospital in Rome, Italy, Dec. 28, 2020. (Photo by Alberto Lingria/Xinhua)

Von der Leyen added that Team Europe -- which consists of the EU, its member states, the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) -- will donate 100 million doses to low-income countries this year.

Also taking part in the summit was WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who joined a session on the Access to COVID-19 Tools (ACT) Accelerator partnership. Also known as ACT-A, the partnership was launched by the WHO in April 2020 to support a coordinated global effort to develop tests, treatments and vaccines to fight COVID-19.

In his closing remarks on Friday, Tedros noted that: "Yesterday alone, more than 13,000 people around the world lost their lives to COVID-19 -- nine every single minute. Today the number will be similar ... and people will continue to die as long as the global disparity in vaccines persists."

The WHO chief went on to say that while "the rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines is a triumph of science ... their inequitable distribution is a failure for humanity."

He called on G20 members to fully fund the ACT Accelerator ... to share more doses faster ... and to scale-up manufacturing as a matter of urgency, through sharing technology and know-how, and waiving intellectual property provisions, with a focus on Africa."

Also attending the one-day virtual conference were representatives from international organizations such as the United Nations, the African Union, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Apart from the G20 members, Singapore, Spain and the Netherlands attended the summit as guest countries.

Friday's summit built on the Coronavirus Global Response, which is the European Commission's campaign for universal access to affordable coronavirus vaccination, treatment and testing. The campaign launched in May last year has raised 15.9 billion euros (19.4 billion U.S. dollars) so far in pledges.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (R) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attend a press conference after the Global Health Summit in Rome, Italy, on May 21, 2021. (Pool via Xinhua)
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Mostly cloudy this evening with showers developing after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

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Mostly cloudy this evening with showers developing after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
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Today

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch..

Tonight

Rain showers early will evolve into a more steady rain overnight. Low 52F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 08:01:37|Editor: huaxia

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Visitors watch a drone capable of 5G wireless connection at the Drone World Congress 2021 and the Shenzhen International Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Expo 2021 in Shenzhen of south China's Guangdong Province, on May 21, 2021. The Drone World Congress 2021 and the Shenzhen International Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Expo 2021 kicked off here on Friday. A total of 369 exhibitors have brought in more than 2,000 drone products for display. (Xinhua/Wang Feng)
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In a summer ahead, when many major recreation lakes will be drained to low levels, you can be sure that the Sacamento-San Joaquin River Delta will stay full and provide a gateway for water recreation, particularly kayaking.

Out of Antioch, a popular trip involves renting a kayak for a three-hour sunset paddle to Kimball and Sherman islands, where a nesting pair of bald eagles has taken up residence.

They have a little baby now and thats really cool, said Kathy Bunton, owner of Delta Kayak Adventures out of Antioch Marina. Every trip there in the last three months, weve seen at least one of the bald eagles every time.

Five boat rental services out of Antioch and nearby Bethel Island, starting at $18 for a single kayak, are your passports to wide-open spaces and miles of water.

Between the pandemic and fall wildfire smoke, last year was rough for many outdoor tour operators. Bunton said she had to shut down for four months. But with restrictions across the Bay Area beginning to ease heading into summer, pent-up demand is driving kayak reservations through the roof, she said.

Now its the busiest Ive ever seen. I ended up hiring four people, Bunton said. To get out on the water, even if just for a little bit, is a great way to get away.

On weekends, kayak rentals are selling out by reservation so fast that Bunton is not allowing walk-ups or all-day rentals. We want to give everybody a chance to go, Bunton said. For all-day rentals, book on a weekday, she said.

Jessica Christian / The Chronicle

For new kayakers, the paddle to Dow Wetlands or Browns Island is a great place to start. Launch from Antioch and you can enjoy bird-watching and long-distance scenic views across to Mount Diablo. Those trips take about two hours. It takes another hour, round trip, to venture to Sherman Lake.

For most in the Bay Area, the closest rental service for the San Joaquin Delta is Delta Kayak Adventures out of Antioch Marina, 42 miles from San Francisco. When you first arrive at the marina, youll discover the rental shop is actually a sailboat at the dock with a nearby fleet of kayaks, 23 singles, 7 tandems, plus Stand Up Paddleboards and a Pescador pedal fishing kayak.

Newcomers will get an orientation, and then with calm water and no high winds in the forecast, be set free.

Its a short paddle downstream to the Dow Wetlands Preserve, a rich habitat for resident shorebirds, with egrets and herons common, as well as migrants, including avocets and stilts. The occasional river otter is always a happy shock. With calm water when the wind is down, you can extend to New York Slough and the edge of Winter Island and Browns Island, also excellent for a variety of shorebirds.

There are other boat and kayak services at Bethel Island, located another 20 minutes or so past Antioch. If youre leaving from Bethel Island, the best destinations are Franks Tract and Old River, with excellent birdwatching and fishing for bass.

The delta, of course, is filled with a matrix of rivers, sloughs, cuts and coves. To take advantage of this, Delta Kayak Adventures also offers trips in other areas: Out of Wimpys Marina on the Mokelumne River to Delta Meadows Lost Slough; out of Brannan Island State Recreation Area at Decker Island; out of Hogback Island for Steamboat Slough and out of Tiki Lagoon to Spud Island.

One trick is to time your departure so you are paddling with the tide. Leave at the bottom of the outgoing tide, so you will be paddling the same direction as the tide downstream. Then, on the return trip, you will either face slack water during the tide change or get a push from the start of the incoming tide.

For those looking to escape traffic jams on highways  or major recreation lakes with low water levels  look no further than the miles of wide-open space on the delta.

Tom Stienstra is The Chronicles outdoor writer emeritus. Email: tomstienstra2021@gmail.com. Twitter: @StienstraTom.
Rose Fumoso was standing in her kitchenette in the Netherlands on Friday night, cooking dinner, when she opened her phone to a startling alert in a group chat. Dominic Foppoli had just announced his resignation as mayor of Windsor.

Fumoso, 22, said she felt a wave of relief. The man who she said sexually assaulted her less than two years ago, isolating and groping her while she was interning at a Sonoma County winery, was no longer in a position of power. And it was women like her who brought him down.

I feel so much more peaceful now, even if its not the end of the story at all, because I think he still has to pay for his crimes, Fumoso, a native of France, said in an interview Saturday. I am sure the fight is not finished.

Fumoso and several other women formed the group chat on the messaging service Signal so they could stay connected after a Chronicle investigation, published April 8, revealed Fumoso and three other womens allegations of sexual assault against the politician and winemaker.

Foppoli, who turned 39 Saturday, denied the accusations, but since then, five more women have come forward with accounts of sexual assault or misconduct. Some, like Fumoso, are still considering whether to file reports with the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office, which is leading the local criminal investigation  underscoring how the scandal is still unfolding, despite Foppolis departure.

Windsor Town Council members must now fill the mayoral post as the small Wine Country town seeks to recover from a bruising six weeks dominated by the mounting revelations about Foppoli and his combative response to the women accusing him.

Questions remain, too, about whether town leaders failed to hold Foppoli accountable earlier. The Chronicle has reported that a woman reached out to Windsor officials in 2017, accusing Foppoli of sexual misconduct, but that Windsors top officials and police did not investigate, failing to uncover an accusation that Foppoli had sexually assaulted the woman in a hot tub at Christopher Creek Winery, the winery he co-owns north of town.

And a pair of separate criminal investigations are marching forward  one locally, one in Florida  seeking to hold the disgraced politician accountable for any illegal misconduct. Potential criminal cases or civil lawsuits could stretch on for many months.

We still investigate any allegation of a crime, regardless of the resignation, said Sgt. Juan Valencia, a spokesperson for the Sonoma County Sheriffs Office. He expects the case to take some time.  We want to be thorough, (to) turn over every rock to make sure we dont miss anything.

Foppolis departure capped an extraordinary, tension-filled six weeks for Windsor and Sonoma County.

Though Foppoli had widely been viewed as a rising star in local politics and helped elevate Windsor as a tourist destination, elected officials around Sonoma County uniformly demanded his ouster after the women came forward. Joining the calls was Foppolis older brother, who forced his sibling out as CEO of Christopher Creek Winery. Still, the mayor refused to resign.

Even as more women came forward, a Washington lobbyist representing Foppoli threatened to release a sex tape of Windsor Town Council Member Esther Lemus, who had herself accused Foppoli of sexual abuse. Lemus, fearing the purported video depicted an assault, filed a police report and sent Foppoli a cease-and-desist letter.

It was another investigation by The Chronicle that caused Foppoli to change course. The newspaper learned this past week of a concurrent criminal investigation in Palm Beach, Fla., into allegations that the mayor had sexually assaulted a former reality TV star there in March.

Hours after The Chronicle contacted Foppoli about the ninth accuser, Farrah Abraham, who filed a police report on April 2, Foppoli released a statement denying he had engaged in any non-consensual sexual acts with any woman. But he said that stepping down is the best way to ensure that Windsor flourishes, unimpeded by the unfortunate distraction these exploitative allegations will cause.

I do not want undue national attention to have a negative impact on the Windsor community because of lawful, but poor choices, I have made in the recent past, Foppoli said in his resignation letter.

In all, the allegations against Foppoli now include groping, nonconsensual oral copulation and rape, and stretch from 2002 through 2021. Two women, Fumoso and Lemus, said they believe they also were slipped drugs at Foppolis Christopher Creek Winery that led them to suffer memory loss, though they do not know how or by whom.

Town Council Member Debora Fudge said she found out about Foppolis resignation only through his statement to the media. Although Foppolis attorney has said he shared his letter with the town on Friday, Windsor officials said they were waiting for official notice.

It was not the proper way to do it, so I see it as a game that Dominic is playing, a sick game, Fudge, a former ally and mentor to Foppoli, said in an interview. But at least he resigned.

Fudge said she had not known about the investigation in Palm Beach. You would expect that the town would have been notified of that, she said, but as far as Im aware, no one knew.

As the criminal investigations continue, Windsor leaders said, they will move forward with a proposal to eliminate the elected mayor position entirely.

The Town Council formally voted to demand Foppolis resignation last month, but because he was elected to his seat last year, they could not forcibly remove him. Fudge said the town will look to revert to the system it had in years past, in which council members appoint someone from that body as mayor each year, to avoid a similar situation in the future.

Marlena Sloss/Special to The Chronicle

In the meantime, Town Manager Ken MacNab said, the council has several options for filling the mayoral seat. It could appoint a council member or a member of the public to serve as mayor for the remainder of Foppolis term, which ends in November 2022. They could also hold a special election, which would cost the town $50,000 to $80,000.

If the council decides to appoint a council member, MacNab said, it could then appoint a member of the public to the open seat or hold a special election for that position.

Vice Mayor Sam Salmon called Foppolis sudden departure a weight lifted off the town and said he remained hopeful that these next steps to fill these vacant seats will be a smooth process.

Rosa Reynoza, an administrative assistant with Fetzer Vineyards in Hopland, won the towns special election for a different open council seat on May 4, and is expected to officially join the council in June. At that point, Salmon said, the four council members will decide which avenue to pursue to fill the towns top post.

The Windsor residents behind an effort to recall Foppoli are now waiting for the town to officially announce that Foppoli has resigned before dismantling, said Willow Ramsay, co-founder of the United Residents for Recalling Foppoli Committee.

The funds raised by the recall team, Ramsay said, will be donated to an organization focused on helping survivors of sexual assault. Officials with the recall declined to disclose how much money they had raised.

Ramsay said she had heard rumors about Foppolis behavior for years and had witnessed some allegedly inappropriate behavior herself.

Although the recall effort may now be unnecessary, she said, she is committed to helping with the criminal investigations in any way she can. When I heard he resigned I jumped for joy, but then quickly got back to work, she said. Until hes in jail and all the women have spoken out, I wont stop.

For Sophia Williams, one of Foppolis original accusers, his decision to resign was a first step in a reckoning that should have happened long ago.

Williams, who told The Chronicle that Foppoli assaulted her in 2006 during his first campaign for Town Council, said she also learned of his resignation through an alert in the group chat with Fumoso and the other women, who had not known each other before the newspapers investigation.

As more than 100 messages overwhelmed her inbox, Williams said she was shocked but pleased.

When I told my story I thought it would just get swept under the rug and that would be the end of it, she said. I didnt realize how many other women there were and thought I was alone in my experience, so I never expected this to actually lead to something.

Williams added that criminal charges need to happen.

Another of the original accusers, a woman who told The Chronicle that Foppoli raped her twice in 2004, when she was 18, said the news of Foppoli resigning was a lot to take in.

I never imagined this outcome would be the end to my nightmare, said the woman, who has asked that her name be withheld. I always thought I would carry this scar privately for the rest of my life.

The woman, now 35, said she decided to come forward with her story because she could not stand seeing Foppoli rise in the political ranks of a town that she loved, and where she and her husband decided to raise their family.

When I started down this path, it was solely with the goal to see him removed from a position of trust and power, the woman said.

Chronicle composite of handout images

But she echoed the other women, saying justice must still be served. She said she will be following the police investigations and other measures to hold the mayor accountable.

Its time for him to realize his poor choices have grave consequences, she said, and that simply resigning as mayor is not enough.

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Julie Johnson contributed to this report.

Alexandria Bordas and Cynthia Dizikes are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: alexandria.bordas@sfchronicle.com, cdizikes@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @crossingbordas @cdizikes
San Francisco police have arrested a 57-year-old motorist suspected in Tuesdays hit-and-run crash that killed software engineer Lovisa Svallingson and critically injured another pedestrian at a San Francisco intersection, authorities said Friday.

Virgil Woods, of San Francisco, was arrested without incident at the Hall of Justice at 1 p.m., police said in a statement. He was booked at San Francisco County Jail on two charges of vehicular manslaughter, two counts of felony hit and run, reckless driving and failing to stop for a red traffic signal.

Police allege Woods was driving the Chevy Avalanche that collided with an Audi A6 and careened into the two pedestrians at the intersection of Polk and Hayes streets Tuesday around 7 p.m., killing Svallingson and sending her partner, 30-year old Danny Ramos, to the hospital with critical injuries. Woods allegedly fled the scene on foot.

Following the crash, police allege Woods discarded his clothing in an effort to conceal his identity and later filed a false police report stating that his Avalanche had been stolen. He faces charges for the destruction of evidence and filing a false police report.

According to police, Woods was found with several glass smoking pipes at the time of his arrest, for which he faces an additional charge of possession of narcotics paraphernalia.

Our hearts go out to the victims of this tragedy and I want to thank the police department for their work in this case, San Francisco Mayor London Breed tweeted.

The arrest caps off three days of uncertainty following the fatal hit-and-run, during which time mourners left flowers and chalk messages in honor of Svallingson at the site of the Civic Center crash. Svallingsons friends and colleagues remembered the 29-year old for her empathy and kindness.

Lovisa was the personification of light and goodness, said Emily Freeman, who met Svallingson when the two were learning to code at the Turing School in Denver.

Ramos, Svallingsons partner, was taken to San Francisco General Hospital, where he remained in critical condition Friday, according to his colleague Jonan Scheffler.

Scheffler created a fundraiser for Ramos in anticipation of his medical expenses to allow friends and strangers to contribute toward his care.

According to the fundraising page, Ramos graduated from the University of Colorado and Denvers Turing School of Software and Design, the same coding school that Svallingson attended. He is employed as an engineer at New Relic, a software company.

Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com
A young mountain lion captured while wandering in a residential neighborhood in San Francisco earlier this week was released into the wild Thursday afternoon, officials with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

The 2-year-old male lion was tranquilized and taken to the Oakland Zoo early Thursday, said Ken Paglia, a spokesman for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. After the zoos veterinarians gave the cat a clean bill of health, he was released in Santa Clara County around 2 p.m. Thursday.

The goal is always to minimize impact to the cat and make sure the cat is healthy, Paglia said.

The mountain lion, dubbed Mr. Handsome by veterinarians, was first spotted Tuesday night in the Bernal Heights and Portola area, where officers with San Francisco Animal Care and Control first began tracking his movements. Animal control officers cornered the cat Wednesday night in a tree near Santa Marina and Mission streets.

As police secured a perimeter around the tree, wildlife officers shot the puma with a tranquilizer dart and carried it down from its perch on a stretcher, Paglia said.

The 98.5 lb cat was transported to Oakland Zoo, where veterinarians treated him for parasites and administered preventative vaccines to protect him from rabies, distemper and viral illnesses, said Dr. Alex Herman, the zoos medical director.

After veterinarians cleared him for release, the mountain lion was placed in a special carrier and transported to a rural area in Santa Clara County. The remote location was chosen to minimize the likelihood that the cat would find his way back to residential areas, said biologist Terris Kasteen, who selected the spot.

Large carnivores like Mr. Handsome need ample space to roam, food and mates, Herman said. At the time of his capture, the cat was wearing a GPS tracking collar from the Santa Cruz Puma Project whose coordinates indicated that he traveled north from his natural habitat near Los Gatos.

While it was once common for first responders to kill mountain lions that wandered into residential areas, a partnership between the Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Puma Project and the San Francisco Police Department aims to change that, Herman said. Anyone who spots a mountain lion in their neighborhood can call 911 to initiate a response from wildlife officers, who stand ready to respond at all hours.

If you come face to face (with a mountain lion), raise your hands and yell, Herman said. Get big and loud. Most likely they are going to get away.

Mountain lion sightings are rare, but Herman said she is surprised they dont happen more often.

They lived in this area before we did and they deserve a place here too, she said.

Simple solutions, like building wildlife bridges over freeways and driving slowly in rural areas, can go a long way toward protecting mountain lion populations, Herman said. The veterinarian encouraged members of the public to advocate for more wildlife bridges, support protective legislation and donate to organizations like the Oakland Zoo and the Puma Project. Mountain lions are currently classified as a "specially protected species statewide due to their declining numbers.

We can coexist with these animals, she said. These guys are magnificent.

Nora Mishanec is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: nora.mishanec@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @NMishanec
Over the past two weeks, Seychelles  which has been dubbed the most vaccinated country in the world  has seen a spike in coronavirus cases, causing alarm and panic even among Americans who live more than 10,000 miles away.

The archipelago in the Indian Ocean, with a population of about 98,000, has fully vaccinated more than 60% of its population, but its also seen its number of active COVID-19 cases nearly double over the past month. The country has closed schools and canceled activities to attempt to curb the spread.

If a country with such a high vaccination rate can still see a COVID outbreak, what does that mean for even the highly vaccinated Bay Area?

Infectious disease experts say that, though its worrying in a global context, whats happening in Seychelles underscores how effective the Bay Area vaccination rollout has been.

Poor or unreliable vaccines

Though Seychelles has been called the worlds most vaccinated country, not all vaccines are created equal.

The country used two vaccines to inoculate its population  Sinopharm, a Chinese state-owned vaccine, and Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, both of which have not been proven to be as effective as the Pfizer-BioNTec and Moderna vaccines primarily used in the U.S.

Just last week, the WHO expressed very low confidence in data provided by Sinopharm around its risk of severe side effects. Recent clinical trial data found the vaccine was about 78.1% effective after two doses, but the Seychelles outbreak could suggest that the efficacy is less than that, said UCSF infectious disease expert Peter Chin-Hong.

Data also found that the AstraZeneca vaccine may be less effective at reducing symptomatic COVID-19 than the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Clinical trials found it to be about 66.7% effective, compared to the 97% efficacy of the Pfizer vaccine.

From the perspective of an American, Im not particularly worried, said UC Berkeley infectious disease expert John Swartzberg. The reason why is weve seen the U.S. demonstrate how well these vaccines do to protect us.

Places like Seychelles also didnt see huge COVID surges earlier in the pandemic, and have lower levels of natural immunity in their communities.

Chile is another example of a country with a high vaccination rate that now is seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases. Its number of new daily cases nearly doubled in April from the prior month, even though the country has vaccinated more than 45% of its population, according to Reuters.

But the countrys experience is another example of the importance of nuance when it comes to saluting vaccination efforts. The main vaccine used among Chileans was Sinovac  another Chinese vaccine  and data shows it may be even less effective than Sinofarm. The country released its own study of the Sinovac vaccine and found that it was only 16% effective in preventing infection, and 36% effective at controlling hospitalizations after one dose, Bloomberg reported.

CDC data has found that even after one dose of Pfizer, the risk of infection fell by 80% after two weeks, which aligns with the Bay Areas relative success in squashing COVID-19 so far. On Thursday, San Francisco General Hospital reported zero COVID patients for the first time since March 2020.

Variants

Aside from being less effective at controlling COVID-19 infections, both vaccines used in Seychelles are overall less equipped to handle some of the variants that the country is seeing rapidly spread, including B.1.617, the variant discovered in India. It is thought to be even more transmissible than the highly infectious variant discovered in the U.K., B117, which is now dominant in the U.S.

But even still, Chin-Hong says, most cases in Seychelles are likely in people who are not yet vaccinated, or at least fully vaccinated.

None of these factors are independent, but they all work together, and you kind of get the perfect storm when you get a highly transmissible variant, a not effective vaccine, and not enough people immunized, he added.

Still, its important to distinguish case counts from serious side effects. Most people who are getting infected with the coronavirus in Seychelles arent having serious symptoms, and most of them arent dying.

Thats very different from whats happening in India, which is dealing with a deadly combination of low vaccination rates, excessive crowding, and other systemic issues that make it harder to treat people who are ill, Chin-Hong said.

Thats the reason why its just a moral and humanitarian catastrophe, he said. Its a syndemic. Add disparities and social ills onto a pandemic and you get much worse things happening.

The world in 2021, because of the variants, is a very different world than 2020, Chin-Hong said, adding that unvaccinated people who travel internationally will be playing virus Russian Roulette.

On the other hand, for those who have been vaccinated, even some of these much-talked about variants dont seem to pose huge issues. Every one that exists currently responds well to our vaccines, said Swartzberg.

But the Bay Area, California, and the U.S. are not islands, he added. With more holidays and summer coming up, people are going to be traveling more  and they already have, which of course could impact the situation on both sides of the Atlantic.

If I want to worry about something, Im worried about the unknown variant that hasnt been produced by the virus, Swartzberg said. Not one that exists currently. The best way to prevent that from happening is to get everyone on the planet vaccinated.

Annie Vainshtein is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: annie.vainshtein@sfchronicle.com
The end of May is the end of the line for National Park Service ranger John Cantwell, who has been the public face of Alcatraz Island for years.

Hes retiring after a record 30 years of service on Alcatraz. Its time, Cantwell said. Ive done my time.

Cantwell, who is a master storyteller, likes to point out that his 30 years on the Rock beats the record set by Alvin Creepy Karpis, who was a prisoner there for 26 years, longer than any other criminal.

There is a big difference, though. I got to go home at night, Cantwell said. The FBI designated Karpis as Public Enemy No. 1. Christian Davis, supervising ranger at Alcatraz, calls Cantwell a stellar public servant.

Cantwells career mirrors the transformation of the 22-acre island in the middle of San Francisco Bay from the toughest prison in the country to a major tourist attraction. Before coronavirus restrictions limited access to the island, it drew 1.4 million visitors a year. People are drawn to the Rock by movies, television, books and the fierce reputation of the place as the end of the line in the American prison system. It was a federal prison for 29 years, and when it closed in 1963, Frank Weatherman, the last inmate to leave the island, spoke its epitaph: Alcatraz was never no good for nobody.

Yet it held a fascination. When I was a kid and sold newspapers on Fishermans Wharf, I always noticed people putting money in telescopes to look at Alcatraz. I even took a look myself, said George Devincenzi, who later spent eight years as a guard and wrote a book about his time on the Rock. People are fascinated, he said. I still get three or four letters a month from people all over the world. They want to know what it was like. They want to hear Alcatraz stories.

And no one is better at telling the Alcatraz story  or stories  than Cantwell.

He has dedicated himself to the island and its history, said Frank Dean, former general superintendent of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Dean has known Cantwell since they worked together at the Fort Point National Historic Site near the Golden Gate Bridge. Dean was a rookie ranger and Cantwell was a 14-year-old kid who worked in the sites bookstore and so immersed himself in the history he dressed in the uniform of a Civil War soldier and gave tours.

After school, Cantwell drove a truck and did a few other things, but realized his ambition was to be a National Park Service ranger in San Francisco. He wanted to explain things. He wanted to help people understand. He was good at his job, and after a few years, he was offered transfers to other regions and promotions. He turned them all down. One of my old supervisors told me, Cantwell, you cant give tours all your life. You have to learn to sit behind a desk or carry a gun. You have to decide. Well, I proved him wrong, Cantwell said.

He has been a force at Alcatraz. For years, he organized Alcatraz reunions, bringing back former inmates, former guards and families who lived on the island.

At reunions, visitors would see ex-cons and ex-guards eye each other warily and listen as men told what it was like to spend their life locked in a 5-by-9 cell. On the other end of the island, guard families never locked their doors. It was the safest place in the world.

Cantwell has also been a master at getting help from outside the Park Service  park partners, the government calls them. He talked a private prison company into repairing all the locks in the main cellblock, talked another outfit into rebuilding an old fire truck and got automotive friends to restore a classic Chevrolet truck, all at no cost to the government.

But most of all he has been the public face of the island and its story. This place has layers of history, he says. It wasnt just a prison, it was a fort, too, and it has a natural history. He talks about the symbolism of the island and its role in the yearlong occupation by American Indians. He notes the signs and graffiti left behind.

Cantwell is usually the man the Park Service picks to give tours to VIP visitors: Hes shown the island to Hillary Clinton, to dozens of members of Congress, to President Barack Obamas daughters and to Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow. Hes appeared on television 100 times and worked with several Alcatraz moviemakers. Escape From Alcatraz is his favorite. Clint Eastwood, he says, is a really nice guy.

Cantwell, who is tall and lean, looks the part of a park ranger. Hes a star, said Bill Baker, an ex-inmate, Hes the John Wayne of Alcatraz rangers.

When I was at Golden Gate, former Superintendent Dean remembers, Adm. Karl Schultz, who was then commanding the local Coast Guard sector, asked for a look at Alcatraz. I asked John to show him around. The admiral got the full treatment: the cellblock, the dank basement cells, the old fortifications, prison industry sites, the lighthouse, the natural history, the weather, the water currents, the works. Later, the admiral called Dean. That guys incredible, he said.

For his part, Cantwell thinks all the visitors and all the public attention to Alcatraz Island has changed the place. Its a healing process, he said. All the people over the last 30 years have driven out the bad vibes.

Cantwell is 62 now. Its time for a change, he said. I want do to some other things. Ill stay away for a year and come back to work as a volunteer.

Carl Noltes columns run on Sunday. Email: cnolte@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Carlnoltesf
YORK, Pa. (AP) 

Deany Keith had her hair curled and teased on a recent morning for her media appearances, an it girl at 93 years old.

Tucked into a neat little apartment in Country Meadows retirement community, shes the hottest name in York County at the moment, her story just published in the New York Times.

What is extraordinary about her is the piece of history she had hanging in her closet. What is less extraordinary but just as beautiful is the life that started on the day she wore that silk gown, a wedding dress made from a German parachute.

The dress

Deany Powers met young farmer Clint Keith during World War II at a grange square dance.

You get in a conversation, and he picks you up the next week and the next week and the next week, then hes stuck with me for 72 years, she said, smiling.

Those seven decades started on Aug. 23, 1947, in her Corning, New York, neighborhood. It was a simple ceremony with only their families in attendance followed by a buffet dinner. Clint wanted an arch of flowers at the wedding; Deany just wanted to be married to him.

The whole affair was planned by her mother, including the gown.

During and after World War II, fabric was in short supply, but it happened that the family had a massive piece of silk in their possession. Deanys older brother, Preston Powers, had been a soldier in World War II. From his service, he returned home with three precious items: the Silver Star, a Purple Heart and a German parachute made of silk that would become his little sisters wedding dress.

Her mother and a local seamstress made the gown.

It had tiny buttons up the sleeves, Deany said. It was beautiful.

The marriage

On the door to Deanys Country Meadows apartment is a nameplate: Clint and Deany Keith.

They married when she was 19 and he was 20. In their first years together, they traveled the country.

Clint, the son of a farmer, went in the Navy then became an engineer at IBM, settling with his wife back in New York.

Fifteen years after they married, Deany and Clint, unable to have their own children, adopted twin boys, Jerry and Terry; daughter Paula was adopted a few years later. The children had found a home with two people aching for a family.

Clint built a house for the family, every bit of it, according to Deany, and those four members of his family were the most important part of it. On the roof one day working, Clint climbed down the ladder because one of the twins just wanted a balloon to be blown up.

They wrestled together; they went sledding together, Deany said. Clint even renovated a 1928 boat that the family would ride on the Hudson River, staying on it for two or three nights at a time.

It was a beautiful life that we had, she said. Really and truly.

Deany lived with a bone disease that had put her in hospitals as a young girl, but she never told her children. They didnt know she had to wear a brace support for her back in order to pick them up and carry them.

When Clint retired and the children graduated from school, they moved to Colorado, a high-altitude location to give Deany a break from her severe allergies.

Clint became a hang gliding instructor there, and she was the hang driver, never able to glide because of her back but willing to drive down mountainsides to pick up the hang gliders at the end of their journey.

As the Keiths reached their 90s, they moved to Pennsylvania. Jerry lives just five minutes from Country Meadows, and Terry lives in the northern tier of the state. Paula remains in Colorado.

In 2019, Clint had been suffering with memory and health problems when he became very ill. On Dec. 23, after a few days of unconsciousness, a nurse slipped a pillow behind him, and he opened his eyes and smiled at his bride.

Thats the last picture I have of him, and its beautiful because he knew me, she said.

A silk donation

Years ago, Deany pulled her wedding dress out of the closet. She thought it should go in the trash after languishing so long. Not even a dry cleaner would take it, for fear it would crumble.

Her friend from Colorado, Phara Bourque, suggested she donate it to a museum and reminded her frequently to do it.

So, last year, Deany wrote a letter, and in October, she received a response. The National World War II Museum in New Orleans wanted to put it on display.

It was her first year without her husband, a year of pandemic and shutdowns, but the dress had given her hope.

It got her through the last year, Bourque said. It gave her purpose.

___

Online:

https://bit.ly/3fplAuB
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 08:08:27|Editor: huaxia

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People visit the 10th China Flower Expo in east China's Shanghai, May 21, 2021. The 10th China Flower Expo opened here on Friday, welcoming over 20,000 visitors on its first day. The expo, held to showcase the development of China's flower industry, will last until July 2. A total of 180 outdoor exhibition zones and 64 indoor areas have been set up at the expo park in the city's Chongming District. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
Since 2017, a famous black-and-white photo has stayed with me: a young Japanese American woman sitting in front of a typewriter, hands poised in the home position, looking over her left shoulder and directing a close-lipped smile at the camera.

The photograph depicts Mitsuye Endo. At the time it was taken, circa 1944, she was incarcerated in an American concentration camp in Topaz, Utah. Of the four young Nisei  American-born children of Japanese immigrants  who contested the grounds of their incarceration at the Supreme Court, Endo was the only one who won her case, and unanimously at that.

As a daughter, granddaughter and niece of Japanese American camp survivors, I have been reading about my communitys wartime incarceration for most of my life. But while Endos case is familiar to those in legal circles and Japanese American studies, her story is largely unknown by the general public. Why, I wondered, didnt everyone know more about the case that helped lead to the closing of the concentration camps for all Japanese Americans?

Layers of silence have veiled Endo for years. As a scholar of Japanese American womens literature, I know that silence has multiple meanings. Silence can mean strength. It can mean a guarding of privacy. It can also mean refusal to speak on someone elses terms.

Without question, Endo wrapped a layer of silence around herself and her case. She gave only two painfully short interviews, one in 1976 and the other for John Tateishis 1984 oral history collection, And Justice for All. Her 2019 New York Times obituary says that she spoke about her experiences with her children when asked, but they did not know about her case or its significance for years. She did not participate in the testimonies of the 1970s and 1980s redress movement for reparations. As historian Greg Robinson notes, (Endo) represents an unusual case of heroism  a hero both self-effacing and effaced by others.

Eleven years after Endos death, in 2017, I began working with my co-author, Frank Abe, to tell her story. Abe, who has been working on camp history for over 40 years, was concerned that we wouldnt find what we needed to tell her story. Asian Americans Advancing Justice, which had produced a short posthumous documentary honoring Endo, connected me with her children. Eventually Abe flew to the Midwest to meet them. There he made his own discoveries about Endos personality, including the confirmation of his hunch that Endo, like many Nisei, went by an American nickname, Mitzi.

That same year, I found a law journal article by Elissa Ouchida. Only then did I learn about Endos participation in a lawsuit with 63 other wrongfully fired Japanese American state of California employees. I was excited; this tied Endo to a collective organized action. I also learned that a bad experience with one news reporter made Endo reluctant to grant interviews.

Shortly thereafter, I requested copies of correspondence between Endo and her attorney, James Purcell, from the California State archives. Scrolling through the 25 electronic pages, I felt vindicated: Endos voice emerged with the quiet strength I had only sensed in summaries of her case. One particular exchange from September to October 1943 stood out. In late September, Endo was warned that the government was sending a top War Relocation Authority attorney, Philip Glick, to offer her a plea bargain. If she dropped her habeas corpus case, the government would release her from camp. She responded by writing that because her case pertained not only to the Japanese Americans in the class-action lawsuit, but all Japanese Americans who wished to return to the West Coast, she was willing to take it as far as she could.

In that moment I recognized my own Nisei aunties, who made many quiet  but not silent  decisions for a collective good. I thought of my oldest auntie, who was released early from camp to work in a dentists household in Beverly Hills and once sent back her entire paycheck to my grandparents and the rest of her five siblings.

When Endo refused, she was concerned about her personal safety; she wondered about the possibility of anyone returning to California with her, given the hostile climate she had left in her home state. Though Endo could have joined her sister in Chicago (who had already been released), she did not, and remained behind barbed wire for months. That delay allowed her case to move forward until her unanimous victory in December 1944. She was not released until May 1945.

The world may know Endo best from that photo at the typewriter, but now I think about her sending the telegram I discovered in her correspondence. Dated Dec. 19, 1944, at 2:47 p.m., just after she heard the news of victory, it begins with the words extremely joyous. So many photos of Nisei women in camp have a restrained energy, thrown into stark relief by black-and-white photography. But this was unabashed joy I could feel echoing through the archives and decades.

Young people today might need images of leaders and resisters who were committed from the beginning, who questioned authority from the start. But Endos resistance was complex: She stayed faithful to the cause at great personal cost. But her resistance was not a raised fist. I wanted to show that resistance is not always male  and it is not always loud. In Endos case, resistance looks like a quiet, ironclad devotion to a collective good. As Endo said in her lesser-known 1976 interview: I showed people what I could do.

Tamiko Nimura is an Asian American writer (Sansei/Pinay) writer living in Tacoma, Wash. She wrote this piece for Zocalo Public Square.
VENICE, Italy (AP)  The United Nations cultural agency has opened an exhibit detailing plans to restore multicultural landmarks in the Iraqi city of Mosul, underlining the role of architecture in helping heal wounds.

The exhibit, Revive the Spirit of Mosul, is being on the sidelines of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition, which opened Saturday after a one-year pandemic delay under the title: How will we live together?

The Venice Biennales central question resonates in particular in Iraq, which is experiencing turbulent change, and the old city of Mosul, where 80% of the citys monuments were destroyed by extremists during the citys 36-month occupation by the Islamic State group.

Iraq is one of three countries participating for the first time at the Biennale, with an exhibit by Rashad Salim titled Ark Re-Imagined that is an artistic examination of the impact of the great flood in ancient Mesopotamia.

The UNESCO exhibit, in the Zorzi Palace where the agencys regional offices are houses, unveils the winning project for restoring the Al-Nouri Mosque, built in the 12th century and once famous for its leaning minaret. IS leader Abut Bakr al-Baghdadi declared an Islamic caliphate from the mosque in 2014, and IS extremists blew it up as Iraqi forces closed in in 2017.

Healing wounds means rebuilding the city and its historic fabric. It also means reviving the spirit of Mosul, through heritage, culture and education, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay said in an speech opening the exhibit on Friday. The spirit of Mosul is, first and foremost, reflected in the diversity of its communities, which had lived together peacefully for centuries.

An international jury last month chose a project by Egyptian architects led by Salah El Din Samir Hareedy to rebuild the mosque, part of a UNESCO project that will also rebuild the Al-Habda minaret and the churches of Al-Tahera and Al-Saaa.

The new Al-Nouri Mosque will be nearly identical to the old one to the casual eye, while the prayer hall will contain more natural light and enlarged areas for women and VIPs. The winning project also aims to enhance the role of the mosques central courtyard as an urban hub for the old city.

Work to stabilize the sites began in 2020. Local communities have indicated a preference to restore the Al-Habda minaret as it was before the IS occupation, UNESCO officials said, while designs for the two churches have not yet been chosen.

UNESCOs $50 million project to revive Mosul was announced in 2018 and is funded by the United Arab Emirates. It also aims to revive the cultural life and diversity of a city that for thousands of years was a commercial, intellectual and cultural crossroads. UNESCO is also rehabilitating historic houses in the old city with European Union support.
VIDALIA, Ga. (AP)  Two men have been arrested and charged with murder in the Monday shooting death of a man in southeast Georgia.

The Georgia Bureau of Investigation said Friday that it has arrested 35-year-old TaLawrence Terraine Vickers of Atlanta and 35-year-old Willie James Rogers of Jacksonville, Florida, in connection with the Monday shooting death of 20-year-old Zacheriah Douglas Wright.
CLOVIS, Calif. (AP)  A shooting in a Fresno County bar killed two men and wounded a third early Saturday, police said.

The violence erupted around 2 a.m. in the Old Town section of Clovis, the Fresno Bee reported.

Officers responding to 911 calls found two victims inside the Palace Bar and a third outside, police said in a release.

Unfortunately, one of the subjects was pronounced deceased inside the bar. The two other subjects were transported to local hospitals, where one of them also passed away, Sgt. Jim Koch said.

The third man was in stable condition early Saturday at a hospital, the newspaper reported.

There were no immediate arrests and the motive remained unknown, police said.
BOSTON (AP)  Cardinal Sean OMalley is ordaining eight men into the Roman Catholic priesthood on Saturday.

Six priests are being ordained at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross for the Archdiocese of Boston. Two priests are being ordained for the Diocese of Kumbakonam, India, but will serve in the Archdiocese of Boston for a period of time before returning to their home diocese, according to a statement from the archdiocese.

The ordination Mass that begins at 10 a.m. will air on the CatholicTV Network

As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, we are reminded of the dedicated priests who guided their parishes through the unprecedented challenges of the past year," O'Malley said in a statement. The priests we ordain this week will begin their ministry with the support of the people of God and confidence in the enduring presence of Christ. Our Archdiocese is blessed by their response to the Lords call to service.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  Federal authorities arrested an alleged international drug trafficker Friday in Los Angeles after he was extradited from France, prosecutors said.

Jose Guillermo Grosso Gamez, 41, of Sinaloa, Mexico, was taken into custody at Los Angeles International Airport. He is expected to be arraigned Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. It was not immediately clear if he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  The foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia voiced unanimous support Saturday for North Macedonia and Albania to start membership talks with European Union, arguing that bilateral issues should not block the EU's enlargement into the Western Balkans.

Austrias Alexander Schallenberg, the Czech Republic's Jakub Kulhanek and Slovenias Anze Logar arrived in North Macedonia's capital, Skopje, to offer their backing for EU accession talks scheduled for June. The three plan to visit Albania, which also wants to join the EU, on Sunday.

Bulgaria refused last year to approve the EUs membership negotiation framework for North Macedonia, effectively blocking the official start of membership talks with its smaller Balkan neighbor.

Bulgaria wants North Macedonia to formally recognize that its language has Bulgarian roots and to stamp out allegedly anti-Bulgarian rhetoric. The government in Skopje says the Macedonian identity and language are not open to discussion.

Bulgaria on Friday ruled out again a possible reversal of its veto following a meeting with EU officials.

The Czech Republics Kulhanek said it is not fair for one EU member nation to condition the enlargement process on a bilateral dispute.

This is a crucial time, and we cannot allow (the process) to be stuck with such demands, he said.

North Macedonia applied for EU membership in 2004 and received a positive assessment from the European Commission a year later. EU leaders agreed to formal accession talks with Albania and North Macedonia after Skopje settled a nearly three decade-long dispute with neighboring Greece over the countrys name, which saw it renamed North Macedonia.

Western Balkan countries are at different stages of EU membership talks. Serbia and Montenegro have already started negotiating some chapters of their membership agreements. Kosovo and Bosnia have signed a Stabilization and Association Agreement, the first step to membership.
The Animal Rescue Fund of Mississippi jumped into action after receiving a call about kittens that were stuck inside a storm sewer.

A woman was walking her dog Wednesday in Gluckstadt, Mississippi, when she heard a kitten meowing loudly from deep inside a storm sewer.

She got in contact with Elizabeth Jackson, with the Animal Rescue Fund of Mississippi. They loaded up with gloves, a crowbar, food, towels and other items they thought would help with the rescue.

They pulled back the manhole cover and saw the two kittens that were mad, cold, wet and hungry. What they didn't have was a ladder.

The rescuers knocked on doors and found a ladder that was long enough to get down 12 feet to the kittens.

"Either the manholes in Gluckstadt are smaller than the average manhole, or COVID has caused an extreme change in the size of (Elizabeth Jackson), but the wiggling required for getting down to where they (were) was quite entertaining  for everyone but (her)," ARF said in a Facebook post.

"Eventually, (Elizabeth Jackson) got down to where the kittens were, and dang if one didn't just roll right off the storm drain culvert and went plop into the water and ran down the drain to the east."

Jackson went down the tube toward the kitten, which "fortunately, had a change of heart (big sigh) and came back" to her.

The kittens were given flea medicine, wormer, food and dry bedding, where they both took naps.
BALTIMORE (AP)  A Delaware man was sentenced on Friday to nearly four years in prison for his role in a plot to defraud a beauty product manufacturer out of more than $2 million.

U.S. District Judge James Bredar in Baltimore also ordered Thi Van Ho, 51, of Bear, Delaware, to pay over $2.4 million in restitution and sentenced him to three years of supervised release after his 46-month prison term.
DENVER (AP)  A police sergeant in Denver has resigned nearly a year after his longtime friend used the officer's personal gun in a fatal shooting.

The Denver Post reports that Sgt. Dan Politica did not state a reason for leaving when he resigned March 13.

The officer's personal AK-47 rifle was used in a shooting that happened June 10, 2020, when Michael Close opened fire at Isabella Thallas, 21, and her boyfriend, Darian Simon, in broad daylight in downtown Denver after an argument about their dogs.

Thallas died, Simon was wounded, and Close has since pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Police said Close had taken the gun without permission and just minutes after the shooting, the gunman called his friend of about 20 years to tell him he had done something really bad and theres no going back from this now."

Politica notified the police department after he discovered his rifle was missing and that it may have been used in the shooting. The officer also told investigators that he had been worried about Close's mental health.

Denver police spokesman Jay Casillas said there wasn't an open investigation into Politica's conduct at the time of his resignation.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 09:50:18|Editor: huaxia

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Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Global Health Summit and delivers a speech via video in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

-- It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

-- In the face of continuing ravages of the pandemic, with repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus, Xi called for putting people's lives and health front and center.

-- The Chinese president called for championing the vision of building a global community of health for all and firmly rejecting any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus.

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pledged to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to the best of China's ability to the world, calling for rejection of vaccine nationalism to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

Xi made the remarks via video at the Global Health Summit, which was co-hosted by Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, and the European Commission.

REJECTING VACCINE NATIONALISM

"It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries," Xi said, calling for upholding fairness and equity to close the immunization gap.

A medical worker shows China's COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Peshawar, Pakistan, Feb. 3, 2021. (Photo by Umar Qayyum/Xinhua)

Having already supplied 300 million doses of vaccines to the world, China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability, he said.

The Chinese president also pledged to support its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them.

"Having announced support for waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, China also supports the World Trade Organization and other international institutions in making an early decision on this matter," he said.

A man receives a dose of China's COVID-19 vaccine in the city of Tabatinga, Brazil, Jan. 19, 2021. (Photo by Lucio Tavora/Xinhua)

Xi proposed setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

"Vaccines are powerful tools in the fight against the pandemic. Yet, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute, as some developed Western countries are hoarding vaccines while offering nothing but superficial lip service to countries in urgent need," said Su Xiaohui, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.

Notwithstanding the limited production capacity and enormous demand at home, China has honored its commitment by providing free vaccines to more than 80 developing countries in urgent need and exporting vaccines to 43 countries.

MAKING EXTRAORDINARY RESPONSE

In the face of continuing ravages of the pandemic, with repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus, Xi called for putting people's lives and health front and center, demonstrating a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and making extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge.

He called on G20 members to adopt responsible macro-economic policies and step up coordination to keep the global industrial and supply chains safe and smooth.

"It is essential to give continued support by such means as debt suspension and development aid to developing countries, especially vulnerable countries facing exceptional difficulties," Xi said.

China is fully implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has so far put off debt repayment exceeding 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, the highest deferral amount among G20 members. China has also provided 2 billion U.S. dollars in assistance for the COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries hit by the pandemic.

Members of the Chinese medical expert team communicate with local frontline health workers at a COVID-19 testing facility in Juba, South Sudan, Aug. 21, 2020. (Chinese Embassy in South Sudan/Handout via Xinhua)

At the summit, Xi announced that China will provide an additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.

In addition to financial aid, China has sent medical supplies to more than 150 countries and 13 international organizations, providing more than 280 billion masks, 3.4 billion protective suits and 4 billion testing kits to the world.

"China has indeed walked the talk, demonstrating its undertaking as a major responsible country," Su said.

Experts of the Chinese medical team and local medical staff pose for a photo amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of the Congo, May 26, 2020. (Xinhua)

BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF HEALTH FOR ALL

"The pandemic is yet another reminder that we humanity rise and fall together with a shared future," Xi stressed.

The Chinese president called for championing the vision of building a global community of health for all and firmly rejecting any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus.

Chinese expert medical team members help a local doctor changing her mask in Belgrade, Serbia, on April 4, 2020. (Xinhua)

Political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response on the domestic front. It would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world, he said.

Xi said G20 members need to shoulder responsibilities in global cooperation against the virus, and lose no time in remedying deficiencies, closing loopholes and strengthening weak links in a bid to enhance preparedness and capacity for coping with major public health emergencies.

Stressing the need to address both the symptoms and root causes, Xi suggested strengthening and leveraging the role of the UN and the WHO and improving the global disease prevention and control system to better prevent and respond to future pandemics.

Workers unload vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac on its arrival in Montevideo, Uruguay, March 16, 2021. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua)

"It is also important that we enhance our capacity of monitoring, early-warning and emergency response, our capacity of treatment of major pandemics, of contingency reserve and logistics, of fighting disinformation, and of providing support to developing countries," Xi said.

"The virus respects no borders or races, and COVID-19 serves as a stark reminder that countries must rise above differences in geography, race, history, culture and social system and work together for a community with a shared future," said Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  A fire engulfed a conveyer belt at Polands largest brown coal mine Saturday before it was extinguished, and a linked power plant will have one of its units shut because the fire disrupted coal deliveries.

The midday fire at the Belchatow mine in central Poland covered the area that includes Polands largest lignite power plant with huge clouds of black smoke. The fire was the second incident this week forcing the suspension of some of the power plants generators.

A spokesman for Lodz region firefighters, Jedrzej Pawlak, said the conveyer belt was 30 meters (98 feet) high, making access to the flames difficult. No casualties were reported, Pawlak said.

State energy group PGE, which runs the mine and the neighboring power plant, said later that the fire was out but had disrupted lignite deliveries to one of the plant's 11 units, which will have to be shut down temporarily. PGE said the shutdown would not cause any power shortages.

PGE said on Twitter the fire was caused by the ignition of brown coal that was being conveyed to the Belchatow plant's Unit 14 reactor but did not reach it.

Unit 14 was the only one that remained active at the power plant when 10 other units suffered an automated outage Monday that was caused by malfunction at a nearby power switch.

Atop European Union court ordered Poland on Friday to immediately halt operations at a lignite mine in Turow, on the Czech and German border, that also belongs to PGE. Officials in the Czech Republic had complained that the mine used up their groundwater and affected local residents.

Poland's minister for state assets, Jacek Sasin, declared that Poland did not accept the court's ruling and would not take any steps that could undermine Poland's energy security as it phases out black coal.

A tweet by PGE suggested that Poland was not being treated fairly because the EU was not ordering Berlin or Prague to close 14 lignite mines they operate close to Poland's border.

Coal makes up 65% of Poland's energy sources, including 17% from lignite, while about 25% of the country's energy comes from renewable sources. Poland's heavy reliance on coal is a source of tensions in the 27-nation EU, which is seeking to meet ambitious goals to reduce the bloc's greenhouse gas emissions.

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Follow all AP stories on climate change issues at https://apnews.com/hub/climate.
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YAKIMA, Wash. (AP)  An Alaska Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Yakima after reports of possible sparks onboard Friday morning, officials said.

Alaska Airlines Flight 2256 heading from Pasco to Seattle made the unexpected landing after a flight attendant reported possible sparks in the galley, The Yakima Herald-Republic reported.
KILLEEN, Texas (AP)  A grand jury in Texas has declined to indict a police officer who fatally shot an unarmed Black man who rushed toward him during a mental health call.

The case was presented Wednesday to a Bell County grand jury, which declined to indict Killeen police Officer Reynaldo Contreras, police said Friday.

Contreras, a five-year veteran of the department, fatally shot 52-year-old Patrick Lynn Warren in January.

Family members have said that the day before Warren was killed, a Bell County mental health deputy had taken him to a hospital. But, the family said, when he returned home the next day, his psychiatric issues continued.

Police have said that Warren was emotionally distressed when Contreras arrived.

Body camera footage shows Warren waving his hands as he walks into his yard, toward Contreras, who tells him to get on the ground. Contreras then uses his stun gun. Warren gets back up and begins again advancing toward Contreras, who warns Warren to lay back and that he'll shoot him before firing.

Lee Merritt, an attorney representing Warren's family, said Friday that family members of Warren, who were there the day he was killed, should have been called to testify before the grand jury.

Merritt said Contreras responded to the call with this militarized default.

Police have said that Contreras had had mental health training, but Merritt said it "obviously was insufficient to deal with an unarmed man in his pajamas on his front lawn.

Merritt said the U.S. Department of Justice has opened up an investigation into the case. The Justice Department did to immediately return a call seeking comment.
LAFAYETTE, La. (AP)  Forty years ago, an incoming Lafayette mayor and a local Confederate history group quietly agreed to a plan that would ultimately make the citys statue of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton untouchable for decades.

In April of 1980, outgoing-Mayor Kenny Bowen, who had recently lost his re-election bid to Dud Lastrapes, was planning to move the Mouton statue from its place in front of the old City Hall downtown to the new City Hall on University Avenue.

But Lafayettes United Daughters of the Confederacy chapter, which donated the statue to the city in 1922 during a Jim Crow-era resurgence in white supremacy across the South, was searching for a way to derail Bowens plan.

The statues downtown location was poignant to the UDC since it stands on land once owned by Alfred Moutons father, Alexandre Mouton, who helped establish early Lafayette and served as the states first Democratic governor before leading Louisianas efforts to secede prior to the Civil War.

The Daughters lobbied the citys council members and spoke against moving the statue publicly at the time, but even opposition from some council members could not sway Bowen from going ahead with the move.

Instead, the Daughters formed a plan to delay the move until Lastrapes could take office three weeks later, after he assured (them) that he will cancel the order and the matter will be closed as far the city is concerned, according to a report written by UDC chapter Chairman Betty Dugal on May 17, 1980, days after they got a court order to delay the move by 10 days.

At the end of this ten days we will ask for an extension of the restraining order. When this extension expires Mayor-elect Dud Lastrapes will be in office and has assured us that he will cancel the order and the matter will be closed, Dugal wrote.

The plan was to wait Bowen out and push the city to accept the UDCs terms during their first court date on June 16, 1980, to install the permanent injunction that currently prohibits the city from moving the statue under nearly any circumstance.

(We) will ask for a permanent injunction. The City will not oppose us and the matter will then be settled by the Court, Dugal wrote.

This was the only way to stop the statue from being moved Thursday, May 15 at 7:30 a.m., she added. There was no other solution.

When the Daughters and the city met in court over the issue on June 16, two weeks after Lastrapes swearing in, the city agreed to the Daughters permanent injunction prohibiting the statue from being moved unless the land was sold or needed for road improvements.

Reached Thursday, Lastrapes, now 91 years old, said he couldnt recall any dealings with the Daughters about the initial lawsuit over the statue. Dugal did not return a request for comment.

The Daughters report on their plan for the 1980 lawsuit is now the latest subject of dispute in the ongoing lawsuit, launched in 2019, to lift their permanent injunction and allow the city to move the statue, which Mayor-President Josh Guillory has voiced his support for.

The city joined the suit last year after it was launched by activist group Move the Mindset, and is pushing to have the report admitted as evidence, particularly because the Daughters acknowledge a lack of legal standing to prevent the statue from being moved in their report.

Had we held title to the property and/or the monument we could have had a legal say about the move. But we did not, Dugal wrote in 1980.

Move The Mindset attorney Daniel Phillips is pushing to include the report in evidence for the case, which is set for a July 26 court date after more than a year of delays, though the UDC has objected without explaining its refusal to the court.

(We) plan to introduce a copy of the minutes because they establish the key facts that UDC donated the Mouton Statue to the City of Lafayette in 1922, that UDC knew that it had no legal say about moving the Mouton Statue, and that the City was not going to oppose the injunction, Phillips wrote in a recent court filing.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP)  A judge found that a federal prosecutor in Kansas with a history of questionable conduct committed misconduct in a drug case, prompting a sharp reduction in the defendant's sentence.

U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Crabtree ruled last week that Assistant U.S. Attorney Terra Morehead did not provide evidence to the defense attorney for Jay Giannukos, 49, who was convicted of drug and counterfeiting charges, The Kansas City Star reported.

Morehead has been previously accused of concealing evidence and threatening witnesses. She was the prosecutor in Wyandotte County in 1994, when Lamonte McIntyre was wrongly convicted in a double murder and spent 23 years in prison before he was released.

Morehead was recently moved from criminal to civil cases in the U.S. Attorney's office in Kansas City, Kansas.

In the latest case, Morehead did not provide the defense with information about a witnesss full criminal history or a video that called into question the witnesss credibility, the judge found.

The U.S. Attorneys Office and Morehead did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Crabtree wrote that Morehead had failed in her duty to do justice, and the misconduct was the reason he reduced Giannukos sentence from 20 years to nine years, according to a transcript of the May 10 federal court hearing.

During the trial, a key witness who survived a suicide attempt while in federal prison in Leavenworth told the jury he fell over a railing.

Morehead didn't admit until the sentencing phase of the trial that there was a video showing the man tried to kill himself.

Crabtree said Morehead failed to be truthful about the witnesss attempt to take his life.

Morehead's history of questionable conduct goes back decades.

A federal judge in 2017 found Morehead committed misconduct as a federal prosecutor during the Lamont McIntyre case when she threatened a witness and belatedly disclosed evidence.

And earlier this year, a man told The Star that Morehead pressured him into lying on the stand in a 2009 drug case. He said his testimony helped send an innocent woman to prison for eight years.

Morehead was also involved in wrongdoing in 2016 when federal prosecutors in Kansas City, Kansas, routinely accessed calls between defendants and their defense attorneys in violation of their rights. A federal judge held the office in contempt.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP)  A federal judge has determined that a group of businesses and political action committees that sought to block Oregon Gov. Kate Browns COVID-19 restrictions haven't shown enough evidence to prompt such a move.

The group  which includes the Gresham restaurant Spud Monkeys Bar and Grill, its owner Melissa Adams and political action committees Oregon Moms Union and Heart of Main Street  filed a temporary restraining order against Brown on May 5, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. The order protested the unfair restrictions they said the governor had put on businesses and public school children.
LOS ANGELES (AP)  The most common COVID-19 variant of concern circulating in Los Angeles County is now the U.K. variant, health officials said Saturday.

Previously, two California variants were dominant but in the past week 53% of 40 specimens analyzed by a public health laboratory were the U.K. variant and none were California variants, the county Department of Public Health said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 10:15:40|Editor: huaxia

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Rescuers carry relief supplies in Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 22, 2021. At least 3 people were killed and 27 others injured as of 6 a.m. Saturday after a series of earthquakes jolted Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said. Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude jolted Yangbi from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Rescue forces have been dispatched to the quake zone, and rescue efforts are underway. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Relief materials have been sent to southwest China's Yunnan Province after a series of earthquakes on Friday night, the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC) said Saturday.

The relief materials from the RCSC and its Yunnan branch include 300 tents, 1,100 daily necessity kits and 1,000 coats, according to the RCSC.

Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude jolted Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Yunnan's Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday.

The region has recorded 166 aftershocks as of 2 a.m. Enditem
PHILADELPHIA (AP) 

The first time Derrick Spivey learned about Bradying was at his own preliminary hearing, facing a charge of first-degree murder.

The sole witness at the 2009 hearing was a former high school classmate of Spiveys who, a year earlier, had signed a statement that Spivey fatally shot Marvin Hudson, 21. Now that witness, Rahman Rock Isaac, testified that his statement was a fabrication by detectives, one that hed signed under duress. In fact, he testified, he had ducked for cover and did not see who shot Hudson.

Still, based on the disputed statement, a Municipal Court judge ruled the prosecutor had made out a strong enough case to take it to trial.

Such a ruling was possible because of a 1986 Pennsylvania Supreme Court case, Commonwealth v. Brady. That landmark case placed Pennsylvania among a minority of states that allowed prior inconsistent statements to be presented as substantive evidence in court, even over the witness denials. That means a judge or jury can accept that statement as the truth  a significant difference from other states that allow such statements in court only to challenge the credibility of the witness.

In other words, said R. Michael Cassidy, a former prosecutor and a Boston College law professor, its up to the jury to decide whether theyre lying now or lying then.

Losing Conviction

Phillys overturned murder convictions raise questions about decades of homicide investigations and whether the misconduct alleged in those cases was part of a pattern that led to many more wrongful convictions.

Critics say being able to use recanted statements gives police an incentive to get signatures on statements at any cost  even if the witness may later claim coercion. Craig Cooley, a lawyer who handles appeals, said he sees the practice as a major driver of wrongful convictions:

You bring (a witness) down to homicide, you keep him there for umpteen hours, you make him sign a statement. Then, when he gets on the stand to testify and he says, I didnt say this, under state law you can introduce it as a prior inconsistent statement. And a detective can summarize what he allegedly said.

In the years since Brady, introducing prior statements as a way to deal with recanting witnesses grew so routine in Philadelphia criminal trials that some detectives and prosecutors began referring to it simply as Bradying a witness. They say its a valuable tool, since witnesses may recant due to social pressure, threats, or fear of being labeled a snitch.

After Spivey encountered the protocol as a defendant, he experienced it as a witness.

The chain of events began long before his preliminary hearing, on July 4, 2007, when Spiveys friend Erek Williams was shot and killed in broad daylight outside Spiveys home. Seven months later and two miles away, Marvin Hudson was gunned down in his car. Passengers Rock Isaac and Karefe Cover were uninjured.

Now, the homicide detectives had a theory: a series of retaliatory killings between two feuding groups of young men. They soon collected statements that backed it up.

Spivey said in an interview that detectives handcuffed him, brought him to the Homicide Unit, and questioned him intensely about Rocks brother, Raheem Isaac. They wouldnt let me go. I was there for two days  no food, no water. I told them the story, but they didnt care. They were saying that I was lying because I said I didnt know who did it.

They returned time and again, sometimes as late as 3 a.m. Spiveys mother, Melanie Shepherd, said: The detective kept saying that whoever talks first gets the deal. He came here almost every day. Finally, Spivey said, Detective Timothy Bass took him back to the Homicide Unit and showed him a picture of Raheem. He was like, If you dont know him, you aint leaving. Spivey said he signed a statement so he could go home. (Bass did not respond to messages.)

Meanwhile, Detective James Pitts questioned Rock about Spiveys involvement in Hudsons murder.

At Spiveys preliminary hearing, Rock testified that he signed the statement only to escape the interview room and that detectives held him for eight hours and slammed his head on the desk so hard it knocked him out.

He done beat me, like I told you before, Rock testified under questioning by the prosecutor. My sister picked me up. I had a hole in my shirt and blood on my T-shirt. He tried to manipulate me. He had called my best friends mom and put her on the phone so that I could try to be manipulated to telling something I didnt see.

By the time Spivey was called to testify in the murder case against Raheem Isaac, Spivey refused to be Bradyed. He declined to answer any questions. That prevented the statement he had signed from being read into evidence but resulted in a six- to 12-month sentence for contempt.

Both Spivey and Isaac were convicted. Both of their cases were overturned years later in Superior Court. In Spiveys case, judges found that his lawyer failed to demand a mistrial after improper testimony bolstered the prosecutors weak identification evidence. In Isaacs, they ruled that the trial judge had allowed inadmissible hearsay testimony.

And both pleaded guilty to lesser charges to get out of prison.

Pitts stands by the integrity of both convictions, and denied any assault or coercion. Which sounds more believable to you? We cased up two people for nothing? For what?  I didnt know Derrick Spivey until Rahman said, Thats the guy that shot at me.

Cassidy, the Boston College professor who specializes in prosecutorial ethics, said that cases involving recanting witnesses demand extra scrutiny from prosecutors to watch out for patterns of apparent coercion.

It seems to me they need to be particularly on guard in jurisdictions like Pennsylvania that allow the prior statement to come in for its truth, Cassidy said. Theres a greater danger of injustice.

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Online:

https://bit.ly/2S3YD80
LIMERICK, Maine (AP)  Police in Maine said a single-vehicle accident killed a 44-year-old motorcyclist in Limerick.

The crash happened early Saturday morning and killed Kirk Fogarty of Waterboro. Police said a preliminary investigation showed Fogarty failed to navigate a curve in the road and struck a utility pole.
WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina man was sentenced on Friday to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $500 fine for impersonating a federal agent.

Allen David Reinemund, 58, of Holly Springs, pleaded guilty in February to impersonating a U.S. Department of Homeland Security agent after a North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper stopped him for speeding.
MISHAWAKA, Ind. (AP)  One man suffered non-life threatening injuries after being shot Saturday in a parking lot outside a northern Indiana shopping mall, police said.

The shooting occurred shortly after noon outside the University Park Mall in Mishawaka, located adjacent to South Bend a few miles south of the Michigan state line.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (AP)  The fight to allow women to vote in Alabama, an issue that became snarled in white supremacist efforts to bar Black people from the polls, will be recalled in a series of historical markers across the state.

The first Votes for Women marker was dedicated Wednesday in downtown Huntsville, and additional ones are planned in Birmingham, Decatur, Mobile, Selma and Tuskegee, al.com reported. The markers are white with writing in purple, which was the color of the women's suffrage movement.

The markers are funded by the William Pomeroy Foundation, a New York-based organization that promotes and preserves local history.

Congress approved the 19th Amendment in 1919, and it took effect the following year after Tennessee became the 36th state to vote for ratification. Alabama didn't officially vote in favor of the amendment until 1953, but thousands of women already had registered and were voting in the state by then.

The Huntsville Equal Suffrage Association formed in 1895 when Susan B. Anthony and Carrie Chapman Catt spoke in the city. The movement suffered fits and starts because of the concerns about Black votes, said Donna Castellano, chief executive of the Historic Huntsville Foundation.

Some of the problems were linked to the 1901 Alabama Constitution, which was designed to prevent Blacks from gaining voting rights and political power.

Since Alabama had spent so much time and energy disenfranchising its Black citizens in 1901, the last thing they wanted to do was open a door that would allow more Black people to vote through an equal suffrage amendment, said Castellano.

After a period of dormancy, she said, the Huntsville Equal Suffrage Association reformed in 1912 at the old downtown YMCA, where the Pomeroy monument is located.

Once women achieved the right to vote they began altering Alabama by supporting measures that including restricting the employment of children in coal mines and textile mills and funding education and teacher training. They also supported an end to Alabama's system of leasing inmates to industry, "which was a form of institutionalized slavery through Alabamas prison system.

Things began to change when Alabama women got the vote, Castellano said. They certainly made an impact.
TUPELO, Miss. (AP)  Staff Sgt. Michael Otts returned to Mississippi on Wednesday after an 11-month deployment with the U.S. Army National Guard to surprise his son at Lawndale Elementary School.

Lawndale Principal Talina Knight told Otts son, fourth grader Corbin, and his classmates that this was a special week to honor heroes in our nation, so a guest speaker would be dropping by the school to speak with them.

When the guest speaker walked through the door to the media center, it was Michael Otts.

Corbin, 10, sat stunned at his table for a few seconds and waved at his father before embracing him.

The students applauded and waved American flags as Otts took photos with Corbin, his wife, Sarah Otts, and their other son, 5-year-old Kolton.

The 38-year-old Tupelo native was deployed to Kuwait on July 5, 2020, and hadnt seen his family in almost a year.

The at-school reunion came together last minute on Wednesday morning and was a collaboration between Lawndale Elementary and Carmen Gary, principal of Parkway Elementary School where Sarah Otts works as an assistant teacher.

Michael Otts had known hed return home in May, but had just found out on Tuesday that hed be returning the next day.

I was surprised, Corbin said. They just said that it was a special guest coming.

While Michael Otts was overseas, his family was able to stay in contact with him through a video calling app, and hes been known to participate in the occasional PTO meeting via Google Meet  even with an eight-hour time difference.

Even with the relatively easy form of communication, Sarah Otts said having her husband out of arms reach has been incredibly challenging.

This is the longest weve been without seeing him, she said. He spent our first wedding anniversary in Iraq and hes had to go to schools and things and of course AIT in the summer ... Touching the phone screen is definitely not the same as touching his arm. Video call helps for sure, but its definitely not the same.

Standing alongside his family in front of a banner that read Welcome Home, Michael Otts said, This is my whole world right here.

Otts is looking forward to relaxing for a few days before going returning to work at Syntron Material Handling in Saltillo.

When asked what he wants to do with his dad now that hes home, Kolton said hes looking forward to going to the beach.

Otts said he joined the National Guard nearly 14 years ago as a means to better help my family out. Hes a turbine engine mechanic, so he fixes engines on helicopters. His deployment to Kuwait was his second tour of duty, following a previous deployment to Iraq.

Knight was happy to host the reunion on her campus.

Were just so excited to support our community members who are giving back to us so faithfully overseas and here in our own country, Knight said. Thats what its all about.
NASHUA, N.H. (AP)  A neo-Nazi group claimed it left racist and anti-Semitic graffiti on a wall in Nashua and insulted a Latino lawmaker who pointed to the slogans as evidence of racism in the area.

On Tuesday, State Rep. Manny Espitia tweeted a photo of the three slogans painted on a wall he said was in his district, WMUR-TV reported. The graffiti read, "Keep New England white, Defend New England and Death to Israel.
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  An attempt to crack down on firearms in resorts and casinos is dividing Democrats in the Nevada statehouse, pitting gun violence prevention advocates against activists concerned about heavy-handed policing and racial profiling.

A state Senate committee passed a measure Saturday to strengthen penalties and make it up to a gross misdemeanor to bring guns into certain resorts and casinos where they are prohibited.

Under current law, if resort security confronts an armed person to tell them that firearms are not permitted on the premises and that person refuses to leave, they can call local law enforcement on them for trespassing. The policy would allow resort security to call law enforcement on visitors suspected of carrying the weapons in firearm-free zones to report trespassing without having to give them a verbal warning.

Provisions would only apply to large resorts and casinos that choose to opt in and would require they post clear signs about where guns arent allowed both on their premises and on their websites.

Sen. Melanie Scheible, a Las Vegas Democrat, said it made sense to enforce firearms bans in large casinos similar to how they are enforced in schools and public libraries given their importance to Nevada and its economy.

We should be paying special attention to the resorts, the casinos, the hotels, and all of the places that people come from all over the world to see, and ensure that they can be safe while they are there. We should be able to allow facilities to have this increased and improved amount of safety on their properties, she said.

Three-and-a-half years after Las Vegas experienced the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, casinos and unions representing their workers argue that law enforcement officers  rather than resort security  are better equipped to be the first to respond to visitors carrying guns where they are not allowed.

The Oct. 1, 2017, massacre killed 58 people. Last year, a court approved an $800 million settlement from MGM Resorts International and its insurers to victims and their relatives.

"At the point at which we become aware that an individual is violating policy, we should be able to engage with Metro; we should be able to engage with law enforcement in order to give assistance to remove that person from the property, MGM Senior Vice President of Public Affairs Ayesha Molino told lawmakers.

Molino said that calling law enforcement on visitors openly carrying firearms would be one among many tactics that resorts could use to maintain a safe environment and likely not be used in every instance allowed under the bill. That provoked resistance from gun rights and police reform advocates worried about the rules being applied unevenly and conflicts escalating after police are called.

Republicans and Democrats opposed to the bill said enforcing trespassing provisions without warning people they are violating the law could harm law-abiding citizens, particularly people of color.

I am very concerned about what I believe this leads to, which is Stop and Frisk, Las Vegas Assemblywoman Shondra Summers-Armstrong said. We are going to have situations where Black folks and brown folks are going to be the ones who are going to be  not asked to leave  but are going to be the ones that the police are called on.

Scheible said officers would still be required to follow laws prohibiting excessive searches and seizures. This has not changed the amount of reasonable suspicion or probable cause that an officer has to have in order to stop somebody, she said.

Gun-related legislation routinely divides lawmakers along party lines and draws fiery support and opposition in Carson City. On Saturday, powerful interest groups, including MGM Resorts and the Culinary Union Local 226, testified in favor of the proposal. Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department representatives testified as neutral to the proposal.

But an atypical coalition of interest groups testified against the gun proposal considered Saturday. Groups that push police reform  the ACLU of Nevada and the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada  found themselves on the same side as gun rights groups like the NRA and police unions, which said the proposal could create unnecessary and dangerous confrontations between people and law enforcement.

The measure now heads to the state Assembly, where it faces a steeper climb. A similar proposal was amended out of a bill introduced earlier in the legislative session after the chamber's Democratic leaders couldn't whip enough to support it. The Legislature is scheduled to adjourn May 31.

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This story has been corrected to say that the amendment would make it up to a gross misdemeanor to bring guns into certain resorts and casinos where they are prohibited.

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Sam Metz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP)  An Oklahoma court has agreed to consider a prosecutors assertion that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the state lacks jurisdiction for certain crimes on land within tribal reservations is not retroactive.

The Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals on Friday granted Pushmataha County District Attorney Mark Matloff's request for a stay of court proceedings in the case of Clifton Parish and directed Matloff and defense attorney Debra Hampton to file briefs in the case.
JEFFERSON, Iowa (AP)  A dust explosion at a central Iowa grain elevator earlier this month should not affect storage capacity or operations during this fall's harvest, the company said.

Landus Cooperative grain elevator in Jefferson said in a news release that it expects grain receiving and corn drying to resume at the site by the fall harvest, the Des Moines Register reported. The company said storage capacity will be sufficient to meet farmer expectations.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 11:04:34|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- As the global community celebrates the International Day for Biological Diversity on Saturday, China is exploring a solution to tackle the universal issue of biodiversity loss under the leadership of President Xi Jinping.

Piloting a market-based mechanism for green growth, China is actively fostering a new man-nature relationship in which both can prosper, living together in harmony.

"Ecological environmental protection and economic development are intertwined and complement each other," said Xi during a recent study session attended by the country's top leaders.

"Building ecological civilization and promoting green and low-carbon circular development not only meets people's growing needs for a beautiful environment, but also promotes higher-quality, more efficient, fairer, more sustainable and safer development," he said.

By carrying out major biological conservation projects and improving the mechanisms to encourage the green transition, China's practice sheds light on how ecological strength can be turned into economic strength.

COMMUNITY OF LIFE

Surrounded by high mountains and deep valleys, the Gongshan Drung-Nu Autonomous County in southwest China's Yunnan Province is home to the Drung ethnic group, a small community that makes a living mainly by raising animals, especially bees.

As part of their beekeeping activity, local residents use as many as 38 kinds of plants to attract bees, build their homes and repel them where necessary. The bees pollinate local herbs, which people in the community sell to improve their lives.

The beekeeping techniques used by the Drung ethnic have been selected as a key biodiversity conservation project by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment to showcase the synergy that can exist between man and nature.

Addressing the Leaders Summit on Climate in April, Xi called on the international community to work together to foster a community of life for man and nature.

"We need to look for ways to protect the environment, grow the economy, create jobs and remove poverty, all at the same time," he said.

Just like the beekeeping project, the country's many ecological conservation efforts have disproved the assumption that there must be trade-offs between economic growth and environmental protection.

The Yangtze River Economic Belt, covering nine provinces and two municipalities, is undergoing a green transition under Xi's leadership.

Stressing high-quality development of the region, Xi has reiterated that the restoration of the ecological environment of the Yangtze River should be a major priority.

Over the years, the country has shut down a large number of highly polluting and energy-intensive enterprises along the river and put into effect a 10-year fishing ban in pivotal waters to restore degrading biodiversity.

In the first quarter of this year, the region's 11 provinces and municipalities reported rapid economic growth, with their combined gross domestic product accounting for 46.5 percent of the country's total, higher than the 2020 and 2019 levels.

MARKET-BASED MECHANISM

To better coordinate economic development and environmental protection, China is actively exploring and improving a market-based mechanism for green growth.

China will establish a sound mechanism for realizing the value of ecological products so that the protection and restoration of the ecological environment can be awarded a reasonable return, while the cost of damaging the environment can be paid correspondingly, Xi said at the study session.

Under the guidance of Xi's thought on ecological progress, China issued a guideline in April, vowing to establish a basic policy framework for the realization of the value of ecological products by 2025.

The various problems surrounding ecological products, such as the difficulty of valuing and trading them, will have been effectively resolved by that time, and an incentive mechanism to encourage environmental protection will take shape.

The country's ability to transform ecological advantages into economic advantages will have been significantly enhanced by then, according to the guideline.

Governments at different levels have taken measures to include indicators of green growth into their evaluation systems.

China's southern tech hub Shenzhen has established a "gross ecosystem product" (GEP) accounting system, which is the total value of final ecosystem goods and services supplied to human well-being and sustainable economic and social development, according to the municipal bureau of ecology and environment.

The bureau said GDP will no longer be the sole measure of Shenzhen's development in the future, and GEP will become an important indicator for the city's green growth.

In addition to its efforts in achieving modernization that features harmony between nature and humans, China also aims to work closely with its global partners to restore the ecological balance on Earth, honoring its commitments while encouraging others to do so.

China will actively participate in global environmental governance, improve South-South cooperation, and cooperate with neighboring countries, Xi said.

In October this year, the country will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming of Yunnan. Participants are expected to work out concrete plans for post-2020 global biodiversity protection. Enditem
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP)  Rhode Island education officials have reached an agreement with the superintendent of Providence schools to terminate his contract in the wake of criticism about a hiring decision.

Rhode Island Education Commissioner Angelica Infante-Green asked Providence Schools Superintendent Harrison Peters to resign several days ago. Peters had been the subject of criticism due to his hiring Olayinka Alege, a school administrator who was charged with the assault of a teenager in April.
LONDON (AP)  Queen Elizabeth II made a quick visit Saturday to the Royal Navy's flagship aircraft carrier that bears the name of her eponymous 16th- century predecessor, ahead of its maiden operational deployment.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth, the latest Royal Navy ship to honor the Tudor-era monarch who vanquished the Spanish Armada in 1588, will be leading a 28-week deployment to Asia that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted is not confrontational toward China.

The 3 billion-pound ($4.2 billion) ship, which has eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets on board, is scheduled to depart from Portsmouth Naval Base in southern England, accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.

Arriving by helicopter, the 95-year-old monarch was greeted by the ships commanding officer, Captain Angus Essenhigh, and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group.

While aboard, she was given a briefing on the upcoming deployment and had a chance to chat with some of the 1,700 personnel. The queen wore a scarab brooch that had been a gift from her late husband, Prince Philip, a former high-ranking naval officer who died last month at age 99.

The carrier group will travel through the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

It will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean. A total of 3,700 sailors, aviators and marines are involved in the deployment which will cover 25,000 nautical miles.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said the deployment will be flying the flag for Global Britain  projecting our influence, signaling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow."

The trip comes after the British governments review of defense and foreign policy recommended that the U.K. "tilt its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region, in response to China's growing influence on the world stage.

One of the things well be doing clearly is showing to our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea and, in a confident but not a confrontational way, we will be vindicating that point, Johnson said while visiting the HMS Queen Elizabeth on Friday.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP)  When George Jankowski graduated with an associate of arts degree in social sciences from Laramie County Community College Saturday, it was a long time coming.

Jankowski, a former medic in the U.S. Air Force in his mid-30s, didnt take a conventional path to higher education. He moved to Cheyenne in 2008, right after he got out of the military, and worked a series of different jobs until enrolling at LCCC four years ago.

For him, attending college was about proving to himself he could achieve what he set out to do, and cross the finish line with a college degree in hand, the Wyoming Tribune Eagle reported.

I wanted to do something with my life, said Jankowski, who is a first-generation college graduate. I wanted to do something that I could be proud of.

That determination is part of the reason why Laura Hayes, the instructor who taught Jankowski entry-level English, nominated him for this years Stalcup Student Excellence Award. The award, which Jankowski won, recognizes students who have made a commitment to serving LCCC and the broader community of Cheyenne.

George is not a quitter, and that makes him exceptional, said Hayes, who has stayed in touch with Jankowski during his four years at LCCC. When Jankowski struggled to complete some of his coursework, Hayes was impressed that he came back and found something that would work.

Hayes has been teaching community college for 20 years, and said shes seen so many students get defeated, internalize their failure and not come back. But George never gave up.

In addition to finding his stride academically, Jankowski put a lot of energy into making the campus community a place where everyone can thrive. He was a member of the academic honor society Phi Theta Kappa, the student veterans group and Safe Zone, which is a campus program designed to foster inclusivity for the LGBTQIA community.

He identifies as a straight male, but said one of his personal mantras is to spread the love and stop the hate.

LCCCs campus and the larger community need more people with that mindset, said Hayes, who co-founded Safe Zone.

One of the hardest things has been getting over the perception of Safe as the gay club, Hayes said. Having a straight dude come be the president of the club and not be afraid to say Yeah, Im an ally, makes a huge difference. It definitely helped get more people involved in it.

Hayes, who has gotten to know Jankowski very well over the past four years, added that hes generous with his time  hes organized multiple fundraisers for various causes  and never expects anything in return.

Jankowski, who works at Blue Federal Credit Union, isnt sure what kind of career hell pursue after graduation, but he does know generosity and understanding will continue to light his path.

Giving back has always been a key point of my life, and I donate a lot of my time, said Jankowski, who is in the process of organizing a fundraiser for St. Baldricks Foundation, which is charity focused on childhood cancer research. Just being able to see recipients smile makes it all worth it.
SEATTLE (AP)  A federal judge in New York ruled Friday that a suspended Nigerian government official charged in a Washington state case of unemployment fraud can be released from detention before trial.

However, Federal Magistrate Judge Ramon Reyes delayed the release to let federal prosecutors appeal, The Seattle Times reported.

Abidemi Rufai, 42, was arrested May 14 as he tried to travel from New York to Nigeria. He was initially denied bail after his brother, a New York attorney, declined to post a $300,000 surety bond.

Rufai is accused of using stolen identities to take more than $350,000 in jobless benefits from the Washington state Employment Security Department last year.

Prosecutors had argued that Rufai was an extreme flight risk. But Reyes ruled that a New York state resident and family friend of Rufais could post the bond and serve as Rufais custodian until his trial in Tacoma.

Nekpen Soyemi, a registered nurse whose family comes from the same region of Nigeria as Rufai, told Reyes she would guarantee a $300,000 bond and allow Rufai to stay at her home pending trial. Rufai also would be restricted in travel in New York City and Western Washington and would be monitored with electronic surveillance.

On Thursday, federal prosecutors in Seattle sent a letter to Reyes raising questions, including one about money allegedly deposited into a bank account in Soyemis name.

Soyemi told the judge that her father had opened the account for her when she was in college. Soyemi said she had no knowledge of the transaction referred to by prosecutors.

Reyes delayed Rufais release until Tuesday. He also noted that Rufai would need to address an immigration detainer issued against him Sunday by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Under that detainer, Rufai could be picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers after his release and potentially held for deportation.

Michael Barrows, Rufais attorney, said the conditions of his bail were appropriate to secure his future attendance in court. Barrow did not immediately return phone and email messages from The Associated Press seeking further comment.

Federal prosecutors said they were preparing their appeal.
NEW YORK (AP)  Roman Kent, who survived the Holocaust and helped make sure the world never forgot its horrors, has died. He was 92.

His daughter told The New York Times her father died Friday at his Manhattan home.

At the time of his death, Kent was the chairman of the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and Their Descendants, which documents the lives of survivors and works with educators to teach about the Holocaust.

He also spent time on the board of the Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, which negotiated monetary settlements for survivors. Kent held positions including treasurer and co-chairman of the negotiating committee.

Roman made himself available for every cause that we put in front of him, tirelessly giving of his time and energy" said Gideon Taylor, president of the Claims Conference, in a statement. He will be remembered as an unwavering force of good will and an undeniable advocate for the global Jewish community.

Born in Poland, Kent was a teen when he was sent to the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944. He was separated from his mother, who he never saw again, and his two sisters while his younger brother was with him. His father had died in 1943.

Kent and his brother were sent to other camps before being freed by the American military in 1945. They were reunited with their sisters in Sweden, one of whom died soon after the war and the other who ended up staying there.

Kent and his brother came to the United States, where Kent studied business and started companies. He married Hannah Starkman, another Holocaust survivor, in 1957.

In addition to his daughter, Kent is survived by a son, three grandchildren and one great-grandchild. His wife died in 2017.
WASHINGTON (AP)  In one of the most chilling scenes from the Jan. 6 insurrection, a violent mob surged through the halls of the U.S. Capitol chanting hang Mike Pence. But when the House moved this week to create an independent commission to investigate the tragedy, the former vice president's brother voted no.

Pressed to explain his decision, Rep. Greg Pence of Indiana praised his brother as a hero" and turned his ire on Democrats, calling the commission a coverup about the failed Biden administration. He was even more aggressive in a baseless statement labeling House Speaker Nancy Pelosi a hanging judge who is hellbent on pushing her version of partisan justice complete with a hand-picked jury that will carry out her predetermined political execution of Donald Trump.

Pence's swift pivot to attacking Democrats and defending the former president about a riot that threatened his brother's life is a stark measure of how the horror of Jan. 6 has been reduced from a violent assault on American democracy to a purely political fight.

Rather than uniting behind a bipartisan investigation like the ones that followed the 9/11 terror attacks, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy or Pearl Harbor, Republicans are calculating they can regain at least partial control of Congress if they put the issue behind them as quickly as possible without antagonizing Trump or his supporters.

There's no reason to be doing this, said Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, who is leading the GOP's efforts to win a Senate majority next year.

The Republican resistance to an independent commission comes as many in the GOP attempt to rewrite the history of Jan. 6, minimizing the haunting events of the day when a mob of Trump supporters used flagpoles as weapons and brutally beat police officers.

The issue could come to a head next week if the legislation creating the commission, which passed the House, gets a vote in the Senate. Democrats will need at least 10 Republicans to join them in backing the measure, a dim prospect after Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell expressed opposition this week.

The partisan fight over the new panel is alarming to historians who say an independent record of that dark day is needed to understand what happened and hold those involved accountable.

If you don't have follow-up, it reaffirms that folks are right in their wrongness, said Carol Anderson, a professor of African American studies at Emory University.

The debate is unfolding as lawmakers prepare to spend much of the summer at home in their districts and attention gradually shifts to next year's campaign. On the cusp of majorities in both chambers of Congress, Republicans are eager to make sure the races become a referendum on President Joe Biden  not their response to the insurrection.

I want our midterm message to be about the kinds of issues that the American people are dealing with," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. "Its jobs and wages and the economy, national security, safe streets, strong borders and those types of issues, and not relitigating the 2020 election.

Thats why even some of Trumps most fervent critics in the GOP want to make sure that if a commission is formed, its work is done by the end of 2021 to avoid overlap with an election year, a provision included in the House legislation.

Without a firm deadline, the commission would be a political event as opposed to a legitimate endeavor to determine how we can avoid attacks of this nature in the future, said GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials.

The 9/11 commission published its report in July 2004, just months before a presidential election, and included some criticisms of George W. Bush's administration as the then-president was seeking reelection. But Romney said that was different because the 2001 terror attacks were not so directly linked to domestic politics, unlike the insurrection, which was led by Trump supporters seeking to block certification of Biden's election victory.

Clearly the people who attacked the Capitol were arguing for President Trump and therefore Republican, Romney said. That leaves the potential to have very significant political overtones in an election year.

Lee Hamilton, the former Indiana Democratic congressman who co-chaired the 9/11 commission with Republican Tom Kean, the former governor of New Jersey, acknowledged that such investigations are inherently political because they are created by elected members of Congress. But he rejected firm deadlines, especially those created with upcoming elections in mind.

You just have to take the time it requires, he said. If you have the right people, they're going to do the right thing regardless of the political environment."

The investigation of the insurrection would also be aided by the hundreds of prosecutions of rioters that are playing out in federal court, and the trail of evidence those proceedings lay out could hasten a commission investigation in ways not possible after 9/11.

The political environment, however, is much different now than it was when the 9/11 commission released its report. Trump insists the 2020 election was stolen, an argument roundly rejected by Republican election officials, dozens of federal judges and Trump's own attorney general, William Barr.

Yet the lie is having an impact, with 70% of Republicans saying they don't believe Biden legitimately won enough votes to be elected, according to a CNN poll released earlier this month.

The GOP insists it isn't ignoring the attack, pointing to ongoing investigations by law enforcement and congressional committees. Trump and his senior aides, however, have not been interviewed by the congressional committees, meaning investigators have not been able to glean crucial information about the former presidents state of mind during crucial moments of the riot.

Sen. John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, said the public doesn't need a commission to understand what happened at the Capitol and dismissed the idea that Republicans may pay a political price if they block the legislation.

The American people are smart enough to figure out whats going on," he said.

That leaves Democrats, many of whom are astounded that such a violent attack on their workplace has devolved into a political brawl, grappling with how to proceed. Democratic pollster Geoff Garin acknowledged the attack may fade in the minds of many voters by the next election. But he said the party could make a bigger argument that Republicans are still doing the bidding of Trump.

When Republicans behave in a way that shows they dance to whatever tune Trump happens to call, that is clearly damaging to the Republican Party brand, he said.

Sen. Gary Peters of Michigan, who is leading Democrats in their effort to expand the Senate majority, said that if Republicans block the commission, it will send the message that they are not interested in the truth.

But Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a former chair of the Democratic National Committee and the party's 2016 vice presidential nominee, said the party should focus on its broader accomplishments, even if the push for an independent commission reaches a disappointing conclusion.

Democrats are more likely to use, hey we got the American rescue plan passed and vaccinations are proceeding at pace and Americans are living better and feeling happier and more economically prosperous,' he said. That the Republicans are still stuck in a fantasy land where theyre trying to whitewash history and pretend things didn't happen that did, I think that could be a minor note.
PITTSBURGH (AP) 

When his tattoo removal shops in Lawrenceville and Penn Hills reopened last spring after state-ordered business shutdowns to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic, Wes South noticed sales quickly surpassed what he expected from pent-up demand.

Some people wanted to make some big, life-changing decisions, said Mr. South. Maybe they had more time to look in the mirror and saw tattoos they didnt want post-COVID.

Whether weeks spent in lockdown convinced clients to erase past mistakes or lighten their existing body art to prepare for future cover-ups, the surge in business helped Mr. Souths Disappearing Ink recoup some pandemic losses.

We are doing crazy numbers now, he said. Im not complaining.

Last month, he sold Disappearing Inks Pittsburgh locations  as well as one in Honolulu  to Removery, a Texas-based company that is scooping up tattoo removal firms across North America.

Mr. South, 36, and his brother, Ian South, 26, have joined Removery to run the Pittsburgh and Hawaii studios and will help their new parent firm expand to more locations.

The sale price was not disclosed.

Removery last week announced it was buying Disappearing Ink along with a tattoo removal business in the Cincinnati area, bringing its current holdings to 45 studios in the U.S., Canada and Australia.

Removery also owns a location in Robinson, which was formerly owned by Invisible Ink.

In a statement, Removery said it plans to grow to 200-plus clinics in North America over the next five years.

Fueling its expansion is a $50 million commitment earlier this year from activist fund Elliott Investment Management, which has holdings in large public companies, including Twitter and Duke Energy.

We believe Removery has significant growth potential ahead as the company expands to meet the needs of an underserved market, Elliott said in a statement in January when it announced its stake in Removery.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Removery was created in 2019 through the merger of four tattoo removal firms, including Invisible Ink.

Prior to the $50 million commitment by Elliott, the privately held business was funded by Australian investors.

Mr. South, now a studio manager with Removery, said the acquisition provides his business with upgraded laser equipment it uses for removals and fading and a large network of experts and referrals.

Im very, very happy with (Removery), he said. We will be able to work with the best removal technicians in the country.

The tattoo removal market has been growing rapidly  even before the pandemic  because of technology improvements and increased awareness that removal can be a safe option for many who are rethinking tattoos theyve been wearing for years.

A report last week from Kenneth Research, New York, projected the global market for removals, including procedures performed by dermatologists, medical spas and laser technicians such as those at Removery, will grow to $4.8 billion by 2023.

North America comprises the largest market share, the report said.

Sample prices posted on Removerys website include packages starting at $990 to remove a ring finger tattoo, $1,690 for wrist tattoo removal and $3,990 for removal of a chest tattoo.

The age of the tattoo, its density and size are all factors in pricing, said Mr. South.

His business grew steadily after it opened in 2013.

Id go out wearing my Disappearing Ink T-shirt and would book people wherever I went  standing in line at the bank, playing games at the casino, he said.

Mr. South, a certified laser technician, moved to Hawaii in 2019 to open the Honolulu location inside an existing tattoo shop in the busy tourist district of Waikiki Beach.

Last summer, a laser technician in Boston called the Honolulu shop seeking a referral for a Boston client who was moving to Hawaii.

Mr. South learned the technicians firm was merging with Removery and became curious about the company.

He connected with Removerys chairman, Mark Evans, who seemed like the kind of owner I wanted to work with, said Mr. South.

He recently returned to Pittsburgh to help oversee the business transition, while Ian South is relocating to Honolulu to work on sales and marketing and help operate that location.

The brothers have four employees who are staying on as part of the acquisition. They hope to hire another laser technician.

During the pandemic, Disappearing Ink secured two federal Paycheck Protection Program loans totaling about $60,000.

COVID was terrifying, said Mr. South. Our business was one of the most sanitary places you could ever enter before COVID. Its surgery-level clean. So I wasnt worried about that. But were people going to be willing to come back?

For its reopening, Disappearing Ink staggered appointments and prohibited people from sitting in waiting rooms.

Those adjustments meant longer hours for staff, but the effort paid off, said Mr. South.

Our customers are just so appreciative about being able to get this thing removed thats really altered their life for a long time. Theyre making a positive change.

Mr. South avoided wearing shorts for years because of a leg tattoo he abhorred.

It ruined my life, he said.

Its been removed, and his right leg is now bare. But that doesnt mean hes against ink, considering the tattoos covering his left leg, back and arms.

No way are we anti-tattoo, he said. We provide tattoo removal by people that love tattoos. I have a lot of tattoos, and Ive had a lot removed. I know what its like to have tattoos you hate.

___

Online:

https://bit.ly/3ftmzdn
After capturing the hearts of thousands nationwide, Ethan can add "Chief Tasting Officer" to his ever-growing list of accomplishments.

Watch one of his many inspiring stories in the player above.

Just four months after he was found emaciated in the Kentucky Humane Society's parking lot, he will now serve as one the faces for a major brewing company: Busch.

Last year, Busch released its first-ever product for dogs: Busch Dog Brew. The alcohol-free, bone broth brew gives owners the chance to crack a cold one with their favorite furry companion.

Bush said the initial response from customers was overwhelming, selling out just 24 hours after its initial launch.

The company then began its search for a CTO for the Busch Dog Brew, and Ethan was chosen as their top dog Friday.

"In less than 4 months, he has come from being someones burden, someones afterthought, and not only survived, but thrived and is now being recognized on a national level. Im so grateful to Busch!," Ethan's Facebook page said in a recent post.

As CTO Ethan will help lead the expansion of Dog Brews flavor portfolio. The position comes with a $20,000 salary, dog-friendly perks including healthcare coverage, and company stock options.

Busch Dog Brew is available for purchase here.
LAKELAND, Fla. (AP)  A 3-year-old boy accidentally shot his 2-year-old sister after finding a gun that had been hidden between sofa cushions by a family friend, Florida authorities said Saturday.

The girl was in exceptionally" critical condition, said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd at a news conference.

After the girl was shot, three men in the home at the time scooped up the children and jumped in a car to drive to a hospital. On their way, they got into a crash with another vehicle, causing several injuries. The girl and one of the adults was taken to the hospital by a good Samaritan who had stopped to offer assistance after the crash, Judd said.

The gun was brought into the Lakeland, Florida, home by one of three men who had gathered Friday night to watch TV, authorities said.

Kevonte' Wilson, 23, told investigators he had placed the gun between sofa cushions so that it would be hidden from the children. He was arrested on charges of failing to safely store a firearm, carrying a concealed firearm and possession of marijuana. He could face other counts, Judd said.

The home's owner, Chad Berrien, 24, was charged with possession of marijuana and maintaining a house for drug use, the sheriff said.

Judd said a Florida crime victim's privacy law prevented him from saying how the children were related to the adults in the home. An online court docket showed no cases for either Wilson or Berrien on Saturday, so it was unknown if they had attorneys who could comment.

Judd said everyone was cooperating with detectives.

The boy was taken by the Department of Children and Families and placed in the home of his grandmother.

There was no reason to think that this was an intentional act," Judd said. He was a baby playing with what he saw as some kind of toy."

___

The spellings of Kevonte Wilsons first name and Chad Berriens last name have been corrected.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 14:34:37|Editor: huaxia

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Rescuers set up a tent in Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 22, 2021. At least 3 people were killed and 27 others injured as of 6 a.m. Saturday after a series of earthquakes jolted Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said. Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude jolted Yangbi from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Rescue forces have been dispatched to the quake zone, and rescue efforts are underway. (Xinhua)

KUNMING/XINING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Three people are dead and dozens injured after a series of earthquakes rattled southwest China's Yunnan Province and northwestern Qinghai Province.

Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude struck Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday Beijing Time. The tremors were felt in all 12 counties and cities of the prefecture, with Yangbi being the worst hit.

Hours later at 2:04 a.m. Saturday, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Maduo County of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The county is located over 4,000 meters above sea level.

The two locations are about 2,000 km apart.

In Yunnan, by 6 a.m. Saturday, three people were killed and 28 others injured, said Li Zepeng, deputy head of the prefecture, at a press briefing on Saturday morning, adding that a large number of houses and facilities were damaged in the areas hit by the quake.

Soon after the earthquake, China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) and the Yunnan provincial disaster reduction committee office initiated emergency response and dispatched rescuers.

The prefecture of Dali also set up an earthquake relief headquarters, sending nine teams to nine villages and towns to carry out relief work.

So far, over 16,200 rescuers and relief materials including tents and daily necessities have been dispatched to the quake area. Over 22 million yuan (about 3.4 million U.S. dollars) has been allocated for emergency relief.

Yangbi has arranged 380 centralized settlement sites for over 85,000 affected people.

In Qinghai Province, eight people suffered slight injuries, local rescuers said. Roads and houses were damaged.

Strong tremors were felt by residents in provincial capital Xining, which is 385 km away from the county seat of Maduo.

Work teams and well-equipped rescue forces have been immediately dispatched to the quake-hit area.

The earthquake occurred in the sparsely-populated pastoral areas, where brick and wood bungalows are mostly scattered, rescuers said.

At an average altitude of 4,200 meters, Maduo County is located at the source region of the Yellow River with a great number of rivers and lakes.

In the past five years, about 25 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or above have occurred within 200 kilometers of the epicenter, the largest of which occured Saturday, CENC data showed. Enditem
ROANOKE, Va. (AP)  Longtime federal judge Glen Conrad, who presided over cases in Virginia for over 40 years, died on Thursday, according to court officials. He was 71.

A statement posted Friday on the website for the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia didn't specify a cause of death for Senior U.S. District Judge Glen E. Conrad.

Former U.S. Attorney John Fishwick Jr. told The Roanoke Times that Conrad was a judicial icon who had a phenomenal record of service to our country.

Conrad's notable cases included a 2017 order for the city of Charlottesville to allow white nationalists and other far-right extremists to hold their Unite the Right rally at its originally planned location downtown. Conrad ruled before the event that rally organizer Jason Kessler was likely to prevail in his claims that the city would be violating free speech rights by requiring a location change. Violent clashes in Charlottesville that weekend led to a man plowing his car into a counterprotester, killing the woman.

Conrad, a native of Radford, Virginia, earned his law degree from the College of William & Mary in 1974 and initially worked as a probation officer and a law clerk.

In 1976, Conrad was appointed to serve as a magistrate judge in the federal court system's Abingdon, Charlottesville and Roanoke divisions. Conrad, who held that position for more than 27 years, was the was the youngest magistrate judge in the nation at the time of his appointment.

In 2003, then-President George W. Bush nominated Conrad for his district court judge's seat. He continued to hear cases after taking senior status in December 2017.

His empathy for everyone who appeared before him was apparent, as was his love for his job, the court's statement says.

Friends told the newspaper, which reported that Conrad was 71, that he returned to work after receiving treatment for brain cancer and continuing serving until his cancer returned about a month ago.

He faced that illness with a lot of courage, and he just continued to work, which is what hes always done," Fishwick said.
LEXINGTON, N.C. (AP)  A North Carolina woman is accused of forging checks and taking more than $150,000 from the church where she worked, according to a sheriffs office.

The Davidson County Sheriffs Office said Betty Fowler Collins, 79, of Thomasville, was arrested and charged with one count of embezzlement and eight counts of forgery, the Winston-Salem Journal reported.
STOUGHTON, Mass. (AP)  Fire officials in a Massachusetts town said a 93-year-old woman died on Saturday morning after she was found unconscious in a room adjacent to a fire.

Firefighters received a call about the three-alarm fire in Stoughton at about 3:30 a.m., The Boston Globe reported. The fire broke out on the second floor of a two-and-a-half-story single-family home.
DETROIT (AP)  We goofed.

A three-judge panel at the Michigan Court of Appeals said it made mistakes in a dispute over applying for unemployment aid. It issued a new opinion Thursday in favor of a woman who has been trying to get compensation since 2016.

Conventional wisdom holds that we learn from our mistakes. ... Her brief helped us to acquire a more accurate understanding of the facts and the legal issue at the core of this case, the court said.

The case involved Margaret Barnowski, who had sought benefits after losing her job at an employer based in Livingston County.

Barnowski's ordeal began when she received two notices from the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency listing two previous employers. By the time she learned which document controlled the process, she was told it was too late to appeal.

The appeals court affirmed those decisions last summer. But on a request for reconsideration, the court said  oops  Barnowski actually did have good cause for a late appeal. She was represented by the University of Michigan law school's Workers' Rights Clinic.

Our confusion about the notices exposed a legal reality: The notices were confusing, even to three Court of Appeals judges, said judges Michael Gadola, Elizabeth Gleicher and Cynthia Stephens.

The judges said they understand why two notices were sent but the notices failed to "reasonably inform Barnowski.

Lawyers who follow the work of the appeals court were impressed. Lori Shemka highlighted an all-caps passage from the opinion and posted it on Twitter: MISTAKES ARE TEACHING MOMENTS.

___

Follow Ed White at http://twitter.com/edwritez
You are now listening to the sounds of the New Generation. A podcast created for those who desire a new way of gaining information rather than reading a traditional newspaper. In our show we will discuss everything from sports, pop culture, politics, and local news. To stay up to date on our latest episodes every week be sure to follow us on your favorite podcast service. And dont worry, we keep it short.
In 2020, the Little Manistee Watershed Conservation Council was granted approval from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) on the Little Manistee River watershed management plan to protect the health of the river. The plan includes short- and long-term goals and activities for the Little Manistee River.

The goals of the Little Manistee Watershed Conservation Council (LMWCC) are to restore, protect and preserve the natural character of the watershed by communicating resource problems and then offering and implementing problem resolution.

Some of the activities in the management plan include physical improvements to the river; others include improving community education on water quality for those who live on or near the river.

In efforts to start work on some of the watershed management plans activities, LMWCC has turned to local conservation districts to help get things started.

The Mason-Lake Conservation District will be hosting an intern for the summer to help with macro-invertebrate sampling and water quality sampling along the river.

Those interested in applying for the internship can find more information at www.mason-lakeConservation.org.

Macro-invertebrates are small insects that live in the river or along stream edges, and serve as indicators of water quality, depending on the diversity of species that are found and their quantities.

Water quality sampling looks at physical parameters such as bacteria levels, nitrogen or phosphorus levels, which provide insights on the health of the water itself as well as fish habitat. LMWCC has been monitoring these parameters in the past, and wants to ensure that these sampling days continue, so that trends or changes in river health are noticed. The group has also completed this monitoring in tandem with MiCorps, a statewide program for citizen scientists to monitor the health of streams annually.

The Manistee and Mason-Lake Conservation Districts have also assisted LMWCC with a grant application that would allow an employee to be hired and further facilitate actions related to the watershed management plan. This request for proposals was offered through EGLE, but results have yet to be announced.

The Little Manistee River stretches across northern Lake County, slightly into Mason and through Manistee County where it flows out into Manistee Lake. Volunteers are always welcome into the group to help on various projects. To learn more about, visit www.lmwcc.org.
This past year presented so many different challenges and obstacles that tested our strength and resiliency. The global pandemic forced us to cope with situations we never even imagined and a lot of us struggled with our mental health as a result.

Throughout the pandemic, many people who had never experienced mental health challenges found themselves struggling for the first time. We know that the past year forced many to accept tough situations that they had little to no control over. If you found that it impacted your mental health, you arent alone. In fact, of the almost half a million individuals that took the anxiety screening at MHAscreening.org, 79 percent showed symptoms of moderate to severe anxiety. The good news is that there are tools and resources available that can support the well-being of individuals and communities.

For example, West Michigan Community Mental Health offers a free mental health and wellness app called myStrength. The app has tools and resources for dealing with common mental health conditions and substance use disorders. Its completely free and available in the AppStore or on Google Play. Use the access code WMCMHCommunity and youll be able to get started completely free.

Mental Health America also has a Mental Health Month Toolkit called Tools2Thrive. The tookit has practical tools that everyone can use to improve their mental health. The toolkit explores coping with big changes, recognizing trauma and increasing resiliency. To get started, visit mhanational.org/may.

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is another great resource. NAMI is the nations largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. Their website, nami.org, provides support and education on numerous topics. In addition, the NAMI Helpline is available by calling 1-800-950-NAMI, or if you or someone you know is in crisis, you can text NAMI to 741741.

West Michigan CMH is also available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by calling 1-800-992-2061. Our phones are always answered by a live mental health professional. As the public behavioral health care provider for Mason, Lake and Oceana counties, we are here for anyone in our communities that need assistance.

Its important to remember that working on your mental health and finding tools to thrive takes time. Change wont happen overnight. Instead, by focusing on small changes, you can move through the stressors of the past year and develop long-term strategies to support yourself on an ongoing basis.

A great starting point for anyone who is ready to start prioritizing their mental health is to take a mental health screening at MHAscreening.org. Its a quick, free, and confidential way for someone to assess their mental health and begin finding hope and healing.

Ultimately, during Mental Health Awareness Month, West Michigan CMH wants to remind everyone that mental illnesses are real and recovery is possible. By developing your own tools to thrive, it is possible to find balance between lifes ups and downs and continue to cope with the challenges brought on by the pandemic.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 15:54:55|Editor: huaxia

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DALIAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Four people were killed and three others injured after a car drove into a crowd of pedestrians in northeast China's Liaoning Province, on Saturday.

The black sedan hit the crowd as they were crossing a street in the city of Dalian at 11:47 a.m. and fled the scene, said the city's public security bureau.

The hit-and-run driver has been caught. An investigation is underway. Enditem
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Merivale boss Justin Hemmes confirmation in yesterdays Herald that hes close to snapping up a Byron Bay venue (rumoured to be bar Cheeky Monkeys) would seem to cement the once-humble surf hamlets transformation into a property market that is hotter than Sydneys.

Businessman Justin Hemmes has expanded Merivale to Byron Bay. Credit:Jessica Hromas

Byron Bay has already shot to global prominence thanks to Hollywood stars like the Hemsworth brothers and Zac Efron calling the northern rivers town home, not to mention the exploding demand from city-escapees in the wake of the COVID pandemic. Byron is now a beacon for rich investors hoping to buy a slice of Australias hottest holiday destination.

However, the hospitality boom might not be all good news for local publicans like NRL star Tom Mooney and wife Cathryn, who own a number of venues in the area.

In March, neither Hemmes nor his pub baron rival Stu Laundy could offer enough money to secure Mooneys historic Bangalow Hotel, which is 14 kilometres inland from Byron Bay.
Vietnam strengthens law enforcement to protect wildlife, biodiversity

Vietnam has launched long-term and consistent efforts to strengthen law enforcement to protect wildlife and biodiversity and improve the livelihoods of people affected by declining biodiversity.



Illustrative photo (Source: VNA)






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Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 18:06:09|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's commitments to global COVID-19 response and cooperation, as well as China's role in promoting global public health, are highly significant as they are backed up by actions, overseas experts have said.

"That was all important, both for practical reasons and also for its symbolism," said Silvia Menegazzi, professor for international relations at the Department of Political Science at Rome's LUISS University.

Xi on Friday pledged to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to the best of China's ability to the world, calling for a rejection of vaccine nationalism to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

He made the remarks via video at the Global Health Summit co-hosted by Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, and the European Commission.

In his speech, Xi also said China proposes setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and -producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

Menegazzi said that Xi's remarks about global solidarity and cooperation and providing more vaccines to developing countries were significant because they were backed up by actions.

Cavince Adhere, a Kenyan researcher of international relations with a focus on China-Africa relations, said China's promise to the world "is now becoming a reality," as the country is donating vaccines to poor countries, enabling the beneficiaries to vaccinate critical groups of their population like frontline healthcare workers and other vulnerable groups.

He noted that China has donated millions of vaccines to a number of African countries so far, and the recent listing of the Sinopharm vaccine by the World Health Organization would "allow Beijing to play a more central role in vaccinating the African population as a way of post-pandemic recovery."

"While China's promotion of vaccine access has been viewed by some Western countries as a pursuit of global influence, the ultimate impact of vaccine nationalism by the same accusers poses a far greater threat to the world's vulnerable," the expert added.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed. At a time when COVID-19 is raging around the world, China and Africa have supported each other in the face of the pandemic. The solidarity will serve to strengthen China-Africa ties," he said.

Fu Xiaolan, founding director of the Technology and Management Center for Development at Oxford University, also highlighted China's contribution to global scientific research and its extensive production capabilities, especially in the production of drugs, vaccines and personal protective equipment.

"I believe China will continue to contribute to the global fight against the virus, especially in developing countries. China's contribution has been important and also well received and recognized by many of the people in the developing world," she said.

"With the increase of China's innovation and production capacity, China may play an even more important role in global public health," Fu noted, adding that China's proposal to build a global community of shared interests in promoting public health is also very important. Enditem
Tensions are mounting across Sydney over whether to allow off-leash dogs on beaches and parks, as local councils struggle to balance competition over the use of public spaces.

The latest canine conflict has erupted in one of Sydneys most affluent areas, with Northern Beaches Council considering creating off-leash dog areas at Palm Beach and Mona Vale Beach.

Residents are divided over a proposal by Northern Beaches Council to create off-leash dog areas at Palm Beach and Mona Vale Beach. Credit:Janie Barrett

The council already has 28 off-leash dog areas including at Sandy Bay, Clontarf and Rowland Reserve in Bayview, which have access to beaches.

But the councils chief executive Ray Brownlee said many dog owners had made it clear they wanted more off-leash areas at parks and beaches.
What youre not going to get is waves of outbreak ... it wont be a big wave that shuts down the hospital for three months, she says. But it doesnt mean that you wont get cases. Other experts paint a range of similar scenarios, largely dependent on the success of vaccination efforts. Associate Professor James Trauer, from Monash Universitys School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine, says what will unfold in Australia will rely on how much immunity is built against the virus and how successful vaccines are at preventing transmission. A worst-case scenario is a disastrous third wave. Were absolutely sitting ducks at the moment, he says. Weve got this extremely high risk of huge explosive outbreaks, so people really need to go and get vaccinated. But if Australias vaccine coverage continues to rise, Trauer speculates inevitable outbreaks could be curtailed before they spiral out of control by simple public health measures such as social distancing and good hygiene, rather than punishing lockdowns.

He predicts face masks will be part of the Australian look for years to come, with people likely to reach for their face coverings as new outbreaks take hold, long after they have been vaccinated. There is a strong role for face masks to play for years to come, especially with our growing understanding that aerosol transmission is a major way this virus transmits, he says. If we can do the basic hygiene measures well, then that and getting vaccinated should be enough to stop us from having to close down the economy and society again. Associate Professor James Trauer of Monash University. Credit:Scott McNaughton Baxter says there will also need to be a new focus on ventilation of offices and other buildings to reduce the risk of COVID-19 spreading through the air. The idea that the virus will become a fixture of Australian life in the future is strongly supported by modelling from Sydney researchers led by computational epidemiologist Professor Mikhail Prokopenko.

The research found that Australia is unlikely to reach herd immunity  the point at which those who havent been vaccinated are largely shielded from catching the disease by those who have  with a mixed vaccine regime of the AstraZeneca and Pfizer jabs. Loading Prokopenko says even with 80 per cent of the adult population vaccinated, there would be millions of Australians unvaccinated and others who are vaccinated but can still transmit the virus, even when they dont fall seriously ill themselves. One of the reasons for this is because COVID-19 vaccines are estimated to block instances of people passing on the virus in some but not all cases (around 50 per cent). He says that means outbreaks could still grow to quite sizeable levels requiring fresh social-distancing measures. In this high-vaccination scenario, he says these measures would likely not be as extreme as the national lockdown early last year, when pubs, clubs, gyms and cinemas closed, but could necessitate measures such as people working from home some of the time.

Were talking about outbreaks that could be happening simultaneously in many regions and many localities and many cities, says the director of the Centre for Complex Systems at the University of Sydney. Had we developed this herd immunity, we would be much more relaxed about it. But because we do not reach herd immunity, we would still need to apply this partial lockdown or partial restrictions  call it what you will. The Murdoch Childrens Research Institutes Professor Fiona Russell, a vaccine adviser to the World Health Organisation, says gradually waning immunity to the virus after infection or vaccination meant it was likely annual COVID-19 vaccinations will be required, much like the flu shot. The other important issue is not only our vaccine coverage but whether the vaccines were using actually cover the variants, she says. Australia is relying heavily on AstraZeneca to vaccinate its elderly and Russell says some of the population may require booster shots of an mRNA vaccine, such as Pfizer, as new strains of the virus evolve. This is because mRNA vaccines can be tweaked to adapt to new variants far more easily than conventional vaccines such as AstraZenecas.

Loading The threat of escape Of most concern is that some new variants of the virus appear to have what scientists call immune escape, meaning the virus can bypass existing immunity. Its a phenomenon being observed in Israel, which has positioned itself as the unexpected poster child of vaccinations globally. About 65 per cent of the adult population in Israel are now vaccinated against or have recovered from the coronavirus, a figure that climbs to 95 per cent in those aged over 50. Epidemiologist Professor Nadav Davidovitch, director of the school of public health at Ben-Gurion University, says while widespread vaccination obliterated the countrys recent, disastrous wave, a small number of silent infections have been detected in people after they have been vaccinated.

The handful of infections have emerged mostly in people who only had their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, he says. To Davidovitchs knowledge, none of these cases have died or been sick enough to be hospitalised. But worryingly, it appears in some cases, they may have transmitted the virus to others. We are learning more about this virus and the vaccines every day, he says. In a post-pandemic world, Trauer predicts, COVID-19 may follow a similar trajectory to endemic coronaviruses that preceded it. This is many years away, but the situation that we might end up in is a little bit more similar to the situation that we have with the other older coronaviruses that generally affect children, he says. It means we wont have the situation where elderly people are encountering the virus for the first time and getting these really severe outcomes and dying.

The head of Melbournes Peter Doherty Institute, Professor Sharon Lewin, believes it is impossible Australia can keep the door closed on COVID-19 forever. Her ideal alternative to COVID zero would see people still getting the virus but very few requiring hospitalisation. Emerging data from Britain suggests the AstraZeneca and Pfizer vaccines cut the risk of contracting COVID-19 by as much as 70 per cent and dramatically protect against severe illness and death. Overall, the more people we have vaccinated the less opportunity there will be for the virus to transmit, says Lewin. What we really want to do is eliminate any possibility of people getting really sick and going to hospital. However, with only about 3.5 million vaccine doses distributed for a population of 25 million, and significant hesitancy detected among the public, Lewin cautions we are a long way from being in that position.

Leading epidemiologists have argued Australia cannot just fling open its international borders but that quarantine arrangements should be cautiously eased, first allowing select low-risk travellers to quarantine at home. Its estimated that to avoid a third wave of the virus, the nation would have to achieve vaccination rates of 70 per cent before COVID-19 was allowed to circulate in the community. I think we have the opportunity for the next five to 10 years to still be the country thats able to manage this much better, Baxter says. But if we take the wrong steps, we have a third wave in Melbourne, and its not as bad as it would have been but its still not very good. Outbreaks of the virus in Victoria have resulted in 20,000 COVID-19 cases and 820 deaths. There have been 910 deaths nationwide. The Austin Hospitals intensive care unit, which was full of critically ill coronavirus patients last winter, is now overflowing with people recovering from postponed surgeries or delayed medical treatments, a legacy of the pandemic.

We are in many respects the busiest we have ever been, says ICU head Dr Stephen Warrillow. The confronting reality is that there will be COVID in the community for months and years to come. The ICU systems across the city are already so busy. Even small amounts of coronavirus transmission would have huge impacts on us. Austin Hospital director of intensive care Dr Stephen Warrillow. Credit:Justin McManus For Associate Professor Jason Trubiano, an infectious disease physician, the memories of 18-hour shifts swabbing hundreds of people a day and gently reassuring anxious, breathless patients in the COVID-19 ward are still raw. It felt like a tsunami, but now we realise it was only a ripple, says Trubiano, who oversaw the screening clinic at the hospital during last years deadly wave. Thinking back to it all makes me quite emotional.

It took Trubiano months to adjust to walking past Pod C in the hospital in Melbournes north-east and not seeing beds full of seriously ill patients or the bright yellow signs on the window. The thought of winter and a growing reluctance among Australians to get tested for flu-like symptoms makes him and his colleagues anxious. Professor Jason Trubiano Credit:Joe Armao I cant count the number of people who have said to me recently they had a runny nose or a sore throat and I say to them, well, did you get tested for COVID? and they havent, he says. The complacency is extremely worrying. We must continue to test and vaccinate because without these two critical elements, we are very vulnerable for a third wave and this is something that is so completely avoidable.
However, Rex does not appear to be an obvious candidate for investment for the fund, which requires companies to either have most of their employees or assets in Australia, or plan to use the whole of the initial investment in Australia. BioScience Managers did not reply to repeated requests for comment, and the federal government says it has no role in selecting investments for the $500 million fund. Rex has paid tens of thousands of dollars in consultancy fees to BioScience Managers, according the companys annual reports. BioScience Managers remains a private shareholder of Rex. The large taxpayer investment in a New Zealand-founded company is bound to raise eyebrows, considering Australias research sector faces huge cuts while successful applications for government research funding plummet to new lows.

In 2017, Health Minister Greg Hunt stood with a patient wearing Rexs exoskeleton at a news conference in Canberra. He lauded Australias investment in Rex and and two other companies as supporting high potential Australian innovations and homegrown inventions could transform the lives of not only Australian patients, but people right across the world. Dr Jodie Marquez, one of the only Australian scientists to have studied the legs, was in attendance. At that presentation Greg Hunt was saying this is great Australian-owned technology. But it never was, she said. This was always New Zealands. But now were claiming it as Australian, weve invested in it.

A spokesman for Mr Hunt said neither the minister nor the government are the decision maker in relation to BTF program investments and their commercial terms. He said the government had received advice from BioScience Managers the investment met the Biomedical Translation Funds guidelines. A mechanism for dealing with conflicts of interest is included in the governing documents of each fund and is overseen by an advisory board, a government spokeswoman said. The department cannot provide specific details of individual conflicts of interest. Rex Bionics was founded by a pair of engineers in an Auckland garage in 2007, before listing on a lower-tier British-based stock exchange in 2014. It has received millions of dollars from the New Zealand government in research and development grants. Rex Bionics chief technology officer Richard Little puts New Zealand Prime Minister John Key through his paces during a 2016 visit Credit:Rex Bionics / Supplied BioScience Managers was instrumental in that listing.

But Rex struggled to sell its exoskeletons, and in 2017 came close to insolvency. When Rex listed on the British stockmarket in 2014, listing documents noted its success depends to a significant degree on the technical skills of co-inventor Richard Little. He left the company in 2017, and told The Sunday Age he had really left much earlier than that. They had their plans in place. They werent really my plans, he said. I really did step back from that sort of side of things. I was such a minority shareholder  it wasnt really my company at that stage. I felt close to the product, but not the company. Rex now says it is working with Melbourne-based engineering company Hydrix on redesigning and upgrading the exoskeleton.

Asked how much of Rexs operations were in Australia, Rexs CEO Charles Carignan said the company was now based in Melbourne. However, it employed only a single person in Australia - although there were plans to increase that to three or four. Unfortunately, the last 15 months of no travel, has been a challenge for the company. We actually had some people who left because of that, that now were fortunately bringing back. In 2016, a charity part-funded a clinical trial of Rexs exoskeleton in the Hunter Valley. That trial revealed a number of key flaws with the expensive exoskeleton, said lead investigator Dr Jodie Marquez from the University of Newcastle. For example, the exoskeleton only comes in right-handed models.

If you have a stroke that effects your right-hand side, you are instantly ineligible. Thats 50 per cent of the stroke population, she said. The device also has height and weight requirements for users  further limiting who can use it. It is only so adjustable. People were either to tall, too short, or too fat to fit into the device, she said. Because of those restrictions regarding eligibility, clinical application of it is going to be very limited, to a restricted few. Rex says the exoskeleton can be piloted by a physiotherapist, rather than the user, meaning the right-handed controls are not always an issue. The exoskeleton can hold people up to 193cm, but is limited to 100 kilograms - in line with other competing exoskeletons.
I share Cristina Williamss sense of grief and alienation towards Fortress Australia (I no longer feel like Australia is my home, May 16). Not only has the federal government failed to provide an efficient vaccination program or a roadmap out of the pandemic, it has failed to address the crisis with proportionality.

Its de facto policy of eradication actively precludes a sensible exit plan and ensures an endless cycle of snap lockdowns and border closures. What is truly depressing is that much of the country shares the Prime Ministers delusion that this is a desirable state of affairs and that Australia is the envy of the world. The growing perception abroad is that Australia is in the grip of an extreme form of isolationism, that it lacks compassion towards some of its most vulnerable citizens and willingness to be a global player. I have no wish to call this fiercely solipsistic Australia home. Kathleen Riley, Burradoo

Modern libertarianism is a terrifyingly selfish theory. It assumes that individual actions are paramount and the common good irrelevant (We surrendered: pandemic and the loss of liberties, May 16). Look at the early havoc extreme individualism caused in countries like the US when libertarians resisted basic health measures like wearing face masks. Thousands died in the name of liberty. What began as a ideal of freedom has been subverted into something base, beloved of far-right wingers. The first rule of classic libertarianism is that the right to personal liberty does not include the right to harm others. Alison Stewart, Riverview

It is with great relief that I now see government MPs, and others, calling for a staged relief from Australian border closures (Government MPs rebel against border closures, May 16). The Prime Minister thinks that bubbles with low infection countries like New Zealand and Singapore are the only way to proceed.

However, there is very little risk in allowing fully vaccinated people to travel with home self-isolation as a back-up. The Centre for Disease Control in the US has determined that the chances of a fully vaccinated person spreading the virus is minuscule. The advantage of allowing self-isolation for the fully vaccinated is that more places would be available in hotel quarantine and more Australians will be able to come home. Mark Tennant, Castlecrag
Grammars elected trustees - the ones active on the board - are equally prestigious. They include a former Australian of the Year, quantum physicist Michelle Simmons; child cancer Richard Henry; specialist appeal court judge Mark Leeming; and former crown prosecutor Mark Tedeschi. School boards have been criticised for their failure to include more women. Some schools, such as Grammar and Newington, are governed by acts of parliament; others, by decades old church ordinances, such as Kings and Trinity, or by the religious order that set them up, such as St Josephs College in Hunters Hill, which is governed by the Marist Brothers. Several Uniting Church of Australia-run schools - including Knox and Ravenswood - cast off the old church governance and switched to corporate-style boards this year to take control of their assets and ensure they could meet modern governance standards. They still have church board members. Boards or councils see themselves as keepers of a schools mission. They do the job for free, and their key task is to hire principals. If you dont reflect the things they think are valuable, then youre not going to get a gig, says one former principal.

Sometimes, boards fire principals. [Things go wrong] when a cabal of the community gets together and also has representation on the board, and the principal alienates enough of them, said a board member who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak. And occasionally, the principal wins their fight with the board. In 2016, the Presbyterian Church sacked the board of Scots College in support of headmaster Ian Lambert, saying its corporate concerns were outweighing the educational mission. Boards or councils oversee the budget, analyse risk and after that, says one school governor, they are fundraisers and cheerleaders. Boards usually have people with expertise in law, finance and risk management but rarely in education. [A school board] is far, far more than just finance, I can tell you, said Helen Wright, a former principal of Ascham who left after a year because of differences of approach, and now works for an international consultancy running workshops for school boards. If the board doesnt live and breathe the values the school wants to hold and develop, then the school will ultimately not thrive.

Finding the right skill balance can be tricky. A director with too much education experience risks undermining the principal. Ahead of its board elections later this month, Moriah College rated educational experience as its sixth most valued skill after experience on its own board, gender diversity and infrastructure knowledge. But financial expertise was even further down the list. You dont want a situation when the head says, this is the educational strategy we want to pursue, and someone else says no, this is what we should be doing, said Tim Wight, the former headmaster of Shore. Yet a lack of understanding about education - or an unwillingness to defer to the principals knowledge - can be a challenge, too. A classic problem is when boards fuss about the HSC results and issue an edict that says, by this time next year, the HSC results will look like this, Dr Wright said. People with experience in education know you have to plan years ahead. Pressure from parents can also create conflict on the board. Moriah College - which has billionaire Frank Lowys daughter-in-law Judy on its board and son Steven on an advisory committee - will have a hotly contested annual general meeting this year, with some in the school community unhappy about HSC results and financial strategy. Many schools - especially the sandstone Anglican schools - also have a significant proportion of old boys or girls on their councils. Alumni also bring their own baggage, said one principal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.

Principal Debra Kelliher left eastern suburbs school Kambala amid criticism from staff in 2017. She later began defamation action over a series of emails from teachers, and the board apologised to her as part of a settlement. Dr Kelliher is now an expert in girls leadership. She would not comment on her experience at Kambala, but said people were often chosen for school boards because of their corporate skills, but those skills needed to be balanced with other experience. Loading While schools need to be business-like, they are not the same as businesses, she said. Theres prestige associated with being on a school board, especially the board of an elite school. However, board members need to be mindful that it comes with a duty of care that is in many ways higher than that of a corporate board. Anglican schools with fewer Synod members have more flexibility. Cranbrook is an Anglican school but its ties to the church are looser, so its council can include more women - there is a female legal partner, and a top architect - and can consider bold moves such as becoming co-educational.

Girls schools tend to have more women on their boards because of the positions allocated to old girls. Women now fill about 30 per cent of positions on ASX 200 boards. A Trinity spokeswoman said the school believed diversity of experience was key to good governance, but the schools ordinance constrained the number of positions that were available to women. The school expects the number of women on the Council to increase in the years ahead, she said. The Kings Schools council can appoint female deacons to clergy positions, and the old boys at both Shore and Kings can appoint female representatives. Yet at Kings - whose students still wear black ties in mourning for Queen Victoria - there is only one female governor, Mrs Abrahams. Mrs Abrahams said that the council was working with the Sydney Diocese on increasing the diversity of views, including greater gender representation. A spokesman for the Sydney Archdiocese said, more female members [for Kings school council] are actively being sought. The spokesman said the Sydney Anglican archdiocese was committed to encouraging women onto more than 50 boards appointed by the Synod, and was surveying its members to better understand their obstacles.
The NSW governments $24 million live music package has been called a lifeline that will enable long-suffering venues still operating under pandemic restrictions to stay open.

Unveiling the funding recipients on Saturday, Jobs, Investment and Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said the funding for more than 150 venues will allow them to keep the doors open and get back to work putting on gigs.

Jobs and Investment Minister Stuart Ayres with, Dave Faulkner, Trad Nathan and Tyla Dombroski at Crowbar on Saturday. Credit:Steven Siewert

Live music venue Crowbar in Leichhardt will receive $600,000 under the program, which owner Tyla Dombroski said was a huge lifeline for us.
Government budgets are now theatrical events rather than financial statements. Even cursory scrutiny of last years efforts  federal or state  or any of the years before, will reveal that the promises made and predictions relied upon bear little connection to reality.

The figures rolling off various treasurers tongues are treated with wry amusement by the markets whilst elevated to undeserving gravitas by the media.

The federal budgets wheel of fortune. Credit:Matt Davidson

Instead, in the showbiz and sideshow world that politics has degraded itself to, it is the performance not the substance of the budget that matters. It has become a rare opportunity for those actors who for the time being perform the role of being in government to get media attention and role-play economic wizardry.

It is all about the moment, not what happens afterwards. Almost no one follows up any of the grand promises made. There are zero long-term electoral consequences when sometimes only months later the grand sweeping commitments are quietly abandoned.
First they thought it was manure. Then a dead possum in the roof.

But when residents in Melbournes west first caught a whiff of a toxic smell wafting through their neighbourhood from burning landfill in late 2019, they had no idea it would be plaguing their lives 18 months down the track  let alone until 2022.

But that reality was laid bare this week for the Kealba community, which borders Keilor, St Albans, and Sunshine North, after the company operating the local landfill revealed it would not be able to fully extinguish hotspot fires within the dumped shredded tyres, concrete, carpet and worksite rubbish before May next year.

Mike Jez shows the amount of dust which settles on the trees at his home from the landfill site hundreds of metres away. The Jez family dont go outside on windy days when the stench is strong. Credit:Joe Armao

Barro Group, which includes dozens of concrete and quarry businesses across Australia, told Kealba residents they could not extinguish the four 500-degree hotspot fires burning 30 metres below the landfill surface by the end of July as had been requested by the Environmental Protection Authority.
Figures from VARTA show that there were only 335 sperm donors available in Victoria at the start of the financial year, down from 424 at the start of 2018-19. There were also fewer sperm donors recruited this year (81) compared with the previous year (128). Monash IVF, which started the worlds first donor program in 1975, recorded a 45 per cent decline in the number of sperm donors in Victoria compared to 2019. There is definitely a sperm drought in Victoria, said Monash IVF group medical director Professor Luk Rombauts. When the pandemic hit in March, Monash IVF had a 90 per cent drop in sperm donor inquiries. Even now, the sperm donor numbers at Monash IVF havent recovered to pre-pandemic levels. Informal sperm donation is seen by some as an easier option because it allows people to bypass the costs and bureaucracy of regulated clinics, where out-of-pocket expenses can range from $900 to $7000, depending on the treatment used. By comparison, syringes that are filled with private donor sperm and used for home insemination cost less than $10.

And as more people seek to have children, some Facebook groups and social media apps now have thousands of members each. While many donors are legitimate, others are believed to be breaking Victorian laws that state that donors cannot contribute to more than 10 families. One prolific Australian donor, for instance, is being investigated by VARTA for reportedly surpassing the 10 family cap by donating sperm to an IVF clinic and informally through a Facebook group. The growth of the informal system has renewed calls to make regulated IVF clinics more affordable and to encourage more people to donate. The Andrews government has moved to establish Victorias first public egg and sperm bank, and announced $70 million in its latest budget to establish public fertility care services. According to the government, this will help up to 4000 Victorians every year, saving them on average $10,000 each. IVF clinics require every donor to be screened for infectious diseases such as HIV and donors complete genetic health questionnaires. Clinics require them to provide identifying information for a central register so their offspring can contact them in the future.

Weve learnt from many donor-conceived people over the past 40 years that this information is important for them to understand their identity and heritage, said VARTA chief executive Anna MacLeod, who is urging men to donate through IVF clinics instead of informal channels. The informal system can also pose risks not only for women desperate to have a baby and their children, but for men. If natural insemination takes place, the donor may legally become a parent and find themselves liable for child support payments. Men seeking to help couples for altruistic reasons have also been shocked to discover that there is no formal record of their donation. Alan, who does not want to reveal his last name, discovered the pitfalls of informal sperm donation after signing up to an app. Credit:Simon Schluter Alan, who does not want to use his last name, signed up to the Just a Baby app in 2017 because he wanted to give another couple the gift of a baby. He was nearing 50 and hadnt met the woman of his dreams.

Its a bit like Tinder, which is a bit frightening, he said of the app, which matches sperm donors with recipients. If you like each others profile you swipe right and you have access to each other. Alan matched with a couple in 2019 and told them he wanted to be kept in the loop about the childs milestones and involved in their life from the moment they requested to meet. After undergoing a range of health checks, he donated sperm to the couple and their first attempt at artificial insemination was successful. But Alan started feeling attached to the baby a few months into the pregnancy and told the couple he wanted to play an uncle-like role in the babys life from the moment she was born. They were unhappy I changed my mind, he said.

The couple sent Alan photos of the baby when she was three weeks old and he sent her jumpsuits and a music box. Hes had no contact since. He tried to be put on VARTAs donor conception register so his biological daughter could contact him in the future, but this is not an option under Victorian law because theres no formal documentation of his donation. Now, he says, I still wake up most mornings thinking of her. Informal sperm donation has existed for years in Australia  with online platforms such as Yahoo in the 1990s being used predominantly by lesbians and single women to find donors, partly due to the formal system being inaccessible for many people  but the unregulated market has grown significantly in recent years. The difference that were seeing now is the very organised nature of it; that its extending outside of the queer community; and that theres a much bigger market, particularly among single women and increasingly couples as well, who are looking for a low-cost version , said Professor Kelly.
To ever return to government, Labor must be picking up votes, not bleeding them.

The result for Labor is nothing short of disastrous. While some in the party will argue that it never stood a chance of winning a blue-ribbon Nationals seat, the reality is as few as one in five people voted for Labor.

At the same time, Labors primary vote went backwards from the 2019 general election and the party failed to win the one booth in its leaders home town of Gloucester.

A win in the Upper Hunter has seen the Coalition edge closer to majority government and bucked the well-trodden path of incumbents being punished in byelections.

Based on history, the Nationals should not have won - a miracle, according to Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Governments tend to be punished by voters in byelections and suffer huge swings against them, usually at least 10 per cent.

The once ultra-safe Upper Hunter seat had been slowly slipping away from the Nationals with former MP Michael Johnsen as its member. The seat was languishing on 2.6 per cent and ripe for the taking even before Johnsen was accused of raping a sex worker (which he denies) and sexting her from the floor of Parliament.

Yet, the tawdry details, which include a police investigation, were not enough to damage the Nationals brand in the Upper Hunter. Instead of voters turning to Labor, the protest votes split between One Nation and the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers. But not significantly.

The COVID crisis has not severely impacted the regions. Very few cases have been seen outside metropolitan areas. (The Upper Hunter had just three.) So the win was not necessarily an endorsement of the governments handling of the pandemic.

Rather, the electorate was not angry. It did not feel the need to punish the government. And it certainly did not want to reward Labor. This should shake Labor to the core.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 18:32:48|Editor: huaxia

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WASHINGTON, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The oldest survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre in the United States and her two brothers have testified at a hearing of the U.S. House of Representatives recently and appealed to Congress for justice, according to U.S. National Public Radio (NPR).

"I will never forget the violence of the white mob when we left our home. I still see Black men being shot, Black bodies lying in the street," said Viola Fletcher, aged 107 now, the oldest survivor of the massacre that occurred on Greenwood Avenue in Tulsa, Oklahoma in 1921.

"I still smell smoke and see fire. I still see Black businesses being burned. I still hear airplanes flying overhead. I hear the screams," Fletcher was quoted as saying by NPR on Wednesday when she testified before a House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing, which was also attended by her two younger brothers.

"I am 107 years old and I have never ... seen justice. I pray that one day I will," she told U.S. lawmakers.

Greenwood was destroyed by the attack that was launched on May 31, 1921 and the two-day massacre left hundreds of Black people dead, according to NPR. Enditem
London: The first journalist to confront Martin Bashir over deceitful tactics used to trick Princess Diana into a major television interview says the BBC has a duty to offer more than a generic apology to those who raised concerns 25 years ago.

The public broadcaster is under pressure after a bombshell investigation released this week found Bashir used fake bank documents to secure the 1995 Panorama exclusive, and that the BBC had covered up the scandal.

Prince William condemned the BBC for fuelling Dianas fear, paranoia and isolation, while Prince Harry claimed the revelations proved the press was responsible for killing his mother.

Through old notes and new interviews with key players, former judge Lord James Dyson concluded the BBC had orchestrated a campaign to publicly discredit employees who raised doubts about Bashirs behaviour. Some were pushed out of their existing jobs and others never worked for the BBC again.
Gaza City: As the bombs stopped falling on Gaza for the first time in 11 days , Palestinian father Bassam Abdelaziz Al-Nabahin was counting the cost of yet another round of fighting between Israel and the Palestinian militants that run the besieged enclave.

Al-Nabahin was sheltering at Al-Shati school in northern Gaza, where he had taken his four sons, two daughters and wife seven nights earlier, as Israeli artillery and missiles landed around their home.

Strolling past the rubble following an 11-day war. Credit:AP

Since then, the family had slept on the ground in a classroom alongside a dozen other people, he said, subsisting on two meals a day of bread, cucumbers, tomatoes and cheese. We left in a hurry without any of our clothes or possessions, he said. We didnt have time to take mattresses or blankets like some of our friends.

Like 40 per cent of Gazans, Al-Nabahin said he was unemployed, meaning that finding the money to repair the shrapnel-pierced tin-roof of his three-room home would be tough.
Washington: US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has so far been unable to speak with Chinas top general despite multiple attempts to set up talks, US defence officials said.

Relations between China and the United States have grown increasingly tense, with the worlds two largest economies clashing over everything from Taiwan and Chinas human rights record to its military activity in the South China Sea.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin has not been able to reach Chinas military. Credit:AP

Despite the tensions and heated rhetoric, US military officials have long sought to have open lines of communication with their Chinese counterparts to be able to mitigate potential flare-ups or deal with any accidents.

The military relationship is strained, no question about that. Its hard to know how much this is reflective of that strain as much as it is just Chinese intransigence, a US defence official said on Friday (Saturday AEST).
In a letter to Nature magazine published in March 2020, five virologists wrote: Our analyses clearly show that SARS-CoV-2 is not a laboratory construct or a purposefully manipulated virus. As for the theory the virus could have leaked out of the Wuhan lab, McNeil says he regarded it as crazy town. A security person moves journalists away from the Wuhan Institute of Virology after a World Health Organisation team arrived for a field visit in Wuhan in Chinas Hubei province. Credit:AP I was inclined to dismiss it as just another conspiracy theory up there with the idea that Democrats were running a child smuggling ring out of a pizzeria in Washington, he says. The theory seemed almost entirely based on the fact the virus was first identified in Wuhan, home to a major research centre on coronaviruses. This looked more like coincidence than compelling evidence.

As with so much in US politics, the issue quickly became polarised along party lines. Republicans promoted the lab leak theory while Democrats dismissed it as just another Trump fabrication. A year later, McNeil is far less confident about his original view on the origins of the virus. In fact, he now thinks the lab leak theory is plausible and becoming increasingly compelling as time goes on. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video In a Medium post published this week, McNeil wrote that the Occams Razor argument  whats the likeliest explanation, animal or lab?  keeps shifting in the direction of the latter. (McNeil controversially left The New York Times in February after it was revealed he had offended some schoolchildren during a Peru field trip, including by using the n-word during a discussion about racism in America.)

The lab leak theory sounds less crazy than it did before and China is certainly acting like they have something to hide, McNeil says. Loading McNeil is far from alone. The lab leak theory, regarded as fringe just a few months ago, has rapidly become mainstream in the United States. Murdoch-owned Harper Collins is publishing a book by The Australians Sharri Markson based on her stories about Wuhan lab theory, which cite a 2015 Chinese paper widely discredited by the scientific community, which suggests that the US exports SARS to China in 2002, triggering that outbreak. Fox News questioned US Republican Homeland Security Committee member Ron Johnson on whether Marksons work showed China was preparing biological weapons for World War III.

Does that shock anybody? It certainly doesnt shock me, said Johnson. But many proponents of lab leak theory reject the more lurid hypothesis that the virus was deliberately released by the Chinese government after it was manufactured for bio-warfare. Republican congressman Mike Gallagher says that when Senate colleague Tom Cotton called for the lab leak theory to be investigated last year the American media basically all went out in force and called him a tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist. Now we know theres a decent amount of evidence stacking up for the lab leak hypothesis, Gallagher says. In the last few weeks it seems like the dam is breaking - and not just among Republican politicians like me. Scientists and the media are now taking it seriously.

Ironically, momentum for the lab leak theory has only grown following the release in March of the World Health Organisation draft report which found it extremely unlikely the virus emerged as a result of a laboratory-related accident. WHO boss Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for more investigation into the lab leak theory, saying that it did not receive the same depth of attention and work as the other hypotheses. Conspiracy theory The lab leak hypothesis began to receive renewed attention in the US in January through a cover story in New York magazine. It was the most detailed piece yet published in the American mainstream media proposing the theory. Loading

While deeply researched, it was still possible for cynics to dismiss the piece as an elaborate conspiracy theory. Its author, Nicholson Baker, is best known as a novelist rather than an investigative reporter or science specialist. And it was written in the first person, rather than the more detached style favoured by traditional media outlets. Several scientists slammed it as irresponsible and misleading, saying it had twisted evidence and overhyped the case for the lab leak theory. In May Nicholas Wade entered the fray with an 11,000-word piece published in The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists and on Medium. Wade has credentials as a former New York Times science editor and a journalist for Science and Nature magazines. Wade said neither prominent theory  that the virus emerged in nature or escaped from a lab  had been definitively proved. But it seems to me that proponents of lab escape can explain all the available facts about SARS2 considerably more easily than can those who favour natural emergence, he wrote.

By contrast, he argued the natural emergence theory battles a bristling array of implausibilities. His piece, which generated a stir in the scientific community, was followed by a letter on May 14 in Nature by 18 prominent scientists calling for more investigation into the origins of the pandemic following the WHO report. Theories of accidental release from a lab and zoonotic spillover both remain viable, the experts wrote. We must take hypotheses about both natural and laboratory spillovers seriously until we have sufficient data. Loading In his piece, Wade presents several reasons why he believes it is plausible, indeed probable, the virus accidentally escaped from a lab.

He points to the viruss remarkably uniform genome structure, something even sceptics of the lab leak theory acknowledge as fact. The uniform structure of SARS2 genomes gives no hint of any passage through an intermediate animal host, Wade writes, noting that the hallmark of lab cultures is uniformity. He then digs into the viruss furin cleavage site, which sits in the middle of the genomes spike protein. As well as exerting great influence on the infectivity of the virus, he says it lies at the heart of the puzzle of where the virus came from. Wade quotes biologist David Baltimore, who won the 1975 Nobel Prize for his work with viruses, saying the structure of the furin cleavage site make a powerful challenge to the idea of a natural origin for SARS2. Perhaps even more important, according the lab leak proponents, is what the world still doesnt know about the virus.

Genomic sequencing has shown the coronavirus is 96 per cent identical to RATG13, a genome that was previously found in intermediate horseshoe bats. This sparked the initial theory that the virus must have been passed from bats through another source of wildlife before infecting humans. But after almost 18 months no intermediate host has been found, despite Chinese scientists testing tens of thousands of animals in an attempt to identify it. The search for intermediate hosts has gone on for more than a year now, McNeil says. The Chinese have a very strong incentive to say, Hey, heres the proof this was an animal virus and not a lab leak. They havent presented any. Nevertheless, the WHO report found it likely-to-very likely the virus spilled into humans via an intermediary host species. Loading

This remains the view of many scientific experts and the Australian government. The lab leak hypotheses remain speculative and unsupported  unlike the hypothesis of natural emergence, which is supported directly by epidemiological, serological and genomic data, Kristian Andersen, a virologist at the Scripps Research Institute, told Politico this week. Robert Garry, a virologist at Tulane Medical School, said: Lab leak scenarios are obviously inconsistent with several established facts regarding the origin of SARS-CoV-2, including the fact that the majority of early cases were linked to different markets that sold wildlife or wildlife products in Wuhan. During a trip to Washington this month, Foreign Minister Marise Payne told the Herald and The Age: We would still say the most likely hypothesis continues to suggest that the virus emerged from wildlife through an intermediate host. Both sides agree more evidence would be useful and the Wuhan Institute of Virologys logs and samples should be opened to outside scrutiny.
Rajant named a winner of Security Today?s 2021 ?Govies?

Posted by Publisher Telecommunication

Malvern, PA ? May 21, 2021: Rajant Corporation, the Kinetic Mesh? wireless network provider, headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is a Security Today (1105 Media) magazine?s 2021 winner in ?The Govies Government Security Awards? competition. The Govies honor outstanding government security products in a variety of categories. Rajant?s ES1 BreadCrumb is distinguished as the sole Platinum recipient for ?Intelligent Communications?.

Security Today launched its government security awards program in 2009 and for 2021 participation was greater than ever as government security continues to be an ongoing concern. An independent panel of judges from the security industry selected the top entries naming Platinum and Gold winners using criteria including features, innovation, user-friendliness, interoperability, quality, design, market opportunity and impact in the security industry, technical advances, and scalability. According to Security Today editor-in-chief Ralph C. Jensen, ?It is apparent that the COVID-19 pandemic had a very little effect upon product development and deployment in the government security sector. We appreciate all the manufacturers who labor diligently to ensure security in the government space, including federal, state, local, and Native American jurisdictions. We?re pleased to honor these winners and thank all those who participated in this amazing process.?

Enabling highly mobile IoT applications for state and local government public safety and security, the Rajant ES1 is a compact, lightweight IP67 network node that supports 4.95-5.85GHz. The ES1 supports machine-to-machine (M2M), machine-to-infrastructure (M2I), and man-to-machine data, voice, and video communication to extend communication beyond the reach of LTE and Wi-Fi in challenging environments. It is ideal for wearable technology, like the Vorbeck HD4 vest, and robotic platforms, like Boston Dynamic?s Spot. Shares Rajant?s Executive Vice President of Global Sales & Marketing Geoff Smith, ?We are grateful for Security Today?s Govie distinction. Like all other Rajant BreadCrumbs, the ES1 has the unique capability to perform flawlessly for mission-critical situations. The radio node can hold multiple simultaneous connections, over multiple frequencies, with other nodes in the Kinetic Mesh, eliminating the need for a controller node while adding network reliability. No connections have to be broken for new ones to be made, providing for resilient mobility and a level of autonomy that public safety and security demands.?
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 18:37:05|Editor: huaxia

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-- Central China, including the six provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi, is one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

-- The central provinces have registered sustained economic growth in the past few years. From 2016 to 2019, the gross domestic product of the six central provinces increased from 16.1 trillion yuan (about 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars) to 21.9 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

-- Earlier this year, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee held a meeting to review a guideline on promoting high-quality development of the country's central region in the new era.

by Xinhua writers Gao Jianfei, Lou Chen and Ma Yujie

TAIYUAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Provinces in central China are on the path of strong economic recovery through industrial transformation and further opening up while adopting effective COVID-19 prevention and control measures.

Central China, including the six provinces of Shanxi, Henan, Anhui, Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi, is one of the fastest growing regions in the country.

At the ongoing 12th Central China Investment and Trade Exposition (Expo Central China 2021) in Shanxi Province, investors are seeing greater opportunities.

The expo, scheduled from May 21 to 23, includes 71 exhibitions, forums and project matchmaking activities.

"It will help the central region play an important role in establishing a new development paradigm," said Wang Shouwen, China's vice minister of commerce at a press conference.

Aerial photo taken on April 19, 2017 shows the pilot free trade zone (FTZ) in Wuhan City, capital of central China's Hubei Province. (Xinhua/Xiong Qi)

CENTRAL REGION'S ADVANTAGES

The central provinces have registered sustained economic growth in the past few years. From 2016 to 2019, the gross domestic product (GDP) of the six central provinces increased from 16.1 trillion yuan (about 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars) to 21.9 trillion yuan, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

The regional permanent resident population, at 370 million, accounts for more than a quarter of China's total. The region has abundant labor resources and a broad consumer market, said Wang.

The transportation network of the central region is developed with numerous land ports and airports, along with railway, aviation and water transportation, Wang noted.

"It has excellent geographical advantages in import and export, which is conducive to foreign enterprises to meet the needs of the international market," he said.

A key transport hub, Zhengzhou, capital of central China's Henan Province, is located at the intersection of the national railway network. To enhance its connection with European countries, the city has built an inland port to handle the China-Europe freight trains.

The number of freight train trips via the port jumped from 13 in 2013 to 1,126 in 2020, with the cargo value soaring from 50 million U.S. dollars in 2013 to 4.3 billion U.S. dollars in 2020, statistics show.

"The central region has witnessed continuous economic development, enhanced vitality, improved infrastructure and more convenient transportation and made all-around progress," Wang said.

Workers work on an assembly line at a production base of the Chinese automaker Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group Corp., Ltd. (JAC) in Feixi County of Hefei City, east China's Anhui Province, May 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Liu Junxi)

BOOSTING HIGH-QUALITY DEVELOPMENT

The region boasts capacity in some of the most sophisticated manufacturing industries.

Thin as a cicada wing, the wide ultra-thin precision stainless steel strip, or "hand-tearable steel," is a product of China Baowu Taigang Stainless Steel Precision Strip Co., Ltd in Shanxi.

The steel is mainly used in making flexible display screens, solar photovoltaic substrates, automobile airbags and high-end coating materials, said General Manager Wang Tianxiang.

These products make foldable screens and mobile phones lighter and more durable, he said.

Tapping geographical and resource advantages, central China has expanded production using new technologies and new business models.

Located in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province, a 1,130-hectare intelligent electric vehicle industrial park is under construction. As planned, the park will be able to produce 1 million smart electric vehicles and 100 GWh of batteries a year, with an estimated annual output of 500 billion yuan.

After nearly 20 years of development, Hefei has become a key city in auto manufacturing and established a full industrial chain of intelligent electric vehicles.

Meanwhile, high-tech bases like Wuhan East Lake High-Tech Development Zone, and a batch of advanced manufacturing enterprises including Sany Heavy Industry Co., Ltd., and Zoomlion Heavy Industry Science & Technology Co., Ltd. in Hunan are results of industrial upgrading in the central region.

The aim is to resort to innovation as the primary driving force for development and stick to the path of green and low-carbon development, Wang said.

Aerial photo shows a China-Europe freight train bound for Helsinki, Finland departing from Putian Station of Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, Nov. 20, 2020. (Xinhua/Hao Yuan)

CONTINUOUS OPENING-UP

From 2006 to 2020, the import and export volume of the six central provinces had increased from 53.6 billion to 387.3 billion U.S. dollars. In real terms, the annual foreign investment attracted to the region increased from 3.42 billion to 7.94 billion dollars, according to Wang.

Earlier this year, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee held a meeting to review a guideline on promoting high-quality development of the country's central region in the new era.

The guideline called for a new system of high-level opening-up in the inland region of China.

Amid booming trade with Belt and Road countries, more enterprises in the central region are going abroad to accelerate integration into the Belt and Road Initiative.

3D printing software and products made by Weistek (Shi Yan) Additive Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd have been used by educational institutions around the globe.

In Hunan, pilot free trade zones are exploring policies to facilitate imports and cross-border e-commerce.

JinkoSolar Holding Co., Ltd., a leading solar module manufacturer in Jiangxi, set up a production base and research and development center in Malaysia, and over 80 percent of its 6,000 employees are locals.

"We are not only creating a large number of job opportunities but also bringing advanced technologies and research and development concepts to these areas," said Qian Jing, vice president of the company.

(Lyu Mengqi, Wang Hao, Zhang Yujie, Zhang Dan, Ma Shurui, Zhang Xuan, Cheng Di, Liu Gaoyang, Han Yige, Zhao Yang, Xu Wei, Ma Zhiyi, Xiong Qi, Liu Junxi and Hao Yuan contributed to the story; Video reporters: Han Yige, Zhao Yang and Ma Zhiyi; Video editor: Zhu Cong) 
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Longtime trainer takes the helm of the Owatonna Fire Department

aharman / By ANNIE GRANLUND annie.granlund@apgsomn.com Ed Hoffman, who has been fighting fires for 20 years, is stepping into the drivers seat as Owatonnas new fire chief. Hoffman has headed up a number of training at the Owatonna Fire Department throughout the years and is replacing longtime Fire Chief Mike Johnson who retires at the end of the month. (Annie Granlund/southernminn.com)

His face may be new to the community, but longtime firefighting trainer Ed Hoffman is a familiar face inside the Owatonna Fire Hall.

Hoffman has been transitioning into his new role as fire chief in Owatonna since May 3. He is succeeding Mike Johnson, who officially retires May 28 from his 20-year career as the citys fire chief and emergency management director.

Coming from North Mankato, Hoffman has been in the firefighting industry for two decades. For the last five years he served as the commander at the Mankato Fire Department, heading up the training and the regional hazmat team. Over the years, Hoffman has led fire department training all over southern Minnesota, including in Owatonna.

Its a really fun, great group of guys here, Hoffman said. Ive enjoyed training with them over the years and now to be a part of the group, will be great.

Having been passionate about the training aspect of firefighting since the beginning, Hoffman said he is excited to be joining the team in Owatonna.

They are really proactive here and I look forward to continuing that, Hoffman said. Owatonna already has a second set of turnout gear and we will continue to work on a decontamination area at the station that will allow the firefighters to shower off and get off all the contaminates quickly instead of tracking them through the station.

Hoffman said he likes to focus on firefighter wellness and prevention efforts against the three main things that kill people in the profession: cancer, cardiac disease, and mental health.

Though Hoffman already has clear areas of focus, it was a journey to get there. Despite most firefighter origin stories including having a family member in the industry and playing with toy firetrucks as a kid, Hoffman admits he never thought his career would take him on this route.

In my previous career I was in software, Hoffman chuckles. I honestly never thought I would be a firefighter.

While in college, Hoffman said he had a number of close friends go into law enforcement, which helped expose him to the life of a first responder. In the mid-90s, he decided to join the Blue Earth County technical rescue team, which performed high level rescues from car extractions to pulling someone from a grain bin and everything in between  everything but fires.

I joined the Gold Cross Ambulance service part time and thats when most of the people I was hanging out with and friends with were a part of the fire department in North Mankato, Hoffman said. I wanted to serve my community, so I joined.

The rest is history, leading Hoffman to find his niche in training and eventually finding his way to Owatonna. Within the next year, Hoffman said he is hopeful that the housing market will calm down so he and his wife Lynn can relocate to the new community he is serving.

I like this size of town where you really get to know people and everyone takes care of each other, Hoffman said about his draw to Owatonna. This is a proactive department that has been proactive for a long time  even before Mike. I am excited to continue on with that good history.

Hoffman will also be taking on the role of the emergency management director for the city, something he already has experience in with his prior job. Though the emergency management position will no longer be shared with Steele County, Hoffman said he is confident that they will continue to have a strong working relationship between the two entities whenever a crisis arises.

There is a lot of benefits to maintaining that close partnership, Hoffman said. I can be a resource for them and they can be one for me  we have a lot of skilled people in both areas.

During his first Owatonna City Council meeting Tuesday, Hoffman introduced himself to the councilors and gave them a brief overview of what the fire department is working on in the immediate future, including preparing for a new firetruck to arrive and kicking off the rental and weed inspection programs.
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JACKSON, Miss. (AP)  A former sheriff and longtime police officer in Mississippi has died of cancer.

In a statement on Twitter, the Hinds County Sheriff's Office acknowledged the passing Friday of former Sheriff Victor Mason, who had been fighting prostate cancer. He was 64.

We are deeply saddened to hear of the recent passing of former Hinds County Sheriff Victor Mason. Our prayers and condolences are extended to his family and friends during this difficult time. May you all have peace and understanding. We are thankful for his service, the sheriff's office said.

Mason, who played drums in a local funk band, was also a veteran police officer with the Jackson Police Department before serving as sheriff from 2016-2020, news outlets reported.

Amid his cancer diagnoses, Mason became an advocate, urging men to get regular prostate exams.

I wouldn't wish this pain on my worst enemy, cause it was excruciating, Mason said in a 2018 interview. All you want is to sleep if you can. All you want is a pain pill.

Mason faced at least three sexual harassment suits during his tenure as sheriff, two of which were settled out of court in early 2019. That same year, Hinds County Sheriff Lee Vance beat Mason in his re-election bid for the sheriff's post. Vance offered condolences to Mason's family and friends.

"I have known Vic since we were both students at Jackson State University in the 1970s. He was a talented musician then who went on to be a very talented law enforcement officer and administrator. He will be sorely missed, Vance said.

Funeral arrangements are pending.
STAMFORD  At the beginning of sixth grade at three of the citys five middle schools, students are placed into one of two tracks: college preparation or honors.

Beginning this fall, that practice will be shelved, ending a decades-long history in the districts middle schools.

Stamford is actually one of the very few districts in Connecticut and across the United States that still has some form of tracking through middle school, said David Tate, principal of Cloonan Middle School, during a recent webinar on the topic. Theres just nothing to support continuing that model.

Two of the citys middle schools  Scofield Magnet and Rippowam  already offer heterogeneous groupings of students, with Scofield employing that model since the 1990s.

But Cloonan, Dolan Middle School and Turn of River Middle School still use the honors and college-prep tracks.

Data compiled by the district shows the tracking system has led to greater inequality, as Black and Hispanic students are much less likely to be enrolled in the more rigorous honors classes compared to white and Asian students.

Additionally, students at the schools with tracks show less improvement than those in schools without it, according to district figures.

In English language arts, the percentage of students at the tracking schools who met or exceeded expectations actually dropped by two percentage points for students who entered in 2016 and graduated the schools in 2019.

By comparison, the percentage of top performing students at the other two schools climbed by 12 percentage points for the same period.

At the track schools in the 2019-20 school year, 60 percent of white students and 67 percent of Asian students were enrolled in honors courses, compared to 31 percent of Hispanic students and 27 percent of Black students.

The schools without tracks also have a better record of students enrolling in an honors course in high school once they graduate middle school.

The schools that are sending students to high school and offering honors for all are increasing the opportunities in enrollment for those same students to take honors at the high school level, said Matt Laskowski, principal at Rippowam.

Up until a decade ago, Stamford placed middle school students in a number of different tracks depending on their academic ability. In 2009, the district eliminated that system, which had three to five ability groups, depending on the school.

A New York Times article at the time described Stamford as one of the last bastions of rigid educational tracking more than a decade after most school districts abandoned the practice.

According to that same article, Stamford divided students into as many as 15 different levels in the 1960s and 1970s.

Charmaine Davis, principal at Dolan, said the idea to scrap the tracking system is meant to increase the opportunities and self esteem of students who would have been placed in the less rigorous model in previous years.

Many of our students have, for years, in many ways, believed that they belonged in a setting that didnt necessarily allow them to go any further, she said. So we have to come loud and strong to encourage our students around making this shift, that you can do honors work, that were going to support you and add in the scaffolding and the extra skills and best practices that will push our students along.

Amy Beldotti, associate superintendent for teaching and learning, said one of the fallacies of the current model is the belief that placing struggling students in college-prep classes is providing them with more support.

The data suggests otherwise, she said.

It shows that when students are put into a remediation model, those students who struggle the most never catch up, she said. The gaps get bigger and the opportunities and doors are closed to them.

She said the honors for all model embraces the assets and strengths of students, instead of focusing on a deficit model and maybe what students dont have.

In 2009, then-Superintendent Joshua Starr, who spearheaded middle school reform and pushed for the elimination of tracks, said something very similar.

One of the things we constantly do in education is attend to kids weaknesses, he told The Stamford Advocate at the time. Imagine if we attended to kids strengths. The honors designation is intended to enhance that opportunity.

During the recent webinar about the elimination of tracks, parents could ask questions through the online chat feature. One asked if the proposed model would bring down honors students if some students in the class are not on the same level.

Tate said that wouldnt be the case.

Students that are working together, realizing that they are coming at things with a different approach and understanding, actually learn more and become more flexible in their thinking, he said. It allows them to be more creative.

Later, he said, We are not taking away anything. We are adding for all.

ignacio.laguarda@stamfordadvocate.com
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 18:59:12|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken with a mobile phone shows armed police members setting up tents at night in Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 22, 2021. After earthquakes, armed police have been dispatched to Yunnan and Qinghai provinces for the rescue work. Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude struck Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday Beijing Time. The tremors were felt in all 12 counties and cities of the prefecture, with Yangbi being the worst hit. (Photo by Ma Liangzhi/Xinhua)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 19:27:24|Editor: huaxia

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A medical worker displays a dose of China's Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Kenitra, Morocco, May 20, 2021. (Photo by Chadi/Xinhua)

"While China's promotion of vaccine access has been viewed by some Western countries as a pursuit of global influence, the ultimate impact of vaccine nationalism by the same accusers poses a far greater threat to the world's vulnerable," a Kenyan expert said.

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's commitments to global COVID-19 response and cooperation, as well as China's role in promoting global public health, are highly significant as they are backed up by actions, overseas experts have said.

"That was all important, both for practical reasons and also for its symbolism," said Silvia Menegazzi, professor for international relations at the Department of Political Science at Rome's LUISS University.

Xi on Friday pledged to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to the best of China's ability to the world, calling for a rejection of vaccine nationalism to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

He made the remarks via video at the Global Health Summit co-hosted by Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, and the European Commission.

Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi (2nd R) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (3rd R) co-chair the Global Health Summit in Rome, Italy, on May 21, 2021. (Str/Xinhua)

In his speech, Xi also said China proposes setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and -producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

Menegazzi said that Xi's remarks about global solidarity and cooperation and providing more vaccines to developing countries were significant because they were backed up by actions.

Cavince Adhere, a Kenyan researcher of international relations with a focus on China-Africa relations, said China's promise to the world "is now becoming a reality," as the country is donating vaccines to poor countries, enabling the beneficiaries to vaccinate critical groups of their population like frontline healthcare workers and other vulnerable groups.

He noted that China has donated millions of vaccines to a number of African countries so far, and the recent listing of the Sinopharm vaccine by the World Health Organization would "allow Beijing to play a more central role in vaccinating the African population as a way of post-pandemic recovery."

Members of the Chinese medical expert team communicate with local frontline health workers at a COVID-19 testing facility in Juba, South Sudan, Aug. 21, 2020. (Chinese Embassy in South Sudan/Handout via Xinhua)

"While China's promotion of vaccine access has been viewed by some Western countries as a pursuit of global influence, the ultimate impact of vaccine nationalism by the same accusers poses a far greater threat to the world's vulnerable," the expert added.

"A friend in need is a friend indeed. At a time when COVID-19 is raging around the world, China and Africa have supported each other in the face of the pandemic. The solidarity will serve to strengthen China-Africa ties," he said.

Fu Xiaolan, founding director of the Technology and Management Center for Development at Oxford University, also highlighted China's contribution to global scientific research and its extensive production capabilities, especially in the production of drugs, vaccines and personal protective equipment.

Workers unload vaccines from Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac on its arrival in Montevideo, Uruguay, March 16, 2021. (Photo by Nicolas Celaya/Xinhua)

"I believe China will continue to contribute to the global fight against the virus, especially in developing countries. China's contribution has been important and also well received and recognized by many of the people in the developing world," she said.

"With the increase of China's innovation and production capacity, China may play an even more important role in global public health," Fu noted, adding that China's proposal to build a global community of shared interests in promoting public health is also very important. 


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Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 19:45:31|Editor: huaxia

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-- China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface Saturday, leaving the country's first "footprints" on the red planet.

-- With an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), Zhurong will record the Martian landscape with high-resolution three-dimensional images, analyze the material composition of the planet's surface, detect its sub-surface structure and magnetic field, search for traces of water ice and observe the surrounding meteorological environment.

-- It is the first Mars rover with an active suspension system. It could help the rover get out of trouble by moving like an inchworm on the complicated Martian surface with both loose sandy soil and densely distributed rocks.

by Xinhua writers Yu Fei, Quan Xiaoshu and Wang Chenxi

BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- China's first Mars rover, Zhurong, drove down from its landing platform to the Martian surface Saturday, leaving the country's first "footprints" on the red planet.

Zhurong's first successful drive made China the second country after the United States to land and operate a rover on Mars.



The simulated image captured at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on May 22, 2021 shows Zhurong driving down to the Martian surface. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

The six-wheeled solar-powered rover, resembling a blue butterfly and with a mass of 240 kg, slowly trundled off a ramp on the lander to hit the red, sandy soil of Mars, starting its journey to explore the fourth planet from the sun.

According to the telemetry data, Zhurong set its wheels on Martian soil at 10:40 a.m. (Beijing Time) on Saturday, the China National Space Administration (CNSA) said.

China's Tianwen-1 mission, consisting of an orbiter, a lander, and a rover, was launched on July 23, 2020. The lander carrying the rover touched down in the southern part of Utopia Planitia, a vast plain on the northern hemisphere of Mars, on May 15.

The rover Zhurong is named after the god of fire in ancient Chinese mythology. The name echoes with the Chinese name for the red planet, Huoxing (the planet of fire), while the name of the mission, Tianwen, means Questions to Heaven, the title of a poem by the ancient Chinese poet Qu Yuan (circa 340-278 BC).

With an expected lifespan of at least 90 Martian days (about three months on Earth), Zhurong will record the Martian landscape with high-resolution three-dimensional images, analyze the material composition of the planet's surface, detect its sub-surface structure and magnetic field, search for traces of water ice and observe the surrounding meteorological environment.

A computer graphic shows Zhurong's various scientific instruments. (Illustrated by Xinhua)

It carries various scientific instruments, including terrain camera, multi-spectral camera, sub-surface exploration radar, surface-composition detector, magnetic-field detector, and meteorology monitor.

The orbiter, with a design life of one Martian year (about 687 days on Earth), will relay communications for the rover while conducting its own scientific detection operations.

Compared with China's lunar rover Yutu (Jade Rabbit), Zhurong has a similar speed of about 200 meters per hour, but the height of the obstacles it can surmount increased from 20 cm to 30 cm. It can climb slopes up to 20 degrees. Zhurong's six wheels are independently driven, according to its designers.

The United States has deployed five rovers on Mars. As a latecomer, Zhurong has unique characteristics.

It is the first Mars rover with an active suspension system. It could help the rover get out of trouble by moving like an inchworm on the complicated Martian surface with both loose sandy soil and densely distributed rocks, said Jia Yang, deputy chief designer of the Tianwen-1 probe, from the China Academy of Space Technology.

Ye Peijian (2nd R), academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, talks with space engineers after Zhurong drives down to the Martian surface at the Beijing Aerospace Control Center on May 22, 2021. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

Zhurong can also walk sideways like a crab. Each of its six wheels can turn in any direction, which could be used for avoiding obstacles and climbing slopes.

Mars is farther away from the sun than Earth and the moon, and the Martian atmosphere also reduces sunlight, so the solar panels of the Mars rover are about twice that of the lunar rover. They need to be rotatable to follow the sun, said Geng Yan, an official at the Lunar Exploration and Space Program Center of the CNSA.

Zhurong's solar panels were specially designed to adapt to the sunlight on Mars, which has a spectrum different from that on the Earth's orbit, Geng said.

Mars is notorious for its sand storms, and the dust could reduce the efficiency of power generation. The specially processed solar panels make it difficult for dust to accumulate, just like the water drops on the lotus leaf, which can be blown away by the wind, Geng said.

Part of the power generated by the solar panels during the daytime will be used for work, and the rest will be stored in batteries for night use.

In addition, the designers creatively installed heat collection windows on the rover, which could absorb solar energy in the daytime and release heat at night to help the rover survive the freezing temperatures which could plunge to over 100 degrees Celsius below zero before dawn.

The robotic Zhurong will operate with a cycle in the order of environmental perception, scientific exploration, and movement, according to Geng.

Color photo taken by Zhurong's navigation camera shows that the rover's solar panels and antenna are seen unfolded, and the red soil and rocks on the Martian surface are clearly visible. (China National Space Administration/Handout via Xinhua)

The one-way communication time delay of about 20 minutes between Earth and Mars due to the long distance between the two planets requires the Mars rover to operate and deal with complex problems autonomously since ground control may not be timely.

For instance, it can independently plan the route from one position to another, judge whether it can pass an obstacle, and choose the best way to avoid it, said Jia.

In the case of a sandstorm, Zhurong can decide when to cancel its work and "go to sleep" autonomously and wake up when sunlight is sufficient again.

The Mars rover is a new platform for the mobile exploration of an extraterrestrial object, with many novel technologies applied in spacecraft for the first time, said the designers.

"When designing the Mars rover, we had many rounds of brainstorms to create a powerful and pretty rover that could represent the best level of Chinese space engineers," said Jia.

The artist Su Dabao created a pattern featuring the Chinese character "fire" by combining Chinese calligraphy and seal cutting. The decorative pattern was installed on the "head" of the "god of fire" before it was launched.

(Yang Lu and Chen Gang also contributed to the story. Video reporter: Yang Zhigang. Video editor: Zhu Cong) 
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On the 129th anniversary of Bp. Melchisedecs repose, His Eminence Archbishop Ioachim of Roman and Bacau spoke about the possibility of his canonization in 2025, noting that the file for his canonization is being prepared.

May God vouchsafe this painting [of Bp. Melchisedec] to become an icon, Archbishop Ioachim said after officiating a memorial service at the hierarchs tomb in the city of Roman on Saturday, May 15, 2021.

He also noted that an Akathist and Vespers service have already been composed, and there is already a chapel in Bp. Melchisedecs honour, Basilica.ro informs.

We hope that all these will be reviewed by the Synodal committees, and we will be glad if a great hierarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church is declared a saint in our generation, emphasized the Archbishop of Roman and Bacau.

Speaking of the relics of Bp. Melchisedec, Abp. Ioachim noted that they rest in the Archdiocesan Chapel of St. Antipas of Calapodesti, being beautiful, whole, yellow, and fragrant.

If God and the saint from Heaven will, he will be canonized in 2025, when we celebrate 140 years of autocephaly, the archbishop added.

It was Bishop Melchisedec who compiled the reply letter from the Romanian Synod to Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim III in the late-19th century on the issue of the consecration of Chrism in Bucharest [the prerogative of an autocephalous Church], and the letter sent to Ecumenical Patriarch Joachim IV that called for the recognition of Romanian autocephaly.

Bp. Melchisedec was known and respected throughout the Orthodox Church in his time, Archbishop Ioachim noted.

Bishop Melchisedec was born in the village of Garcina in Neamt County, on February 15, 1823. He graduated as valedictorian from the Theological Seminary in Socola in 1843. He was tonsured as a monk that same year, receiving the name Melchisedec.

He was ordained as a hierodeacon on August 16, 1844. Two years later, he went to study at the Theological Academy in Kyiv, becoming just the second Romanian to graduate from the school. He was ordained as a hieromonk in Kyiv on October 3, 1851.

Returning to Romania, he held the position of professor and spiritual father at the Seminary in Socola for five years. He was elevated to the rank of archimandrite on January 12, 1856, and appointed rector of the Seminary in Husi.

In 1857, he was elected deputy in the ad-hoc divan by the clergy from Husi, where he supported the desire to unite the two Romanian principalities south and east of the Carpathians, becoming one of the leaders of the struggle for union.

The deputies also drafted a program for Church reform, including calling for autocephaly and an end to the election of foreign bishops, stressing the need to end dependence on Constantinople.

He was appointed locum tenens of Diocese of Husi on January 15, 1861, and was ordained Bishop of Iasi on December 30, 1862.

On May 27, 1865, he was officially installed as the ruling hierarch of the newly-established Diocese of the Lower Danube. On February 22, 1879, he was elected bishop of Roman, where he worked with the same zeal, until his departure to the Lord in 1892.

Bp. Melchisedec is also well known for his great wealth of scholarly historical works.
Patriarch Daniel on Wednesday called for an end to clashes in the Holy Land.

Stating that any prolonged armed conflict causes much suffering to the innocent, the Patriarch of Romania said that the Romanian Orthodox church is praying for the restoration of peace in Israel, informs Basilica.ro.

The Romanian Patriarch noted that peace, dialogue and reconciliation are the way of overcoming conflicts.

Patriarch Daniels call for end Israeli-Palestinian conflict in Holy Land: full text

In the disquieting context created by the escalation of serious armed violence that is currently taking place in the Israeli-Palestinian area  military hostilities that have already led to the death of many civilians, including many children  the Romanian Patriarchate prays to God to end the conflict and restore peace in the Holy Land.

Any prolonged armed conflict, fuelled by hatred and resentment, causes much suffering to the innocent and profound wounds in all domains of social life.

Although they seem very difficult to achieve, peace, dialogue and reconciliation remain the most just and dignified way to overcome conflicts between peoples and nations.

We call for an end to violence and the restoration of inter-ethnic and religious peace in the Holy Land, hoping to resume safe visits for all pilgrims wishing to pray in the City of Peace  Jerusalem and throughout the Holy Land.

We pray to God to give political decision-makers the wisdom of peacemakers, defenders of human life.

 Daniel

Patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church
He called it the start of a new era, adding, My momma had the COVID and it was like three months before I got to see her before she got over it. She made all of us get our vaccines.

Christopher Robinson, a longtime Mobile resident and a king of one of the parade groups  called krewes  said he was raised on Mardi Gras in this port city and was just glad to be able to celebrate again after such a year.

Oh, we hate the pandemic, Robinson said. But you know what? It brung us back to a great season to be able to celebrate and come back even louder than before. Celebrations, friends, family, having a good time. This May 21st is bringing us back together as we would normally do it.

Police officers on the parade route cheerfully picked up beads and trinkets from the streets and handed them to children in the crowd, which was kept back behind barricades. The booming high school marching bands, together with shouts from the crowd, provided a soundtrack for the party. The events of the day included a ship commissioning and nighttime fireworks.
As a teacher, Jay Wamsted believes there's value in testing. But when his sixth-grade daughter Kira asked to opt out this year, he saw no reason to object. He already knows she needs to catch up on math after months of remote learning. And as a teacher at her school, he knew that many other students were also backing out, undermining the value of the results.

I know shes a little behind, and I dont need that data, said Wamsted, who live in Smyrna, Georgia. To take a month to gather data that is not going to mean anything to any of their teachers next year  it seems like a waste of time.

Parent Abby Norman found her third-grade daughter crying in her bedroom the morning tests were scheduled to begin at her school near Atlanta. Priscilla, 9, had just returned to the classroom after learning remotely and was worried she wasn't prepared.

She was so nervous about this test that I dont care about at all, that does not matter to me, said Norman, who is a preacher. I literally ended up telling her, If you want to lick the test and give it back, I dont care.

With that reassurance, Abby agreed to take the tests and scored almost off the charts, her mom said. Still, Norman resents that students were put in that situation at all.
WASHINGTON (AP)  An FBI employee has been indicted on charges that she stored classified documents and other national security information at home over the course of more than a decade, the Justice Department said Friday.

Kendra Kingsbury, 48, is accused of having unauthorized possession of a broad swath of sensitive government documents, including materials that describe sources, methods and operations and that contain information about operatives such as a suspected associate of Osama bin Laden.

Kingsbury worked as an intelligence analyst in the FBI's Kansas City office for 12 years until her suspension in December 2017. The two-count indictment, filed in the Western District of Missouri, alleges that during that time, Kingsbury illegally removed documents she was granted access to at work and stored them at home.

Though Kingsbury held a top-secret security clearance and was assigned to squads covering a range of crimes and threats, she did not have a need to know the information in most of the documents, prosecutors say.
GRANDVIEW, Mo. (AP) 

A 17-year-old who was fatally shot by police in Missouri after confronting officers was holding a BB gun, authorities said.

Michael Mansur, a spokesman for the Jackson County prosecutors office, said Friday that the teen had a Glock 19 BB pistol equipped with a slide that reportedly looked like a firearm, the Kansas City Star reported.

Lantz Stephenson Jr., of Grandview, was shot May 16 at a park in the Kansas City suburb of Grandview, and died later that day at a hospital, the Missouri State Highway Patrol said.

The highway patrol had said shortly after the shooting said investigators recovered a type of handgun from the scene. On Friday, patrol spokesman Sgt. Andy Bell, told the newspaper that We stand by our original statement, the Patrol investigators recovered a type of handgun at the scene.

Stephenson told dispatchers that he was armed with a gun and wanted to confront police officers, Bell said. The BB gun he carried uses air pressure to fire small metal balls.
Perhaps you recall the problems we were having back then. So many immigrants, so many different languages. Yes, its true that immigrants are generally hard-working and often entrepreneurial, but the situation had become untenable. It was difficult for an English-only speaker to get anything done.

I am joking, of course. There were no problems. It was not an issue. We just wanted to make sure that immigrants, and potential immigrants, knew they were not welcome.

Our plan worked.

Immigration has always been a driving force in this countrys growth. One hundred and fifty years ago, the Germans arrived en masse. They were followed by the Irish. Then the Italians. Before any of them, the Africans arrived. That is a separate story, of course, and it is all we can do to keep our schoolchildren from learning it.

Of course, not all of the growth in Texas came from Others. Plenty of people from other states moved to Texas. My son is in that number.

He is a writer at a tech company in Austin. The tech companies have swamped that city, and old-timers complain that the weirdness that once defined Austin is disappearing. There is no room for slackers in the new Austin.

Could something like that happen in our peaceful little backwater?
 Mark McCloskey waved a gun around at protesters who were walking peacefully past his house, and then  well, actually, thats it, thats his entire political resume. Hes the quintessential MAGA candidate. Meaning, a lying blowhard whos facing felony charges.

What they all have in common is that their respective pitches have little to do with policy and everything to do with ideological showmanship. Each would be a good fit with a national GOP that has dropped all pretense of responsible governance to embrace a party-wide howl of paranoia, grievance and bile.

Like so much of the GOPs pathology today, the fact that the states Republican voters next year will have to choose between three guys vying to howl the loudest can be laid largely at Trumps gold-plated doorstep. Even now, the narcissistic ex-president brutally enforces a decree that policy means nothing, that personal loyalty to him is the first, last and only prerequisite for relevance in the Republican Party. Just ask Liz Cheney.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 20:44:46|Editor: huaxia

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TEHRAN, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Iran's President Hassan Rouhani greeted on Saturday what he described as a "victory of the Palestinian nation," after 11 days of armed conflict between the Israeli army and Hamas-led militants in the Gaza Strip.

"The resistance of a nation brings victory, and example of which was the victory of the Palestinian nation against a regime that is armed to the teeth," Rouhani declared in a weekly meeting in Tehran, official news agency IRNA reported.

The Iranian president stressed the importance of unity between Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, refugee camps abroad and Israel during the surge of violence of the last two weeks.

A ceasefire came into effect early on Friday, putting an end to the 11-day armed conflict.

The Palestinian "victory" was also greeted on Friday night by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei through a message published on his official website.

With its airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, Khamenei said, Israel committed "immense crimes" and "provoked the public opinion of the world against itself" and "added hatred to themselves and the western governments that support it," especially the United States.

Palestinian fighters and political leaders, he added, must not stop preparing for confrontation with Israel or "maintaining a powerful presence in the field."

The Iranian Foreign Ministry also hailed on Friday night in its statement the "solidarity of different Palestinian territories," as well as the "renewal of discussions on the Palestinian issue in the regional and global levels," and the "widespread public support for the Palestinian resistance." Enditem
In mid-April the Taiwan Air Force lifted a grounding of its 52 remaining F-5 fighters. All F-5s were grounded for inspection following an accident in March when two F-5Es collided during a training exercise. Both pilots ejected but only one was found and recovered, dead, from offshore waters where such training often takes place. The other pilot has not yet been found. This is the third F-5E lost since late 2020. In October one crashed in to the ocean after takeoff. The wreckage of that aircraft was recovered from the sea in April and the cause of the accident appears to be an engine failure. Many people saw the aircraft going down two minutes after takeoff and many noted that there seemed to be something wrong with the engine. The pilot ejected but then died from head injuries. The circumstances of his death are still being investigated. There appeared to be no problem with the ejection seat and an examination of the wreckage will reveal more details.

In 2014 Taiwan announced it was was retiring its F-5 fighters. Taiwan began receiving F-5s in the late 1970s and once had 66 in service. But accidents and old age reduced that to 55 in 2020; 26 single seat fighters and 32 F-5F two-seat trainers that were capable of serving in combat alongside F-5Es. After 2014 Taiwan used the F-5Fs for training all fighter pilots. For pilots headed for more advanced fighter, spending some time in an F-5F, with or without an instructor in the back seat, gives the new pilot flight time at much less cost per flight hour than F-16s or the other modern fighters Taiwan operates. The F-5 is a 12-ton fighter roughly similar to the 1950s era MiG-21, and is a contemporary of that Russian fighter.

Taiwan began receiving more modern fighters, like the F-16 and Mirage 2000 in the 1990s, along with a locally made fighters that was somewhere between the F-5 and F-16 in capabilities. As China began to receive more modern fighters (like the Su-27 and Su-30 and Chinese built clones of those) in the 1990s Taiwan decided that upgrading the F-5s to deal with Su-30 class fighters was not worth the effort. Some F-5 users disagreed. Brazil still has 43 F-5s, upgraded to a local variant called the F-5EM. This one has modern electronics, making it capable to using long range air-to-air missile (the Israeli radar guided Derby, in addition to the heat-seeking Derby). A look-and-shoot helmet is also part of the upgrade. There is only one 20mm cannon left, but lots of missiles and smart bombs. By 2020 only Taiwan, Brazil and Thailand maintained some upgraded F-5s in service. Taiwan plans to replace its remaining F-5s with a locally produced fighter.

The F-5 was built by the United States mainly for export to nations that could not afford the top-line Western fighters, but did not want the MiG-21s. The F-5 is normally armed with two 20mm cannon, and three tons of missiles and bombs. Introduced in 1962, over 2,200 were built between 1959 and 1987. The F-5 was more reliable and upgradeable than the MiG-21 which is one reason why so many upgraded F-5s are still flying. By 2014 about 500 F-5s were still in service but by 2021 that was down to no more than 200.

The F-5 proved itself superior in combat versus the MiG-21, although there were no combat encounters between F-5s and the 21st century models of the much improved and upgraded MiG-21s. While the F-5 ceased production in 1987, MiG-21s continued to be built until 2013. This was actually a Chinese clone called the J7. Over 2,400 J7s were produced over half a century. China began licensed production of the Russian MiG-21 in 1964, but it took another decade for that to evolve into the J7 and for mass production to really get started. The earlier ones were inferior to the MiG-21 because Russia refused to transfer technology for the latest models of this 1950s design. By the 1980s the Chinese had matched the Russian MiG-21. This didnt bother the Russians because in 1985 Russia ceased production, after more than 11,000 had been produced. From then on, if you wanted a new MiG-21 you had only one source, the Chinese J7. In the last three decades China kept improving the J7 capabilities, mainly through tweaks to the airframe and better electronics. Most J7s were used by China but about twenty percent were exported to fourteen countries. About a dozen of these nations still operate their J7s. In 2011 China officially withdrew its J7s from first line service. This came as no surprise. Between 2007 and 2011 China more than doubled the number of modern combat aircraft (J-10, J-11, Su-27, Su-30, and J8F) from 500 to over 1,200. As recently as 2007 China relied mainly on some 2,000 locally built copies of Russian MiG-19s (J6) and MiG-21s (J7). Now all those are gone and India is rapidly retiring its remaining upgraded MiG-21s. Because the MiG-21 was not designed to fly a lot, they have been difficult and expensive to keep operational and many nations that still list MiG-21s as part of the air force are referring to aircraft that are no longer flyable, at least not safely.

China has long been the largest user of the MiG-21/J7. China continued to export J7s until 2013 but was rapidly retiring the ones remaining in Chinese service. The J7 was, in many ways, the most advanced version of the MiG-21, as the Chinese kept improving their J7 design. Over 13,000 Mig-21s and J7s have been produced in the last sixty years, making this the most widely manufactured jet fighter of the last century. During World War II there were several propeller driven fighters that were produced in greater numbers, but once jets appeared in combat it was clear where the future was.

The MiG-21 looked fearsome but it was a bust in combat, getting shot down more often than not. Russia still had 186 Mig-21s in service when the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991. These MiG-21s were officially retired a few years later. India, the last major user of the MiG-21, is in the process of retiring them as well. The F-5, however, continues in active service in several air forces. Unlike the MiG-21, which was built to be used little in peace time and then employed vigorously, if briefly, in wartime, the F-5 was built to be used a lot for training in peace time. This was, until the MiG-29 and Su-27 came along in the 1980s, a major difference between Western and Russian warplanes.
U.S. Air Force pararescue Airmen perform static line and military free fall jumps from a KC-130J flown by Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron-234, over Djibouti, May 17, 2021. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Daniel Asselta)

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TEANECK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Ness, a global provider of Digital Transformation solutions and a portfolio company of The Rohatyn Group (TRG), is pleased to announce its acquisition of Risk Focus, a leading consulting and advisory firm specializing in Digital Transformation for Financial Services.

Adding Risk Focuss core competence in Digital Transformation services to Nesss core DNA in product engineering strengthens Ness position as a full lifecycle digital engineering firm offering digital advisory through scaled engineering services, said Ranjit Tinaikar, Chief Executive Officer, Ness. With this acquisition, Ness also continues to execute on its strategy to build strong industry expertise in Financial Services and bolster our competencies in cloud and data services.

Headquartered in New York, Risk Focus is a leading technology consultancy for Financial Services. Risk Focus creates measurable business impact with technology expertise, business insight, and an iterative delivery process. The company is an Advanced AWS Partner with the Financial Services, Migration and DevOps competencies, as well as a Premier Confluent Systems Integrator.

Joining Ness allows Risk Focus to better serve our clients by adding scale-out engineering capabilities to the Risk Focus expertise in Digital Transformation, said Vassil Avramov, Founder and CEO of Risk Focus. I look forward to helping drive our continued success as well as deepening our technology excellence in cloud, data and AI in my new role as CTO of Ness.

Ness is one of the few at-scale pure digital engineering players that seamlessly manages projects from strategy through execution, said Thomas Kucera, Managing Director, TRG. This acquisition strengthens Ness position as one of the top providers in digital engineering globally.

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. Alantra LLC served as exclusive financial advisor to Risk Focus. Financial details were not disclosed.

About Ness

Ness is a full lifecycle digital engineering firm offering digital advisory through scaled engineering services. Combining our core competence in engineering with the latest in digital strategy and technology, we seamlessly manage Digital Transformation journeys from strategy through execution to help businesses thrive in the digital economy. As your tech partner, we help engineer your companys future with cloud and data. For more information, visit www.ness.com.

About Risk Focus

Risk Focus, a Ness company, solves capital-markets business problems with technology and insight. Our business domain knowledge, technology expertise, and Agile delivery process have delivered seamless Digital Transformations at many of the largest exchanges and investment banks. Were a Premier Confluent Systems Integrator and an AWS Advanced Consulting Partner with Financial Services, Migration, and DevOps Competencies. For more information, visit www.Ness.com.

About TRG

Founded in 2002, The Rohatyn Group is an emerging markets focused asset management firm headquartered in New York, with a presence around the globe including Boston, Buenos Aires, Montevideo, Lima, Sao Paulo, San Jose, London, Mumbai, New Delhi, Singapore, Hanoi, Kuala Lumpur and Rotorua. For more information, please visit www.rohatyngroup.com

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210521005276/en/

Olivia Hayum

ohayum@greenough.biz

Source: Ness Digital Engineering
ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- OwnBackup, a leading cloud-to-cloud data protection provider, was recently honored at the 2021 TechUnited:NJ Catalyst Awards as the winner of the Catalyst of Technology Award. The celebration honored individuals and companies in the technology, business, and life sciences communities for accomplishments in leadership, diversity, innovation, development, and collaboration.

We are honored to be selected by TechUnited:NJ as the Catalyst of Technology Award winner, said Sam Gutmann, CEO at OwnBackup. For OwnBackup to be recognized is a testament to the amazing people weve assembled here in New Jersey and across the globe.

According to TechUnited:NJ, the Catalyst of Technology Award is presented to a company or organization that utilizes or has developed a tech tool, process or service that made a substantial improvement on business metrics.

Headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, OwnBackup has built upon its entrepreneurial roots to become a global leader in cloud data protection. Over the last year, theyve added nearly 200 new members to the team, many of whom are based in the New Jersey office. They also recently raised $167.5 million in Series D funding, and were ranked #38 on The Financial Times list of The Americas Fastest-Growing Companies.

The definition of catalyst is an agent that provokes or speeds significant change or action. The term catalyst couldnt more appropriately represent the incredible leaders we celebrated at this years TechUnited Catalyst Awards, shared TechUnited CEO Aaron Price. We are thrilled to showcase them all as exemplary members of our incredible technology community. Congratulations to all of our remarkable nominees and winners. You continue to inspire and catalyze us all.

If you missed the event live, you can watch the recap at techunited.co/catalyst.

About OwnBackup

OwnBackup covers data loss and corruption caused by human errors, malicious intent, integration errors, and rogue applications. Built for security and privacy, OwnBackup exceeds the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requirements for backed-up data.

Co-founded by seasoned data-recovery, data-protection, and information-security experts, OwnBackup is a backup and restore independent software vendor (ISV) on Salesforce AppExchange. Headquartered in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey with Research and Development (R&D), support, and other functions in Tel Aviv and London. OwnBackup is the partner of choice for some of the worlds largest users of SaaS applications.

About TechUnited

TechUnited:NJ is a membership non-profit organization that offers opportunities for technology and tech-enabled companies and entrepreneurs to connect, collaborate, and grow to propel the future of New Jersey and beyond. Currently, over 500,000 innovators belong to the organization.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210521005057/en/

Media Contacts:

Joshua Kroon

Joshua.Kroon@allisonpr.com

Allison+Partners for OwnBackup

OwnBackup@allisonpr.com

Source: OwnBackup
VANCOUVER, British Columbia and IRVINE, Calif., May 19, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Clean Power Capital Corp. (NEO: MOVE)(FWB: 2K6)(OTC: MOTNF) (Clean Power or the Company or "MOVE"). The Company is pleased to provide an update on plans for its wholly owned subsidiary, PowerTap, to establish a distributed hydrogen program that addresses supply chain risk in the delivery of hydrogen to consumer and commercial transportation users while lowering the carbon intensity of the produced hydrogen.

The current model for dispensing hydrogen for vehicles for most all the current stations in operation in the USA, is the Compress, Store, Dispense (CSD) model, in which industrial hydrogen is produced in a central plant (grey hydrogen) and shipped by tanker truck to the fuel station, where it is compressed, stored and dispensed to vehicles.

The CSD model creates several problems that PowerTap solves with its revolutionary, patented 1,250-kg modular onsite hydrogen production and dispensing unit, the PowerTap Gen3. First, it eliminates disruptions of hydrogen supply to the consumer by augmenting production capabilities locally. The importance of this was demonstrated in 2019, when there was a disruption at a hydrogen production facility in Northern California causing a major hydrogen shortage to CSD operators in Northern California (https://www.greencarreports.com/news/1124908_northern-california-fuel-cell-drivers-still-left-dry-since-june-explosion). Second, it provides hydrogen at a lower cost point by eliminating the cost of shipping and simultaneously lowers the carbon intensity (CI) of the produced hydrogen by about 80 grams of CO2 per megajoule down to a CI of zero via elimination of the trucking of the fuel to its dispensing point. Third, it improves safety by eliminating the transport of high-pressure gas via commercial carriers. Further, it puts PowerTap in a position to sell the hydrogen it produces onsite to nearby CSD stations.

We look forward to PowerTaps onsite production and dispensing technology revolutionizing hydrogen delivery to hydrogen fuel cell vehicle consumers by eliminating hydrogen supply shocks with our unique hydrogen distribution solution, said Kelley Owen, PowerTap Hydrogen Fueling Corp.s Chief Operating Officer.

ABOUT CLEAN POWER CAPITAL CORP.Clean Power is an investment company that specializes in investing into private and public companies opportunistically that may be engaged in a variety of industries, with a current focus in the health and renewable energy industries. In particular, the investment mandate is focused on high return investment opportunities, the ability to achieve a reasonable rate of capital appreciation and to seek liquidity in our investments. Clean Power's most recent investment was in PowerTap (https://powertapfuels.com/) on October 27, 2020 (see the Companys news release on October 28, 2020). A copy of Clean Powers amended and restated investment policy may be found under the Companys profile at www.sedar.com. Learn more about Clean Power by visiting our website at: https://cleanpower.capital/

Clean Power common shares are listed on the NEO Exchange. Please visit the company's profile on the NEO Exchange website at https://www.neo.inc/en/live/security-activity/MOVE#!/market-depth.

PR Contact:Dave Brown AMW PRc: (917) 543-1050dave@amwpr.com

Investor Contact:Tyler Troup, Circadian Group IRMOVE@circadian-group.com

Clean Power Contact:Raghu Kilambiraghu@hydrogenfueling.co+1 (604) 687-2038

NEITHER THE NEO EXCHANGE NOR ITS REGULATIONS SERVICES PROVIDER HAVE REVIEWED OR ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ADEQUACY OR ACCURACY OF THIS RELEASE.

Notice Regarding Forward Looking Information:

This press release contains "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" (collectively referred to herein as "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable securities legislation.

Specifically, this news release contains forward-looking statements relating to, but not limited to: the successful installation of the PowerTap fueling units, the availability of RNG feedstock to produce blue hydrogen, PowerTap becoming eligible to earn HRI credits under the LCFS carbon credit program, the liquidity of a secondary market to sell the carbon credits, forecasts, estimates, expectations and objectives for future operations. These forward-looking statements are subject to a number of assumptions, risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of Clean Power. Some assumptions include, without limitation, the development of hydrogen powered vehicles by vehicle makers, the adoption of hydrogen powered vehicles by the market, legislation and regulations favoring the use of hydrogen as an alternative energy source, the qualification for carbon credits, the Companys ability to build out its planned hydrogen fueling station network, and the Companys ability to raise sufficient funds to fund its business plan. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and are generally, but not always, identified by the words "expects", "plans", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "projects", "potential" and similar expressions, or that events or conditions "will", "would", "may", "could" or "should" occur or be achieved. This press release contains forward-looking statements pertaining to, among other things, the timing and ability of the Company to complete any potential investments or acquisitions, if at all, and the timing thereof. Forward-looking information is based on current expectations, estimates and projections that involve a number of risks, which could cause actual results to vary and, in some instances, to differ materially from those anticipated by the Company and described in the forward-looking information contained in this press release.

Although the Company believes that the material factors, expectations and assumptions expressed in such forward- looking statements are reasonable based on information available to it on the date such statements were made, no assurances can be given as to future results, levels of activity and achievements and such statements are not guarantees of future performance.

The forward-looking information contained in this release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements and is made as of the date of this release. Except as may be required by applicable securities laws, the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking information to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events, whether as a result of new information, future events or results, or otherwise.

Source: Clean Power Capital Corp.
Berwyn, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - May 21, 2021) - Annovis Bio, Inc. (NYSE American: ANVS) ("Annovis" or the "Company"), a clinical-stage drug platform company addressing Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and other neurodegenerative diseases, today announced that it intends to offer to sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. All of the shares of common stock are to be sold by the Company.

ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., is acting as the sole book-running manager for the offering and Maxim Group LLC is acting as co-manager for the offering.

The offering is subject to market conditions and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering primarily for general corporate purposes, including working capital, research and development, capital expenditures and the completion of our planned Phase 3 clinical trial for ANVS401 in AD in persons with Down Syndrome.

The securities will be offered and sold pursuant to a shelf registration statement on Form S-3 (File No. 333-252625), including a base prospectus, filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 1, 2021 and declared effective on February 11, 2021. The offering will be made only by means of a written prospectus. A preliminary prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus describing the terms of the offering has been or will be filed with the SEC on its website at www.sec.gov. Copies of the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus relating to the offering may also be obtained from the offices of ThinkEquity, a division of Fordham Financial Management, Inc., 17 State Street, 22nd Floor, New York, New York 10004, by telephone at (877) 436-3673 or by email at prospectus@think-equity.com. Before investing in this offering, interested parties should read in their entirety the preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus and the other documents that the Company has filed with the SEC that are incorporated by reference in such preliminary prospectus supplement and the accompanying prospectus, which provide more information about the Company and such offering.

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of such state or jurisdiction.

About Annovis Bio, Inc.

Headquartered in Berwyn, Pennsylvania, Annovis Bio, Inc. (Annovis) is a clinical-stage, drug platform company addressing neurodegeneration, such as Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD) and Alzheimer's in Down Syndrome (DS-AD). We believe that we are the only company developing a drug for AD, PD and DS-AD that inhibits more than one neurotoxic protein and, thereby, improves the information highway of the nerve cell, known as axonal transport. When this information flow is impaired, the nerve cell gets sick and dies. We expect our treatment to improve memory loss and dementia associated with AD and DS-AD, as well as body and brain function in PD. We have two ongoing Phase 2a studies: one in AD patients and one in both AD and PD patients. For more information on Annovis, please visit the company's website: www.annovisbio.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Statements in this press release contain "forward-looking statements" that are subject to substantial risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release may be identified by the use of words such as "anticipate," "expect," "believe," "will," "may," "should," "estimate," "project," "outlook," "forecast" or other similar words, and include, without limitation, statements regarding the timing, effectiveness, and anticipated results of ANVS401 clinical trials. Forward-looking statements are based on Annovis Bio, Inc.'s current expectations and are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions as to future events that may not prove to be accurate, including that clinical trials may be delayed; that the data reported herein is interim data, conclusions as to which may be superseded by subsequent data we expect to receive in connection with Phase 2a trials and/or subsequent clinical trials; and that any anticipated meeting with or presentation to the FDA may be delayed. These and other risks and uncertainties are described more fully in the section titled "Risk Factors" in the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are made as of this date, and Annovis Bio, Inc. undertakes no duty to update such information except as required under applicable law.

For Investor Relations Inquiries:

David Gentry, CEO

RedChip Companies Inc.

407-491-4498

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/84869
Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. SSE winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms - some may contain locally heavy rain, especially this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. SSE winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 100%.
Stillwater, OK (74074)

Today

Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early will become more isolated after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. SE winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected..

Tonight

Thunderstorms, some locally heavy early will become more isolated after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low 72F. SE winds shifting to NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. 1 to 2 inches of rain expected.
Changes to the SunCommercial's back end processing means the e-edition is getting a facelift. The biggest change is the e-edition, by default, is now presented in Text view.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 20:57:04|Editor: huaxia

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RABAT, May 22 (Xinhua) -- The Communist Party of China (CPC), which has led China to create a correct path, has an extremely precious quality as a political party -- long-term adherence to governing for the people, a Moroccan party leader told Xinhua in an interview.

Under the leadership of the CPC and Chinese President Xi Jinping, China has made remarkable achievements, which have brought inspirations to other nations. The most noticeable aspect of the Chinese model is the "people-centered" ruling philosophy, said Slimane El Omrani, deputy secretary general of Morocco's Justice and Development Party (PJD).

Omrani, also first deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, said that "people-centered" philosophy means that all policies must be based on the interests of the people.

He believes that such qualities as good governance, anti-corruption, and people-centered philosophy have enabled the CPC to become what it is today. "The CPC has achieved great success in many fields such as political and social affairs. Congratulations to the CPC for its 100th birthday."

In his visit to China in September 2015, the Moroccan politician was impressed by the large-scale infrastructure that the Chinese people were able to construct through their hard work and wisdom.

The rapid development of the Chinese economy is remarkable, he said. As the world's second largest economy, China plays a key role in international affairs, he added.

In Omrani's eyes, Xi is an outstanding leader with a grand vision to lead the Chinese people towards prosperity and progress.

Reading the book "Xi Jinping: The Governance of China Volume 2" helped Omrani understand China's accomplishment, particularly the four significant aspects of China's successful development: building a moderately prosperous society in all respects, comprehensively deepening reform, promoting the rule of law, and strict governance of the party.

Describing the eradication of absolute poverty as one of China's major achievements in 2020, Omrani said China has achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Poverty Reduction Goal.

China's experience of overcoming all difficulties and creating such a miracle is an enlightenment for other countries, he said.

Omrani said that the CPC attaches great importance to exchanges with other political parties. The PJD and the CPC formally established contact in 2010 and have since frequently organized mutual visits and exchange activities, from which the PJD has learned a lot, he said. Enditem
Lawton, OK (73501)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 73F. Winds SE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
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.

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Tahlequah, OK (74464)

Today

Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%..

Tonight

Scattered thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. A few storms may be severe. Low around 70F. Winds SSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
You'll receive FIVE of our top national magazines, including Discover Taos Winter Edition, Discover Taos Summer Edition, Taos Gallery Guide, Fall Festivals, and Best of Taos, delivered to your home address anywhere in the US for the special low rate of $55.

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Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 21:10:14|Editor: huaxia

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LONDON, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Former BBC director general Tony Hall announced Saturday that he has resigned as the National Gallery's chairman after an inquiry into BBC's 1995 interview with Britain's Princess Diana.

Continuing in the role "would be a distraction", said Hall, who was director of news during the time of the interview, according to the BBC.

"I am very sorry for the events of 25 years ago and I believe leadership means taking responsibility," he said in a statement.

Hall had been a trustee of the National Gallery since November 2019, and became chairman of the board in July 2020.

The latest development came after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Friday that he was "obviously very concerned" about the findings of the inquiry into the BBC interview with Princess Diana.

The Met Police has said it will assess the contents of the inquiry into former BBC's Martin Bashir interview with Princess Diana to ensure there is no "significant new evidence" to support a criminal investigation.

British Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden said Thursday night said the report "reveals damning failings at the heart of the BBC" and he will "consider whether further governance reforms are needed".

Prince William and his brother Harry have both criticized the BBC's failures surrounding the Panorama interview with their mother.

Prince William said the interview made a "major contribution to making my parents' relationship worse", adding it has "since hurt countless others".

A report published Thursday by an independent inquiry said the BBC fell short of "high standards of integrity and transparency" over its interview with Princess Diana.

Former BBC reporter Martin Bashir had acted in a "deceitful" way and faked documents to obtain the interview while the BBC's own internal probe in 1996 into what happened was "woefully ineffective", the inquiry said.

The inquiry found Bashir mocked up fake bank statements that falsely suggested individuals were being paid for keeping the princess under surveillance.

He later showed the fake documents to Diana's brother, Earl Spencer, to gain his trust to gain access to Diana and persuade her to agree to give the interview.

The BBC carried out its own investigation into the issue in 1996, but it "fell short of the high standards of integrity and transparency", according to the inquiry.

Bashir has stepped down from his role as the BBC's religion editor, the corporation has confirmed last week. Enditem
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(Photo : Screenshot From Commons.Wikipedia.org) Tesla Copper Theft Allegedly Covered Up by Firing Employee

Tesla copper theft could be an incident that the company is trying to avoid by terminating an employee. Could there really be a Tesla copper shortage that is causing the company to steal copper? Where is the copper coming from?

Employee Allegedly Got Fired for Reporting Tesla Copper Theft

According to Bloomberg, a previous employee of the company's massive battery plant located outside of Reno, Nevada, claims in a particular lawsuit that he was fired from his decent $18,000/month job due to the company, and CEO Elon Musk, wanting to cover up a certain Tesla copper theft at the site.

The former employee's name was Lynn Thompson, who gave a statement in the complaint that he had noticed millions of dollars in total worth of copper while all being measured and cut. The copper was allegedly put on pallets and even hauled off-site.

Copper Theft was Frequent

Lynn Thompson even noted that there were multiple occasions when this happened. The first one started in April 2018 when he reported the particular Tesla copper theft to the Tesla senior management. He even allegedly told Elon Musk as well as the contractor ONQ Global.

Back in June of 2018, Lynn Thompson even said that he had witnessed certain people trying to load copper wire onto a certain truck and decided to report the incident to Tesla security, who then called the area's local law enforcement. Just a few days later, Thompson was then told by the official Tesla management that he was not yet allowed back at the gigafactory. The complaint was filed on Friday in a certain federal court in Nevada.

Alleged Tesla Copper Theft Complaint

According to the complaint, since the time, Mr. Thompson has reportedly learned that both Tesla and Musk pressured the ONQ Global into stopping him from working on the site then subsequently ended his work over at Tesla due to supposed outside reporting to both law enforcement as well as internal reporting directly to senior management.

It was also noted in the complaint that Tesla was actually afraid of the information that the plaintiff had learned and even wanted to prevent the particular information from coming out and being disclosed to shareholders and the media. Tesla apparently did not give a response to any requests for comments.

Read Also: Dogecoin News | Elon Musk Won't Sell His $DOGE Despite Cryptocurrency Plunge

Tesla Copper Shortage?

As of the moment, the Tesla copper theft still hasn't come to a conclusion, but the complaint has come out. People can expect an update on this story once Tesla finally addresses the accusations made by a former employee.

It is true, however, that Tesla's copper supply and the copper supply around the world might be quite tough due to logistical problems and the demand for other chips to be created, but the accusation in which Elon Musk's Tesla allegedly stole copper is hard to swallow. The only way to know for sure is once the lawsuit has reached its verdict.

Related Article: Tesla Sudden Solar Roof Price Hike Causes Customers to File Lawsuit

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Screenshot From Weibo Official Website) Streamer Banned for Earning $7 Million from Fake Engagement | Ban Effective for 630 Years

A streamer banned for one of the most surprising reasons would not be able to stream for 630 years. The reason--a fake engagement! A Chinese video app banned this streamer for staging a "fake engagement" party where about $7 million worth of products were sold.

Streamer Banned for Fake Engagement

According to NewsWeek, 22-year old Yin Shihang of Lishgui, Zhejiang province in China, was officially banned on Kuaishou, a popular Chinese video app, on Monday. The app is reportedly known to be the main competitor of Douyin's TikTok.

Kuaishou stated that Yin, with 8.7 million followers, did a five-hour stream from 9:03PM to 2:23AM the next morning. The broadcast was said to be an engagement ceremony with Tao Lulu, his 21-year-old girlfriend, but then became a marketing and sales event.

Fake Engagement Viral

The app accused Yin of making "vulgar" performances and concocting "hype" to sell commercial products. Kuaishou also pointed out the false advertising, which reportedly received 230,000 complaints. He also generated interest in the event by promoting the "engagement party" beforehand. He told followers about the engagement with Tao Lulu.

In the promotion clip, he asked, "Lulu, will you marry me" which was then followed by "We'll find out tomorrow." Yin reportedly arrived at the party on the back of a pony while images from the stream showed. The event was set up like a game show, and Yin's ex-girlfriend, as well as a third woman, wore veils. He then had to choose the right person.

Streamer Fakes Engagement

Yin and his team were reportedly prompting viewers to buy products through the event. A report by Southern Metropolis Daily, as noted by Sixth Tone, says Yin peaked at 1.7 million viewers. There were also 100 million searches about the event. This then spilled over to Kuaishou's competitor Douyin.

The statistics of the viral stream showed Yin made about $7.16 million in product sales. He also earned an additional $780,000 in tips. The report said he sold about 50,000 sets of perfume, 20 fake Rolex Submariner watches, and 21,000 smartphones and more.

Read Also: Pokimane Continues to Rise: Earns $80,000 per Stream After Setting $5 StreamLabs Donation Limit

Streamer Banned for 630 Years!

The paper noted Kuaishou was slapped with a 230,000-day ban or 630 years on his account. This followed Douyin's announcement to permanently ban Yin from their platform for certain breaches of the policy. In Kuaishou's statement, the particular video-sharing app reportedly stated it started cleaning the platform last November. It then removed accounts involved in fraudulent activities.

Other Chinese news outlets noted that Yin and girlfriend tried generating hype for their own "engagement" by trying to repeatedly break up and, in the end, reconcile. An unconfirmed report even noted that a man was then hired to play Yin's father at the engagement party. The man was reportedly only 26 years old, which is just four years older than Yin. As of the moment, the streamer won't be able to use his account for the next 630 years.

The engagement can be watched here on Weibo.

Related Article: Apple Music Reveals it Pay a Penny Per Stream to Artists, Putting Spotlight on Spotify's Payment Issue

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Written by Urian B.

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A treatment turns into a tragedy after doctors amputated the wrong leg of a patient. The "tragic" mistake has left a gruesome memory for the 82-year-old patient who lost his right leg.

Reports say that the elderly man has undergone surgery only to wake up and witness an irrevocable human error committed by doctors in an Austrian hospital. Instead of his left leg being removed as soon as possible, his well-functioning right leg was mistakenly amputated.

How Did The Austrian Clinic Accidentally Operate the Right Leg?

On Tuesday, May 18, doctors in a clinic in Austria confessed to their error after they amputated the wrong leg of an old man in the Austrian town of Freistadt. The untimely mishap has brought more harm than good to be patient who only hopes to eliminate his diseased body part.

According to Global News posted on Friday, May 21, the elderly patient has a history of many illnesses, which have paved the way for the doctors to come up with amputating his affected leg. If the unhealthy leg would not be cut soon, there is a chance that his healthy leg will be infected as well. The amputation has been agreed upon with the family of the patient and the health experts.

However, the worst part of the surgery has left a lot of questions to the patient's family after the doctors mistakenly removed the right leg instead of the ailing left leg.

In a statement released on Thursday, May 20, the Freistadt Clinic said that human error is to blame for the accident that caused a lot of trouble to the old man and his family.

Read Also: Woman Decides To Have Her Leg Amputated Years After Snapping It In A 'Freak' Accident

"We are deeply shocked that on Tuesday, May 18, despite quality assurance standards, the wrong leg of an 82-year old man ... was amputated," the Austrian clinic stated.

The management added that the unforeseen case of the wrong amputation was a result of the unfortunate circumstances that happened during the clinical operation.

Wrong Leg Amputation Got at a Wrong Time

In a continued response to the tragic mistake, the Freistadt clinic said that the erred scenario happened prior to the operation, specifically during the time of marking the leg that needs to be amputated. At that time, the doctors had already sliced the amputee's leg in the mid-thigh.

According to the clinic staff, who were the first to witness the miscalculation, they first noticed it when they replaced the bandages of the patient on Thursday morning. However, instead of being greeted with good news, the elderly patient woke up to see that his right leg was already cut off.

At present, the investigation of the incident continues. Moreover, several assessments will be reviewed so that next time, the error won't happen again. The clinic granted psychological help to the patient and his family, Euro News reported.

The Patient Will Undergo the 'Proper' Surgery This Time

The elderly man will have to deal with losing both of his legs in the next process since the operation for his left leg will start after a few moments. There was no financial compensation mentioned by the clinic for its committed error.

Related Article: Man Loses Left Arm To Amputation After Painful Infection From Eating Sushi

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Computex 2021, the yearly computing conference in Taiwan, is nearing its launch. In 2020, it was due to happen, but the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in its cancellation. The annual Taipei international information show will not be postponed or stopped this time since it will kick off online for all viewers.

We could expect many major keynotes that will arrive for the upcoming event, which involve the biggest chip manufacturers in the world, including Intel, AMD, and Nvidia.

We could potentially see other tech companies, such as Arm, Gigabyte, and Acer, in the virtual show.

Computex 2021 Will Push Through This Year

It is already announced that Computex 2021 will begin on May 31 until June. For the first week of the event, we could look after the most important news, especially the keynotes from the tech giants, Intel, Nvidia, and AMD, which will share different topics concerning the field of computing.

What to Expect for AMD

According to AMD, the annual keynote announcement for Computex 2021 will be spearheaded by their CEO Lisa Su. At the moment, there is no single hint of what could be discussed in the event, but we could hope that Su will talk about their products that were already released over the past months.

Most importantly, we could hear more news about the Radeon RX 6600 XT. WCCTech reported that it will come with an 8GB GDDR6 Memory. This month, many pictures of the rumored high-spec GPU circulated online.

It's also possible that they are getting some teasers for AMD gaming laptops since it's been a long time since AMD spoke about the portable devices. Additionally, we could find the Threadripper 5000 to complete the line-up for the new-gen processors.

Read Also: Computex 2016: SanDisk Unveils Dual Flash Drive For USB Type-C Devices

What to Expect for Nvidia

Computing enthusiasts should pay close details to the keynotes during the first week. The one that Nvidia will impart will focus on the "The Transformational Power of Accelerated Computing, From Gaming to the Enterprise Data Center," which suggests that we could see more AI gaming.

While it's a sweet moment to see the leaked RTX 3070 Ti and the GeForce RTX 3080Ti, what's inside them could be more surprising than ever. Who knows if the company will release another new GPU under Team Green?

On top of that, expect more talk about ray tracing, DLSS, and Gy-Sync displays. The evolving trend of gaming is a runway for these features, which will be showcased soon upon the major Nvidia RTX tech launch.

What to Expect for Intel

Techradar reported that Intel has been on a hot start ahead of Computex 2021. For Intel fans, don't forget to breathe for more announcements about Tiger Lake-H and Rocket Lake-S.

Just like AMD and Nvidia, Intel could be the darkhorse of this year's computing event. Rumors about Intel Xe DG2 pooled the processor forums all over Reddit and the other platforms, so we could likely have a shot to see it.

Related Article: Computex 2017: AMD Ryzen Desktop PC From Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, And Lenovo Unwrapped

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Written by Joseph Henry

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 21:16:43|Editor: huaxia

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BEIJING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Biodiversity is a cornerstone for the world to build a shared future for all life on Earth. Under the theme of "we are part of the solution," the International Day for Biological Diversity on May 22 this year provides a new chance for the world to discuss solutions to issues including biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution.

Biodiversity and ecosystems are essential for human health and progress. However, the continued deterioration and degradation of nature have threatened the livelihoods of species. A UN report in 2019 found that around 1 million animal and plant species now face extinction, many within decades. This number is more than ever before in human history.

Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse are not only environmental issues. They also affect the health, economy, and social justice of human society. Accordingly, protecting biodiversity and restoring the ecosystem are not just some countries' responsibilities but require more resolve and broader cooperation globally.

In terms of a global undertaking, China has made significant progress in improving environmental quality and boosting biodiversity in its process of high-quality development. The country has facilitated protection laws and regulations for wild animals, national parks, wetlands, and nature reserves to provide biodiversity protection with legal support.

On Jan. 1, a 10-year fishing ban took effect in all key waters of the Yangtze to help the country's longest waterway recover from dwindling aquatic resources and degrading biodiversity. China also announced its goal to peak its carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and become carbon-neutral by 2060 to address global climate change.

The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that human health interconnects with the health of other species. The world cannot revert to the "old normal." It is vital to adopt innovation and nature-based solutions to both the pandemic and green recovery, emphasizing biodiversity protection.

Green development can also benefit the labor market. According to the World Economic Forum, emerging business opportunities across nature could create 191 million jobs by 2030.

In another call for global cooperation on biodiversity conservation, China will host the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Kunming, Yunnan Province, this year. The event will review the post-2020 biodiversity framework and set new global biodiversity targets for 2030.

Facing biodiversity, nature, pollution, and waste crises, countries should jointly build a better world by committing to collective ambitions and taking long-term actions. Enditem
iPad 2 is now obsolete worldwide.

The 2nd generation iPad that was introduced by Steve Jobs back in March 2011, has officially been marked as an obsolete product worldwide, officially ending the 2nd generation era. Released less than a year after the launch of the original iPad, the second-generation iPad marked as breakthrough for the product line and has set the groundwork for years to come.

iPad2 is Now Officially Obsolete

Apple had added the iPad to its vintage and obsolete product list in May 2019, which marked the iPad as obsolete in all countries except Turkey and the United States, where local law required Apple to continue to consider it a vintage product.

However, on May 21, Apple updated the list and added the iPad 2 to its official obsolete list, deeming it obsolete worldwide, according to MacRumors.

Also Read: Upcoming Apple iPad Pro May Come Sooner But May Face Shortage Due to Mini-LED Production Issues

The second-generation iPad included an updated design that was 33% thinner than the original iPad. It also sported the latest capabilities at the time, included a front-facing camera for FaceTime calls, a gyroscope, and an updated dual-core A5 processor.

The processor was twice as fast as the original iPad and up to nine times faster in graphics. The iPad 2 was also offered in both white and black models.

Apple classifies its products that have been discontinued for at least seven years as obsolete, meaning that the products will no longer be able to receive any type of hardware service from Apple Support centers, or its affiliated service providers.

Latest iPad Pro

The announcement about the discontinuation of iPad 2 came days after the new iPad Pro was released. The 2021 iPad Pro has a 12.9-inch screen with 2 TB of storage, as per MacStories.

The new device debuted with mostly positive reviews, thanks to its amazing engineering features, such as the Apple-designed M1 chip, a brand new Liquid Retina XDR display, and 16 GB of RAM1 that hints at a powerful future for it software.

iPad Pro 2021 has hit all the right notes as a modular computer that can be a tablet with a great display, a powerful laptop, and an extensible workstation.

iPad Pro's hardware is a remarkable blend of tablet features and technologies that were first seen on Apple's desktop computers. The device is filled with the latest features and all of them are running smoothly in a 6.4mm thin tablet.

Of course, not all iPad 2 users can automatically switch to the latest iPad Pro, and may be wondering what will happen now that the device is deemed obsolete.

Like other vintage products, if a device is listed as obsolete, it will operate as normal as long as the hardware is still in working condition. But obsolete products lose all the support, so there will be no more repairs by Apple, no more system updates, and no more security patches.



These shifts in service priority can be very frustrating if you are still using older tech, and if you are not planning to upgrade soon. However, the policy makes sense given the current market realities, Life Hacker noted.

At the rate that both hardware and software iterate, diverting the resources to keep outdated devices afloat is difficult for Apple; it is costly and impossible in some cases. So, if have the resources to do so, it is best to get an upgrade now.

Released Article: The New iPad Pro (2021) Leaks Reveal Triple Array Camera and Processor As Powerful As What Macbooks Use

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
TikTok is currently one of the most popular social media platforms. However, it is different from Facebook, Twitter, and other big ones since it greatly relies on people's creativity and participation.

As of the moment, users haven't complained about certain big technical issues on the popular video app. But, some people are still seeing the annoying "Beta Has Expired" error message.

This issue could greatly affect your experience since it could prevent you from accessing some features and content on the giant social media platform.

Aside from this, there are also still some small issues that could be quite frustrating sometimes. These include not being able to find videos and profiles. Because of this, the app's developer team confirmed that they are already working on the said issues.

To help you further, here's you can fix the annoying "Beta Has Expired" issue in TikTok.

TikTok's 'Message Has Expired' Issue's Fix

According to Distractify's latest report, TikTok's new issue is not a glitch or a bug that need to be fixed by the developers themselves. However, it can still affect some of TikTok's useful tools.

Also Read: Viral TikTok Shows Woman Explaining How to Play the Classic Minesweeper the Right Way

The good thing about this is that you can easily fix it yourself without relying on updates and other bug fixes. It was confirmed that the new "Beta Has Expired" error message only appears if your TikTok app is already outdated.

This means that you simply need to delete it and reinstall the latest version of the application. After that, the error message should no longer appear, and you can now scroll peacefully.

You can also go to Google Play Store and set an automatic update so that you don't have to do this every time. However, you need to remember that this method could erase your draft videos.

To avoid this from happening, here's how you can keep your draft videos safe once you uninstall the app.

Saving Draft TikTok Videos

Back Blaze's previous report explained that saving your unpublished TikTok videos is quite easy to do. All you need to do is follow these simple steps:

The first thing you need to do is go to your TikTok profile. After that, you need to click the burger icon, which is located at the top-right corner of your screen. Choose the "Privacy and Safety" section from your Account option. Click the "Personalize and Data" option and then download your data.

For more news updates about TikTok and other popular video platforms, always keep your tabs open here at TechTimes.

Related Article: New TikTok Challenge Could Endanger Your Overall Health: Weight Loss Dance Trend's Details

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Written by: Griffin Davis

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Citizen app was known as Vigilante in the past, a title that was so provocative that Apple banned it from its App Store and initiated a rebranding.

In 2017, it relaunched as an app that is built on warning people about nearby emergencies and documenting the incidents for users in the name of transparency.

Citizen App Digital Security

According to Engadget, it is not sticking to just transparency, as leaked documents and sightings of security vehicles in Los Angeles show Citizen plans to offer some kind of on-demand private security force service.

The company's $20 per month Protect service already promises its users live monitoring, and a digital bodyguard who can be summoned with a safe word to direct emergency services to the user's location.

Also Read: The Dangers Of Online Dating: Apps Tinder And Grindr Linked To More Crimes Than Ever

Motherboard cited a former employee who stated that the next step is to create a privatized secondary emergency response network that connects users to private security firms directly.

A spokesperson referred to the security vehicles as part of a personal rapid response service it is testing as a pilot project.

Citizen App Controversy

Citizen app is having issues finding its footing despite its promising service as just last week, it was embroiled in a controversy that alarmed its users.

The app falsely accused a man from California of starting a wildfire, offering a $30,000 reward to track him down before retracting the post the following day, in a move that has been condemned by numerous criminal justice experts.

Citizen app gives users local crime information through police scanners and other sources, and it shared an alert on May 15 about an alleged arsonist that was behind a large bush fire that broke out in Los Angeles over the weekend.

The suspect, who is a homeless man, was briefly detained by officials who found that there was not enough evidence to serve a case, the Los Angeles fire department confirmed to The Washington Post.

A different suspect has been arrested for the arson.

However, that was not before the falsely accused homeless man had his name and image shared. The alert sent by the Citizen app contained a photo and was seen by more than 861,000 people.

The alert read: "Citizen is offering a $30,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest of the arson suspect."

Citizen told The New York Times in a statement that it offered the cash reward without any formal coordination with the appropriate agencies.

The company said that as soon as they realized their error, they immediately retracted the man's photo and the reward. They are working to improve their internal processes to make sure that this does not happen again, and that this was a mistake that they are taking very seriously.

Jim Braden, the sheriff who questioned the man, called Citizen's actions as potentially disastrous as the photo of the falsely accused man remained on the Citizen app for more than 15 hours.

Apps like Citizen have been accused by privacy advocates of inciting mob mentalities and exacerbating existing biases in communities.

Experts said that the incident underscores the risk of false accusations going viral when justice is taken into the hands of private security companies.

Related Article: Crime-Tracking Apps Alert Users Of Nearby Danger In Real Time But Use Comes With Side Effects

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Written by Sophie Webster

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
(Photo : Tuya)

SANTA CLARA, CA-May 21, 2021-Tuya Smart (NYSE: TUYA), a global leading IoT cloud platform, recently kicked off the"Global IoT Press Meeting" series with its inaugural event focusing on the North American market. The event brought together leaders from the North American IoT market to discuss trends in the region, challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic and opportunities for growth.

With new variants of COVID-19emerging in different regions and countries, the pandemic continues to heavily disrupt life around the world. During the "Global IoT Press Meeting" North America session, representatives from Tuya Smart together with key players in the North American IoT market came together to discuss challenges set by the pandemic, how the IoT industry can support consumers during this time and opportunities for growth in the future. The press meeting was attended by guest of honor Jeff Immelt, Chairman of Tuya Smart US; Fritz Werder, General Manager of Tuya Smart North America; Andrew Howard, Tuya Smart's Head of Business Development for North America; andrepresentatives from key players in the IoT space Monster, BAZZ, SATCO, Bluetooth SIG and ioXt.

With the theme "Connecting Every Thing and Every Person," the press meeting introduced Tuya's IoT cloud platform andgo-to-market strategy, how Tuya's IoT solutions help innovators and developers, and reviewed trends in the IoT market. With global experience in nine majorindustry verticals, Tuya's robust platform has proven to be a strong partner for brands looking to innovate in the IoT field.

During the press visit representatives from Monster, BAZZ, SATCO, Bluetooth SIG and ioXtshared insights with attending media on key business opportunities ahead.Industry trends discussed in the meeting included voice control, data security and subscription models. Kevin Lee, SVP of Brands and Corporate Development at Monster, known for their Beats by Dr. Dre headphone and electronics series, shared insights on howIoT has transformed the music industry. Daniel Goulet, Executive Vice President of BAZZ Smart Home, spoke on the changes in modern urban living brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic and its influence on IoT.

In his comments to the media, Mr. Immelt affirmed the importance of constant innovation and the development of exponential growth technology, highlighting how Tuya is addressing this challenge. As the former CEO of General Electric and an IoT industry veteran of over a decade, Mr. Immelt spoke on long-term trends in IoT and technology. He remarked "IoT has the ability to connectevery thing and every person. This offers a growth opportunity similar to that of the mobile internet. As developers create more smart devices and IoT services, they need a platform that enables them to develop efficiently and manage the complexities of the full development cycle."

Other representatives from Tuya sharedcompany developments, highlighting the fact thatusing the Tuya IoT development platform and networking modules,developers can easily create branded smart apps in less than 10 minutes and bring products to market in under 15 days.With coverage of over 1,100 product categories, over 324,000 developers globally useTuya'splatform and tools. Tuya Smart's IoT cloud platform reaches across many verticals including agriculture, tourism, education, medicine and retail.

This was the first event in a series of virtual press meetings, with others to be hosted soon focusing on other regions. Kicking off the series by focusing on North America signifies the strategic important of the region in the IoT space. Not only are North American tech companies at the forefront of global IoT innovation, but it is also one of the largest IoT markets. According to a recent report by Statistica on IoT, by 2025 North America will have over 5.4 billion IoT connections alone, a near doubling in six years. This rapid growth can be in part attributed to the wide range of applications and industries that are seeing the benefit from increased connectivity of devices and IoT systems.

The"Global IoT Press Meeting"virtual series will further focus on key regions including Southeast Asia, East Asia, Europe, the Middle East, Latin America, and so on. The series will showcase Tuya'stailored IoT solutions for the unique needs of each regionsand share insights from leading local brands and associations on IoT business strategies, partnerships and opportunities. Together Tuya and its partners will continue to explore the future of IoT and discover how smart systems and devices can make things easier, more intuitive and more delightful.

About Tuya Smart (Tuya Inc.)

Tuya Smart (NYSE: TUYA) is a global leading IoT cloud platform with a mission to build an IoT developer ecosystem and enable everything to be smart. Tuya is the largest IoT PaaS business in the global market of IoT PaaS in terms of the volume of smart devices powered in 2020, according to CIC. Tuya has pioneered a purpose-built IoT cloud platform that delivers a full suite of offerings, including Platform-as-a-Service, or PaaS, and Software-as-a-Service, or SaaS, to businesses and developers. Through its IoT cloud platform, Tuya has enabled developers to activate a vibrant IoT ecosystem of brands, OEMs, partners and end users to engage and communicate through a broad range of smart devices.

For more information, please visit:

Tuya Smart'sWebsite, LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter,YouTube

 2021 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 22:12:20|Editor: huaxia

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ADEN, Yemen, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Military confrontations between forces loyal to the Southern Transitional Council (STC) and Yemen's government became imminent amid rising tensions over the control of key areas, a military official told Xinhua on Saturday.

Tensions escalated in the wake of recent government's accusations to the STC on refusing to implement a Saudi-brokered deal signed between the two rivals in 2019.

"The government and the STC dispatched heavy troops backed by armored vehicles to areas near the coastal town of Shuqrah that's located on the Arabian Sea," the source said on condition of anonymity.

"The two sides are currently blaming each other for truce breaches and failure to implement the remaining security provisions of Riyadh deal," he said.

He said the STC's troops were fully prepared and ready to engage in new armed confrontations against the government forces in the country's south.

On the other side, the government forces raised the level of combat readiness of some units in an attempt to prevent the STC's troops from advancement on-ground and seizing new key southern areas, according to the official.

Another security official confirmed to Xinhua that the relationship between the two rivals representing the country's recent power-sharing government has strained further as the STC's troops tightened its grip over the Socotra Archipelago, an area officially part of Yemen.

"The STC that's part of Yemen's government heavily deployed its military units and tightened the security measures in the strategic Socotra Island," the official said anonymously.

Socotra is located in one of the busiest shipping routes in the world and Yemen's warring factions sporadically engage in armed confrontations over establishing military bases there for controlling the strategic island.

In 2019, Saudi Arabia persuaded the STC and the Yemeni government to hold reconciliation talks, which succeeded in reaching a deal to form a new technocratic cabinet and ending a deadly conflict in the country's southern regions.

In accordance with the terms of the Saudi-brokered deal jointly signed between the two sides, Yemen's President Abdu-Rabbu Mansour Hadi issued a decree on December 2020 to form a new power-sharing government. Enditem
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 00:56:58|Editor: huaxia

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Rescuers set up a tent in Yangbi Yi Autonomous County, southwest China's Yunnan Province, May 22, 2021. At least 3 people were killed and 27 others injured as of 6 a.m. Saturday after a series of earthquakes jolted Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Yunnan Province, local authorities said. Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude jolted Yangbi from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. (Beijing Time), according to the China Earthquake Networks Center. Rescue forces have been dispatched to the quake zone, and rescue efforts are underway. (Xinhua)

KUNMING/XINING, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Three people are dead and dozens injured after a series of earthquakes rattled southwest China's Yunnan Province and northwest China's Qinghai Province.

China has allocated 10 million yuan (about 1.56 million U.S. dollars) from its central budget for disaster relief to the provinces of Yunnan and Qinghai.

The emergency funds, allocated by the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Emergency Management, will be used to aid disaster relief and ensure people's livelihoods in the affected areas.

Authorities have also sent 5,000 tents, 10,000 folding cots and 20,000 blankets to facilitate the relief work.

The National Health Commission on Saturday dispatched medical teams, consisting of surgeons, critical-care experts, and psychologists, to the two regions.

Four earthquakes over 5.0-magnitude struck Yangbi Yi Autonomous County in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday Beijing Time. The tremors were felt in all 12 counties and cities of the prefecture, with Yangbi being the worst hit.

Hours later at 2:04 a.m. Saturday, a 7.4-magnitude earthquake jolted Maduo County of Golog Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, according to the China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC). The county is located over 4,000 meters above sea level.

The two locations are about 2,000 km apart.

In Yunnan, by 3 p.m. Saturday, three people were killed and 32 others injured, according to a press briefing on Saturday night. Seven people were severely injured and 25 others had minor injuries.

Earlier on Saturday morning, Li Zepeng, deputy head of the prefecture, said that a large number of houses and facilities were damaged in the areas hit by the quake.

Soon after the earthquake, China's Ministry of Emergency Management (MEM) and the Yunnan provincial disaster reduction committee office initiated emergency response and dispatched rescuers.

The prefecture of Dali also set up an earthquake relief headquarters, sending nine teams to nine villages and towns to carry out relief work.

So far, over 16,200 rescuers and relief materials including tents and daily necessities have been dispatched to the quake area.

Yangbi has arranged 380 centralized settlement sites for over 85,000 affected people.

In Qinghai Province, 13 people suffered slight injuries, local rescuers said. Roads and houses were damaged.

Strong tremors were felt by residents in provincial capital Xining, which is 385 km away from the county seat of Maduo.

Work teams and well-equipped rescue forces have been immediately dispatched to the quake-hit area.

As of 6 p.m. Saturday, 5,409 people have been relocated in Maduo county, and 370 tents have been set up in schools, hospitals and nursing homes.

The earthquake occurred in the sparsely-populated pastoral areas, where brick and wood bungalows are mostly scattered, rescuers said.

The barns and sheep pens of the local residents were damaged to a large extent, said Doter, Party secretary of the county's Huanghe Township.

At an average altitude of 4,200 meters, Maduo County is located at the source region of the Yellow River with a great number of rivers and lakes.

In the past five years, about 25 earthquakes of magnitude 3 or above have occurred within 200 kilometers of the epicenter, the largest of which occured Saturday, CENC data showed. Enditem
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As Ronald Greene lay gashed and spitting up blood on a dark Union Parish road, he took his last breaths surrounded by a group of Louisiana state troopers who looked nothing like him.

The troopers seen repeatedly tasing, beating and dragging a handcuffed Greene on May 10, 2019  their actions shown in bodycam footage State Police released grudgingly on Friday after a leak to the Associated Press  were all White.

Odds of that racial composition are high in Troop F, the Monroe-based division at the center of a metastasizing scandal over the violent arrest that left Greene dead, followed by what his family calls a lengthy coverup. Greene's death has spawned accusations of racist policing, claims that have gained steam amid other controversial uses of force and broader questions about the diversity of Louisiana's premier police agency.

+8 Louisiana State Police unseal 9 videos in deadly Ronald Greene arrest; here's what they show After leaked copies of body cam footage showed state troopers repeatedly punching and stun-gunning a Black man during a deadly traffic stop ne

The Louisiana State Police is divided into nine units, known as troops. Of them, Troop F is among the whitest, though it patrols a diverse region of a dozen northeast Louisiana parishes.

Of the 66 Troop F members, just six are Black, records show. The area they patrol is about 40% African American.

The Troop F roster is 86% White and 9% Black. That ties it with Alexandria-based Troop E  which patrols a region with a much larger White population  for the lowest Black representation among the nine troops. The entire agency, meanwhile, has long come under fire for its lack of diversity: Only 17% of Louisiana State Police personnel assigned to the nine troops are Black, compared to about a third of the state population.

In addition to the Greene investigation, White troopers at Troop F are the subject of several other pending civil rights complaints that allege wanton violence against Black people. Some of the same troopers are named in multiple suits.

Col. Lamar Davis, who took over as State Police superintendent in October just as the scandal was intensifying, suggested at a news conference Friday that the allegations reflect a cultural problem years in the making inside Troop F, though he also aimed to limit responsibility to some "bad actors."

+9 'This is God's plan:' New State Police head surprised and humbled to be leading agency After more than two decades with the Louisiana State Police  a career that spans various divisions from traffic patrols and intelligence gath

Davis, who is Black, said he's trying to diversify the troop.

"We didn't get there overnight," he said. "It's going to take some time for us to continue building that culture to where we want it  public service, courtesy and morals."

Davis said changing the Troop F commander marked an important first step. Eric Cuenca was appointed this year to lead the troop, according to the State Police website.

He replaced the previous commander, Capt. John Peters, a career state policeman whose tenure spanned the Greene incident and several others when troopers allegedly abused Black suspects during traffic stops.

Davis said he's confident Cuenca will prove a better leader, calling him a phenomenal commander.

"I think by changing that leadership," he said, "it's really helped us to identify the issues we had."

Like Peters, who arrived after the first troopers began to fight and tase Greene, most of the troopers identified at the scene of his death were Troop F veterans. Many signed on to State Police service after stretches at local law enforcement agencies in the Monroe area.

Chris Hollingsworth, who died at age 46 last September in a single-car crash shortly after learning he was being fired for his role in Greene's death, had been with State Police for 18 years, all while living in Ouachita Parish.

Master Trooper Kory York, seen briefly dragging Greene's shackled body across the ground, was a veteran, hired by the State Police in 2003 after nine years with the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office and West Monroe police.

Lt. John Clary, whose body-worn camera captured York standing over Greene, is a 30-year State Police veteran.

Sgt. Floyd McElroy, who is Black but could not be identified in the videos released on Friday, started in 1992 with State Police after working for five years for the Monroe Police Department. State records show McElroy left State Police in June 2019, a month after Greene's death, but returned part-time last August.

Dakota DeMoss, whose body-worn camera captured much of the incident, was the newest among them, in his late 20s and hired to the force in 2016.

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With his own ascent to lead State Police, Davis replaced Col. Kevin Reeves, who spent decades at Troop F, rising to troop commander before Gov. John Bel Edwards tapped him in 2017 to replace Mike Edmonson after a series of scandals at the agency.

Reeves' close ties to Troop F have raised questions about whether his administration was complicit in what Greene family attorney Ron Haley called a clear attempt to hide the true circumstances of the death.

Greene's family has said they were told he died from a car crash after a chase, while the agency withheld key records.

"They've hid everything," Haley said. "They had to get their directions from headquarters, and common sense can tell you that. They couldn't just cover it up without someone in headquarters knowing. The guys running headquarters were Troop F guys."

Sen. Katrina Jackson, D-Monroe, said the low numbers of Black troopers show an inattention, at best, to diversity at Troop F.

"For it only to be 9 percent, at some point in the history of Troop F, diversity was not important," said Jackson, who saw a culture problem statewide. "I believe that in every troop around this nation, whether it be state trooper or sheriff or local, we have some seriously bad actors. I don't think Troop F is immune from that."

Jackson said she eagerly awaited the results of a federal investigation into Greene's death, and discipline for those who sought to hide it. In her eyes, the videos showed inhumanity.

"Regardless of any violations he had, drugs in his system or not, once the public was not in harm's way, you still had an individual whose life is in your hands, sitting hurt, and you caused more damage letting him sit face down, shackled, like a dog in the dirt," she said. "And that is inexcusable."

Reeves stepped down as superintendent not long after news of the Greene investigation came to light last fall. His second-in-command, Bob Brown, whom he brought over from Troop F, retired around the same time.

Both Reeves and Brown had sons who worked in Troop F, though neither son is currently patrolling the northeast portion of the state.

Kaleb Reeves joined State Police five years ago but is currently serving a maximum four-and-a-half-month disciplinary suspension over an on-duty crash last year that killed two people.

Jacob Brown also worked in Troop F after four years at the Ouachita Parish Sheriff's Office  until he resigned from State Police in March after being arrested three times and accused of using excessive force during a series of encounters in 2019 and 2020.

Louisiana state trooper resigns after being arrested 3 times for excessive force A Louisiana state police trooper who was recently arrested in three separate excessive force incidents resigned from the agency this week.

Davis, who has no known ties to Troop F, represents another new chapter and changing course at State Police. He spent most of his career in the Baton Rouge area before becoming the fourth African American superintendent in the history of the agency.

In addition to changing the leadership at Troop F, Davis pledged to increase diversity among high-ranking troopers and ramp up diversity training throughout the agency. That includes implicit bias and "duty to intervene" training, Davis said during the Friday news conference.

He also said the agency has banned the use of chokeholds and "impact weapons" to the head except in situations where lethal force is authorized. The impact weapons ban likely applies to flashlights, which troopers were using to force suspects into compliance, according to attorneys representing the Greene family and another man alleging abuse.

While emphasizing the clear need for change, Davis also asked people to remember the many upstanding State Police troopers who serve the public every day, even in Troop F.

"We have some great troopers at Troop F," he said. "Oftentimes when we have events like this with some bad actors, we cast everybody into a net without taking into consideration the other troopers who are going out there and really affecting public service."

State trooper, son of former agency head, suspended for 4.5 months after causing fatal crash Louisiana State Trooper Kaleb Reeves, son of the former agency head, was suspended for 4 months without pay  the maximum suspension allowed 

State Rep. Ted James, who chairs the House Committee on Administration of Criminal Justice, said increasing diversity at Troop F needs to be a priority moving forward.

"These issues are so deeply ingrained  this culture of doing whatever the hell they wanted to without any regard for human life," he said. "People want to know how far the cover up goes."

James also called for additional policy changes, questioning why Troop F was allowed to investigate itself after Greene's death.

"It's not an overnight fix," he said. "I want to trust that Col. Davis is changing things. I want to give him the time to implement real reform."
After leaked copies of body cam footage showed state troopers repeatedly punching and stun-gunning a Black man during a deadly traffic stop near Monroe, State Police Superintendent Lamar Davis on Friday released what he said was all video evidence from the encounter.

At a news conference late Friday, Davis said he believes the leaked excerpts lacked context and that he wants the public to see the full story.

But the additional footage sheds little new on the incident, which left Ronald Greene dead in May 2019. His death sparked an FBI civil rights probe and allegations of a larger pattern of abuse among state troopers.

Davis unsealed nine videos from the body-worn and in-car cameras of Lt. John Clary and troopers Kory York, Dakota DeMoss and Chris Hollingsworth. AP had already released footage from DeMoss and Clary.

'I'm scared!': Video of Ronald Greene's deadly arrest by Louisiana State Police released Louisiana state troopers can be seen on a dark roadside stunning, punching and dragging a Black man as he apologizes for leading them on a hig

The footage AP reported previously included much of the same footage of the brutal incident, the details of which were largely kept secret until the Greene family filed a lawsuit last year, accusing troopers of beating the man and shocking him with stun guns several times.

WARNING: Video below contains graphic content

Can't see the video? Click here.

Ron Haley, an attorney for Greene's family in its civil rights lawsuit, called the video release "two years too late, but better late than never."

Along with the videos, police offered a timeline showing that an investigation into the incident began the night of Greene's death and resulted in a case submitted to Lincoln Parish prosecutors three months later.

The state timeline shows the case was forwarded to federal authorities in February 2020.

Haley said state police may have launched an investigation early on, but still covered up the circumstances of Greenes death.

"Two things can be true," he said. "There could have been an investigation that was immediately opened. But the family was also lied to that he died in a car crash. If you're going to investigate yourself and give the family a BS reason for his death, hoping they don't look into it, it's never going to come out."

State police initially claimed Greene died in the car crash that ended the long police chase, according to his family.

But an autopsy report released Friday by an attorney for the Greene family describes gashes across his head and face that were "inconsistent with motor vehicle collision injury."

+2 Louisiana State Police release more video of Ronald Greene incident after footage leaks Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis on Friday released what he said was all video of the encounter with troopers that left 

Greene  49 years old and 239 pounds  had a fractured sternum and blunt force injuries across his body. A toxicology report found his blood alcohol content at .106 percent, over the legal driving limit, and significant cocaine levels in his blood.

The report, signed by forensic pathologists Dr. Jennifer Forsyth and Dr. Frank Peretti, deemed the cause of death "cocaine induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury, and restraint."

The report, however, made no mention of the manner of death  an unusual category to leave blank after a complete autopsy examination. Pathologists typically identify one of the following: natural, accident, suicide, homicide or undetermined.

The latest video obtained by the Associated Press  which published a story about the footage Friday, hours before State Police called the press conference  showed Greene desperately trying to roll over in what may have been a struggle to breathe, but he was ordered to stay on his belly.

"I beat the ever-living f--- out of him, choked him and everything else trying to get him under control," Trooper Chris Hollingsworth can be heard telling a fellow officer while following the ambulance carrying Greene to the hospital. "All of a sudden he just went limp.  I thought he was dead."

"You all got that on body cam?" the other officer asks over the phone, at which point Hollingsworth quickly switches his camera off.

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At one point in a new 30-minute video the AP obtained Friday, Greene can be seen struggling to prop himself up on his side.

"Don't you turn over! Lay on your belly! Lay on your belly!" York yells before briefly dragging Greene by the chain that connects his ankle shackles.

York then kneels on Greene's back and tells him again, "You better lay on your f------ belly like I told you to! You understand?"

Replay: Louisiana State Police press conference on Ronald Greene in-custody death, investigation Louisiana State Police officials announced a Friday evening press conference after multiple videos were released this week showing the in-cust

"Yes, sir," Greene replies.

Charles Key, a use-of-force expert and former Baltimore police lieutenant, called the trooper's actions excessive in an interview with the AP.

"It's a mistake because he can't breathe," he told the wire service. "You see Greene drawing his legs up, and that may be because he can't freaking breathe."

Police are highly discouraged from leaving handcuffed suspects in a prone position, particularly when they aren't resisting, because it can greatly hinder their breathing  a point made repeatedly at the trial this spring of the former Minneapolis officer convicted of murder in the death of George Floyd.

In the latest video, Greene, legs shackled and his hands cuffed behind his back, lies prone on the ground as two troopers hover over him before he suddenly cries out. One of the officers tells him, "Yeah, yeah, that s--- hurts, doesnt it?"

"OK! Oh, Lord Jesus. Oh, Lord!" Greene screams out. "OK, OK. Lord Jesus! OK, I'm sorry. Im sorry."

Minutes after Greene's outburst, he begins to moan and make gurgling noises as two troopers keep holding him down.

Among the snippets of body cam footage not previously disclosed is a segment in which two troopers discuss Greene's condition after the beating.

"Not good," one trooper says. "He wasn't breathing when we put him in the ambulance."

Another segment shows medics examining Greene on the scene and loading him onto a stretcher. Clary, whose body cam recorded the conversation, is heard telling the medics: "It took three of them to take him down, so you can consider that "

+2 Louisiana State Police release more video of Ronald Greene incident after footage leaks Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis on Friday released what he said was all video of the encounter with troopers that left 

A short time later, one trooper praises his colleagues for how they handled the situation. Just as one trooper begins to comment that Greene was "on something else," another interrupts: "Hey, really, y'all did a good job," he says. "Y'all called it out. You did a good job."

A third responds by pointing a finger gun back at him and making a clicking noise with his mouth.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement Friday he supports the decision to make all the videos public.

"As I've said before, I found the full video of Mr. Greene's arrest, which I reviewed last year, to be disturbing and difficult to watch," he said. "While the federal and state criminal investigations into this matter are ongoing, Col. Davis continues to work to improve the department so all Louisianans can have confidence in those who swore an oath to protect and serve them."

At the Friday press conference, Davis listed some changes he already implemented since being appointed to helm the agency late last year, including stricter reporting requirements for using force and a ban on chokeholds and "impact weapons" to the head, unless lethal force is warranted.

Davis said he intends to fire DeMoss, one of the troopers involved in the encounter that ended with Greene's death. That decision had not previously been disclosed. Hollingsworth, another of the troopers involved, died in a single-car crash last year after learning he would be fired for his role in the incident. York received a 50-hour suspension.

Davis also offered condolences for the Greene family: "For those of us that have children, just the thought of losing our child, regardless of how, can be a traumatic experience."

Haley, the Greene family. attorney, said he hoped Davis' pledge to reform Troop F takes hold.

"Transparency is the starting point. I hope this is a changing of the guard," he said. "I hope this is true leadership taking hold on the state police."

Jim Mustian of The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A hearing officer has rejected arguments that a Baton Rouge City Court judge is constitutionally barred from office because she reached the state's mandatory judicial retirement age before her election last year.

The hearing officer, retired Orleans Parish Civil Court Judge Carolyn Gill-Jefferson, also rejected the state Judiciary Commission's claim that Johnell Matthews, 70, has brought the judiciary into "disrepute" by continuing to serve.

+3 70-year-old Baton Rouge judge is 'constitutionally barred' from staying in office, panel says A Baton Rouge judge who reached the state's mandatory judicial retirement age before her coronavirus-delayed election last summer has brought 

The Judiciary Commission, a panel of judges, lawyers and laypersons, could now hold its own hearing before forwarding any recommendation for discipline of Matthews to the Louisiana Supreme Court. The high court is the only body that can remove a sitting judge.

Matthews' attorney, Mary Olive Pierson, on Friday called the charges filed by the commission earlier this year "superfluous" and "unnecessary" and said "Baton Rouge should be proud to have Johnell Matthews as a city court judge."

State law bars people for running for a judgeship once they reach age 70, but sitting judges who turn 70 can serve out the rest of their term. Matthew was 69 when a primary election was scheduled to take place, but the vote was twice delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic  and she turned 70 in the interim.

Matthews soundly defeated lawyer Whitney Higginbotham Greene in a runoff in August. Greene is the daughter of retired state 1st Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Toni Higginbotham and former 19th Judicial District Judge Leo Higginbotham.

+3 Appeal challenging newly-elected Baton Rouge judge not considered after being filed too late A Baton Rouge lawyer who lost a recent City Court runoff by a 2-1 margin, then claimed in a lawsuit that the victor was too old to serve, was 

"It is clear that had the election proceeded as planned, Judge Matthews would have assumed judicial office before her seventieth birthday on June 7, 2020 without any issue," Gill-Jefferson, a Judiciary Commission hearing officer, wrote Thursday in her ruling. "But due to the pandemic, and through no fault of her own, she did not take office until September 9, 2020  after her seventieth birthday."

Gill-Jefferson noted that, in lawsuits filed against Matthews before and after her election, "no decision ordering Judge Matthews to step down due to her age was ever issued."

Baton Rouge state District Judge William Morvant, the 1st Circuit Court of Appeal and the Louisiana Supreme Court have all previously ruled in Matthews' favor.

"Had Judge Matthews been ordered by Judge Morvant, the First Circuit, or the Supreme Court to halt her candidacy before election or to step down from the bench following the election, and she had refused to do so, the allegations of judicial misconduct ... might have merit," Gill-Jefferson stated. "But this never happened, so there was (and is) no reason for Judge Mathews to step down."

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State voters reaffirmed their support for the judicial age limit in 2014.

The Judiciary Commission's Office of Special Counsel alleged in February that Matthews' continued service on the City Court bench has "resulted in media reports concerning your actions and brought your court and the judiciary as a whole into disrepute."

Again, Gill-Jefferson disagreed with that contention.

"Apparently, the OSC feels that the media's mere reporting of Judge Matthews' defense of the lawsuits against her is sufficient to show that Judge Matthews has brought her court and the judiciary as a whole into disrepute," she wrote. "The Hearing Office, however, respectfully disagrees, and finds that absent more, the OSC has not provided clear and convincing evidence of any willful misconduct."

The Louisiana Supreme Court previously voted 5-2 not to suspend Matthews while the Judiciary Commission matter is pending.

Pierson had argued to Gill-Jefferson that there are no age limits spelled out in the state constitution to run for judge; the 70-year cap is contained in a section of the state constitution dealing with judicial retirement. The retired judge agreed Thursday with Pierson.

"This decision also evaporates the myth that lawyers who are not sitting judges cannot run for judge after the age of 70," Pierson said Friday. "If a lawyer over 70 runs and gets elected, he/she can only serve one term which is the only reasonable and correct legal analysis of our constitution."

+2 Greene seeks to void court election; winner's lawyer calls her 'sorest loser in history' A lawsuit filed by a woman soundly defeated in this month's runoff election claims Baton Rouge City Court Judge-elect Johnell Matthews is "con

Morvant had noted the differences in the qualifications needed to run for judge and those needed to serve. It may be a loophole, he found, but it wasn't for him to fix.

Lantz Savage, a special counsel to the Judiciary Commission, had argued to Gill-Jefferson that by the time Matthews won election last summer to fill the City Court vacancy, it was already time for her to retire.

He said Matthews' argument that the constitutional age cap was meant only for retiring judges would lead to "patently absurd consequences." People of any age could run for judge and serve a single term, for instance, while sitting judges over 70 would have to retire.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 03:07:29|Editor: huaxia

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UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Security Council on Saturday welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire in Gaza.

Through a press statement, the council welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire beginning May 21 and recognized the important role Egypt, other regional countries, the UN, the Middle East Quartet and other international partners played in this regard.

The council called for the full adherence to the ceasefire and mourned the loss of civilian lives resulting from the violence.

The members of the Security Council stressed the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza, and supported the secretary-general's call for the international community to work with the United Nations on developing an integrated, robust package of support for a swift, sustainable reconstruction and recovery.

The council members stressed the urgency of the restoration of calm in full and reiterated the importance of achieving a comprehensive peace based on the vision of a region where two democratic states, Israel and Palestine, live side by side in peace with secure and recognized borders.

An Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement came into effect early on Friday at 2:00 a.m. Palestinian time between Israel and militant groups led by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas). Enditem
Louisiana State Police Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis on Friday released what he said was all video of the encounter with troopers that left Ronald Greene dead after a brutal beating following a Union Parish traffic stop in 2019.

Officials previously refused to release body-cam footage of the encounter, citing an ongoing federal investigation. The incident has prompted an FBI civil rights probe and allegations of a larger pattern of abuse among troopers at the Monroe-based Troop F.

The decision to reverse course on the video release came after the Associated Press published leaked excerpts of footage earlier this week. The videos published by AP show horrific scenes of troopers stun-gunning, punching and dragging a handcuffed Greene.

Replay: Louisiana State Police press conference on Ronald Greene in-custody death, investigation Louisiana State Police officials announced a Friday evening press conference after multiple videos were released this week showing the in-cust

In announcing the decision to release the footage at a press conference Friday evening, Davis said he believes the leaked copies lacked context and that he wants the public to see the full story.

The agency released nine videos from the body-worn and in-car cameras of Lt. John Clary and troopers Kory York, Dakota DeMoss and Chris Hollingsworth. AP had already released footage from DeMoss and Clary.

The footage AP reported previously included much of the same video of the brutal incident, the details of which were largely kept secret until the Greene family filed a lawsuit last year, alleging troopers beat the man and shocked him with stun guns multiple times.

Greene's family says State Police initially told them he died in the car crash that ended the long police chase

But an autopsy report released Friday by an attorney for the Greene family describes gashes across his head and face that were "inconsistent with motor vehicle collision injury."

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Greene had a fractured sternum and blunt force injuries across his body. A toxicology report found his blood alcohol level at .106 percent, just over the legal driving limit, and significant cocaine levels in his blood.

New Ronald Greene video, autopsy report details fatal arrest by Louisiana State Police NEW ORLEANS (AP)  Beaten and shackled by Louisiana state troopers, Black motorist Ronald Greene desperately tried to roll over in what may ha

The report, signed by forensic pathologists Dr. Jennifer Forsyth and Dr. Frank Peretti, deemed the cause of death of the 49-year-old, 239-pound Greene as "cocaine induced agitated delirium complicated by motor vehicle collision, physical struggle, inflicted head injury, and restraint."

The report, however, made no mention of manner of death  an unusual category to leave blank after a complete autopsy examination. Pathologists typically identify one of the following: natural, accident, suicide, homicide or undetermined.

Gov. John Bel Edwards said in a statement Friday he supports the decision to make the videos public.

"As I've said before, I found the full video of Mr. Greene's arrest, which I reviewed last year, to be disturbing and difficult to watch," he said. "While the federal and state criminal investigations into this matter are ongoing, Col. Davis continues to work to improve the department so all Louisianans can have confidence in those who swore an oath to protect and serve them."

At the Friday press conference, Davis listed some changes he already implemented since being appointed to helm the agency late last year, including stricter reporting requirements for using force and a ban on chokeholds and "impact weapons" to the head, unless lethal force is warranted.

Davis also said he intends to fire DeMoss, one of the troopers involved in the encounter that ended with Greene's death. That decision had not previously been disclosed. Hollingsworth, another of the troopers involved, died in a single-car crash last year after learning he would be fired for his role in the incident. York received a 50-hour suspension, Davis said.
Authorities on Saturday say they arrested three people involved in a fight that ended with an Ascension Parish sheriffs deputy shooting one of the suspects.

Thirty-five-year-old Jose Ortiz, from San Juan, Texas, and 38-year-old Gonzales resident Juan Ortiz were jailed for attempted first-degree murder of an officer, violently resisting police and disturbing the peace, Louisiana State Police said.

APSO deputy under investigation for shooting a man in Sorrento, State Police says An Ascension Parish Sheriff's Office deputy is under investigation by Louisiana State Police after shooting a man while responding to call, ac

A 15-year-old was arrested on the same counts. The two adult suspects face additional allegations of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The arrests came a day after Louisiana State Police began investigating an Ascension deputy who shot a suspect on Wildwood Drive in the River Ridge subdivision. Such inquiries are routine when an officer fires a service weapon.

Officials say the encounter began after midnight Friday when Ascension deputies showed up on reports of a disturbance. Upon arriving, the pair got into a physical fight with three suspects.

During the course of the confrontation, state police said, a deputy discharged his firearm, striking one suspect.

The shooting critically wounded the suspect, who remained hospitalized in serious condition through the following day, officials said. One of the deputies came away with moderate injuries and was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.
During a tour of the West Jefferson High School with coronavirus precautions it can be seen that each desk in the classroom has a grey or red sticker on the top corner in Harvey, La. Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2020. Each period, students will be asked to alternate their use of desks and to clean them off after each class. The school is scheduled to open on August 26. (Photo by Max Becherer, NOLA.com, The Times-Picayune | The New Orleans Advocate)
Even before torrential rain this week drenched Baton Rouge, swamped cars and flooded houses, the capital region was seeing one of the wettest springs on record.

Parts of the Baton Rouge metro were hammered by upwards of 14 inches of rain early this week, with the majority of the deluge happening within just a few hours. That amount alone is nearly three times the average monthly rainfall in May, or more than the averages of April and March combined.

There are some unusual things going on, said state climatologist Barry Keim, who is also a professor at LSU. The rains have been pretty dramatic.

Impacts from the storm were felt throughout the region but appeared worse in south and southeastern parts of the capital city, especially in neighborhoods that suffered damage during the 2016 summer floods. More than 250 people were rescued from high waters and an unknown number of homes, buildings and vehicles were inundated by floodwater. Officials reported at least five storm-related deaths.

Rainstorms similar to those that fell overnight on Monday have researchers at LSU taking note. A recent study at the school found that storms are squeezing out more water than in the past several decades.

Keim pointed to the 2016 floods, the massive dump of rain eastern Texas saw during Hurricane Harvey the following year and storms Louisiana saw this week as evidence of that trend.

But experts are unsure what might be driving the big rain totals. Researchers have speculated it could stem from warmer temperatures allowing the atmosphere to hold more moisture.

Whatever the case, those short-lived storms that dump a large amount of water can spur more flash floods and appear to strike with little warning.

Predicting rainfall amounts is also tricky because there can be many variables and differing amounts within an area.

Its tough to tell, Keim said. Im surprised they do as well as they do.

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Louisiana is the wettest state in the continental U.S., averaging under 60 inches of precipitation each year.

The amount of rain that fell on Monday night and Tuesday morning alone is greater than what states such as Wyoming, Nevada and Arizona see in an average year, according to federal data.

Rainfall this spring has been far above the typical average in Baton Rouge. Last month, weather officials recorded 12.84 inches of rain at Baton Rouge airport  nearly three times the average for April. Mondays storm alone dumped roughly three times the monthly average for May, which typically hovers around 5 inches.

Before Mondays storm, there were only two other times in history that the Baton Rouge area recorded wetter periods within a 60-day window, according to figures by the Southern Climate Impacts Planning Program and LSU.

Were in pretty rare territory here, Keim said.

There are also secondary impacts to wetter seasons. The ground around trees can become oversaturated, which makes them more vulnerable to toppling in high winds.

As heavy rains continued to fall in Baton Rouge Thursday, weather officials warned about potential flooding near rain-soaked bayous and ponds that couldn't drain because of high water in the lower Amite and Comite rivers.

Much of the region remained under a flash flood advisory throughout the day and into Friday.

More than 250 people were rescued from high waters and an unknown number of homes, buildings and vehicles were swamped by floodwater overnight on Monday. The rainy weather are also likely factors in at least five deaths across Louisiana, according to state officials.

Officials in East Baton Rouge Parish were still assessing the scope and scale of the damage of the flash floods, a spokesman said Thursday. Theyve asked residents and business owners who suffered damage to report it through an online survey.
The states two chief economists, who during the lean years double as punching bags for frustrated legislators, almost got through last weeks Revenue Estimating Conference with lawmakers smiling at reports of stronger than expected tax receipts.

Then, down came the hammer of the Republican Partys latest talking point: enhanced unemployment benefits entice millions to stay home playing video games instead of going back to work. Twenty-one GOP governors have sworn off the extra $300 federal benefit, which expires in September, and a group of Louisiana business associations demanded Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards do the same.

Manfred Dix, the states chief economist, chuckled and pushed back from the witness table. Im not sure I want to wade into this discussion. Its a hot potato.

Greg Albrecht, the Legislatures chief economist, gamely tried to point out that economic studies from last summer, when the federal payment was $600, seem to say that theory is balderdash.

List of studies on impact of enhanced pandemic benefits Joint Congressional Economic Committee report on studies showing that enhanced unemployment benefits has not slowed labor market recovery.

We find no evidence that more generous benefits disincentivized work either at the onset of the expansion or as firms looked to return to business over time, found a Yale University study on July 14.

Overall, our evidence suggests that employers did not experience greater difficulty finding applicants for their vacancies after the CARES Act, despite the large increase in unemployment benefits, stated a July 20 joint study by the University of Pennsylvania, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Glassdoor Inc., an international recruiting company based in California.

Louisiana has about 156,000 unfilled jobs compared to January 2020 before the pandemic forced businesses to close and cast off employees. As of May 14, slightly fewer than 290,000 people in Louisiana receive the supplemental benefit, according to Workforce Commission data.

A report released Monday by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco calculated that if seven out of 28 of unemployed workers received job offers, one of the seven would reject the offer.

Federal Reserve Bank report Unemployment Insurance Generosity and Job Acceptance Effects of the 2020 CARES Act

Not willing to let facts flummox a good narrative, a murderers row of a half dozen self-described conservatives in the Louisiana House, one after another, pounced on Democratic Harvey Rep. Rodney Lyons proposal to increase Louisianas miserly unemployment benefit by $28 a week. The increase would move the state from the 49th lowest benefit to 48th by paying no more than $275 per week. Most would get less, and in any case the increase would start in January 2022, four months after the federal enhanced benefits expires.

Bossier City Republican Rep. Raymond Crews, for instance, recalled talking to a colleague about the difficulty with restaurant service. He surmised it was because of the $300 federal unemployment benefit, which boosts Louisiana payments to $547, at most. It has been more beneficial to stay home and not work than to go to work. I hope we can restore that balance to where people see the dignity in getting a job and earning a living and actually contributing, he said.

Lyons House Bill 610 failed on a 44-54 vote.

Louisiana legislators have hundreds of millions of dollars more to spend due to stimulus money Louisiana lawmakers are going to have a whole lot more money to spend over the next 14 months  about $677 million more, the Revenue Estimatin

Ten trade associations representing Louisianas contractors, retailers, gas stations, restaurants, homebuilders and convenience stores, urged Edwards to follow Texas, Arkansas and Mississippi and cut off the extra $300.

Only a few months ago, businesses were scaling back, reducing hours and limiting services because of the COVID-19 restrictions, Dawn McVea, Louisiana director of NFIB, said in a statement. Now, theyre doing it because they cant find enough people to work.

These are the same groups that oppose setting a minimum wage above $7.25 per hour and poured millions into legislative campaigns.

Perhaps those businesses could rely on market forces, rather than government, to ease their workforce problems. McDonald's and Chipotle fast food restaurants bumped up their pay to attract workers.

Will Louisiana cut its $300 federal unemployment aid? Gov. John Bel Edwards says not yet Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday the extra $300 in weekly federal unemployment assistance going to the jobless in Louisiana wont be cut an

Waiters and waitresses make an average $19,940 per year in Louisiana, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Cooks bring in $21,350 annually and cashiers can expect to average $21,010 per year.

A family of four making $26,500 is considered poverty-stricken by the federal government. About 1 in 5 of Louisiana residents live in poverty. Half of Louisianas families make $49,469 or less, the states median income, which is about $30,500 per year less than the national median of $79,900, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Pointing out that Louisiana is heavily dependent on the tourism industry, which hasnt recovered yet, Edwards said hes reluctant to lift the benefits four months early without deeper study. He instructed his Workforce Commissioner Ava Dejoie to retain an economist to quickly study the issue.

Its not something were going to do prematurely," Edwards said.
Id just moved into a new rental (my second move in five months), my bank account was looking bleak and I was firmly of the view the world was against me.

As you do in 2021, I decided to live slightly beyond my means by suffering some short-term financial strain in the hope of some long- or short-term gain.

Wow such meme: doge overtook the internet in 2013.

At the time, I remember discussion among my friends (Im 30) was heavily weighted around the pandemic, what, if any, positives might come from it and how to get rich (quick). Cryptocurrencies were racing to all-time highs and dogecoin - which started as a joke variant of bitcoin but has become actually valuable in its own right - was looking like it might deliver hockey stick growth.

On January 28, a single dogecoin went from 1 to 11 cents, and on February 9 I bit the bullet and bought $50 worth (458.59 dogecoins).
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 04:35:47|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and his Bahraini counterpart Abdullatif Al Zayani discussed on Saturday the latest developments in Palestine.

During a phone conversation, the two ministers emphasized the importance of continuing coordination between the two countries regarding developments in the Palestinian territories, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

They also highlighted the efforts for reconstruction in Gaza, in the light of the Egyptian initiative announced by President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi that provides 500 million U.S. dollars for the reconstruction process in the coastal Palestinian enclave.

The ministers affirmed the need to urgently advance the political settlement to revive the peace process.

Shoukry also received a phone call from his Norwegian counterpart Ine Eriksen Soreide over the latest developments in Palestine.

The Norwegian minister praised the Egyptian role and its intensive efforts that led to a cease-fire between Palestinians and Israelis.

They also discussed the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip as well as efforts to provide aid and development support for the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Israel and Gaza's ruler Hamas accepted an Egyptian-brokered deal and ended their 11-day-long bloodshed on Friday, which killed at least 243 Palestinians and 12 Israelis. Enditem
Surely there has been a terrible mix-up in the Channel Nine casting department?

Magda Szubanski initially seemed an unlikely choice.

How else can we explain the networks most unlikely choice in who it has ordained as Australias archetypal meanie to helm a reboot of The Weakest Link?

Because for millions of Australians, myself included, Magda Szubanski is anything but a bitch.

Occasionally some of her witticisms have backfired, like her recent comments on Prime Minister Scott Morrisons social media feed (though it should be noted that for every outraged commentator, there was an equal number nodding in silent approval).
The federal government should set a date for when the rollout for those willing is complete, and say from that day on: No jab, no cab to the airport or bus station. Too strong, you think? Fine. Tell us the alternative. If the PM sticks to not opening the borders while a significant proportion of the population remains unvaccinated, and a third refuse to get vaccinated because the borders are closed and there is no danger, when can we ever rejoin the world and get the massive tourism and foreign student dollar back, for starters? Fire at will. See if I care. Napoleon down under? On Tuesday last, your humble correspondent was very pleased to attend a rather intimate dinner at the Bellevue Hill home of Anne Boillon, the Consule Generale of France, to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon. Guests included former ambassadors to France, notable members of the Franco-Australian community, some arty types and ... moi, who lived in France for four years playing rugby in the 1980s and has written several books about Australias involvement on the Western Front. A warm and informal affair with a three-course cordon bleu meal, Madame La Consule Generale made a witty speech noting Napoleons extraordinary impact on her country, before opening the floor to guests to make their own observations  which delivered up some gems. While I had known, for example, that Napoleon had applied to join La Perouses trip to Australia in 1788  arriving only a few days after Captain Phillip  I had no clue as to the reason he was rejected. It was not because of any general lack of ability on his part, but because while Napoleons skills were military, La Perouse was looking for those with scientific skills. Still, the mind boggles, oui, as to how different things might have been had La Perouse arrived before Captain Philip, there had been a stoush, and Napoleon had been put in charge of routing zee English?

Napoleon was not what La Perouse was looking for. Credit:David Jacques Louis/ Reunion des Musees Nationaux How different our history might have been! The French emperors involvement with this land did not end there, however. His wife Josephine conceived such a passion for all things Australian that she arranged for some of our flora and fauna to be imported for her garden at Malmaison. Sadly, most of the fauna, including the kangaroos perished in the first French winter, but some of the plant life, including the wattle, endures to this day. One of the guests, Anthony Bastic  the long-time light director of the Vivid Festival  is now attempting to mount an exhibition, Josephines Garden, with that very theme. A terrific evening. Joke of the Week A farmer out Condobolin way has five female pigs, while his mate from just outside Parkes has five male pigs. In these tough times they decide to mate the pigs and split everything 50/50. The obvious thing is to meet halfway in a field just west of Bogan Gate and on the first morning the farmer with the female pigs gets up at 5am, loads the pigs into the back of family station wagon  the only vehicle he has  and drives the 50 kilometres to the fields.

As the pigs mate, he asks the other farmer, How will I know if they are pregnant? If theyre lying in the grass tomorrow morning, his mate replies, theyre pregnant. If theyre in the mud, theyre not, and youll have to call me, and well do the whole thing again. The next morning the pigs are rolling in the mud, so after hosing them off he loads them in the family station wagon again, and they try again. This goes for a week, and by the Sunday morning the Condobolin farmer is too tired to get out of bed. Darlin! he yells, please look outside and tell me whether the pigs are in the mud or in the grass. Neither, his wife yells back. Theyre in the station wagon and one of them is honking the horn.

Tweet of the Week It appears @AustralianLabor @SenatorWong want it both ways. Want to recognise Palestine as a State but say they support a two-state solution. Which is it? Caught out again. - @Macsween_Prue Quotes of the Week So they say Trump could potentially get extradited from Florida to New York. If he does end up in prison, I think we should give him Twitter back. I dont know about you, but Id want to know everything that goes on in there, right? Id pay for that. - American late-night TV host, Jimmy Kimmel. Jail is undignified, you are at the bottom of the pit. You are humiliated but, by and large, I was treated decently so that was a big help. The worst single thing was the strip searches, they are brief, humiliating and the ignominy of it is probably the worst of it. I had a firm base for a bed, a hot shower, which is very important to Australians, and the food, there was too much of it. - Cardinal George Pell reflecting on his time in prison.

Babes, look. I knew this would happen. We were at a severe disadvantage. But its okay! Im proud of the song and glad I got to share it with you on the Eurovision stage. - Australias Eurovision hopeful Montaigne on social media after losing in the semi-final of the song contest. We cannot proceed as if nothing is wrong about the [Winter] Olympics going to China. Honour your athletes at home. Lets have a diplomatic boycott if, in fact, this Olympics takes place. Silence is inexcusable. It enables Chinas abuses. - US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to a House of Representatives hearing on human rights on Wednesday. If a DNA profile can be obtained ... a forensic case meeting will be held to formulate the most appropriate DNA strategy which will then require considerable investigation work to have any chance of identifying the man or where he originated from. - Detective Superintendent Des Bray of the SA Polices Major Crime Investigation Branch as work starts to exhume the body of the Somerton Man  mysteriously found dead on an Adelaide beach in 1948, and never since identified  in the hopes of retrieving some DNA. The man did actually see the shark and called out to try and warn others and, very heroically, his friends were able to bring him back into shore after hed been attacked. - Supt Christopher Schilt of the NSW police about Mark Sanguinetti, 59, the man killed by a shark off Tuncurry Beach this week. Since taking command as a commander about 10 months ago, I saw what I consider fundamentally incompatible and competing narratives of what America was, is and should be. That wasnt just prolific in social media, or throughout the country during this past year, but it was spreading throughout the United States military. And I had recognised those narratives as being Marxist in nature. - Lieutenant Colonel Matthew Lohmeier, commander of the 11th Space Warning Squadron, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado. He has since been relieved of the position on the grounds of being a nutter.
Doctors and midwives say the strain on services is resulting in some women being called in for birth inductions which are then delayed by up to a week due to staff shortages, leaving them distressed in hospital. One experienced midwife, who didnt want to be named because she feared losing her job, said the overload, long shifts and staff burnout was a statewide problem. That happens quite a bit: the hospital acknowledges you are fatigued and not at your best, so anybody who works from the PM to night duty gets taken out of high acuity and put into a quiet ward, the midwife said. Its like saying, we know youre going to be bad at your job tonight because youre exhausted so were going to put you somewhere where youre not going to make a mistake. She said that one day this month at the Royal Womens Hospital, there were two women who had given birth in the emergency ward and three more in labour and no available birth centre beds.

The AMA is also concerned that neonatal and paediatric intensive care units have been pushed to capacity due to the increase in births, and it says extra beds and specialist nurses are urgently needed. Loading The AMAs Victorian president, Julian Rait, said the lockdown appeared to be among a range of factors that had led to the surge in pregnancies. Obviously [the lockdown] pushed some couples apart and its also brought many together and weve got a baby boom, he said. The other theory is that people have decided to start their families now, maybe because they cant travel.

At the same time, the costs of private health insurance and private obstetric care is an issue and many people are now choosing to go public for their deliveries. That means our public obstetric services are being hammered like never before. The Victorian government confirmed the pandemic had placed increased demand on some maternity services. It did not provide statistics on recent births at maternity services, but individual hospitals are reporting increases, including at Joan Kirner Womens and Childrens at Sunshine Hospital where there has been more than a 5 per cent jump in the first four months of the year compared to the year before. The Health Department and Victorias healthcare safety watchdog, Safer Care Victoria, has been meeting with public maternity service providers, including the Royal Womens Hospital, to discuss strategies to deal with the changing demand. On some occasions, care may be provided differently than planned. Any changes are to manage patient safety, and only occur with strict clinical oversight, a government spokesman said. Associate Professor Rait said while this weeks Victorian budget had provided $3.7 billion to help address the states overloaded health system, more would probably be required given the recent service demands.

Greens member for Melbourne, Ellen Sandell, whose electorate includes the Royal Womens Hospital, raised questions with Health Minister Martin Foley in Parliament early this month about a concerning increase in the rate of caesareans  as well as other poor birth outcomes for women at Victorian public hospitals. She said a constituent had her baby on the floor of a birth suite where she had been rushed at the last minute due to a lack of available birth centre beds. When I went into labour, I was kept in the emergency room because there were no beds available in the birth suite ... I was then raced into the birth suite when I told them I needed to push and my daughter was born 13 minutes later (on the floor because I didnt make it to the bed in time), the woman, who does not wish to be identified, wrote to Ms Sandell. Nurses union state secretary Ms Fitzpatrick warned of a disaster happening right before our eyes. Ms Dicarlo, who had her baby at the Royal Womens Hospital earlier this year, brought a private midwife to her birth to ensure continuity of care and said the birth and surgical care for her unplanned caesarean was excellent, but she was traumatised by her poor experience post-birth.

She had to wait two hours after her healthy son was born to hold him, and experienced long delays when in pain and needing medication. They were extremely understaffed and really stretched, it was really difficult to get help. You would be lying there and really need pain relief and you cant move because you just had surgery, the babys screaming and you press the button and it takes someone over an hour to come, she said. The director of maternity services at the Royal Womens Hospital, Jenny Ryan, said the hospital would always listen to concerns and work with patients to take appropriate action. Maternity services across Victoria have had a very busy start to 2021, and we are proud of our hard-working staff who continue to provide high-quality care to Victorians, she said. Do you know more? Contact the journalists via email at wendy.tuohy@theage.com.au and aisha.dow@theage.com.au
People living around Lygon Street have vented their frustration with authorities after a man was wounded in an early morning drive-by shooting near the popular Carlton restaurant strip.

The 21-year-old was standing near Argyle Square park, which borders Lygon Street, when he was shot about 4am on Saturday.

Part of Lygon Street, Carlton, was closed on Saturday morning while police investigated an early morning shooting. Credit:Joe Armao

Police believe the shots were fired from a light-coloured car, which then left the scene.

The victim was taken to the Royal Melbourne Hospital under police guard with non-life-threatening injuries. He was in a stable condition on Saturday evening.
Australians one and all should be celebrating our Indigenous culture, which is one of the oldest in the world.

I had the highest admiration for Chris Johnson as a footballer, but I admire him even more now as he dedicates his life to redressing the shameful treatment of our Indigenous people since white settlement ( There was a hunger to know more , The Sunday Age, 16/5)

As an Anglo-Saxon Australian, I am in awe of the cultural significance of Australias original inhabitants but am ashamed that in 2021 fine Australian citizens like Johnson are still required to point out the errors of the past and the present in the treatment of our Indigenous communities as they seek a treaty with the powers that be.

Phil Alexander, Eltham

Weve got it covered

Your correspondent (Kids are missing out, Letters, The Sunday Age, 16/5) asserts that schoolkids are missing out on listening to beautiful stories, with one cause being simplistic decodable texts.

Decodable texts are written to reinforce the sounds taught in a quality phonics program, such as the one I use at my school. We do not want kids to guess, as predictable readers are designed to do. Rather, we want kids to practise the sound-letter correspondences that they have been explicitly taught in a carefully designed sequence.

Decodables have come a long way from the John and Betty readers of old, and are fun and engaging. However, my school also sends home rich reading texts to be shared between child and parent.

Your correspondent should also be encouraged to know that many small country schools, like mine, still employ a teacher-librarian through a state government initiative called the Mobile Area Resource Centre. We also cover quality literature in the classroom  the young children have just finished Pippi Longstocking and the older ones Treasure Island.

Calvin Tromp, principal, Moonambel Primary School
Rome: Cardinal George Pell is enjoying his first Roman spring since being exonerated of sex abuse charges in his Australia: he receives visitors to his Vatican flat, sips midday Aperol Spritzs at the outdoor cafe downstairs and keeps up religiously with Holy See news.

Pell, who turns 80 in June, is buoyed by the perks of being a retired Vatican cardinal despite his life and career being upended by his criminal trials and 404 days of solitary confinement in a Melbourne lockup.

Cardinal George Pell in his home at the Vatican. Credit:AP

Ive become very Italian, Pell tells a visitor one morning, referring to his daily routine checking coronavirus cases in Italy. I check the stats every day. But Im regional: I go immediately to Lazio, which surrounds Rome.

Pell left his job as prefect of the Vaticans economy ministry in 2017 to return home to face charges that he sexually molested two 13-year-old choir boys in the sacristy of the Melbourne cathedral in 1996.
Good morning, brothers and sisters, God loves you. It does not matter what anyone says, it is because of Jesus we are alive today. You may think you woke up on your own strength or that the kids, the dog, or the cat caused you to wake up. No, no, it was God who allowed you to wake up. It is 
Conway, AR (72032)

Today

Thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%..

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Thunderstorms this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 70%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 06:23:49|Editor: huaxia

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CHANGSHA, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The passing of Chinese scientist Yuan Longping, dubbed "the father of hybrid rice," set off an outpour of mourning, gratitude and remembrance among the Chinese public on Saturday.

Yuan, a household name in China, dedicated his life to reducing hunger and helped feed the world's most populous country and beyond. In 2019, Yuan was awarded the Medal of the Republic, China's highest state honor, for his prominent contributions.

On China's Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, the news of Yuan's passing has been viewed billions of times so far, with netizens from all walks of life expressing grief for the loss of a national hero.

"Three times a day, when we enjoy the fragrance of rice, you will be dearly remembered," read a posted comment that has been liked more than 700,000 times.

In China, the academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering is a scientist deeply respected by the people, and also the beloved Grandpa Yuan, whose amiable and humorous personality garnered a lot of young fans.

The top rice scientist died of organ failure at age 91 on Saturday in a hospital in Changsha, capital of Hunan Province.

Many people in Changsha bade farewell to Yuan on Saturday afternoon as the hearse slowly drove out of the Xiangya Hospital of Central South University at around 4 p.m..

"Rest in peace, Grandpa Yuan!" People lining up the sidewalks, braving rains, chanted repeatedly. Some of them kept running with the hearse, while passing vehicles all stopped and constantly honked horns to pay tribute.

"When my father told me today that Grandpa Yuan's passed away, I couldn't help crying," said 12-year-old Li Yuexin, who's always been proud of living in the same city as Yuan did.

"I want to tell Grandpa Yuan that when the wind blows through paddy fields across China, we will think of you!" she added.

Le Thi Huong, a student from Vietnam at the Central South University, is saddened by the news of Yuan's passing. "Yuan Longping's hybrid rice has also been planted on a large scale in my home country, which has also brought food security to us," she said in tears. "He is a scientist who has benefited many people in the world."

On its way to the funeral home, the hearse made a detour to the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Center located in Changsha, as Yuan's family wished he could for the last time be near his workplace, colleagues and students.

"Yuan Longping has left us precious legacy," the research center wrote in a eulogy posted on its official website, whose homepage turned black-and-white on Saturday, adding that "his name will be engraved on the vast field and printed on the hearts of the people."

Yuan once said he had two dreams -- to "enjoy the cool under the rice crops taller than men," and that hybrid rice would be grown all over the world to help solve the global food scarcity.

"We will turn our grief into strength, and carry on his unfinished cause," the eulogy read.

"A few words will suffice to remark on Yuan's achievements: he helped the world fend off hunger," said Hu Peisong, director-general of the China National Rice Research Institute.

Qu Dongyu, director-general of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, honored Yuan's life on Twitter on Saturday.

"He devoted his life to the research of hybrid rice, helping billions achieve food security," he wrote. "You were my inspiration. May you rest in peace."

China's Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs said in a statement that the agronomist's death is a great loss to the country's agriculture.

The ministry noted that Yuan's noble spirit and character will be carried forward, and vowed to firmly take the initiative in food security.

Similar sentiments have also been expressed on the passing of Wu Mengchao, a top hepatobiliary surgeon and an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Wu passed away on Saturday in Shanghai.

"It's so sad to see our country lose two great stars of science on the same day," one netizen wrote on Weibo and many agreed.

Some pointed out that Yuan and Wu each had one minor planet named after them to honor their contributions.

A verse was widely quoted and shared on China's social media. "They are the bravest men, protecting China's food security and the health of the people; they are the brightest stars, guiding people on their way ahead." Enditem
Van Buren, AR (72956)

Today

Thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

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Thunderstorms early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low 73F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 11:13:47|Editor: huaxia

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ACCRA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Ghana has been selected as a possible manufacturing hub for COVID-19 vaccines in Africa, said a statement issued on Friday by the Jubilee House, Ghana's presidential palace.

"At a meeting with the Vice President of the European Commission, Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commission indicated the selection of Ghana as a possible manufacturing hub for COVID-19 vaccines in Africa," the statement said.

The statement followed a recent meeting in Belgium between Ghanaian President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and Dombrovskis.

Taskforce teams from the European Union and Ghana will meet in due course to discuss ways of realizing the initiative, the statement said.

Ghana was the first country in the world to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX Facility and commenced its first phase of mass inoculation in early March.

According to the Ghana Health Service, the country has administered over 900,000 doses, and expects to inoculate 20 million people by the end of this year. Enditem
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RENSSELAER - Mary Ellen Murin, of Rensselaer, formerly of West Oneonta, passed away on Thursday, June 10, 2021. She was 88 years old. Mary Ellen was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey. She graduated from Linden High School, Linden, New Jersey in 1950. She attended Trenton State Teachers College i
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 21:08:42|Editor: huaxia

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MOGADISHU, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Somali National Army (SNA) said Saturday its forces killed six al-Shabab terrorists during a sting operation at a village in the central region of Hiran.

Hussein Hassan Jodah, commander of SNA's 5th Unit division 27, said the military operation was carried out in al-Shabab areas in Bulo-burte district.

Jodah told Radio Mogadishu that the army also destroyed al-Shabab bases or hideouts which the militants have been using to launch attacks on the locals.

He said the latest operation came after the militant group launched a cowardly attack on Bula Burte district, adding that the army inflicted heavy casualties on the terrorist group.

The government forces have recently intensified operations against al-Shabab extremists in central and southern regions where the militants are still hiding in rural areas, conducting ambushes and planting land mines. Enditem
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Forest City, NC (28043)

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Thunderstorms, some heavy this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%..

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Thunderstorms, some heavy this evening, then skies turning partly cloudy after midnight. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%.
1619 Project Has No Place in South Dakota, Kristi Noem Says

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem has voiced stern opposition to teaching the 1619 Project curriculum in the states schools.

Noem, a Republican, took to Twitter on Friday to criticize the 1619 Project, saying it claims that America was founded on racism and slavery, not on an ideal of equality. It seeks to incorrectly re-frame the nation as a story of us versus them rather than We the People,' she wrote.

The 1619 Project, inaugurated with a special issue of The New York Times Magazine, attempts to cast the Atlantic slave trade as the dominant factor in the founding of America instead of ideals such as individual liberty and natural rights. The initiative has been widely panned by historians and political scientists, with some critics calling it a bid to rewrite U.S. history through a left-wing lens.

Noem said that, according to many historians, the 1619 Projects version of American history is full of errors and misstatements that should be avoided, not embraced.

The 1619 Project relies upon the concept of Critical Race Theory to further divide students based on the color of their skin, Noem wrote. This is inappropriate and un-American. It has no place in South Dakota, and it certainly has no place in South Dakota classrooms.

In a recent interview on NTDs Focus Talk, Yiatin Chu, an Asian mother of two and co-chair of the New York chapter of the Foundation Against Intolerance and Racism (FAIR), described critical race theory as pushing the idea that disparate outcomes, such as academic competency scores, can be reduced to a single variablerace. Advocates of the theory, which she said is increasingly being taught at pre-college levels, push the socialist notion of equality of outcome, and blame differences in outcomes on entrenched privilege while dividing people into oppressors and their victims, the oppressed.

Noems remarks come as Republicans across the nation are trying to prevent the teaching of critical race theory, and are expressing concern about the Biden administration prioritizing the funding of educational programs that incorporate the ideas of the 1619 Project into their teaching of U.S. history and civics.

In a proposed new rule (pdf) released April 19, the Education Department outlined new priority criteria for a $5.3 million American History and Civics Education grant, as well as exemplary materials for K-12 educators to use. Specifically, the Education Department cited the 1619 Project, and critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendis antiracist idea as leading examples of the kind of content it wants to use taxpayer dollars to promote in history and civics classrooms across the country.

Thirty-seven Republicans led by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on May 6 penned a letter to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona urging him to remove the 1619 Project from federal grant programs, arguing that it skews American history for divisive political ends.

Our nations youth do not need activist indoctrination that fixates solely on past flaws and splits our nation into divided camps. Taxpayer-supported programs should emphasize the shared civic virtues that bring us together, not push radical agendas that tear us apart, McConnell and his GOP colleagues wrote in the letter (pdf).

Nikole Hannah-Jones, creator of the 1619 Project, responded to the GOP criticism of the project during an interview with MSNBC on May 3, saying the 1619 curriculum being allowed in schools is a matter of free speech.

This isnt a project about trying to teach children that our country is evil, but it is a project trying to teach children the truth about what our country was based upon, and its only in really confronting that truthslavery was foundational to the United States, we, after the slavery, experienced 100 years of legalized discrimination against black Americans, said Hannah-Jones. Mitch McConnell and others like him want for our children to get a propagandistic, nationalistic understanding of history that is not about facts, but it is about how they would want to pretend that our country is.

Mary Grabar, author of the upcoming book Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America, argued in an interview on Epoch TVs Crossroads program that the 1619 Project skews American history for divisive political ends.

Earlier in May, Noem signed a pledge that aims to restore patriotic education in response to the push to teach critical race theory in the school curriculum.

Teaching our children & grandchildren to hate their own country & pitting them against one another on the basis of race or sex is shameful & must be stopped. Im proud to be the 1st candidate in America to sign The 1776 Pledge to Save Our Schools, Noem wrote.

Masooma Haq contributed to this report.
Fireworks explode above the Mount Rushmore National Monument during an Independence Day event attended by President Donald Trump in Keystone, S.D., on July 3, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

17 GOP Attorneys General Back South Dakotas Lawsuit Over Mount Rushmore July 4 Fireworks Cancellation

Seventeen Republican attorneys general have filed an amicus brief in support of a lawsuit brought by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem against the Biden administration over its decision to deny a request to hold a fireworks display at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in July to celebrate Independence Day.

The Biden administration made the decision to cancel the fireworks display in March. Herbert Frost, a regional director for the National Park Service, cited the COVID-19 pandemic as a key factor in making his decision, stating that public health guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) currently recommends that large gatherings be avoided, particularly those in which physical social distancing cannot be maintained between people who live in different households.

Noem is suing the administration over the decision, calling Mount Rushmore the very best place to celebrate Americas birthday and all that makes our country special.

In this screenshot from the RNCs livestream of the 2020 Republican National Convention, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem addresses the virtual convention on Aug. 26, 2020. (Courtesy of the Committee on Arrangements for the 2020 Republican National Committee via Getty Images)

Now her lawsuit has the backing of 17 attorneys general, including the top legal officers from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia. In a court document (pdf), filed on May 21, the attorneys general called the Biden administrations decision to cancel the fireworks display arbitrary and capricious.

Given the importance of the Fourth of July holiday and the special role of Mount Rushmore as a national monument, amici States have an interest in seeing the fireworks display take place again this year, the attorneys general said in the document, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Dakota.

They argued that there is a strong public interest in holding a Fourth of July fireworks display at Mount Rushmore, while the Department of Interiors flimsy and unsupported rationale for refusing to allow a fireworks display is arbitrary and capricious.

They argued that last years celebration at Mount Rushmore was held when the pandemic was worse and before vaccines were developed.

More than seven thousand visitors attended, and contact tracing has failed to identify even one case of COVID-19 tied to the event, they wrote.

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump pay their respects as they listen to the National Anthem during the Independence Day events at Mount Rushmore National Memorial in Keystone, S.D., on July 3, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)

The National Park Service also cited opposition from local tribes as factors in rejecting South Dakotas bid to display fireworks.

The attorneys general acknowledged tribal objections, but argued that the mere fact that some people may oppose a fireworks display is not a sufficient justification for cancelling an important national celebration.

The White House didnt respond to a request for comment following the filing of Noems lawsuit in April.

Following the announcement of the lawsuit, Ian Fury, communications director for Noem, told The Epoch Times via email that the governor is going to do everything in her ability to ensure that we can celebrate Americas birthday with fireworks at Mount Rushmore.

Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.
A worker waters a lawn near an Afghan national flag flying at half-mast in Kabul on May 11, 2021. May 11 was declared a national day of mourning by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to condemn the recent terrorist attacks. (WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP via Getty Images)

Afghanistan Peace Process Will Depend on Whether Regional Powers Cooperate or Compete: Experts

Part I in a series on Afghanistan's changing situation amid the US troop withdrawal

News Analysis

NEW DELHIThe withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, rescheduled to September, has created a period of instability, and regional and global powers are testing the waters for influence. Experts say the peace process will depend upon whether these powers will cooperate or compete.

The United States decided to keep thousands of its troops in Afghanistan beyond the original May 1 deadline and complete the exit by Sept. 11. The earlier deadline was announced by the Trump administration last year in its negotiations with the Taliban.

The official announcement for the drawdown of all 2,500 U.S. troops in four months has created a potential time period for increased violence, while regional and global powers issue statements and host meetings to discuss their policies.

The conflicts in Afghanistan are rooted in the region, and the solution can only be collectively sustained, according to Hamid Bahrami, author and independent Middle East analyst based in Glasgow, Scotland, told The Epoch Times in an email.

Because Afghanistans conflicts are rooted in the region, the solution also requires pressure on countries like Iran, Pakistan, and Qatar to end their financial and weapons support to the Taliban and pursue their interests through multilateral diplomacy, said Bahrami, a former political prisoner in Iran. The multifaceted use of the Taliban and the Afghanistan government as tools of pressure on each other will only increase regional warfare and the export of terrorism.

He said that while U.S. troops are still in place, the instability has significantly increased, and once theres no balancing power present there, such as the United States, the instability will continue to increase.

The situation in Afghanistan can either evolve as a win-win for everyone, or itll be a loss for everyone, he said.

Competition for interests, or cooperation for stability. If not, it will turn Afghanistan into a terrorist and narcotic factory once again. But in the first step, the Taliban must change from a military force to a political force, Bahrami said. This goal can be achieved by the West putting real pressure on Pakistan, some Sunni Arab states, and Iran to end their strategic and tactical financial and weapons support to the Taliban.

The United States must keep those powers from undermining the peace process in Afghanistan, Michael Johns, a former White House speechwriter and Heritage Foundation foreign policy analyst told The Epoch Times in an email. He was also a leading force in both implementing and making the political case for the Reagan Doctrine, under which the U.S. provided military assistance to anti-communist resistance forces in Afghanistan, Angola, Cambodia, and Nicaragua.

He supported arming the Afghan mujahideen forces led by Ahmed Shah Massoud, who helped lead the fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, but also opposed Arab mujahideen factions that went on to later compose core components of al-Qaida.

The greatest threat to peace and stability in Afghanistan is the Taliban seeing the departure of U.S. troops as an invitation to utilize military force in ways that undermine power-sharing and contradict the commitments it has made. That threat would be amplified considerably should any regional power assist the Taliban in such a pursuit, Johns said.

The U.S. must reinforce that any effort to undermine the peace and stability of Afghanistan by Russia, China, Iran, or any other force would be viewed as an act of immense hostility against the U.S. and would be met with punitive measures.

President Joe Biden speaks from the Treaty Room in the White House about the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Afghanistan, in Washington, on April 14, 2021. (Andrew Harnik/Pool/Getty Images)

Tensions Between US, Regional Forces

Bahrami said tensions between the United States and regional players such as Russia, Iran, China, and Pakistan are affecting regional alliances in Afghanistan, and these alliances will become more complicated once the United States exits Afghanistan.

We must consider the U.S. to be a balancer in Central and West Asia. Like what it does in the East and North Pacific. If we have seen the fight between the U.S. and the Taliban since 2001, as soon as the U.S. leaves, Afghanistan will become a battleground between regional countries, he said, adding that no two powers operating inside Afghanistan share the same interests.

Peace with the Taliban at the cost of Afghanistans political captivity by Pakistan, security captivity by Iran, and economic captivity by China are all against the security interests of the West.

The West must maintain its presence inside Afghanistan, or it should at least strengthen India as a balancer, Bahrami said.

Of course, India must first formulate its policies with the West in such a way that one sees a convergence of security and economic interests with the West. Second, India should prioritize the principle of promoting Western democracy against Chinese expansionism and its one road one belt plan, he said.

Iran, Pakistan, and some Arab states use the Taliban as a Trojan horse inside Afghanistan, according to Bahrami. For example, Pakistan exploits the Taliban to isolate India in the Afghanistan peace process. Or Iran does the same to weaken the Saudi position, he said.

Bahrami said that if Pakistan wants to secure its interests, it must stop supporting the Taliban and instead pursue multilateral negotiations.

However, a weak Afghanistan is much better for Pakistan, and Islamabad does its best to do this, he said.

The United States doesnt put pressure on Pakistan because it fears any pressure will push it toward China, Bahrami said. He called it a fatal policy.

In Pakistan, China is building one of the largest ports in Asia, connecting China to the Indian Ocean via the Gwadar port. Establishing this strategic road would not be easy without Chinas effective presence in Afghanistan, he said.

Johns said since the time of the Soviet occupation, Pakistans engagement inside Afghanistan has been troubling.

Pakistans intelligence service was an unreliable partner in our support for the Afghan mujahideen during the Soviet occupation and often sought to divert aid to more radicalized elements in Afghanistan, including forces that ultimately came to formulate al-Qaeda, he said, adding that Pakistan offered shelter to Taliban and Al-Qaida following the Sept. 11 attacks.

More recently, Pakistan seems to see its relationship with the U.S. as more vital than proving a disruptive force in Afghanistan. But the departure of U.S. troops will clearly test this thesis.

Bahrami said its entirely wrong to engage Iran in the peace process because itll only aggravate the crisis. Eliminating the Iranian regime from the peace process can convince Saudi Arabia to play a positive role in the process.

Johns said the United States should continue the maximum pressure campaign that was begun during the Trump administration, to ensure that the Iranian regime doesnt become a menacing force inside Afghanistan.

The regime remains the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world, and it is likely to become an even larger sponsor of terrorism if it is afforded the financial resources that would accompany the lifting of sanctions or restoration of U.S. trade ties, Johns said.

Men dig graves for the victims of a May 8 explosion during a mass funeral ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan, on May 9, 2021. (Stringer/Reuters)

A More Ideal Agreement

Johns said there are limitations to the United States ability to influence every situation inside Afghanistan, but the best hope is that global and regional powers will learn from history.

And realize that foreign military engagement there has really never paid off for anyone. Gorbachev, for instance, labeled the Soviets nine-year occupation of Afghanistan a bleeding wound. Every military attempt to alter the direction of Afghanistan one way or the other has proven hugely difficult and costly, and theres no reason to believe that will change anytime soon, he said.

Johns said President Joe Biden shouldnt have advertised the departure deadline of the U.S. troops to prevent this situation of instability.

As a matter of general operational principle, it is not unreasonable to establish deadlines as internal governmental goals, but it is a mistake to advertise those deadlines to the world. In advertising a departure date, all we really accomplish is providing those who would do harm advance notice of our timeline. Not much of Bidens national security or foreign policy steps have made sense to date, and that includes advertising a departure deadline from Afghanistan, he said.

An ideal agreement, according to Johns, would have happened if rather than defining an unconditional departure deadline, the troops withdrawal would be subjected to the Taliban fulfilling its various commitments regarding the ceasefire, regarding its negotiations with the Afghan government, and only after it fulfilled its counter-terrorism guarantees.

Having done that, however, the U.S. should now make clear that the departure of U.S. troops is contingent on the Taliban living up to the letter and spirit of its commitments prior to our self-imposed Sept. 11 deadline, Johns said.

Bahrami says he thinks an ideal agreement would mean disarming the Taliban and ensuring its entry as a political force inside Afghanistan.

Then, Afghani sides can make their own future, set their relationship with other regional and superpowers. Dont forget this ideal deal also should be based on spreading democracy in Afghanistan, he said.

This article is the first in the series Afghanistans Changing Situation Amid U.S. Troop Withdrawal, in which The Epoch Times speaks with global analysts, lawmakers, thought leaders, and ordinary citizens within Afghanistan to gather a wider perspective on the situation inside the country.
President Joe Biden (R) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in participate in a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington on May 21, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Biden Appoints Special Envoy to North Korea, Commits to Diplomacy

President Joe Biden on Friday announced he will appoint career diplomat Ambassador Sung Kim as a special envoy to North Korea as the United States and South Korea affirmed their shared commitment to engage diplomatically with the rogue nation to end its nuclear program.

Biden made the announcement at a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, saying both countries were deeply concerned and had agreed to work together to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions.

He made these comments in the East Room of the White House after bilateral talks with Moon that spanned the Indo-Pacific, China, climate change, and COVID-19, the disease caused by the the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

Our partnership is founded on our iron-clad commitment to shared security, Biden said. Our alliance has long been a linchpin to peace, security, prosperity, and the region growing more prominent, and us being together.

The U.S. president said the talks had affirmed the two countries shared history of sacrifice and served to expand cooperation as they shaped their shared futures in accordance with democratic values that made the United States strong, agile, and competitive.

Biden described the 70-year alliance between the United States and South Korea as essential for the future of the Indo-Pacific region and the world.

The U.S.-ROK partnership extends beyond the goals of the peninsula, Biden said, using South Koreas formal name. They address issues of regional and global concern through stronger cooperation with partners in the region, including the ASEAN, the Quad, and trilateral cooperation with Japan.

The ASIAN is an economic union comprising 10 member states in Southeast Asia, and the Quad is an informal strategic dialogue between the United States, Japan, Australia, and India.

Moons visit marked the second visit of a head of state to the White House, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in April.

Korea will closely work with the U.S. to achieve complete denuclearization and establish permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, Moon said.

Although tricky challenges lie ahead of us, as allies that share core values, our two countries will actively work together to address global challenges such as COVID-19, economic recovery, and climate change. And we will usher in a new era, he said.

When asked, Moon said Biden did not pressure him to take a tougher stance on Chinas posturing toward Taiwan. But as for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, we agreed how important that region is. Especially considering the special characteristics between China and Taiwan, we decided to work more closely on this matter going forward, Moon said.

The South Korean president also attended a ceremony where Biden presented a Congressional Medal of Honor to a Ranger in his mid-90s for his acts of bravery in Korea during the Korean War. Moon personally congratulated the veteran, Biden said.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 00:36:20|Editor: huaxia

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CAIRO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Cypriot Foreign Minister Nikos Christodoulides discussed on Saturday bilateral cooperation and regional issues.

In a statement, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said that they both praised the strength of bilateral relations between Egypt and Cyprus, highlighting the continuous cooperation and coordination in various aspects.

The two ministers also underlined the importance of accelerating the implementation of joint projects in energy field and enhancing tourism cooperation.

Meanwhile, Shoukry updated his Cypriot counterpart on Egypt's moves to stop the military escalation between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, the statement said, adding that he stressed Egypt's keenness to work intensively to restore calm.

The Egyptian minister noted that his country is currently working to stabilize the ceasefire between the two sides, pointing out that the absence of any real horizon for the peace process may lead to the continuation of conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Shoukry also stressed that maintaining calm requires intensifying international efforts to re-launch the negotiation process as soon as possible.

The two ministers also discussed other regional files and issues of common interest. Enditem
President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in (not shown) participate in a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House, in Washington, on May 21, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Biden Deflects UFO Question Back to Obama

President Joe Biden on Friday redirected a question about UFOs back to former President Barack Obama, who had recently acknowledged that military footage of aerial phenomena is unexplainable.

I would ask him again, Biden said during a press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Obama told a late-night host earlier this week, that some of the phenomena captured in military videos cannot be explained.

What is true, and Im actually being serious here, is that there is footage and records of objects in the skies that we dont know exactly what they are, Obama said. We cant explain how they move, their trajectory.

They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so I think that people still take seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is.

The Pentagon confirmed last week that certain images and footage of Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (UAP) released to the public last month were taken by U.S. Navy personnel, and are currently under investigation by its UAP Task Force.

The acknowledgment follows the release of footage by documentary filmmaker Jeremy Corbell, who shared media on YouTube, writing that the U.S. Navy photographed and filmed pyramid-shaped UFOs and spherical advanced transmedium vehicles.

In one clip, footage of what the Pentagon calls a transmedium vehicle appears to hover from side to side, before dipping below sea level.

This footage was filmed in the CIC (Combat Information Center) of the USS Omaha on July 15th 2019 in a warning area off San Diego, Corbell wrote. This footage depicts a UAP event series that reached a crescendo with one of the unknown targets entering the water. No wreckage found. None of the unknown craft were recovered.

Confirming the authenticity of the clip, Susan Gough, a Pentagon spokesperson, told the Daily Caller that it was captured by U.S. Navy personnel.

I can confirm that the video was taken by Navy personnel, and that the UAPTF included it in their ongoing examinations.

Corbell said intelligence reports note that the spherical craft could not be found upon entry to the water, and that a submarine was used in the search but nothing was recovered.

The Pentagons UAP Task Force, which was established last year, is scheduled to release a report on its findings in June.

The mission of the task force is to detect, analyze, and catalog UAPs that could potentially pose a threat to U.S. national security, it said.

Last month, Gough also confirmed night-vision footage uploaded by Corbell showing a pyramid-shaped flying object moving at a constant speed and blinking irregularly. That footage is also under review by the UAP Task Force, she said, declining to elaborate further for security reasons.

Since the release of the U.S. Navy images and footage, the Pentagons inspector general said it plans to begin a probe next month into how the Pentagon has responded to unidentified aerial phenomena, including UFOs.

John Ratcliffe, the former director of National Intelligence, said UAP Task Forces report would detail more information than has been released before.

There are a lot more sightings than have been made public, he said on Fox News in March.

Zachary Stieber and Isabel Van Brugen contributed to this report.
Biden: Two-State Solution The Only Answer to Israel-Palestine Conflict

President Joe Biden said on Friday there has been no shift in his commitment to the security of Israel, insisting the only answer was a two-state solution with Palestine.

There is no shift in my commitment  to the security of Israel. Period. No shiftnot at all, Biden told reporters at a White House press conference with South Koreas president. But Ill tell you what there is a shift in. The shift is  we still need a two-state solution. It is the only answer. The only answer.

Biden also addressed the idea of a rift among Democrats who want his administration to rebuke Israel and end a planned arms deal between the United States and Israel, saying, I think that my party still supports Israel.

Lets get something straight here, he added, Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.

On Friday, about 140 progressive groups called on the Biden administration to condemn Israel.

We are horrified by Israels use of disproportionate and deadly force against Palestinians in Gaza which have already resulted in the killings of dozens of Palestinians, including children, the statement reads (pdf).

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) also moved to block a planned weapons sale to Israel.

U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a joint press conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in the East Room of the White House in Washington, on May 21, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

A ceasefire began early on Friday, ending 11 days of conflict that broke out this month after Hamas launched rockets at Israel over a court case to evict several Palestinian families in East Jerusalem. Nearly 250 people have been killed, mostly Palestinians, according to Israeli and Gaza authorities.

Biden said he spoke to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and renewed the United States commitment to security and economic support for the West Bank.

The United States will replenish Israels Iron Dome missile defense system, which helped destroy Hamas rockets fired into the Jewish nation, and provide humanitarian relief for the people of Gaza and Gaza reconstruction efforts.

Biden said he told Abbas he would attempt to put a major package together with other nations that share his view in an effort to rebuild Gaza, without providing Hamas with the opportunity to rebuild their weapons systems.

I also indicated to the Israelis that I thought it was very important that they stop in Jerusalem this inner-communal fighting by extremes on both sides, Biden said. It has to end. It has to end.

The U.S. president previously commended the efforts for peace while also reiterating his support for Israels right to defend itself and the Jews and Arabs living within its borders from missile attacks from terrorist groups.

Amid the conflict, Hamas fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israeli civilian areas beginning on May 10. Israel responded with hundreds of airstrikes and several ground strikes to take down the offending and supporting Hamas infrastructure.

Streaks of light are seen as Israels Iron Dome anti-missile system intercept rockets launched from the Gaza Strip towards Israel, as seen from Ashkelon May 19, 2021. (Amir Cohen/Reuters)

Republican Senator Blames Fighting on Biden

Meanwhile, top GOP senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Wednesday laid the blame for the fighting in the Middle East at the feet of the president, pointing to his administrations dismissal of the peace accords struck between Israel and several countries under the former president and Bidens intention to re-enter the Iran nuclear deal.

Cruz recalled being present when the Abraham Accords were signed at the White House. The agreements were hammered out between the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain and Israel, with help from then-President Donald Trump.

(L-R) Bahrain Foreign Minister Abdullatif al-Zayani, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, U.S. President Donald Trump, and UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed Al-Nahyan hold up documents after participating in the signing of the Abraham Accords where the countries of Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates recognize Israel, at the White House in Washington on Sept. 15, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)

I spoke with the ambassadors and foreign ministers from the UAE and from Bahrain. Both said virtually the identical thing; both said it is now clear to us that America stands unequivocally with Israel. We want to be friends with America. Therefore we will be friends with Israel. That clarity that strength produces peace, Cruz told a briefing in Washington.

But Biden after entering office undermined Israel by sending hundreds of millions of dollars to the Palestinian Authority, which is closely linked to the terror group Hamas, and stated his goal of re-entering a nuclear agreement with Iran that Trump had withdrawn from.

As a direct result of those failed decisions, we now have hundreds and hundreds of rockets raining down on innocent men, women, and children in Israel from Hamas, funded by Iran, Cruz said before the ceasefire was negotiated.

Zachary Stieber and Janita Kan contributed to this report.
Brother Barbers Cut Hair for the Homeless, Veterans, Credit Success to Single Mom Who Raised Them

Growing up two of five siblings in a single parent home, brothers Fonzie and Gilbert Lopez learned to cut hair to help their struggling mom. In 2015, their talent turned into a business called Barber Bros.

Mindful of their neighbors in San Antonio, Texas, struggling like their mom used to, the brothers started giving back by cutting hair for the homeless, veterans, and school-aged kids.

Both credit their mom for instilling in them good morals.

The Lopez siblings with their mother. (Courtesy of Barber Bros #2)

We were fortunate to have a lot of things, but there were five of us, Gilbert explained to ABC. She just did a lot on her own. Raised us the way we are today.

When times got tough, though, the brothers started cutting each others hair every week to make sure they looked well put-together. Being so competitive, they just got better and better, Fonzie said.

When Fonzie returned from military service, his brother suggested they start a barbering business. Barber Bros began in a cramped, moldy restroom in a restaurantbut the brothers persevered.

The interior at Barber Bros. (Courtesy of Barber Bros #2)

Having each other helped both of us any time we hit those brick walls, said Gilbert, joking that his big brother became a reformed man after a wayward youth.

Together, Fonzie and Gilbert traversed Barber Bross rocky beginnings and began to thrive. They moved into a legit studio space, hired staff, and expanded their skill sets.

The Bros getting down at the new location doing womens hair now! they posted on Facebook, adding: Come check us out, you wont be disappointed.

Before long, the brothers desire to give back to their community was ignited.

Today, Fonzie and Gilbert offer haircuts and food to the homeless, cut hair for veterans, and even hold back-to-school drives for kids in need in San Antonio. Donations are gifted alongside free haircuts and include backpacks, notepads, and stationery supplies.

Besides their mothers love and guidance, the brothers also credit each other for making their joint effort a success. Fonzie told the news outlet his brother Gilbert is especially tenacious.

Whenever he sets his mind to do something, he does it, said Fonzie. It is going to happen.

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
Burma's State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi attends the joint news conference of the Japan-Mekong Summit Meeting at the Akasaka Palace State Guest House in Tokyo, Japan on Oct. 9, 2018. (Franck Robichon/Pool via Reuters)

Burma Junta Leader Says Aung San Suu Kyi Will Soon Appear

Burmas junta leader Min Aung Hlaing said deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi was healthy at home and would appear in court in a few days, in his first interview since overthrowing her in a Feb. 1 coup.

The coup has plunged the Southeast Asian country into chaos. An ethnic armed group opposed to the ruling junta attacked a military post in a northwestern jade mining town while other violent incidents were reported from other corners of Burma (also known as Myanmar).

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate for her long struggle against previous military rulers, is among more than 4,000 people detained since the coup. She faces charges that range from illegally possessing walkie-talkie radios to violating a state secrets law.

Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health. She is at her home and healthy. She is going to face trial at the court in a few days, Min Aung Hlaing said by video link with the Hong Kong-based Chinese language broadcaster Phoenix Television on May 20, in excerpts released on Saturday.

Aung San Suu Kyi (L), Burmas foreign minister, walks with senior General Min Aung Hlaing (R), Burma militarys commander-in-chief, in Naypyitaw, Burma, on May 6, 2016. (Aung Shine Oo/AP Photo)

The interviewer asked him what he thought of the performance of Suu Kyi, 75, who is widely admired in the country of 53 million for her campaign that had brought tentative democratic reforms which were cut short by the coup.

She tried all she could, Min Aung Hlaing responded.

He reiterated that the army had seized power because it had identified fraud in an election won by Suu Kyis party in Novemberalthough its accusations were rejected by the then-election commission.

He said the army would hold elections and potential changes to the constitution had been identified and would be made if they were the peoples will.

Suu Kyis next court appearance is due on Monday in the capital Naypyidaw. So far she has appeared only by video link and as yet to be allowed to speak directly to her lawyers.

The junta has cited security reasons for not allowing her to speak to her lawyers in private at a time the military authorities have not established control of the country in the face of daily protests, strikes and renewed insurgencies.

Attack on Jade Town

The Kachin Independence Army (KIA) attacked an army post at Hkamti township in the Sagaing region early on Saturday, the Irrawaddy and Mizzima online publications said. Pictures showed columns of dark smoke rising from the scene.

People look at thick columns of black smoke from Hkamti, Sagaing, Burma, on May 22, 2021.(News Anassador via Reuters)

KIA spokesman Naw Bu told Reuters he was aware of the attack but could give no details. Reuters was unable to reach a junta spokesman for comment.

State run-MRTV television reported the attack and said that three police had been wounded and others were missing. Independent broadcaster DVB said nine were captured by the insurgents.

Since the coup, open conflict resumed between the army and the KIA, which has been fighting for greater autonomy for the Kachin people for some six decades and has voiced support for anti-junta protesters.

Mizzima said the army used jets in attacks on the KIA at Hkamti, a town on the Chindwin river in a remote region rich in jade and gold about 50 km (30 miles) from the border with India.

The army has carried out numerous bombing attacks on KIA positions in recent weeks and has also clashed with ethnic armies in the east and west of Burma.

Security forces have killed at least 815 people since the coup, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners activist group.

Min Aung Hlaing said the actual figure was around 300 and that 47 police had also been killed.

State-run MRTV said one policeman had been killed in an insurgent attack in eastern Kayah state on Friday.

People displaced by fighting share a meal in Burmas northwestern Chin State, Burma, on May 21, 2021. (Stringer/Reuters)

In western Chin state, junta opponents said they had killed at least four members of the security forces on Friday and had buried them by the roadside. The claim could not be independently verified.

Burmese media reported that a soldier had been killed in a shooting in the commercial hub, Yangon, on Saturday. Bomb blasts were reported there, at Pathein in the Irrawaddy delta region and at a trading zone near the border with China.
A branch of ripening cherries at Nunn Better Farms in Brentwood, Calif., on May 20, 2021. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

Californias Cherry Season Draws Crowds to U-Pick Farms

BRENTWOOD, Calif.Branches full of plump red cherries sway in the wind, as if waving down a U-picker to choose them.

Californias cherry season sends crowds to local farms to pick their own cherries. This was a popular activity during the pandemic lockdowns and has remained popular even as lockdowns ease. Some have decided to make it a family tradition.

Nunn Better Farms in Brentwood draws crowds every year for its annual cherry U-pick, attracting people of all ages.

The Schreiner family filled five buckets of cherries in an hour when they visited. They told NTD Television that they intend to give some to friends and make cherry pies, jams, and chutney with them.

The Schreiner family visits Nunn Better Farms to pick cherries for the second year in a row, in Brentwood, Calif., on May 20, 2021. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

I love eating them, but I also loved picking them, said their son, Benedict.

I love eating them even more, said their daughter, Eneline.

Somebody for the low ones, somebody for the medium ones, and then somebody for the high ones, said Taylor Schreiner, as he gestured from his daughter to himself.

The family of four drove from Berkeley in the morning. Its their second year picking cherries.

Our first time was last year.  It was really the beginning of the pandemic, and it was the first thing that we [could] think of to do that sounded actually fun, Tess Schreiner, from Berkeley, told NTD. This year the pandemic isnt so bad, but we just wanted to make this a tradition.

The children liked the darker cherries because theyre sweeter.

Cherries at Nunn Better Farms in Brentwood, Calif., on May 20, 2021. A full bucket of cherries weighs about 10 pounds. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

We like the freshness, and usually we pick it when its in season, Christian Canlas from Daly City told NTD.

He visits with his family a few times a year.

For others, it was their first time cherry-picking.

I feel excited. I guess well go and find out what its like, Jazmin Jimenez from Modesto said.

Visitors take photos with the farm sign at Nunn Better Farms in Brentwood, Calif., on May 20, 2021. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

Family-Owned Since 1800s

For over 150 years, this family-owned 75-acre farm has been providing fresh fruits and vegetables to the community.

We were doing U-pick peaches in World War II, and then in the 60s we moved into U-pick apricots, and then we did a little bit of U-pick apples in the 80s, and U-pick cherries really took over in the 90s, Jeff Houd, owner of Nunn Better Farms, told NTD. U-pick cherries have been a big deal since the early 2000s.

Houd has been the owner for two years now, after taking over for his grandfather. He has been working on the farm since he was six years old.

During the pandemic last year, they had a big turnout because people couldnt go many other places. They have enforced social distancing and mask requirements.

Ready to be picked right now are Corals, mainly, the Champagne Coral cherry. Its a dark red cherry, almost purple, crunchy, really sweet. Its one of my favorites, Houd said.

Coral Champagne cherries are dark and ready to be picked at Nunn Better Farms in Brentwood, Calif., on May 20, 2021. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

Lapins are next to ripen after Corals.

Its a bright red cherry, really good texture, really big, good-sized cherry, he said.

The fruits grow best when theyre planted next to other varieties of cherries. For example, Corals grow better next to Brooks cherries.

They also planted a small patch of peaches, apricots, and nectarines last year.

Jeff Houd at Nunn Better Farms in Brentwood, Calif., on May 20, 2021. Houd said he has been working on the farm since he was six and has now taken over for his grandfather. (Ilene Eng/The Epoch Times)

Houd suggests picking cherries with the stems so theyll last longer. He said the only way to find ones personal preference is to take a bite.

The cherries are priced at $3.50 per pound, and people must pay for everything theyve picked.

The farm is usually open for six weeks starting in May. No reservations are needed for U-pick, and theyre open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Demonstrators gather in front of Los Alamitos Unified School District Headquarters in protest of critical race theory teachings in Los Alamitos, Calif., on May 11, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Capistrano Unified Board Approves Cultural Proficiency Lessons for K12

The Capistrano Unified School Districts (CUSD) Board of Trustees approved new cultural proficiency lessons for all students during a recent board meeting.

The lessons, which will be taught by counselors and not teachers, seek to build cultural proficiency, engage students in higher-order thinking, and promote equity, inclusion, and diversity, according to the meeting agenda.

The topic drew controversy, with a group of parents showing up to the meeting to give public comment. Most of the speakers were overwhelmingly opposed to the curriculum, echoing a sentiment that the lessons are based on far-left ideas and teach students to see whats different about one another, rather than what unites them.

Gregory Merwin, the districts chief academic officer, attempted to assure parents that the lessons werent the same as critical race theory, a highly controversial nationwide academic theory that seeks to say racism is embedded in legal systems and policies.

Critical race theory is not included or integrated into these lessons, Merwin said during the meeting on May 19. The cultural proficiency lessons promote empathy, accepting differences, anti-bullying, conflict resolution, and understanding prejudice and stereotypes.

Lessons emphasize appreciation and accepting differences and valuing cultural differences as assets. For example, the kindergarten lesson encourages students to get to know one another, and that, We are all unique, and we are all special. And the sixth-grade lesson encourages students to be upstanders to support their peers who are bullied, and to make a difference and help someone.

The lessons, which are available online and have been sent out to parents of children within the district, seek to help children understand stereotypes, prejudice, identity, and effective communication and problem-solving skills.

The lessons will take place once per grade, per year, for about an hour of class time.

CUSD said it supports the lessons because it believes they will lead to higher academic outcomes.

Overall, we believe the lessons will help students better understand themselves, others, and find value in differences, district spokesperson Ryan Burris told The Epoch Times. The goal of our cultural proficiency work is to support the social and emotional wellness of our students, which we believe will lead to higher academic outcomes. Part of our overall work in this area includes specific data-driven goals that we will measure annually.

Critical race theory has been growing in prominence throughout the country throughout the past year, which is likely why so many parents are concerned about it being incorporated into CUSDs curriculum, Burris said.

Our work as a school district is to ensure that we clearly differentiate our work in cultural proficiency from that of critical race theory, he said. They are not the same.

Numerous parents of CUSD students spoke out against cultural proficiency lessons.

We need to empower ourselves to teach our kids how we are more similar than different, one speaker said. This entire curriculum talks about how we are different. No, we are the same. We are one American united people; children are American children. We need to teach them to value what we have in this country, the freedoms that we have.

Another speaker said: Why arent we teaching them how to empower themselves instead of being victims? That theyre going to wait for a bystander to save them [when being bullied]? We need to have positive examples and help focus ways to build character.

It isnt the first time such studies have drawn objections in Orange County.

The Los Alamitos Unified School Districts board of trustees on May 11 unanimously voted to implement new social justice standards in classrooms, despite the protests of dozens of parents.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot demands the Chicago Teachers Union to reach a deal with Chicago Public Schools on a reopening plan during a press conference at City Hall, Chicago, Ill., on Feb. 4, 2021. (Pat Nabong/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)

Chicago Police Union Approves No-Confidence Vote Against Mayor and Police Chief

CHICAGOChicagos largest police union on Wednesday issued a vote of no confidence against Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown.

The vote came during a Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) meeting where police officers vented their frustrations, new and old, with the mayor and and the police department, Chicago FOP president John Catanzara told The Epoch Times.

Emotions were running high, Catanzara said, and one member grabbed the microphone to suggest a vote of no confidence. All members present at the meeting, about 150 active and retired police officers, voted for it.

His members newest frustration with the city leaders, according to Cantanzara, is the cancellation of a eight-decade-old Chicago traditionthe St. Jude Memorial Marchfor the second year in a row. The march is an annual May event honoring fallen Chicago police officers and Gold Star families who lost loved ones in the line of duty.

Brown said he canceled the march due to COVID-19 restrictions in an online video honoring the St. Jude tradition. We must never forget their sacrifices and the families they left behind, he said.

It was a slap in the face to every department member, especially the Gold Star families, who have paid the ultimate sacrifice and deserve that respect annually, period, no excuses, Cantanzara said in a video update right after the meeting. His members managed to host a smaller-scale St. Jude march on their own.

Another frustration that led to the no-confidence vote is the back-breaking schedules of police officers, who have been working on 12-hour shifts with days off canceled for well over a year, according to Cantanzara.

He said policing is a hard job and exerts a great mental toll on officers, so days off and time with family are crucial to officers mental health. Two Chicago police officers, one of them then-deputy chief, committed suicide in March.

The cycle of extended working hours started early last year when the department scrambled for help as many officers were quarantined at home due to COVID-19. The hours soon got worse in May when riots broke out in many parts of Chicago following the death of George Floyd.

On top of that, Chicago has seen a sharp increase in violent crimes such as shootings, murders, and carjackings since the pandemic. So far, 2021 has been the second deadliest year for Chicago in nearly a decade, and as summer approaches, the violence spike is expected to continue, according to the superintendent.

Every year, our officers rise to the occasion, Brown said at a Thursday press conference. Our officers are dedicated and committed to this department and to protecting the people of Chicago, which oftentimes means adjusting our hours to ensure that we are in the neighborhoods during the time that the violence is occurring.

Cantanzara disagrees. He said violence will go up regardless of the number of police officers the department puts on the street; instead, the city leaders should focus on the root problems of rising crime, like a criminal justice system that lets too many criminals out on the street.

Beyond the frustration with city leaders lies another long-brewing disappointment of police union membersthey have gone without a new contract with the city since the last one expired in June 2017. To the officers, that largely means they have gone without a wage increase for almost four years.

At the core of the contract dispute is police reform, according to Cantanzara. Lightfoot wants to use the wage increase as a bargaining tool to enact more police accountability rules; whereas the police union will not sacrifice the disciplinary protection of its members for the wage increase.

If the mayor has any respect for his members, Cantanzara told The Epoch Times, she should take the last four years of our men and womens hard work and sacrifices, and pay them the salary they deserve and worry about the rest of the contract going forward.

Lightfoot, on the other hand, threw all the blame on Cantanzara and his union. We have put reforms and accountabilities in the contract, Lightfoot said at a Thursday press conference, but they are refusing to come to the table and bargain.

The vote of no-confidence was also cast against First Deputy Superintendent Eric Carter.

Cantanzara was elected FOP president in May 2020 in a heated runoff election; he won with 4,708 votes compared to incumbent Kevin Grahams 3,872. FOP has about 8,000 active and retired police officer members.
Bamboo rat farmer Liu Yanqun standing in front of a part of his house turned into a rat farm in Loudi in central China's Hunan Province, on Aug. 12, 2020. Beijing said it would step up food safety at food markets and slapped a national ban on the trade and consumption of certain animals. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

China Blanketing Pandemic Control Through Bamboo Rat Ban

News Analysis

Breeding bamboo rats was once sanctioned by the Chinese regime as a way for poor farmers to be lifted out of poverty. For a few years, it was quite effective, as bamboo rats had become a delicacy. Thanks to the positive coverage by social media and various media outlets, demands for these plump rodents had been growing rapidly. However, with the onslaught of the CCP virus, bamboo rats became a politically sensitive issue almost overnight.

Bamboo rats are huge rodents, almost the size of rabbits, known for a plump body and sharp incisors for gnawing on bamboo sticks. A Chinese food YouTuber said that eating bamboo rat can detoxify ones body and make ones skin smoother.

In January 2020, Dr. Zhong Nanshan, Chinas National Health Committee lead expert, said that bamboo rats might be linked to the coronavirus. This statement is equivalent to a death sentence for the millions of bamboo rats bred in farms throughout southern China.

The report does not intend to argue that bamboo rats indeed are the culprit of the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, commonly known as the novel coronavirus which causes the COVID-19 disease. Whats worth looking at is the action taken by the Chinese authorities toward the animal and the breeders.

High Profile Ban of Wildlife Breeding, Transportation, and Consumption

Back in 2003 during the SARS outbreak, Dr. Zhong Nanshan, a pulmonologist, said that civet cats were the source of SARS. On Jan. 21, 2020, in an interview with China Central TV, Zhong claimed that the CCP virus was confirmed to be transmissible among humans and that the source of the virus may be wild animals such as bamboo rats or badgers. His remark, to this day, has not been substantiated by scientific research.

Zhong Nanshan of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, speaks at the Guangdong delegations meeting during the annual National Peoples Congress in Beijing, in this undated photo. (Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)

Four days later, on January 24, four central government agencies jointly issued an Emergency Order to ban wildlife trade in an attempt to curb the spread of the CCP virus. It banned the transportation of bamboo rats and other wild animals, and ordered the existing wildlife to be kept in isolation away from humans.

In February, the National Peoples Congress, the legislative arm of the communist state, passed the Decision to completely prohibit illegal wildlife trade and eliminate the consumption of wild animals.

The Chinese media made sure that the world knows the CCP issued the above orders as a prompt and correct reaction in the wake of the pandemic.

Leaked Document: Bamboo Rats Are a National Security Issue

What wasnt published, but was leaked, is a report about the propaganda work done by Guangxi Provincial Foreign Affairs Office. The work summary report was submitted to the Guangxi Provincial Communist Party Committee Propaganda Department.

Chinas southern province of Guangxi is home to many of Chinas ethnic minorities and used to be poverty-stricken. In recent years, breeding bamboo rats was the main lifeline of about 100,000 locals. They breed about 18 million bamboo rats, worth some $310.8 million and accounts for 70 percent of the nations total.

The Order and the Decision not only put the 18 million bamboo rats on death row, but also pushed the rat breeders back into poverty.

The leaked 5-page document (pdf), dated Dec. 28, 2020, lists four areas of propaganda work the foreign affairs office did in 2020. The fourth area is of particular interest.

The document states that in April 2020, a UK media branch office in China hired local Chinese as reporters, who tried to approach and interview bamboo rat breeders in Beihai city. The foreign affairs office successfully blocked the interview, which was labeled illegal in the document.

It also mentions that three similar incidents happened in other cities in Guangxi. The provincial foreign affairs office instructed the municipal foreign affairs offices in those cities on how to stop the foreign media from interacting with local breeders, how to stop the foreign media from blowing the wildlife breeders issue out of proportion, and how to prevent negative public opinion from forming.

Geng Shuang, Chinese Communist Party Foreign Ministry spokesman, in Beijing, China on March 18, 2020. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)

Furthermore, the document states that such incidents are national security issues.

U.S.-based Chinese current affairs commentator Li Linyi thinks that the CCP is under tremendous pressure from the international community looking for the origin of the virus. It tries to blame wildlife (bats and bamboo rats), foreign nationals travel in China, the U.S. military, or U.S. lab leaks, none of which have been substantiated. Therefore, the CCP treats foreign media interviewing bamboo rat breeders as a sensitive political issue that could jeopardize national security.

Thus, in social media and public opinion spaces, all discussions related to bamboo rats are closely monitored and censored, while the CCPs mouthpiece media churn out positive reports, such as the successful transformation of one bamboo rat breeder to a sheep farmer.

Compensation Plan Only On Paper, Breeders Back to Poverty

In June 2020, the Guangxi provincial government published a compensation plan for the wildlife breeders. The plan says that legal breeders can be paid $28 per bamboo rat.

Bamboo rat farmer Huang Guohua posing amongst empty bamboo rat cages in Shaoyang in central Chinas Hunan Province, on Aug. 14, 2020. (Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images)

Two leaked documentsone dated late August and the other early Septembertell a different story.

The documents were issued by a municipal level office in Guilin city. The Internet Opinion Real Time Surveillance Office monitors the social media posts under its jurisdiction of Guilin city and surrounding counties. On Aug. 31, the Office caught a post on a local BBS chat service. The document includes the url and content of the post, as well as the county-level office assigned to handle the post.

The post says, Since the CCP Central issued the Decision [in February], we [breeders] have been strictly following the order and stopped selling, eating, transporting, and releasing the bamboo rats. In over six months, we did not have any income but had to spend our savings to keep the bamboo rats alive. Since the Compensation Plan was released, we thought we had hope, but until now, in our Yongfu county alone, there are several dozen breeders who havent received any compensation.

Another post found on Weibo from someone in the same county expressed similar concerns, but added that they had been categorized as illegal breeders, and so they were not eligible to receive any compensation at all.

The documents state that the assigned county office must report back within five days with details about how the social media posts were handled.
Workers unload steel at a steel products exchange market in Shanghai, China on Apr. 6, 2005. (Photo by China Photos/Getty Images)

Chinas Iron Ore Diversification Could Hit Australian Economy

Chinas plan to diversify iron ore supply could see Australias mining-dependent economy take a toll or force the nation to sell its abundant supply elsewhere.

The move comes amid a campaign of economic coercion by Beijing which has imposed trade sanctions on Australian coal, wine, barley, beef, lobster, timber, cotton, and potentially grapes.

Despite this, ABS data has shown that in 2019-20, Australias entire goods trade saw $380 billion (US$300 billion) worth of exports, with a substantial $84 billion, or 22 percent, solely in iron ore shipped to China.

Further analysis by Deloitte Access Economics revealed that the mining industry paid $39.9 billion in company tax and royalties in 2019-20, with a total of $238.8 billion paid in the 10 years leading up to 2019-20.

On the China front, according to banking group UBS, 61 percent of its iron ore imports was sourced from Australia in 2020.

A bucket wheel excavator in an open-pit mine. (Darkmoon_Art via Pixabay)

Though metalliferous exports have boomed as a result of Chinas seemingly unquenchable demand, the security of Australias minerals industry might not lie on the same path of prosperity indefinitely.

Jin Xiandong, director of policy research at the CCPs National Development and Reform Commission, unveiled an ongoing plan to explore domestic and international markets in a bid to expand away from Australia.

From a domestic perspective, we will intensify the exploration and development of iron ore resources, Jin told reporters on May 18.

Internationally, we will give full responsibility to enterprises and encourage qualified organisations to actively and steadily develop overseas iron ore resources, he said.

The global push for new sprouts of iron ore supply has been evidenced by Chinas targeting of mines in Africa, including an $18 billion investment in obtaining the mining rights for a gigantic mine in Guinea, estimated to hold more than 2.25 billion tonnes of the mineral resource.

It also includes the sudden transfer of rights from Australian mining firms in the Republic of Congo to the alleged state-controlled entity Sangha mining, as well as the acquisition of a mine in Sierra Leonethe second-largest iron ore mine in Africa.

Chinas growing stranglehold on African iron ore mines continues alongside its considerable influence on the continent through years of money lending and debt-trap diplomacy.

The Simandou mine will be the largest in Africa (in the red oval). Source Rio Tinto.

Back in Australia, the federal budget released in May positioned the mineral trade at the core of its economic recovery, with the budget relying heavily on rising demandand rising costof metalliferous ores, such as iron.

Surpassing an unprecedented US$200 per tonne, the budget had wagered iron ore as a key player in Australias post-pandemic recovery, allocating billions across most sectors of society manifesting in the form of tax breaks, job training programs, and boosting of critical services.

The potential dispossession of Australias largest partner could force greater debt on the nationa debt that is already encroaching the $1 trillion mark.

In particular, Western AustraliaAustralias primary producer of iron ore, shipping 709 million tonnes to China in 2019-20 and generating $2.3 billion in royalties alonecould be set to lose its most significant source of revenue.

Despite a global landscape imbued with ever-growing debt, Western Australias minerals trade with China has teed up the state for a strong recovery and is set to deliver a budget surplus of around $5 billion for 2020-21, ABC reported.

Western Australia Premier Mark McGowan has recognised the economic benefit stemming from trade with China and recently welcomed the new Consul-General to the states capital, Perth.

However, Chinas diversification plan could cost the state, which relies heavily on its export, or force Western Australia to look elsewhere for partners willing to trade for one of its most abundant resources.
A video reported to be a hate attack on Chinese Americans in California was verified as a gang riot that occurred in an Ecuadorian prison in February this year. (Mygopen.com)

Chinas Misleading Propaganda: Using Prison Riot Scene to Dramatize Hate Attacks Of Chinese Americans

A video claiming to show a hate attack on Chinese Americans in California is widely circulated in China and other Asian countries. However, it was verified that the video was actually a gang riot that occurred in an Ecuadorian prison in February this year.

Beginning on April 26, the video started circulating on multiple social media platforms in China, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, such as WeChat, Line, and Facebook. The explanatory text accompanying the violent and bloody footage, written in Chinese, claimed that it was a racist attack targeting Chinese Americans in California.

There are actually two versions of explanatory text, according to Taiwanese media MyGoPen, an online media dedicated to fight against disinformation.

One version said, What is going on in the United States!? The blacks and whites in California beat a Chinese to death for no reason! This is terrible! Yet our government still clings to the United States?

The other version said, In the United States, which is a total mess now, blacks and whites in California recently beat a Chinese man to death on the street for no reason, and stripped off his pants to humiliate him.

However, an investigation report released by the Taiwan FactCheck Center on May 3 disclosed that the content of the video showed a prison riot in Ecuador in February this year, and had nothing to do with Chinese or Asians in the United States.

The language in the video was Spanish, mostly foul words, and the shooting location appeared to be within a high fenced wall, the report said.

Through further research, the Taiwan FactCheck Center found the original source of the video: a video platform called Shockorge, which described the footage as a prison riot in Ecuador in February 2021. The center then checked this by sending inquiries to the National Police of Ecuador and related organizations, who verified that the video content was indeed a gang riot taking place in an Ecuadorian prison on Feb. 25.

Since the outbreak of the Chinese Communist Party virus, also known as the novel coronavirus, there have been several attacks against Asians in the United States.

On March 16, a series of shootings occurred at three massage parlors in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. Eight people were killed, six of whom were Asian women.

However, in an interview with The Epoch Times in early April, Zheng Cunzhu, a Chinese democracy activist in Los Angeles, said that the so-called discrimination incidents against Asians are rare occurrences. In fact, it is not white people or racists who attack Asians, but other ethnic groups. The mainstream media seems to have deliberately ignored these details.

Zheng said that in the aspects of rules and laws, racial discrimination has been eliminated in the United States. So there is no systemic discrimination in this country. However, the Chinese Communist Party-controlled media continue to hype up these rare incidents, trying to create an impression that although the United States is a democratic country, there are still chaotic situations everywhere.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 01:20:19|Editor: huaxia

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People buy ice cream at Da Canton restaurant in Zambia's tourist capital Livingstone, May 14, 2021. (Photo by Lillian Banda/Xinhua)

LUSAKA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- In Zambia, when one talks about value addition, very few people think of adding value to edible wild fruits which the country has in abundance.

This is because, unlike cultivated foods, wild foods, in general, are not considered to be of much value in terms of nutrition among urban populations.

It is for this reason that an Italian-Zambian restaurant embarked on making ice cream using a wide variety of wild fruits found in Zambia.

The Da Canton restaurant, which operates in Zambia's tourist capital Livingstone, boasts of serving over 60 varieties of ice cream made from wild fruits as well as conventional fruits and vegetables like beetroot and carrots.

"The taste of ice cream served at Da Canton's is simply out of this world. One can tell that it was made with passion and expertise," said Victor Mweso, a regular at the restaurant.

Mweso's sentiments were echoed by Mutambezi Mweemba who commended the restaurant for promoting the Zambian culture through food.

Mweemba, also a resident of Livingstone, said Da Canton restaurant not only serves some of the best icecreams but has also been instrumental in promoting indigenous Zambian foods.

"Our indigenous food is part of our culture, restaurant is really helping to promote our history and culture," she said.

And restaurant proprietor pointed out that aside from the ice cream, which the restaurant is famous for, Da Canton has strived to promote other local indigenous foods, which according to him are of high nutritional value.

The restaurant, which has won many accolades from both locals and visitors, is well known for promoting indigenous Zambian foods alongside Italian dishes.

Most of the dishes on the menu at Da Canton's restaurant are made from both wild and cultivated fruits and vegetables that are easily accessible.

"The idea is to add value to indigenous foods. Zambia has so many nutrition-rich foods that go to waste every year because many people in the country are not aware of the value of these foods," said Stefano Canton, owner of the restaurant.

He further revealed that many locals, as well as visitors, are beginning to appreciate the idea of adding value to different foods, particularly wild fruits.

"Wild foods especially are getting a lot of attention. Some people just stop by to learn more about the many foods that Zambia has to offer and try to get the recipes," he said.

According to Canton, indigenous foods are not only easy to prepare but also readily available, thereby making value addition a worthwhile undertaking.

"There are a lot of opportunities in adding value to the food, particularly foods that are readily available and local populations would do well to invest in these chances," Canton advised. Enditem
Yuan Longping (C) stands in a field of hybrid rice in Handan in northern China's Hebei Province, on Oct. 15, 2017. (Chinatopix via AP)

Top Chinese Scientist Yuan Longping Dies

Yuan Longping, a Chinese scientist who developed higher-yield rice varieties, died Saturday at a hospital in the southern city of Changsha, the Xinhua News agency reported. He was 91.

Yuan spent his life researching rice. In the 1970s, Yuan developed a hybrid strain of rice that recorded an annual yield 20 percent higher than existing varieties.

Yuan and his team worked with other countries to address issues of food security as well as malnutrition.

In his later years, Yuan continued doing research. In 2017, working with a Hunan agricultural school, he helped create a strain of low-cadmium indica rice for areas suffering from heavy metal pollution, reducing the amount of cadmium in rice by more than 90 percent.
Yang Hengjun, author and former Chinese diplomat, who is now an Australian citizen, displays a name tag in an unspecified location in Tibet, China, mid-July, 2014. (Reuters)

Closed and Opaque: Australia Decries Communist Chinas Legal Process for Detained Writer Yang Hengjun

Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne has called out the Chinese Communist Partys lack of transparency regarding an impending closed-door trial of Australian-Chinese writer Yang Hengjun who has been detained in China since January 2019.

She indicated that Beijing has failed to conform to the basic international standards of transparency and independence of the courts, imploring the communist regime to allow Yang legal and consular access prior to his trial on May 27.

Since his detention, Dr. Yang has had no access to his family, and limited, delayed access to his legal representation, Payne said in a statement on May 21.

Foreign Minister Marise Payne along with Prime Minister Scott Morrison addresses media during a press conference in Sydney, Australia on April 27, 2021. (AAP Image/Dan Himbrechts)

We have conveyed to Chinese authorities, in clear terms, the concerns we have about Yangs treatment and the lack of procedural fairness in how his case has been managed.

Consistent with basic standards of justice and Chinas international legal obligations, we expect Yang to be granted access to his lawyer and to Australian consular officials in advance of his trial, she said.

Labors shadow foreign minister, Senator Penny Wong, has said that the opposition is deeply concerned that the Chinese authorities have failed to provide any explanation or evidence for their charges often laid against political dissidents of the communist regime.

Australias Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Senator Penny Wong speaks to the media along side leader of the opposition, Anthony Albanese, in Melbourne, Australia, on May 18, 2021. (AAP Image/Daniel Pockett)

We strongly support the governments advocacy for Dr. Yang, including through consular assistance, and are disappointed that he has not received basic standards of justice or procedural fairness consistent with Chinas international legal obligations, she said in a statement.

Wong also echoed Paynes statement that China had obligations under the Australia-China bilateral consular agreement.

Under the agreement, Australian officials are permitted access to Yangs hearing on May 27. But Payne noted, This has been a closed and opaque process to date.

Since Yangs detention, the 55-year-old blogger has had no contact with his family and limited access to his lawyer.

In this 2017 photo provided by his family, Yang Hengjun, left, poses with his family member in Beijing. (Yang Family Photo via AP)

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says it is absolutely untrue Yang acted as a spy for Australia. Yang, in fact, has told his family that he is innocent of what the regime is alleging and would never confess to something I havent done.

His trial was due to start in January but has been delayed for four months.

Yang faces a lengthy jail sentence if he is found guilty on charges of allegedly endangering national security by joining or accepting a mission from an unidentified espionage organisation.

The author was detained by Chinese authorities in January 2019 at Guangzhou Airport in southern China after arriving from New York.

Australia has consistently lobbied in support of Yang, as well as that of a second detained Australian, journalist Cheng Lei, who has also been held on suspicion of endangering national security.

AAP contributed to this report.
Coalition of Christians Call for Global Prayer for Prisoners of Conscience Persecuted by CCP

An informal coalition of prominent lay Christians from six continents are calling on the faithful from around the world to pray for the persecuted prisoners of conscience in China.

The global prayer efforttaking place from May 23 to May 30will focus on the millions of Christians, Uyghur Muslims, Tibetan Buddhists, Falun Gong prisoners of conscience, Hong Kong activists, human rights defenders, lawyers, citizen journalists, bloggers, civil society activists, and dissidents of all kinds who are brutally persecuted by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for their beliefs.

As Christians, we feel a particular responsibility to pray and we believe that prayer has the power to convert and the power to change the situation, Rev. Andrew Bennett, the campaigns spokesperson and Canadas former ambassador for religious freedom, told The Epoch Times.

The campaign, called Global Prayer for China, was initiated in response to a call for prayer on behalf of the Church and peoples of China by Cardinal Charles Bo of Burma, who is president of the Federation of Catholic Asian Bishops Conferences, on March 14.

Rev. Andrew Bennett, director of the Cardus Religious Freedom Institute and Canadas former religious freedom ambassador, is pictured in Ottawa on May 8, 2018. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)

In addition to Bennett, members of the coalition include U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), UKs Lord David Alton, Australian MP Kevin Andrews, Hudson Institute senior fellow Nina Shea, law professor Jane Adolphe from Ave Maria School of Law, Benedict Rogers, the East Asia team leader at Christian Solidarity Worldwide, Irish entrepreneur Declan Ganley, and Canadian MP Garnett Genuis, among others.

Genuis, who is also co-chair of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, highlighted the plight of Christians under the Chinese communist regime.

Christians in China face escalating pressure, control, and violence. Along with other faith communities, Chinese Christians are being told that they have to put deference to the Communist Party ahead of their faith. If they dont, they face severe consequences, Genuis wrote in a post on Facebook.

Campaign poster urging the faithful to support the global prayer effort from May 23 to May 30, 2021. (Global Prayer for China Handout)

Chinas new religious regulation, Measures on the Management of Religious Professionalswhich took effect on May 1requires those who hold any formal role in a religious group to pledge allegiance to the CCP.

On May 8, the two state-sanctioned Protestant organizations in Beijingthe Beijing Municipal Three-Self Patriotic Movement Committee and the China Christian Councilheld a forum to celebrate the CCPs 100th anniversary, according to a report on the organizations combined official website.

Pastors and church staff are required to study the history of the CCP, guide believers to follow the Party, and follow the sinicization of Christianity, said Cai Kui, the chair of the two organizations.

Coalition member Shea noted that the new rules in the selection of bishops in China make no mention of any papal role in the process, without regard to the terms of the 2018 SinoVatican agreement.

Not even a papal right to approve or veto episcopal appointments in China, which was supposed to be the single substantive concession to the Vatican in the agreement. Its as if the deal never happened, she wrote in a February article.

In another article reported in the National Review, Shea said the CCP is systematically crushing underground churches and arresting their leadership, putting them on trial, or making them disappear in secret detention centers. Some were even tortured, forced to quit their ministries, or subject to brainwashing sessions.

Meanwhile, paintings of the Virgin Mary and Jesus have been forcibly removed in some churches and replaced by portraits of Chinese leader Xi Jinping and communist ruler Mao Zedong, according to a November 2019 report by Bitter Winter, a religious liberty and human rights magazine. In 2020, the magazine reported that the CCP removed more than 900 crosses from state-run churches in the first half of the year in Anhui Province alone.

A man cycles past an Ethnic Korean Christian church in the town of Yanji in Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture on the China/North Korea border in Yanji, China, on Oct. 13, 2006. (Peter Parks/AFP via Getty Images)

The sinicization goes even deeper as the CCP is currently retranslating and reinterpreting the Bible, the coalition states.

It is expected to do so in ways that serve party goals, such as occurred in the retelling of Johns Gospel in a 2020 state textbook, which depicted the adulterous woman being stoned to death by Jesus.

Young people under 18 years of age are banned from all Catholic and Protestant churches, receiving the sacraments, and Bible studies.

Coalition member Bennett believes that the power of faith can eventually be a force for change.

It might not be this year, it might not be in five years, it might not be in 10 years, or 25 years. But we trust in God and we place our hope in Him that things can change. And so prayer we believe as Christians to be a very powerful weapon against persecution. You cannot violate the dignity of the human person.

Bennett also stressed the importance of having others join in the initiative.

We hope many individuals and parishes will take part in some way, through the Prayers of the Faithful during Mass and in personal, private prayer, he said in a statement on May 7. Our new website is designed to assist and facilitate this, and we hope that individuals and parishes will use the resources available through the website, spread the word to others, and mobilize the Church worldwide to pray for China.

With reporting from Dorothy Li.
The remains of a tiny village are revealed for the first time since 1950, as a lake is drained for repair works of a hydroelectric plant, that replaced the village of Curon 71 years ago, at Resia Lake, Italy, on May 16, 2021. (Luisa Azzolini/Handout via Reuters)

Drained Lake Reveals Remnants of Lost Italian Village

ROMEThe eerie image of a church bell tower emerging from Lake Resia in northern Italy became so famous it inspired a book and a Netflix series.

Now the remains of the surrounding village, which has been under water for more than 70 years, have been revealed again.

The village of Curon once had some 900 inhabitants living in 160 homes, but it was flooded in 1950 to create a hydroelectric plant.

After leaks were found, the lake was temporarily drained for repair work on the reservoir, exposing what is left of the village in the province of South Tyrol bordering Austria and Switzerland.

Workers began draining the lake a few months ago and in April, after a layer of ice melted, the area was completely dry.

Uncovered were piles of bricks and rubble and some stepsall that is left of the old Curon village, which lent its name to an Italian Netflix horror series based on the lost town.

It was strange for me to walk among the rubble of houses, I felt curiosity and sadness, said local resident Lucia Azzolini.

A screengrab from a video of a church bell tower emerging alone from a lake, as it is drained for repair works of a hydroelectric plant, that replaced the village of Curon 71 years ago, at Resia Lake, Italy on April 24, 2021. (Luisa Azzolini/Handout via Reuters)

Hotels in the province had remained closed for months due to coronavirus restrictions, so few people noticed Curons re-emergence until visitors began to return to the area as Italy eased its lockdown rules.

But the attraction wont be there for long. A power company started to release water back into the lake a week ago, and in a couple of weeks it will be full, leaving the village submerged once again.
A visitor walks past a Dubai billboard at the Arabian Travel market exhibition in the Gulf emirate, on May 17, 2021. (Giuseppe Cacace/AFP via Getty Images)

Dubai Police Warn Wild Cat Stalks Residential Neighborhood

DUBAI, United Arab EmiratesDubai police Tuesday warned inhabitants of a residential neighborhood in the skyscraper-studded city that a wild cat was loose in the area.

Police didnt name the animal at large but the governments Dubai Media Office said officers were combing the citys The Springs neighborhood for the cat.

Police urged the public to call them if they spotted the animal.

Dubai Police said bringing out any kind of wild animal into a public environment is strictly prohibited under the emirates laws and violators can face a jail term of up to six months in addition to severe financial penalties, the Dubai Media Office said in a tweet.

The thrill of keeping lions, cheetahs and tigers as pets is popular in some quarters of the Gulf Arab states, where its seen as a status of wealth and power.

Though it is illegal to keep as pets endangered or threatened wildlife in the United Arab Emirates, there have been numerous sightings of Emirati men in luxury cars accompanied by pet lions along for the cruise.

A lion escaped from a house in Dubais Al Barsha neighborhood in 2016 before police seized it.

In Kuwait, a man was sued in 2014 after his pet lion escaped and attacked a Filipina maid.
Michael Thomas, a federal jail guard responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself, leaves federal court in New York on Nov. 25, 2019. (Craig Ruttle/AP Photo)

Epstein Guards to Skirt Jail Time in Deal With Prosecutors

WASHINGTONThe two Bureau of Prisons workers tasked with guarding Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself in a New York jail have admitted they falsified records, but they will skirt any time behind bars under a deal with federal prosecutors, authorities said Friday.

The prison workers, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas, were accused of sleeping and browsing the internet instead of monitoring Epstein the night he took his own life in August 2019.

They were charged with lying on prison records to make it seem as though they had made required checks on the financier before he was found in his cell. New York Citys medical examiner ruled Epsteins death a suicide.

As part of the deal with prosecutors, they will enter into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department and will serve no time behind bars, according to a letter from federal prosecutors that was filed in court papers Friday. Noel and Thomas would instead be subjected to supervised release, would be required to complete 100 hours of community service and would be required to fully cooperate with an ongoing probe by the Justice Departments inspector general, it says.

Tova Noel, center in yellow blouse, a federal jail guard responsible for monitoring Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself, leaves federal court in New York on Nov. 25, 2019. (Craig Ruttle/AP Photo)

The two have admitted that they willfully and knowingly completed materially false count and round slips regarding required counts and rounds in the housing unit where Epstein was being held, the letter says.

The deal would need to be approved by a judge, which could happen as soon as next week. Attorneys for the guards did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment.

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who has been a vocal critic of the Justice Departments handling of Epsteins case, called the deal unacceptable and said the public deserves to see a report detailing the prison agencys failures.

One hundred hours of community service is a jokethis isnt traffic court, Sasse said in a statement. The leader of an international child sex trafficking ring escaped justice, his co-conspirators had their secrets go to the grave with him, and these guards are going to be picking up trash on the side of the road.

Prosecutors alleged that Noel and Thomas sat at their desks just 15 feet from Epsteins cell, shopped online for furniture and motorcycles, and walked around the units common area instead of making required rounds every 30 minutes.

During one two-hour period, both appeared to have been asleep, according to the indictment filed against them.

Both officers who were guarding Epstein were working overtime because of staffing shortages. One of the guards, who did not primarily work as a correctional officer, was working a fifth straight day of overtime. The other guard was working mandatory overtime, meaning a second eight-hour shift of the day.

Before they were arrested, both officers had declined a plea deal with federal prosecutors.

Epsteins death and the revelation that he was able to kill himself while behind bars at one of the most secure jails in America was a major embarrassment for the Bureau of Prisons and cast a spotlight on the agency, which has also been besieged by serious misconduct in recent years.

Staffing shortages at the agency are so severe that guards often work overtime day after day or are forced to work mandatory double shifts. Violence leads to regular lockdowns at federal prison compounds across the U.S. And a congressional report released in 2019 found that bad behavior is ignored or covered up on a regular basis.

The falsification of records has been a problem throughout the federal prison system. Union officials have long argued that the reduction of staff is putting both guards and inmates in danger, but theyve faced an uphill battle getting attention.

By Michael Balsamo
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, speaks to members of Congress during a hearing in Washington on March 18, 2021. (Susan Walsh/Pool/Getty Images)

Fauci: Fully Vaccinated Americans May Not Necessarily Need COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots

Fully vaccinated Americans may not need to get a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot, Dr. Anthony Fauci said on Friday in an interview on CBS This Morning.

Fauci, who is head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), said that there was some misunderstanding about whether fully vaccinated people would need a booster shot six months after getting injected.

We are planning for the eventuality that we might need to boost people, we dont know whether we will have to do it and when we will have to do it, Fauci said.

Theres estimates well it may be here, it may be a little bit longer. The fact is we dont know, but it would really be foolish not to plan for the possibility that we might have to boost people, but theres no set rule now that says in six months or in a year were going to get, were going to require a boost, he added.

However, when asked two days earlier how soon fully vaccinated people would need a COVID-19 booster shot, Fauci told Axios Co-founder Mike Allen that Americans would need it.

Well, we dont know exactly when that will be Mike, but I believe it likely would be within a year, said Fauci. We know that the vaccine durability of the efficacy lasts at least six months and likely considerably more, but I think we will almost certainly require a booster sometime within a year or so after getting the primary [injection].

Bottles of the three current COVID-19 vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, Moderna, and Pfizer, with hypodermics needles, photographed at the COVID-19 vaccination site at Kedren Community Health Center, in Los Angeles, Calif., on May 13, 2021. (Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times/Tribune News Service)

Albert Bourla, Pfizers chief executive officer, also said in an interview that the data from Pfizers clinical trials supports the notion that likely there will be a need for a booster somewhere between 8 and 12 months.

Scientists still do not know how long the COVID-19 vaccines will confer immunity but data suggests that the vaccines should provide up to six months of immunity. COVID-19 is the disease caused by the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus.

All three COVID-19 vaccines granted emergency use authorization by the Food and Drug Administration have yet to be approved by the drug regulator as the vaccine manufacturers continue to gather safety and efficacy data from their Phase 3 trials.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it has received 9,245 breakthrough cases out of the 95 million people who were fully vaccinated as of April 26. However, the actual number is higher since the federal agency relies on voluntary reporting from state health departments. Breakthrough cases occur when a fully vaccinated person still contracts COVID-19.

The CDC announced that it will change how it reports breakthrough cases from monitoring all reported vaccine breakthrough cases to focus on identifying and investigating only vaccine breakthrough infections that result in hospitalization or death.

For people who have recovered from COVID-19, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that many of the participants developed a strong immunity against the disease for up to eight months after infection. Some doctors have shared on social media that they still had antibodies a year after they were infected with the CCP virus.

According to the CDC, more than 126 million people in the United States are fully vaccinated, representing 38.1 percent of the U.S. population.
Former AG Bill Barr Calls Inner City US Public Schools Systemically Racist

Former Attorney General Bill Barr criticized the U.S. public school system during his first speech since leaving the Justice Department, calling the current system in the inner cities racist because of what he described as low-quality, secular, progressive teachings that are pushed throughout the schools.

The real issue of systemic racism in our country, which is our public school system in the inner cities, where weve relegated inner-city school children to these failing schools, depriving them of a future, depriving them of opportunity, Barr said during a speech in Naples, Florida, on Thursday. Thats the system of systemic racism.

President Obama waltzes into Washington enrolls his two daughters in the most exclusive private school there, Sidwell Friends, and one of his earliest acts is to terminate, a broadly-supported and bipartisan program in the District of Columbia that provided scholarships to inner-city kids to go to parochial school, Barr continued.

Barr was referring to The D.C. Opportunity Scholarship Programthe first federally funded voucher program that gave scholarships to low-income children in Washington for tuition and fees at participating private schools.

The legislation was first passed in 2003 but was allowed to expire for the first time in 2009 during the Obama administration. It was reauthorized in 2011, before being terminated at the end of Obamas second term but was revived under President Donald Trump.

Fox News The Story was first to report on Barrs speech.

The time has come to admit that the approach of giving militantly secularist government schools a monopoly over publicly funded education has become a disaster, Barr said. It may no longer be fair, practical, or even constitutional to provide publicly funded education solely through the vehicle of state-funded schools.

The Biden administration has put all its weight behind such progressive, secularist curriculum and is seeking to prioritize funding education programs that incorporate the ideas of the New York Times 1619 Project and critical race theorist Ibram X. Kendi into their teaching of U.S history and civics.

In a proposed new rule released April 19, the Education Department outlined new priority criteria for a $5.3 million American History and Civics Education grant, as well as exemplary materials for K-12 educators to use.

The 1619 Project, which centers around the idea that the United States is inherently racist, consists of a collection of essays that argue, among many other controversial claims, that the primary reason for the American Revolution was to preserve slavery. Its historical accuracy has also been challenged by a variety of scholars, including the projects own fact-checkers.

Meanwhile, Kendi is best known as a vocal advocate of the quasi-Marxist critical race theory, through which one sees racial oppression everywhere in society and considers those who disagree to be proponents of the alleged oppression. In his latest book Antiracist Baby, Kendi uses rhymed verses to explain to preschoolers how they can reflect on and purge their so-called inherent racism and how their parents can help raise future antiracist activists.

Conservatives across the nation are trying to prevent the teaching of critical race theory and have expressed concern about the Biden administration prioritizing the funding of educational programs that incorporate the ideas of the 1619 Project into their teaching of U.S. history and civics, reorienting bipartisan programs away from their intended purposes toward a politicized and divisive agenda.

GQ Pan contributed to this report
Rockets are fired from the Gaza Strip just before the start of the ceasefire brokered by Egypt between Israel and the ruling Islamist movement Hamas, in Gaza City on May 21, 2021. (Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images)

Hamas Given Another Chance to Destroy Israel (and the Jews)

Commentary

Another round in the endless HamasIsrael War is (temporarily) over and President Joe Biden is pleased.

After hailing the ceasefire, he spoke as follows of the next steps:

We remain committed to work with the United Nations and other international stakeholders to provide rapid humanitarian assistance and to marshal international support for the people of Gaza and the Gaza reconstruction efforts. We will do this in full partnership with the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas. Authority [sic], in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal. I believe the Palestinians and Israelis equally deserve to live safely and securely and to enjoy equal measures of freedom, prosperity, and democracy.

Aside from the predictable blather about involving the pathologically anti-Israel U.N., a deeper question arises: How is Biden (or anyone) going to prevent Hamas from restock[ing] its military arsenal during these reconstruction efforts?

No one, thus far, has been able to figure out how to prevent Hamas from diverting the inevitable deluge of relief funds into obtaining more and better missiles and rebuilding their humongous underground terror tunnel systemother than the obvious, which is to level the terror organization or at least wound them beyond recognition.

But Biden, fresh off a friendly tarmac encounter with Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), wouldnt allow that to happen and told Netanyahu to wind it down, assuring him at the same time that the United States would replenish Israels supply of Iron Domes.

Meanwhile, shoring up the Palestinian Authority seems more hopeless than ever as their doddering leader Mahmoud Abbas has been made to look even more hapless compared to a resurgent Hamas.

Who will stop them now, especially since their own losses dont seem to concern them, only killing Jews, as they tell us quite openly in their charter?

Biden is particularly badly placed to solve this in his eagerness to restart an agreement with the terror organizations main benefactor and arms supplier in Tehran.

Hamas is happyor acting as if they are, which is all they need to do. As Anna Ahronheim writes in the Jerusalem Post in Hamas celebrates truce victory, warns of future resistance against Israel:

Celebratory demonstrations took place in the Gaza Strip and West Bank as well, following the ceasefire. Fireworks, singing, and parades down the streets could be seen in uploaded footage shared on social media, accompanied with the hashtag #Palestine_Victorious.

Hamas is, in essence, a death cult and, therefore, extremely difficult to counter since they apparently couldnt care less if their Jerusalem-bound missiles happen to land squarely on the citys Arab population or even on the Al-Aqsa mosque.

And if Israeli jets inadvertently kill some children while attacking their Gaza assets, all the better. Its something to exploit. Hamas hid their weapons in that school for a reason.

The Associated Pressworking cheek-by-jowl with the terrorists in the same building for years, we now learn, even as they pretend they didnt know itprovides a perfect conduit to promulgate the so-called atrocities perpetrated by the high-tech Israeli army and air force as they act, like any normal nation, in defense of their own people against an aggressor.

The AP and many of their equally despicable media cohorts have done their job and then some in spreading pro-Hamas propaganda.

Antisemitism has reached heights not seen in decades. Street violence against Jews is now a familiar phenomenon across our country from Los Angeles to New York and, most recently, Miami. London and other European capitals are seeing a significant rise. Its almost like were back to the 1930s with our own Kristallnacht lurking.

And just the other day, the cat came out of the proverbial bag. In her press conference, Bidens porte-parole, Jen Psaki, allowed as how the only progress in the Middle East in decadesthe Abraham Accords that made peace between Israel and a number of Arab countries, from commercially oriented Dubai to strong rejectionists like the Sudanwas DOA, and therefore a mistake (because it happened during Trump, no doubt):

We felt there was not a constructive action by the prior administration, aside from putting forward a peace proposal that was dead on arrival. We dont think they did anything constructive really to bring it into the long-standing conflict in the Middle East.

Does this woman have the same cognitive issue as her boss, or is this Trump Derangement Syndrome brought to a yet higher power? Or is it, as is so often the case, another instance of projection on the part of the left?

Soshana Bryen has a lot more to say in About Those DOA Abraham Accords that I highly recommend, but I would like to roll back to the 6-year-old Roger Simon, who first learned about the Holocaust in his fathers office circa 1950.

My father was a doctor who hired refugees for his nursing staff when he could. One of them, Mrs. Mendes, who was especially nice to me as a little boy and spoke with a thick Eastern European accent, had numbers tattooed on her arm. I asked her what that was and thats how I learned. I realized, even then, something horrible had transpired, and in my very young lifetime.

Ever since then, I wondered how peoplethe Jewish people who were the primary victimsallowed that to happen. Not everybody did, of course. Some fought back courageously to the extent they could. But enough went along. Why? How?

Yes, there are many explanations, but todayand this is brutal to say, but I mean itwhen I listen to the noxious, self-hating opinions of Jewish politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and some of my Jewish colleagues in the media, plus Psakis blithe dismissal of the Abraham Accords, I think I understand at last.

We are in our version of the 30s, when the German Communist Party used the slogan nach Hitler uns, after Hitler us, (or nach Hitler commen wir)meaning the communists would be targeted after the Nazisas an excuse for not opposing the Nazis in the 1932 election.

So if you ask why I was so militant in an earlier pieceThis Time Israel Should Finish Off Hamasthat probably has something to do with it.

We are, after all, but 76 years from the liberation of Auschwitz.

Roger L. Simon is an award-winning novelist, Oscar-nominated screenwriter, co-founder of PJMedia, and now, editor-at-large for The Epoch Times. His most recent books are The GOAT (fiction) and I Know Best: How Moral Narcissism Is Destroying Our Republic, If It Hasnt Already (nonfiction). He can be found on Parler as @rogerlsimon

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Health Bullies Muzzle Canadian Doctors

Commentary

One of the many remarkable features of the COVID new normal has been the seemingly widespread compliance of doctors with draconian and irrational health mandates. Such mandates have included unprecedented school closures, curfew orders, prohibitions on hugging, magical-thinking restaurant policies, restrictions on outdoor activities, harsh fines for drive-in church services, interdictions on businesses selling items deemed non-essential, and excessive force by police to uphold the orders.

We have heard little from doctors even on subjects presumably close to physicians hearts, such as the cancellations of non-emergency surgeries, the use of virtual medical consultations, and the yearlong isolation of the elderly in care homes.

My mother, in her 90th year and with various health ailments (still, fortunately, living in her own home), has been unable to see her doctor in person, with one brief exception last summer, over the past 14 months. Once-regular visits have been replaced by phone consultations in an increasingly remote relationship. I have often wondered whether her doctor honestly believes that such distancing is a necessary and commensurate response to the pandemic.

Recently, however, the silence of doctors has became more explicable.

On April 30, 2021, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO), an organization empowered by law to regulate the practice of medicine province-wide, made an official statement warning doctors not to speak out against any government COVID orders. Referring to isolated incidents of physicians using social media to spread blatant misinformation and undermine public health measures meant to protect all of us, the college made it clear that any physician criticizing health policy risks losing his or her medical licence.

Inveighing against what it calls public health misinformation, the statement reads in full as follows:

The College is aware and concerned about the increase of misinformation circulating on social media and other platforms regarding physicians who are publicly contradicting public health orders and recommendations. Physicians hold a unique position of trust with the public and have a professional responsibility to not communicate anti-vaccine, anti-masking, anti-distancing and anti-lockdown statements and/or promoting unsupported, unproven treatments for COVID-19. Physicians must not make comments or provide advice that encourages the public to act contrary to public health orders and recommendations. Physicians who put the public at risk may face an investigation by the CPSO and disciplinary action, when warranted. When offering opinions, physicians must be guided by the law, regulatory standards, and the code of ethics and professional conduct. The information shared must not be misleading or deceptive and must be supported by available evidence and science.

Lets not dwell on the colossal irony of a public health body condemning so-called misinformation in light of the notable contradictions and lack of scientific underpinning of Canadian health authorities own (frequently changing) statements. These authorities have regularly flouted available evidence in their public statements about risks to Canadians, viral transmission routes, mask efficacy, lockdown benefits, and vaccines.

In fact, officials frequent flip-flops make it difficult to imagine how discipline would be meted out by the CPSO. Would a doctor who spoke out against the AstraZeneca vaccine in early March be punished for publicly contradicting public health  recommendations, or would that doctor be applauded for anticipating Canadas own (later) decision to suspend AstraZeneca?

What would happen to a doctor who criticized measures now widely recognized as inhumane, such as isolating children from their families in the case of possible COVID contact, or preventing family members from visiting care home residents for over a year? Is the CPSO certain that its own recommendations, if thoroughly investigated, would escape designation as unsupported, unproven treatments? Officials have studiously ignored the well-known deleterious health consequences of their harsh directives while continually stoking public fear with daily death announcements and warnings about second, third, fourth, and future variant waves.

One wonders how it could possibly be in the public interest that, even in cases in which a medical practitioner is convinced that certain health rules are damaging, the doctor still must not make comments or provide advice that encourages the public to act contrary to public health orders. Does this prohibition not violate every doctors primary commitment to do no harm?

The situation is not unique to Ontario. Doctors in British Columbia are similarly being warned that they face discipline if they contradict health recommendations, a warning contained in a joint statement by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC and the First Nations Health Authority. The statement specifically prohibits B.C. doctors from promoting anti-vaccine, anti-mask wearing, anti-physical distancing, and anti-lockdown stances.

Such statements are deeply unsettling. While there is undoubtedly no shortage of falsehoods and conspiracy theories in the age of COVID-19, the sweeping censorship of medical professionals is not only an ethical sham but is also profoundly anti-scientific. All medical knowledge is premised on the rigorous application of the scientific method, with its requirement of falsifiability, debate, and disputation over evidence. Clearly, there can be no genuine debate when doctors fear the loss of their livelihoods for dissenting from official policy. The forcing of medical unanimity will inevitably weaken public trust not only in health bodies like the colleges of physicians and surgeons, rightly judged to be exercising tyrannical power, but also in all aspects of a health-care system in which doctors cannot communicate openly and honestly with their patients.

Fortunately, there has been some pushback from the Canadian community in the form of a Declaration of Canadian Physicians for Science and Truth, which alleges that the statement by the CPSO represents a watershed moment in the assault on free speech and scientific inquiry as well as a potential crime against humanity.

The declarations website features a petition that has been signed by over 11,000 physicians and concerned citizens at the time of this writing (an encouraging number, though still too low). These physicians object that the order violates doctors pledge to put their patients well-being above any other loyalty, use evidence-based medicine in their practice, and fully inform patients of the risks and benefits of treatments. The doctors demand that the CPSO immediately withdraw and rescind its statement. Unfortunately, the CPSO has not yet done so.

It doesnt require a background in medicine to know that censorship of medical professionals during a pandemic is an outrageous and dangerous act. There is no better time than now for rigorous debate on the efficacy of public health measures, with unproven and potentially catastrophic lockdown policies and vaccine passports being forced on populations worldwide.

Janice Fiamengo is a professor of English at the University of Ottawa. Her latest book is Sons of Feminism: Men Have Their Say.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-21 21:47:22|Editor: huaxia

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BANGKOK, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Thailand's leading mobile operator AIS said Friday that it has teamed up with China's ZTE and the Suranaree University of Technology (SUT) for innovations to transform traditional production lines into smart factories via 5G technologies.

Technologies involved will include 5G cloud automated guided vehicles, inspection patrol robots, 5G AR remote guidance, VR monitoring in real time and robotic arm, the AIS said.

Tanapong Ittisakulchai, chief enterprise business officer of AIS Business, said the partnership will help develop solutions to better meet the requirements of the industrial sector in the country.

"We have built a prototype factory to level up management capabilities, and transform manufacturing processes in the context of a rapidly changing industrial sector," Tanapong said.

Ling Zhi, ZTE vice president, said ZTE is willing to expand 5G intelligent manufacturing in Thailand. "With AIS leadership and SUT, we are committed to helping the manufacturing industry develop towards a green, low-carbon, digital and intelligent future Thailand." Enditem
The TaiwanHong Kong Office for Exchange and Services, which offers support to people fleeing Hong Kong after Beijing imposed the national security law, was established in Taipei on July 1, 2020. (Sam Yeh/AFP via Getty Images)

Hong Kong Suspends Taipei Office, Citing Its Support of Democracy Activists

Hong Kong suspended the operations of its representative office in Taipei, accusing Taiwan in a strongly worded statement on May 21 of helping pro-democracy activists.

The Hong Kong government said its decision last week to close the Hong Kong Economic, Trade and Cultural Office (HKETCO) in Taipei was because of the actions of the TaiwanHong Kong Office for Exchanges and Services (THKOES), claiming that the assistance it offered to pro-democracy activities created irretrievable damage to Hong Kong-Taiwan relations, according to the statement.

Last June, Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen established THKOES under the Hong Kong Aid Project, as a response to the national security law imposed by the Chinese communist regime, which penalizes vaguely defined crimes such as subversion and secession with a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

Hong Kong police have carried out mass arrests of people who have protested against the national security law, prompting many to leave; some have moved to Taiwan.

Taipei said the office was created to provide friendly and streamlined services and basic care for Hong Kong citizens arriving in Taiwan in need of assistance, according to Taiwans office handling cross-strait relations.

The Hong Kong government said the support grossly interfered in the citys affairs, an argument that the communist regime frequently uses to deflect criticism by Western governments over its human rights violations in the far-western Xinjiang region, Hong Kong, and Tibet.

The statement said the Hong Kong government would continue to handle general inquiries and requests for assistance made by Hong Kong residents in Taiwan through the official website and hotline service.

Based on the agreement between Hong Kong and Taiwan, HKETCO was opened in Taipei in December 2011 to promote economic and trade cooperation as well as cultural exchanges.

Taiwans office in Hong Kong has also encountered problems. The citys authorities reportedly refused to renew eight staff members working permits unless they signed a document supporting Beijings claim to Taiwan under its one China policy. As a result, their visas are due to expire this year.

Following the enactment of the national security law, Hong Kongs population fell in 2020 for the first time in nearly two decades, due to a large outflow of residents. The Taiwan immigration departments data shows that residential permits issued to people from Hong Kong almost doubled in 2020.

Meanwhile, on May 20, Hong Kongs High Court ruled that Tong Ying-kit, the first person charged under the national security law, would face a trial without a jury. Tong was arrested on July 1 for protesting against the new law and was charged with inciting separatism and terrorism.
A woman helps lay 3,000 carnations to represent the approximately 3,000 abortions that occur in the United States every day, on the 46th anniversary of the Roe v Wade decision, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington on Jan. 22, 2019. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images)

Its Time for the Supreme Court to Overrule Roe v. Wade

Commentary

The Supreme Court has agreed to review the constitutionality of a Mississippi statute banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. The court should use this opportunity to liberate America from the long nightmare of nationalized abortion policy. It should overrule Roe v. Wade.

Abortion involves profound social and moral issues. This essay, however, focuses on political, judicial, and constitutional issues.

Politically, Roe has proven to be the most divisive Supreme Court ruling since Dred Scott v. Sandford, the notorious case that helped provoke the Civil War. Since Roe nationalized abortion policy in 1973, abortion has become fodder for special interests that poison civic life. Roe is a major reason judicial confirmation hearings have become arenas for slander and political assassination.

Further, Roes nationalization of abortion diverts federal elections and policymakers from issues the Constitution actually assigns to the federal government, such as foreign and budgetary policy.

Judicially, Roe v. Wade was what lawyers call a rogue decision, because it violated accepted judicial standards. Courts normally respect precedent, but Roe reversed hundreds of years of Anglo-American law. Courts generally defer to legislatures on policy questions, but Roe effectively voided statutes in all 50 states. Roe converted democratic resolution into Supreme Court diktats.

Roe violated a rule that courts dont adjudicate political questionsthose that cant be answered using judicially discoverable and manageable standards. Before a court decides an issue, that issue must be one the judges legal training equips him to decide.

But Roe and the Supreme Court cases following it force judges to address such questions as:

Does a state restriction impose an undue burden on abortion?

How does a state legislature balance protection of fetal life with reproductive freedom?

Does the value of fetal life increase with the progression of pregnancy? If so, what restrictions that are invalid for a woman at 10 weeks become valid at 20 weeks? 30 weeks?

Is a regulation appropriate for the city of Houston inappropriate in rural Texas?

Issues of that kind are quintessential legislative policy questions. They dont belong in a court of law. Only within the realm of abortion do the courts fail to recognize that fact.

Now lets turn to the constitutional aspects of Roe.

Roe v. Wade pretends to be constitutional law, but its not. Its an absurd ruling stemming from arrogant decision-making and misuse of history. Even leading pro-choice scholars have acknowledged Roes defects.

To understand why the ruling in Roe was absurd, lets start with some background.

The Bill of Rights, ratified in 1791, included 10 constitutional amendments protecting a long list of personal rights against federal abuse. Among them was the Fifth Amendments prohibition on the federal government denying a person life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868, contained a shorter list of rights that protected against state abuse, including the rule that states may not deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.

The Roe court ruled that the right to abort was protected by the 14th Amendments due process clause.

Many books and articles have elucidated Roes constitutional defects. Heres an overview:

First: In Roe, the Supreme Court held that abortion was a liberty protected by due process, in part because abortion was generally legal in 1868. But the courts treatment of history was deeply flawed. For example, the justices misunderstood the former meaning of legal terms such as misdemeanor.

Second: As its name indicates, the due process clause is about processthat is, procedure. As explained below, it regulates how the state must prosecute private citizens. It has nothing to do with substantive law.

Roe is one of a number of oxymoronically named substantive due process cases in which judges pretend that the due process clause forces them to decide political issues autocratically rather than democratically. Substantive due process has no basis in the Constitution. It originatedappropriately enoughin the Dred Scott case. Over time, the activities the Supreme Court protects through substantive due process have varied with the political views of the justices.

Third: When the Constitution was written, the phrase due process of law was centuries old, and its meaning was plain: If government prosecutes you criminally or civilly, it must follow pre-existing procedures. It cant make up the rules as it goes along. Or, alternatively: When the government proceeds against you, it cant change procedures retroactively. Due process has nothing to do with abortion.

Fourth: Some writers admit the Fifth Amendment due process clause is narrow, but insist the 14th Amendment version is much broader. They claim court cases decided between 1791 and 1868 widened the definition.

A rule of legal interpretation says that when the same word or phrase appears more than once in a document (such as the Constitution), then the word or phrase is presumed not to change meaning. The burden of proof, therefore, is on those who claim due process of law is wider in the 14th Amendment than in the Fifth.

Have they carried that burden? No. Several years ago, I examined the 17911868 cases they cite. I found that they had been misunderstood. All were merely applications of the traditional due process anti-retroactivity rule. And there was no suggestion anywhere in those casesor in any other contemporaneous sourcesthat due process included abortion.

Fifth: The Constitutions text also tells us that due process is a fairly narrow right. Its only one of many rights the Constitution lists. Other rules of interpretation tell us that when you see a list like that, you should presume that each item says something different and that the scope of each item is similar.

Suppose, for example, a wife tells her husband to buy lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and cabbage. But the husband brings home only lettuce, carrots, and a double-helping of broccoli. She asks, Wheres the cabbage? He responds, Well, dear, if you knew your botany, youd know that broccoli is a member of the cabbage family. By purchasing broccoli, I thereby purchased cabbage.

Of course, this smart aleck knew that when his wife said broccoli she didnt intend the widest possible meaning. Thats why she listed cabbage separately. This husband is on the direct route to what we hubbies call Big Trouble.

Similarly, the fact that due process of law is accompanied by many other enumerated rights tells us that due process isnt a mixed salad of other rights. It means only, as explained above, that when the state prosecutes you, the state has to follow pre-established procedures.

Sixth: Advocates of Roe v. Wade argue that because its 48 years old and people have relied on it, it has become a super precedent. They therefore argue courts should venerate it more than it deserves.

This is self-serving rubbish. For one thing, no one relies for more than nine months on the availability of abortion, other than the people who profit from it. If abortion became a state issue again, state legislatures couldand no doubt wouldtake such reliance into account.

More fundamentally, the same people who claim super precedent status for Roe applaud when the court reverses heavily relied upon cases of even longer standing. For example, in 1896, the Supreme Court upheld state racial segregation. That case lasted 10 years longer than Roe, and people and institutions relied very much upon it. Yet advocates of Roe universally praise the court for (properly) overruling it.

Similarly, many of those claiming super precedent status for Roe praised the court when, in 2015, it reversed at least 6,000 years of precedent by requiring states to recognize same-sex marriages. Compare this statement by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) claiming super precedent status for Roe with her statement cheering the same-sex marriage decision.

Few of Roe v. Wades knowledgeable defenders think its well-reasoned constitutional law. They think merely that, as a matter of policy, abortion ought to be freely available.

Theyre entitled to that belief. But theyre not entitled to misrepresent the Constitution. They are, furthermore, free to lobby for their policy preferences. But they should do so in the legislatures, just as the rest of us must do when we promote issues we care about. They have no right to impose their views on us by judicial fiat.

The Supreme Court must de-nationalize abortion before the issue tears apart our country and Constitution. The court must overrule Roe v. Wade.

Robert G. Natelson served as a law professor for 25 years at three different universities. He is senior fellow in constitutional jurisprudence at the Independence Institute in Denver and 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.
Minnesota AGs Office to Prosecute Case in Daunte Wrights Death

MINNEAPOLISMinnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announced Friday that his office will lead the prosecution of a former suburban police officer who is charged with second-degree manslaughter in the death of Daunte Wright.

Former Brooklyn Center Officer Kim Potter, who fatally shot Wright, a 20-year-old motorist, on April 11. The citys police chief, who has since stepped down, had said he believed Potter meant to use her Taser instead of her handgun.

Body-worn camera videos show Potter, a 26-year veteran of the force, shouting Taser! while pointing her handgun at Wright, who was attempting to get back behind the steering wheel. She then shot Wright in the chest.

Ellison said he took the case at the request of Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, after another prosecutorWashington County Attorney Pete Orputgave the case back to Freemans office.

Orput initially had the case under an agreement in which metro prosecutors share one anothers criminal cases involving police officers. After Orput charged Potter with manslaughter, he came under intense pressure from activists calling for more serious charges, with frequent demonstrations outside his home.

Orput had said publicly that he believed manslaughter was the appropriate charge.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison announces upgraded charges against former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin and charges against three other former police officers involved in the death of George Floyd in police custody, in St. Paul, Minn., on June 3, 2020. (Eric Miller/Reuters)

Ellison, who also led the prosecution of Derek Chauvin, said Assistant Attorney General Matthew Frank, who manages the offices criminal division, will supervise Daunte Wrights case. Ellison will actively assist, and Freemans office will also provide staff.

Frank was one of the trial attorneys in the case against Chauvin, a former Minneapolis police officer convicted of murder and manslaughter in the May 25 death of George Floyd.

Ellisons office said a review of the evidence and the charges against Potter is already underway.

Ellison said he will handle the prosecution responsibly and consistent with the law, but cautioned that no one should expect the case will be easy. His statement did not indicate whether murder charges would be filed.

Orput said in a statement that he was grateful Ellisons office took the case, adding that he believes the review and prosecution of cases like this belong with the Attorney Generals Office.

Potter is scheduled to go on trial on Dec. 6.

Reuters contributed to this report
Mollie Tibbetts poses for a picture during homecoming festivities at BGM High School in her hometown of Brooklyn, Iowa, in September 2016. (Kim Calderwood via AP)

Mollie Tibbetts Murder Trial: DNA Analyst Testifies Blood in Suspects Trunk Belonged to Tibbetts

Crime scene photos shown to jury

DAVENPORT, IowaBlood found in the trunk of a farmhands car was an exact match for a University of Iowa student who was abducted and killed while out for a run in 2018, a DNA analyst told jurors Friday.

Tara Scott, a criminalist in the DNA section of Iowas crime lab, said she analyzed a swab taken from a blood stain found on the trunk seal of Cristhian Bahena Riveras Chevy Malibu after investigators recovered the body of Mollie Tibbetts.

The profile I had from Mollie Tibbetts and the profile from that blood matched, Scott testified. They were exactly the same.

Rivera, 26, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, is charged with first-degree murder in Tibbetts stabbing death. Tibbetts, 20, vanished while out running on July 18, 2018, in Brooklyn, Iowa, and investigators recovered her partially naked, decomposing body from a cornfield a month later.

Prosecutors have used the DNA evidence, surveillance video showing Riveras Chevy Malibu driving near where Tibbetts was running, and the suspects partial confession to build their case. The trial is expected to continue next week.

Investigators say Rivera, who faces life in prison if convicted, led them to the cornfield where Tibbetts body was found in the early morning of Aug. 21, 2018. He told an officer at the scene that he approached Tibbetts while she was running and fought with her after she threatened to call the police. He said he didnt remember how he killed her but that he hid her bloody body in the field underneath cornstalks, former officer Pamela Romero testified.

Riveras defense lawyers made the case Friday that the confession was false and coerced as a result of sleep deprivation and harsh interrogation techniques. They played videos for jurors showing their client sleeping during the 11-hour interrogation.

Investigators initially searched Riveras car on Aug. 20, 2018, after he gave his consent and submitted to the interrogation.

Cristhian Bahena Rivera listens to testimony that has been translated into Spanish by an interpreter during his trial at the Scott County Courthouse in Davenport, Iowa, on May 20, 2021 (Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette via AP, Pool)

Criminalist Amy Johnson testified that investigators initially overlooked the blood stain on the trunks rubber seal, but found it during an additional search two days later.

Scott said that stain was the first match for Tibbetts DNA. Later analysis of blood found on the trunks liner also was a match for Tibbetts, whose DNA had been collected from one of her water bottles during the investigation into her disappearance and from her body when it was discovered in the field, she said.

Other blood spots found in the trunk and on several items in it did not have enough material to compare for DNA purposes, she said.

Members of the jury of 15 people, including three alternates, appeared to pay close attention during the DNA testimony, with at least three jotting notes in their court-issued notebooks.

Earlier, prosecutors showed jurors several crime scene photos of what Tibbetts body looked like on the day it was found. It was covered in cornstalks, with only her running shoes sticking out and visible.

Judge Joel Yates on Friday seized a camera memory card from a photographer and threatened her with jail after she acknowledged taking photographs of jurors, which is prohibited under Iowa court rules.

The photographerreporting for the Daily Iowan, the student newspaper at the University of Iowatold Yates that an editor said it was OK to photograph jurors and that she was unaware it wasnt allowed.

She erased the photos in front of the judge, and Yates took possession of the memory card, saying he believed that was sufficient to ensure no photos of the jurors would be disseminated.

By Ryan J. Foley
Bags containing fentanyl are displayed as evidence during a news conference at the Surrey RCMP headquarters in Surrey, B.C., on Sept. 3, 2020. A search warrant executed at a residence yielded a seizure that included 3.1 kilograms of fentanyl, more than $100,000 in cash, and a drug brick press. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

New Book Showcases How Wilful Blindness to CCP-Connected Crime Operations Harms Western Democracies

Investigative journalist Sam Coopers new book, Wilful Blindness: How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP Agents Infiltrated the West, offers an in-depth look at how massive international crime networks are targeting democracies worldwide and how authorities in some cases have been looking away.

The book follows Coopers investigation of suspicious money-laundering activities in Vancouvers casinos. Following the money trails, Cooper uncovers the intricate connections between drug trafficking organizations in Canada, Hong Kong triad gangs, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).

The book covers how criminal proceedings fuelled an opioid crisis in Canada while driving real estate costs so high as to make them unaffordable for many, and how in many cases the hands of law enforcement officials were tied due to pressure from politicians.

I found that the people that were facilitating bags of  $20 bills, up to $1.2 million coming into a casino per night with one  whale gamblerthese were the very same people that were interacting with people in the Vancouver Chinese Consulate, top-level leaders [who] were interacting with Canadian politicians, Cooper said during an online book-launch event on May 20.

Cooper explains in his book that the CCP has a focus on controlling the Chinese diaspora abroad so that it can better exert influence in other countries, and it makes use of its United Front Work Department for this purpose.

Sam Coopers book Wilful Blindness: How a Network of Narcos, Tycoons and CCP Agents Infiltrated the West was launched internationally on May 20, 2021. (Optimum Publishing International)

The Hand of Beijing

According to Charles Burton, a China scholar and former Canadian diplomat to China who also spoke at the book launch, Western countries main problem of wilful blindness is not understanding the nature of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC) and the ruling communist party.

Burton said that while there seems to be a desire to pretend that Chinese communist institutions are equivalent to Canadian institutions, the Chinese regime is in fact an integrated Party state-military-security-industrial complex, as described by the PRCs founding leader Mao Zedong.

The essence of the Chinese Communist Partys United Front Work is in fact to induce  non-communist elements to support the interests of the Chinese Communist Party, Burton said.

So really, all mainland institutionswhether they are government institutions, party institutions, or claim to be non-government institutionsare subject to the unified leadership of the Party and coordinated to further the overall interests of power of the Chinese Communist Party, he said.

In May 2020, at a time when the CCP virus, which causes the disease COVID-19, was raging in China, Cooper reported on how United Front-controlled networks in cities across Canada and other countries around the world called on overseas Chinese to collect large quantities of personal protective equipment (PPE) to send to China. Shortly thereafter, these countries themselves faced a shortage of PPE for their front-line health workers.

As the story got more public attention, Cooper became a target of comments bashing his reporting, with some labelling his reporting as racist. A petition was also launched demanding that Cooper retract the disinformation.

My story was based on facts, evidence, and direct quotes from official Chinese sources. The story explained that Beijing is trying to control and use all Chinese immigrants abroad. This has been extensively supported by numerous intelligence reports and books, Cooper said.

But I had to respond to politically motivated attacks on my story. It wasnt hard to identify the hand of Beijing, he said.

The Most Awful Sort of Racism

Ivy Li, a leading figure within the Canadian Friends of Hong Kong group, said during the book-launch event that the United Front Work wants democratic countries to believe that criticism of anything that is Chinese, or China will invite backlash from the Chinese community. She noted that many politicians [are] gladly making use of that fear as an excuse to evade urgently needed discussions or actions.

But suppressing legitimate [discussions] will only increase resentment and anger among the public, Li said, adding that the United Front Work knows that. The United Front also knows that incidents of racism will increase that tension and increase the ethnic Chinese communitys fear, and therefore increase their sense of dependency on the strong CCP-led motherland, she said.

The best way to counter this, Li said, is to continue to have those critical discussions while being aware of what is and isnt racist.

Li also said that Chinese-Canadians are subject to intimidation by the CCP, which insists that anyone of Han ethnicity must do whatever the CCP asks, to further [Beijings] agenda, even if that means breaking Canadian law or violating the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Burton spoke to this from the perspective of racism. It puts an awful aspersion onto the character of ethnic Chinese who have absolutely nothing to do with the Chinese Communist Party [if] the Canadian mainstream believes that they are acting as agents for malign activities by this regime.

He called it the most awful sort of racism to level that kind of accusation against people who have come to Canada for our freedom and democracy.

Anti-CCP Is Not Anti-China

Teng Biao, a human rights lawyer and visiting professor at the University of Chicago, also noted that the United Front has used overseas Chinese students to silence critics of the Chinese regime, often forcing them to comply through coercion and harassment. Teng shared his experience of having been invited to join a Columbia University panel discussion on Chinas human rights violation in 2019it was cancelled due to protests by pro-Beijing Chinese students.

Being against the CCP, the Chinese Communist Party, is not racism; anti-CCP is not anti-China, Teng said. People like Sam Cooper and many Chinese writers and scholars, they sacrificed a lot and they dedicated their time, their career, to studying China. And they love China and they love Chinese people, but they have to tell the truth.

Teng also noted that while democratic countries like Canada and the United States should remain open to people from different cultures, religions, and political systems, its also important that these open societies do not become a safe haven for money laundering, corruption, and human trafficking, or for manipulation by dictatorial regimes like the CCP.

Cooper said during the event that a major issue is how the CCP exerts influence on the political and business communities to further its interests.

This casino money laundering, this trade-based money laundering, these Belt and Road projects, theyre all interrelated into a system where foreign governments, political leaders, business leaders, academics, bureaucrats will be the targets of influence by the same actors active in the casinos, Cooper said.

The Belt and Road Initiative is an investment project to build trade routes linking China and other parts of the world.

At the end of the day, its not just about fentanyl overdoses, its not just about housing crisis, it is truly about democracy, Cooper said.
A copy of President George Washington's personal copy of the Constitution and Bill of Rights is viewed at Christie's auction house on June 15, 2012. (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

No, the First Amendment Is Not Bonkers

Commentary

Prince Harry, who recently moved to the United States, made headlines this week when he exhibited a surprising level of ignorance about the very foundation of free society and a free world.

In a recent appearance on Dax Shepards podcast, Harry brought up the First Amendment, shockingly admitting, Ive got so much I want to say about the First Amendment as I still dont understand it, but it is bonkers.

I dont want to start going down the First Amendment route because thats a huge subject and one I dont understand because Ive only been here a short time, he said. But you can find a loophole in anything. You can capitalize or exploit whats not said rather than uphold what is said.

While Im not sure what exactly that last comment means, I certainly am sure of one thing: As someone of his position and stature, presumably with access to the greatest tutors and education the world has to offer, Prince Harrys misunderstanding of such a fundamental right is shocking. Its also emblematic of a larger cultural trend.

Such ignorance is broadening in the younger generations. A 2015 Pew Research study, for example, found that 40 percent of millennials would support the government limiting speech deemed offensive to minorities. This is compared with just 27 percent of Generation X, 24 percent of baby boomers, and 12 percent of the silent generation.

The rule is as such: The more remote that days without the guaranteed right to free speech become, the more upcoming generations forget how profound said right truly is. Freedom of speech is a gift from our Founding Fathers thats so baked into our societal fabric that many of us, and especially the youngest among us, may not even realize its there in the first place.

This trend isnt without consequences. Cultural ignorance renders us susceptible to willfully stifling free speech. The push to curtail ill-defined terms such as hate speech is becoming more widespread as the societal support for censorship growsfrom language policing to cancel culture. We are knowingly, and even enthusiastically, opening a Pandoras box of unfreedom.

In doing so, were turning our backs on the core tenets of a free society and failing our forefathers by taking the right to freedom of speecha right that they fought and died forfor granted. We are, in turn, abandoning authentic liberalism and our national faith that truth and justice will prevail.

History has demonstrated that free speech and free societies have the potential to breed peace, prosperity, and liberty. It has also shown us, in many iterations throughout the ages, that societies that dabble in censorship flirt with oblivion.

As my contemporaries in the younger generations take the mantle of power in the ensuing years, I shudder to think what will become of us. As soon as we dismantle free speech, we dismantle free society. So, no, Prince Harry, the First Amendment most certainly isnt bonkers.

Rikki Schlott is a writer and student based in New York. As a young free speech activist, her writing chronicles the rise of illiberalism from a Generation Z perspective. Schlott also works for The Megyn Kelly Show and has been published by The Daily Wire and The Conservative Review.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
Orange Countys Pastor of Disaster Helps Victims Worldwide

It would seem natural to call Richard Yeomans the pastor of disaster.

Yeomans is the president of Emergency Ministry Services, a group that trains disaster response teams operating out of churches across Southern California. Since founding the organization in 2007, the San Juan Capistrano resident has deployed to 41 natural and man-made disasters around the globe.

We take on just about any task you can imagine to help people in their time of need, Yeomans, 65, told The Epoch Times. Its important, when you deal with tragedy, to be a good listener and let people share their feelings [and] share their grief.

When more than 300,000 people perished after the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Yeomans helped shepherd 80 orphans to the United States for adoption; after a Category 4 tornado devastated Cookeville, Tennessee, in 2020, he and his team helped families recover valuables from the wreckage of their former homes; and earlier this year, in the wake of a mass shooting that left 10 dead in Boulder, Colorado, he was on the scene to comfort the traumatized.

When youre preparing yourself to go into another such environment  theres a little bit of hesitancy, he said. But, at the same time, [theres] almostI dont want to say a sense of excitement, but theres something very special about these kinds of environments. The best in people comes out.

In response to The Epoch Times call for readers to highlight everyday acts of kindness in their communities, Birgit Klause nominated Yeomans, who attends the same church as her family.

He is a great example of being Jesus in skin to so many, Klause told The Epoch Times via email. He always has a smile on his face and is certainly a local hero to our family.

Before and After 9/11



Yeomans is originally from Long Island, New York. His grandfather was a fire chief, and his stepfather was a police officer and Korean War veteran. Their trauma left a deep and lasting impression on him.

The main reason I became a police chaplain was because I saw my father and my grandfather go through trauma in [their] jobs, Yeomans said. As an adult, I could look back and say, Oh, thats what was going on in their lives. Thats why they locked themselves in the bedroom and drank themselves to sleep that night. Thats why there was anger in our home.

Hes been in ministry since 1977, when he began working as a youth pastor in San Clemente. But it was the national tragedy on Sept. 11, 2001, that changed the trajectory of his lifes mission.

He was working as a patrol chaplain at the time. About a month after the terrorist attack, a team of Christian police officers and chaplains from the area invited him to join them on a trip to New York City to minister to first responders.

When they arrived in New York, the rubble of the Twin Towers was still burning, Yeomans recalled.

It was surreal. The scope of a disaster like that  It was really hard for you to wrap your mind around something that huge.

Pastor Richard Yeomans displays pins on his uniform, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., on May 17, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

Sharing Grief

One evening, Yeomans shared his testimony with several hundred law enforcement officers gathered beneath a tent. He spoke to the grief-stricken first responders about how to find peace and make sense of such a terrible event, sharing his own experiences with death, suffering, and sadness that he had encountered as a patrol chaplain.

Afterward, an officer approached Yeomans.

The words that you shared tonight really ministered to these men and women, and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here and sharing your story, the officer said.

Then the officer pressed his personal New York Police Department (NYPD) detective pinthe one he wore on his formal, full dress uniforminto the palm of Yeomanss hand.

I cherish that very much today, he said. I actually keep that pin on my uniform. It says NYPD Detective on itwith their seal.

From then on, his calling was confirmed: He never wanted to see anyone else suffer from the trauma that he saw his family or 9/11 first responders go through.

When you experience trauma in your own life, I think that God gives you an empathy for other people who maybe are experiencing something similar to what you personally have experienced. I felt like God was saying, Ive equipped you even before you knew it, as a young person, he said.

When it came time to write his masters degree thesis, he studied the effectiveness of chaplains at Ground Zero following the terrorist attacks.

Ive put a lot of energy and time in trying to both understand and then offering help to people who have experienced a traumatic event in their life. You know that old saying: it takes one to know one.

Physical Needs First

Since 2007, Yeomans has traveled to wherever calamity strikes, often bewildering the recipients of his benevolence.

In 2013, the pastor took his team to Jamaica Beach, Texas, where they learned that the city hall, police department, and fire department were flooded with about 4 inches of mud and sewage.

Wed be willing to clean up in here if you would allow us to, Yeomans told the mayor.

We cant even get our folks to come in here and do that, the mayor replied. I cant believe you guys would be willing to take on such a nasty job.

Yeomans and his teamclad in biohazard suits and respiratorsspent the following three days shoveling out the muck.

The city officials were just kind of blown away that were willing to do something like that, he said. Our answer was, We came here to serve in Christs name.

When responding to disasters, the first step of Yeomanss strategy is taking care of physical needs firstand there are a lot of those, he said.

Usually, that simply means setting up a portable kitchen, making bean and cheese burritos, and serving them with iced energy water to police officers around the perimeter of a disaster area.

Ninety percent of the time, those camps havent had anything hot to eat, Yeomans said. Often, the police officers will say, Hey, theres a family down the end of the street that could really use some help. And, in essence, its almost like they give you the key to their city.

Once the team encounters people in need, they might offer to board up shattered windows or forage through the wreckage for valuables. But sometimes, the biggest help they can offer is simply listening.

[Its important] because people are trying to make sense of the whys, Yeomans said. You know, Why did this happen to me? Struggles of blaming themselves, blaming God.  Theyre in a state of shock. And its very important to let people just vent and express all those different things that theyre experiencing.

However, as Yeomans has seen firsthand, people who experience disaster and loss are extremely resilient.

After they lick their wounds, they get on with life. Most people bounce back from things that even surprised themselves. Theyre not so egocentric, but they become other-centered.  You see the best in people in the worst of situations. Its a beautiful thing. It really, really is, he said.

The more intense [your] experience is, the greater your effectiveness is to help another human being. Simple things, like just saying, Im praying for you or How can I help you? Thats something that any one of us could do.

He added, Its highly effective to just be there for somebody when theyre in need.
Transport Minister Marc Garneau stands during question period in the House of Commons on Parliament Hill amid the COVID-19 pandemic in Ottawa, on May 25, 2020. (The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick)

Ottawa Names Payam Akhavan To Advise Global Affairs on Shootdown of Flight PS752

OTTAWAThe federal government has named a legal expert as senior adviser to Global Affairs Canada on the shooting down of a passenger jet in Iran that killed 176 people.

The government says in a release that Payam Akhavan, Senior Fellow at Massey College and distinguished visiting professor at the University of Toronto, will provide advice on all matters pertaining to Ukraine International Airlines Flight PS752.

Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau says Akhavan will help Global Affairs Canadas legal team as it prepares for upcoming negotiations with Iran on reparations and other possible measures.

Fifty-five Canadian citizens and 30 permanent residents were among those killed when the jet was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile minutes after taking off from Tehran on Jan. 8, 2020.

Akhavan was the first legal adviser to the Prosecutors Office of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and also served with the UN in Bosnia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Rwanda and Timor Leste.

The government says Canada remains committed to pursuing transparency, accountability and justice for the victims of the tragedy, their grieving families and all Canadians.

I am pleased to welcome Professor Akhavan to Global Affairs Canada, Garneau said in a release late Friday.

His wealth of knowledge and expertise will bolster the departments ongoing efforts to hold Iran accountable for the downing of Flight PS752 and to pursue justice and transparency for the families.

On Thursday, an Ontario court ruled that the Iranian militarys downing of the jet was an intentional act of terrorism.

The ruling by Ontario Superior Court Justice Edward Belobaba paves the way for relatives of those killed to seek compensation from the country.

He found on a balance of probabilities that the missiles that shot down the jet were fired deliberately at a time when there was no armed conflict in the area.

As a result, he found it constituted an act of terrorism that would invalidate Irans immunity against civil litigation.

While the State Immunity Act protects foreign states from legal claims, the Justice for Victims of Terrorism Act provides an exception in cases where the losses are caused by terrorist activity, the ruling said.

The lawsuit was filed last year by four people whose loved ones were killed in the attack.
Pulling Back the Curtain on the Unsung Heroes

Late last year, I was invited by a friend to come along for an official county visit to honor a 100-year-old veteran of World War II. His name was George Kaleel. The county commissioner had decided to surprise him with a certificate of appreciation for his service and to commemorate the fact that he had reached the century mark.

I drove up to a quaint home located at the end of a long street. His daughter and granddaughter greeted us and introduced us to a man who couldnt have been more than 5-foot 6-inches. He appeared most definitely shorter with the hunch of age. His mind, however, was still crisp and his personality full of life.

Veteran George Kaleel with the author, Dustin Bass. (Courtesy of Dustin Bass)

The relatively quick introduction would turn into a documentary project about his experiences in the war that would span several months. I sit here writing this article in honor of Memorial Day and of all those who have now passed on, which now, as of this April 19, includes Kaleel.

I was about a week away from showing a rough draft version of the documentary to him, his daughter, and granddaughter when I received word that his heart had given out and he was gone. To know the project was so near completion and that he wouldnt get the chance to see it was heartrending. Friends and colleagues, even his family members themselves when I attended his funeral, said that it was enough to have captured his story before he passed. And Im certain, in the grand scheme of things, it is.

Kaleel was a truck driver for the First Armys 7th Corps. His first day of the war was June 6, 1944D-Dayand his journey sent him through the beaches of Normandy, through war-torn Belgium, across the Rhine River, and into the heart of Germany. He was part of the capture of 8,000 Germans on the shore of Utah Beach. He had his front teeth knocked out by German soldiers disguised in American uniforms, shortly before he shot both of them.

He interacted personally with Gen. George Patton in order to obtain much-needed trucks for the crossing of the Rhine River. He was there when the First Army attacked, liberated, and ventured into a Nazi underground facility in the Harz Mountains. He experienced the results of the Hitlerjugend (the Hitler Youth), where young boys were given guns and, as he put it, were told to kill. Everything was kill. He helped liberate Jewish people who were being slaughtered in a small town. He and his corps were on a ship headed to Japan to continue the fight until the radio announced Japans surrender.

The human elements of courage, pain, heartbreak, camaraderie, and horror can hardly be found in a more powerful setting than through the stories of our war veterans. They are the simplified, yet complex versions of humanitys plot: triumph and defeat. It is war. As much as we hate it, and as much as we fear its arrival and are left grieving in its wake, it is the most defining of all fires.

Its soldiers like Kaleel who are called upon by their country to fight a war and to defeat an enemy in the hopes of restoring peace, or something at least resembling it. He is an example of the willingness to do what is needed. He is an example of love of country. He is an example of the unsung hero.

His job wasnt on the front lines. His job was to ensure soldiers could reach those front lines, that the wounded could be taken to safety, and that the supply lines didnt run dry. War is the great drama. And at times, those behind the scenes ensuring the drama continues are unintentionally overshadowed.

If one is willing to look around, you will be able to find men and women who have served valiantly for their country and for the cause of freedom. From Korea to Vietnam to Serbia to Iraq to Afghanistan to other places around the globe and even here at home, our men and women of uniform do have stories to tell. Stories of fear and courage, joy and sorrow, triumph and defeat.

I have interviewed numerous veterans of various ages, including those in their 80s, 90s, and now 100s. The stories differ in their perspectives, because war, regardless of size and scale, is an incredibly personalized experience. As I was told shortly after Kaleels passing, it was enough to capture his story. For many veterans, its enough to simply pull back the curtain and ask them to tell theirs.

Dustin Bass is the co-host of The Sons of History podcast and the creator of the Thinking It Through YouTube channel. He is also an author.
A logo is pictured outside a building of the World Health Organization (WHO) during an executive board meeting on update on the CCP virus outbreak, in Geneva, Switzerland, Feb. 6, 2020. (Reuters/Denis Balibouse)

Ranking Member of House Foreign Affairs Committee: WHO Must Ignore the CCPs Attempts to Sideline Taiwan

The ranking Republican member of the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee expressed strong opposition on May 21 to China blocking Taiwan from participating in the World Health Assembly (WHA), the decision-making body of the World Health Organization (WHO).

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told The Epoch Times, The WHO must ignore the [Chinese Communist Partys] attempts to sideline Taiwan and invite them to attend the World Health Assembly.

While the annual meeting of the WHA is slated to begin in Geneva on May 24, Taiwana democratic nation of 24 million people that has been widely praised for its handling of COVID-19hasnt received an invitation to attend, because of obstruction by the Chinese communist regime. Taiwan has been blocked by the regime from attending the WHA since 2016, after Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen took office.

Dr. Shiing Jer Twu, chairman of Taiwans Development Center for Biotechnology, as well as a former Taiwan Minister of Health. (Courtesy of The Development Center for Biotechnology)

We need all our partners at the table when it comes to protecting global health in the future, McCaul told The Epoch Times in a written statement. Instead of advancing the Chinese Communist Partys political views, the WHO needs to do its jobproviding unbiased technical assistance on health to all governments around the world. Taiwan has made important contributions to global health for years, including being the first to warn the world that COVID-19 can spread from human-to-human.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) also expressed support for the inclusion of Taiwan, telling The Epoch Times in a written statement, If the WHOs mission truly is to keep the world safe instead of keeping China happy, Taiwan should again be able to have observer status within the organization.

Dr. Shiing Jer Twu, chairman of Taiwans Development Center for Biotechnology and former minister of health for Taiwan, said, They dont want Taiwan to attend [the WHA] because Tsai-Ying-wen  says [to authoritarian China] I cannot become a part of you, and [China] is angry.

He told The Epoch Times during a recent interview that China is displeased with Tsais defense of Taiwans freedom and democracy against coordinated and comprehensive efforts by authoritarian China to position Taiwan for eventual takeover.

Twu stated that the WHA could still issue an invitation to Taiwan.

They can still change their mind, he said. He added that, due to the knowledge that Taiwan can share with other nations, given its success in managing the pandemic, authoritarian China is blocking the health rights of the whole world by preventing Taiwan from attending the WHA.

McCaul and Blackburn, along with numerous other members of Congress and U.S. government officials, have previously voiced support for Taiwans participation in the WHA. In April, McCaul stated in a video posted to Twitter that, during the pandemic, Taiwan donated PPE [personal protective equipment] to countries around the world without strings attached.

In May, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, There is no reasonable justification for Taiwans continued exclusion from [the WHA], calling Taiwan a reliable partner, a vibrant democracy, and a force for good in the world.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken attends a press conference with Britains Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab following their bilateral meeting during the G-7 foreign ministers meeting, in London, on May 3, 2021. (Ben Stansall/AFP via Getty Images)

In response, McCaul stated: I appreciate Secretary Blinken personally highlighting Taiwans exclusion from the WHO, which is a detriment to global health. The WHO exists to protect us from pandemics, not advance the Chinese Communist Partys political views.

In April, Blackburn wrote in a tweet: The U.S. cannot stand by and let Beijing block Taiwans participation in the World Health Assembly and in the [WHO]. Our friend and partner, Taiwan, has been a key leader in the fight against COVID-19. They deserve a seat at the table.

Taiwans Ministry of Foreign Affairs thanked Blackburn in a tweet, saying, Your staunch support of #Taiwan & its right to participate in the activities, mechanisms & meetings of the @WHO like the #WHA is greatly appreciated by the government & the people.
Apple Inc Chief Executive Tim Cook on Friday told a court that threats to iPhone security and privacy required tight control of the App Store, which "Fortnite" game maker Epic Games says is a monopoly that Apple illegally abuses.

The testimony constitutes Cook's most extensive public remarks on the App Store, which anchors Apple's $53.8 billion services business, at a time when the company that once urged the world to 'think different' is criticized as too big and too powerful.

Epic has waged a public relations and legal campaign, parodying Apple's iconic "1984" commercial and arguing that it acts anticompetitively by only allowing approved apps on the world's 1 billion iPhones and forcing developers to use Apple's in-app payment system which charges sales commissions of up to 30%.

See FACTBOX:

Cook under questioning said he had higher concerns about the phone than Mac computers. "You have a phone in your pocket most of the time and you want instant service. We felt both the use cases and the threat profile would eventually be much greater because of the number of iPhones on the market."

Cook said an Apple document produced in the trial and showing a 78% profit margin for the App Store did not account for several costs and was meant to show trends, not a true bottom line.

Epic has argued that the Mac is very safe without Apple's App Store review and that most of the privacy and security benefits come from the operating system, not App Store rules.

The maker of "Fortnite," which pits players against in each other in an animated "Battle Royale" fight to the last survivor, is led by CEO Tim Sweeney, who has reveled in the public opportunity to take on Apple.

Sweeney two weeks ago kicked off the trial as Epic's first witness, using his time on the stand to argue that "Fortnite" has become a place for players to gather in a virtual world he calls the "metaverse" and that Apple is unfairly demanding an outsized cut of profits for providing simple payment processing technology.

On Friday, Sweeney, who has attended every day of the trial as a corporate representative for Epic, listened to Cook's testimony, looking down at a rubber band he stretched and twirled between his fingers while making notes.

The antitrust trial at a federal courthouse in Oakland, California, comes as Apple faces a chorus of criticism from app makers including music service Spotify Technology, European regulators and U.S. politicians including who say the $2 trillion company tries to squash small competition.

In the past, Cook fielded a handful of questions about the App Store while testifying before U.S. lawmakers last year, but he has stayed mostly silent as lawmakers grilled the chiefs of Alphabet Inc's Google and Facebook Inc.

Apple has sought to persuade Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers that its rules for developers are aimed at keeping its customers' information private and safe from malware. Cook on Friday said developer fees were necessary to support the App Store.

In United States, lawmakers such as Senator Amy Klobuchar who are contemplating new antitrust laws are likely to comb through the records generated in the Epic case.

"This case has always been part of a bigger narrative rather than something that's going to decide the issue on its own," said John Bergmayer, legal director at consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge.

Also read: Tim Cook defends App store in Apple-Epic trial
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 11:30:20|Editor: huaxia

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KATHMANDU, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Nepali President Bidya Devi Bhandari dissolved the House of Representatives early Saturday for fresh elections on Nov. 12 and 19 after the prospect of forming a new government has ended.

"President Bidya Devi Bhandari, on the recommendation of Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, has dissolved the House of Representatives as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal and called the mid-term elections for Nov. 12 and 19," the President's Office said in a statement.

Under Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal, the president shall dissolve the lower house and call for new election, as suggested by the prime minister, if the incumbent premier fails to obtain a vote of confidence or a new one cannot be appointed.

Oli on Friday night called an emergency meeting of his Cabinet to recommend the dissolution, as the president decided that neither Oli nor Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba had presented a valid claim to the formation of a new government.

Bhandari on Thursday evening called on the opposition parties to form a new majority government by 5:00 p.m. local time on Friday, as recommended by Oli.

Oli was renamed to head the government on May 13 in the wake of his failure to win the confidence of the chamber on May 10 and the opposition's failed attempt to form a new coalition by the deadline.

Both Oli and Deuba on Friday staked the claim for the premiership, with Deuba taking a list of the signatures of 149 lawmakers and Oli presenting his claim that he has the support of 153 members in the lower house.

The statement from the President's Office said as the lawmakers who have been included in the claim from Oli have been repeated in Deuba's claim, the demand for the formation of a new government from both sides was invalid.

The president, as recommended by Oli, on Dec. 20 last year dissolved the House of Representatives, but the decision was overturned by the Supreme Court on Feb. 23.

The House of Representatives, which has 271 members, was formed in elections held in November and December in 2017. Enditem
Red States Lead the Charge in Lowest Unemployment Rates

Red states, along with Democrat-controlled Vermont, topped the charts in lowest unemployment rates in April, while blue states recorded the highest jobless rates, according to the Commerce Department.

In a May 21 statement, the Commerce Department announced that the top five states with the highest unemployment rates in April were Hawaii at 8.5 percent, followed by California at 8.3 percent, New Mexico and New York both at 8.2 percent, and Connecticut at 8.1 percent. All five states have Democrat trifectas, meaning their governorships and state houses and senates are Democrat-controlled.

At the same time, the top four states with the lowest jobless rates in AprilNebraska, New Hampshire, South Dakota, and Utah, with 2.8 percent eachall have Republican trifectas, meaning Republicans hold the governorship, a majority in the state Senate, and a majority in the state House. Vermont, with a Democrat-controlled state House and Senate and a Republican governor, came in fifth, with an unemployment rate of 2.9 percent.

Overall, 31 states had unemployment rates lower than the U.S. national average of 6.1 percent, with 26 of them red. Of the 19 states and the District of Columbia with jobless rates higher than the national average, 14 are blue.

Meanwhile, the three largest unemployment rate decreases year-over-year from April 2020 to April 2021 occurred in blue states: Nevada, down 21.5 percentage points; Michigan, down 18.7 percentage points; and Hawaii, down 13.4 percentage points, with another 10 states experiencing declines of 10 percentage points or more.

The Commerce Departments state unemployment report came as Federal Reserve officials and new Dallas Federal Reserve data have begun lowering expectations for May jobs growth in the United States as business hiring plans continue to outrun the supply of people able or willing to work.

Dallas Federal Reserve President Robert Kaplan said in a May 21 statement that hiring difficulties have continued through May and will likely lead to another weak jobs report following the lower-than-expected 266,000 positions added in April. The next jobs report is due for release on June 4 by the Labor Department.

A survey published by the Dallas Fed on May 21 also pointed to weakening job growth.

This trend has been attributed to a number of factors, including ongoing unemployment benefit payments and a lack of child care.

These structural issues, which we saw in the report for April  all those tensions are not going to go away immediately, Kaplan said at a Dallas Fed conference on technology. We think you are going to see another odd or unusual report.  Businesses are telling us they got plenty of demand, but they cannot find workers either skilled or unskilled.

Fed officials had hoped to see a string of months in which a million or more new jobs were added to U.S. payrolls, helping the country quickly claw back the 8.2 million positions still missing from before the pandemic.

Business groups and Republican leaders have blamed generous unemployment benefitsexpanded under President Joe Bidens $1.9 trillion American Rescue Planfor discouraging people from taking jobs.

In response to business hiring woes, Republican governors in at least 22 states have moved to drop the federal unemployment benefit boost.

Reuters contributed to this report.
Rhode Island Bus Driver Spots Man About to Jump off Bridgeso She Gets Out, Saves His Life

The Rhode Island Public Transit Authority (RIPTA) commended a bus driver for preventing a man from jumping off a bridge to commit suicide. The driver is being recognized for exemplary compassion and selflessness for intervening and saving the mans life.

To say she went above and beyond is an understatement, RIPTAs chief executive officer, Scott Avedisian, said in a press statement.

Operator Eldorada Ellie Giblin was driving the Route 33 bus on the Providence-East Providence line last month when she spotted a man who appeared to be contemplating leaping from the Henderson Bridge.

She immediately stopped her bus and got out.

People just had their phones out and were taking pictures or videoIt broke my heart, she told the transit authority. I told my passengers not to worry and that I would be right back.

When she approached the man, she asked him to come to her; then he cried, No one cares!

However, Ellie reassured him that she did care, and as proof, she invited him to join her on her next break from work.

Before long, the man pulled away from the railing and even said he wanted to go home. Ellie realized he intended to drive away from the scene and made him promise he wouldnt harm himself.

I made him pinky swear, she said.

When she returned to her bus, the passengers burst into applause.

Ellie told the transit authority that she didnt think she had done anything that remarkable, but on April 3, RIPTA publicly recognized her for her actions.

In the United States, suicide is the 10th leading cause of death, according to Centerstone health and wellness center.

The belief that no one cares is one of the most common perceptions that leads to suicidal thoughts.

Ellie is a reminder that there are many good people in the world, Avedisian said, and that acts of kindness can make a huge difference. We are so proud that she is a RIPTA employee.

If you or anyone you know struggles with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline immediately: 800-273-8255, or text HOME to 741741.

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
Roe v. Wade Under Review; School Nurse Blows Whistle on Masks; Harvard Defends Race-Based Policies

(1:42) The writing could be on the wall for Roe v. Wade if the Supreme Court upholds Mississippis 15-week abortion ban. Legal historian and Florida State University law professor Mary Ziegler, explains why this case has caught everyones attention.

(11:27) Mallory Quigley, VP of Communications for the Susan B. Anthony List, makes the case for why banning abortions at 15 weeks makes sense from a pro-life perspective.

(21:16) Then, in America Q&A we find out how well people know their neighbors.

(24:17) Next, New Jersey school nurse, Erin Pein finally had enough of seeing kids harmed by horrible mask hygiene. She put her job on the line speaking out and shes not sorryin fact, shes just getting started.

(35:36) Some prices have been rising due to pandemic-related supply chain interruptions. In our second America Q&A we ask what people have noticed at the cash register.

(38:11) And, what role should race play in university admissions? Asian students call it discrimination. Harvard calls it affirmative action to increase diversity. Will the supreme court take on the case and settle the score? Journalist Kenny Xu has been covering this story for years. Heres what his research shows.

(57:15) Finally, Taiwanese immigrant Seanie Zappendorf shares about her experiences, including what she was taught about how to succeed in America.
Suspect Arrested in Attack on Jewish Man in Times Square

NEW YORKA man was arrested and several others were being sought in connection with an attack on a Jewish man in New York Citys Times Square that drew the attention of several politicians and is being investigated as a hate crime, police said on Friday.

The attack on Thursday, captured in a video that was shared on social media, followed rival pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian demonstrations in midtown Manhattan over the fighting in Gaza, which ended in a ceasefire hours later. The demonstrations resulted in 26 arrests.

The 29-year-old Jewish man was attacked a short time after the demonstrations and was taken to a hospital where he was in stable condition, Sergeant Jessica McRorie, a police spokeswoman, said. The victims name was not released.

The victim was approached by a group of five or six males who knocked him to the ground, assaulted him while making anti-Semitic statements, McRorie said by phone. They punched, kicked, pepper-sprayed and hit him with some crutches during the assault.

The man who was arrested was identified as Waseem Awawdeh, who police said used a crutch in the early evening assault. He faces charges of second-degree hate crime assault, a second-degree gang assault, menacing and criminal possession of a weapon.

A video of the incident showed a person striking a man on the ground with a crutch and fleeing as other attackers also did. The victim got up about a minute later and tried to pursue his attackers, but was restrained by police.

The New York Police Departments Hate Crime Task Force said it was investigating the assault.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a statement that he was dispatching the State Police Hate Crimes Task Force to assist.

Cuomo and several other elected officials, including Mayor Bill de Blasio and Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), whose district includes the Times Square area, condemned what Cuomo called anti-Semitic violent gang harassment and intimidation.

Nassau County Executive Laura Curran, who also condemned the attack, said in a statement that the victim is a resident of the county, which is just east of New York City on Long Island.

By Peter Szekely
Kyle Rittenhouse listens during his pretrial hearing at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wis., on May 21, 2021. (Sean Krajacic/Kenosha News/Pool via Reuters)

Kyle Rittenhouse Makes First In-person Court Appearance

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with fatally shooting two people and wounding a third during protests in Wisconsin last August, made his first in-person court appearance on Friday ahead of trial in November.

Rittenhouse, 18, had been attending court hearings remotely from his lawyers office but was able to appear in person before Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder for the pre-trial hearing following a relaxation of COVID-19 protocols.

The teenager sat to the left of his lawyer and was wearing a blue shirt, navy blazer and black mask. He did not speak during the hearing, which mainly covered routine matters and lasted roughly 20 minutes.

Schroeder set a few pre-trial deadlines for the prosecutors and Rittenhouses legal team, including July 1 for any motions and Aug. 1 for a questionnaire for potential jurors.

Rittenhouse has been charged with homicide and five other criminal counts related to the shootings, in which Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber were killed and Gaige Grosskreutz was wounded.

Rittenhouse had traveled on Aug. 25 from his home in nearby Antioch, Illinois, in a self-appointed role to protect businesses in Kenosha where the police shooting of Jacob Blake had sparked large protests.

His lawyers have said their client acted in self-defense.
Facts Matter (May 21): Top Election Official Tells Maricopa County to Get New Election Machines

Five counties in Oregon voted to secede and join the state of Idaho. They essentially dont like Portland politicians running the state, so much that theyre voting with their feet.

In Arizona, the secretary of state said that the election machines, which are currently being audited, are no longer suitable for use in future electionsmeaning theyll have to buy new ones.

In Texas, the governor has just signed a new bill into law, which prohibits abortions once a fetal heartbeat has been detectedessentially outlawing abortions after 6 weeks.

Stay tuned for our newsletter so you wont miss out on our exclusive videos and private events.

Facts Matter is an Epoch Times show available on YouTube.

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Follow Roman on Instagram: @epoch.times.roman
Trump to Restore Iconic Boeing 757 for Use in Upcoming Rallies

Former President Donald Trump said that his signature Boeing 757 airplanewhich was mothballed during his presidencyis being restored and will take to the skies by the end of the year.

Many people have asked about the beautiful Boeing 757 that became so iconic during the Trump rallies, the former president wrote on his website. It was effectively kept in storage in Upstate New York in that I was not allowed to use it during my presidency.

While president, Trump relied on Air Force One to fly to various destinations.

It is now being fully restored and updated and will be put back into service sometime prior to the end of the year, Trump wrote. It will soon be brought to a Louisiana service facility for the completion of work, inspection and updating of Rolls-Royce engines, and a brand new paint job. When completed, it will be better than ever, and again used at upcoming rallies!

The private jet of President Donald Trump, a Boeing 757, sits on the tarmac at LaGuardia Airport in New York on July 4, 2018. (Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images)

In a May 20 interview with One America News Network, which featured a model version of the airplane in the background, Trump said he would resume campaign-style rallies in Florida, Georgia, Ohio, and North Carolina.

Well be announcing them very soon, over the next week or two. I think well probably start in Florida and Ohio, and well be announcing the rallies very shortly, Trump told the outlet.

Trump is slated to visit North Carolina in June to address the states GOP convention, with the North Carolina Republican Party chairman confirming the news in a statement last week.

President Trump won North Carolina in 2016 by promising to put America First, and he won North Carolina in 2020 by keeping that promise. President Trump delivered real results for North Carolina by rebuilding the military, standing strong against China, and unleashing the American Economy, North Carolina GOP chairman Michael Whatley said, according to the North State Journal. We are honored to welcome President Trump to our convention as the Republican Party launches our campaign to retake Congress and the Senate in the 2022 midterms.

While Trump has teased the possibility of running again in 2024, he hasnt made any firm commitments.

Asked in an interview in early May with The Daily Wires Candace Owens about whether he was considering a bid to retake the White House, he replied: The answer is, Im absolutely enthused. I look forward to doing an announcement at the right time. As you know, its very early, but I think people are going to be very, very happy when I make a certain announcement.

Trump aides have said repeatedly that the former president plans to be involved in politics and has his sights set on helping the Republican Party retake the Senate in 2022.
An F-35B lands onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth, England, on Sept. 26, 2018. (Kyle Heller/Ministry of Defence via Getty Images)

UK Carrier Strike Group Sets Sail on Seven-Month Indo-Pacific Deployment

Britains Carrier Strike Group, led by Royal Navy aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth, will set sail later on Saturday on its maiden operational deployment to the Indo-Pacific region, which is aimed at countering the security challenges posed by the Chinese regime.

The Queen visited the carrier in Portsmouth earlier Saturday, meeting crew members and wishing them luck.

Queen Elizabeth II talks to military personnel during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth at HM Naval Base ahead of the ships maiden deployment, in Portsmouth, England, on May 22, 2021. (Steve Parsons  WPA Pool / Getty Images)

The Carrier Strike Group consisted of nine ships, 32 aircraft, and 3,700 personnel, is the largest concentration of maritime and air power to be deployed from the UK in a generation, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

During its 28-week deployment, the Carrier Strike Group will visit more than 40 countries and conduct engagements with Singapore, South Korea, Japan, and India as part of the UKs tilt towards the Indo-Pacific region, said the MoD.

An F-35B lands onboard HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth, England, on Sept. 26, 2018. (PO Arron Hoare/Ministry of Defence via Getty Images)

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said: The UKs Carrier Strike Group sets sail to write Britains name in the next chapter of historya truly global Britain that steps forward to tackle the challenges of tomorrow, working hand-in-hand with our friends to defend our shared values and uphold the rules-based international order.

This deployment shows that we are strong on our own, but even stronger with our allies. I want to join the nation in wishing the crews across the Carrier Strike Group every success as they depart on this truly historic endeavour.

When visiting the carrier on Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the deployment will show the Chinese regime that the UK believes in the law of the sea.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson walks on the flight deck during a visit to HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier in Portsmouth, southwest England, prior to its departure for Asia in its first operational deployment, on May 21, 2021. (Leon Neal/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

One of the things well be doing clearly is showing to our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea, and in a confident but not a confrontational way, we will be vindicating that point, he told reporters on board the ship.

According to the MoD, the Carrier Strike Group will seek to achieve the UKs goal for deeper engagement in the Indo-Pacific region in support of shared prosperity and regional stability, which was set out in the governments recently published Integrated Review into foreign, defence, security, and development policy.

The review, which was published in March, said the UK will invest in enhanced China-facing capabilities and improve its response to the systemic challenge that it poses to our security, prosperity and valuesand those of our allies and partners.

Simon Veazey and Reuters contributed to this report.
Border Police walk in Terminal 1 of Frankfurt Airport in Frankfurt, Germany, on Jan. 28, 2021. (Thomas Lohnes/Getty Images)

UK Travellers to Be Barred From Germany Amid COVID-19 Variant Spread

Britons will soon be barred from entering Germany after the countrys Public Health Institute designated the UK as a virus variant area of concern.

From midnight on Sunday, May 23, people travelling to Germany from Great Britain and Northern Ireland may only enter the country if they are a German citizen or resident.

Spouses and children under 18 of a German citizen or resident can also enter, as long as the household are travelling together.

Those with an urgent humanitarian reason such as an immediate family bereavement are also able to enter, however anyone entering the country from the UK must quarantine for two weeks on arrival, even if they test negative for COVID-19.

People who are only transferring from one flight to another will still be allowed in, however they must remain in the airport transit area.

The move comes after Spain lifted travel restrictions on British visitors, with the countrys prime minister Pedro Sanchez saying Spain will be delighted, extremely delighted to receive British tourists again.

Spain is lifting its restrictions on travellers from the United Kingdom beginning on Monday.

Germany and Spain are both on the UK governments amber list, meaning travellers must quarantine at home for 10 days and take a pre-departure test and two post-arrival tests.

By John Besley
UKs Heathrow Airport to Open Dedicated Facility for Arrivals From Red List Countries

The UKs Heathrow Airport will open a dedicated terminal next month to process arrivals from red list countries where there is a high level of CCP virus infections.

A Heathrow spokesman said on Friday: Were adapting Heathrow to this longer-term reality by initially opening a dedicated arrivals facility in Terminal 3 from June 1 for red list passengers arriving on direct flights.

It comes amid concern about overcrowding at Britains largest airport, with possible health implications for staff and passengers.

The UK government has banned travel from red list countries, such as Brazil, Pakistan, India, South Africa, and Turkey, for all passengers except British or Irish nationals or UK residents.

While opening this facility will be very challenging logistically, our hope is that it will enable Border Force to carry out its duties more efficiently as passenger volumes increase in line with the green list, said the spokesman.

Tony Smith, a former Border Force chief, said the move is a step in the right direction.

We do want to segregate people arriving from red list countries from green list countries because the processes are different, he told BBC Breakfast.

People from red list countries arent allowed in unless theyre British or Irish or a resident here, so maybe people are refused entry, and then those that do arrive have to go securely to a hotel to serve their 10 days quarantine.

You dont really want lots of people from green list countries banked up behind them, thats just going to make matters worse.

So I do think its a step in the right direction by Heathrow but Im afraid its not a panacea and people are still going to face delays regardless of where they come from.

John Holland-Kaye, Heathrows chief executive, said last month that extra COVID-19 paperwork and bad organisation could cause severe delays at the UK border.

Passengers coming to the UK have to fill out paperwork before travelling to make sure they are COVID-19 compliant. These papers are checked before they board their flight, but also by border guards when they reach a UK airport.

Under the UK governments CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus restrictions, passengers landing in England must have proof of a recent negative COVID-19 test and a completed passenger locator form. Anyone arriving without these documents faces a 500 ($696) fine.

Airlines are also subject to financial penalties if they fail to ensure passengers have these documents before they arrive in England.

The airport revealed last month that its losses from the pandemic increased to 2.4 billion ($3.4 billion).

PA contributed to this report.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 14:22:20|Editor: huaxia

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TALUQAN, Afghanistan, May 22 (Xinhua) -- About 90 people fell ill after consuming donated food in Chal district of Afghanistan's northern Takhar province on Friday, provincial police spokesman Abdul Khalil Asir said Saturday.

More than 100 people gathered in Chal district to have lunch jointly donated by some persons but about 90 of them fell unconscious after consuming the food, the spokesman said.

Some of the victims have recovered while some are still under medical treatment, Asir said.

Local officials have initiated investigation and the result has yet to be made public, local villagers said. Enditem
The guided missile destroyer USS Barry (DDG 52) conducts underway operations near the Paracel Islands on April 28, 2020. (U.S. Navy photo by Ens. Samuel Hardgrove)

US Destroyer Reenters Paracel Waters, Shows Support to Freedom of Navigation

New U.S.China friction emerged after a U.S. warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait on May 18 and entered the disputed waters of the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on May 20.

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) condemned the move, and the United States claimed innocent passage. The Peoples Republic of China (PRC) claims the islands as its territory, calling them the Xisha Islands; they are also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.

The regime called the transit by the guided-missile destroyer USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54) an illegal intrusion, while the United States accused China of violating international law and expressed its commitment to safeguarding maritime rights and freedoms.

The U.S. warship illegally intruded in the Paracel Islands without permission from the CCP regime, Tian Junli, the CCPs spokesperson for the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) Southern Theater Command, said in a May 20 statement. He said the Chinese military forces tracked, warned, and expelled the destroyer from the waters.

The statement said the American warship seriously undermined Chinas sovereignty and security and damaged regional peace and stability.

The same day, the spokesperson for Chinas Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, demanded the U.S. Navy stop provocations.

However, the U.S. 7th Fleet issued a statement directly refuting the narratives of the CCP regime on May 20.

The routine transit was in accordance with international law and demonstrates the U.S. commitment to a free and open Indo-Pacific, according to the statement by the 7th Fleet, which is headquartered in Yokosuka, Japan. The United States military will continue to fly, sail, and operate anywhere international law allows.

It said the PLAs statement regarding the mission was false and that the vessel hadnt been expelled from any nations territory.

The statement revealed that the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer operated in the vicinity of the Paracel Islands without notifying relevant countries in advance, a move to challenge China-claimed straight baselines.

Straight baselines cannot be lawfully drawn in the Paracels under the international law of the sea as reflected in Article 7 of the Law of Sea Convention, the statement said. With these baselines, China has attempted to claim more internal waters, territorial sea, exclusive economic zone, and continental shelf than it is entitled to under international law.

The PLAs statement is the latest in a long string of PRC actions to misrepresent lawful U.S. maritime operations and asserts its excessive and illegitimate maritime claims at the expense [of] the Southeast Asian neighbors in the South China Sea.

Currently, the South China Sea is one of the most intense flashpoints between the United States and China; the United States refuses to recognize Chinas territorial claims regarding the disputed waterway.

For years, U.S. warships have repeatedly transited through the Taiwan Strait and carried out freedom of navigation operations (FONOP) in the South China Sea.

Since the Biden administration took office on Jan. 20, a number of FONOPs have taken place in the South China Sea, including the USS John S. McCain (DDG-56, Feb. 4 and April 7), USS Curtis Wilbur (DDG-54, Feb. 24, and May 18), and USS John Finn (DDG-113, March 10).
Falun Gong practitioners take part in a parade to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the April 25th peaceful appeal of 10,000 Falun Gong practitioners in Beijing, in Flushing, N.Y., on April 18, 2021. (Samira Bouaou/The Epoch Times)

Why Did I Renounce My Chinese Communist Party Membership?

Commentary

I was once a member of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), serving as one of the speechwriters for Wei Jianxing, a former member of the Politburo Standing Committee and the secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection until November 2002.

In November 2004, The Epoch Times published an editorial series Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party that covered the CCP from theory to practicefrom history to realitystripping out all of its guises and exposing its evil nature to the world. Since then, there has been a wave of withdrawals from the CCP and its affiliated organizations, such as the Communist Youth League of China and the Young Pioneers of China, around the globe.

At that time, I used a pseudonym to post my statement of resignation from the Party on the Epoch Times website. Why did I quit the CCP? Ill briefly talk about my views.

Let me start with my initial motivation to join the CCP. I joined in early 1994, back when I was a doctoral candidate in the Department of International Politics at Renmin University of China.

Some graduates were assigned to work in the CCPs central organizations after getting their doctorates. Ni Liya was assigned to work in the Policy Research Office of the CCPs Central Committee and once served as the director of the Cultural Bureau of the Central Policy Research Office. Yu Hongjun was assigned to work in the International Department of the Central Committee and once served as the deputy minister. Xue Gang was assigned to the headquarters of the General Staff of the Central Military Commission and once served as a military attache abroad.

I too wanted to work in a central agency after completing my doctorate. Nevertheless, the CCP has an unwritten rule that whoever works in the central agency must be a Party member. I joined the CCP primarily because it was a job requirement.

So, why did I quit the CCP? Its a long story. Ill try to focus on my understanding of the CCP.

The CCP didnt naturally grow on Chinese soil. It was built in 1921 under the control of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with one of its main missions being to defend the Soviet Union.

The CCP and the Chinese nation dont share a common ancestor. Communism didnt originate from the 5,000-year-traditional Chinese culture, but from the Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx in 1848, with the core ideology of deceit, malice, and struggle. Theres even a well-known saying among CCP cadres that when they die, theyll meet Marx in his placehell.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the founding of the CCP. In its first 28 years, the CCP mainly did one thing: unscrupulously subvert Chinas legitimate government, the Republic of China. In the following 72 years, it has done one major thing: unscrupulously retain its totalitarian rule of mainland China.

The CCP Cares Not at All About China

On Dec. 9, 1999, in Beijing, CCP leader Jiang Zemin and Russian President Boris Yeltsin signed a narrative protocol on the boundary between China and Russia, which recognized the string of unequal treaties signed between the corrupt late Qing government and the Tsarist government. The Protocol unconditionally gave Russia the territory of more than 1 million square kilometers of northeast China occupied by Russia.

To Jiangs traitorous behavior, no onenone of the members of the Party hierarchy leaderships from local authorities to central authoritiesraised objections.

The CCP Cares Not at All About the Chinese

The CCP has been in power for 72 years and launched dozens of bloody and brutal political campaigns during that time. For example, in 1958, Mao Zedong launched the Great Leap Forward. This ultra-left policy caused a great famine on a scale previously unseen in Chinese historyor even in the history of mankind.

Children were among those who suffered from the failed Great Leap Forward and subsequent famine. (NTDTV)

In 1996, Chen Yizi, a member of the think tank of former General Secretary Zhao Ziyang, estimated that the number of excess deaths ranged from 43 million to 46 million, based on confidential documents kept within the Party.

According to a veteran cadres interview, the second national census led by Yang Shangkun in 1964with Shangkun then serving as director of the General Office of the Central Committeeconcluded that the actual number of peasants who starved to death in the three-year famine was 96 million. This information was held in a confidential file by the Ministry of Public Security.

When Jiang Zemin was in power, he launched a frenzied persecution of Falun Gong, amid which the most heinous atrocity has been the large-scale harvesting of organs from Falun Gong practitioners. On June 22, 2016, Canadian human rights lawyers David Matas and David Kilgour, as well as American journalist Ethan Gutmann, jointly prepared the report (pdf) Bloody Harvest/The Slaughter, an Update, in which they estimated that the number of organ transplants carried out in China was somewhere between 60,000 to 100,000 annually. The total number of transplants may have been as high as 1.5 million for the period between 2000 to 2016. And the main source of these organs would have been Falun Gong practitioners.

The CCP Cares Not at All for Chinese Culture

Traditional Chinese culture is regarded as a divinely inspired culture. The atheistic CCP prohibits the Chinese from holding any beliefs beyond those of the Party. It deifies itself and preaches the Partys supremacy. Under the CCPs rule, the army, businesses, the media, academia, and even religions should only follow the CCPs evil.

Tibetan monks hold placards during a protest rally in New Delhi on Jan. 31, 2013. The Chinese regime has deployed a new surveillance system, which will make it more difficult for Tibetans to escape to Nepal. (Raveendran/AFP/Getty Images)

The CCP has distorted all the existing religions inside China today. Shi Yinshun, vice chairman of the Buddhist Association of China said, The CCP is a living Buddha and Bodhisattva, and the report of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China is the contemporary Buddhist scriptures of China. His statement was imbued with the communist faith and publicly blasphemed against Buddhas and Dharma.

Those who are aware of my situation may ask: You were expelled from the CCP. That being the case, why did you publicly declare your withdrawal from the Party afterward?

I was indeed expelled from the Party. On July 20, 1999, the day that CCP dictator Jiang launched the persecution of Falun Gong, I was quarantined for investigation. Six days later, I was expelled from the Party.

The CCP expelled me from the party not because I made a mistake at work, not because I made a financial mistake, not because I made a mistake in my personal relationships, but simply because I wrote Jiang a letter on May 7, 1999. In the letter, I said that Falun Dafa benefits the country and the people, and harms no one. I was telling the truth about Falun Gong.

The CCP expelled a member from the Party when the member spoke the truth to the Partys general secretary. I would like to ask: Is this Party righteous or evil?

I started practicing Falun Gong on May 3, 1995. As of July 20, 1999, I had been practicing Falun Gong for more than four years. Falun Gong is a Buddhist practice rooted in ancient Chinese traditions. Its core philosophy is truthfulness, compassion, tolerance, and it requires a cultivator to be a good person in strict accordance with truthfulness, compassion, tolerance wherever they are. At home, one should be a good father, husband, and son. In society, one should be a good citizen, and in the workplace, a good employee.

By that time, my practice had brought out the best in me in all aspects of my life. It was then that the CCP treated me as a bad person, kicking me out of the Party. I would like to ask: Is this Party righteous or evil?

Why Did I Publicly Denounce the Party?

Expelling me from the Party is a punishment by the CCP, but not a break from it. When I joined the CCP, I vowed with my life to fight for the communism advocated by Marx. As the Chinese saying goes, God is always watching what you are doing. God must have seen when I made that vow.

I publicly declared that I renounced Party membership to show God that I had severed my ties with the atheistic CCP and returned to my belief in God.

Only those who truly believe in God can be blessed and protected by God.

Wang Youqun graduated with a Juris Doctor from the Renmin University of China. He once worked as a copywriter for Wei Jianxing (19312015), a member of the CCPs Politburo Standing Committee from 1997 to 2002.

Views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Epoch Times.
ELIZABETH CITY, N.C. (AP)  Police departments across the U.S.  including in large cities such as New York and Denver  strictly limit shooting at moving vehicles because they consider the practice ineffective and not worth the risk to human life.

But dozens of shootings still occur each year  with deadly results  because many departments continue to give officers too much leeway to open fire, according to groups advocating for stricter policies.

Last month, sheriffs deputies fatally shot an unarmed Black man in his car as he appeared to drive away in Elizabeth City, North Carolina. The deputies were cleared Tuesday by a prosecutor who said that Andrew Brown Jr. was using his BMW as a deadly weapon.

Police-reform advocates say officers should only fire if deadly force other than the vehicle is being used, or to stop terrorism. And while not all law enforcement experts agree, the issue is among many practices that are being scrutinized amid nationwide calls for police reform and racial justice sparked by George Floyds death in police custody last May.

Several cities, including Phoenix, have enacted stricter policies since June 2020 and more are considering them, according to the advocacy group Campaign Zero. Cities that already have strong restrictions include Las Vegas, Miami and San Francisco.

The body camera footage in North Carolina shows six Pasquotank County sheriff's deputies surrounding Brown's car with guns drawn while serving drug-related warrants at his Elizabeth City home.

The video shows one of the deputies putting his hand on the drivers side door, then yelling and recoiling as Brown backs up. Seconds later, the same deputy appears to be in the path of the car as Brown moves forward.

The deputy avoids a direct hit after pushing his hand onto the moving cars hood and quickly moving aside. Gunshots are then heard, and officers appear to continue firing as the car moves away from them. Brown was killed by a bullet to the back of his head.

District Attorney Andrew Womble, who showed the footage at a news conference, said the shooting was justified.

When you employ a car in a manner that puts officers' lives in danger, that is a threat, Womble said. And I dont care what direction youre going  forward, backward, sideways. I dont care if youre stationary. And neither do our courts and our case law.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who eulogized Brown at his funeral, said in a statement that Womble's justification was bizarre and unconvincing." Kirk Rivers, a community activist in Elizabeth City, said deputies made the car a weapon by standing in front of it.

Some law enforcement experts say firing at moving vehicles should be avoided.

Unless someone in the car is shooting at police officers, you can get that car another day  but you cannot get that life back, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum, a nonprofit, independent group that studies policing issues.

The whole idea is not to put yourself in a position where you feel you have no choice but to use deadly force, Wexler said. We dont want police officers to stand in front of cars to risk their lives. And we dont want them shooting at vehicles to risk life.

The Pasquotank County sheriff's use-of-force policy says deputies should move out of a car's path instead of shooting at it, when feasible.

The policy also states that a deputy should only fire when he or she reasonably believes there are no other reasonable means available.

Wexler said such a policy gives too much leeway to deputies to put themselves in danger  and to open fire. The rules, he said, have to be very restrictive and accompanied by training."

In a 2016 report, the Police Executive Research Forum called for strict limits on firing at vehicles unless other force is being used. It cited a reduction in lethal force cases resulting from New York City's policy.

Shootings by the city's police declined from nearly 1,000 a year in 1972 to 665 the following year, "and have fallen steadily ever since, to fewer than 100 per year today, the report stated.

New York City changed its policy in 1972 after an officer shot an 11-year-old boy who was fleeing in a stolen car. The city of Denver made a similar change after a 17-year-old girl was fatally shot as she drove a stolen vehicle toward an officer in 2015.

Earlier this year, Phoenix enacted a stricter policy on shooting at moving vehicles. It makes an exception for when there is a threat other than the vehicle itself. And it makes an exception for apparent terrorist acts.

Samuel Sinyangwe, a data scientist and co-founder of Campaign Zero, said 55 people were killed by police last year in situations where a moving vehicle was the only alleged threat.

Every single year, were tracking 50, 60, 70 people who are being killed by the police in these situations, Sinyangwe said.

When officers shoot into moving vehicles, criminal charges are rare. Phil Stinson, a criminologist at Bowling Green State University, said he's aware of 11 police officers in the U.S. since 2005 whove been charged with murder or manslaughter after they shot someone who they claimed used their car as a weapon.

But some law enforcement experts argue officers must have leeway in rare instances where they could be saving their own lives or others.

We cant imagine every scenario, said Brian Higgins, a public safety consultant and former police chief in New Jersey. You just dont know if an officer has no choice.

Higgins, an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said internal affairs investigations and state and federal probes also hold officers accountable.

To make an automatic blanket statement that it should never, ever happen is not feasible, he said.

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Lavoie reported from Richmond, Virginia.
LOS ANGELES -- Health officials say the most common COVID-19 variant of concern circulating in Los Angeles County is now a variant discovered in the U.K.

Previously, two California variants were dominant, but in the past week 53% of 40 specimens analyzed by a public health laboratory were the U.K. variant and none were California variants, the county Department of Public Health said Saturday. Variants discovered in Brazil and South Africa also were detected.

The department says the findings highlight the need for continuing precautions, especially by those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19. It says research shows that the available vaccines are highly effective against the variants circulating in the county.

Once staggering under COVID-19, the county of 10 million residents on Saturday reported 14 new deaths and 265 new cases. There were 330 people hospitalized and 24% were in intensive care units. Statewide, more than 36 million doses of vaccine have been administered and 16.5 million people are fully vaccinated.

California is planning to reopen on June 15, no longer requiring social distancing and allowing full capacity for businesses.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

 Climbing guide says at least 100 virus cases on Everest

 New vibe at White House: Hugs are in; masks are (mostly) out

 EXPLAINER: Why worlds pharmacy India is short on shots

 Alabama city throws Tardy Gras parade as virus cases ebb

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Follow more of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

NEW YORK  New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have decreased to rates not seen since June.

Its sparking optimism that vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and the spread of the virus.

The seven-day average for new cases dropped below 30,000 per day this week. CDC director Rochelle Walensky says cases havent been this low since June 18.

The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552, a rate not seen since July.

Health experts credit the rollout of vaccines to a dramatic turnaround since January. But they also caution that not enough Americans have been vaccinated to completely extinguish the virus. President Joe Biden is trying to convince people to sign up for shots by reminding them that vaccines offer a return to normal life.

More than 60% of people over 18 have received at least one shot, and almost half are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Alabamas vaccination rate  34% of people have received at least one dose  is one of the lowest in the country. Health experts are concerned some areas with low vaccination rates, such as a swath of Southern states, could give rise to new virus variants that may be more resistant to vaccinations.

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WASHINGTON  Standardized tests are returning to the nations schools, but with lower stakes and an option to opt out for many families.

States are adopting a patchwork of testing plans after the Biden administration offered new flexibility during the pandemic. Some are shortening tests or delaying them, and many are lowering the stakes.

Officials in some states say tests are the last thing students need right now, but the Biden administration ordered tests to resume to assess the impact of the pandemic.

Some testing supporters are frustrated by the scattered approach, saying it will make it difficult to get a clear national picture of learning setbacks.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  Dutch high schools will be allowed to fully reopen starting May 31 as coronavirus infections decline in the Netherlands.

After months of closure, students started going to class for one day a week from March 1. The government on Saturday announced a full return to school with infection rates and hospitalizations dropping sharply over the last two weeks.

Students wont have to observe social distancing but must administer self-tests twice a week and keep a safe distance from school staff.

Education Minister Aire Slob paid tribute to schools for setting up remote learning but added, nothing beats lessons at school.

With the countrys vaccination campaign gathering pace, the seven-day rolling average of daily cases in Netherlands decreased in the past two weeks from 41 to 25 per 100,000 people.

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BUDAPEST  People in Hungary are no longer required to wear masks in public areas after 5 million people received at least a first dose of vaccine.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Saturday the latest round of lifted restrictions includes the end of mask requirements in public areas and on the street. Masks in shops and on public transportation are still required.

Orban says overnight curfews in place since November will end, along with restricted opening hours of shops and limits on some gatherings.

Hungary has vaccinated more than 55% of its population, the second-highest rate in the European Union, using vaccines from Russia, China and the European Union. A nation of less than 10 million people, Hungary has registered 29,475 confirmed deaths.

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WASHINGTON  Theres a new vibe at the White House of late  hugs are in. Masks are mostly out.

The recent relaxation in federal guidance about wearing masks and distancing comes after more people have been vaccinated.

The White House is taking on the look and feel of pre-pandemic days. More West Wing staffers have been turning up for work there and, soon, so will more reporters. The administration is sending a message that a return to normal is possible with vaccinations.

Were back, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declared at Fridays daily briefing. I can confirm were a warm and fuzzy crew and we like to hug around here.

The president seemed happy to announce the relaxed mask guidance when he appeared in the Rose Garden on May 13 without a mask, just hours after the CDC said those who are fully vaccinated dont need to wear masks or stand 6 feet apart in most settings.

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ISLAMABAD  Pakistan is offering free vaccinations, but so far people have not showed an overwhelming response to government appeals for shots.

Vaccinations are open for people age 30 and above. So far Pakistan has vaccinated about 4.9 million in a country with 220 million people.

Pakistans federal authorities on Saturday reported more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases and 88 confirmed deaths.

A lockdown was lifted last week. But in southern Sindh province, authorities decided Saturday to continue with restrictions for another two weeks because of surge in virus cases in commercial hub Karachi and the second-largest city, Hyderabad.

Pakistan has registered nearly 900,000 cases and 20,177 confirmed deaths.

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KATHMANDU, Nepal  An expert climbing guide says a coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff.

Thats the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials of a COVID-19 cluster on the worlds highest peak. Lukas Furtenbach of Austria says his estimate is based on confirmations from rescue pilots, insurance providers, doctors and expedition leaders, among others.

He spoke with The Associated Press in Kathmandu on Saturday, a week after halting his Everest expedition due to virus fears. He says one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpa guides have tested positive. He saw people sick at base camp and heard people coughing in their tents.

A total of 408 foreign climbers were issued permits to climb Everest this season, aided by several hundred Sherpa guides and support staff whove been stationed at base camp since April. In late April, a Norwegian climber became the first to test positive at the Everest base camp. The climbing season closes at the end of the month.

Nepal reported 8,607 new infections and 177 deaths on Friday, bringing the totals since the pandemic began to more than 497,000 confirmed infections and 6,024 confirmed deaths.

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KATHMANDU, Nepal  The Swiss government has flown $8 million in equipment and medical supplies to combat COVID-19 to help Nepal, which is struggling with a failing health system and acute shortages of hospital beds, medication and oxygen for patients.

The aid was handed over to Nepals Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi at Kathmandu airport on Saturday. The Swiss embassy in Nepal says the shipment contained 40 ventilators, oxygen concentrators, 1.1 million coronavirus test kits, face masks, gloves and protective suits.

Nepal has been appealing for help from the international community since the COVID-19 situation worsened sharply this month. A lockdown has been imposed in most parts of the country since last month to curb the spiking cases.

Nepal has recorded nearly 500,000 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 6,024 people have died.

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka  Sri Lanka halted passenger trains and buses for four days as authorities imposed a fresh travel ban across the country, in its latest efforts to curb the escalating number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

The ban is effective from Friday night until Tuesday morning. However, it will not apply to those engaged in essential services such as the health, food and power sectors, and those seeking medical treatment.

The move comes as the islands key medical associations demand the government lockdown the country for two weeks. The associations say the actual number of coronavirus infections is more than three times the number detected.

Sri Lanka has already banned public gatherings, parties, weddings and closed schools and universities.

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MOBILE, Ala. -- Alabamas port city of Mobile has put on a Mardi Gras-style parade, what seemed at least a little like the Carnival celebrations canceled earlier this year because of the pandemic.

Plastic beads and other trinkets flew as nearly 30 floats from Mardi Gras groups snaked through downtown Mobile on Friday night.

Thousands of people turned out in a county and state where only about a quarter of the population is fully vaccinated. Many went without masks, though health officials had urged personal responsibility.

The parade marks the commissioning of the Navys new ship USS Mobile, a shallow-water combat vessel manufactured in Mobile.

-

BATON ROUGE, La.  A medical center in Louisiana says it has identified the states first two cases of a COVID-19 variant first identified in India.

Britain and the World Health Organization consider it a variant of concern because experts think it may spread more easily than the original virus, LSU Health Shreveport said Friday.

The health system says the two samples were among more than 2,600 for which its Center for Emerging Viral Threats has decoded the genome. That represents 56% of all viral genomic surveillance data from Louisiana, the news release said.

At least two other variants have shown up in Louisiana  the one first identified in the United Kingdom and the one first found in Brazil.

LSU Health Shreveport said its lab found that the one first found in England remains dominant in North Louisiana, as in the rest of the United States.

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PHOENIX  Health officials say children in Arizona as young as 12 can get a COVID-19 vaccine when receiving other immunizations.

State Department of Health Services director Dr. Cara Christ says pediatricians, per CDC guidance, can administer the Pfizer vaccine alongside other childhood vaccines. Previously, the CDC had recommended children wait two weeks in between vaccinations. Vaccine demand has been low statewide.

The hours and days of operations at some state vaccine pods will be modified. More than 5.6 million vaccine doses have been given out in Arizona.

The state on Friday reported 577 new cases and 22 more deaths.

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SALEM, Ore.  Oregon officials are betting that the desire to win $1 million in a lottery will boost the percentage of Oregonians who are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

With only half of the people living in Oregon either fully or partly vaccinated, Oregon Lottery officials approved a plan Friday to hold a lottery. Those who have been vaccinated by June 27 will be eligible.

Its never been easier to get a vaccine, so dont miss your shot to enter, Gov. Kate Brown said.

She says its an effort to raise the percentage of adult Oregonians who get vaccinated to 70% in order to fully reopen the state. The Oregon Health Authority says 50% of Oregonians are vaccinated, with 39% having completed the series and 11% in progress.

If Oregonians have received at least a first dose of Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, they are automatically entered to win through the states vaccine database. Other states trying this tactic include New York, Maryland and Ohio.

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BERLIN  Germany will require people arriving from the U.K. to go into quarantine for 14 days, starting on Sunday. The decision is a response to the spread of a coronavirus variant first detected in India.

The announcement by the Robert Koch Institute, Germanys national disease control center, that Britain is being classified as a virus variant area comes a week after it went back on a list of risk areas, which has few consequences under current rules. Starting Sunday, airlines and others will only be able to transport German citizens and residents from Britain.

Under current German rules, all people arriving from virus variant areas  which also include India itself and Brazil  must spend 14 days in quarantine at home after their arrival. They cannot cut that period short by testing negative.

People arriving from risk areas can avoid a 10-day quarantine by showing a negative test result, and fully vaccinated people arriving from those countries dont need either to test or quarantine.

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WOOD RIVER  The Madison County Health Department (MCHD) is expanding its offering of community COVID-19 vaccination clinics, and local schools are a major part of that focus.

Eight public school districts in Madison County will be hosting COVID vaccine clinics over the next six weeks.

All of the clinics are open to the public and there is no residency requirement.

Anyone at least age 18 is eligible for the Moderna or Johnson and Johnson vaccines and anyone at least age 12 is eligible for the Pfizer vaccine.

Anyone from age 12 to 17 must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Were still doing the mass vaccination site several days a week at Gateway Convention Center, in Collinsville, said MCHDs Amy Yeager, director of community health and public information officer, but now that were getting into summer, there will be more blackout dates, because they had already had events scheduled. Were doing more community sites, including the schools, and we still have plenty of help from the Illinois National Guard.

Now that the school year is winding down, and now that kids age 12 and older are eligible for the vaccine, we felt it would be a good time to bring the vaccine clinics to the schools, she said. We meet with the superintendents once a week, and we talked about them hosting clinics at school sites. Eight school districts have offered space in their buildings to provide vaccines for the community on two different dates per district.

The first school clinic was at Long Elementary School in Madison May 15, which was the same day at Madison High Schools graduation.

The other school clinics are listed below, with all times from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., unless otherwise noted. All of the vaccines for the school clinics will be Pfizer, which is the only vaccine in the U.S. currently authorized for use for age 12 to 17.

 Granite City High School cafeteria, Monday, May 24

 Triad High School Cafetorium, Thursday, May 27

 Trimpe Middle School cafeteria in Bethalto, Wednesday, June 2

 Alton High School Commons, Thursday, June 3

 Long Elementary School from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 5, Madison

 Collinsville Middle School Commons, Monday, June 7

 Liberty Middle School in Edwardsville, Tuesday, June 8

 Highland Primary School cafeteria, Wednesday, June 9

 Granite City High School cafeteria, Monday, June 14

 Triad High School Cafetorium, Thursday, June 17

 Trimpe Middle School cafeteria in Bethalto, Wednesday, June 23

 Alton High School Commons, Thursday, June 24

 Collinsville Middle School Commons, Monday, June 28

 Liberty Middle School in Edwardsville, Tuesday, June 29

 Highland Primary School cafeteria, Wednesday, June 30

For more information about the school vaccine clinics and other clinics, visit madisonhd.org and click on the appointments button.

Yeager said she feels the school vaccine clinics will play a key role in increasing the percentage of Madison County residents who have been vaccinated by offering different hours, locations closer to home and clinics in familiar, smaller settings.

Its another step toward having a normal social routine again, and its another step to help continue to protect the community, Yeager said.

As of Friday, 44.74% of Madison County residents age 16 to 64 and 80.93% of residents age 65 and older had been fully vaccinated. Overall, 36.14% of the Madison County population is reported as being fully vaccinated as of Friday.

Thats lower than we would like to see, but its still a lot higher than many other areas in the state, Yeager said.

Thats a plus, and it shows that our community is interested and wanting to protect themselves, their families and the greater community.

Madison County began offering vaccinations for age 12 to 15 May 13.

We know there are a few pediatricians offices that are also offering the vaccine, Yeager said. Some people may feel more comfortable at their pediatricians office, so they should contact them to see if they are offering the shots.

In addition, the Madison County Youth Board has produced some informational videos at TikTok to let younger people know more about the COVID-19 vaccine.

So far, they have made three TikTok videos and theyre going to make a few more, Yeager said. Were going to start releasing them on our social media sites, as well.

While mask mandates and other COVID-19 are being relaxed or eliminated across the nation, Yeager offered a reminder that the pandemic is not over, and that people shouldnt let down their guard.

Even though some restrictions have been eased, you should still wash your hands and be mindful of distance, transmission and being in risky situations, she said. The virus is still here, and its slowed down  which is great  but we also dont want it to spike again.

We want to keep it under control, and the more people who get vaccinated, the better its going to be.
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EDWARDSVILLE  Developer Matt Pfund wants to clear up misconceptions that have sprung up on social media around his retail/residential tower under construction at Illinois Route 157 and Esic Drive, at the One57 Building, he said.

First, the site will offer for-sale luxury condominiums, not rental apartments. Second, despite the projects proximity to Enclave and Whispering Heights, these units are not designed for the average college student. Pfund said Friday that pricing will start between $650,000 and $700,000.

One57 Buildings main level will be home to Peel Wood Fired Pizzas new restaurant and bar space, an anchor to the building. The second level through fifth floors will have eight individual, luxury residential condominium units, two per level. Each condo will have its own private garage and exterior balcony, with great views of Edwardsville. The main level also will sport generous amenity spaces for condo owners, including a fitness area, private office and meeting space.

The 65-foot-tall building will be built on nearly 2.5 acres of land. Peel will make up 8,000 square feet. The current Peels location, off of Plum Street, opened in December 2009. Each of One57 Buildings upper four floors will feature 5,000 square feet of space, making up 20,000 square feet of residential space.

The rain has been a challenge over the past couple of months, Pfund said. Most of the steel is set now, and we will be getting ready to pour concrete for the floors in June.

He said the remaining project timeline is intact, and plans should be complete by Dec. 31. Condominium sales will launch Tuesday, June 1.

We think they are going to go fast. Theres been a lot of interest, he said.

Pfund reiterated what the main level will offer.

Peels space will increase its footprint in Edwardsville substantially  including a large outdoor patio for dining, Pfund said.

There will be one door for those dining in, and a separate, dedicated carry-out entrance  another way of touchless (food delivery). Peel is extremely excited about it.

The project was originally supposed to break ground early in 2020, but as with just about everything else, the pandemic trashed those plans.

One feature that might recover is the brewery. It remains part of the planned unit development (PUD) but Peel has no plans to open with it at this time; company officials hope to add it later on.

The COVID delay to the project really gave us a new perspective on the design, to include features that will be important to living, dining and entertaining, Pfund said. The timing could not be better from that standpoint.

With the time it takes to get a new building in place, from concept to opening, having this designed with new social considerations in place will make this building unique, he explained.  There are separate spaces for fitness, professional office space and outdoor entertaining in the building for the private use of only eight condo owners.

The exterior of the building will include a mix of masonry, metal panels and glass. There will be a shared-use path that directly connects to the nearby Madison County Transit Goshen Trail.

Perched atop the hillside along Route 157, the building will definitely be a showpiece, Pfund said. There really is nothing like its balance of density and privacy in our area, and the ability to own and customize your space.

The building was designed through a collaboration of Nickas Architecture, Henderson Associates Architects and Pfund Construction. Pfund Construction is developing and building the project. Gori Realtors Jennifer Faulkner handled the condominium pre-sales and financing as provided by FCB banks. Pfund declined to provide the projects cost or estimate.

There are two other Peel locations, one in OFallon, Illinois, and the other in Clayton, Missouri, in St. Louis County.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at 618-659-5735
EDWARDSVILLE  After the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of most events over the past year, Main Street Community Center (MSCC) is finally starting to resume in-person programming.

This is really welcome news, MSCC Executive Director Sara Berkbigler said. So many of our clients have called and wanted to come in, but we wanted to wait until the vaccines were widely distributed and everybody had an opportunity to get vaccinated if they wanted to.

All of the COVID protocols will be in place so that when they do come, they will feel safe, she said. The CDC changed some of their regulations last week and that enabled us to open up a little faster than we anticipated.

Programs that are now meeting in person or will start meeting in June include book clubs, happy hour, social dining, bingo, bunco, tai chi and Write Your Own Story.

We did resume a few other programs recently, Berkbigler said. Our Walking Club is outside, and we started that again in April. Weve also had some Zoom programs, but just about everything that we used to do in person had been shut down.

After June, we wont have any more Zoom programs, she noted. We will have some things online that are more of a passive link, like videos or links to certain resources.

Main Street has also resumed in-person meetings for some of the services it offers. That started earlier this year with tax preparation assistance from AARP.

The tax service is done for this year, but they met here and followed all of the protocols, Berkbigler said. They didnt have as many people as they did in the past because they were constrained by time and space, but they were still able to help a number of our seniors with their taxes.

Paralegal assistance and Rules of the Road, a refresher course for senior drivers, are among the services offered by MSCC.

The paralegal we work with was willing to do Zoom calls, but it wasnt comfortable for a lot of our clients, so its nice for her to be able to meet them in person, Berkbigler said. Because of COVID, a lot of people started thinking of the documents they wanted to have prepared, and those are things that she can do for them at no charge or at least provide a referral.

For Rules of the Road, luckily the Secretary of States office allowed people a grace period to renew their drivers licenses, but now people are faced with having to renew after being out for two years, so its nice to have that class again and give people a review.

Among the few programs that Main Street continued during the pandemic were home-delivered meals, commodity food boxes and transportation.

The transportation service, which gives clients a ride to medical appointments, shopping and other essential services, is now allowing four people at a time.

Our transportation program was shut down for a few months and then we allowed only one person for a long time, Berkbigler said. Around the first of this year, we started allowing two people at a time and now were up to four.

Plans are also underway for Main Street to resume its travel service, which is one of its most popular programs.

Day trips are slated to restart in September and run monthly through April, except January and February.

Plans are being made for overnight trips to Branson in November, Kansas City in December, Florida in March and Ireland in May.

Proof of COVID-19 vaccination is required for all travel.

Outside of games here at the center, the most calls we get are people wanting to know when they can go somewhere again, Berkbigler said. We should have more information about the day trips in our July newsletter.

For our overnight trips, we will be posting more information as they are ready to go. The Ireland trip was something that we were supposed to do last year, but it got delayed a couple of times and finally got canceled. It is planned again for May 2022.

Some links and resources will be posted online until in-person programs are planned. That includes chair yoga, stretch and move exercise. Lets Get Techy, health and nutrition and arts and history.

New programs being planned include monthly activities for adults with special needs.

One of our clients is a disabled adult and his mother was brainstorming about what more we could do for the disabled adults in our community, MSCC Interim Assistant Director Patty Barney said. We came up with some really fun once-a-month activities to get these folks together and these events will also give their mom and dad or their caretaker a break.

Were talking about doing things like karaoke, an ice cream social, line dancing or a walk in the park with a picnic. We want to plan out a years worth of fun events and well be looking for sponsors for those events to provide supplies.

Another new program is a Spanish class with volunteer teacher Russ Kinney. The class will start on July 6 and will meet every Tuesday for eight weeks from 10 to 11 a.m. There will be a small fee for books and other supplies.

People always want to learn and grow and learning another language is an awesome way to do that, Barney said. A lot of our clients are retired, and they can travel, and Spanish is a wonderful language to know how to speak.

Russ is a retired high school teacher and he taught Spanish for 45 years, but the last 15 years were exclusively senior citizens. He learned other languages when he was a young man in the Air Force. Hes also fluent in Russian and would be glad to help someone learn that as well.

Main Street continues to collaborate with Partners for Pets to provide animal vaccination clinics for senior pet owners.

The Edwardsville Rotary Club very generously awarded us with a $5,000 grant to provide medical care and treatment to our clients animals, and were having a microchip and vaccine clinic from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, June 4, Barney said. We still have appointments available, but the deadline is May 28.

Barney and Berkbigler are also encouraging artists to display their work at Main Street Community Center.

We have a large room in the back that is set up to display 30 paintings, Barney said. If somebody wants to display their art, they can give us a call to talk about it. It can be a high school student, or it can be a senior citizen. There is no age limit.

Other than travel, Main Street does not require vaccinations but will follow CDC protocols. Entry involves temperature screening and a brief questionnaire.

If people are fully vaccinated at least 14 days ago, masks are not required in the building but are optional. For people that not fully vaccinated at least 14 days ago, a mask is required, and they are asked to social distance by six feet.

The vast majority of our clients have been vaccinated, Berkbigler said. Theyre anxious to get back to having some time together.

Main Street Community Center is located at 1003 N. Main St. in Edwardsville. For more information, call 618-656-0300, go to https://mainstcc.org/ or visit Main Street Community Center on Facebook.
MARYVILLE  The village of Maryville Board of Trustees recently approved Police Chief Rob Carpenters request for two license-plate reader (LPR) cameras.

In a memo dated May 12 to the board, Carpenter told the department he wants the village to participate in fighting Metro East crime and he chose the emergency signals already in place at Illinois Route 159 and Firemens Park.

Cameras placed in this strategic location will help my department, as well as other police agencies, with the ability to track criminals and solve crimes using state-of-the-art technology, he wrote in the memo.

We want to do our part and cooperate to get these in as many places as possible, he said about the cameras.

All of the Metro East-network cameras are accessible by law enforcement.

Its at the center of town and its where two cameras can cover all of north- and southbound traffic, Carpenter said.

He estimates the cameras will be operational by fall.

The Madison County States Attorneys office has agreed to provide a $5,000 grant from its drug forfeiture fund toward the projects cost, leaving the village to pay the remainder of $14,837 to the vendor, Utilitra, which will handle the installation and any training, while the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration will maintain the system.

Illinois Route 159 is only one place Carpenter wants to put LPR cameras.

I would like to put in other ones at the intersection of Route 159 and Route 162, he said. Thats the biggest intersection in the village, but that would require twice as many cameras, and its twice as much money.

The village is the latest municipality/entity to jump on the LPR bandwagon.

Edwardsville wants to put in a pair on Illinois Route 157, at or near Sunset Hill.

Glen Carbon has plans to put in two such cameras on Illinois Route 157, just south of the Interstate 270 interchange. Now the village has plans to add two more on Illinois Route 159, north of the interstate.

SIUE has its own LPR network, as do other Metro East municipalities.

Reach reporter Charles Bolinger at 618-659-5735
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 14:35:08|Editor: huaxia

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ULAN BATOR, May 22 (Xinhua) -- COVID-19 cases in Mongolia rose by 684 in the last 24 hours to 51,931, with the death toll adding by four to 257, the country's Health Ministry said Saturday.

The ministry said the latest cases were local infections and that 8,399 samples were tested in the past day across the country.

Meanwhile, 708 more people have recovered from the disease, bringing the total number of recovered patients to 45,853, according to the ministry.

The Asian country launched a nationwide COVID-19 vaccination campaign in late February, aiming to cover at least 60 percent of its population of 3.3 million.

More than 1,818,800 Mongolians have so far received their first dose, and over 704,000 have been fully vaccinated. Enditem
A nationwide survey shows parents want their children back in school in person, because they say virtual learning has hurt their kids academically, emotionally and socially. (Photo courtesy of Highland)
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A motorcycle crash in Trenton has claimed the life of a 16-year-old girl from Southgate.

The teen has been identified by relatives as Star Baxter.

The crash occurred at about 8 p.m. Tuesday on northbound Fort Street, just north of Veterans Parkway.

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According to Trenton Deputy Police Chief Michael Oakley, there were two riders on the motorcycle.

Baxter was the passenger and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver, according to Oakley, was a 33-year-old man from Southgate.

It is not yet clear if they are related.

Oakley said the driver was transported to a hospital and his condition is not known.

A balloon release is planned to take place at 5 p.m. Sunday near the scene of the crash at the U-Stow-N-Lock Storage, 2447 Fort St., Trenton.

The Downriver Crash Team is investigating to determine what caused the motorcycle to go down.

According to police, a witness told officers there was nothing out of the ordinary going on along that stretch of roadway at the time of the crash.

Sign up for our daily morning newsletter Click here and then look to the right side for the sign up to the morning newsletter for The News Herald, and you can get the top headlines de

There have been crashes in that area over the years, but Oakley said he would not consider it a trouble area.

Oakley believes the crash team will be able to determine what occurred, but would like for anyone with any information to contact the department.

Its just a sad, sad, situation, he said. Our thoughts go out to the surviving victim and the deceased victims families."

Anyone with information about the crash is asked to call Trenton police at 734-676-3737.

Motorcyclist, 22, seen driving recklessly before fatal crash on Telegraph in Taylor Taylor police confirmed Monday that a motorcycle crash on Telegraph and Brest roads earlier in the month turned out to be a fatality.

+6 Former Southgate man facing deportation free to leave church after three years Hes a former Southgate resident, an Albanian immigrant, a sanctuary seeker and now, after more than three years under the protective roof of 

Police say bodies discovered in Brownstown house appear to be a murder-suicide case Two people who had not responded to calls from relatives were found dead in a Brownstown Township house Monday afternoon.

Reckless driving complaints at Taylor strip mall lead to brief police chase, arrest A man was taken into custody after Taylor police, with the assistance of Michigan State Police, responded to reckless driving complaints at a 

+2 Two thieves break into Allen Park Daily Mart, steal $1,500 in vape products Two thieves broke into an Allen Park convenience store and walked off with $1,500 worth of various vape products.

Man pleads guilty after Taylor freeway chase ends in crash with kids in car A man who had been charged in connection with the nonfatal beating of his girlfriend as she drove eastbound on I-94 through multiple cities ha

+6 Anderson students walk to Trenton fire station, see how firefighters help save lives Its been quite some time since members of the Trenton Fire Department heard the footsteps and giggles of excited school children making their

+2 Registration underway for Fish & Loaves Happy Soles Virtual Race Registration is underway for the 2021 Happy Soles Virtual Race, which raises funds for the Fish & Loaves Community Food Pantry. The challe

+2 DIA program to bring outdoor artwork to Wyandotte this year; community offers input While art lovers are expressing their disappointment over the announcement that the Wyandotte Street Art Fair has been canceled for the second
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 17:05:01|Editor: huaxia

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SUVA, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Fiji reported on Saturday three new confirmed COVID-19 cases that are all tied to the cluster in Nasinu, a town near Fiji's capital city of Suva.

According to the Fijian Health Ministry, one case is from the same household which had other infected cases earlier. The other two cases are neighbours from an adjoining home.

Fiji is a Pacific island nation which has a population of around 900,000. As of Saturday morning, 63.7 percent of the Fijian population have been screened for COVID-like symptoms as well as travel histories that may have exposed them to the virus.

Permanent Secretary for the Health Ministry James Fong urged all Fijians to stay at home at all times possible.

Fiji now has 130 recoveries and four deaths since the island nation recorded its first confirmed case in March last year.

Currently, like Fiji's major cities of Lautoka and Nadi, Suva and Nausori, a town about 19 km northeast of Suva, also have been under a lockdown. Viti Levu, Fiji's main island where Suva is located, still maintains a curfew islandwide from 6:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. local time every day. Enditem
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Jewel Cianeh Taylor is one of few women in top political leadership positions in Africa. In this interview with Africa Renewals Kingsley Ighobor, she discusses Liberias COVID-19 response, post-pandemic priorities, womens empowerment in Africa, youth unemployment and other issues. These are the excerpts:

How is Liberia dealing with COVID-19?

As you know, Liberia is a developing nation, and we have had our share of challenges, including a civil conflict, Ebola and now COVID-19. Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the President [George Weah] established a rapid COVID-19 Response Unit chaired by the Ministry of Health and includes other relevant government agencies and international partners. This unit meets daily to assess the situation and to address challenges. Over a year ago, we instituted a national emergency, mandated testing and social distancing, and we continue to raise public awareness about the pandemic. We opened two new hospitals to treat COVID-19 patients. As a result of our robust response effort, we are seeing a reduction in COVID-positive numbers.

How are you addressing the socio-economic impact?

No doubt, economic activities have been severely affected. Schools were closed. There was an increase in sexual and gender-based violence across the country, as well as a drastic loss of income for women who are the primary providers and caregivers in our society.

The National Legislature approved a national stimulus package, including food rations and money to severely affected homes, and suspended taxes to allow companies and businesses to survive. We halted ongoing development projects and even redirected finances for such projects to the healthcare sector and to respond to the social and economic needs of our most vulnerable.

You contracted the COVID-19 virus. What was your experience and what message would you send to people who may still be skeptical about the disease?

I hope my voice, and the voices of others who contracted the disease will let people know that this pandemic is real. I am not sure of how or where I contracted this disease, but I did. I was severely ill and spent 35 days in the Intensive Care Unit and another 10 days just getting my breathing stabilized.

COVID-19 is not a hoax or a conspiracy theory. If we follow the health protocols, especially wearing face masks, social distancing, and getting tested immediately when we fall ill, coupled with vaccination, I am hopeful we can defeat the disease.

How is vaccination going in Liberia?

We received about 100,000 vaccines. The vaccination process is going well. People are being vaccinated. I have been vaccinated myself.

How is Liberia preparing for a post-pandemic recovery? What are your top three priorities?

We have more than three priorities. Let me emphasize that our national budget reflects our prioritieshealth, education, roads, jobs and the provision of basic social services to our people, including water and electricity. We are having meetings with our international partners and friends to establish a post-COVID-19 roadmap and stabilization funds.

We would like to re-energize agriculture and invest in infrastructure to jump-start economic activities. We hope to restore macroeconomic stability, encourage sustainable growth and private sector-driven development. Our focus is shifting to industrialization and the processing of our natural resources. We believe that the creation of a vibrant private sector is the best way forward.

What are the top three achievements of your government so far?

The first is entrenching democracy. After taking the baton of power in 2018, our government has conducted many elections: several bi-elections and the 2020 senatorial elections. And the legal processes which attend contested elections have been successfully and peacefully followed up to the Supreme Court.

The second is that we carried out a process of harmonization that allowed the government to significantly reduce the wage bill by eliminating ghost names. Implementing a biometric identification card for all government employees eliminated discrepancies. We have redirected excess finances to other critical areas.

Third, our tuition-free policy for public universities and colleges announced by President Weah in 2019 and the payment by the government of all regional testing fees for WASSCE [West African Senior School Certificate Examination] have provided huge reliefs for parents. The scheme will increase school enrollments and literacy rates.

I would like to mention infrastructural development. A former minister of works once said that, The road to development begins with the development of the roads. This is so true for us. The government is rehabilitating existing roads (feeder and main highways) and expanding the road network. We plan to ensure that all capital cities in Liberia are connected by paved roads, especially in the southeastern corridor. We are grateful to our international partners who are supporting us.

You are one of few African women in top political leadership positions. Before you, there was Madam Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf who was Africas first democratically-elected president. How do you assess the progress that Africa is making regarding womens political empowerment?

Since Beijing, Africa has made progress regarding womens political and economic empowerment, but there are still many gaps. Currently, across the continent, there are only two female presidents and about four female vice presidents.

The percentage of women in governance in African is still very small, though rising slowly: women ministers constitute 20.7 per cent and women in parliament is 23.7 per cent, according to IPU [Inter-Parliamentary Union] statistics. So, there is still a long way to achieving gender equity.

What are the main barriers to womens political empowerment?

The age-old barriers to womens empowerment are structural, patriarchal, discriminatory laws and low capacities. We must eliminate all forms of violence against women and adopt parity laws. We must build and provide leadership training. We must encourage more He-for-She [global solidarity for gender equality] champions, eliminate and punish all forms of electoral violence against women.

How do you think African women can prepare to participate in politics, which is considered tough?

The truth is that politics is tough terrain, but it takes a clear vision, proper planning and execution of plans, commitment, hard work and consistency to succeed. Despite the many challenges, women should not allow themselves to be left out of the process.

And those who have broken the glass ceilings must be role models and must mentor others. Advocates of gender equality should continue to raise their voices.

Young people account for 65 per cent of Liberias 4.1 million population, yet youth unemployment is about 85 per cent. What is your government doing about it?

Youth unemployment is one of the biggest challenges facing our government. Youth employment is a key component of our Pro-poor Agenda for Prosperity and Development. To address unemployment, we need a strong private sector. At the moment we are creating the policy framework to attract the private sector.

We are tackling challenges in the energy sector by enacting the Independent Power Production Law, which will open this sector to the private sector. The good news is that there are huge opportunities in agriculture and tourism. We have also approved funding for the development of small and medium enterprises.

In addition, the government has a Youth Opportunities Project, which provides training and funding for cooperatives and support to young people in agrobusinesses. There are also several programs to train young people in entrepreneurship.

This year (2021) marks the beginning of trading under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Liberia has signed but has not ratified the agreement. What do you see as the benefits and challenges of free trade?

The AfCFTA is a major boost for African economies. We expect a 52 per cent boost in intra-Africa trade by 2022. Our government is aware that of the 15 countries in West Africa, only two countries, Liberia and Benin, are yet to ratify the agreement. In our case, the agreement is before the National Legislature and we hope it will be ratified soon.

Africa is the last frontier, with about 40 per cent of the worlds natural resources and the fastest-growing population globally. If Africa uses this leverage to implement an industrialized revolution, it can have sustained economic growth. We're at a point where we need mutually rewarding partnerships, not just grants.

It's time for an African industrial revolution. Africas resources have traditionally been taken out of our countries, processed abroad, and brought back. Now, African leaders are saying that we want investors to help build industries that process our natural resources locally. It is not just to take out raw materials.

What message of hope do you have for Africans, particularly women, who see you as a role model?

My message is simple: dream, prepare, build, remain committed, and dont forget to encourage and mentor others. This is the formula for success, whether you are a man or a woman. The world is for the strong, the bold, the creative and the committed. Keep in mind that everything is possible.

For more information on COVID-19, visit www.un.org/coronavirus

Africa Renewal
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Onitsha, Eastern Nigeria, 22nd May 2021 :The sudden and suspicious demise of Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, the recently appointed Chief of the Muslim dominated and controlled Nigerian Army is likely going to end the same way the suspicious death of Gov Patrick Yakowa, DIG John Haruna and others ended without any form of comprehensive, conclusive and satisfactory investigation and its outcomes. With the Nigerian Army headed Defense Headquarters latest hasty and uninvestigated conclusion, blaming the crash on bad weather; barely a day after, the COASs suspicious death, investigatively, is sealed, carpeted and added to the long list of unresolved others. This is to the extent that no senior military official has been held directly or vicariously culpable and no credible enquiries launched and concluded so as to prevent future occurrence or fish out the perpetrators if found conspiratorially or culpably involved. Nigeria has in barely four months or since Feb 2021 lost no fewer than 20 military personnel mostly commissioned officers and till date, no single sanction has been meted or any form of detailed investigations carried out.

The heart of International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law is hereby saddened by the tragic and suspected perfect killing of Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru, who was killed alongside ten others; namely: Brig Gen MI. Abdulkadir, Brig Gen Olyainka, Brig Gen Kuliya, Major LA Hayat, Major Hamza, Sergeant Umar, Flight Lieutenants Asaniyi and Olufade; Sergeant Adesina and ACM Oyedepo. If our suspicion of perfect killing of the COAS is investigatively anything to go by, then the ten slain others are likely victims of collateral killing. Intersociety makes bold to say that the death outside the law and natural causes of any member of human family, irrespective of his or her age, tribe, religion, gender and class is totally unacceptable and condemnable. This includes the late Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru and ten others.

However, there are two regrets at the heart of Intersociety, associated with the sudden and suspicious demise of Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru. As GOC of 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Enugu between late 2015 and late 2016, Major Gen Ibrahim Attahiru (as he then was) and past weeks as the new Chief of Army Staff, late Lt Gen Ibrahim Attahiru (as he recently was) was directly and vicariously responsible for the mass murder of no fewer than 280 unarmed and defenseless Judeo-Christians of Eastern Nigeria. Therefore, we regret not seeing him alive to account someday for his conduct atrocities. We also deeply regret his death on account of the fact that he might have died as a result of intra governmental cold war possibly over military contract scandals that have been raising dust in government circles of late. The late Army Chief publicly was noted to have taken a hard stance including distancing himself and his new office and calling the oversight agencies to do independently do the needful. This explains why we said that his suspicious death is likely to go the same way of late Gov Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna State and DIG Haruna John and several others whose death and causes of same remain concretely unmasked till date.

It must be remembered that DIG John Haruna (then DIG in charge of operations) was killed in a suspicious police helicopter crash on 15th March 2012 in Kabong area of Jos in Plateau. He died when the helicopter flying him back to Abuja, which was delivered in December 2011 crashed into buildings located in Kabong, near Jos, killing him alongside three others including ACP Garba Yelwa (pilot), CSP Alexander Pwol (co-pilot) and Sergeant Sonatian Shirunam (his orderly). DIG John Harunas suspicious death came after he visited the scene of the jihadist terror bomb blast at St Finbars Catholic Church in Jos, Plateau State. The State had been under fierce attacks by Jihadist Fulani Herdsmen and Boko Haram. As if that was not enough and nine months after, Gov Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, the first and last Christian civilian Gov of Kaduna State was killed in another suspicious helicopter crash on 15th Dec 2012. He died alongside National Security Adviser, Lt Gen Owoye Andrew Aziza and four others. The suspicious crash happened while flying them from Bayelsa State to Port Harcourt. Gov Yakowa was also killed two years after he became the first Christian Gov of Kaduna State in 2010 following the appointment of Gov Namadi Sambo, a Muslim, as Vice President of Nigeria. The death of DIG Haruna John and Patrick Yakowa was strongly believed to be the handiwork of Muslim hardliners linked to Nigerian security forces.

For purpose of technical explanation, Perfect Killing is faked natural killing or death planted using state machinery or that done using moveable or immoveable critical equipment or gaseous substances; involving killing of an important state actor or non state actor-perpetrated leaving little or no evidential traces. Perfect Killing types include arrange aviation or automobile accidents or crashes or injection or spraying of killer-gaseous substances insider the target victims body or car or living room; or planting of explosive devices in the latter, etc. Similar to perfect killing is public officers malevolent exit strategy involving clean killing of hostile friends or straw-men or planted friends with ties to a top public office holder whose tenure is about to end. It is done for purpose of closing traces of wrong doings of the outgoing public officer especially as they concern financial improprieties or scandals, or human rights atrocities, or scandals involving scandalous love affair, etc. Perfect Killing is very difficult to investigate by Government owing to conflict of interest and cover-ups and only becomes successful when investigated by a formidable and credible neutral third party outside the Government such as an international criminal or civil enquiry commission.

Signed:

Principal Officers:

Emeka Umeagbalasi

Chinwe Umeche, Esq.

Chidimma Udegbunam, Esq.

Contacts:

Phone/WhatsApp: +2348174090052 , Email: [email protected] , Website: intersociety-ng.org
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The former Minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, has reacted to a statement credited to the Acting Inspector General of Police, Usman Baba Alkali. The Ag IGP reportedly directed police operatives in the South East and South-South not to adhere to established rules of engagement while dealing with Biafra agitators, assuring the officers of his protection come what may.

Chidoka, who spoke through his Media Assistant, Ikechukwu Okafor, on Thursday, described the IGP's directives as unfortunate, sad and against democratic norms.

The Ag IGP was in Enugu State, South East, Nigeria on Tuesday to inaugurate Operation Restore Peace in the region. This move is a welcome development because of threat to lives and properties and targeted attacks on Police formations and personnel.

The Ag IGP declared an open war against Pro Biafran agitators and gave an express order to Police personnel to exterminate gunmen attacking police facilities.

The Ag IGP, Alkali, was reported to have directed his men, "Don't mind the media shout; do the job I command you. If anyone accuses you of human rights violation, the report will come to my table, and you know what I will do. So, take the battle to them wherever they are and kill them all. Don't wait for an order."

"So, don't sit and wait for them to come; take the attack to them and don't lose your arms to criminals," he added.

But Chidoka, a former Chief Executive of the Federal Road Safety Corps, said the Ag IGP's statement is as problematic as it is embarrassing in a democracy and country founded on the rule of law with guaranteed fundamental rights.

Chidoka said, If the mission of the head of Nigeria Police Force is to restore peace, he cannot at the same time entrench lawlessness and anarchy being a chief law enforcer himself.

The directive is an open license for the massacre of the southeast and southsouth youths. Under the guise of this blank cheque any person killed would be labelled a Biafran agitator, and unfortunately, they would not be alive to speak for themselves.

Chidoka said, IGP saying that if anyone accuses his men of human rights violation, he would be the one to decide, implies that the Police chief has arrogated to himself the position of the law Itself. This arrogant and an affront to constitutional rule is not tenable in a democratic society. The experience in Borno in fighting Boko Haram should remain a guide for all law enforcement agencies as we fight to restore law and order in the country.

For the benefit of the doubt, let me assume that the IGP misspoke or was quoted in error and call on him to reverse himself and speak in a manner befitting of a refined officer in a constitutional society.

I also wish to draw the attention of men of good conscience and the International community to the looming regime of state lawlessness in the South-East and South-South, which portends grave dangers to young people of these regions.

Chidoka also condemns the attack on Policemen and law enforcement infrastructure in strong terms, warning that it is an ill wind that will blow no good to anyone. We must continue to use the lawful, peaceful and legitimate processes to air grievances.
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Borno Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, Senator Kashim Shettima and Senator Abubakar Kyari on Saturday joined top dignitaries and hundreds of sympathizers for the janaiza (funeral prayers) of the late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru.

The funeral held around 1:30 at the national mosque in Abuja, was attended by the senate president, Dr Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, Governor of Yobe state, Mai Mala Buni, chief of staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, Minister of Defence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Inspector General of Police, Comptroller General of Immigration, amongst other serving and former public office holders, top military officers, families, friends and associates of the late COAS.

Bodies of the late COAS and five others were brought by military ambulances to the national mosque for the funeral prayers that took place immediately after zuhr prayers.

The late chief of army staff had since his appointment, been to Borno state more than six times, to supervise ongoing military operations against Boko Haram. He had visited different army formations, mobilize and motivated troops in front lines in peace building efforts.

In his comment, Borno Governor, Professor Zulum said the late chief of staff was evidently committed to the fight against Boko Haram and was determined to significantly contribute to ending the insurgency.

The commitment of the late chief of army staff to the fight against Boko Haram was very obvious. Within the short time he served, he had been to Borno on multiple occasions, meeting operational commanders and troops at battle fronts. In all his interactions, he regularly motivated troops. The people of Borno thank him and all our gallant fallen heroes for their unquantifiable service to Borno and rest of Nigeria Zulum said.
Jess Opfer says she was drawn to Rochester by its history and charm.

Thats why she and others are concerned about the Rochester Community Schools decision to move out of its administration building, which has sat at 501 W. University Drive, in the city's downtown area, for more than 130 years.

To me, its just a travesty, said Opfer.

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She questions why the district allowed a building so well-known and well-loved in the community to fall into disrepair. District officials say it would cost $21.2 million to $29.1 million to renovate it. Tearing it down and building a new facility would cost $26.4 million to $31.4 million.

Opfer is also distressed by the districts lack of transparency on the move out of the historic building and relocation to an office and warehouse facility at 52585 Dequindre Road in Rochester Hills.

The Board of Education voted last month to buy the building on Dequindre Road between 23 Mile and 24 Mile roads for $7 million; the district says it needs about $3.4 million in upgrades.

Tiffany Dziurman, president of the Rochester-Avon Historical Society, says she is optimistic that the district will work with the society and others in the community to find a suitable use for the administration building.

Weve been assured a seat at the table, she said. It remains to be seen.

She said the current administration building, which the state recognizes as historic, would qualify for preservation tax credits that could attract a qualified developer.

She said the building holds many possibilities, such as a community center or art center. She pointed to the conversion of a historic school in Plymouth to an arts center.

It just takes some creativity and imagination, Dziurman said.

The district said in a statement that the current administration building is at significant risk for a building failure, based on age, evidence of ongoing structural damage, and the expired useful life expectancy of current infrastructure and building systems.

The statement said that sensitive commercial real estate negotiations prevented the district from disclosing all aspects of the Dequindre Road building purchase.

During sensitive commercial real estate investigations, confidentiality is often necessary to protect the buyer from price distortion and inflated value escalation. Disclosing the identity of RCS could have compromised negotiations and raised pricing by an expected 30-40 percent. Public disclosure from the district, within its limited boundaries, timeframe and criteria, could present a substantial barrier to fair pricing, the statement said.

THE BUILDINGS HISTORY

Dziurman said the site on West University has served as a school since 1847.

A building erected on the site in 1847 served as a private academy and then a public school from 1847 until it burned down in 1888.

A new school was built on the site in 1889.

An addition was built in 1916, which served as the communitys high school.

Another addition was built in 1928 that connected the two previously erected portions.

One more wing was added in the early 1980s.
Heroin, meth seized in Thalang drug arrests

PHUKET: Police arrested two men and seized more than 280 grammes of crystal methamphetamine (ya ice), 53 pills of methamphetamine (ya bah) and more than two grammes of heroin in Thalang yesterday (May 21).

drugscrimepolice

By Eakkapop Thongtub

Saturday 22 May 2021, 11:38AM

The arrests were conducted by Phuket Provincial Police, led by Capt Chaiwat Chuwang.

Muhamadbusree Ma Yusoh, 31, originally from Pattani, was arrested with 284.2g of ya ice, 10 pills of ya bah, 2.09g of heroin and two sets of drug-taking equipment.

Muhamadbusree was arrested at a house in Moo 1, Pa Khlok where police also seized a digital scale, a red Honda motorbike, and 10 other items of evidence that were not specified.

Meanwhile, Hakim Kim Kasoh, 24, was arrested with 2.1g of ya ice and 43 pills of ya bah at a house in Moo 1, Srisoonthorn.

Muhamadbusree and Hakim were taken to Thalang Police Station and charged with possession of a Category 1 drug with intent to sell, police confirmed.












Southern Pines, NC (28387)

Today

Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 69F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 69F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 19:38:50|Editor: huaxia

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People wearing face masks walk on a street in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, May 22, 2021. Malaysia announced further tightening restrictions on Saturday under its nationwide movement control order (MCO) as the country's accumulative COVID-19 cases topped 500,000. (Photo by Chong Voon Chung/Xinhua)

KUALA LUMPUR, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Malaysia announced further tightening restrictions on Saturday under its nationwide movement control order (MCO) as the country's accumulative COVID-19 cases topped 500,000.

Defense Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, who coordinates the implementation of COVID-19 restrictions in the country, said in a press conference that 80 percent of public servants and 40 percent of private sectors' employees will be required to work from home from May 25.

Other measures including shortening the operating hours of commercial premises, curbing public transport capacity and frequency. The authorities will also strengthen enforcement on those flouting the restrictions, including erecting more roadblocks.

Malaysia recorded another 6,320 new COVID-19 infections Saturday, bringing the national total to 505,115, according to the Health Ministry. Another 50 more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to 2,199.

Some 4,694 patients have been released after recovery, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 449,234 or 88.9 percent of all cases.

Of the remaining 53,682 active cases, 652 are being held in intensive care and 370 of those are in need of assisted breathing. Enditem
NORRISTOWN  Montgomery County has a full slate of events scheduled to honor the areas fallen heroes this Memorial Day.

Its a very somber holiday, and we want you to have a peaceful, and reflectful Memorial Day, and recognize that for a lot of us veterans, were remembering our fallen comrades, and just keep that in mind, and be kind to each other like you would any other day, said Dennis Miller, director of Montgomery Countys Office of Veteran Affairs.

While the COVID-19 pandemic remains a presence, Miller offered up some ways people can pay tribute to veterans whove made the ultimate sacrifice by placing flags at gravesites and participating in ceremonies.

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This years programming is in stark contrast to the events of last year. Due to health and safety concerns in the COVID-19 pandemics early days, officials put off the distribution of 59,000 flags to a number of organizations in anticipation of the holiday.

Memorial Day honors those who have died while in service to our nation. We owe these individuals our deepest gratitude. We have purchased the flags for this year, but we are going to postpone distributing them. Bringing these large numbers of groups together creates the very situation that we have been working so hard as a community to avoid, said Montgomery County Commissioners Chairwoman Val Arkoosh during a press conference last year.

Montgomery County Commissioners Vice Chairman Ken Lawrence Jr. cited health and safety concerns for handing out large quantities of flags to various community groups while a stay-at-home order remains in effect.

The decision not to distribute the flags for Memorial Day was made in the interest of public health, and I just want to be clear these flags will be distributed, Lawrence said, referring to the decision for a later distribution date head of July 4, 2020.

Memorial Day U.S. Army Veteran Walt Hartnett plants a flag at a veteran's grave on a past Memorial Day.

That decision was difficult for U.S. Army veteran Walt Hartnett, commander of veterans of foreign wars for VFW Post 1074 in Conshohocken, to process.

I understand why some people might think thats a good enough day to do it, but the Fourth of July has nothing to do with remembering those who have passed on, Hartnett told MediaNews Group last year. Memorial Day is the day we remember.

Were never going to not let the veterans be remembered. Memorial Day is the culmination of were not going to forget you. Wed never celebrate Sept. 11 on Sept. 13, he continued. So its kind of a slap in the face to the veteran community."

Memorial Day U.S. Army Veteran Walt Hartnett's daughter, Hailey, plants a flag at St. Matthew Cemetery.

Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Gale blasted his colleagues during a board meeting last May, alleging he was outnumbered two-to-one on the matter.

Frankly, Im embarrassed that they dont have that opportunity, Gale said during his opening comments last year in reference to veterans' and flag tributes for Memorial Day.

However, Gale said he still found a way to participate.

Last year, I raised money at a private charity to supply the flags, and I know they were very grateful to make sure these fallen heroes were honored, and its great that we have the ability to do it this year, Gale said on Thursday.

As cases of the novel coronavirus continue decreasing locally, Miller stressed that thered be a mixture of virtual and in-person programming opportunities. He added that the outdoor setting would incorporate a social distancing component to the weekends events.

In addition to placing flags at the graves of fallen veterans, there will be a ceremony taking place on May 28 where 77 flags will be placed on the lawn of the Montgomery County Court House in downtown Norristown. Miller said that each flag represents 1,000 deceased veterans interred in our county.

For more information about the placements of flags at veteran gravesites, visit montcopa.org/VeteransAffairs.

There will also be a Memorial Day tribute video on May 31 featuring the names and pictures of service members killed in action during the Vietnam War, Miller said in his presentation.

Marking the 50th anniversary of the start of the Vietnam War, Miller emphasized the importance of highlighting those Vietnam-era veterans.

The Montgomery County Vietnam Veteran Memorial has been dismantled due to the Justice Center Construction, Miller said in his presentation. The county will replace the memorial on the new justice center campus.

Obviously, it saddened all of us to have to take those memorials down for construction, Arkoosh said during Thursdays meeting. But they will be back  absolutely. Theyre in very, very safe storage, and I think this is a wonderful way to acknowledge the individuals whose names are on that memorial, and we can connect with them in a little bit different way this year so thank you for being so creative with that.

The trio of Montgomery County Commissioners praised Miller for his efforts organizing the upcoming events and working to help veterans in the midst of a global public health crisis.

Mr. Miller, thank you for your service to our country, but thank you for your service to our veterans here in Montgomery County, Lawrence said. Youve done an excellent job in running the office and  reaching out to our veterans to make sure that they get the services that they have earned.

Thank you for all your hard work in planning Memorial Day, Lawrence later said. Thank you for your words to remind us to be kind, and remind us that for some of our veterans, it can be a very tough day as they remember their fallen brothers and sisters.

Any veteran or surviving spouses in need of assistance should contact TeamVeterans@montcopa.org, or call the veteran hotline at 610-213-4022, which is available from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Racialized participants, health-care workers and younger people were more likely to have reported discrimination than white, unemployed and older participants.
FILE - In this Nov. 21, 1995 file photo a selection of front pages of most of Britains's national newspapers showing their reaction to Princess Diana's television interview with BBC journalist Martin Bashir. Prince William and his brother Prince Harry have issued strongly-worded statements criticizing the BBC and British media for unethical practices after an investigation found that Bashir used "deceitful behavior" to secure Princess Diana's most explosive TV interview in 1995. (AP Photo/Martin Cleaver, File)
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 20:01:35|Editor: huaxia

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AUCKLAND, New Zealand, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Several hundreds of firefighters took the Auckland Sky Tower Stair Challenge in New Zealand to raise funds and awareness for leukaemia and blood cancer charity on Saturday.

The Firefighter Sky Tower Stair Challenge is an annual event where hundreds of firefighters collect funds and race up 51 flights of stairs of the Auckland Sky Tower, while wearing a full firefighting kit. The Challenge is aimed to raise money for the Leukaemia and Blood Cancer New Zealand (LBC) charity.

On Saturday, after months of training, almost 1,000 firefighters climbed the 1,103 steps of the Sky Tower, each carrying 25 kg of equipment, along with photographs of the cancer patients and families they are supporting to keep them motivated throughout the challenging race.

During the past 17 years, 1,357,090 New Zealand dollars (974,603.17 U.S. dollars) have been raised to support patients and their families living with blood cancers and related blood conditions.

LBC is a New Zealand national charity dedicated to supporting patients and their families. Chief Executive Peter Fergusson recognised the huge efforts by the firefighters that have helped tens of thousands of blood cancer patients during the most vulnerable time of their lives.

"From the humble beginnings this iconic event has now reached the amazing milestone of raising over 10 million New Zealand dollars during the events history. Great things do indeed come from small beginnings," said Fergusson.

The 328-meter-high Sky Tower is the Southern Hemisphere's tallest man-made structure, and is one of New Zealand's most recognisable landmarks.

Each year firefighters from around New Zealand and international competitors from Australia, the United States, Chile and Germany fundraise and compete in this challenge event. Enditem
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WASHINGTON (AP)  This years Kennedy Center Honors may be a slimmed-down affair as the nation emerges from the coronavirus pandemic  but honoree Dick Van Dyke still says it's the capper on my career.

The 43rd class also includes country music legend Garth Brooks, dancer and choreographer Debbie Allen, singer-songwriter Joan Baez and violinist Midori. They were honored Friday night at a medallion ceremony that had been delayed from December 2020.

All the honorees called the lifetime artistic achievement award a unique honor, even for an accomplished artist.

Brooks joked: I dont mind being the weak link on the chain. Im in the chain!

Normally the medallion ceremony is held at the State Department, but this year it was moved to the Kennedy Centers opera house, with about 120 people spread out at tables on the stage and backstage area looking out at the empty rows of seats. Singer Gloria Estefan hosted the ceremony and cellist Yo Yo Ma performed; both are previous Kennedy Center Honors recipients.

The recipients received short tributes and spoke after getting the iconic medallion placed around their necks. Several of the artists said they hoped their modified ceremony would be one of a series of benchmarks in the countrys cultural reopening.

Midori said it made her happy, coming out of these very dark times, to be able to see the arts coming back.

Allen is a veteran of tribute programs for previous Kennedy Center Honors recipients. She said this years process was uniquely intimate. Were spending a lot more time together than other groups of honorees, she said.

Baez brought an unexpected guest: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Baez paints portraits and posts them online, and she painted one of Fauci last year. They started talking and struck up a mutual fan-ship, Baez said.

Prior to the ceremony Friday evening, several attendees visibly scrambled to put on their masks properly when Baez and the masked Fauci entered together.

Instead of the usual several-hour black-tie event, followed by dinner, Friday's festivities ran just 90 minutes with a limited audience. The musical performances and tributes  traditionally the centerpiece of the event  were split into two other nights; one took place Thursday and the second is scheduled for Saturday.

Kennedy Center President Deborah Rutter Rutter told reporters they had been filming tributes all over campus. All the events will be edited into a television special, which will be broadcast on CBS on June 6.

The honorees met with President Joe Biden on Thursday, marking a return to tradition after former President Donald Trump avoided the celebration during his tenure. Trump's presence in the White House hung over the annual events from the start, with several 2017 honorees threatening to boycott if he attended.

Trump chose to stay away for the entirety of his time in office, to the quiet relief of administrators who otherwise may have faced an uprising from the artists.

The performing arts center is planning a full-scale reopening in September with events slowly ramping up until then. The 44th Kennedy Center Honors program should take place, back on its usual schedule, in December.
LOS ANGELES  A recent birthday party in suburban Los Angeles had connections to Alton Memorial Hospital.

Minola (Lueking) Jackson turned 100 years old on April 16 with a party that included friends, relatives and city officials from Lakewood, California.

Jackson, a Wood River native, was able to look back at a long, happy life  with one of the key chapters being her time as a student at the Alton Memorial Hospital School of Nursing. She was among the first students of the school, which opened in 1938 and existed until 1973. She was part of the third graduating class in 1942 and could be the oldest living graduate.

Nursing school was a great time for me, she said in a phone interview. I have such good memories of everything. I remember we had to go to chapel every morning since it was a Methodist hospital, then we ate breakfast and were on duty by 7 a.m.

Her best memory might have been one of the patients at AMH named William Jackson. The couple eventually married and had five children. Jackson now has 12 grandchildren, 22 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren  and more on the way, she says proudly.

William Jackson graduated from Shurtleff College in Alton. He became an aerospace engineer and worked in Baltimore, where the couple married before the family moved to California. Jackson worked at AMH as well as the old Wood River Township Hospital and South Bay Hospital in Redondo Beach, California. She was a volunteer in area hospitals for almost 20 years after her retirement in 1982.

But her time at the AMH School of Nursing set the tone for everything, and Jackson was very familiar with Miss Eunice Smith.

We saw her out in the flower beds every morning, she said. Miss Eunice liked to keep everything looking beautiful. And she was very good to the nursing students. She furnished our uniforms and took care of us.

She remembers each day walking up and down the 104 steps that connected the hospital to Rock Springs Drive. Perhaps staying in shape from that helped her reach her 100th birthday, though there could be another reason.

We didnt have all this junk food when I was young, she said with a laugh.

Her 100th birthday party at her home was a great success.

She loved everything about it, said her daughter, Barbara Koelkebeck. We had 100 balloons in the living room, pictures of her life, yard signs and her great-grandkids made a big rollout sign for the occasion. We also had the mayor and a councilman stop by to make a proclamation, plus the police and fire departments came by the house.

AMH sent Jackson some memorabilia. She also received boxes of items from both the Los Angeles Lakers and the Dodgers. Other nursing school alumnae were asked to send cards to Jackson, and she received quite a few.

The great thing was we were able to keep quiet about it until the big day, Koelkebeck said.

The AMH School of Nursing opened March 1, 1938. A graduate nursing staff provided instruction across a range of subjects. Students were rated and needed to meet the maximum requirements of the Illinois State Department of Education and Registration.

Tuition at the time for three years (RN degree) totaled $150. A total of 626 nurses, including nine men, graduated from the school in its 35-year history.

Lewis and Clark Community College began its nursing program in the fall of 1971, which phased out the nursing schools at both Alton Memorial and the former St. Josephs Hospital in Alton. The LCCC program, however, used practical experiences at the local hospitals. AMH Nursing School alumni from all over the country gather in Alton every two years for a reunion.

A crew from the Lakewood Fire Department stopped by to wish Minola a happy birthday.

Minola Lueking in her uniform at the Alton Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in 1942.
ROXANA  Five area students are among the 49 high school seniors across the nation who will receive $16,000 college scholarships from the Phillips 66 Dependent Scholarship Program.

The competitive program is open to outstanding college-bound students whose parents work for Phillips 66 or its subsidiaries.

The local area honorees representing both the Phillips 66 Hartford Terminal and the Phillips 66 Wood River Refinery are:

 Joshua Chambers, the son of Phillips 66 employee Nathaniel Chambers, a senior at Collinsville High School

 Chloe Langendorf, the daughter of Phillips 66 employee Daniel Langendorf, a senior at Metro East Lutheran High School

 Macie Lucas, the daughter of Phillips 66 employee James Lucas, a senior at Roxana High School

 Katelynne Roberts, the daughter of Phillips 66 employee Brian Roberts, a senior at Edwardsville High School

 Travis (T.J.) Wilson, the son of Phillips 66 employee Merideth Wilson, a senior at Triad High School.

We congratulate Joshua, Chloe, Macie, Katelynne and TJ on their achievements inside and outside the classroom and wish them every success in college, said Melissa Erker, Phillips 66 Government and Community Relations for the Wood River Refinery. Education is a core focus area for Phillips 66, and were proud to support these promising young students who are so dedicated to learning and achieving excellence.

Phillips 66 has awarded $6.8 million in scholarships to 505 students since the start of the program in 2013. The awards are based on academic excellence, community service and financial need.

Scholarship America, a neutral, third-party administrator of educational assistance programs, selects the recipients and manages the program for Phillips 66.

Phillips 66 is a diversified energy manufacturing and logistics company. The company processes, transports, stores and markets fuels and products globally. Phillips 66 Partners, the companys master limited partnership, is integral to the portfolio. Headquartered in Houston, the company has 14,200 employees committed to safety and operating excellence. For more information, visit www.phillips66.com.
EDWARDSVILLE  A Madison County jury on Friday found a St. Louis man guilty of the 2020 murder of James Thomas.

On Jan. 9, 2020, Granite City Police received a report of gunshots in the 2200 block of Benton Street. When officers arrived, Jason A. Thomas, 36, was found to be deceased from gunshot wounds.

An investigation led police to a St. Louis hotel and the arrests of Kadeem L. Noland, 27, of St. Louis, and Kristine N. Mills, 34, of the 2200 block of Benton Street in Granite City, the same block where Thomas lived.

On Friday, Noland was found guilty of first-degree murder in Thomas death.

This was a clear case of cold-hearted murder, said Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine.

This individual from St. Louis came to Granite City to commit this terrible act, and we are grateful to the judge and jury that justice was done, Haine said. We will continue to work every day to reduce violent crime and ensure that those who commit it are found and strictly prosecuted in Madison County.

In June 2020, Mills pleaded guilty to obstructing justice for lying to police. She was sentenced to six years in prison.

Nolands sentencing date was not available Friday afternoon.

Im proud of our Violent Crimes Unit, especially the work of Jacob Harlow and Katie Warren, the prosecutors in this case, Haine said. They work every day to fight violent crime in Madison County.
EDWARDSVILLE  Madison County States Attorney Tom Haine announced Friday that Philip P. Riley, 33, of Wood River, has been charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals and one count of the violation of the Humane Care for Animals Act.

Cruel, violent acts against defenseless animals are unacceptable and have no place in our society, Haine said. Madison County is home to numerous shelters and rescue organizations that provide care for animals in need, and there is absolutely no excuse for this kind of cruelty and abuse.
Fire destroyed a seasonal cottage on the grounds of the Inn at Starlight Lake in Wayne County early Thursday, the Northern Wayne Fire Company said.

Units from the Northern Wayne, Hancock, Pleasant Mount and Equinunk fire departments responded to the call, which came in at 2:43 a.m. Firefighters remained on scene until around 6 a.m.

There were no injuries.

The state police fire marshal investigated, but the cause is undetermined, a fire official said.
A Scranton man will spend more than 11 years in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography.

Shawn Howells, 48, was sentenced Thursday by U.S. District Judge Robert D. Mariani to 135 months in prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release.

Howells previously pleaded guilty to using his laptop computer to access images and videos of child pornography and traded them with others on the internet in 2016 and 2017, acting U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler said.

Mariani deferred for 90 days a determination on the amount of restitution Howells owes to the victims depicted in the images and videos that he received and distributed. He was also ordered to undergo sex offender treatment and to comply with the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 21:46:40|Editor: huaxia

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COLOMBO, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Sri Lanka's Marine Environment Protection Authority (MEPA) has launched an investigation on possible environmental impact from the fire that erupted Friday onboard a container ship in waters near the Colombo port.

The X-PRESS PEARL flying Singapore's flag carried shipment of nitric acid, and the investigation is intended to see if the incident has caused any damage to the marine environment, local media reported Saturday.

MEPA Chairperson Dharshani Lahandapura was quoted as saying that working teams had been deployed to reduce the heat in the surrounding area of containers onboard the cargo ship as flames were still visible on top of the containers at the weather deck.

The Sri Lankan Navy said a special team comprising officials from the Navy, Sri Lanka Ports Authority and MEPA reached the location of the fire-hit vessel on Friday and were monitoring the situation further.

A Navy official said teams were working in full swing to contain the fire onboard the cargo ship.

A fast attack craft had also been deployed to assist the ongoing firefighting efforts.

The container ship had been reportedly manned by a crew of 25, who are Philippine, Chinese, Indian and Russian nationals. Enditem
A Lackawanna County Court jury Friday convicted a man of raping a woman in her Carbondale apartment in 2019, according to Lackawanna County District Attorney Mark Powell.

Jurors found Justin Brown, 26, guilty of rape and several other charges after a three-day trial before Judge Margaret Bisgnani Moyle, who will sentence Brown at a later date.

Carbondale police charged Brown, who was listed as homeless in court paperwork, with sexually assaulting the victim in the early morning hours of Sept. 13, 2019, after breaking into her apartment.

The Times-Tribune does not identify victims of sexual assault.

The victim told investigators she was awakened by a noise around 3 a.m. and, when she went downstairs to check, found an open window.

She caught a glimpse of a man hiding in her living room and tried to run, but the intruder tackled and assaulted her.

The woman said her attacker made several comments that led her to believe he had been following her. He told her she was being watched and her family would be killed if she made any noise.

After an investigation, police identified Brown as a suspect. A judge approved a search warrant for Browns DNA in October 2019 and, when those results matched evidence collected in the case, a warrant was issued for his arrest.

He was taken into custody and charged on Nov. 19, 2019, with rape, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse by forcible compulsion, burglary, criminal trespass, sexual assault, loitering and prowling at night, and unlawful restraint with risk of serious bodily injury.

The jury deliberated for an hour and found Brown guilty on all counts. Brown remains in the county prison on $200,000 bail while awaiting sentencing. He faces a sentencing range on all charges of between 41.5 to 83 years in prison.

The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Sara Varela and Assistant District Attorney Bo Loughney.

Jim Lockwood, staff writer, contributed to this report.
May 22, 1916

Knights Templar arrive in Scranton

Knights Templar from around the commonwealth were arriving in Scranton to participate in the groups 63rd Conclave of the Grand Commandery of Pennsylvania.

Thousands were expected for the conclave, and Scranton was ready. Buildings throughout downtown were decorated in patriotic bunting.

A massive reviewing stand with seating for 2,200 was constructed on Courthouse Square for the conclaves parade that was planned for May 23. It was expected about 4,000 knights would be participating in the parade.

In the evening of May 22, knights and their guests would attend receptions and dances throughout the city. The largest was for the Melita and Coeur de Lion commanderies taking place at Town Hall.

The conclave ran until May 24.

An electric lunch for the rotary

It was an electric lunch for the members of the Scranton Rotary. The members held the lunch meeting not at the Hotel Jermyn, but inside the Scranton Electric Plant at Washington Avenue and Walnut Street.

Duncan Campbell, vice president and general manager of the company, planned the luncheon event down to the specially printed menu cards in the shape of a light bulb.

Some 200 rotary members and invited guests dined in the factorys dining room that was decorated with American flags and light bulbs. All the food served at the luncheon was prepared using electric appliances.

Campbell spoke on the wonders of electricity and gave the members a long list of statistics dealing with the company. In 1915, he said, the plant used 321,490 pounds of coal and 1.2 pounds of water to generate 62 million kilowatt hours.
A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out. Here are the facts:



Arizona election database is not missing

CLAIM: The election database in Maricopa County in Arizona has been deleted, seals were improperly broken on boxes that hold the votes, and ballots are missing.

THE FACTS: An unprecedented, partisan audit of the 2020 election in Arizonas largest county is being used to spread false information about the vote. Though a partial hand recount and two extra audits found no issues in the election that gave Biden a margin of victory of less than 10,500 votes in the battleground state, Republicans in the Arizona state Senate used their subpoena power to take possession of all 2.1 million county ballots, the machines that counted them and hard drives full of data, and hired a Florida-based cybersecurity firm to comb through it. The firm, Cyber Ninjas, is run by a supporter of former President Donald Trump who has promoted election conspiracy theories. On May 12, Senate President Karen Fann sent a letter to the chairman of the Republican-controlled Maricopa County Board of Supervisors accusing county officials of deleting election databases. The letter also questioned why there were discrepancies between certain batches of ballots and log sheets, and why broken seals were found in ballot boxes. Trump released a statement echoing Fanns letter, which also spread on social media. It read, in part: The entire Database of Maricopa County in Arizona has been DELETED! This is illegal and the Arizona State Senate, who is leading the Forensic Audit, is up in arms. Additionally, seals were broken on the boxes that hold the votes, ballots are missing, and worse." At a meeting Monday, county officials refuted the allegations and issued a 14-page response to Fann, calling her accusations false, defamatory, and beneath the dignity of the Senate. The letter, along with a separate technical memo, detailed the procedures around the vote and explained how they had been misunderstood by those behind the Senate's audit. In refuting the claim about deleted databases, the county listed a number of technical mistakes that may have been made by the firms running the audit when they configured a copy of the data and searched for the files in question. Furthermore, Megan Gilbertson, communications director for Maricopa County Elections Department, told The Associated Press that the county backs up and archives all of its election data. On Tuesday, Ben Cotton, the founder of a computer forensics firm working on the audit, told key senators the data in question had been deleted from the server he copied but he also acknowledged he had recovered the data and had access to it -- thereby undermining the claim that the database had been permanently destroyed. Seals were not improperly broken on ballots, as was alleged. They were opened before the tabulated ballots were put in long-term storage, which is standard procedure, according to county officials. As for the allegation that ballots were missing: If a ballot cannot be read by the tabulation machine, it must go through a distinct process to be duplicated and is tracked in a separate set of logs. Liz Howard, senior counsel for the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice, said those running the audit are basically looking at the wrong tracking sheets, the wrong documents." Election integrity experts who reviewed the countys documents said the evidence indicates the county followed established protocols, but those conducting the audit lacked professional election experience to understand what they were examining. Experts have raised concerns over how those conducting this review would not know what they were looking at and that they would draw incorrect and malicious conclusions to support their own agendas, said Tammy Patrick a former Maricopa County official and senior adviser to the elections program at Democracy Fund. Fann did not respond to a request for comment.

 Associated Press writers Jude Joffe-Block in Phoenix and Terrence Fraser in New York contributed this report.



Moderna vaccine ingredient falsely targeted as unsafe

CLAIM: SM-102 is an ingredient in the Moderna vaccine that is not safe for humans or for veterinary use.

THE FACTS: As millions of Americans receive COVID-19 vaccines, posts online are falsely claiming that an ingredient listed in the Moderna vaccine is unsafe for humans and animals. One Instagram user posted a video that compares the ingredient list for the Moderna vaccine with the ingredients in a chemical solution made by the Michigan biotech company Cayman Chemical. Both products list SM-102, a lipid, as an ingredient. The Cayman product comes with a warning that it is to be used for research purposes only and contains chloroform. Its unbelievable how many people are just following this blindly, and not doing active research to find out what they are putting into their, and now their childrens body, the caption on the video reads. In fact, SM-102  the ingredient both products have in common  is harmless to people and isnt what makes the Cayman Chemical solution dangerous. Only the Cayman product contains chloroform, a hazardous solvent. The posts ignore information on the Cayman Chemical safety sheet that lists chloroform as a dangerous component and lists SM-102 separately under other ingredients. In response to the misleading social media posts, Cayman Chemical released a statement reaffirming that the product being mentioned online is made up of 90% chloroform and 10% SM-102. It is intended for research purposes only. The company has a separate division for products for human and veterinary use. While it is a common solvent, chloroform has several known serious hazards, the company said in a news release. Neither the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Registry of Toxic Effects of Chemical Substances (RTECS), or the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) Classification and Labelling Inventory list any hazards associated with SM-102. The Moderna vaccine uses SM-102 to deliver the genetic code, or mRNA, of the spike protein that coats the coronavirus into our cells. Experts say there is no need to be concerned about SM-102 in the vaccine. The amount of lipid used in the vaccine is very small, said Lisa Morici, an associate professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Tulane University School of Medicine, in an email. Our own cell membranes are composed of lipids, she said. Representatives for Moderna could not immediately be reached for comment.

 Associated Press writer Beatrice Dupuy in New York contributed this report.



Video shows child having epileptic seizure, not COVID-19 vaccine reaction

CLAIM: A video shows a child shaking uncontrollably in response to the COVID-19 vaccine.

THE FACTS: A video of a child with epilepsy experiencing a seizure is being shared online to falsely imply the child is reacting to a COVID-19 vaccination. The video shows a young boy in an orange and blue shirt trembling as an adult woman soothes him, saying, Come on, baby and telling him to breathe. Overlaid text on the clip reads, But theyre safe right?! and copies language about the safety of COVID-19 vaccines from the World Health Organization. In a version that amassed more than 2 million views on Facebook, a second video alongside the first shows a woman crying and shaking her head in fear. Taken together, the post falsely implies the childs physical symptoms are somehow related to the COVID-19 vaccine. But in a May 6 Instagram post, the boys father explains that the child has epilepsy and has experienced seizures since 2009. No, nothing to do with Covid, the post reads. In the post, the father does claim that his sons epilepsy is related to vaccines he received as a young child. But that is not supported by scientific evidence, Dr. Paul Offit, a vaccine expert at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia, told The Associated Press. Vaccines do not cause epilepsy, Offit said. One side effect of many vaccines is a fever, which can cause seizures in a small percentage of young children, Offit explained. But those seizures, known as febrile seizures, are short-lived and do not cause permanent harm, he said. Data on the millions of COVID-19 vaccinations administered so far does not show any link between the vaccines and seizure disorders, Offit said. U.S. health advisers endorsed the use of Pfizers COVID-19 vaccine in kids as young as 12 last week. The two-dose vaccine made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech was studied in more than 2,000 kids ages 12 to 15 and was found to be safe and effective. Children who havent been vaccinated should still wear masks and keep 6 feet apart, according to the CDC, which recommends masks for children age 2 and older in public settings and when with people outside their household.

 Associated Press writer Ali Swenson in Seattle contributed this report.



Image of pyramids lit with Palestinian flag is manipulated

CLAIM: A photo shows Egypt projected the Palestinian flag on its Giza Pyramids during the latest war between Palestinian militants in Gaza and the Israeli military.

THE FACTS: An internet search reveals this image was fabricated using a 2014 photo of the pyramids that did not feature the flag projection. Since fighting broke out between Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza on May 10, neighboring Egypt has treated wounded Palestinians and sent trucks carrying humanitarian aid and medical supplies to Gaza. However, Egypt has not shown solidarity with the Palestinians in the form of a light show on its three famed pyramids of Giza, despite a fake image suggesting as much on social media. The image circulated widely on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter on Tuesday, with captions in both Arabic and English. Egypt showing the flag of Palestine on the pyramids, wrote a Facebook user. Thank you Egypt! In reality, the widely circulating picture is an edit of a 2014 image of the pyramids that can be found on Wikimedia Commons. On Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus office announced Israel would halt its offensive against Hamas militants.

 Ali Swenson



Biden did not fake driving electric truck

CLAIM: President Joe Biden was caught fake driving a Ford F-150 Lightning truck during a visit to a Ford safety testing center Tuesday. A man in the passenger seat was operating the vehicle using a second steering wheel.

THE FACTS: An article shared thousands of times on Facebook this week falsely claimed that the president faked his Tuesday test drive of an electric Ford truck at Fords Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. WOW! Biden Caught Fake Driving -- Someone Else Is Steering Vehicle -- It Was All a Stunt! a headline on the conservative website The Gateway Pundit read. The story misrepresented videos and pictures to claim they showed a passenger in the truck was steering instead of the president. Theres no truth to these claims, according to Melissa Miller, manager of government and public policy communications at Ford. There was only one steering wheel in the vehicle the president drove yesterday, Miller said in an email Wednesday. Photos and videos of the event show that the passenger in the vehicle, who was identified to reporters as a member of Bidens Secret Service detail, was adjusting a camera that was resting on the dashboard, not operating the car. Associated Press photos of the inside of the vehicle show the right side of the dashboard was obstructed by a black cloth covering, which car experts say is typical in prototype vehicles before they are released. Cloth coverings are very common on the interior of prototype vehicles because theyre designed to hide the dashboard from prying eyes before the product is officially released to the market, said Billy Rehbock, social media editor at the automotive website MotorTrend. The Gateway Pundit did not respond to a request for comment.

 Ali Swenson



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Piercing the Carbondale skyline at 93 feet tall, St. Rose of Limas steeple is a city fixture in dire need of repairs.

After raising nearly $850,000 over the past year and a half despite the pandemic, the church at 6 N. Church St., now shrouded in scaffolding, is receiving a much-needed restoration. The parish was founded in 1832, and the current building dates back to 1873 with an addition constructed in 1900, said the Rev. Jeff Walsh.

According to a 2019 report from Reuther+Bowen Engineering, the church faced numerous issues, including rotted wood in its belfry, buckling and warped sheet metal around its bell tower, flaking bluestone, weathered bricks and damaged granite steps.

To have a house of worship that is maintained well is a sign of also trying to maintain good spiritual health of those who come to worship in this building, Walsh said.

In total, the project will cost a bit over $900,000 and entails restoring the churchs granite steps, steeple and facade, said Walsh, who inherited the project when he took over as pastor in July. At that point, the church had already raised $600,000, he said, praising the work of his predecessor the Rev. James Price and Prices assistant, the Rev. Seth Wasnock.

It was my job when I walked into it to come in as the closer and help with securing the rest of the funds for the goal, Walsh said.

The first phase began late last summer with the restoration of the granite steps. Totaling $200,000, repairing the steps involved temporarily removing them to install footers for stabilization, pouring concrete and chemically cleaning the granite, Walsh said.

They initially hoped to add a handicap-accessible ramp, but that would have been cost prohibitive, adding another $100,000, he said. St. Rose of Lima still has a handicap entrance on the side of the building, and adding the front ramp could be a future project, Walsh said.

Although workers encountered some weather-related delays, they finished the stair restoration in early March, he said.

It looks almost brand new, Walsh said.

The ongoing second phase of work tackles the steeple  internally and externally, structurally and aesthetically. Repairing the brick and bluestone facade will cost about $300,000, and fixing the steeples sheet metal and interior was also around $300,000, Walsh said. Renting and assembling the scaffolding to access the exterior added another $80,000, he said.

It took 11 days to erect the scaffolding last month, and work recently began on the steeple, Walsh said.

A contractor is working inside the steeple to shore up some of the wooden beams, which are an estimated 150 years old, he said, explaining he was informed repairing the interior is critical.

The bell itself is heavy, and when it rings, like in any church, it reverberates, Walsh said.  You need to have a sturdy surrounding and stability for that.

The repaired and replaced sheet metal will stop leakage, preventing damage to the roof and other parts of the building, he said.

The need for cosmetic repairs is obvious, Walsh said, describing it as unsightly.

When someone looks at the steeple, Your first thought would probably be, Boy, I wish they would paint that, Walsh said.

Initial plans called for a restoration of the entire facade, which proved to be too expensive, adding another $100,000, he said. They scaled work back to the central portion of the facade in line with the steeple and will revisit the remaining portions in five to 10 years.

Harry Coleman, a lifelong Carbondale resident and parishioner who is a member of the churchs financial committee, praised city residents for raising the money to complete the project.

I think its a tremendous testament to the good people of Carbondale and their giving nature, Coleman said. Not only do we receive significant contributions from our parish members, but also the community.

It was critically important, he said.

That steeple has withstood time and generations, and its a central part of downtown Carbondale, Coleman said. I think the community recognizes that.

The church will dip into its savings to fund any remaining work exceeding their initial $850,000 goal, and future donations will replenish the fund, Walsh said.

To donate to the restoration project, send checks made payable to the church to 6 N. Church St., Carbondale, PA 18407.
Scranton Mayor Paige Gebhardt Cognetti really thumped him. She trounced City Controller John Murray in their match-up for the Democratic mayoral nomination in the primary election Tuesday.

She swatted away the doubts cast by anyone who saw Murray gaining momentum because his campaigns signs started sprouting.

Scranton has 48 voting precincts. Cognetti won them all. That means she won every neighborhood, including West Scranton, the citys largest bloc of Democratic voters and where she soon will move.

She won her home voting precinct by more than 2-to-1  115 to 54  and Murrays voting precinct by far more than 2-to-1  265 to 106. She had 7,847 votes, Murray had 3,110. Translated to percentages, thats 71.36% to 28.28%.

A few hundred more votes for her, a couple hundred fewer for him, and it would have been 3-to-1 in Cognettis favor.

She pulled off exactly the kind of victory she sought to shut up her detractors. It stands as nothing short of a mandate.

Eighteen months ago, we stood here, a movement of idealists and outsiders joined together by a simple idea  that government should work as hard as the people it serves, Cognetti wrote in prepared remarks she delivered Tuesday evening. That idea became more of a reality  our movement grew  joined by students and seniors, newcomers and natives. Tonight that movement has achieved another victory, and something new  a clear mandate. A mandate to do the work of the people, and continue our progress. Tonight showed that our victory in 2019, and what we are building, is not an aberration, but an aspiration of the city. People here care about their community and government. This is what the future looks like.

In the last 40 years of Democratic primaries for mayor, only Councilman Chris Dohertys 2001 victory with 53% of the vote over former Councilman Eugene Barrett, 27%, and Mayor Jim Connors, 20%, comes close to matching Cognettis primary victory. Doherty clearly had a mandate and might have won bigger if he had only one opponent.

Before Tuesday, Cognetti had never run in, let alone won, a primary election. Now, she has, spectacularly.

On Election Day, Cognetti was still an Oregon native who moved to the Electric City only in 2016, who gained a well-known local name by marriage, who won her first election in 2019 with fewer votes than the other six candidates combined, who may be eyeing a run for state office someday and who switched to independent and back to the Democratic Party to win her two elections for mayor.

Overwhelmingly, Democratic voters didnt care about any of that Tuesday.

Cognetti still has to beat Republican newcomer Darwin Lee Shaw II, one of two Black candidates on the city ballot this November, which says a lot about the way the city is changing.

Unfortunately for Shaw, Scranton remains overwhelmingly Democratic, and Democrats love Cognetti.

That and some Republican and independent voters probably went for her in 2019.

Ironically, Cognetti portrayed Murray as part of an old guard that he wasnt really part of. He certainly is an old guard politician, but she lumped him in with corrupt and convicted ex-mayor Bill Courtright, who never was really part of Murrays old guard, though some of Courtrights supporters definitely are.

No one ever has accused Murray, a genuinely nice person, of corruption. Maybe that was a bit too far and unfair, but changing a system sometimes requires ignoring factional nuances. After all, Murray kept saying he was part of the old system by pointing out hes a lifelong Democrat and Scranton native. Nothing in his campaign highlighted the old way of doing things more than that.

For decades the regions mantra was Weve always done it that way with resistance to change a necessary consequence.

A few days before becoming mayor, I became a mom. I work every day to make our city better for her and families like ours. In a second term, my focus will be redoubled to make Scranton a great place to work, live and raise a family, Cognetti said in her remarks. Every kid should be able to have safe places to learn and play, and their families should have access to good jobs that create a quality of life. Every kid in Scranton should be able to thrive, or even go to the White House.

Thats the next step of this movement. To combat the systemic challenges facing our community and not just beat them, but thrive.

Thank you to all of you who gave us your work, hope and love. I want to thank the volunteers who talked to friends, families, and neighbors. I want to thank my husband, Ryan, and my mom, Lynda, along with our beautiful Sloane who spent her first year sharing her mom with the city.

The speechs last line just delights and hints of her determination to help Scranton to a brighter future.

Im Paige Cognetti. Im your mayor. And Im just getting started, she said.

Good.

Because if you screw it up, the voters who put a lot of faith in you will remember.

Youve got the mandate you wanted.

Now, what else you got?

BORYS KRAWCZENIUK, The Times-Tribune politics reporter, writes Random Notes.
In a recent New York Times column, Paul Krugman argued that if President Joe Biden succeeds in giving Americans affordable child care, universal pre-K and paid family leave, it will be almost impossible to take them back.

People would never allow such desirable, transformational benefits to be taken away once they had become part of the fabric of our society, he wrote. Officials wouldnt dare try because the backlash would be too great.

I hope hes right. But all I could think, as I read along, was, If thats the case, wheres my pension?

Im talking about the kind of old-fashioned pension that many received  a defined-benefit pension, which provided employees with a guaranteed lifelong income as they grew old in retirement. Pensions were part of the fabric of our society until they were taken away.

Most government workers still get them. But private sector workers? Fuggedaboutit. Although as many as half of private sector workers were covered by defined-benefit plans in the mid-1980s, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says that by 2019, only 16% of private sector workers had access to them.

Im not breaking any news here. This is a trend in the wrong direction thats been underway for more than 30 years. But the story bears repeating because it is a tragedy and a potential lesson.

The tragedy is obvious. The retirement plans that dominate now  401(k)s mostly  were designed merely to supplement pensions, but became the go-to alternative instead. They offer no guaranteed income in retirement, but instead put the responsibility for saving and investing entirely on the individual, leaving people more worried about their financial futures  and often rightly so. An estimated third to a half of all Americans, including many who have 401(k)s, have insufficient funds to retire at their current standard of living.

As for the lesson, its that, they can take stuff away from us, and there wont necessarily be a backlash. In the case of pensions it was our employers who did away with them, not elected politicians. Corporate America decided the pension system wasnt penciling out, and since we dont get to vote about what our employers do, they got away with it. Government, for its part, did not step forward to rescue us.

My grandmother took her pension the moment she became eligible for it at age 62 and lived off it in a comfortable-but-not-luxurious manner for 20 years after that.

I was covered by a traditional pension plan too at the very start of my career, but it was quickly frozen. My children? Are you kidding?

Lets back up for a moment. The first private pension in the country was introduced by American Express for some employees in 1875. From there, the pension system grew and grew, especially after the Second World War.

By the 1970s and 1980s, employees who were covered by pensions could expect a pretty standard package: Benefits became available at age 60 or 65, as long as youd worked for the company for five or 10 years. The longer you worked, and the more you earned, the higher the pension amount.

Workers knew how much theyd be getting. No doubt they earned a bit less during their careers in return for a lifetime retirement income, but the trade-off was worth it.

I dont suggest that everything was perfect. If people changed jobs, their pensions were not portable. Pension funds could be underfunded; sometimes workers were left in the lurch. The biggest problem was that companies were not required to offer pensions, so only employees of certain companies could participate.

But for decades, the system expanded. In the 1940s, 4 million people were covered; in 1987, 40 million people were covered.

Why did the system collapse? A million reasons, including the rise of 401(k)s, which allowed employers to shift risks from themselves onto employees. (To be fair, some employees liked the idea of managing their own investments.) The declining strength of unions didnt help. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, designed to safeguard set-aside funds, unexpectedly persuaded some companies to stop offering pensions at all.

Weve moved backwards, says Josh Gotbaum, a Brookings scholar whose field is retirement economics. If you had a pension  and lets be clear, not everybody did  you knew that when you retired, youd get a paycheck for your whole life and youd know how much it would be. Now, you dont know how much will be there when you retire or how long it will last.

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, who teaches public policy at UC Berkeley, says that corporate leaders used to feel a duty not just to shareholders but to all stakeholders, including employees. Since the 1980s, the emphasis has shifted to showing greater and greater profits, leading CEOs to slash wages and benefits. The move away from defined benefit pensions was part of that.

Pensions are unlikely to return. But the fight for retirement security continues. California allows many people whose employers dont offer 401(k)s to save for retirement through its CalSavers program. There are proposals to dramatically expand Social Security. Some argue for automatic enrollment in 401(k)s, rather than requiring people to opt-in, to increase participation.

Im sure that once benefits are offered by government, it becomes a lot harder to repeal them, as Krugman suggests. But just to be sure, remember the pension lesson: If there are benefits we trust and rely on, wed be wise to keep a close and protective watch over them so no one takes them away.

NICHOLAS GOLDBERG writes for the Los Angeles Times.
Most congressional Republicans who have supported former President Donald Trumps big lie that the 2020 presidential election was tainted, including U.S. Reps. Dan Meuser and Fred Keller of Northeast Pennsylvania, have added one of their own. They contend that no nonpartisan inquiry is needed into the Jan. 6 riot in which a Trump-supporting mob attacked the Congress of the United States.

That attack, which was meant to prevent the Congress from carrying out its constitutionally mandated duty to count certified Electoral College results, was the worst internal assault on the United States since the Civil War. Yet to Meuser, Keller and their fellow Trump stooges, Jan. 6 apparently should be considered just another day.

They voted against a bill to create a nonpartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection, as if the people of the United States do not deserve a complete explanation of the assault, especially regarding the degree to which it was organized by pro-Trump provocateurs and whether they were inspired to insurrection by the former president himself.

To their credit, 35 House Republicans joined all Democrats in voting for the commission, recognizing that the issue isnt political advantage but full accountability for an attack on the United States and an accurate historical record.

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey, who condemned the insurrection and voted against the attempt to disenfranchise millions of voters, should be among the 10 Republican senators that are needed to pass the commission bill in the Senate.
Editor: Bob Baffert, the trainer of Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit, admitted to treating the thoroughbred with a medication that contained a steroid before he won the race.

Many racehorses are pumped, legally and otherwise, with performance-enhancing, injury-masking and pain-numbing chemicals.

Patrick Battuello, founder of Horseracing Wrongs, which wants to end horse racing, wrote, The typical racehorse is torn from his mother as a mere babe, thrust into intensive training at 18 months  years before his body is fully developed  and first raced at 2, the rough equivalent of a first grader. From there, the incessant grinding  again, on an unformed skeleton  begins, because if hes not racing, hes not earning. He is confined (alone, in a tiny stall for more than 23 hours a day), commodified (lip tattoos, auctions, claiming races), controlled (cribbing collars, nose chains, tongue ties, blinkers) and cowed (bits and whips). And quite often, killed.

Hundreds more die in their stalls from things like colic or laminitis, or they simply die. Some 10,000 to 20,000 racehorses annually are used up in the eyes of the owners or simply no longer wanted, dumped into the slaughter pipeline and mercilessly bled out and butchered at careers end.

Horse racing is horrific animal cruelty.

SILVIE POMICTER

CHINCHILLA

Editor: It seems a lot of people and some towns clamor for property tax reassessment.

The Times-Tribune has been one of its biggest fans without any real regard for elderly people. Reassessment should be put off until our state representatives pass real property tax reform that exempts homeowners over age 65 from paying property taxes. Its absolutely unconscionable to do otherwise. Property tax is not a fair way to fund our schools; its just the easy way.

So before going further with reassessment, senior homeowners over 65 should be exempt and pressure should be put on our representatives to do so. Anything less would be a travesty and an injustice to elderly homeowners who have paid the freight for way too long.

The thinking that there will be a trickle-down benefit to elderly homeowners is a farce. For those who think reassessment would bring fairness to all its obviously not true with regard to elderly homeowners who seem to be the invisible silent victims.

We need real property tax reform, not the same old system that will make senior homeowners have to chose between losing their homes or going broke.

EDWARD WILLIAMS SR.

PECKVILLE

Editor: On Memorial Day, May 31, starting at noon, one of our finest veterans organizations, VFW Post 25 of Scranton, in conjunction with the city of Scranton, will conduct a Memorial Day ceremony at Scranton Veterans Memorial Park, at the entrance to Scranton High School, 63 Munchak Way.

Under the direction of Commander Jim Kuchwara, VFW Post 25 will honor veterans who died while in service to our great nation. Originally know as Decoration Day and now as Memorial Day, it is a day that we honor and mourn those who gave their all while serving on active duty in our armed forces.

VFW Post 25 has served veterans for more than 100 years and is one of the oldest veterans organizations in the world.

Many other great veterans organizations will conduct Memorial Day programs and all deserve our support. The people of Northeast Pennsylvania always have been supportive and responsive to our veterans and their programs.

Please check veterans news for details on Memorial Day programs.

PAT AHERN

SCRANTON VETERANS MEMORIAL PARK COMMITTEE,

SCRANTON

Editor: Teach a man to fish and still he starves.

Stand a reporter in front of burning buildings with people running in and out of a camera shot, carrying boxes of shoes or big screen TVs, and he reports that what you see is a peaceful protest. Stand a reporter in front of the U.S. Capitol building with thousands of people milling about waving flags and he reports that what you see is a violent protest.

News media have become agenda-driven to a point where most, if not all, outlets should come with the disclaimer: You are viewing an altered form of realty.

I struggled to define white privilege, that is until recently. For now I know, it is suffering the fear of running out of chlorine for your swimming pool. After our presidents recent performance, I must remind all those out there who believe Joe Biden is a god, like all gods he is clearly not around.

FRANK ESPOSITO

MOOSIC

Editor: A May 10 Times-Tribune headline said: Bishops at odds on Communion for president. A May 11 headline said, Vatican cautions U.S. bishops over Communion exclusion.

Bishop Robert McElroy, of San Diego, wrote that to refuse Communion to President Joe Biden will bring tremendously destructive consequences. He added, The Eucharist is being weaponized and deployed as a tool in political warfare.

God bless Archbishop Salvatore Cordeleone, of San Francisco, for defending the faith and standing for the truth. The Ten Commandments are the same unchanged basic laws of God and the Catholic Church. He wrote that it is the duty of Catholic clergy to correct Catholics who erroneously, and sometimes stubbornly, promote abortion.

On June 16 the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops will convene for a national meeting to vote on drafting a document on this Communion issue.

If Biden is looking for peace of mind by attending Masses and wearing a rosary on his left wrist to protect him from possible eternal punishment, he may as well wear a rabbits foot.

The head of the Vaticans doctrine office, Cardinal Luis Ladaria, weighed in on the issue and gave words of caution about rebuking U.S. politicians. Of course, the caution is usually dont rock the boat. We dont want to destabilize funding to the church from Democrats.

So there you have it. We have weaponized the faith and might destroy their cash cow.

NANCY NON

PLEASANT MOUNT, WAYNE COUNTY
London, KY (40741)

Today

Variable clouds with showers at times, and perhaps a rumble or two of thunder, especially this evening. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Variable clouds with showers at times, and perhaps a rumble or two of thunder, especially this evening. Low 66F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 19:36:37|Editor: huaxia

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ISTANBUL, May 22 (Xinhua) -- Muhammad Youssef came to Turkey seven years ago from Syria with his wife and two children, and a third child is on the way and will be granted Turkish citizenship.

"Turkey saved our lives. It accepted us when we had nowhere to go in our land, so we are grateful," the 33-year-old Syrian car mechanic told Xinhua.

"Despite many problems, we have built a life here," Youssef said, noting that while hostilities have largely ceased in Syria, he doesn't plan to leave the Turkish capital Ankara in the near future and return to his native town of Aleppo in northwestern Syria.

Turkey marks the 10th anniversary of immigration from Syrians, fleeing the unrest in their country. Since the initial arrival of a couple of hundreds Syrians in April 2011, their number has increased exponentially, reaching 3.7 million, according to Turkish official data.

Never to date, Turkey had witnessed a wave of immigration of such a scale. Novel institutions and policies have been established to address the challenge of offering Syrians a new life in the country.

First welcomed in many camps near the Syrian border in southeast Turkey in line with an "open door" policy, the refugees now live scattered across the Turkish soil. Roughly two-thirds are concentrated in urban areas, benefiting from European and Turkish humanitarian aid schemes.

Syrians are classified as having "temporary protection" status and not as refugees. In a decade, nearly half a million Syrian babies have been born in the country.

"Turkey was confronted with a huge challenge of hosting so many refugees," Didem Isci, a researcher at Ankara's Social Sciences University, told Xinhua.

Isci stressed that rules of social isolation imposed during the coronavirus outbreak had also widened the social gap between Syrian and local communities.

She noted that COVID-19 restrictions are considered more burdensome for Syrians than others as Turks may get their salaries while the vast majority of Syrian refugees, illegally employed as they don't have work permits, lost their income.

This expert also underlined that "economic hardships have exacerbated uneasiness towards the Syrian community, seen as living for free."

"There is little interaction between locals and refugees, and Syrians live in their ghettos," she remarked, calling the Turkish government to work towards their integration into the Turkish society.

But she stressed, compared to other nations hosting refugees, conflicts between Syrians and Turks have been relatively low in the past decade because they share the same religion and the same culture.

According to a recent study, a majority of the Syrian community prefer to stay in Turkey despite challenging living conditions and a prevailing anti-refugee sentiment among some locals due to an unfavorable economic climate.

Murat Erdogan, a migration expert and a scholar at Istanbul's Turkish-German University, who headed the study, said in televised remarks that the research confirmed that "a great bulk of Syrians have no plans to return home" and that the Turkish government has to confront this dilemma.

"This is the way it is, Turkey is deploying great effort in favor of refugees, but it also has to work on integration," the scholar said.

Only about half a million Syrians have returned to northwest Syria since 2018.

Meanwhile, Turkey and the European Union are in talks to renew a critical deal on the refugee issue. The 2016 agreement envisaged that Turkey prevents refugees and migrants from trying to reach Europe in exchange for aid totalling 6 billion euros (7.3 billion U.S. dollars.)

Ankara has, so far, spent around 40 billion dollars on Syrians, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan repeatedly said, urging European nations to offer more financial assistance.

"Until there will be a political solution to the Syrian crisis, Syrian refugees will live in limbo wherever they are," Didem Isci added. Enditem
MARISSA BERGEL, Wheeler softball, senior: Bergel hit a two-out, two-run single in the seventh inning to lift Wheeler past Holy Cross, 9-7, in the Class S state tournament. The hit was part of a five-run rally in the inning.

JOEY GUARNIERI, Westerly track & field, senior: Guarnieri placed first in two sprints at the Southern Division championships. He won the 100 (11.19) and the 200 (22.73).

JOSH MOONEY, Stonington track & field, sophomore: Mooney placed first in the 110 hurdles at the Class M state meet in 14.65. He also finished second in the 300 hurdles (39.87) and second in the javelin (160-0).

MARGARET WEEDEN, Chariho track & field, junior: Weeden finished first in the high jump at the Southern Division championships. Weeden cleared 5-1 and also placed sixth in the triple jump at 31-5.

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Consumers can save hundreds of pounds in the wake of the pandemic with little effort  by embracing new shopping schemes.

The latest example comes from Swedish superstore Ikea. Anyone with an old Billy bookcase destined for the scrapheap should cancel their trip to the tip.

Ikea will now reclaim old furniture and pay customers in store vouchers  with no expiry date.

War on waste: Ikea will now reclaim old furniture and pay customers in store vouchers  with no expiry date

The company launched its buyback scheme in the UK this month in a bid to limit the number of its products going to landfill. Items are resold as a bargain, and shoppers can earn up to 250 from the environmentally-conscious effort.

The percentage paid on the original price tag ranges from 30 to 50 per cent, depending on an item's condition. It's available at full-sized UK stores.

Customers request an offer on the company's website, then take the item to their nearest store.

Amazon's 'second chance' webpage allows customers to trade in old Amazon electronics such as Kindles or Echo devices in exchange for gift vouchers.

Discounts also apply to previously used or refurbished items. But one of the best kept secrets for cheaper shopping is employee benefits schemes. Employees can buy vouchers for specific stores, but pay less than the face value.

Adam Bullock, director of website TopCashback, recommends signing up as the UK reopens for business post-lockdown. He says: 'You may find a round of drinks could be free, there's a discount on a meal out, or maybe there's a free product simply for signing up to a newsletter.'

It's a hidden perk of work that can produce savings of around 500 a year on average. That's according to Reward Gateway, which provides the platform to employers.

Catrin Lewis, of Reward Gateway, says: 'Many workers would be surprised to know their company offers this. It's a great way for employees to save money  whether on the weekly shop, home improvements, broadband, holidays or home essentials.'

Anyone interested should ask their company's HR department if they run such a scheme.

Alternatively, websites such as TopCashback and Quidco are available to all  regardless of employment status. They ask customers to use their websites to shop for popular brands, returning discounts and cashback into customer accounts as a reward.

Banks also offer cashback when customers use their debit cards to pay partner companies. Customers have to activate offers in their online accounts first.

But people trying to spend less could get lucky with their savings instead.

Halifax and The Family Building Society pay monthly cash prizes to savers who meet certain criteria. The latter is currently only for existing customers.

Nationwide Building Society customers can get a free six-month membership to energy switching service Switchd, helping save money on gas and electricity bills.

New and existing customers of online investment service Wealthify could win 20,000 tax-free cash if they sign up to a prize draw by June 9.

And users of the Moneybox app can take advantage of its Moneybox Plus scheme. Cashback is paid on money spent with the company's retail partners. This money diverts into a customer's savings account, where it will grow further.

Even the most vanilla of financial products come with bonuses.

People who purchase insurance through comparison website comparethemarket can get food and film deals with Meerkat Meals and Meerkat Movies.

Buy car insurance through GoCompare before June 30 and you can get an MOT for 10, and free excess cover worth 250. Excess cover is the sum you pay if you claim on a policy.

Buying life insurance or an investment plan through Vitality can cut a gym membership with Virgin Active, Nuffield Health Gyms and David Lloyd Clubs by 40 per cent.

And staying active earns you extra rewards, such as free coffees, films to stream at home, and free cinema tickets.

For leisure at a more leisurely pace, Ricky Willis  founder and editor of the Skint Dad blog  recommends the joy of a National Trust membership.

He says: 'Joining online gets you access to more than 500 historic places, a free pair of binoculars and free parking.'

Non-members can also visit historic locations for free as part of Heritage Open Days in September.

However, there's a crucial warning for thrifty shoppers. Bullock says: 'The bottom line is  it's only a benefit if you were willing to spend the cash in the first place.'
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A Range Rover used by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge has today sold at auction for 50,625 - more than 10,000 over its pre-sale estimate and double what the vehicle is worth without a Royal connection.

The Range Rover Vogue SE SUV was originally supplied to Prince William and Kate Middleton for their personal use by Land Rover's VIP Department in 2013.

It was subsequently used for the couple's visit to Scotland the following year and flown to the other side of the globe to Australia for the Royal tour.

The posh SUV under the hammer at the Bonhams MPH May Auction in Bicester, Oxfordshire, attracting plenty of attention from eager car collectors and enthusiasts, with bidders in the room and online duelling it out for the keys to the well-travelled Royal ride.

Royal ride: This 2013 Range Rover was originally used by The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, having been delivered to the couple by Land Rover's VIP Department for their personal use. It sold today at an Oxfordshire auction for 50,625, including auction fees

The 2013 Range Rover is fitted with a selection of additional features upon request of the highest order.

It was likely gifted to Prince William and Kate Middleton with family very much in mind, as Prince George was born that year.

The elegant SUV was pictured being used by the couple on a visit to Perthshire on their tour of Scotland in 2014 and was also used on the couple's tour of Australia.

Bidding started on Saturday at 30,000, with exchanges between online and on-site bidders pushing the sale price before auction premiums to 45,000 (50,625 with the sales fees included).

Given its Royal background, it wasn't surprising to see the SUV exceed the guide price of 30,000 to 40,000 on Saturday - and sell for a hefty premium over what the car is worth without having a Prince as a previous owner.

A Parkers valuation says a 13-plate SDV8 Vogue SE would sell - on average - in a used car dealership for between 24,505 and 26,200 today - half what the winning bidder paid for the car in the Bonhams sale.

Prince William and Catherine Duchess of Cambridge pictured on a visit to the Strathearn Community Campus in Crieff, Scotland, on 29 May 2014. The Range Rover pictured right is the one sold at auction this afternoon

Royal ride: Very few ex-Royal vehicles are offered to the public with the full declaration of who the previous keepers are

The car was given to the couple in the same year Prince George was born, so might have been one of the vehicles used to transport him as a baby

In its eight years, the Range Rover has clocked up just 38,420 miles. The seller only bought the vehicle in July last year and decided to put it to the highest bidder less than 12 months later. The car retains the number plate it had during the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge's ownership

It motor is the currently-on-sale L405 example of the Range Rover in the high-spec SE Vogue trim fitted with a 350 horsepower 'SDV8' 4.4-litre V8 diesel engine and an eight-speed automatic gearbox.

According to the specification sheet, the 2.5-tonne SUV can accelerate from zero to 62mph in 6.5 seconds and onto a top speed of 135mph.

There's plenty of boot space for a Royal Prince's pushchair and an 82-litre fuel tank means a 450-mile drive from Kensington Palace to Perth can be completed without having to pull over to fill up with diesel.

The car is painted in a stunning 'Baltic Blue' colour scheme with 'Almond' and 'Espresso' leather interior.

To ensure that the vehicle looked in tip-top condition at all times with royalty at the wheel, both the paint and leather has been treated with protective products to guarantee their longevity.

In its eight years the Range Rover has accumulated just 38,420 miles - despite being used on the other side of the globe.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited Strathearn Community Campus in Crieff, Scotland, on Thursday 29th May 2014 to meet local groups including young carers, Scouts, and Cadets

It's certainly not the only Range Rover to be part of the Royals' fleet, with the family still using examples of the spacious SUV today. Pictured: Prince William, Catherine Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry en route to the 20th Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July 2014

It's certainly not the only Range Rover to ever be used as part of the Royals' fleet, with the family still using examples of the spacious SUV today.

Bonhams says that in most cases, Land Rover and Range Rovers used by the Royal Household are given a new vehicle registration number once they are out of service, so they can be resold without revealing the identity of their former keepers.

However, this is a rare exception to the rule, with the 'OY13 TBU' plate being the one used by its VIP owners.

As to safe guard its identity, the car doesn't even appear on the DVLA's vehicle checker website that allows owners to look up MOT and tax records of registered UK motors.

A sticker that's still in the car. Jaguar Land Rover holds all three Royal Warrants, celebrating 70 years since the grant of its first in 1951

Without doubt, the Royal touch added plenty of value to the Range Rover. A Parkers valuation says a 13-plate SDV8 Vogue SE would sell - on average - in a used car dealership for between 24,505 and 26,200 today - half what the winning bidder paid before auction fees

While the mileage of this example is lower than you'd expect from an eight-year-old motor, the estimate takes into account the premium added by the first owners

The car wasn't offered at auction by Land Rover or the Royal Family.

The previous owner purchased the car in July 2020 from the Jardine Lancaster Bracknell dealership but after less than 12 months of ownership decided to offer the vehicle to the highest bidder.

It's certainly not short of features - as you'd expect of any motor provided on request for a Prince.

It comes with 20-inch alloy wheels, automatic high beam assist, advanced park assist, heated front and rear seats, a panoramic glass roof, electric front seats, Meridian sound system, front and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera, remote garage door opener, remote park heat facility and an electric tow bar.

The car was likely given to the Royal couple with family in mind, as Prince George was born in the same year - 2013 - Land Rover's VIP Department delivered the car to The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

The Range Rover 4.4 SDV8 Vogue SE has an 86-litre fuel tank. A trip from Kensington Palace to Scotland can be completed without stopping - and with ease

The Range Rover has plenty of boot space for luggage to tour Scotland and transport a Prince's pushchair, with 900 litres of loading space with the back seats upright

Other additional features that were required by the Duke and Duchess include a side step for ease of getting in and out during royal duties and events, a drinks fridge and Land Rover premium carpet and rubber floormats.

The car also features a range of safety kit including ABS, additional curtain and thorax airbags, plus a range of electronic driver aids such as stability control and emergency brake assist.

2013 Range Rover 4.4 SDV8 Vogue 4d Auto specs Price new: approx 85,000 (before optional extras) Engine: 4.4-litre, V8, turbocharged diesel Transmission: Eight-speed automatic, four-wheel drive Power: 340hp Top Speed: 135 mph Acceleration, 0-60 mph: 6.5 seconds Torque: 700 Nm CO2 emissions: 219 g/km Euro Emissions Standard: 6 Fuel tank capacity: 86 litres Range on a full tank: 624 miles Weight: 2410kg Length: 4999mm Width: 2220mm Height: 1835mm Wheelbase: 2922mm

The Range Rover was sold at auction with a full service history, a Land Rover warranty until July 2021, and a free Land Rover annual service in 2021 at JLR Slough.

'Overall we are told the car is in excellent condition and drives very well, presenting itself as a rare opportunity to acquire a vehicle with Royal roots,' Bonhams said ahead of the auction.

This image shows the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge using the car to visit Perth, Scotland on May 29, 2014 as part of their tour of Scotland that year

In most cases, Land Rover and Range Rovers used by the Royal Household are given a new vehicle registration number once they are out of service, so they can be resold without revealing the identity of their former keepers. However, this is a rare exception to the rule, with the 'OY13 TBU' plate being the one used by its VIP owners
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.

Ms C.L. writes: I'm writing on behalf of my nephew, who has been trying since July last year to get hold of his money.

Santander says a tax refund paid into his account is fraudulent and it needs more information, even though staff have been given documents from Revenue & Customs.

Desperate: Santander says a tax refund is fraudulent and it needs more information, even though staff have been given documents from Revenue & Customs

Tony Hetherington replies: The paperwork you sent me shows that your nephew is a self-employed road worker, caught under 'IR35', the tax rule that has covered the construction industry for many years and which has just been widened to catch many more self-employed people in its net.

In a nutshell IR35 means employers who take on anyone who is self-employed may have to deduct income tax from their earnings, with no tax allowances or reliefs.

Some self-employed workers escape the net if they can jump through various hoops, such as showing that they choose their own hours. The rest must fight each year to reclaim the excess tax deducted from their pay.

Your nephew did just this and, in April last year, the Revenue wrote to say that a refund of 3,190 was on its way to his Santander account.

But when the money arrived, the bank was suspicious, perhaps because this was more than his usual deposits.

Your nephew went to the branch and produced payslips and tax documents, but nothing was enough.

I explained to the bank just how the IR35 system operates, and that a big slice of your nephew's pay had been withheld, so it was no surprise he was due a big refund.

Santander replied: 'The Revenue payment into Mr S's account flagged on our fraud prevention systems as being unusual based on his previous account activity.'

The bank would only accept the refund was genuine if it was given a complete year's supply of payslips or a certain Revenue assessment form showing all income from all sources, and all tax allowances.

Your nephew had supplied all the payslips he held, but had difficulty getting the right Revenue form from his accountant.

Despite all this, Santander suddenly decided: 'Having completed a further review of this payment, the funds can now be released to Mr S.'

The bank declined to say what its further review involved, or what new information it had uncovered, if any.

The question remains as to whether Santander was right to freeze a genuine deposit from the taxman when there was no evidence to suggest it was fraudulent.

Your nephew now has his 3,190 but, as the IR35 net widens, I wonder how many more taxpayers will face a fight with their bank as well as with the tax office.

WE'RE WATCHING YOU Unmade: The pair behind the Henry 5 film will not be charged Two men behind a multi-million pound film project that collapsed in controversial circumstances are to escape prosecution after police ruled that their own expert witness was unreliable. Michael Cowan, 56, from Peacehaven in East Sussex, and Steven Wilkinson, 50, of Ockley in Surrey, raised more than 5million from investors who believed they were backing a star-studded modern remake of Shakespeare's Henry V. In 2013, I warned that salesmen marketing shares in the film called Henry 5 claimed that it would star Michael Caine, Ray Winstone, Gerard Depardieu and Vinnie Jones. But the stars themselves knew nothing about the film  and had never agreed to appear in it. An investigation by the Insolvency Service found 3.4 million had been paid to salesmen as commission, and more than 1million had been transferred to firms run by Cowan. In 2015, the High Court ordered the winding-up of Warlord Productions, the company supposed to produce the film. Sussex Police opened an investigation into alleged fraud. Now, after years of work, police have told investors they are dropping the case. Detective Inspector Mark O'Brien of the Economic Crime Unit told investors that 'financing in the film industry can be high risk'. He added: 'In order to completely understand the film industry norms, we identified and engaged a potential expert witness. 'However, after careful consideration, it was clear we cannot rely on this individual for a number of evidential reasons. 'This leaves the police unable to effectively prove the issue of dishonesty to the necessary standard, and whether the activity of individuals was criminal.' A police spokesman declined to give details of the expert witness, or to explain why another expert could not be hired. But he said if new evidence appeared, police could reconsider, and that 'in the meantime there is nothing to prevent investors seeking civil redress'. The Financial Conduct Authority had said the investment scheme was unauthorised, an offence in itself which could be prosecuted by the FCA. However, the City watchdog says it will take no action as 'the decision not to proceed was properly made by the police'. The only penalties suffered by Cowan and Wilkinson are that both are currently banned from acting as company directors.

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.
BMO Commercial Property Trust has experienced a gruelling 15 months. It invests in prime UK property and specialises in three of the sectors hardest hit by national lockdowns: office, retail and leisure space.

As a result, an investment of 100 in the fund at the beginning of last year would be worth just 75 today.

However, as shops, restaurants and offices open up again, the share price has started to rise steeply.

It has already increased by 14 per cent since the beginning of this year, but still has some way to go before it hits levels seen before the pandemic.

Fund manager Richard Kirby believes the depressed share price presents an interesting opportunity for investors. 'It's been a very challenging year with the pandemic and lockdown,' he says.

'Although we're hopefully coming out of it now, our shares are still trading at a discount, which looks very attractive.'

Shares are currently trading at 82p, which is a 31p discount on the value of the fund's underlying assets. The fund also has an attractive dividend yield of just over five per cent. It contains over 30 properties, the majority of which are located in London and the South East.

Some have already bounced back. BMO Commercial Property Trust's biggest holding is St Christopher's Place, a small, stylish shopping and leisure district in London's West End.

During the national lockdowns, the area's biggest strengths became its weaknesses, but thankfully this trend is quickly reversing once again.

'All of the positives of St Christopher's Place turned negative in the pandemic,' says Kirby. 'It's heavily exposed to the hospitality, food and beverage and retail sectors. Plus, it's in Central London and relies on office workers, tourism and public transport.

'But, it has enjoyed a successful reopening  it's been very hard to book a table in the capital in recent weeks. With more businesses reopening, we're hopeful it will be able to capitalise and stabilise.'

A lot rests on its success: St Christopher's Place makes up more than 20 per cent of the value of the fund.

BMO Commercial Property Trust's out-of-town retail holdings are also picking up. Locations with plentiful, free parking in particular are proving attractive. Kirby adds: 'We've seen continued growth in online sales  especially in fashion. But I think people are fed up with ordering online and then having to return merchandise that doesn't fit or is different to how it looked online.'

Office spaces could take longer to recover. Kirby thinks there will still be strong demand for them in future  although he admits that he and his team are still successfully working from home, as they have for over a year.

Expectations of office space are changing, however, and the fund is working with the tenants of its properties to adapt. For example, it is working on monitoring air quality in its buildings.

'The issue of wellbeing has really moved up the agenda,' says Kirby. 'People also value quality, flexible space, with good local amenities.'

The composition of the fund has hardly changed in the last couple of years.

But as we emerge from the pandemic, Kirby plans to make some changes to benefit from new trends, considering sales of retail properties to reinvest in other sectors.

Top of the list for purchases will be warehouses, which are benefiting from the online shopping boom. Student accommodation could also be on the list.

BMO Commercial Property Trust features on wealth platform Interactive Investor's Super 60 best-buy fund list.

Dzmitry Lipski, head of funds research, says: 'With rent collections continuing to improve, the portfolio is well positioned to begin its recovery once Covid restrictions are lifted.'
High-speed broadband builder CityFibre is nearing the sale of a 1billion stake in the company as it plots an expansion to ramp up pressure on rival BT, The Mail on Sunday can reveal.

CityFibre chief executive Greg Mesch said he is in talks with 20 pension and infrastructure funds from the UK, North America, Europe and Australia about a deal which will help to fund its UK rollout.

His company's fibre cables are used by customers including TalkTalk and Vodafone. CityFibre is the UK's third largest telecoms infrastructure firm and the biggest of a string of smaller 'alternative networks' challenging BT's Openreach arm and Virgin Media.

Under pressure: CityFibre is the UK's third largest telecoms infrastructure firm and the biggest of a string of smaller 'alternative networks' challenging BT's Openreach arm and Virgin Media

Mesch is busy hunting for a partner to join existing shareholders West Street Infrastructure Partners, which is backed by Goldman Sachs, and Antin Infrastructure Partners, which hold 35 per cent each.

A deal for 30 per cent of the company would value CityFibre at about 3billion and is expected to be struck within the next two months. The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System is among the bidders vying for the stake.

Mesch said: 'You've got 20 different firms that want to be in fibre infrastructure in the UK. It's a hot place to be. It's a great market.'

He is seeking the firepower to increase CityFibre's presence across the UK. The company is currently operating in 66 cities, towns and villages. It is estimated that 2.5million homes will soon be able to hook up to its services.

The firm is investing 4billion to connect up eight million homes and businesses, covering 30 per cent of the population across 285 locations, by 2025.

Mesch said this could be upped to 10million if it was successful in an imminent bid for funding as part of the first phase of the Government's 5billion Project Gigabit programme to connect one million hard-to-reach homes and businesses.

Mesch said: 'We're going faster than we ever have. The pandemic was a plus for us [from a business perspective]. We thought at first it could be a very, very bad thing. But it turned into an accelerator.

'We were able to build quicker because the pandemic had everybody off the roads  or at least out of the way. And unlike BT and unlike Virgin, we didn't stop. We remobilised, we recommitted, we went stronger.'

The race to roll out super-fast broadband has been heating up.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has publicly stated his ambition for all UK households to be hooked up to full-fibre.

Johnson met with bosses of Openreach, Virgin Media, CityFibre and TalkTalk last month to discuss Project Gigabit.

Meanwhile, BT has announced that it now aims to connect up 25million homes by 2026  five million more than its original target. Around 4.6million premises have full-fibre connections.

BT chief Philip Jansen, who this month bought a further 2million of its shares, pledged to create 7,000 jobs as part of the rollout.

Mesch said the announcement did not alter CityFibre's course. 'That was already in our plans,' he said. 'We think we can get our build rate equal to or greater than BT's build rate within the next 24 months.'

Mesch is an American who cofounded the business in 2011 and has built it through acquisitions. He claims its services are cheaper and faster than rivals. He argues that its connections will help low income renters to access rapid internet.
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-23 01:09:19|Editor: huaxia

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People sunbathe along the beaches of Glyfada, a southern suburb of Athens, Greece, May 20, 2021. (Xinhua/Marios Lolos)

ATHENS, May 22 (Xinhua) -- A drone makes regular rounds these days over the beaches of Glyfada, a southern suburb of Athens, monitoring the distance between sunbeds and umbrellas, while hand sanitizers are strategically placed next to showers and lifeguards' towers.

Drawing lessons from last year's COVID-19 drama, the Greek authorities reopened the country's beaches earlier this month using tested safety protocols, new ideas and a freshly obtained prestigious international certification for clean waters and top-quality operation.

A total of 545 beaches, 16 marinas and six tourism boats in the country have won the prestigious Blue Flag award for 2021, putting Greece in second place among 49 contenders, the Hellenic Society for the Protection of Nature (HSPN), the national operator of the program, announced this week.

The Blue Flag, given by the Copenhagen-based Foundation for Environmental Education, is awarded annually to sites meeting more than 30 stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria.

"Each Blue Flag that flies on our shores, marinas and tourist boats testifies to the integrated and high-quality services, and also contributes to the desire to return in every way to normality. This year, once again, Greece emerges as a clean, healthy and safe destination in the midst of this pandemic," Tourism Minister Harry Theoharis told an online event organized by the HSPN for the presentation of the awards.

"Greece is entering a new period of sustainable tourism, a new period of tourism development that will be guided by the global principles of sustainability," Angela Gerekou, president of the Greek National Tourism Organization (GNTO), added.

Greece reopened to international tourism last week, expecting to double the number of visitors and revenues compared to last year, officials and experts have told Xinhua.

The tourism industry has been a strong pillar of the Greek economy for decades, accounting for about a fifth of the country's gross domestic product (GDP).

In 2020, around six million tourists visited Greece, generating more than four billion euros (4.9 billion U.S. dollars) in revenues. In 2019, over 33 million arrivals were recorded, generating 18.2 billion euros in revenues, according to the Central Bank of Greece. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollar) Enditem
Proud: Frank Cottrell-Boyce was 'honoured' to work on the 2012 opening ceremony

Children's book author and screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce worked on the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games with director Danny Boyle for a year  and earned absolutely nothing for it.

Despite this, Cottrell-Boyce, 61, said it was an honour to be asked.

His latest novel for nine to 12-year-olds, Noah's Gold, was published this month by Macmillan Children's Books.

What did your parents teach you about money?

To know when you have got enough of it, and to be happy with that. Both of my parents left school at the age of 14.

My dad became a clerk at a shipping firm on the docks, and then went to night school to study to become a teacher.

My mum was a stay-at-home mother. For a long time when I was a child, we lived with my gran.

Then eventually my parents bought a house of their own. They were the first in their family to do so.

To buy your own house, instead of living in a council property, was seen as this wild, reckless move. My father felt like a duke living in that house, on an aspirational housing estate. My parents were content with what they had.

Have you ever struggled to make ends meet?

Not really. The year I earned the least was 2011, because I was mainly working on the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. I didn't get paid for that, but Danny Boyle asked me and it was an honour to accept.

I ended up getting a tax rebate because my earnings were lower than expected. That helped us get through the year.

My wife and I lived within our means and had savings. So even though I don't think I earned anything that year, I wouldn't say we struggled or worried about paying our bills.

It was a financial extravagance to accept the job, because it was a lot of fun  I had one of the most fulfilling years of my life. I'll probably never do anything I'm so proud of again.

Have you ever been paid silly money?

Yes, in 1985, for writing my first script for the soap opera Brookside. It took a week to write and, because the episode was repeated, I earned 3,700.

I had always wanted to be a writer and I couldn't believe I was being paid that much to write. In today's money, it would be like earning nearly 12,000 for a week's work.

What was the best year of your financial life?

It was 1985, the year that I started writing television scripts. I earned around 25,000, which is the equivalent of making around 80,000 today.

My wife and I thought money was coming out of taps. We were a young married couple with a baby and another on the way, and we couldn't believe it.

What is the most expensive thing you have bought for fun?

A drawing of people sunbathing on a beach by Edward Ardizzone, an artist who illustrated classic children's books. I love his work. It cost quite a lot, around 1,000, I think. I bought it about 15 years ago, around the time that my first children's book, Millions, came out.

What is your biggest money mistake?

In purely financial terms, turning down big Hollywood jobs because I don't want to be away from home.

There's one big franchise I really love where that happened. I won't name it because the screenwriter who took the job will know they were second choice. But, I could have done one of those films every year and got a bigger and bigger pay cheque.

The best money decision you have made?

Buying a gorgeous six-bedroom Victorian house in Sefton Park, Liverpool. in 1983 for 38,000.

Our monthly mortgage payments were far less than the rent we had been paying as students the year before. When we sold it 14 years later, it had almost tripled in value.

Do you save into a pension?

Yes. I'm obsessed with saving into a pension. I started when I was 25. I always knew income from writing would be volatile and, as I have seven children, I'm responsible for a lot of people and wanted to have savings. I have a good amount saved, all in ethical funds.

Honour: Frank Cottrell-Boyce says it was a financial extravagance to accept the London 2012 job, because it was a lot of fun

Do you invest directly in the stock market?

No. I don't have the time or the inclination to do that. The thought of it makes my ears bleed.

Do you own any property?

Yes, we have our eight-bedroom home in a posh part of Liverpool, right by the sea, which we bought for around 100,000 in 1997. It's now worth about 500,000.

To cut the cost of holidaying with seven children, we bought a whacking great big holiday home in south-west Scotland. I go there a lot to write.

What is the one luxury you treat yourself to?

Doing what I like for a living. There isn't a huge amount of money in children's novels, unless you're JK Rowling.

If you were Chancellor what is the first thing you would do?

I would simplify the tax laws and stop people setting up pretend companies, so there is less genteel tax avoidance.

Do you donate money to charity?

Yes. I donate to Mary's Meals, a charity that gives kids in developing countries one good meal at school each day, made with locally sourced ingredients. It's a way of drawing children to school and injecting money into the economy.

What is your number one financial priority?

To make sure we get rid of all our money before we die. As the industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie said: 'The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.'
Hundreds of bank branches and free-to-use cash machines are being shut and taken out of service every month, hurtling the country towards a cash crisis at terrifying speed.

So what bright solution have the banks come forward with to tackle the issue?

A new 'action group'. Seven big banks and building societies agreed this month to form an Access to Cash Action Group to discuss ideas about how cash access could be protected.

But when we asked the banks if their involvement with the group would stop or slow down their plans to shut branches, not one of them said 'yes'.

Mass shutdown: The country is hurtling towards a cash crisis at terrifying speed

Critics warn that without the Government stepping in with legislation, this talking shop could prove no more than a smokescreen allowing banks to use their involvement to appear as if they care about access to cash  all the while ploughing on with shutting branches.

Derek French, former director of the Campaign For Community Banking Services, says: 'Banks are not interested in supporting communities  this is all just balderdash. It is all about making a profit.

'This new group could be used as a cover by banks to pretend they care while frantically axing branches.'

Anabel Hoult, chief executive at consumer group Which?, believes that without legislation to ensure nationwide access to cash and banking services, the action group is doomed to fail customers.

She says: 'There is a risk that without the Government playing its part, the effort of this group will go the same way as other initiatives  insufficient to tackle the creaking cash infrastructure. Legislation is needed for effective action.'

Many people are happy making payments solely by card and doing all of their banking online.

However, more than five million adults are reliant on cash, and could be left financially excluded if the country's cash system shrinks further or even collapses.

Millions of small businesses are also still heavily dependent on cash sales.

Legislation to protect access to cash was promised more than a year ago, but has been delayed for a number of reasons, including the pandemic.

There were hopes that plans for legislation would be set out in the Queen's Speech earlier this month, but it did not include so much as a whisper about cash.

Economic Secretary to the Treasury John Glen said earlier this month that a consultation on cash legislation would be launched this summer  though it might not be until October that its findings are announced.

In the meantime, the Financial Conduct Authority has urged banks not to shut branches 'where this could impact vulnerable customers'. However, the City watchdog does not have the teeth to enforce these demands.

Experts warn that the threat of legislation  but with no concrete plan announced  is actually escalating the cash crisis.

Derek French believes banks are speeding up branch closures before any legislation that could curb their closure plans or require them to cough up for an alternative, such as a shared banking hub.

He says: 'There is a mad dash to shut banks because of a fear the Government will eventually bring in cash access rules that make it hard to close branches still open. Those still in towns may be forced to foot the bill for a shared bank.'

He adds: 'You just have to look at the places where closures are being made to see such tactics. Many banks are now quitting busy towns and not just isolated communities. They fear becoming the last bank in town.'

The banks signed up to the action group are Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander and TSB. Nationwide Building Society and industry body UK Finance, have also joined.

The new group has signed up to five commitments.

These are ensuring cash is available to all who need it; being supportive of any community access-to-cash pilot schemes; working with other banks to consider possible models for future access to cash; protecting the current infrastructure until alternatives are available; and finding potential 'cold spots'  where poor cash access is found.

Their support should be commended, but in the meantime Santander plans to axe 111 branches by the end of this August, while TSB is half way through closing 164 branches. HSBC is cutting 82 branches this year while Barclays is culling 63.

Lloyds shut 56 branches in 2020 and intends to close a further 27 this year.

Lost bank branches are not the only way in which access to cash is being withdrawn. Free-to-use cash machines are also disappearing.

About 8,700 have been ripped out since 2018, according to Which?. When a bank closes a branch it usually takes away its cash machine too.

Banks have a lot to gain by supporting alternative ways to access cash that do not rely on bank branches, as it helps justify their closure plans.

However, there is no substitute for a high street bank that offers face-to-face advice and support for those who need it, and a trusted alternative to cash machines for those who do not feel comfortable withdrawing their cash on the street.

The newly-formed action group is being chaired by 'community access to cash' campaigner Natalie Ceeney, who has separately helped to set up two shared bank pilot schemes  one in Rochford, Essex, and the other in Cambuslang, South Lanarkshire, which are being run until September.

As part of her pilot scheme six free cash machines are also being installed in locations nationwide and new cashback initiatives are being trialled.

Ceeney is hopeful banks will support her call to save cash, even if the solution does not stretch to keeping branches open. She believes the group could provide a great forum to find cost-effective ways to solve the crisis.

She says: 'We have found there is a way forward using the pilot scheme model of shared banking hubs, cashback facilities being offered by retailers and new ATMs where deposits and withdrawals can be made.'

Ceeney adds: 'Such solutions will save the banks money in the long term if laws are brought in that demand that access to cash continues to be offered.'
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Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 13:06:45|Editor: huaxia

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Photo taken in Arlington, Virginia, the United States on May 21, 2021 shows a screen livestreaming a joint press conference attended by U.S. President Joe Biden (R) and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the White House in Washington, D.C. Joe Biden and Moon Jae-in on Friday expressed a shared willingness to engage with Pyongyang, reaffirming the goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula. (Xinhua/Liu Jie)

WASHINGTON, May 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President Joe Biden and visiting South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday expressed a shared willingness to engage with Pyongyang, reaffirming the goal to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Moon is the second foreign leader, after Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga in April, to make an official working visit to the White House during the Biden administration.

During a joint press conference at the White House following their meeting, Biden said he and Moon discussed the shared approach to the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

"Our two nations also share a willingness to engage diplomatically with the DPRK, to take pragmatic steps that will reduce tensions as we move toward our ultimate goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," he said.

"We're under no illusions how difficult this is, none whatsoever," Biden told reporters. "And the past four administrations have not achieved the objective. It's an incredibly difficult objective."

Biden announced that career diplomat Sung Kim will act as the U.S. Special Envoy for the DPRK to drive diplomatic efforts.

Moon, in his remarks, called achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula as the "most urgent common task" that the two allies must undertake.

He noted that Biden expressed support for the inter-Korean dialogue and cooperation. "Under close cooperation with the U.S., we will work to facilitate progress in inter-Korean relations, so as to achieve a virtuous cycle with U.S.-DPRK dialogue."

Biden did not rule out a meeting with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, but stressed a precondition of the meeting would be Pyongyang's commitment to discussing its nuclear weapons.

The two leaders also discussed cooperation on issues of regional security, emerging technology, climate change, and COVID-19 vaccines. The two countries agree to establish a comprehensive vaccine partnership, and the United States will provide vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean troops working in close contact with American forces.

The Biden administration at the end of April completed its policy review towards the DPRK. The White House said that it had reached out to Pyongyang through several channels but had not yet received any response.

Kim Jong Un and former U.S. President Donald Trump held their first summit in Singapore in June 2018, agreeing on a complete denuclearization of and a lasting peace settlement on the Korean Peninsula.

Denuclearization talks between Pyongyang and Washington have been stalled since the second Kim-Trump summit ended without agreement in February 2019 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi. Enditem


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The district administration in Bhopal on Saturday extended the COVID-19-induced curfew in the Madhya Pradesh capital till June 1, an official said.

The 'Corona curfew' was first enforced on April 12 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases and it has been extended several times. The last extension was valid till May 24 and the curfew was supposed to be lifted at 6 am on that day.

According to the order issued by district collector Avinash Lavaniya, the curfew has been extended in the areas under Bhopal Municipal Corporation and Berasia town till 6 am on June 1, the official added.

The essential services and emergency travel are exempted from the purview of the restrictions, he said. According to the official, the COVID-19 caseload in Bhopal, as on Saturday, was 1,16,481, including 895 deaths.

Also read: COVID-19 vaccine: India's export curbs hurt developing nations, says IMF
Source: Xinhua| 2021-05-22 14:06:46|Editor: huaxia

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People stroll in Chinatown in San Francisco, California, the United States, May 22, 2021. California, the most populous state in the United States, on Friday announced plans to fully reopen its economy on June 15 amid dropping cases and vaccine eligibility expansion. (Xinhua/Wu Xiaoling)

LOS ANGELES, May 21 (Xinhua) -- California, the most populous state in the United States, on Friday announced plans to fully reopen its economy on June 15 amid dropping cases and vaccine eligibility expansion.

Beginning on June 15, almost all industry and business sectors may return to usual operations with no capacity limits or physical distancing requirements, according to the updated guidelines unveiled by the California Department of Public Health.

There are still limited exceptions for "mega events," characterized by large crowds greater than 5,000 attendees at indoor venues or 10,000 attendees at outdoor events. Public health officials will still recommend sponsors of those events to encourage everyone to get vaccinated when eligible.

Verification of fully vaccinated status or pre-entry negative test result is strongly recommended for all attendees.

"Californians should be proud of the work we've done together to get through the worst of this pandemic," said State Public Health Officer and Director of the California Department of Public Health Tomas Aragon in a statement.

"Relaxing many of our public health measures is possible because we've chosen to get vaccinated against COVID-19, worn masks and kept our distance. We urge Californians who are eligible to get vaccinated and continue taking common sense prevention steps so we can keep our forward progress in defeating this virus," Aragon noted.

California was the first state in the United States to issue a statewide stay-at-home order over a rapid spread of COVID-19 in March last year. It was once the epicenter of the disease in the country with the highest number of cases and deaths.

The state of around 40 million residents has more than 3.67 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 61,672 related deaths to date, according to the department.

Official statistics say more than 35 million vaccine doses have been administered statewide and over 16 million California residents have been fully vaccinated as of Friday. Enditem
Times Union readers sent us photos of their rescue dogs and the stories behind them.

From Michael Martin: This is Gus, a 9 year old Plott Hound/Lab Mix, he was brought up from South Carolina where he was found chained up against a tree. Now he's a healthy friendly boy living his best life.

From Randy and Lacey Putnam of Albany: Violet was adopted four years ago from German Shepherd Rescue of Delmar. Shes 25% each of German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois and pit bull and 12.5% each of chow and collie. I only see Belgian Malinois. She is high energy, fun and the best snuggler.

From Tera Stumbaugh of Coeymans Hollow: This is our dog Jessiwe rescued her from Georgia, and she is bloodhound/ lab mix. There are so many things that make her special, like her ability to follow a scent and the way she howls at our son when he plays his harmonica.

From Jody Kendrick: This is Bradley. He has taught us to live in the moment.

From Jennifer Hull: Meet Lexus, she was found in a trash can in the Bronx in 2008 (she was about 4 months old) Since then, shes been across the entire United States and even into Banff, Canada. She is 13.5 now, and prefers shorter walks and wading in the water, but is doing great. She lives in the country, LOVES her people and has inspired so many friends and family to also adopt pit bulls.Shes the #1 snuggler, and has the biggest heart.

From Lauren Moessner: This is Ellie, and she is so special to us because she was trapped by K9 Good Shepherd rescue after living in the woods for about two months in the winter of 2018-19. Nobody ever claimed her after repeated efforts through posting flyers and on social media. She was someones pet who they just left behind in Schenectady and she fended for herself until they managed to lure her into a trap, using a McDonalds cheeseburger. Its still one of Ellies favorite treats, and now she always has a warm bed at night and humans who will never leave her behind. Photos are now, and the day she was captured from the woods.

From Krissy Hines of East Greenbush: Dakota, a rottweiler/lab mix, of East Greenbush visits Santa.

From Michelle Napierski-Prancl: This is Molly. She's a rescued puggle. She's special because one day soon, she will actually catch her tail while she's chasing it. She's gotten so close!

From Kelly Smith and Zach Cunningham of Albany: We adopted Bella (Mountain Rottie Rescue) in October and she quickly became Rockys (Mohawk Hudson Humane Society) best friend. These two are often found snuggling together on the couch or running around in the backyard. Theyre as thick as thieves and my students love to draw pictures of them palling around.
ALBANY  For more than two decades, Sharf Addalim worked at one of the city's most dangerous intersections, where shootings have become almost routine. On Friday afternoon, the violence came for him.

Addalim was returning to his job at the Mr. Sam Food Market from prayer at a nearby mosque. As he approached the store at Quail and First streets, bullets from a passing car hit at least six men. Addalim was struck in the back and killed.

Police said the shots were not intended for Addalin, born in Yemen. He was an innocent bystander, a father to three young children murdered when he was only 35.

"It doesn't make no sense," said family friend Faud Azzubaidi, who considered Addalin a brother. "Nobody can believe it."

In West Hill, Addalim was known as David. Stunned customers of the store, one of the few places to shop in the neighborhood, said he was much more than an employee.

"David was family," said Pryceless Caldwell, who, standing near a makeshift memorial for Addalim, said she had known him for more than 20 years. "He made sure everyone ate. And he always had jokes."

"Everybody knew him. Everybody did," added Anna Perez. "He watched all our kids grow up."

The intersection of Quail and First has long been an especially troubled place. Gunfire frequently shatters the night  and daylight hours, too. It's an impoverished neighborhood, peppered with abandoned buildings and vacant lots, where children grow used to tragedy and parents endlessly worry.

Last summer, a drive-by shooting at the intersection wounded four and killed one. The year before that, bullets peppered a day care as children slept. The intersection is where the brother of Mayor Kathy Sheehan's adopted son was killed. Nearby in 2008, 10-year-old Kathina Thomas was killed by stray bullets as she stood on the steps of her home.

The list of incidents could go on. But despite its problems, it is also a neighborhood, like others, of friendships and quiet bonds strengthened by time. It's a place of shared smiles and communal memories.

Maybe that's why Addalim stayed for so long at the humble store that many neighbors depend on. He started working at the Mr. Sam Food Market when he was 13 and grew up behind the counter. He was more than a familiar face. He was David.

And so on Saturday morning, a steady stream of mourners drove or walked to the shuttered business at 61 Quail. Some placed candles or flowers on the steps, or tied balloons to the storefront. Tears streamed down faces muttering quiet prayers.

David made one heck of a tuna sub, one woman said. He was so kind, said others. Why did this happen to him?

"He knew our names," said Mary Tooley, 35. "And he was very loved. That's why it hurts so much."

Addalim went often to the Masjid As-Salam mosque on Central Avenue, including on Friday for the weekly Jumu'ah prayer. Azzubaidi said he talked with Addalim by phone as he walked the five blocks back to work. The conversation ended at 2:34 p.m., Azzubaidi said, just moments before the shots were fired.

Greg Aidala was upstairs at his family's car-sales business when he heard eight to 10 rounds of gunfire. He came outside and found Addalim on the edge of the Quail Street sidewalk, feet from the store. Addalim was bleeding from the back, Aidala said. He was wordless as the color faded from his face.

"I've never seen anyone die in front of me like that," Aidala said. "But I saw that he was going."

An employee from the store rushed outside. "It's David. It's David," he yelled, according to Aidala. Azzubaidi called Addalim, and called again, before he was told the terrible news.

Addalim, who lived with his family in the city's South End, was pronounced dead at Albany Medical Center. According to police, five men turned up at area hospitals with wounds apparently from the gunfire. On Saturday, police arrested Jhajuan Sabb, 21 and from Schenectady, in connection with the shooting.

Azzubaidi noted a terrible irony. Addalim's family, he said, fled a war-torn Yemen believing they would be safer in the United States. Addalim worked hard in his new country, this land of the free. He built a life. He got married. He had children. He was striving.

Yet he never really escaped the violence. He simply traded one war zone for another, Azzubaidi said, and it was the one in Albany that killed him.

"Long live David," said a sign in front of the store Saturday as a woman made her way up Quail. She stopped a few feet from the door, looking confused.

"Is the store closed?" she asked.

The woman was told what had happened, that gunfire killed David.

"You're lying," she said. "I see him every day."

cchurchill@timesunion.com  518-454-5442  @chris_churchill
ALBANY  The Muslim Peace Coalition held a rally in Albany's Townsend Park on Friday evening to call for peace in the Palestinian territory of Gaza . The local demonstration took place the same day a cease-fire halted fighting between Israel and Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that rules Gaza, after more than 10 days of bombings that killed more than around 250 people, mostly Palestinians.
Stevi Swire, who was so verbally skilled that she talked her way into being the first woman to host a radio talk show in the Capital Region and whose capacity for friendship was such that she was in a book club with the same people for 40 years, died Tuesday of natural causes.

She was 88 and living at the Maryland home of her daughter, Amy Meyer. In recent years Swire and her husband, Bill Swire, who died last year, were residents of a Slingerlands senior community after decades in the family home in Menands home they commissioned from a local architect in 1959.

An avid theatergoer, Swire was an advocate of so many progressive causes that some outraged listeners told management at WQBK-AM, where she hosted a popular five-day-week midday talk program from the mid-1970s to 1990 despite no prior broadcasting experience, that they were recording her shows and reporting her to the FBI. Swire was opinionated, frank and cherished  by radio fans, friends and family, even the six grandsons she expected to be as capable of informed conversation as anyone else she talked to.

"She was a wonderful woman with a lot of knowledge, and you knew she was always going to tell it like it was," said Maggie Mancinelli-Cahill, producing artistic director of Capital Repertory Theatre in Albany. The end of Swire's long tenure on the theater's board of directors overlapped with the first few years of Mancinelli-Cahill's leadership, which started in 1995. Swire was one of the few board members who saw more theater productions than Mancinelli-Cahill did, and, "She always told me exactly what she thought," Mancinelli-Cahill said.

The typed funeral wishes Swire left for family were equally blunt, threatening to haunt any descendant who allowed the playing at the funeral of hymns or other traditional music, "which I really don't like," she wrote. Later, after instructions for the dispensation of belongings including a "valuable, ugly vase," Swire told her family, "When Im gone, Im gone. No weeping, wailing, 'coping.' ... Parents die. Get over it and continue with your own busy, productive lives."

"She barreled through life," said Meyer, the youngest child of Stevi and Bill Swire. Growing up with two older brothers and an accomplished father, who ran Swire Furniture, later Mayfair Group, in Albany and was president of the National Home Furnishings Association, Meyer said she found inspiration in her mother's success in the male-dominated world of broadcasting and in Swire's refusal to be a conventional housewife.

"At a time when many women were still mothers at home, she did that, but she was also out there, on the radio, and doing things with the League of Women Voters, Planned Parenthood and the Mental Health Association of New York state," said Meyer. Her sons, Alexander and Nicholas Meyer, became close to their maternal grandparents when the Meyer family lived in Asia and Stevi and Bill would visit to travel with their grandsons.

"But she was never called 'Grandma.' She was Stevi," said Meyer, adding, "She didn't even like babies. She liked sitting down with her grandchildren when they could have a conversation with her, and like the rest of us, they knew they had to be prepared and engaging when they talked to her. They loved her."

Swire subscribed to multiple newspapers daily for decades, using what she read to prepare for her radio shows, said Larry Barnet, who in 1970 bought a bankrupt Capital Region radio station and founded WQBK. Its FM station became popular with rock audiences, while the all-talk WQBK-AM had as its anchors the legendary local hosts Bill Edwardsen in the morning and Steve Fitz in the afternoon.

"We needed somebody in between them, and I wanted it to be a woman," said Barnet. Aware of Swire's reputation as a well-connected member of the community, Barnet invited her for coffee to seek suggestions. Instead, "She picked me up in her convertible and we went to lunch," during which Swire volunteered herself for the job.

"She wasn't 'radio' or formulaic," said Barnet. "She was an original. And she just loved interacting with callers."

With her show bookended by programs hosted by Edwardsen and Fitz, WQBK-AM rose to number three in area ratings for daytime stations, according to Barnet.

Perhaps paradoxically, "She was on the radio every day, but she was very private," said Barnet.

Meyer agreed, saying of her mother, "She loved the radio because a) it allowed her to talk without being interrupted, and b) she didn't have to be out in front of people. ... She was a fiercely private and modest person."

From 1981 until its dissolution last year, Stevi and Bill Swire were part of a book group comprised essentially of the same 18 people  seven husband-and-wife couples and four women who attended without partners. Fall to spring, they met evenings on the third Sunday of the month to have wine, cheese, book discussion and dessert, usually rotating among members' houses but also gathering elsewhere.

"The whole group came to see us when we were in California one year, and we all went together to England, when a member was living there, and we read a book about Hadrian's Wall," said book club member Sally Jennings, referring to a 73-mile-long fortification in England that is the largest largest Roman archaeological feature in Britain.

"Nobody ever left the group," said Jennings, former director of admissions and board member of The Doane Stuart School, now in Rensselaer. "It was a classic kind of book club, where you were eclectic and read everything. Stevi was a very active member, and our families became great friends," Jennings said.

"It's been 26 years years since I saw or talked to her, but I have a very distinct impression of (Swire) in my mind," said Bruce Bouchard, co-founder of Capital Repertory Theatre and its artistic head from 1981 until Mancinelli-Cahill took over. Bouchard said, "She had effervescent curiosity about the work: 'Why this play? Why this actor?' And she was around a lot, coming to see each play more than once. She was always engaged."

Born in Parkersburg, W.Va., the daughter of Harriet and Paul Broida, Swire was a graduate of Parkersburg High School, Sarah Lawrence College in Yonkers and the former Tobe-Coburn School for Fashion Careers in New York City.

She is survived by her children, Peter Swire, Andrew Swire and Amy Meyer, and six grandsons: Nathan, Jesse, Samuel and Matthew Swire and Alexander and Nicholas Meyer.

Private burial will be Sunday at Beth Emeth Cemetery in Loudonville. The family requests contributions in her name may be made to Planned Parenthood or the ACLU.
SCHENECTADY  There was a wildly popular song from years ago where singer Beyonce, above a pulsating rhythm, proclaimed that girls run the world.

The same might be said for the Schenectady Board of Education following Tuesdays election results that saw Erica Brockmyer and Jamaica Miles win seats on the panel.

And at July's reorganization meeting when the two newcomers take the oath of office, the seven-member Board of Education will be the sole domain of women, four of them either Black or Latina. It's the first time within recent memory thats happened, according to several long-time school leaders and officials.

Brockmyer said earlier this week that it was awesome that the school board is exclusively female and amazing that four members are women of color.

I think it speaks volumes too because its not that Jamaica and I were the majority on the ballot, it was two women and three men, and thats what the voters decided was going to be best and thats what they wanted, she added.

Miles did not respond to voicemail and text messages seeking comment.

She and Brockmyer, who campaigned separately, beat out incumbent Andy Chestnut and two newcomers, Prince Sprauve and Samuel Rose.

Nohelani Etienne, who is wrapping up her first year on the board, said Thursday that fact that the board will soon be all women only dawned on her the night before.

"I'm not sure what that means going forward, but I know that myself and Jamaica having kids in the district is obviously of significance," Etienne said. "I think it's important at this point because parents are getting civically engaged so I'm really excited to have the opportunity to work with her alongside Bernice and Princella."

She's referring to Bernice Rivera and Princella Leary, both women of color. Neither of them returned calls for comment this week.

Etienne said having gone through Schenectady schools and now having children in the district has afforded her greater insight into some of the challenges that Black and brown students, as well as all students, face.

"This is huge. Diversity, equity, inclusion is important and I think having a board that reflects women of color who represent what our district looks like, that speaks volumes. That's what we've been in need of, just to have more varying opinions and voices to be heard," she added.

The first hint of the shift might well be traced to a year ago when Etienne, Leary and Rivera, all of whom are Black women, were victorious.

Al Marlin, a spokesman for the state School Board Association, said that over the past few years school boards on average are evenly split between men and women. He said the group does not track the race of school board members.

Schenectady, a pre-kindergarten through Grade 12 district of roughly 10,000 students, is often described as a majority minority district with large swaths of Black and Guyanese students among other racial and ethnic groups.

For that reason, Mike Silvestri, vice president of the Schenectady Federation of Teachers, stressed that the biggest issue is "for marginalized students in this district to see the people on the board who look like them."

Less certain is exactly how an all-female board with women of color making up the majority might impact the district's emphasis on equity for all students.

"We were going down this path anyway, so I think the board is more reflective of the path we were going down, so it's symbolically really important," said Silvestri, who has worked in the district for the past 17 years. "I can tell you that Jamaica Miles is an equity warrior and the board now matches with our goals more."

Brockmyer said weeks of campaigning hard and knocking on doors helped her spread the message about wanting to bring a mental and emotional health and wellness perspective to the board, which really resonated with people in the city.

It's kind of a basis and groundwork for our learning, and I put in the work, she said. We wanted people to get out and vote and take school board elections seriously.

One big question we always got was Is she an incumbent? and obviously I answered no because I wasnt, added Brockmyer, 35.  I think people were also looking for new faces and fresh blood on the board.

She said the other big question people asked her about was the superintendent search.

Brockmyer says its imperative to include stakeholders in the search process.

We start out with the confidentiality for the applicants and then we involve community members once we scale down to a few finalists, said Brockmyer, who works as a school counselor at Emma Willard School, a private girls' school in Troy.

Before that, she served as a substitute teacher in the district and helped run several different Boys and Girls Clubs in Schenectady.

School Board member Cathy Lewis, who has served alongside fellow board member Anne Reilly for 11 years, said she cant recall a time when the board was all women.

She pointed to several factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic and the disproportionate numbers of women who lost their jobs, which may have spurred them to activism. She also acknowledged that concern about filling the superintendent job may have influenced the way people voted.

I think that people were maybe expecting that (the superintendents job) would have been filled more quickly, and I just think that its an unusual year to have had to do a search under the circumstances, said Lewis. There is probably some frustration with that, I expect.

Lewis said while there might be some benefit to having new faces on the school board, theres also a steep learning curve.

Its not something that you learn and you know how to do from Day One, she said. There are a lot of parts to this, the finances, the hiring, the review of cases, weve done strategic plans, weve done a lot of good things over the years weve been there.

I think its important to have experience in there too as well as new people and new approaches, said Lewis, who said shes only missed one meeting in 11 years.
ALBANY  A year ago, Mayor Kathy Sheehan handed Matthew Toporowski a key endorsement in the lawyers Democratic primary challenge against incumbent District Attorney David Soares.

Toporowski lost the primary, but hes about to take on a new role  as a top attorney in the mayors administration.

On Friday, Sheehan announced that Toporowski had been hired as senior assistant corporation counsel focused on police accountability. The former assistant district attorney will earn $83,000 a year, according to Chief of Staff David Galin.

"Matts litigation experience combined with his commitment to civil rights and criminal justice reform will be an asset to the residents of the city of Albany," Sheehan said in the statement.

In his new role, the 35-year-old Toporowski will work closely with the police department on disciplinary proceedings, including arbitration. He'll also assist the mayor's office with implementing the city's police reform plan "by helping to oversee the rewriting of the Police Departments General Orders and ensure compliance with new reporting requirements that resulted from the plan," the news release said.

In March, the city's Common Council voted 13-1 to pass a resolution to approve the reform plan, which was developed in response to a 2020 executive order by Gov. Andrew Cuomo requiring local governments to formulate similar blueprints in the wake of national protests over police brutality, including the murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis by Officer Derek Chauvin.

Toporowski's campaign for district attorney drew on the support of the city's progressive activist community, a constituency that has been critical of Sheehan in recent months over issues such as her refusal to ban police from using tear gas and her support for the department's decision last month to clear protesters from an encampment in the street next to South Station.

Toporowski is a member of the Working Families Party, which did not endorse the Democratic mayor in her re-election bid this year.

I fight tirelessly for justice for my clients and never accept anything less than the best possible result, and I plan to bring the same approach to this position and our community," Toporowski said in the news release. "The importance of police reform and accountability cannot be overstated, especially in this moment, and I look forward to returning to public service to focus on this critical work.

Toporowski's race against Soares turned ugly before the primary was decided in a nearly 4,000-vote victory for the incumbent, who was elected to a fifth term.

Toporowski worked as a prosecutor for Soares from July 2013 to March 2015, and the circumstances surrounding his exit became a bone of contention in the race. Toporowski said he was "never disciplined" and voluntarily resigned, though Soares' chief assistant David Rossi told the Times Union that Toporowski had been suspended for a week in 2014 and was asked to resign the following year

Albany Police Detective David Bernacki told the Times Union that he heard Toporowski use racial slurs after he arrived at the lawyer's home in December 2013. Toporowski, who is Hispanic and had allegedly been assaulted by a biracial man, denied making the slurs against the alleged assailant.

City Corporation Counsel Marisa Franchini said in a statement that Toporowski "joins an impressive and accomplished team of attorneys, paralegals, and administrators who serve the City of Albany with distinction every single day. He shares the values of this office and I look forward to putting his considerable skill to work on behalf of our residents.

Toporowski, a graduate of New York Law School and the College of Saint Rose, is vice president of the Capital Region Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Will Waldron/Albany Times Union

Nearly $84 million in federal grants will aid local public health organizations for emergency preparedness and mental health services, U.S. Rep. Paul D. Tonko, D-Amsterdam, said Friday.

The money will be administered by the Department of Health and Human Services. The bulk, over $78 million, will go to Health Research Inc., located in Menands. According to its website, Health Research, Inc. complements and enables public health goals of the state Health Department, Roswell Park Cancer Institute Corporation and other health-related entities.
MILTON - Cindy Dort knows who she is: a mother, grandmother, wife, proud Jersey girl and sports fan. She has fulfilling work as an occupant safety specialist for Cornell Cooperative Extension, teaching teens how to avoid unsafe driving and new parents how to use car seats properly. It's a life she loves. Still, underneath the contentment Dort has questions about the people who made decisions about her life when she was too young to know the difference.

Dort has spent nearly her entire adult life trying to unravel the secrets of her personal history. The story is one of starts and stops, of dead ends and lies revealed. The producers of "Long Lost Family" were interested and interviewed Dort with the intention of including her story in the TLC show about reuniting biological relatives. Eventually they passed. Adoption is common  according to the Census Bureau, one out of every 25 families in the United States has an adopted child  but Dort's story is unusual.

***

Cynthia Jean was born Nov. 17, 1958, in Logan County, West Virginia, to Bonnie (Hutton) Gay. This much Dort knows is true. When she was 3, she was adopted by William (Bill) and Laverne (Annie) Gay. Bill was a brother of David Gay, the man whose name is on Dort's original birth certificate. Dort's adoptive parents told her she had been found wandering alone in the tiny town of Logan, wearing only a diaper. After an investigation, county officials removed Dort from her biological parents' care; she was adopted and moved to New Jersey, where Bill and Annie lived. Not long afterward, David Gay moved to New Jersey and spent his life telling Dort that he was her biological father.

"I was OK with being adopted, it wasn't a big deal to me, and I thought I knew who my birth father was," Dort said. Sometimes I wondered about my birth mother, but when I asked about her  where was she from, what was her last name, how did she and Uncle Dave meet, where were they married  my parents told me they didn't remember. They told me she had red hair and blue eyes, which explains why I had blond hair and blue eyes while everyone else in my family was dark-eyed and had brown hair  but they never had a good word to say about her. They said there were no pictures because they destroyed them all."

Dort's upbringing was financially secure, but not always happy. Her mother, Annie Gay, would go to the hospital for a weeks stay a few times a year for treatment that was never explained to Dort or her younger siblings. Annie would threaten suicide by holding a butcher knife to her stomach and then take off. Dort remembers her father, Bill, crying at the kitchen table, distraught because he didn't know where his wife had gone. Dort said in retrospect she believes her mother suffered from mental illness, but it was never discussed.

Dort's family frequently traveled to West Virginia to visit her paternal grandparents, Tom and Sarah Gay. They had reason to know the answers to Dort's questions about her mother  and the truth about her parentage  but they wouldn't answer her questions, either. There was only one time Dort can remember from her childhood when the truth surfaced.

"I was 14, and I remember it clearly, we were sitting in the living room and my parents had wing-back chairs  and I remember saying, 'When I get married, who will walk me down the aisle? You or Uncle Dave?' My father got so angry and shouted, 'He's not even your father! Ben Johnson is your father!' The whole house went quiet. I started to ask a question, but I knew to keep my mouth shut. It was never brought up again."

When Dort was 18, her father died of cancer, and Dort's relationship with her mother largely ended. Dort's college education was paid for by her father's death benefits, but she was on her own. During breaks from college, she stayed with the family of the minister who presided over her father's funeral.

In 1983, when Dort was expecting her first child, her doctor asked if her mother had taken a certain drug while pregnant with her. Dort couldn't answer, she had no idea. Then, when Andrew was born, Dort realized there was a whole piece of his medical history she could never tell him. She started a short-lived search, but without cooperation from her adoptive family, she found nothing. She has a pink expandable file full of photocopied obituaries, printouts from databases and notes scribbled on napkins and notepaper, everything she's accumulated throughout her search.

Over the years, as Dort had more children, the questions kept coming back to her. In 1995, both of Dort's paternal grandparents died. When she was cleaning out their house, she found her birth certificate, letters detailing her adoption and a Bible with her biological mother's birth date written inside. There was also a picture of her mother, adoptive mother and paternal grandmother, seated on a couch together in 1958. At her grandfather's funeral, she told her Uncle David she was looking for her birth mother.

"They were so angry, you would think I'd murdered someone," Dort said. "He said, 'How dare you go looking.' "

Dort has spent a lot of time over the years wondering why her family held so fiercely to their secrets. When at-home, easily accessible DNA testing became available, she had an answer.

It was Dort's husband, Greg, who bought the 23andMe home DNA test kit. He's watched her struggle over the years with her search, and the toll it has taken. Early in their relationship, she worried constantly he would leave her, and questioned his commitment. Love, after all, meant leaving, she thought. It also affected how she mothers - or, as Greg Dort jokes, smothers. Being a mom is something Dort always wanted, from the time she and her cousins played with dolls as little girls. She remembers thinking, even then, that when she had children, she would never leave them.

"I didn't know where my mother was, but she knew where I was. Why didn't she look for me?" Dort said.

The question tortured her. Two of Dort's sons are grown and married; the third is in college and her baby, the one with bright red hair, will graduate from Ballston Spa High School this spring.

"Their lives haven't been perfect. I'm sure they have complaints," Dort said. "But if you asked them, 'Do you know your mom loves you?' They know. It's always been important to me they know that."

DNA tests, followed by social media, radically changed birth family searches, said Cindy Schott, who helps reunite birth families. 23andMe launched in 2006 and AncestryDNA arrived in 2012, offering genetic testing for the cost of a night out.

For Dort, the DNA test results delivered a Maury Povich moment: David Gay wasn't Dort's biological father. Instead, it was Ben Johnson, that name from all those years ago. He was long dead, but Dort quickly connected to a long list of siblings. Johnson was married twice and had affairs with many women. Bonnie Gay was one of them.

This story made more sense to Dort. Bonnie, while she was married to David Gay, conceived her with another man, embarrassing the family, which then worked hard to cover the shame. The discovery also prompted new questions: Was the story about her wandering alone through town at age 3 even true? And where did Bonnie go after she relinquished her child to her husband's family and divorced him?

The DNA results had more to give. There was no match to Bonnie or anyone close in the report, except a man named Michael Scholl, who connected Dort with his grandmother, Ida Mae Scholl Bonnie's half-sister. Now in her 80s, Ida Mae was desperate to talk to a long-lost niece named Tammy.

"After the divorce from Dave, Bonnie went back to where she was from, Colorado, married a man named Frank Vitek and had another child, named Tammy, in either 1964 or 65." Dort said. "Ida Mae thought I was Tammy. That's how I found out I had a half-sister on my mother's side, and that's how they found out about me."

Ida Mae put Dort in touch with Bonnie's only full sibling, Tom Hutton, and through him, Dort found out Bonnie and Tammy had disappeared in 1969. Their family hasn't heard from them since.

Dort's search for her biological family suddenly included a sister and became a missing person case.

At that point, Dort gained two strangers who started helping her. Adoptees and people who have given up children for adoption often encounter people called "search angels" who offer their services for free to help reunite biological relatives.

"I read Cindy's story and it grabbed me by the heartstrings," said Kimmie Oliver, who lives outside Portland, Ore. She became a search angel after she found a child her mother had put up for adoption.

Oliver and Cindy Schott started working on the case, and again, Dort was frustrated. Tom was the last person to see Bonnie and Tammy, but he says he doesn't remember much about it, Dort said.

In 2019, Cindy and Greg drove to Minnesota to meet Tom, Ida Mae and other members of the family. She learned how hard Tom's and Bonnie's childhoods had been; at one point, their mother hung signs around their necks and put them on a train to an orphanage.

"Everyone who met me said I look like my mom, but we all wondered, how does a 30-year-old woman and a 5-year-old child disappear? It's now 50-plus years after the fact, and trying to backtrack is a nightmare."

Frank Vitek was a dead end, too. Dort found his widow, who said that she knew her husband had been married to Bonnie, but that he was not Tammy's father.

Using clues from Tom and other members of the family, the search angels came to the conclusion that near the time of her disappearance, Bonnie was dating a man from a Denver crime family, the Smaldones, that had connections to West Virginia and was known to force women into prostitution and sell children on the black market for adoption, Dort said.

Bonnie's and Tammy's absence from the DNA registry could mean they simply never submitted DNA for testing, but Kimmie Oliver said it is rare not to find someone. It's unusual to find no trace, no trail at all. It's led both Oliver and Schott to think Bonnie and Tammy are dead and have been for a long time. With that in mind, they started looking at the Redhead Murders, a string of unsolved killings between 1978 and 1992 in West Virginia and nearby states. All but one of the victims have been identified through fingerprints, DNA or other means. After talking to a police detective in West Virginia, Dort and her search angels pinned their hopes on the unclaimed victim, who fit Bonnie's description. Dort filed her DNA with the Combined DNA Index System, a database maintained by the FBI that automatically compares new samples with DNA found at crime scenes and in rape kits.

"I was so sure it was her. I was finally going to have an answer," Dort said.

But there was no match.

***

Dort is still processing the latest news, delivered just a few weeks ago by a police detective in West Virginia. The National Missing and Unidentified Persons System took her mother's case and created a missing person poster. Dort knows the chances of someone seeing it and knowing enough to solve the mystery are slim.

"I used to watch 'Long Lost Family' and cry  the reunions, the hugging. I wanted that moment, but I'll never have it," she said. "I've discovered that not every adoption story ends that way. I want to know what happened to my mother and sister but I want to be a voice. I believe every person has a right to know their history. My birth father died at 56 of heart disease and all my half-brothers on that side have heart disease. I have four sons. I needed to know that."

She doesn't hate her adoptive family, even though she's angry they didn't tell her the truth.

"Maybe they honestly believed they were doing what was best. I'm still here; look at Tammy. Who knows what could've happened to me?"

She also feels she broke a cycle. Bonnie Hutton, her birth mother, wasn't a good parent and Annie Gay, Dort's adoptive mother, tried but struggled, leaving her daughter feeling unloved. Dort made sure didn't happen to her own children.
Dana El Kurd in Sidecar:

Violence against Palestinians over the last few weeks has been so horrific that it has come to the attention of those who were previously blind to it. Over two hundred dead in Gaza alone, fifty-nine of them children. Media offices bombed, thousands injured and tens of thousands displaced. Palestinians in Israel have been killed by lynch mobs while the police stand by. As a result, the usual taboos are being broken. Six US Congress members condemned the attacks on Gaza from the House floor, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez acknowledged Israel as an apartheid state. Yet the US is far from rescinding its support for Netanyahu. On three occasions during the latest bombardment it has blocked the UN Security Councils call for a ceasefire, greenlighting the merciless campaign against the Gaza strip. If Trump was the most brazen supporter of Israeli aggression, his successor is not much different.

None of this is new. Gaza has been under attack at regular intervals since 2008, and with each Israeli incursion we have seen a similar pattern play out: ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Israel and the occupied territories, huge provocations accompanied by repression on the ground, and F16s raining bombs on Gazans. Human rights organizations  international as well as Israeli  have repeatedly condemned the illegal blockade of Gaza and the forward march of Israeli settler colonialism. Yet their appeals fall on deaf ears.

More here.
When the Chinese government regained control of Hong Kong in 1997, at the end of a 99-year lease and a 150-year presence by the British empire, citizens were assured they would be allowed to retain most of their established autonomy and eventually have a more direct say in choosing political candidates by 2017.

That has proven to be an absolutely empty pledge.

After the handover, there was an idealistic, committed effort in Hong Kong to go further and establish a true, self-ruling democratic arrangement. This movement, poking and prodding those in power, often railed against the local political establishment, which is peopled with individuals pre-approved by the powers in Beijing. Officially referred to as an SAR, or Special Administrative Region, the premise of One Country, Two Systems made for a tenuous, nebulous relationship. Most citizens were ever vigilant of the mainlands influence and protective of their independent tradition.

In the summer of 2012, they successfully forced the withdrawal of a central government proposal requiring the teaching of patriotic education classes in public schools extolling the wonders of the communist system.

In August 2014 it was clear that Beijing was reneging on the stated promise of one-person-one-vote universal suffrage, specifically with regard to the nominating process of political candidates. As a result, a reform group called Occupy Central, together with tens of thousands of students and a broad spectrum of citizens, began massive, mostly peaceful street protests against the unpopular Hong Kong administration of then-chief executive C.Y. Leung, chosen and controlled by the communist hierarchy. The three month-long demonstrations were the largest since China regained control of the multi-island city.

A few years later, many citizens found themselves disappeared to the mainland, and sometimes jailed there, for imagined crimes against the state. Restrictions on self-expression escalated. By 2019, the number of protestors had jumped to hundreds of thousands of citizens. Protests saw more violent interactions with increasingly aggressive police.

In 2020, Beijing imposed a so-called national security law on Hong Kong, whereby any activity  or even thoughts  can be declared unpatriotic or treasonous. The law is a threat to the remnants of any kind of autonomy and the most simple individual freedoms.

Communist Chinese President Xi Jinping is a true believer, a blindly ideological autocrat. He was a self-proclaimed reformer, which in large part meant grabbing and consolidating absolute power and seeking to hold it indefinitely. It is the behavior of yet one more megalomaniacal dictator.

Beijing has instituted increasingly oppressive policies that include wide-ranging censorship at every level of society. The people and press fear possible repercussions for every word, action and email that can be capriciously interpreted as failing to toe the party line. It is a brutal crushing of dissent and even innocent discourse.

Confucius would not be pleased.

The Pearl of the Orient is being crushed by the growing authoritarianism forced upon it from afar. The citys current chief executive, Carrie Lam, is a puppet of Xi, assisting in the dissolution of what remains of the once independent court system, promised self-determination, and basic human rights. She is unveiling new election reforms. That will likely be another mockery.

Ironically, from its beginnings as a settlement through to the very end of British rule, Hong Kong has historically never enjoyed genuine, self-government. The royal governor appointed most officials, which the residents were willing to accept as trade-off for free speech, stability and relatively unlimited economic opportunity.

Under the turnover agreement, Hong Kongs existing autonomy was guaranteed for 50 years. Barely two decades have passed. The great lie has been exposed for all to see.

The final irony is this: During the secret 1984 treaty negotiations between Margaret Thatcher and Zha Ziyang creating the 1997 handover agreement, all of the participants were from London and Beijing. The citizens of Hong Kong themselves were excluded from the determining their own future. There was no local plebiscite.

If Chinas ambition to become a respected world power and continue to be a major player in the world economy, Zi needs to clean up his act, in many ways, in Hong Kong and elsewhere.

Treating human beings with empathy and decency and dignity would be a first step. Thats an aspiration that ought to be pursued by every country.

Paul Bouchey is a Capital Region visual artist, painter, essayist and author. In 2012 he spent two months living and working in Hong Kong.
A federal judge in New York has ruled that a suspended Nigerian government official charged in a Washington state case of unemployment fraud can be released before trial
For copyright information, check with the distributor of this item, The Miami Herald.
Police say the husband of a missing Connecticut woman whose body was found in a heavily wooded area had cooperated with investigators looking into her disappearance
Local and federal authorities have arrested all three juveniles being sought in the shooting deaths of two men in an Ohio city earlier this month
  aillarionov



Bidens policies toward Russia and Ukraine raise risk of new Putins aggression Regardless of his genuine intentions, President Joseph Biden has announced policies toward Russia and Ukraine that substantially empower an aggressive Russian President Vladimir Putin.



With his wars carried out through more than two decades in Chechnya, Georgia, Ukraine, Syria, and Libya, Putin appears to be the worlds leading applicator of rude force in international relations today. The Russian war against Ukraine that Putin launched in 2014 is the only ongoing military conflict on European soil, and arguably the longest one over the past century.



U.S. policies are the opposite of what Biden said he would do

The genuine interest of any U.S. administration, to say nothing of its European allies, would be to put an end to this conflict. The United States pledged to ensure Ukraines territorial integrity when it persuaded Kyiv to hand its nuclear weapons over to Russia after the Soviet collapse. It has an obligation to help Ukraine restore its territorial integrity and not allow new Kremlin aggressions not only against Ukraine, but against other countries.

Therefore, the expected U.S. policies would be to prevent the aggressor (Russia) from new military actions while at the same time to support the victim (Ukraine).



But the actual policies of the Biden administration turned out to be exactly opposite  providing substantial political and economic support to the aggressor and diminishing support for its victim.



Bidens actions make Putin the undisputed beneficiary

This policy of weakness tangibly increased the probability of new aggression from Putin. Lets take a closer look at the Biden administrations actions since January and the messages they sent Putin.



Personal contacts between leaders . Biden spoke twice to Putin, hosted him at the Climate Summit on April 22, and invited him to the bilateral meeting this summer. At the same time Biden spoke to the Ukrainian President Zelensky just once, and even then Biden cut the conversation short by not allowing Zelensky to touch several issues that led to unusual public complaints from the Ukrainian side. Biden did not invite Zelensky to the Climate Summit. State Secretary Antony Blinken rejected Zelenskys offer to meet personally with Biden due to COVID19 concerns. Apparently, the pandemic was not a concern in scheduling Bidens meeting with Putin.



Personal contacts between national security advisers . Jake Sullivan, the U.S. National Security Advisor, has had four known telephone conversations with his counterpart, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev. With a 47-year career in the Soviet KGB and its successor FSB, the latter of which he headed for nine years, Patrushev is a seasoned political police veteran.

Sullivan is not known to have spoken to his Ukrainian counterpart, Security Council Secretary Alexey Danilov. Sullivan once spoke to Andrey Yermak, head of the Office of the President, and well-known for his pro-Russian views. Yermak was also present during Biden-Zelensky phone conversation.



START-3 extension . The refusal of then-president Donald Trump to agree with unconditional extension of the most recent Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-3) created a heavy headache for Putin and potentially almost unbearable diplomatic, security, and financial burdens for him for years to come.

But one of the very first actions of Biden as president was to extend START-3 just four days after his January 25 telephone conversation with Putin. Bidens unconditional extension of the treaty gave Putin a valuable financial present worth of hundreds of billions of dollars by limiting U.S. strategic nuclear modernization, thus relieving Putin of the need to pour more money into his own strategic weapons upgrades. Biden freed Putins hands for , especially against immediate neighbors.



Climate and energy policies . On the day of his inauguration, Biden signed the Paris Climate Agreement and halted construction of the American Keystone XL pipeline from Canada. A week later, he suspended the Trump administrations designation of the Yemeni Houthi group Ansar Allah as terrorist. The Houthis thanked Biden with drone strikes on Saudi airports.

Bidens climate and energy policies contributed to a sharp rise in world energy prices. The price of a barrel of oil (Brent) rose from $39 on November 3, 2020 up to $56 on January 20, 2021, and $69 on May 17, 2021  a 75 percent increase in 6 months. Russias economy depends on high oil prices. Calculated for a whole year, Biden gave Putin an additional fifty billion dollars in oil revenue.



Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline . In December 2019, the Trump administration imposed sanctions which halted construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline from Russia to Germany. But on January 24, 2021, four days into Bidens presidency, construction resumed and new pipes were laid down starting on February 6. as well as a bad idea and a bad deal for Europe.

In spite of these strong policy statements, obligations stipulated by law to put the pipeline under sanctions, and numerous petitions (including bipartisan ones from members of Congress and from

Nord Stream-2 likely will reroute 55 billion cubic meters of Russian gas transported via Ukraine and deprive Ukraine of transfer revenues, significantly weakening Ukraines geopolitical position and reducing Europes interest in defending her territorial integrity.



Security aid to Ukraine . Since the start of Putins aggression in 2014 the U.S. provided almost $2 billion in , with $243 million on annual average during all 7 years of the war, $197 million a year during the Obama presidency, and $306 million annually during the Trump presidency.

For 2021 the Trump administration assigned, and the U.S. Congress approved . On March 1, the Biden administration confirmed this total amount of aid by

Thirty days later, the $150 million conditional part was omitted from the leaving Ukraine with only $125 million in unconditional support in 2021.

That is roughly 36% less than the average under Obama, 59% less than the average under Trump, and 48% less than the average in 2014-20. The security assistance to Ukraine that the Biden administration promised for 2021 ($125 million) is about 30% of (or 3 times less than) the amount provided by the Trump administration in 2019 ($415 million). Notably, the Biden administration reduced security assistance to Ukraine in April 2021 as Russia built up troops along Ukraines border.



Long-term military cooperation . For years Ukrainian authorities were expressing their interest in joining NATO and/or to develop deep military cooperation with the U.S. This interest became ever more urgent in the wake of the Russian aggression, its annexation of Crimea and backing the ongoing war in Donbass, and especially during the security crisis in April 2021.

Nevertheless, the Biden administration did not support Ukraines aspirations either for NATO, or for the membership action plan (MAP) for NATO. Biden did not even support Ukraine for the status of major non-NATO ally (MNNA), a strictly bilateral issue not requiring consensus among NATO members.

Objectively speaking, Ukraine is definitely not less geopolitically important and not less militarily and institutionally ready for the MNNA than, for example, Afghanistan and Tunisia, both of which received MNNA. Especially symbolic and painful was the White House May 6 of U.S. support for Ukraines eventual membership in NATO. In a very similar political environment, the refusal of the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008 to provide MAP to Georgia and Ukraine turned out to be a critical trigger for Putins attack on Georgia four months later.



Short-term military cooperation . The April, 2021 security crisis caused by the buildup of Russian troops along the Russian-Ukrainian border could be mitigated by expressing the U.S. and overall Western support to Ukraine not only in words, but also in practical actions.

Among the conventional and non-controversial options are to send military delegations from the U.S. and NATO to Kyiv; increase the number, size and intensity of joint drills on Ukrainian territory; move some American troops into Ukraine on a rotation basis; establish temporary or permanent military bases in the country; conduct joint U.S./NATO-Ukrainian patrols of Ukrainian airspace; make regular U.S. and other NATO member naval visits into the Black Sea; increase military aid; enable special financial assistance to Ukraine either directly or via the IMF and World Bank; and deliver excess vaccines to help Ukraine fight the coronavirus pandemic. Nothing of that kind has been done so far. Moreover, the Biden administration the deployment of two warships to the Black Sea.



Regular diplomatic relations . In the four months since Joe Biden assumed office, the U.S. still has not sent an ambassador to Ukraine. Moreover, a candidate for that position not been debated, let alone confirmed, by the U.S. Senate. It seems that Biden has not even chosen a candidate. This is noteworthy because as vice president under Obama, Bidens portfolio included relations with Ukraine. Biden traveled to Ukraine six times as vice president. On top of this, Biden has failed to appoint a Special Envoy/Representative for Ukraine, a position occupied by Kurt Volker in 2017-2019.



Putin can make his own conclusions

The stark differences between Bidens policies toward Russia (a combination of moderate public criticism with tangible financial backing) and Ukraine (a combination of praise in words with withdrawal of real support in deeds) are so evident that they cannot be missed by such attentive observer and beneficiary as Vladimir Putin.

Based on these observations, Putin makes his own conclusions about the Biden administrations profound lack of existing desire and actual ability to support Ukraine. Real policy of the current U.S. Administration, not its rhetoric, will help Putin decide if and when to launch another wide-range attack against Ukraine.

https://centerforsecuritypolicy.org/bidens-policies-toward-russia-and-ukraine-raise-risk-of-new-putins-aggression/

possible military operations , especially against immediate neighbors. Biden himself as well as members of his Administration have said that the pipeline is and from 40 U.S. Senators ), the Biden Administration did not introduce any new sanctions against the pipeline. Since Biden assumed office, more than 37 km of pipeline out of 49 km in Danish waters have been laid down. The completion of Nord Stream-2 construction now appears quite realistic by the end of summer. security assistance to Ukraine , with $243 million on annual average during all 7 years of the war, $197 million a year during the Obama presidency, and $306 million annually during the Trump presidency. $275 million . On March 1, the Biden administration confirmed this total amount of aid by s plitting it in two parts  $125 million in unconditional support and $150 million conditioned on the progress of reforms in Ukraine. Secretary of Defense statement leaving Ukraine with only $125 million in unconditional support in 2021. disavowal May 6 of U.S. support for Ukraines eventual membership in NATO. In a very similar political environment, the refusal of the NATO Summit in Bucharest in April 2008 to provide MAP to Georgia and Ukraine turned out to be a critical trigger for Putins attack on Georgia four months later. has cancelled the deployment of two warships to the Black Sea. Tags: , -2021, , , , ,  , , 

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From: amarrrcord Date: May 22nd, 2021 12:03 pm (UTC) (Link) It becomes more and more obvious: Biden is the joint project of Russia and China to weaken and then to destroy the democracy in theUnited States. The next step would be the NWO, superpowers led by dictatorship regimes. From: (Anonymous) Date: May 22nd, 2021 02:46 pm (UTC) (Link) Joint project of Russian, Chinese and American mafia elites. From: amarrrcord Date: May 22nd, 2021 05:43 pm (UTC) (Link) To say you have to be anonymous lol From: Geo Polo Date: May 22nd, 2021 12:31 pm (UTC) (Link) 1-

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- ,    ,  ,           ,       ,     ,        ! // From: Boris Rusakov Date: May 22nd, 2021 12:51 pm (UTC) (Link) Putin appears to be the worlds leading applicator of rude force in international relations today.

Sounds broken English. "Applicator" isn't used in this context and "rude force" doesn't exist at all ("brute force" - maybe, or just "military force"). From: sergeibp Date: May 22nd, 2021 01:27 pm (UTC) (Link) "...significantly weakening Ukraines geopolitical position and reducing Europes interest in defending her territorial integrity."



   "her"   ? From: moid0dblr Date: May 22nd, 2021 03:10 pm (UTC) (Link) https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/9068/is-america-it-or-she



America  it or she



answer:

Either is correct. If you want to follow political correctness, which is trying to make everything gender-neutral, then it will do; if you want to follow tradition, then she. America  it or sheanswer:Either is correct. If you want to follow political correctness, which is trying to make everything gender-neutral, then it will do; if you want to follow tradition, then she. From: (Anonymous) Date: May 22nd, 2021 03:12 pm (UTC) (Link) ,  :) "And I'm proud to be an American

Where at least I know I'm free

And I won't forget the men who died

Who gave that right to me

And I'd gladly stand up next to you

And defend Her still today

'Cause there ain't no doubt

I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A."

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Tribal leaders and some state legislators in Washington state have criticized Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee in a joint statement after he vetoed a bill that would require improved consultation with tribes about climate investments
The sole witness in the first-degree murder case against Derrick Spivey had signed a statement that Spivey shot the victim but now said his statement was a fabrication that he signed under duress
The last time we saw trucker Don Cook, his career odometer had just rolled over to 3 million miles without an accident and a company-awarded truck cab bearing his name along with a leather jacket with a patch reading Three Million Miles Safe Driving.
[May 21, 2021] GrayRobinson's National Alcohol Industry Team Again Ranked Among Best in Nation by Chambers USA 2021

GrayRobinson, a full-service law and government consulting firm, today announced its National Alcohol Industry Team again achieved the highest possible ranking, Band 1, for Nationwide Food & Beverages: Alcohol in Chambers USA 2021. In addition, three team members were individually ranked as notable practitioners, including Richard Blau, Elizabeth DeConti, and Grace Yang. What They're Saying in Chambers USA About GrayRobinson's Strengths:



"Sources value the team's 'ability to explain complex situations. Their scope of contacts and relationships allow them to get prompt answers and results.'" "Others note that their strengths include 'their knowledge on state and federal alcohol regulations and their strong relationships with state legislators.'"

"'The experience has been top-notch for timeliness, communication, and results. We are extremely pleased with their representation,' according to one source." What They're Saying in Chambers USA About GrayRobinson's Notable Practitioners: "Richard Blau has significant experience in the alcoholic beverage sector and is particularly adept at handling regulatory and licensing matters. He is active across a range of sectors including retail and hospitality. 'He is one of the best attorneys out there. He is an excellent writer and very respected. He is great at combining the law and the business side of work.' 'Richard is one of the most preeminent lawyers in his field.'" "Elizabeth DeConti is routinely called upon to advise clients on complex licensing and regulatory compliance matters. 'Elizabeth and her team are extremely organized and knowledgeable. Their relationships with regulators nationally is very useful.'" "Grace Yang focuses her practice on licensing issues and regulatory concerns, notably on behalf of major retailers. 'Grace is very strong in terms of retail work, in particular retail licensing work, and she manages some significant clients.'" GrayRobinson's National Alcohol Industry Team has expertise in the federal, state, and local laws that govern the production, importation, distribution, promotion, and sale of alcohol beverages. The team, which includes experienced lawyers and former federal and state alcohol regulators, serves all segments (beer, wine, and distilled spirits) and all tiers (manufacturers/importers, wholesale distributors, and retailers) of the alcohol industry. Chambers USA is a research-based publication for the legal profession. Its annual rankings identify leading law firms and lawyers based on client feedback and technical legal ability. About GrayRobinson, P.A.

GrayRobinson is a full-service law and government consulting firm with 15 offices in Florida and Washington, DC. Our attorneys, lobbyists, and consultants provide legal and government affairs counsel to Fortune 500 companies, emerging businesses, financial institutions, state and local governments, developers, entrepreneurs, and individuals in Florida and throughout the Americas. We are at the forefront of emerging legal, legislative, regulatory, and market trends and we work closely with clients to help them identify opportunities, overcome challenges, and accomplish their business objectives. For more information, please visit Gray-Robinson.com. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210521005534/en/

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[May 21, 2021] Art Basel Hong Kong 2021: Digital Transformation Amidst the Pandemic

When the 2020 edition was cancelled due to COVID-19, the future of Art Basel Hong Kong and other in-person art fairs was called into question. But the iconic Hong Kong event has a plan in place to weather the storm with a shift to a hybrid format, an embrace of digitalisation, and a focus on the safety of collectors, gallerists and art aficionados. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210521005540/en/ Over two thirds of global art fairs planned in 2020 were cancelled. Art Basel Hong Kong was amongst them, with the announcement coming about five weeks before the fair was slated to start on the 17th of March 2020. Its 2021 edition was also pushed back from March to May due to continuing concerns around the pandemic. The decision to hold the belated 2021 edition was a surprising one, but Global Director of Art Basel, Marc Spiegler, explains that it was the right choice. "I think although we hoped to be standing at the end of the pandemic period, we're standing at the beginning of a new era in the art world, and that's an era that we firmly believe in the need for people to see art, and the need for people to meet gallerists and the need for gallerists to meet collectors in order to keep the business strong. "As we come out of the pandemic, we will have a more hybrid version of the fair. On the one hand, the fairs of the future will have that physical dimension, the value of social interaction, the value of physically seeing works in front of you; on the other hand, they will have a very strong digital overlay. And that digital overlay will help to create more momentum ahead of the fair, for everyone, but also to transmit the energy of the fair to those who can't attend." The pandemic has played a huge part in the digital ransformation of an industry that is notoriously slow to change.



This year's in-person component of Art Basel Hong Kong will be quite different than any of its previous iterations, Adeline Ooi, Director Asia of Art Basel, explains, "It's compulsory masks on, we have a reduced capacity for the show in terms of the guests that we can welcome. COVID-19 test for everyone working in the show, we all have to be (tested) negative before we are allowed to enter the convention centre. And beyond that, if you look at the aisles behind you, they are definitely much wider that what we used to do." Art fairs make up a large part of the total cost of galleries around the world, accounting for 26% of total operating costs prior to 2020. But despite the high cost of attendance, the fairs are still an important component of the art market. Galleries cite outreach to collectors in key geographical locations and sales as the main reasons for participation.

But with gallerists stationed out of Hong Kong unable to travel or unwilling to undergo a 14 day quarantine, Art Basel Hong Kong has come up with a novel solution, which sees local proxies physically manning the booths and their foreign counterparts available to speak via teleconferencing. "It is really difficult for us to promote an artist without being there. It is a solution that Art Basel gives us with this satellite booth, to have someone onsite," said Loic Garrier of Ceysson & Benetiere. "The idea is to allow galleries to send the art to Hong Kong, even though they can't be with us physically," adds Ooi. "Through the QR code we provided in every booth, if the collector really wants to get in touch with a gallery owner, all he has to do is literally just pick up a phone, scan the QR code and someone on the other side of the world will be with them." Aside from satellite booths, Art Basel Hong Kong also came up with a novel way to showcase their collections. Despite the gloomy outlook for live events around the world due to the ongoing pandemic, high net worth collectors have continued to purchase art through both art fairs and through the online viewing rooms. Many have also expressed a willingness to attend art fairs in-person toward the tail end of 2021. "We have introduced this year, this idea of a show experience assistant, which basically allow collectors from all around the world to join us here on the show floor via a phone," said Ooi. "If you think about pre-2020, if you ever spoke to collector and asked them if they would buy online? I think the answer would generally be no. Especially within the art world we value relationships; we value the physical interactions with one another." Despite the challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic, Global Director of Art Basel, Marc Spiegler is still optimistic about the future of the sector and predicts that some of the new innovations for this year may actually become permanent features. "Art Basel Hong Kong 2022, when we hope the whole world will be present, will be a fair that is not only what we hope will be the biggest fair in Asia, but will also be much more available to the rest of the world at a digital level," said Spiegler. Although the physical and digital realms might seem like a stark juxtaposition, the art world has embraced the concept of a hybrid art fair as the way forward, and satellite booths, online viewing rooms and show experience assistants are here to stay for the foreseeable future. View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210521005540/en/

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[May 21, 2021] Cohen Milstein Provides Notice of Data Event

WASHINGTON, May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC ("Cohen Milstein") provides notice of a data event. On January 23, 2021, Cohen Milstein discovered unusual activity on certain computer systems. Cohen Milstein quickly disconnected the affected systems from the network and commenced an investigation that included working with third-party forensic specialists. The investigation determined that Cohen Milstein's systems were subject to unauthorized access by someone not connected with Cohen Milstein on January 23, 2021. An exhaustive review of the data was initiated and, out of an abundance of caution, all parties who have personally identifying information or personal health information present on the systems where unusual activity was detected at the time of the incident will be notified. The firm is currently unaware of any actual or even attempted misuse of information. Cohen Milstein is reviewing and enhancing its existing policies and procedures to reduce the likelihood of a similar future event and will be notifying individuals and relevant state and federal regulators, as required. As an added precaution, Cohen Milstein will be offering complimentary access to credit monitoring and identity restoration services to potentially impacted individuals. Should individuals have questions regarding this event, they may call Cohen Milstein's dedicated assistance line at 855-535-1837 (toll free), Monday through Friday, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm Eastern Time. Individuals may write to Cohen Milstein at 1100 New York Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005. Additional information can be found on Cohen Milstein's website, https://www.cohenmilstein.com/. Cohen Milstein encourages individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud and to review account statements, credit reports, and explanation of benefits forms for suspicious activity and report any suspicious activity immediately to their insurance company, health care provider, or financial institution. Under U.S. law, a consumer is entitled to one free credit report annually from each of the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. To order your free credit report, visit www.annualcreditreport.com or call, toll-free, 1-877-322-8228. You may also directly contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below to request a free copy of your credit report. Consumers have the right to place an initial or extended "fraud alert" on a credit file at no cost. An initial fraud alert is a 1-year alert that is placed on a consumer's credit file. Upon seeing a fraud alert display on a consumer's credit file, a business is required to take steps to verify the consumer's identity before extending new credit. If you are a victim of identity theft, you are entitled to an extended fraud alert, which is a fraud alert lasting seven years. Should you wish to place a fraud alert, please contact any one of the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below. As an alternative to a fraud alert, consumers have the right to place a "credit freeze" on a credit report, which will prohibit a credit bureau from releasing information in the credit report without the consumer's express authorization. The credit freeze is designed to prevent credit, loans, and services from being approved in your name without your consent. However, you should be aware that using a credit freeze to take control over who gets access to the personal and financial information in your credit report may delay, interfere with, or prohibit the timely approval of any subsequent request or application you make regarding a new loan, credit, mortgage, or any other account involving the extension of credit. Pursuant to federal law, you cannot be charged to place or lift a credit freeze on your credit report. To request a security freeze, you will need to provide the following information: Full name (including middle initial as well as Jr., Sr., II, III, etc.); Social Security number; Date of birth; Addresses for the prior two to five years; Proof of current address, such as a current utility bill or telephone bill; A legible photocopy of a government-issued identification card (state driver's license or ID card, etc.); and A copy of either the police report, investigative report, or complaint to a law enforcement agency concerning identity theft if you are a victim of identity theft. To place a fraud alert or credit freeze, consumers may contact the three major credit reporting bureaus listed below:







Equifax Experian TransUnion https://www.equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services/ https://www.experian.com/help/ https://www.transunion.com/credit-help 888-298-0045 1-888-397-3742 833-395-6938 Equifax Fraud Alert, P.O. Box 105069

Atlanta, GA 30348-5069 Experian Fraud Alert, P.O. Box

9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Fraud Alert, P.O. Box

2000, Chester, PA 19016 Equifax Credit Freeze, P.O. Box 105788

Atlanta, GA 30348-5788 Experian Credit Freeze, P.O. Box

9554, Allen, TX 75013 TransUnion Credit Freeze, P.O.

Box 160, Woodlyn, PA 19094

The Federal Trade Commission may be reached at: 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20580; www.identitytheft.gov; 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); and TTY: 1-866-653-4261. The Federal Trade Commission also encourages those who discover that their information has been misused to file a complaint with them. Individuals can obtain further information on how to file such a complaint by way of the contact information listed above. Individuals have the right to file a police report if they experience identity theft or fraud. Please note that in order to file a report with law enforcement for identity theft, you will likely need to provide some proof that you have been a victim. Instances of known or suspected identity theft should also be reported to law enforcement and your state Attorney General. SOURCE Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll PLLC

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[May 21, 2021] Asian Enterprise of Tomorrow Conference Gathers Global Wisdom for Entrepreneurship in China's Chongqing

CHONGQING, China, May 22, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- A news report by iChongqing: On conclusion of the 2021 Asian Enterprise of Tomorrow Conference (AEOT) held under the banner of the 3rd Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT), over 200 Asian corporate executives focused on the theme of Facing Challenges and Fostering Innovation to discuss the opportunities and challenges lying ahead for Asian companies. The 2021 AEOT was held on May 21st in southwestern China's Chongqing Municipality as an important event of WCIFIT. Invitations were extended to Asian politicians, World Fortne 500 company executives, famous Asian entrepreneurs, as well as academics, media, and guests from China and abroad met for discussion and exchange.



Former Prime Minister of the Republic of Korea Lee Nak-yeon, Vanke Group Founder and Honorary Chairman of the Board of Directors Wang Shi, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation Vice President Li Lei, Chongqing Sokon Group Founder Zhang Xinghai, and 22 other high profile guests conducted keynote speeches and roundtable discussions online and offline, centered around the theme of Creating Impossible Realities. Lee Nak-yeon said online that Chongqing has achieved remarkably and WCIFIT adds radiance to city development.

Wang Shi explained the significant influence of Asian culture in corporate life, emphasized the leading role of entrepreneurship in enterprise growth, and called on entrepreneurs to play a leading role in assuming social responsibilities. This conference has brought together Asian wisdom as corporate executives from the region were invited to share their international perspectives, with focus on the four main themes of Asian Opportunities Shared Globally, New Industrial Opportunities in the Pandemic Context, Responsibility for Emission Reductions and Green Manufacturing, and Chongqing: International Logistics Hub and New Space for Development. Under the guidance of national policies, Chinese manufacturers are also undergoing transformation from traditional models to sustainable green production. This transition has been most obvious in the automotive industry. China is now the largest market for new energy vehicles, while the quality of such vehicles manufactured domestically occupies a leading position in the world. An international questionnaire survey of 1,800 chief executive officers in six main regions has shown that optimism about the global economic outlook has reached a record level, as 76% of respondents believe the economy will improve in 2021. The survey has also shown that internet crises have become a main cause of sleepless nights, second only to the pandemic. For more information, please visit: https://www.ichongqing.info/special/asia-enterprise-of-tomorrow/ SOURCE iChongqing

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Here's a peek at local capitulation and people putting on a happy face in order to try and make a buck.

We share this story because it provides an honest glimpse at the new normal wherein retailers who want to survive are forced to bend the knee to a massive American cultural shift and adapt to a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Political reactionaries might hate this kind of story but it's really a just a glimpse at the cost of doing biz and the indignities and/or realities which confront all working people.

Then again, mixing politics with biz is always a bad idea.

Read more . . .
Right now we take a quick look at local crime news, police action and tragic mugshots in order to remind our readers of the very real danger this community confronts whilst politicos are slap fighting over cash.

Check-it . . .

Kansas City G-Man Suffers Homework Snafu

Kansas City FBI employee accused of storing classified documents at home WASHINGTON (AP) - An FBI employee has been indicted on charges that she stored classified documents and other national security information at home over the course of more than a decade, the Justice Department said Friday.

Tragic Northland Beat Down After Goo Deeds

Good Samaritan brutally beaten after stopping to help stranded driver on I-35 in Clay County DAVIESS COUNTY, Mo. - A northwest Missouri man is grateful to be alive after surviving a violent attack in Clay County. He was trying to be a good Samaritan, stopping to help a stranded driver. FOX4 spoke exclusively with the victim about the horrifying ordeal and his frustrations with what's happened since.

Capture After Old School Killing In The Dotte

Kansas City, Kansas man arrested in 38-year-old southeast Texas slaying CONROE, Texas (AP) - A 75-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, man has been arrested on a murder warrant in a nearly four decade old homicide in southeast Texas. Thomas Elvin Darnell was taken to the Montgomery County jail Thursday after being arrested Monday in Kansas on a murder warrant for the 1983 death of Laura Purchase, according to Montgomery County Sheriff's Lt.

Family Informs On Suspected Kansas Tech Creeper

Kansas man faces 155 child pornography charges EMPORIA, Kan. (AP) - A Chase County man is jailed on 155 counts of sexual exploitation of a child after child pornography was found at his home, authorities said. Leland Zachariah Taylor, 71, of Cedar Point, was arrested May 8 after Chase County Sheriff's deputies were called to his home.

Search For Local Lady Contd

After delayed response, family desperately worried about missing Independence woman INDEPENDENCE, Mo. - A metro family is desperate for answers about an Independence missing woman. Police have issued a Silver Alert for 71-year-old Tony Williamson, who vanished exactly two weeks ago. Williamson's sister is frustrated with a delayed response and is now deeply worried about her sister's safety.

Gun Crime Caught On Camera

3 men are facing charges for December 2020 burglary at federally licensed firearms business KANSAS CITY, MO. (KCTV) -- Charges are now filed in one of two break-ins at licensed gun stores that happened about 20 minutes apart last year. A $5,000 reward is still available to help catch the suspects who are responsible for the second break-in.

KANSAS CITY COKE KINGPIN EARNS HARD TIME!!!

Leader of $56 million Kansas City cocaine empire gets 15 years, prosecutors say A leader of a multi-million dollar criminal enterprise was sentenced in federal court Friday after pleading guilty to directing the distribution of thousands of pounds of cocaine in the Kansas City area over the course of about four years, according to federal prosecutors.

Tribute To Youngster Killed

Kansas Gov. Kelly signs welfare bill 'Adrian's Law,' named for murdered KCK boy TOPEKA, Kan. - Kansas' child welfare department and law enforcement officers soon will be required to visually observe a child when they're investigating allegations of abuse or neglect under a bill Gov. Laura Kelly signed into law Friday. The measure is known as "Adrian's Law," and will take effect by mid-June.

Developing . . .
A Kansas City debate over the police budget exemplifies the power of words in shaping public perception. And, as always, we understand that perception is reality.

To wit . . .

KANSAS CITY MAYOR, COUNCIL ALLIES & PROGRESSIVES ARE DESPERATE TO STOP CRITICS FROM USING THE TERM 'DEFUND' TO DESCRIBE THIS WEEK'S 40 MILLION DOLLAR CASH GRAB!!!



For the plebs to call this effort "defunding" is akin to hate speech and raises suspicions about participation in the capital insurrection.

Meanwhile . . .

MAYOR Q'S DEFUND THE POLICE PLAN NEGLECTS DEETS ON HOW CITY HALL WILL MANAGE THE 40 MILLION DOLLAR STEAL!!!



Right now the police board has a great deal of financial oversight but moving the money inside city hall is akin to making it disappear.

It gets worse . . .

Whilst chatter about funding a new police recruiting class is nice, there's also the sketchy proposition that this so-called local control effort will help curb murders.

How will that happen exactly? What does the science and data tell us about the impact of municipal allocations on murder rates?

Here's the theory as best as we can tell . . .



Giving MILLIONS to urban core activists will stop the killing in Kansas City.

That strategy has NEVER worked but that's no reason not to try it again.

Even better . . .

Local inner city activists awash in cash will likely become more "enthusiastic" to support the political agenda of elected officials who appropriate the taxpayer largess.

In much the same way that KC moms with sons who were shot dead in barbaric urban street fights blame rural Missouri Republicans for their troubles . . . This new wave of cash would likely garner even more grassroots support for gun control, medicaid, more youth pizza parties and heck . . . Maybe even immigration reform.

Meanwhile, so many activists already on the city hall payroll haven't really had much impact on the rising quotient of KCMO killing.

Accordingly, we offer another slate of news links on the topic that will likely spark a court battle and more Missouri legislation in a special session to limit KCMO government antics that have more to to with money, power and publicity than concern for locals impacted by deadly violence.

Check-it . . .

KC anti-crime group AdHoc says reallocation of KCPD budget is a step in the right direction Kansas City grassroots anti-crime group, AdHoc, is pleased with the city's plan to take over $42 million out of the police budget and move it to crime prevention, community engagement and outreach."I am hoping that those dollars are opened up for community organizations to be able to provide those preventatives services," said Damon Daniel, president of AdHoc.

Activists: Changes to KCPD budget 'way past due' KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Gwen Grant, president of the Urban League of Kansas City, is pleased with Thursday's announcement of proposed changes to the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department budget by Mayor Quinton Lucas.

KC council's move to take partial control of KCPD budget highlights unusual rule of law KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) - The debate rages on over the Kansas City city council's decision Thursday to take $42 million dollars out of the general police budget and put it into a city-managed police fund for community services and crime prevention. In some ways, it comes down to getting a sliver of what's known as "local control."

Successful police reform starts at local level, one expert argues KANSAS CITY, Mo. - As funding for the Kansas City Police Department makes national headlines, one expert says local oversight of the department is essential if the community wants to see significant change. Thaddeus Johnson is an assistant professor of criminal justice and criminology at Georgia State University.

Kansas City residents split on KCPD funding depending on where they live KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Kansas Citians are still digesting the news of KCPD's budget changes as the city redirects nearly $43 million into separate fund. Many in the Northland who 41 Action News spoke with are not in favor of this plan. Karen and Tom Swope have called the Northland home for more than 50 years.

City manager, police board commissioner speak out on Kansas City police funding changes KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Defund or reallocate? Kansas City's city manager and a police board member are speaking out Friday. One day after the mayor and city council fast-tracked a funding shift for the Kansas City Police Department, there have already been new developments.

Details yet to come new KCPD Community Services and Prevention fund KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City, Missouri, City Council voted to move just over $42 million from KCPD's budget into a Community Services and Prevention fund. Mayor Quinton Lucas and other city leaders said what the city is doing to address violence right now is not working.

Developing . . .
Now more than ever we realize that Kansas City's Mayor doesn't really know what he's doing and he allowed himself to be tricked into a losing fight.



To wit and because this is all just a dog and pony show thats going to be cancelled by the Guv & the Missouri General Assembly GOP Super Majority . . .

TKC TOLD YOU SO!!! GUV PARSON IS FIRST IN A LONG LINE OF LEADERS WAITING TO SMACK DOWN MAYOR Q'S SKETCHY PLAN!!!



More to the point . . .

THIS SCHEME HAS BEEN SUCCESSFULLY LABELED 'DEFUND' DESPITE THE MAYOR'S INSISTENCE THAT THE EFFORT MERELY DEMANDS REALLOCATION AND ACCOUNTABILITY!!!



Sadly, the city hall honcho and his advisers have always been too arrogant and smart for their own good. A simple review of syllables reveals which side the public will believe . . .Fear of police defunding resonates with far more than municipal accounting procedures and good government promises .

Even worse, consider these supporting factors . . .

- Nearly half of the KCMO city council opposes this plan.

- All of Missouri's GOP super majority are opposed.

- The Guv is now on record smacking down the idea.

- And today's Harris Faulkner interview didn't go well. Her questions exposed the lack of detail in the mayor's idea which creates less transparency than police board governance.

- Most importantly, Look closely and notice that support for Mayor Q among Democratic Party colleagues is hard to find.

Accordingly . . .We share this latest volley of links revealing that the MAYOR Q IS LOSING THIS DEBATE only a day after he started the fight.

Check-it . . .

SHOW-ME GUV PARSON DEVASTATING REBUKE AGAINST DEFUND POLICE POWER PLAY!!!

Gov. Parson's office calls Kansas City police funding plan 'dangerous and irresponsible' KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Gov. Mike Parson's office is speaking up one day after Mayor Quinton Lucas and the city council passed a dramatic shift in funding for the Kansas City Police Department. Lucas and majority of the council passed two ordinances Thursday restructuring the police budget and how funds are allocated.

Police Board Betrayed

'A complete ambush:' Police board member says of KC's move to reallocate millions from KCPD Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is trying to sell his plan of reallocating money for the police department. He went on Fox News Friday morning saying it's time for a new approach to stopping violent crime. The ordinance was introduced and passed within six hours Thursday.

Fight For Kansas City Police

Tempers flare over change in KCMO police budget KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) --Things got heated Thursday at Kansas City council chambers today when a coalition of eight council members and the mayor pushed through ordinances that would take control of more than $40 million of the already approved police budget and allocate it to what they are calling a Community Services and Prevention Fund.

SPECIAL SMACKDOWN COMING SOON!!!

Missouri lawmakers look to special session to address KCPD budget changes KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Some Missouri lawmakers angered by recently adopted budget changes to the Kansas City, Missouri Police Department have their own ideas for what should happen next. On Thursday, Mayor Quinton Lucas announced two proposed ordinances aimed at increasing accountability for KCPD.

Show-Me GOP Plotting Revenge

"All options are on the table." Critics warn Kansas City police budget changes aren't a done deal KANSAS CITY, MO (KCTV) --- Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is defending his new budget plan which places more police funds under city control. He was on Fox News arguing this is not a defunding plan.

Former Kansas City Newsie Harris Faulkner Stumps Mayor Q

Kansas City mayor calls police funding proposal 'responsible' on FOX News KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mayor Quinton Lucas appeared on FOX News today, May 21, defending a recent proposal passed by City Council that changes funding for the Kansas City Police Department. Harris Faulkner grilled Lucas, suggesting the mayor is slashing funding to the police department.

Progress Without Consensus?!?

KC's move on police budget takes some community members by surprise The reallocation of more than $45 million for the Kansas City Police Department budget on Thursday came as a surprise to several community members, especially those who have called for taking money away from the department in recent months.The city council's majority vote to transfer control of tens of millions of dollars from a state-appointed oversight board will give Kansas City elected leaders more control of the budget.

Developing . . .
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Mark Bennett has reported and analyzed news from the Wabash Valley and beyond since Larry Bird wore Sycamore blue. That role with the Tribune-Star has taken him from Rome to Alaska and many points in between, but Terre Haute suits him best.

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Canton, GA (30114)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 80%.
I think there is always some reconstruction of temples at any one time but there is still plenty to see and it will not interrupt your experience. We stayed at Shinta Mani in Siem Reap, I highly recommend this hotel. There are two Shinta Mani venues (over the road from each other), we stayed in the smaller and slightly more expensive one which was one of the best places I have ever stayed.

We were there in February, it was hot and a little humid, I'm not sure about December weather.

We got our visa at the airport on arrival, we are Australian so I'm not sure if things are different for US citizens, Google will help you.

I can recommend a guide, we cycled across Cambodia with him and he was very good. He is based in Siem Reap and was extremely informative about all the temples, area and bird life. His name is Art Ourn. Search him out by using Google, he is on the Viator website with a great profile.

I hope you enjoy Cambodia as much as we did, it's a country full of nice surprises!

Cheers, Jude
NEW YORK

Seat belt campaign runs through June 6

'Buckle Up New York, Click it or Ticket' campaign runs through June 6
TIRANA, Albania (AP)  Albania's president offered public support Saturday to a former prime minister who was sanctioned by the United States this week for corruption.

President Ilir Meta made public a letter to former Prime Minister Sali Berisha that described the sanctioning of the politician as a shameful, unfaithful and nasty act prompted by anti-Albanian lobbying.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday that Berisha and his immediate family were barred from entering the United States. Blinken accused Berisha, who served as Albania's prime minister from 2005 until 2013, of being involved in corrupt acts...including using his power for his own benefit and to enrich his political allies and his family members."

Blinken also alleged that while in office Berisha interfered in the judiciary at the expense of independent investigations, anticorruption efforts, and accountability measures.

Berisha, 76, is currently a lawmaker representing the opposition Democratic Party in Albanias parliament. He also served as Albanias second post-communist president from 1992 to 1997.

In his defense of his predecessor, Meta alleged that Blinkens decision was ordered from the kleptocratic regime" in Albania at a time when the results of the country's April 25 parliamentary election are being contested.

Meta has been at odds with the governing Socialist Party, which has moved to have him impeached for not remaining non-partisan during the election.
TRUMBULL  When a person has an infection, it gets treated with antibiotics. Inflammation is treated with anti-inflammatory. So it is only natural then, according to Trumbull High student Sierra Scott, that if racism is infecting society, it gets battled with anti-racism.

Scott, one of the speakers at Saturdays anti-racism rally at Trumbulls Town Hall Green, said anti-racism means having zero tolerance for racist behavior.

It means refusing to stay silent, and using the support of others to ensure racism is never overlooked, she said.

The rally was organized by a group of Trumbull elected officials and residents and hosted by Town Councilwoman Joy Colon, D-4.

Colon, believed to be the first woman of color ever elected to the Trumbull Town Council, recalled that it was less than a year ago when more than 1,000 protesters jammed the green in the wake of George Floyds killing by Derek Chauvin on May 25, 2020.

That moment became a movement, Colon said.

Tara Figueroa, a leader on the towns Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Taskforce, also remarked how much had changed in the previous year.

One year ago today, we had no idea who George Floyd was, she said. One year ago, 4,000 violent attacks on Asian-Americans had not happened.

Figueroa commented on the tendency of people to praise the strength of Black and other minority families for their reactions to injustice.

People will say, Youre so strong, she said. As marginalized people, we dont have a choice but to be strong. We have to persevere because its our right.

U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, D-4, agreed that equality was a basic right.

This country is founded on the idea, even as we sometimes fall short, that we are created equal, he said. And we will be treated in a way not dependent on the color of our skin, or the god we worship, or the gender of the person we love. We are American people.

Himes also referenced a counterprotest to the event that had been discussed on social media but never materialized.

How can there be a counter to three simple words: Black Lives Matter? he asked.

In the past year, Black Lives Matter has reached an inflection point as video footage captured by ordinary citizens have shown the country what Black people have always known, according to attorney Preston Tisdale. For years, he said, complaints that Black people were treated differently when it came to interactions with the police or in their daily lives were brushed off by the majority, he said.

It is a legacy of slavery, and of Jim Crow that Black people are not to be believed, he said. People said, Maybe theyre exaggerating. But then you saw it on your TV. The camera didnt lie.

Saige Annakie, another Trumbull High student, said racial prejudice persists in schools, and urged the adoption of a strict zero tolerance policy for race-based bullying or intimidation, even if such a policy will not directly affect her.

Im leaving for college in the fall, but this mission will carry on, she said.

Adopting strong, unequivocal policies against racism is especially important given the attitude by many around town that it simply is not a problem, Annakie said.

The biggest rebuttal is, Theres no racism in Trumbull, she said. 

Figueroa, who was publicly threatened with having a cross burned on her lawn, agreed that ignorance of the problem was a barrier to effective solutions.

If you have had the privilege of not having to experience discrimination, then thats amazing, she said. But understand, that is not the experience of everyone.
BOSTON (AP)  Massachusetts will end its COVID-19 vaccine preregistration system at the end of May, the Baker administration announced Friday.

The state's COVID-19 Vaccine Finder will remain available. The site lists more than 900 locations across the state to receive a shot.

Also Friday, the administration announced that beginning Monday, it is expanding the states homebound vaccination program to help schedule in-home vaccinations for eligible residents who are unable to get to a vaccine site.

The homebound program is primarily using Johnson & Johnson vaccines, a vaccine that only requires one visit to an individuals home. For individuals 12-17 years old who are homebound, the program is offering Pfizer vaccines.

Over the next several days, all those still in the preregistration system will be contacted with an opportunity to book appointments before the system closes on May 31. All remaining people who have preregistered will be given an opportunity to book before the system shuts down, officials said.

Residents will still be able to track down a location to receive a COVID-19 shot using the states vaccine finder website.

Officials said there are thousands of appointments available across the state. The website also includes information about walk-up appointments at select locations, accessibility information, and how individuals can plan for their appointment using the MBTA trip planner tool.

Individuals can also filter by type of vaccine offered to ensure that people under 18 or their parents can search for locations that only offer the Pfizer vaccine. Those who need more help can call 211 to reach the Massachusetts Vaccine Scheduling Resource Line for assistance booking an appointment.

The state launched the preregistration system on March 12. Since then, nearly 2 million people have preregistered and nearly 600,000 appointments have been scheduled, officials said.

___

VIRUS BY THE NUMBERS

The number of new daily cases of COVID-19 increased by about 400 Friday while the number of newly confirmed coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts rose by 11.

The new numbers pushed the states confirmed COVID-19 death toll to 17,453 since the start of the pandemic, while its confirmed caseload rose to nearly 659,000.

The true number of cases is likely higher because studies suggest some people can be infected and not feel sick.

There were about 300 people reported hospitalized Friday because of confirmed cases of COVID-19, with about 80 in intensive care units.

The average age of those hospitalized was 59. There were an estimated 11,000 people with current active cases of COVID-19 in the state.

___

IMMUNIZATIONS

More than 7.4 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered in Massachusetts as of Friday.

That includes more than 4 million first doses and more than 3.1 million second doses of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

There have been more than 238,000 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine administered.

Nearly 3.4 million people have been fully immunized.

___

HIGH-RISK COMMUNITIES

The number of Massachusetts communities still considered at high risk for coronavirus transmission has dropped to just two, according to the state Department of Public Health.

Lawrence and New Bedford are the only two communities in the so-called red zone, down from six last week. The number of high-risk communities peaked at 229 in mid-January but has now declined for six consecutive weeks as more and more people have been vaccinated against COVID-19.

The state has 351 distinct municipalities.

As of Thursday, more than 4 million Massachusetts residents had gotten at least one coronavirus shot and 3.3 million were fully vaccinated, according to the health department.

The state has specifically targeted the hardest-hit communities for vaccinations, COVID-19 Command Center spokesperson Kate Reilly told the Boston Herald.

Focusing on the states 20 hardest-hit communities, outreach teams have knocked on more than 118,000 doors, made 25,000 phone calls, had 37,000 one-on-one conversations and dropped off more than 31,000 flyers, she said.

Larger communities are designated high risk if they have an average of more than 10 cases per 100,000 residents and a positive test rate greater than or at 4% during a given week.

___

U.S.S. CONSTITUTION REOPENS

The U.S.S. Constitution took to Boston Harbor as it reopened to the public Friday.

The ship known as Old Ironsides is again welcoming visitors for tours Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The ship fired a 21-gun salute as it passed Castle Island.

Public visits were suspended in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic, but the ship reopened in August only to close again in November.

The U.S.S Constitution is the worlds oldest commissioned warship still afloat, and played a crucial role in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, actively defending sea lanes from 1797 until 1855.

It earned its nickname during the War of 1812 when British cannonballs bounced off its wooden hull.
As Connecticut took its largest step this week toward returning to life before the pandemic, the states data shows COVID vaccinations are lagging in towns on the eastern side of the state as well as underserved neighborhoods.

In the northeastern corner of the state, a patchwork of towns along the Rhode Island border from Thompson south to the Plainfield area report less than half of people age 16 and up have received at least one shot of a vaccine.

In some of our smaller towns, vaccinations are lagging, Gov. Ned Lamont said Friday following an event in Ridgefield. I think they werent hit as hard by COVID as we were (here) ... So I think they maybe dont feel quite the same sense of urgency.

Lamont also attributed the lower vaccination rates to hesitancy in younger adults, the 25- to 35-year-old demographic he has referred to as the invincibles.

But overall, were one of the most vaccinated states in the country, Lamont added.

More than 60 percent of Connecticuts total population of around 3.6 million have received at least one dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with 49.8 percent of the population considered fully vaccinated as of Thursday.

That comes as the state on Wednesday began allowing fully vaccinated people to go without a mask indoors in most public settings, although businesses and events can still require visitors to wear face coverings. Those who are not fully vaccinated are still required to wear a mask indoors. The states outdoor mask mandate ended on May 1.

Some public settings will still require fully vaccinated people to wear a mask, including inside public transit and transportation hubs, health care offices, congregate settings like jails and nursing homes, and inside school buildings.

The states COVID-19 metrics have also remained low in recent weeks. On Friday, the state recorded a 0.93 percent positivity rate for the second day in a row with 171 new infections found out of 18,425 tests. There was one fewer person hospitalized, dropping the statewide total to 140. Four more deaths increased the states total to 8,212.

The loosening mask restrictions came as Connecticut also rolled back its remaining COVID-19 restrictions on public life, allowing bars that did not serve food to fully reopen for the first time in 14 months. New York and New Jersey planned similar reopenings for the same day as part of a regional reopening.

But how far the vaccines reach can vary wildly by ZIP code.

The latest census district data, which was published by the state Department of Public Health on May 11, also shows significant disparities in vaccination for communities on the social-vulnerability index, a term used by demographers to track communities that are considered underserved.

In Bridgeport, for example, the state data shows underserved neighborhoods in the citys east and west sides have only around a quarter to half of residents 16 and older at least partially vaccinated.

In eight blocks between Madison Avenue and Pequonnock Street in The Hollow, a neighborhood just west of downtown Bridgeport, only about 22 percent of residents 16 and older have started vaccination.

A six-minute drive west and over the border into Fairfield, the data shows more than 85 percent have received a first dose.

Were trying to have some fun with this, Lamont said, but were also taking the vaccine vans to the most underserved communities in our state  many of them in our cities  getting the vaccine right to them, actually doing house calls.

Lamont said Friday he believes allowing fully vaccinated people to go without a mask indoors will incentivize those who are on the fence about getting the shot. He also touted the states program that allows vaccinated people to get a free drink with the purchase of a meal at a restaurant.

Similar disparities by neighborhood also appear in the states other major metropolitan areas.

In New Haven, areas of the Elm Citys East Rock neighborhood report vaccination rates as high as 93 percent among the 16 and older population. A few blocks west, the number drops to 33 percent. The citys outskirts also show lower vaccination rates. Farther out into surrounding towns, vaccination rates rise again.

New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said the city has held more than 80 pop-up clinics through Griffin Health. Other clinics are planned for schools to help vaccinate children 12 and over, including in areas with low vaccination coverage. The city is also working on a plan to offer evening vaccination clinics.

Elicker said he doesnt have hard data on whats causing vaccine hesitancy, but said in his anecdotal conversations, none seem motivated by conspiracy theories or politics.

I think theres just a lot of hesitancy, the mayor said. Some have simply told him, I just havent gotten it yet, but plan to soon.

Theres not like a really rigid rejection of the idea, he added.

In Hartford, neighborhoods bordering West Hartford and the city center show higher vaccination rates, while areas on the outskirts show lower uptake.

Groton and New London, on the states eastern shoreline, also show similar disparities. While New London neighborhoods report vaccination rates among those 16 and up below 25 percent, in neighboring shoreline areas of Groton and Waterford the number is above 75 percent.

The state is offering walk-up vaccinations through the mobile clinics it runs with Griffin Health, and has promised drinks and other freebies to try to convince people to get a shot.

We want to make it as easy as possible  were coming to you, said David Reyes, the state Department of Public Healths director of state and local outreach. Were coming to you because we know access is an issue.

Maura Fitzgerald, a spokesperson for the agency, said DPH has set up a website where organizers of large outdoor events can request a vaccination van. Reyes said the agency plans to send a van to a Juneteenth celebration. They also received a request to send the van to a cosmetology school.

During a recent outing in Hartford, Reyes said he canvassed hoping to convince people to get their shot. One woman he spoke with in Spanish asked questions, and said she wished there were more Spanish doctors explaining the vaccines on TV.

They want someone who can talk to them, Reyes said.

I was there for two hours and six peoples got vaccinated  to me, that was a success, he added.

Staff editor Alyssa Seidman contributed to this story.
A society is judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable, with just over thirty seven thousand Sinopharm vaccines remaining, more elderly persons were turned away from health centres on day two of the walk-in vaccination drive.
The Good News was published from 1995 to 2015 by the United Church of God. It was created to look at world events from a Biblical perspective and give insight on what is happening in the world. If youre interested in these back issues, you should also check out Beyond Today magazine.
Hi, my name is Scott C. Waring and I wrote a few books and am currently a ESL School Owner in Taiwan. I have had my own UFO sighting up close and personal, but that's how it works right? A non believer becomes a believer when they experience their first sighting. You witnessed it, your perceptual field changes, so now you need to share it.





I created this site to help the UFO community get a little bit organized. I noticed that there was a lot of chaos when searching for UFO sighting reports, so I hope this site helps. I wanted to support those eyewitnesses who have tried to tell others about what they have seen, yet were laughed at by even closest of friends.





More and more each day the governments of the world leak bits and pieces of UFO information to the public. They have a trickle down theory in hopes of slowly getting citizens use to the idea that we are not alone in universe and never have been. The truth is being leaked drop by drop until one day we look around and find ourselves neck high in it.





The discovery of alien species in existence is the most monumental scientific event in human history, suppression of that information is a crime against humanity.





About me:

I live in Taiwan. I OWN MY OWN ENGLISH SCHOOL, AND ONCE HAD 5 SCHOOLS.

Am Former USAF at SAC base (flight line).

Age: 42

Educ: BA in Elem ed. Masters in Counseling ed.





I had two UFO sightings, (30+bus size orbs) in military and in 2012 personally saw the UFO over Taipei 101 building on New Years Day (and recored it).
Over the past day, May 21, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation area in eastern Ukraine eight times.

"In particular, the Russian occupation forces fired 122mm artillery, grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms at Ukrainian positions near Katerynivka (64km west of Luhansk); 120mm and 82mm mortars, grenade launchers of various systems, and heavy machine guns  in the suburbs of Vodiane (94km south of Donetsk); 82mm mortars  outside Novoselivka (16km west of Luhansk) and Pisky (11km north-west of Donetsk); grenade launchers of various systems and heavy machine guns  near Luhanske (59km north-east of Donetsk); small arms  outside Hnutove (20km north-east of Mariupol)," the press center of the JFO Headquarters reports.

As a result of the enemy shelling, two servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded and another one was injured. The soldiers were promptly given first aid and evacuated to a medical facility. Their health condition is satisfactory.

As of 07:00 on May 22, two ceasefire violations were recorded. In particular, the enemy opened fire from 120mm and 82mm mortars and heavy machine guns near Pisky; grenade launchers of various systems, heavy machine guns, and small arms  outside Prychepylivka (50km north-west of Luhansk).

Ukrainian soldiers returned fire in response to the enemy's shelling.

The Ukrainian side of the Joint Control and Coordination Center (JCCC) informed the OSCE SMM about the violations committed by the armed formations of the Russian Federation.

ish
U.S. Charge d'Affaires in Ukraine Kristina Kvien and EU Ambassador to Ukraine Matti Maasikas met with Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov and Deputy Head of the Presidents Office Andriy Smyrnov to discuss the progress of judicial reform.

According to Ukrinform, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine posted this on Facebook.

"We continue to urge Ukrainian authorities to uphold their commitments to implement the Venice Commission recommendation of guaranteeing a temporary - but prevailing - role for independent experts in these [judicial] bodies," the statement reads.

The diplomats noted that independent experts are the only way to protect the High Council of Justice, the High Qualification Commission of Judges, and NABU  which are responsible for urgently needed judicial reforms and the fight against corruption  from malign influence.

Kristina Kvien and Matti Maasikas emphasized that it is important to involve independent experts who have no conflicts of interest, biases, or agendas, except to defend the public good.

As reported, the European Union and the United States have repeatedly noted that the judicial reform is key in Ukraine, and its success influence the observance of fundamental human rights and the rule of law, the protection of property and the trust of foreign investors, as well as the success of all democratic transformations in the country.

ish
Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Dmytro Razumkov says the completion of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project poses a threat to both Ukraine and many other countries.

"The Verkhovna Rada faces an important challenge - the struggle for our energy independence and security. And it will be difficult for Ukraine in this issue without international support," he said on Friday, the parliaments press service reported.

The Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to intensify efforts to strengthen the energy security of Ukraine and Europe through the general introduction of sanctions against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. A total of 292 MPs supported such a decision.

"I am confident that other states will support our address on Nord Stream 2, which poses a political, economic and energy threat to many countries," Razumkov stressed.

ish
The Council of Europe should make contribution to achieving the just goals of the Crimean Platform, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba has said.

He said this during an online meeting of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on May 21, the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

Kuleba stressed that Russias ongoing armed aggression against Ukraine, the systematic failure by Moscow to comply with binding decisions of the European Court of Human Rights, the poisoning of political opponents, and other actions have shown the ineffectiveness of the policy of concessions towards the Russian Federation.

The concessions to Russia in 2019, when PACE returned its delegation, were justified by the need to involve Moscow in dialogue to protect human rights. After two years, they do not seem to be effective at all. Russian aggression is ongoing and continues to fuel human rights violations," the minister said.

According to him, given the deteriorating human rights situation in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories, Ukraine needs more active involvement of monitoring mechanisms, in particular the Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights.

Kuleba expressed gratitude to the partners and the German presidency for supporting the Ukrainian initiative and making the decision by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe on "The human rights situation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol (Ukraine)." He stressed the importance of further joint work for its proper implementation.

"Ukraine is preparing to launch the Crimean Platform, an initiative designed to respond to the challenges of the Russian occupation of Crimea. The Council of Europe should make contribution to achieving its just goals," he said.

Kuleba expressed gratitude to his colleague and friend, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs of Germany Heiko Maas, for the successful presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. He welcomed the beginning of the Hungarian presidency and wished his friend and colleague, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Hungary Peter Szijjarto, successful and constructive work in this post.

The minister stressed that Ukraine would strongly support the efforts of the Hungarian presidency to improve the efficiency of the Council of Europe, and expressed hope that the visit of Peter Szijjarto, as the new chair of the Committee of Ministers, to Donetsk and Luhansk regions in June would contribute to further joint efforts to restore peace and democratic security in Europe.

On May 21, Hungary took over the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe from Germany during a video conference meeting with representatives of the Organisations 47 member states.

As reported, the Crimean Platform is a new consultative and coordination format initiated by Ukraine to improve the efficiency of the international response to the occupation of Crimea, respond to growing security challenges, step up international pressure on Russia, prevent further human rights violations, protect victims of the occupation regime and to achieve the de-occupation of Crimea. Ukraine actively invites other states to join this international initiative.

The first Crimean Platform summit is scheduled for August 23, 2021.

ish
The Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, if completed, will pose a challenge to both the economy and security of Ukraine. At the same time, the gas pipeline running through the territory of Ukraine is deterring Russian aggression.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Dmytro Kuleba said this in an interview with Radio NV, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"Nord Stream 2, if completed, is not only an economic challenge to Ukraine, but also a 100% security challenge to Ukraine. The lack of need to preserve and protect Ukraine's gas transportation infrastructure will be an additional incentive for President Putin's aggressive actions," Kuleba emphasized.

According to the minister, he shares the opinion of experts that the gas pipeline running through the territory of Ukraine is deterring Russian aggression.

As reported, on May 21, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution calling on the U.S. Congress to intensify efforts to strengthen the energy security of Ukraine and Europe through the general introduction of sanctions against the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline.

The United States announced sanctions against four Russian companies and 13 vessels under the PEESA law, which provides for the prosecution of all those involved in the construction of Nord Stream 2.

ish
All NATO Member States stand ready to help Ukraine maintain its own security.

NATO Assistant Secretary General for Public Diplomacy Baiba Braze said this at an online conference organized by Hudson Institute in Washington on May 21, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"The commitment to the allied deterrence and defense to helping Ukraine and other partners is huge. It is really fantastic to see how united the Alliance is in this regard, Braze said.

She added that NATO has improved a lot its work since the beginning of the Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014.

"The lessons learned and what NATO has done since 2014 really helped in terms of assessing threats and creating this more understanding and united joint threat assessment among the Allies, which again is the basis for joint action as a next step," Braze noted.

According to her, "there is never a perfect place, but the Alliance is doing well." "The task is to prepare for the future. Because when we think about the changes that artificial intelligence and big data are bringing not only to the military side of the house, but also to intelligence, communication and others  this is a big task that we have to be prepared for, Braze said.

As Ukrinform reported, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a draft strategy for communication of the state policy of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration until 2025.

ish
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Lego's "Everyone is Awesome" will be available globally on June 1, the first day of LGBTQ Pride month. (Lego/TNS)
At Roybal Learning Center in Los Angeles, Robert Montgomery teaches a "transition to college math and statistics" class to 12th graders. The course, developed in partnership with the CSU, includes review of essential math skills. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
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This story is being provided for free as part of a series on childcare during the COVID pandemic, powered by the Solutions Journalism Network and dedicated to delivering solution-oriented stories about problems our community is facing.
Foreign investment is welcomed in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and the region will work to better use the funds, a senior regional official said on Saturday

BEIJING, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2021 ) :Foreign investment is welcomed in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and the region will work to better use the funds, a senior regional official said on Saturday.

Tibet has utilized foreign investment worth 400 million U.S.

Dollars, Wu Yingjie, secretary of Tibet Autonomous Regional Committee of the Communist Party of China, said at a news conference on the economic and social development of the region.

Since its peaceful liberation in 1951, Tibet has been enjoying preferential policies for foreign investors that are not adapted in other regions, Wu said, pledging more efforts to improve the investment environment to attract more funds.
(@fidahassanain)

Chinese ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong shared the picture of cake cutting ceremony held in connection with 70th anniversary of diplomatic relation between Pakistan and China.

ISLAMABAD: (UrduPoint/UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News-May 22nd, 2021) Pakistan and China are celebrating 70th anniversary of their diplomatic ties.

Taking to twitter, Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong expressed pleasure over celebration of years long diplomatic relations between both countries and shared a cake cutting ceremony picture with Pakistan Foreign Secretary Sohail Mahmood.

He wrote: Glad to had a cake cutting ceremony with Foreign Secretary H.E. Sohail Mahmood & colleagues from MOFA to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of China-Pakistan diplomatic relations. Lets work closely together for more fruitful cooperation,.

Yesterday, Chinese and Pakistans leadership exchanged congratulatory messages on completion of 70 years of their diplomatic ties.
Pakistan would extend all possible support to the reconstruction efforts in Gaza, and cooperate with Palestine, Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony and Middle East Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said Saturday

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 22nd May, 2021 ) :Pakistan would extend all possible support to the reconstruction efforts in Gaza, and cooperate with Palestine, Special Representative to the Prime Minister on Religious Harmony and middle East Hafiz Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi said Saturday.

Talking to Arab media, he said Prime Minister Imran Khan himself was in constant touch with the latest situation in Palestine.

The important government functionaries were also active on the situation of Palestine on the instructions of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has represented not only the Pakistani nation but also the entire Muslim Ummah in the United Nations.

All Islamic countries including Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Turkey must unite on Kashmir and Palestine issues.

"We were in touch with the governments and embassies of Palestine and Egypt as we have intimate relationships with Palestine," he concluded.
LIMA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd May, 2021)  The Peruvian government hopes that in the upcoming weeks, it will sign deals to purchase more vaccines against COVID-19, including the Russian Sputnik V, interim President Francisco Sagasti said.

"We continue to hold talks with other suppliers, including Johnson & Johnson, the Russian Direct Investment Fund that is managing the vaccine [Sputnik V] developed by the Gamaleya research center, the US company of Moderna, Germany's Curevac and China's Sinovac. We hope that these talks will be successfully completed within the next several weeks," Sagasti said at a press conference on late Friday.

He added that the country had already signed contracts to purchase 60 million doses of vaccines against COVID-19, which is enough to inoculate all people aged more than 18 years until the end of 2021.

The World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. To date, more than 165.86 million people have been infected with the coronavirus worldwide, with over 3.43 million fatalities, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Peru has confirmed more than 1.91 million COVID-19 cases so far, with over 67,000 fatalities.
(@FahadShabbir)

UN Special Envoy for Libya Jan Kubis said on Friday the withdrawal of foreign fighters and mercenaries has recently stalled, contributing to further division of the country

UNITED NATIONS (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st May, 2021) UN Special Envoy for Libya Jan Kubis said on Friday the withdrawal of foreign fighters and mercenaries has recently stalled, contributing to further division of the country.

"Progress on key issues, such as... the start of the withdrawal of foreign mercenaries, fighters and foreign forces has stalled, thus entrenching the division of Libya," Kubis said.

According to the special envoy, the UN Support Mission in Libya has continued to receive reports of fortifications along the Sirte-Jufra line, training activities, cargoes of weapons into West, East and South Libyan military bases.

The continued use and presence of thousands of mercenaries represents a significant threat not only to Libya but to the region as a whole, Kubis said,

"The recent disturbing events in Chad again remind us of the interrelated nature and links between the security situation in Libya and the security and stability of the region," he pointed out.

The special envoy further stressed the necessity to ensure an orderly departure of all foreign fighters with their disarmament and reintegration into the countries of origin to reduce the risks of increasing instability in Libya and the region.
Annual Forum Features Cutting-Edge Business Analytics Experts from Across the Nation

By Keith Morelli

TAMPA (May 20, 2021) -- Artificial intelligence identifies, screens and in some cases treats children with dyslexia. Algorithms now detect high-risk patients to funnel them into preventative care programs. Other algorithms can predict a patients mortality based on random scans of chest X-rays.

The gist of the topics covered at the Florida Business Analytics Forum on Thursday was that artificial intelligence is making huge strides in the medical industry, and the future looks even brighter. But there is a long way to go to perfect the technology that may be relatively unknown among the general population whose only glimpse of artificial intelligence comes from The Terminator movies.

The forum, a popular event that was cancelled last year because of the COVID-19 crisis, returned today, drawing internationally renowned experts in artificial intelligence and ways of eliminating racial biases that may unconsciously creep into machine learning. More than 700 registered to attend the virtual event.

The forum this year focused on the future of analytics and artificial intelligence in medicine, said Balaji Padmanabhan, director of the Muma College of Business Center for Analytics and Creativity, which hosts the event each year. For the center, the forum is a signature event designed to put a spotlight on the movement of new ideas and knowledge into the industry by bringing in thought leaders who introduce cutting-edge ideas into the analytics space.

Among the speakers was Ziad Obermeyer, who has conducted nationally recognized research in the area of algorithmic racial bias in the health care industry.

Everyone to some extent is worried about algorithmic bias, he said. Identifying bias and managing it is the focus of his work. The examples here are health care oriented but the lessons are general.

Obermeyer, who teaches at the School of Health at the University of California Berkeley, researches the intersection of machine learning, medicine and health policy. His artificial intelligence research looks at the small number of patients who are chronically ill, patients who may slip through the cracks and end up in the emergency room, which ends up costing the industry more in the end.

Algorithms already are able to identify patients as high or low risk and programs are in place to offer preventative care.

The need, he said is to target people who need care the most. To do that, algorithms assign a score to all patients who receive primary care. However, they do not take into account people who dont have health care or dont follow up on primary care. That tends to be minorities or those in lower socioeconomic situations.

The Idea is to get people who need extra help the extra help they need, he said. But there are some racial biases in some algorithms. Nevertheless, once youve detected those biases, you have a roadmap to fixing it. His work with companies that developed such algorithms has resulted in reductions in biases, he said.

Weve found these biases everywhere, he said, but we also found the solution as well.

Hugo Aerts, one of the leaders in the field of artificial intelligence and medicine, spoke about deep learning in medicine and how artificial intelligence can be used to save lives and predict how long people live. Aerts, who teaches at Harvard Medical School, is the director of the Program for Artificial Intelligence in Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

His research focuses on the development and application of novel artificial intelligence approaches  deep learning in particular  for personalized medicine by integrating and analyzing medical imaging, pathology and genomic data.

He told forum participants that artificial intelligence is not a new field; that breakthroughs happened about a decade ago when computers began to match and in some cases surpass human performance.

In the future, artificial intelligence will be involved in much more complex tasks such as surgeries, maybe even writing best sellers, Aerts said. We do expect major breakthroughs in medicine especially the fields of imaging fields in the coming years.

One example of his research looked at predicting the future.

Individuals age at different rates, he said. His algorithm looked at tens of thousands of chest X-rays, to inspect all variables to predict which patients would become high risks. The algorithm accurately identified the ages of the patients and was able to predict future issues of potentially life-threatening problems.

Of those identified as low risk, 96 percent were still alive after 12 years, Aerts said, Those identified as high risk, only 45 percent were living.

Luz Rello, who suffers from dyslexia, has done innovative research to detect dyslexia early in children by using machine learning. She is the founder of Change Dyslexia, a social organization to screen and treat dyslexia, and an assistant professor in the Department of Information Systems and Technology at IE Business School at IE University in Spain.

She used eye-tracking data to first identify students with dyslexia. She found that students reading text reacted differently when spotting an error. She mounted research that involved 400 schools in Spain to identify and treat children with dyslexia.

Dyslexia is a learning disorder, she said at the forum. Errors (in text), it turns out, are valuable research data. If there are errors in the text, people with dyslexia see errors and react differently than people without dyslexia.

Identifying children with dyslexia is a major step, as often those children were left behind, being blamed for poor reading skills or being the products of inadequate education, she said. She has developed a course of treatment that she is introducing to schools and parents to help children overcome the disorder.

The forum included talks, question and answer periods and power points to emphasize key points.

This is not a typical conference, Padmanabhan told the participants at the outset of the forum. The audience here today is as much of an expert as us and we are looking forward to getting input from you as well.

To view a recording of the forum, click here.
Valdosta, GA (31601)

Today

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 72F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms likely this evening. Then a chance of scattered thunderstorms overnight. Low 72F. Winds WSW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
The Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday decided to extend the ongoing partial coronavirus curfew in the state till 7 am on May 31 to curb the spread of infections.

In a statement, the Uttar Pradesh government said that COVID-19 vaccination, industrial activites and other essential services will continue during the period.

The previous restrictions were set to end at 7 am on May 24.

"The Uttar Pradesh government is committed to safeguard the life and livelihood of people of the state. Keeping this in mind, the policy of partial coronavirus curfew was adopted," the statement said.

Saying the restrictions have given positive results, it said a decision has been taken to extend the partial curfew.

The state reported 6,046 new COVID-19 cases and 226 deaths in the preceding 24 hours on Saturday. The number of active cases stand at 94,482.

Amidst the second wave of pandemic, many states are under partial lockdown and restrictions. India reported 2.57 lakh new COVID-19 cases in the preceding 24 hours as of Saturday morning.

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On Saturday morning at the Vatican Pope Francis met with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, who spoke to Vatican News in this exclusive interview.

By Vatican News staff writer

During their private meeting, Pope Francis and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen noted the good bilateral relations between the Holy See and the European Union, including the initiatives underway to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.

A statement by the Holy See Press Office also mentioned their discussions on human and social development issues affecting the continent, also in view of the recently launched Conference on the Future of Europe. Both leaders also looked at other issues of common interest, such as the social consequences of the pandemic, and the topics of migration, climate change, and recent developments in the Middle East.

Von der Leyen later met with Cardinal Pietro Parolin, Vatican Secretary of State, accompanied by Archbishop Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States.

Vatican News Mario Galgano met up with Ursula von der Leyen and asked her a number of questions on these topics.

With 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Holy See and the European Union, how are the relations today between the Vatican and the EU?

The relations between the Holy See, the Vatican, and the European Union are excellent. And 50 years this shows how much we are like-minded. The good cooperation is basically based on sharing the same values, working for peace, for solidarity, for the dignity of the human being. These are shared values and more of them (others too). And of course, we are following very closely the grand topic of the Vatican, the globalization of solidarity, very close to our hearts. And we are very grateful for the interest of the Vatican in our Conference on the Future of Europe. So these are just a few topics that show how intense, how good the relations are.

We are living in a very difficult time today with the pandemic. The European Union supports the Holy Fathers appeals regarding fair distribution of vaccines through COVAX. How will the European Commission continue its efforts to tackle the global health crisis?



We all know that nobody will safe until everybody is safe, and all people must have access to affordable, safe, and effective vaccines. There are different routes you can choose. The European Union, through all the difficulties we had in securing vaccines, stuck to the principle that half of the European production is going to other countries. It is 90 different countries where European production is going to, that is one part.

Of course, the second part is of utmost importance, COVAX. The European Union is one of the largest funders of COVAX, and indeed yesterday we had a G20 summit where Team Europe pledged 100 million doses for COVAX. This is so important to pledge doses in kind now because of the scarcity of vaccines all over the place. But we had another success yesterday. Our industrial partners, BioNtech Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna, committed to deliver this year 1.3 billion doses of vaccines specifically for low-income countries as non-profit and for middle-income countries as low costs. Now, these are three routes: export, donations, and industrial partners.

On the top, comes a fourth topic, which is dear to my heart. Team Europe is now working together with our African partners to build up manufacturing capacities in Africa itself. This is not for the short term, but for the medium and long term. So, we come with the technologies, with industrial partners, massive investment, but its about also skilling personnel so that in the medium term, Africa is independent to produce its own vaccines.

For Pope Francis, one of the most important current challenges is also the environmental issue. As he writes in his encyclical Laudato si, it is an urgent challenge to protect our common home. How can and should Europe act in the search for sustainable and integral development because we know things can change very quickly?



Im deeply grateful for Laudato si and the positive push it gave. So, this overall call for protecting our planet, our nature, and the climate. And the European Union was committed from the very beginning. In my mandate, the first and most important topic I placed is the European Green Deal. The European Union will be the first continent to be climate neutral in 2050. And we have now the first-ever European climate law. We not only have goals but put in law, we now, step by step show how we want to reach climate neutrality and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

It is a huge task, but first of all, if we would not act, the consequences would be horrible. We sense already what it means to have climate change. But it is also in a broader sense our responsibility for our children and grandchildren. If they want to have nature, if we want them to experience Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter as we had it, we urgently have to act now. And therefore, the European Union is bringing its share. We are also working hard to bring the world along, and I am glad to see that now South Korea, South Africa, Japan, China, and the United States all have defined goals when to reach climate neutrality and move forward. So Laudato si has really been a wake-up call.
The online signing ceremony between AEON Mall Vietnam and Dong Nai People's Committee

Cao Tien Dung, Chairman of Dong Nai People's Committee, signed an MoU with AEON Mall Vietnam (belonging to AEON Group of Japan) on researching and investing in AEON Mall trade centre in Bien Hoa city.

According to the representative of AEON Mall Vietnam, this company aims to put into operation about 20 trade centres in the near future. Dong Nai province is considered by the company as a destination with great potential because of its large population with more than 3.1 million people. Plus, there are many projects of foreign-invested enterprises in the province.

The project will likely be built on Hiep Hoa isle in Bien Hoa city with a scale of about 10 hectares. After coming into operation, the mall will give priority to using local labourers.

Until now, AEON Mall Vietnam has invested in six trade centres which operating effectively in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Binh Duong, and Haiphong.

Dung stated that Dong Nai is one of the provinces attracting many foreign-invested projects operating in many different industries. The province has invested in 45 countries and territories with 1,532 projects with a total registered capital of $31.8 billion. In this, Japan has 262 projects with a total investment of nearly $4.9 billion, ranking third among countries and territories investing in the province.

"Foreign-invested projects investing in Dong Nai are mostly related to industrial production, agriculture, and services. There are only a few foreign investors in supermarkets and trade centres. Therefore, Dong Nai will support AEON Mall Vietnam to soon complete investment procedures, carry out the project construction and put it into operation," said Dung.
Endowed with a long coastline, an extensive network of natural waterways as well as favourable climate conditions, Vietnam has so far boasted impressive growth of aquaculture on both nationwide and worldwide scales. Not only has this sector served as one of the key pillars of the countrys economy, but it has also made substantial contributions to meeting the international demands for seafood products, and reportedly generating a total export revenue of $8.6 billion in 2020 notwithstanding the detrimental impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

While shrimp production still predominates, Vietnams aquaculture has recently witnessed a surge of new categories, introduced by proactive and innovative businessmen in the domestic industry. One of the prominent representatives is Tran Van Tuoi, CEO of Seagrapes Vietnam, who set out to go in a brand-new direction, producing and manufacturing sea grapes, only a few years ago. Seizing the opportunities when they came his way, Tuoi has managed to obtain a major foothold for Longevity Sea Grapes in the market, getting the company listed among the 20 most popular brands in Vietnam in 2020, rated by Consumer Protection Center.

Longevity Sea Grapes  the agricultural product bringing success for Seagrapes Vietnam Co., Ltd.

Carving out his own path in aquaculture industry

Despite the increasing number of entrepreneurs that enter the field of seafood production and manufacturing day by day, Tuoi and his business have made the cut with a much less common product. Starting off as a petroleum specialist who graduated from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, Tuoi paid great attention to sea grape products when visiting his hometown five years ago in Khanh Hoa  a region specialised in manufacturing sea grapes for export to markets including Korea and Japan. Given that Vietnams sea grapes are, albeit less popular to the world and not very common among Vietnamese consumers, while being far richer in nutrients, I was encouraged to research and establish a business of my own  Seagrapes Vietnam, determined to make a name for Vietnam in this category and reach even the most remote potential customers across the nation and the world, he said.

From a petroleum specialist, Tran Van Tuoi has started producing sea grapes with the heart and passion of a startup

In order to guarantee the best product quality possible, Tuoi puts a heavy emphasis on the adoption of cutting-edge technology. Normally, sea grapes can only last for a week at most, but Longevity Sea Grapes continued to push the envelope by extending the expiration dates up to a year while lifting the scent and flavour thanks to their relentless research and development (R&D) efforts. Besides, renowned food hygiene standards such as Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and the US Food and Drug Administration were taken into serious consideration, along with packaging practices that fit the cultures of target markets.

As for the development potential of this category, Tuoi highlighted, Vietnam is a strong agricultural and aquaculture country with products like fisheries being supported by customers all over the world, from the US and Europe to Dubai. However, Vietnamese enterprises have to invest in improving their branding strategies to protect and strengthen the reputation of Made in Vietnam products as well as make the most of this ever-growing need from global customers. Realising the importance of that, since June 2020, Longevity Sea Grapes has also successfully registered for a trademark in the US.

Moreover, as for his sharing, the sea grape manufacturing industry, in particular, witnessed many challenges in terms of limited service providers and the extra care needed to keep them fresh compared to other conventional products. The dedication to research food processing technology and the rise of cross-border e-commerce are the two key factors he pays special attention to in order to leverage the use of sea grapes  a highly nutrient and profitable product generating enormous export revenues for the country  among domestic and international customers.

Capturing hearts of international customers with Vietnamese sea grapes

Before starting to sell his products on Amazon, Tuoi had carried out thorough examination of similar products on this channel and found his own competitive edge in terms of quality, branding, and pricing. With high nutritional values and scientifically proven health benefits, Longevity Sea Grapes have been exported via Amazon to international customers that enforce stringent food safety regulations and received positive feedback from consumers overseas. A US-based customer from Okinawa considered the quality of Longevity Sea Grapes as good as those originally from Japan in her childhood days, yet having a more acceptable price, while an American customer, who is a big fan of sea grapes, had tried almost all the brands and finally came to his final conclusion that Longevity Sea Grapes products are one of the most delicious ones with high quality and eye-catching packaging.

Exported to the US through Amazon, Longevity Sea Grapes has soon become the favourite of many customers thanks to its top-notch quality, easy preparation, and eye-catching packaging

Such enthusiastic nods of approval have strengthened the motivation and built up the necessary momentum for Longevity Sea Grapes to flourish on Amazons online store, becoming Amazons Choice, after only three months of participation. In 2020, revenue from Amazon alone accounted for 35 per cent of the companys total revenue.

In retrospect, Tuoi attributed his phenomenal success on Amazon to the comprehensive assistance from Amazon, especially the Amazon Global Selling team in Vietnam. Throughout the year, Amazon has provided Vietnam-based sellers with numerous campaigns that can help boost sales to great heights. For example, in the last holiday season, Longevity Sea Grapes experienced an increase of 300-500 per cent in sales in comparison to normal selling days.

The dedicated team from Amazon always sends me information at the beginning of the year about the upcoming campaigns in the year or 3-4 months in advance so that sellers like me can have time to work on a clearer strategy for sustainable development throughout the year, Tuoi shared with a smile. It is truly beneficial to have a dedicated team in Vietnam from Amazon Global Selling for the local entrepreneurs to receive the best support so as to realise their ambitions of scaling their businesses across borders.

Another noteworthy service that has been of great help for Longevity Sea Grapes is Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), in which the sellers are allowed to store their products in Amazon's fulfilment centres all over the world, where Amazon picks, packs, delivers, and provides customer service for these products. In Tuois opinion, this exclusive service does not only support his business in transporting and packaging but also ensures the products quality (especially for products like sea grapes that require superior attention and care). He believes that through Amazon services, enterprises are allowed to affirm their brand image and protect their names in the competitive global market.

According to Tuoi, Vietnam possesses all the qualities needed to promote aquaculture in general and the category of sea grapes in particular to be on par with the best products there in the world. Customers are the best judge, he emphasised. No matter where your starting point is, as long as they like your products, you win. Speaking about the future plans for Longevity, Tuoi excitedly shares his vision of going global with Amazon by expanding his business to four continents: not only the US but also Europe (where he is currently setting up accounts for six countries), Asia (Singapore), the Middle East (Dubai) and Australia. In the next five years, Longevity Sea Grapes is determined to become not only the leading sea grape brand in the world but also the pride of Vietnam.
Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo (Photo: Chinese Embassy in Vietnam)

Hanoi - Chinese Ambassador to Vietnam Xiong Bo has affirmed the political significance of the elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and Peoples Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 tenure, scheduled for May 23, in an interview granted recently to the Vietnam News Agency.

The ambassador noted that Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong had personally chaired a conference on election work and closely directed preparations, and National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue had travelled to many localities such as Hai Phong city and Tuyen Quang and Quang Ninh provinces to inspect preparations.

He added that in ministries, agencies, and localities, officials and people have actively engaged in the political consultation process.

The ambassador stressed that as socialist countries under the leadership of their Communist Parties, China and Vietnam always pursue a people-centred development path, consistently develop socialist democracy with their own characteristics and ensure citizens right to mastery.

He noted that candidates for the 15th NA election in Vietnam come from all walks of life and professions, which shows a high degree of representativeness, citing that ethnic minorities account for one-fifth and women 45 percent; higher than in previous elections.

At a polling station in Hoan Kiem district, Hanoi (Photo: VNA)

The sound preparations reflect the CPVs consistent leadership, citizens right to mastery, and national governance in line with the law, he said.

With Vietnam making an all-out effort to fight COVID-19, Ambassador Xiong Bo hailed the country for using information technology in the election to ensure that it will take place in a safe and orderly manner.

He expressed a belief that the elections will be a success, and Vietnamese voters will choose deputies with moral virtue, talent, and professional expertise to ensure the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and fulfill the targets set by the Congress.

The ambassador also spoke highly of the friendship and cooperation between the legislatures of China and Vietnam.

He recalled the visit to China by NA Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan in July 2019, during which she was received by and held talks with Chinese Party General Secretary and President Xi Jinping, Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National Peoples Congress Li Zhanshu, and Chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference Wang Yang.

The ambassador said during the meetings, both sides reached important common perception on the exchange of experience on national governance and enhancing cooperation between law-making bodies.

He vowed to continue working to promote exchanges between the two legislatures, contributing to the development of the bilateral comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership.
Voters cast their ballots in Canh Lien commune, Van Canh district of Binh Dinh province (Photo: VNA)

Binh Dinh  Local residents in three mountainous communes in Van Canh and Vinh Thanh districts of the south central province of Binh Dinh have finished their early elections to choose deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and Peoples Councils at all levels on May 22, one day of the scheduled day.

The three communes  Vinh Kim in Vinh Thanh district, and Canh Lien and Canh Hiep of Van Canh district, are the most remote areas of Binh Dinh with tough traffic systems.

From 7am, amid the sound of Gongs at the cultural house of Ha Giao village, the biggest village in Canh Lien commune of Van Canh district, 349 voters started casting their votes.

Dinh Van Vinh, a local voter from Bana ethnic minority group who cast his votes at constituency No.1, said that like everyone in his village, he woke up early and prepared to join the elections. He said he hopes the chosen candidates will give attention to further improving their living conditions.

The voting activities were made in line with COVID-19 prevention and control regulations.

Meanwhile, in O2 village of Vinh Kim commune, 124 local voters excitedly came to the community house to practice their voting rights.

Early elections held in remote areas of Binh Dinh province hinh anh 2

Election boxes are transported to the centre of Vinh Kim commune (Photo: VNA)

Despite the long distance from their house to the community house and their busy farming activities, all the voters came early and completed the voting by 9am.

I hope that the elected NA deputies will make positive contributions to the country, while deputies to the Peoples Councils from communal to provincial levels will help us show out aspirations, said Dinh Ly, a local voter.

O2 village has 49 households with 215 people, mostly from the Bana ethnic minority group. The voters had to spend five hours walking from their residence to the communes centre to cast their vote.

According to Doan Van Phi, Vice Standing Chairman of the Binh Dinh Peoples Council and Vice Chairman of the Election Committee of Binh Dinh, the locality has organised early elections in 10 polling areas. The voting activities finished at all the areas right in the morning, he said.

As of 10am the same day, nearly 2,000 voters in all the 10 voting areas in three communes of Van Canh and Vinh Thanh completed their voting.

On the sam day, early elections were also held in Bac Ninh city, Tu Son township and Tien Du and Gia Binh district in the northern province of Bac Ninh, one of the current biggest COVID-19 hotspots.

Nguyen Trong Tan, Director of the provincial Department of Internal Affairs, said that as of 16:45pm on May 22, 100 percent of local voters finished their voting without any abnormal circumstances.

Bac Ninh province has 858,787 voters who cast their votes in 973 voting areas.
Voters on Hon Chuoi island, off the coast of Ca Mau province, cast their ballots (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi - Early voting took place on Hon Chuoi island, off the coast of southernmost Ca Mau province, and certain remote constituencies in central Quang Binh province on May 21, two days ahead of the election day.

About 17 nautical miles from the mainland, Hon Chuoi island is an outpost in Vietnams southwestern seas and one of two places in Ca Mau to hold voting two days ahead of schedule.

Braving heavy rains in the morning, 177 voters, including residents and military officers and soldiers on the island, went to the polling station to exercise their rights and obligations as citizens.

Measures were also applied to protect voters from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Song Doc Town Nguyen Phuong Dong said the local election committee will complete procedures to transport ballot boxes to the mainland within the day.

Voters in 17 constituencies located in mountainous, rural, and border areas of Quang Ninh and Bo Trach districts in Quang Binh province also cast ballots on May 21.

Nguyen Van Nhi, Chairman of the Peoples Committee of Truong Son commune, which has five constituencies holding early voting, said local voters were excited to take part in the elections.

Early voting held in island, mountainous areas of Ca Mau, Quang Binh hinh anh 2

A young constituent in Quang Binh casts his ballot (Photo: VNA)

As of mid-morning on May 21, two of the five constituencies had seen 100 percent voter turnout, he noted, adding that the communes election committee worked closely with the Lang Mo border guard post to guarantee political security, social order and safety, and pandemic prevention at polling stations.

The elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and all-level Peoples Councils for the 2021-2026 tenure are slated for May 23.

Nearly 69.2 million voters nationwide will select 500 deputies to the 15th NA from 866 candidates, and 3,727 out of 6,201 candidates will be voted on to provincial-level Peoples Councils. The elections for Peoples Councils at the district and commune levels will also be held.
Lao Ambassador in Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  The elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and Peoples Councils at all levels in 2021-2026 tenure in Vietnam demonstrate the democracy of the socialist regime in Vietnam and of a State of the people, by the people and for the people, Lao Ambassador in Vietnam Sengphet Houngboungnuang has said.

The elections are a great festival of extensive democracy in Vietnam, during which people directly choose their representatives in bodies of power at both the local level and the highest level of the country, the diplomat said in an interview granted to the press ahead of the general elections slated for May 23.

He stressed that the active engagement of all officials, Party members and people from all walks of life in preparing for and taking part in the elections to exercise their citizen right has ensured that the elections will take place in a democratic and fair manner in accordance with the law, becoming a real festival of all people.

Commenting on the election organisation method of Vietnam, the Ambassador said that each election in Vietnam is a historical event and a chance for the people to fully exercise their democracy rights in line with the Constitution of Vietnam in each period.

The elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and Peoples Councils at all levels in 2021-2026 tenure will take place on May 23 (Photo: VNA)

He remarked that elections in Vietnam share many similarities with those in Laos, such as the main foundation of elections being the system of laws and institutions on election, and the comprehensive preparation process.

Both Vietnam and Laos have many different ethnic groups, so there are specific regulations on the ratios of candidates based on ethnic groups, gender and age, which ensures balance and fairness for all citizens, Ambassador Sengphet Houngboungnuang said, noting that both countries stipulate a 35 percent ratio of women among candidates and aim for a 30-percent proportion of women among those winning the election.

Noting that the elections in Vietnam are taking place amid the complicated developments of COVID-19 pandemic, the ambassador said that under the leadership of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), the Government, NA and Peoples Councils at all levels have shown flexibility in preparations.

He expressed a hope that deputies of the 15th NA of Vietnam will be those who have good capacity, knowledge and experience in supervision, inspection of law enforcement, and law making, thus contributing to national construction towards the goal of rich people, strong nation, equal, democratic and civilized society, completing strategic targets for 2030, turning Vietnam into a upper middle-income country in 2045 on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the CPV, and a developed country with high income by the 100th founding anniversary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

The ambassador wished the elections on May 23 a great success.
The document for 2021-2030 was signed on May 20 in Hanoi by representatives of ILO Vietnam and the MoLISA

Both sides agreed to work together to promote the ratification and implementation of international labour standards in Vietnam through a cooperation framework between the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) and ILO Vietnam and ensure the participation of representatives of workers and employers in the entire process.

The cooperation includes raising awareness of the international labour standards, applying the ILO Conventions ratified by Vietnam to Vietnamese laws, promoting the national capacity to implement and report the implementation of the ratified conventions, monitoring the implementation, and developing proposals for ratifying further ILO conventions.

The signing of the MoU is a significant first step marking a new development period in the cooperation between MoLISA and ILO Vietnam in promoting international labour standards and improving the national legal system on labour. It also affirms Vietnams deepening international integration as the world is witnessing lots of changes, including those in labour and employment, said MoLISA Minister Dao Ngoc Dung at the signing ceremony.

He described the move as a significant first step to promote international labour standards and improve the national labour legal system in the 2021-2030 period.

Chang-Hee Lee, director of ILO Vietnam noted that the event shows Vietnams commitment to modernising its labour and social law in line with universal principles enshrined in the international labour standards of the ILO.

If all goes as planned, Vietnam will become a leading country among the ASEAN member states in promoting international labour standards. I believe that it will lead to social upgrading which is required for Vietnam to move towards becoming an upper-middle-income country, he said.

Vietnam has ratified 25 ILO conventions to date, including seven out of eight fundamental conventions covering the areas of collective bargaining, non-discrimination, child labour, and forced labour. According to the MoU, the country plans to ratify 15 more ILO conventions, including core Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organize, in accordance with the national needs and socio-economic conditions.

Since 1919, the ILO has maintained and developed a system of international labour standards aimed at setting out basic principles and rights at work. In today's globalised economy, international labour standards are an essential component in the international framework for ensuring that free trade comes with the protection of basic workers rights enshrined in the 1998 ILO Declaration on the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.

International labour standards are drawn up by the ILO constituents  governments, employers and workers in the form of conventions (or protocols)  which are legally binding international treaties once ratified by member states, or recommendations, which serve as non-binding guidelines.
Preparations for the elections at an unit of the Military Command of Tuyen Quang province (Photo: VNA)

New Delhi  Indian media have spotlighted the significance and Vietnams preparations for the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly (NA) and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 tenure on May 23.

The Economic Times ran an article on May 22, stressing that the elections of deputies to the 15th NA on May 23, months after the 13th National Party Congress symbolises continuity in Asias emerging economic power and would enable to further strengthen partnership between the Vietnamese NA and Indian Parliament.

According to the article, a total of 866 candidates will contest 500 seats in the 15th National Assembly. Voter turnout on the polling day is also expected to be high. The elections are expected to be highly transparent that uphold the rights of the people of Vietnam.

The new NA of Vietnam is expected to push closer India-Vietnam ties in key regional issues including the East Sea, maritime security and connectivity.

The NA is expected to further foreign policy goals as well as economic objectives, it said, adding that like other wings of government, the Vietnamese NA plays an important role in nation building including foreign policy and economic development by playing an active role in the decision-making process.

The new NA is expected to further the roadmap outlined by the last Party Congress.

Vietnam is now one of the fastest growing economies in the region, with a deep integration with the global economy and high degrees of economic openness, and is fully anchored within the world trading system. Vietnam signed 16 free trade agreements (FTAs), including the Regional Comprehensive Partnership Agreement (RCEP) and Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).

The new NA is expected to push Vietnams foreign policy goals including multilateralism and diversification, thus boosting its position in the international arena.

Regarding preparations for the political event, the article said the elections are held while the threats from COVID-19 are still very present and preparations have been made accordingly.

Local authorities of Vietnam have response plans and prioritise efforts to prevent and control the pandemic, it noted.

On the same day, the Eurasia Review also published an article, stating that the the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and People's Councils at all levels for the 2021-2026 tenure on May 23 is an important political event in Vietnam.

Preparations were in full swing a month ahead of the important event, it said , noting that three rounds of consultations were completed and official lists of people eligible and qualified to run for seats in the NA and the Peoples Councils were discussed.

Adequate preparations were also in place so that the elections were held legally, democratically, economically and safely, it said.

The article also mentioned complicated and unpredictable developments of the COVID-19 pandemic that are affecting the preparations for the event.

To ensure the success of the elections and minimise impacts from the pandemic, the National Election Council (NEC) issued a number of documents directing and guiding the election activities in the context of the pandemic, including those instructing the making of voter lists and voting methods for voters undertaking quarantine in localities affected by COVID-19.

Notably, officers and soldiers serving on DK1/8 marine platform exercised their rights and responsibilities as citizens on May 12 by casting an early ballot in the elections of deputies to the NA and all-level Peoples Councils in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province for the 2021-2026 tenure, it said.

The article said India can learn from the manner in which elections are held in Vietnam.

With organisations set up in localities to conduct voting, 63 committees at the provincial level, 682 others at the district level, and 10,134 at the communal level, the process is clearly streamlined, it said, noting that there are as many as 84,767 election groups and 69,198,594 voters across the country and the discipline with which they conduct themselves is praiseworthy.
Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar (Photo: Israeli Embassy in Vietnam).

Hanoi - Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam Nadav Eshcar has voiced his belief that Vietnam will successfully and safely hold the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th National Assembly and members of all-level Peoples Councils in the face of unpredictable developments surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency (VNA), Eshcar said that given the complex developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, keeping the election day safe will be a challenge for Vietnam. Still, the diplomat voiced his belief that the Vietnamese government has carefully prepared for the event.

I think the challenge for its leadership is how to keep people safe and not affect the fight against COVID-19, he said. Im certain the countrys leaders have addressed such matters. I put my trust in the Vietnamese Government.

The ambassador added that almost every country around the world has been hit by a new wave of COVID-19. Only a few, including Israel, have seen progress in fighting the disease thanks to mass inoculations, he said, while expressing an expectation and belief that Vietnam will bring the pandemic under control thanks to the Governments efforts and the peoples responsiveness.

Discussing Vietnam-Israel relations in general and their legislative ties in particular, Eshcar said he is delighted at seeing growth in bilateral relations over recent times. He voiced an expectation that this is just the beginning and will be further consolidated in the time to come.

The diplomat spoke of the visit by National Assembly Chairman Vuong Dinh Hue to Israel in June 2015, when he was Chairman of the Party Central Committees Economic Commission, and said it left a fine impression on bilateral relations.

The ambassador also mentioned a letter of thanks from Hue to his Israeli counterpart Yariv Levin, who previously sent him a letter of congratulations upon his election as Chairman of the National Assembly. Both letters, he said, emphasised the importance of boosting bilateral relations.

He added that the two countries should increase dialogues between their legislatures. In his capacity as the Israeli Ambassador to Vietnam, he promised to further promote the friendship between the two legislatures as well as the two countries.

In my task here, I will do my utmost to promote professional and friendly connections between the legislatures of both countries, he said.
State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at a meeting with voters in Cu Chi district, HCM City. (Photo: VNA)

HCM City - State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and candidates running for seats in the 15th National Assembly (NA) met with voters in Cu Chi and Hoc Mon districts of Ho Chi Minh City on May 20 and 21.

In his capacity as head of the Council for National Defence and Security, the President pledged to make every effort to safeguard the country in all circumstances.

As head of the Central Steering Committee for Judicial Reform, he also committed to further a judicial system in service of the people, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of the people, human rights, and other rights of the people.

President Phuc said he will work harder to remove difficulties and obstacles in institutions and pay attention to utilising resources for development.

He called for national unity in the new era in order to realise the goal of building a powerful and high-income Vietnam by 2045.

The President also highlighted support for farmers, job creation, wage policy reform, and social insurance, and the need to improve the business environment and remove difficulties facing investors, especially in capital, land, and taxes.

He vowed to work with municipal leaders to promote initiatives and agendas in order to turn HCM City into a model for the country in economic development and in social welfare.

Pointing out the development potential of Cu Chi and Hoc Mon, he urged the two districts to seek ways to grow stronger, contributing to the achievements of HCM City and the country at large.

Local voters expressed support for the Presidents call and the elections of deputies to the 15th NA and all-level Peoples Council on May 23.

They said they hope that candidates will carry forward their supervisory role in anti-corruption, and pay more heed to policies towards disadvantaged groups, the elderly, and women and children, along with urban transport infrastructure and investment promotion.

On this occasion, the President also met with representatives from households which are resettled to provide land for the Sai Gon Safari Park in Phu My Hung and An Nhon Tay communes in Cu Chi district.

He asked the chairman of the citys Peoples Committee to consider and approve the compensation plan in order to handle the task within two months on the basis of consensus and in line with law.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc visits a COVID-19 treatment hospital in Cu Chi district. (Photo: VNA)

Later on the same day, President Phuc visited local medical workers and patients and inspected COVID-19 prevention and control efforts at a COVID-19 treatment hospital in Cu Chi district.

He emphasised the significance of timely and drastic contact tracing and mass testing in the pandemic fight.
The signing ceremony of Letter of Intent between the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (MTIF) and MARD on strengthening and developing cooperation in marine aquaculture industry

The webinar was followed by the signing ceremony of a Letter of Intent between the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry and Fisheries (MTIF) and MARD on strengthening and developing cooperation in the marine aquaculture industry.

These activities mark the 50th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Norway and Vietnam (1971-2021), and to celebrate nearly four decades of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the fisheries sector.

The webinar spotlighted Norways Ambassador to Vietnam Grete Lchen and Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Phung Duc Tien. The event virtually welcomed over 150 participants from Vietnam and Norway, including representatives from MTIF, the Vietnamese Ambassador to Norway, MARD, the departments of fisheries of Norway and Vietnam, Innovation Norway Hanoi, VCCI, 10 coastal provinces in Vietnam, international organisations such as the World Bank, ADB, FAO, financial and credit institutions, as well as a large number of Vietnamese and Norwegian businesses.

In her opening remarks, Ambassador Grete Lchen said, 2021 is a special year for Norway and Vietnam. We both take pride in the bilateral cooperation in the fisheries sector over the past time. Now we are looking into how we can promote trade and investments in marine aquaculture and fish farming in Vietnam. When it comes to the sustainable development of marine aquaculture industry, Norway has a lot to offer based on our lessons learned from the well-known salmon industry.

The webinar offered a forum for stakeholders to exchange information and experience about key factors that decide the success of a marine aquaculture industry, which span from planning and policy-making including credit policies, governance, human resources, and vocational training and green technologies and smart solutions to enable businesses to invest and contribute to make the industry profitable, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.

Norwegian speakers presented the Norwegian triangle model that coordinates the engagement of authorities, industry, and academia and is seen as one of the success factors of Norways salmon industry.

In the COVDI-19 context, this event is a good opportunity for Vietnamese and Norwegian companies to keep in touch, get to know each other better, and start planning for their future cooperation.

According to Deputy Minister Phung Duc Tien, over the last four decades, Norway has provided significant technical assistance to Vietnams fisheries sector. The bilateral cooperation between the two countries has brought great benefits to both economies and helped to deepen the good cooperation between the two countries.

On the basis of this signed Letter of Intent, we will facilitate and support our authorities, academia, and businesses in their cooperation for the development of the marine aquaculture industry. Cooperation activities might be sharing and assisting in law enforcement and technological reforms; building capacity and research cooperation; promoting trade and investment cooperation among companies; encouraging exchanges of business visits to take part in fairs and exhibitions on marine aquaculture, he emphasised.

Ambassador Grete Lchen noted that, Sustainable and developed marine aquaculture industry is of great potential and thus requires a thinking of technology, green, and cost-effective solutions. This is another step to boost Norway-Vietnam cooperation in this sector. To succeed, we need to cooperate, and I believe Norway and Norwegian businesses are ready to cooperate and share.

Vietnams fishery strategy for 2021-2030 with vision to 2045 approved by the prime minister in March 2021 sets out a number of targets including to reduce the intensity of ocean resources exploitation and to develop marine aquaculture in the appropriate areas; develop Vietnams fisheries sector to be modern and more competitive, able to integrate with the global value chain, to bring together authorities, industry and other organisations to tap into the potential and take advantage of the oceans in a responsible and sustainable way.

To reach the above targets, marine aquaculture on an industrial scale is a solution. Therefore, the practical lessons, high-tech solutions as well as investments from Norwegian companies would be very helpful," said DFish director general Dr Tran Dinh Luan.
UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi  Vietnamese people are showing stronger interest in the National Assembly and issues related to the powerful agency, reflected by their high level of engagement in preparations for the upcoming elections of deputies to the 15th NA and Peoples Councils at all levels in the 2021-2026 tenure, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen has said.

More than 69 million voters are expected to cast their ballots at polling stations across the country on May 23, she noted, lauding Vietnams efforts in ensuring safety for the important event amid the fourth wave of COVID-19 outbreaks.

Expressing her impression at the vibrant atmosphere across the country ahead of the elections, the UNDP representative underlined that involving in the elections is an important chance for people to practice their rights to choose their representatives.

People's participation in politics is part of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which state that all people have equal rights to engage in public issues, to cast their votes and to run for the elections, she said.

Wiesen recalled President Ho Chi Minhs statement in the first general election of Vietnam in 1946, saying that all citizens from the age of 18 upwards have the rights to run for the elections and cast their votes regardless their background, religions and race. Seventy-five years later, those principles are still suitable and important, she stressed.

The official cited a recent research by UNDP Vietnam on people-elected female deputies' contributions to Vietnam's development in the 2016-2021 period, showing that both male and female deputies consider the interest of voters as the most important factor impacting their viewpoints on a specific issue.

The research revealed that female deputies interact with voters via social media more often than their male peers. In their action plans, female deputies showed greater interest in the areas of education-training and healthcare than male deputies, said Wiesen.

She said that the UNDP hopes to strengthen cooperation with and support to Vietnam in building leadership capacity for people-elected female deputies so that they can implement their tasks better after being elected.
At this weeks summit of the Arctic Council in Iceland, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken voiced alarm at Russias military build-up in the region. The Arctic Council has eight members with sovereignty over lands within the Arctic Circle:
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One Cherokee woman is dead following a two-vehicle crash Friday night in Colbert County.

State Troopers said 20-year-old Michelle Reporto was killed when she struck the rear of another vehicle around 10:30 p.m.

It happened on Alabama 184, approximately one-half mile east of Muscle Shoals. The other driver's condition is unknown at this time.

ALEA is still investigating the crash.
East Limestone High School held its own Special Olympics on Friday.

The coronavirus pandemic canceled the county's Special Olympics two years in a row. Special Education teacher, Yoneka Pride, decided the school should have an event for themselves.

"At first, we said let's have a field day, and then we said no let's just have our own Special Olympics," said Pride.

Pride said she was overwhelmed to see the student's faces.

"It just took me over to see how excited they were, " said Pride. "That this is about us, this is for us."

During the pandemic, Pride taught her students virtually. She said the experience allowed her to grow as an educator and a person.

"Most of my students are non-verbal so that was my big concern that kept me up," said Pride. "I said God I need you to help me, I know what I know, but I need you to reach me where I am," said Pride.

After months of virtual teaching and cancelled events, Pride said Friday felt more like a celebration.

10th Grader, Tatum Hubb, said she has a favorite memory from Friday's Special Olympics.

"The 50 meter," said Hubb.

Students from the BETA club works one on one with special education students.

"Right before covid, me and Tatum were together," said Avery Powers. "We just connected really well and we got a friendship."

Students are already looking forward to Special Olympics with all of Limestone County students in 2022.
Huntsville International Airport is introducing a new airline coming in July.

It's called Breeze Airways and they have nonstop flights to New Orleans, Tampa and Charleston.

WAAY-31 spoke with the airport about how this was made possible and what this means for travelers as they gear up for a busy summer season.

The director of business development told us the reason more options are becoming available for leisure destinations like Florida and now, New Orleans is because more people are booking their trips and ready to get out for the summer.

When people saw the announcement, they were more than excited.

"I was very excited about this airline because one, Charleston is one of my favorite cities. I have family that lives in Tampa and who doesn't love a fun trip to New Orleans at the drop of a hat," said Haley Buie.

Haley Buie told WAAY-31 she can't wait to get back on an airplane and have some fun.

She told us the last time she booked a flight was last year to Canada.

But before she could even board her flight, the pandemic hit and she still hasnt been able to use her voucher.

But with Breeze Airways coming and COVID restrictions being lifted, she's ready and so is the staff at the airport.

"We're always looking to expand our existing carriers and then we're also looking for new carriers to come and fill the gaps," said Barbie Peek.

Barbie Peek is the director of business development at the Huntsville International Airport.

When Breeze decided to partner with Huntsville, Peek told us they were very excited.

This not only helps generate even more traffic with the average flyer, but also with their business partners.

"It gives them extra connections across the U.S., to get there quicker and faster and cheaper," said Peek.

Barbie told us looking at the numbers from this April against April of 2019, they were at 53% of traffic coming in and out so far and trending upward.

So this is a good sign and with incentives like low airfare and popular travel destinations like Florida and New Orleans, she's sure folks won't want to miss out.

"I'm excited that there' starting to be a sense of normalcy again especially with summer time happening. So much stuff is happening outside so you still feel comfortable doing it," said Buie.

Buie and many others we spoke with say they're happy to see other states slowly pull back on COVID restrictions as well and cant wait to see new places and even the places they couldn't go last year.

Breeze Airways will begin service at the Huntsville International Airport on July 15th.

July 15th starts the trips for Charleston and New Orleans with July 22nd, starting service for Tampa.

The airport also wants to remind you, you still are required to wear a mask while in the airport, checkpoints and on your flight.

Social distancing on the breeze flight will still be enforced, as they have no middle seats to seat everyone comfortably.
Decatur, IL (62521)

Today

A few passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few passing clouds. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 73F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.
Washington, IN (47501)

Today

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%..

Tonight

Thunderstorms during the evening will give way to mainly clear skies after midnight. Low 69F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 70%.
Westpac dismissed a senior risk executive just months after chief executive Peter King advised her to seek whistleblower protections, according to a legal complaint that alleges multiple compliance breaches at Australias second biggest bank.

Former Sydney-based corporate risk executive Amanda Ware this week filed a lawsuit in the Federal Court alleging Westpac unfairly dismissed her last November after she raised a series of concerns about compliance gaps and risk failings with the banks top executives, including in a face-to-face meeting with Mr King.

Former Sydney corporate risk executive Amanda Ware was advised to seek whistleblower protections, according to court documents.

Westpac was ordered in September last year to pay $1.3 billion in penalties after admitting to breaches of anti-money laundering laws and for failing to stop child-exploitation payments in what was the largest fine in Australian corporate history.

The money-laundering scandal led to the departure of the banks former chief executive Brian Hartzer and former chairman Lindsay Maxsted. Mr King, previously the banks chief financial officer, was elevated to CEO in April last year.
I am having my first COVID-19 vaccine shot today. Given all the media furore about the vaccine, I find myself very mildly anxious. This has reminded me, if I ever needed reminding, that like most who identify as human beings I am not always quite as rational in my thinking as I would prefer.

The anxiety arises out of the murky concept of side effects. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics Use of Medications, 1995 survey: 24 per cent of the population used pain relievers in that year. Yet if you inspect the product information for these products you will see a list of possible side effects that are every bit as alarming as those reported for the COVID-19 vaccines.

An emergency services worker getting a COVID-19 vaccination. Credit:Nick Moir

The point is that these risks are generally infinitesimally small, especially when administered under medical guidance as is the case with the COVID vaccines. Incidentally the same survey reported lower usage of pain relievers amongst those who never married or are widows. I am not sure what conclusions (if any) to draw from that!

The risk of a serious side effect from a COVID vaccine for someone over 55 is currently thought to be about 0.0004 per cent (according to the Winton Centre for Risk and Evidence Communication). Obviously it is early days, and the complete picture will not be known for some time.
Teaching in a school, no day or week is typical. Some days it is a real juggling act. I teach up to five different classes in a week, ranging from junior science and mathematics to HSC chemistry and dual accreditation VET Hospitality (HSC & Certificate II Kitchen Operations).

What do you do?

Teaching VET Hospitality allows me to teach my program through a student-led and operated cafe. The cafe allows students to gain real life employability skills; something I feel privileged to teach.

Teaching hospitality was a natural progression, Megan Renwick said.

How long have you been doing this job?

I have been teaching for 22 years, the last 11 years teaching hospitality.

I originally trained as a forensic chemist/ forensic archaeologist and was the Australian Educational Officer for NASA prior to retraining in hospitality.
Mum saw Australian Fashion Week as the key focal point for the Australian fashion industry. She thought showing was a vital discipline for designers that drove them to greater creative heights.

In a statement, her children, Alex Schuman, Bianca Spender and Allegra Spender, said the dedication was a great honour for their mother, who died in April after suffering a fall. We hope that her life and legacy can be an inspiration for many young designers to come, they said.

Carla Zampatti poses before her last show at Australian Fashion Week, in 2019. The runway space will be named in the late designers honour. Credit:James Brickwood

The largest space at Carriageworks, the arts and events venue in central Sydney, will from next week be known as the Carla Zampatti runway, fashion weeks organiser, IMG, confirmed this week.

Indeed, Zampatti was the last designer whose collections appeared on the runway at fashion week, in May 2019, before COVID forced the cancellation of last years event. She was also part of the very first fashion week, in 1996, alongside venerated designers such as Wayne Cooper, Alex Perry and Akira Isogawa.

But like everyone else showing at fashion week, that excitement was mixed with terror, her children said. Even after 50 years, she was always nervous about her own shows and would want to pull out just days before. Only after a show, she would feel a rush of exhilaration when the last model exited the runway, visible for the briefest of moments behind the curtain.

Carla Zampattis children Bianca Spender (left), Alex Schuman (centre) and Allegra Spender give their mothers eulogy. Credit:Getty

Zampatti, who would have turned 79 this week, died on April 3 after a fall at the opera at Mrs Macquaries Chair on Sydney Harbour one week prior. A state funeral was held in her honour at St Marys Cathedral on April 15 at which tributes were paid by speakers including former governor-general Quentin Bryce for her work in fashion, philanthropy and the arts, as well as her championing the status of women.

Natalie Xenita, head of IMG Fashion Asia-Pacific, says Zampatti was part of the fabric of fashion week since its inception. There is no one who has played a greater role in shaping the Australian fashion industry than Carla Zampatti, Xenita says. Not only did she build one of the most enduring and successful Australian brands, but she generously shared her immense experience and wisdom to help many other designers establish their own successful labels.
People dread brushing their teeth and going to the dentist. We want to celebrate the routine and make it powerful and pleasurable, Geminder, 27, says. If were spending a premium on your face moisturiser or lipstick, we should be treating our mouths in the same way. US brand Theodent ($130), Italys Marvis ($15) and Frances Buly 1803 ($35) Self-described wellness addict Prue Rocchi, from Melbourne, last week released her all-natural toothpaste ROCC, with biodegradable tubes, after finding other brands looked pretty daggy on her bathroom sink. And Tash Scutts, from Sydneys Northern Beaches, launched her botanical toothpaste Lovebyt in 2018 and has observed a growing buzz around teeth. More people are investing in treatments like whitening, Invisalign and veneers.

Its oral beauty but its also a whole wellness lifestyle, Scutts says.[Toothpaste is] something we use twice a day but its usually so unattractive we have to put it in a drawer when people come over. Fluoride-free on the rise While Australian dentists are all for more people prioritising dental care by turning it into a self-care ritual, there are concerns that it has strayed too far from the medical and set in motion a surge in fluoride-free toothpastes. All brands mentioned above, aside from Colgate and Marvis, forgo fluoride. I havent seen many newer brands popping up that have fluoride, says dentist Dr Mikaela Chinotti, the Australian Dental Associations oral health promoter. The peak dental body recommends Australians use toothpaste with fluoride. Its widely considered the cornerstone of tooth decay prevention and the best way to remineralise and strengthen teeth.

An epidemiological study found that over the second half of last century, the prevalence of tooth decay plunged by more than 75 per cent, crediting this mostly to fluoride use. Gem is designed with the bathroom shelfie in mind. Its important to  choose products based on proven effectiveness, not because it looks good on your shelf, Chinotti says. Dentist Dr James Fernando researches tooth decay at the University of Melbourne and says the lack of fluoride in many new products is an immediate concern because when purchasing a toothpaste, its the main active ingredient people should be looking for. Anti-fluoride groups have long claimed that it can affect the bones and brain, and cause dental fluorosis (little flecks on tooth enamel). Fernando stresses that decades of scientific research has shown that fluoride is completely safe in the small doses used in toothpaste. It is only harmful when large amounts are ingested, which is why we dont swallow toothpaste and why young children use toothpaste with a lower concentration.

The creators of fluoride-free toothpastes, including Lovebyt, ROCC and Gem, say they are catering to consumer demand and that using fluoride is a personal choice. Gem currently uses a fluoride alternative called hydroxyapatite and cites research on its website. Fernando says that while promising, the few studies that exist are not robust. While Lovebyt and ROCC dont plan to start using fluoride, Gems founder acknowledges some customers prefer it and says never say never. Some chemicals in mainstream toothpaste have raised concerns in the past, Fernando says, such as antimicrobial triclosan, which was phased out after animal studies found it may disrupt hormones, and sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), a foaming agent that certain patients find irritating. Fernando says while being more natural is great, not all chemicals are toxic and many even derive from natural sources. Fluoride itself is a natural mineral.

He adds that a lot of natural toothpastes also contain ingredients that have theoretical benefits but are untested clinically and may be incompatible when combined. The Therapeutic Goods Administration is only responsible for regulating toothpastes that make specific health claims, such as preventing tooth decay. The rest are classed as cosmetics. Tooth Chews sells fluoridated toothpaste in tablet form. Not all new boutique oral care businesses banish fluoride. Natural brand Tooth Chews, launched in 2020 by Sunshine Coast dentist Rob Wood, includes it. The company sells toothpaste in tablet form, which is more eco-friendly, and will be releasing a paste later this year. Wood says he hopes to fill a gap in the market for chic toothpastes that also tick the science boxes.

We wanted to do what we know would still benefit oral health but for people who dont want to use Colgate, he says. Dentist Dr Rita Trak opened the Dental & Skin Clinic in Melbournes south-east in February, saying shes all about making oral hygiene sexy rather than just a medical need, but she worries about the anti-fluoride narrative being perpetuated by some businesses that have a similar philosophy. The dos and donts of choosing a toothpaste Ensure fluoride is present. If choosing to use a toothpaste without fluoride, be sure to discuss this with your dentist

Choose low fluoride childrens toothpaste for kids aged 18 months to 6 years

Select your toothpaste based on your dental needs not on the appearance of the packaging

For individuals with sensitivities, flavour-free and low-foaming toothpastes are available

If still unsure, the Australian Dental Association (ADA) seal of approval can be found on some products to provide you with confidence that they have been reviewed by an expert panel of dentists. And as always, for tailored advice, talk to your dentist about what toothpaste is best for you Tips by Dr Mikaela Chinotti, dentist and oral health promoter of the Australian Dental Association If someone doesnt want to use fluoride for their own reasons or beliefs thats fine, but to spruik the message that fluoride is bad for you ... thats where its dangerous, Trak says. Ive already seen the consequences. She says the trend is confusing for consumers, and she likens it to promoting an all-natural, chemical-free sunscreen without any science to prove it helps prevent skin cancer.
Owners of apartments, terraces and townhouses in NSW will be hit with thousands of dollars in extra costs for repairs and renovations when insurance premiums surge by up to 50 per cent from late July.

The rise will represent the fifth premium increase in about two years under the state governments home warranty scheme operated by scandal-plagued public insurer icare. In January, premiums for construction of low-rise apartments under the scheme rose by 30 per cent.

In an attempt to stem projected losses for the scheme running into the hundreds of millions of dollars, premiums for structural alterations to apartment buildings, townhouses, terraces and villas  such as replacing roofs  will rise by 50 per cent from July 30.

Insurance premiums for renovations and alterations to apartment buildings up to three storeys will rise again from July. Credit:Sam Mooy

Premiums for renovations  new bathrooms and kitchens, for example  to apartment buildings, townhouses, terraces and villas will surge by 35 per cent, while those for constructing new blocks of units up to three storeys will rise by 17 per cent. The increases in the base rate will apply to all policies quoted and issued from July 30.
Contos own experience frames the difficulty of defining and tackling rape culture and consent. Young people are growing up into a world in which adults themselves are not clear on the notion of consent. Truth be told, in the years before Contos attended that talk in Year 10  not long before shifting community attitudes began to coalesce around the #MeToo movement  the prevailing secular morality of the adult world would also have shied away from defining the activities in which Contos and her peers were engaging as rape. Those who lamented sexualised culture, or hook- up culture, were dismissed as benighted prudes.

This is how former private school girl Chanel Contos described the moment that inspired a social media post early this year asking whether anyone else in her social circle had been raped or sexually assaulted by students from all-boys schools: Me and my friends left that room and realised we had been raped ... It was a life-changing talk, but it happened too late.

Contos and her friends participated in activities that the adult world had until recently celebrated as sexual empowerment; she matured into a world in which her discomfort had been accommodated into a broadened definition of rape. Unfortunately, at the same time as society came to understand that violation doesnt always look like the old notion of violent rape, the expanding definition increased the

potential for confusion in the sexual arena.

Everybody should by now understand that no means no. What we are now trying to work out, as a society, is how to manage less explicit situations. For instance, in which yes means no, or as Harvard

Law professor Jeannie Suk Gersen wrote recently in The New Yorker, Students have felt deeply violated even when their partner followed affirmative-consent rules  asking for and receiving a yes... Sometimes the explicit request for permission might have induced them to do something they were conflicted about.

In other situations, consent is withdrawn silently during a consensual act  often referred to as a freeze. Or the nature and extent of consent is misunderstood. In the US, there has also been discussion of whether consent has truly been given if it was based on a misrepresentation  for instance if one participant was married but claimed not to be. Often these are situations in which consent or lack of it is connected to the emotional valence given to the act or its aftermath  and this is something even adults are struggling to understand for themselves.

The arc of Germaine Greers arguments describes almost perfectly where we started and where we have now fetched up. Greer, who has been important and influential in shaping ideas about sex in Australia and across the Western world, argued in her 1970 book The Female Eunuch, that women had been desexualised, or as she expressed it in an interview explaining the title separated from their libidos, faculty for desire and sexuality  cut off from their capacity for action. She gave women permission to be lustful, but not emotional, and backed with the full persuasive vigour of Germaine, permission became fashion and the prevailing morality.

By 2018, when Greer published her essay On Rape in the context of #MeToo, she had realised after half a century of hook-up culture that women in search of romance are coming to grief at the hands of men who are after conquest. Researchers at QUT have also made the earth-shattering discovery that males and females have different preferences based on their biology. You say romance, behavioural economists say disproportionate reproductive costs. Or as a schoolgirl told Good Weekend, If youve got a guy and youre like, Hes so nice, I want to get with him and do stuff with him and then Okay, done, [hes] moving on  Then another guy tries and you think, Maybe this

will be different and he might stay and talk to me and be interested in actually having a conversation with me, and just sticking with me, instead of leaving and trying to go further with another girl later. No amount of tea or milkshake metaphors  not even explicit metaphor-free sexual instruction  can teach emotional consent to boys and girls who are looking for different things.
Australian Border Force approved travel exemptions from Britain and the US during COVID spikes while rejecting them at a far higher rate from places where the virus was barely circulating.

The new government data, which covers applications from August 2020 to March 31, has led to accusations of a racial bias in assessments of peoples applications to travel in Australia. Tens of thousands of people with family, business or study ties to Australia have been turned away because they could not get an exemption to enter the country.

Greens immigration spokesman Nick McKim said the effect of the decisions was that people in countries with largely white populations were rejected at a far lower rate even though COVID-19 was raging through those places.

Ultimately, if Home Affairs cant explain this discrepancy, then they need to urgently review their exemption system to ensure that there is no racial bias influencing decisions, he said.
Scott Morrison is racing against the future. Hes trying to thread the needle of re-election before Australia is forced to do the one thing his government has been studiously, stubbornly, avoiding since the pandemic reset the global order: take climate change seriously.

The Prime Minister understands that American President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are growing weary of his domestic excuses. But he is gambling that our allies wont want to make an example of him, either at the G7 meeting in Cornwall next month or at the United Nations climate change summit in Glasgow in November.

Scott Morrison is a man racing against the future. Credit:The Age

No Australian leader since Billy Hughes at Versailles has been this brazen before, demanding special treatment for our privileged people while the US and Britain try to build a new international order. Johnson was on the phone again on Friday, May 15, to press the case for an active Australian contribution at the G7 next month. According to Downing Streets version of the conversation, Johnson emphasised the importance of all countries setting ambitious targets to cut carbon emissions, and encouraged Australia to commit to reaching net zero by 2050 which will deliver clean jobs and economic growth.

A good-faith ally would not have quibbled with these words. But Morrisons office wanted Australians to believe that the call proceeded on his ambivalent terms: They discussed efforts to address climate change and pathways towards net zero, including reducing emissions through technology.
The Louisville man refutes a statement by TARC's contractor, which says it hasn't stranded anyone in 2021.


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Bill Burt and George Bremer discuss the NFL schedule and Tom Brady's return to New England; Elton Hayes and Kevin Brockway reflect on Coach K's retirement; and Clay Horning breaks down the worst defensive play in baseball in recent memory.
Lawmakers want to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to share disciplinary records with one another. But time is running out to get the bills approved.
Community Christian Schools Elizabeth Blevins is one of seven in her graduating class. Blevins is the Class of 2021 valedictorian and will walk the stage Saturday, after she has already received her associates degree through a dual credit program with Weatherford College.
US President Joe Biden on Friday said the Democratic Party still supported Israel and he was praying that the ceasefire between Israelis and Hamas would hold.

Speaking at a White House news conference, Biden said a two-state solution was the only answer to resolving the conflict between the two sides, and pledged to build a major package with other countries to help rebuild Gaza.

Biden, whose administration worked behind the scenes for days to reach a truce, said aid to the region would be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority - Hamas's Western-backed rival in the occupied West Bank - to ensure Hamas was not able to restock its military arsenal.

Israel and Hamas on Friday ended 11 days of fighting that killed 248 people and wounded 1,900. Humanitarian officials say the damage to Gaza will take years to rebuild at a cost of tens of millions of dollars.

He said Palestinians should also recognize the right of Israel to exist.

"Let's get something straight here: until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace," Biden told reporters at a joint news conference with South Korean President Moon Jae-in.

Biden declined to discuss his recent discussions with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, but said he believed the Israeli leader would maintain the ceasefire.

"I'm praying this ceasefire will hold. I take Bibi Netanyahu - when he gives me his word - I take him at his word. He's never broken his word to me," Biden said.

Also read: UN chief Antonio Guterres welcomes Gaza, Israel ceasefire after 11 days of violence
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Contributed

GREENWICH  The newest member of the Greenwich Police Department previously worked for the New York City Police Department.

Nolan Heintz was sworn in by First Selectman Fred Camillo at the police headquarters last week. Heintz wore the uniform of the NYPD, assigned to the 75th Precinct in Brooklyn and East New York. His grandfather, William Heintz Sr., was also an officer with the NYPD.
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President Joe Biden says he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation with North Korea. Biden says he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Moon is welcoming Americas return to the world stage, while Biden is praising the long history of shared sacrifice" by the two allies. Biden says the U.S. has agreed to vaccinate 550,000 South Korean servicemembers who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula. Biden is also noting South Koreas growing influence on American culture, saying, K-pop fans are universal.
An FBI employee has been indicted on charges that she stored classified documents and other national security information at home over the course of more than a decade. The Justice Department says 48-year-old Kendra Kingsbury had unauthorized possession of a broad swath of sensitive government documents, including materials that describe FBI sources and methods and that contain information about operatives such as a suspected associate of Osama bin Laden. Kingsbury worked as an intelligence analyst in the FBIs Kansas City office for 12 years until her suspension in December 2017.
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OTTAWA - Federal health officials are re-evaluating what has to happen before Canada can allow fully vaccinated people to enter the country or entirely reopen the border to international travellers, says chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam.

OTTAWA - Federal health officials are re-evaluating what has to happen before Canada can allow fully vaccinated people to enter the country or entirely reopen the border to international travellers, says chief public health officer Dr. Theresa Tam.

Tam was among federal officials from Health Canada and the Canada Border Services Agency appearing at an emergency meeting of the House of Commons health committee Friday, which focused heavily on when the 14-month-long border closure will finally come to an end.

Tam said it's not just about deciding what fully immunized people can do, it's also about Canada's own pandemic situation, including vaccine coverage at home, case rates and hospital capacity, and the fact there is no standard yet for proving that you are, in fact, fully vaccinated.

"We're very actively examining the policies related to vaccinated travellers or fully vaccinated travel," she said at the three-hour long committee hearing.

"I do think that Canada is probably on a good trajectory in terms of its epidemiology and our own vaccination coverage and so I do think that between now and moving toward the fall, we would expect some shifts in that policy."

She said Canada may, however, continue to require travellers to get tested "given the potential for variants that may have escaped vaccines."

Canada imposed border restrictions in March 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic surged around the world, and added testing and some hotel quarantine requirements this winter.

Travel volumes at land and border crossings have been a mere fraction of normal. Last summer travel was down more than 90 per cent compared to the year before. Since January 1 of this year, about 3.9 million people arrived in Canada by land or air, compared to 94 million people during the same period of 2019.

Liberal MP Marcus Powlowski, whose Thunder Bay-Rainy River riding in northwestern Ontario runs along the United States border, said there are thousands of businesses that rely on American tourists in the summer.

"If there's no American tourists this year, they're going to go bankrupt, and a lot of people will lose their livelihood," he said. "I think it's a reasonable question: when can we expect to hear when fully vaccinated people, especially Americans, will be allowed into Canada?"

Tam said it was a reasonable question, and that some changes to policies are coming soon.

More than one-third of the U.S. population is now fully vaccinated, and within that country, officials have given fully vaccinated people permission to travel without quarantining.

Canada hasn't yet lifted restrictions for anyone regardless of vaccination status, and Powlowski said it's time to do so.

The European Union moved this week to allow fully vaccinated tourists to travel there.

Alberta Conservative MP John Barlow asked for data showing the impact quarantine hotels are having in Canada, which officials could not provide, leaving Barlow frustrated.

"You have no data that tells me that it curbs the spread of the virus any more than quarantining at home, and there's no plan to end the hotel quarantine," he said. "So is this just a means to deter travel?"

Iain Stewart, the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada, said PHAC is monitoring infection rates of travellers quite closely. He said the hotel quarantine policy  which the federal government calls "government-approved accommodations"  is not just meant to be a deterrent.

He said the policy is actually there to prevent people arriving in Canada on a plane and then getting on a domestic flight, carrying COVID-19 with them.

"I also mentioned earlier that the number of people arriving at airports is substantially higher and (they are) more likely to be infected than at the land border," said Stewart. "And those are the motivating factors behind the government-approved accommodations."

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 21, 2021.
Catholic missionaries first started venturing into the Alaska territory in the late 19th century, not long after Russia sold the land to the United States for 2 cents per acre.

In this April 22, 2021, photo, signs of spring thaw appear along the Tazlina River in Tazlina, Alaska. The Catholic Church wants to sell 462 acres that once housed the Copper Valley mission school to the Native Village of Tazlina, a federally recognized tribe. The tribe is scrambling to raise the nearly $1.9 million asking price so it can regain stewardship of its ancestral land. (John Tierney/Indian Country Today via AP)

Catholic missionaries first started venturing into the Alaska territory in the late 19th century, not long after Russia sold the land to the United States for 2 cents per acre.

The Catholic church built missions and churches, and in the 1950s, bought land in the Copper River Valley from the U.S. government for a mission school largely serving Native students. Even at a modest $1.25 per acre, the sale netted the U.S. government a tidy return on investment.

Now, 50 years after the once-thriving school was shuttered, the Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau wants to sell the 462-acre property back to its Indigenous inhabitants for more than $4,000 an acre  or put it up for sale on the open market.

And that has the citizens of the tiny Native Village of Tazlina  a federally recognized tribe  scrambling to raise the $1.86 million asking price so they can regain stewardship of its ancestral lands.

Its the Copper River. Its where weve always fished traditionally  for thousands and thousands of years, Gloria Stickwan, president of the Tazlina Village Council, told Indian Country Today. I would like to see that land back for our tribal members because  if that land is sold (to outsiders) our fishing sites could be taken away and that concerns me for tribal members not to be able to fish. Its how they provide for their families.

By all accounts the village and the church share a warm relationship, and the church reached out to the village about the sale. It is less clear how readily the church could sell the property on the open market or how it arrived at its asking price.

Congress placed restrictions on the property in 1953 when it enacted Private Law 151, the statute that authorized the sale of the land. It states that the land is to be used for a mission school and that the coal and other mineral deposits in the land shall remain the property of the federal government. When the church tried once before to sell the land, in 1976, those restrictions scuttled the deal. A subsequent effort to get Congress to rewrite the 1953 law stalled, and the same restrictions that torpedoed the 1976 sale remain in force today.

Further, the deed to the property issued in 1956 states that the churchs rights to the property do not supersede preexisting fishing rights as may be recognized and acknowledged by the local customs.

The title to that property is clouded, said Matt Newman, a staff attorney with the Native American Rights Funds Anchorage office. This just isnt a viable commercial property.  It could not be available for purchase in any way besides to the people who have historical use of the land.

Church officials declined to comment on the proposed sale.

The Archdiocese of Anchorage-Juneau does not discuss details of its business transactions, Chancellor John Harmon wrote in an email to Indian Country Today. The Archdiocese has established a very good working relationship with the Village of Tazlina and looks forward to the sale of the property.

A TROUBLED HISTORY

The Copper River drains off the Wrangell and Chugach mountains in southcentral Alaska, east of Anchorage, feeding once-abundant salmon fisheries as it coursed through major points of the territorys history.

Ahtna Athabaskan hunters discovered the copper deposits in the river valley that featured prominently in ancient regional trade routes.

Russian fur seekers ventured up the valley in the 18th century initiating some of Alaskas first Indigenous-colonial contacts. And the trans-Alaska pipeline  which transformed the states economy in the 1970s  is still visible along stretches of the Richardson Highway that parallel the river.

By the 1940s, Jesuit Priest John Buchanan was pushing for development of a school for Native youth. In 1953, Congress agreed, authorizing the Department of the Interior to sell the acreage to the church for the purpose of establishing a mission school.

The priest opened the Copper Valley School a couple of years later with a combined staff and student body of about 70 people. Enrollment peaked at more than 150 in the mid-1960s, as Native and some non-Native students were brought in from around the state. It was one of 367 Indian boarding schools across the country established in the 19th and 20th centuries.

A 2005 survey, Thirty years later: The Long-Term Effect of Boarding Schools on Alaska Natives and Their Communities, by the Institute of Social and Economic Research at the University of Alaska Anchorage, documented the impact of boarding schools in the state.

The history of formal schooling for Alaska Natives, from the time of the U.S. acquisition of Alaska in 1867 to the present, is a troubled one, the survey concluded. The goal of many educators at the time of mandatory boarding schools was to assimilate people of different cultures and ethnicities into the dominant culture. This cost many students not only the loss of their language, but also their culture and identity. These practices had lasting effects on individual students, their families, and communities.

The Copper Valley School shut down in 1971 when the state of Alaska  after numerous lawsuits  agreed to build schools in communities throughout the state rather than continue a mandatory boarding school policy for Native students.

In 1976, the structure was destroyed by fire and the church made its first effort to sell the land.

That year, construction of the trans-Alaska pipeline  which winds down through the Copper River Valley  was in full swing. Large quantities of high-quality gravel and sand were needed for the work, and yards of it lay right near the surface along the Richardson Highway on the boarding school property. The church seized a business opportunity and sold the property to a group called One-Eleven Associates that planned to sell the gravel and build housing to provide shelter for workers along the pipeline route.

But One-Eleven ran into roadblocks. Officials realized they didnt own the rights to the gravel on the property and the restrictions in the deed prevented the use of the land by owners for housing, or purposes other than a mission school, according to Congressional documents.

The company, unable to get financing, lobbied Congress to remove the mission school reference and amend the mineral rights language from the 1953 act authorizing the sale of the property.

The bill with the amended language sailed through a Senate committee but ran into headwinds when Interior Secretary John Kyl balked at relinquishing the rights to the sand and gravel under the property.

That would appear to be a generous gift of large quantities of mineral materials to the Catholic Bishop of Northern Alaska or a purchaser from him, Kyl wrote in June 1976 to Rep. James A. Haley, a Florida Democrat and chairman of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs.

The value of the material was not included in the price paid for the land and the conveyance to One-Eleven Associates did not include title to the minerals, he wrote. We know of no basis or justification of giving the Catholic Bishop or One-Eleven Associates this extra benefit and therefore oppose the enactment of this provision.

The bill died and the church resumed ownership of the property from One-Eleven Associates, with the original restrictions on the property intact.

Legal issues surfaced again in a claim brought in 2014 against the church for a portion of the Copper River property. The case was argued in state court by Newman, who represented the family of Stickwan in an effort to regain possession of a family fishing site.

For generations, family members had operated a fish wheel on the banks of the Copper River. A fish wheel resembles a watermill that harnesses a rivers current to spin a wheel fitted with baskets that can scoop up salmon as they travel to spawning grounds upstream. It is a traditional fishing apparatus ubiquitous in Alaska that often plays a central role for families and communities.

It wasnt just fishing at fish camp, said Tazlina Village citizen Donna Renard, who was not a party to the lawsuit but who has fished her whole life in the region. We learned our life lessons down there. That ground is where generations of my family walked, so everywhere I walk at fish camp Im walking in their footprints.

In 2015, the Stickwan family prevailed and won possession of its 1.3-acre fish wheel site on the river and a legal right-of-way to it over other church property. Many other Tazlina families could bring similar claims, according to Newman, though none has come forward.

Individuals have a very strong claim to large swaths of that church land, he said, noting that any potential buyer of the property would surely weigh the possibility of future litigation.

Stickwan remains puzzled that her family is alone in asserting claims to fishing sites.

I tried to talk to other families that were using that area, tribal members, but they did not get involved, she said. And I couldnt force them to. I couldnt speak up for them because its their responsibility to talk for themselves and they wouldnt. 

QUESTIONABLE PRICE

The reluctance may be rooted in the general atmosphere of comity that pervades the relationship between the Catholic church and Tazlina.

Although the school has been closed for generations of students, an active alumni association still exists and holds reunions every August in the village.

We get about 50 every year, said Copper Valley School Association President Stephen Gemmell. One year we had more than 300. It was RVs and tents for as far as you could see.

And it persists despite sometimes strained relations.

After the school burned in 1976, the site fell into ruin and became a dumping ground. For decades, villagers complained of the eyesore and environmental dangers at the site.

Eventually, federal regulators stepped in. In 2013, Environmental Protection Agency investigators identified asbestos contamination and ordered the archdiocese to clean up the 30-acre school building site. The church complied and the work was completed later that year, EPA records show.

The cleanup costs apparently factored into the calculations behind the churchs asking price for the boarding school land. Tazlina villagers said church officials told them the church set the price for the property at $1.86 million  which comes to $4,025 per acre  because the church has to recoup the money it spent on the cleanup. Various published reports have put that figure at between $1 million and $3 million.

The asking price appears high, according to a review by Indian Country Today of online listings of undeveloped acreage for sale in Interior Alaska.

At that price (the property) would have to have some substantial improvements, said James W. Riley, a Realtor in Willow, Alaska. There are no structures on the property.

LOOKING AHEAD

Nonetheless, Tazlina villagers are pressing ahead with fundraising.

The terms of the original contract the village signed with the archdiocese gave the villagers until October 2021 to raise the money. Last year, because of the pandemic, the church extended the deadline to October 2022.

Before the church put the land on the open market, they did reach out to Tazlina because of the great partnership weve had over the years, said Marce Simeon, village administrator and a tribal citizen.

Were especially grateful and thankful that the church was able to provide that one-year extension for us. It definitely makes it more of a possible goal, she said.

The Villages GoFundMe page had raised more than $100,000 as of Friday and the Great Land Trust of Southeastern Alaska has pledged about $600,000 to purchase a portion of the property to put in a conservation easement.

We have a long way to go, said Kristin Carpenter, an outside consultant hired by the village to assist in fundraising. But were optimistic.

And hopeful.

We really appreciate the Catholic church working with us and we really hope to be able to secure this for future generations for our tribal members and community members alike, said Simeon.

Villagers are also driven to reclaim the land as the salmon runs appear to be dwindling.

There have been several years now that the fish run has been low, Stickwan said. We have not been able to catch what we usually catch. I remember when we used to be able to catch maybe 300 a day. That was the norm. But we dont see that anymore. Its just not the same. Sockeye runs are not the same. The King Salmon are small. The sockeyes are small. The run is not healthy. And we have a large family and they all use the wheel and we share what we have.

We have our family site protected, but I am concerned about other tribal members.
The chief of Long Plain First Nation, a partner in the Meta Cannabis Supply Co. store in Winnipeg whose licence the regulator suspended this week, said the province made a big mistake taking the action it did.

The chief of Long Plain First Nation, a partner in the Meta Cannabis Supply Co. store in Winnipeg whose licence the regulator suspended this week, said the province made a big mistake taking the action it did.

"There will be a price to be paid," said Dennis Meeches.

While neither side is fully disclosing the rationale for the action, Meeches believes it is at least partially related to payment (or non-payment) of the six per cent social responsibility fee charged on revenue from cannabis sales.

Meeches, and other First Nations leaders, believe the imposition of the social responsibility fee (SRF) is an infringement of treaty rights.

A Long Plain company is a partner in the Meta Cannabis store on Madison Street whose licence was suspended this week.

Long Plain is also a partner of a cannabis store called Indigenous Bloom on Long Plain First Nations Keeshkeemaquah reserve land in Portage la Prairie.

Long Plain First Nation chief Dennis Meeches believes the imposition of the social responsibility fee is an infringement of treaty rights. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

While an official with Liquor Gaming and Cannabis Authority of Manitoba said there was "no concern about compliance at that store" on Madison Street, in a joint release this week LGCA and Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries said Long Plain "sanctioned and continues to participate in the sale of unregulated cannabis from an unlicensed store on the First Nations Keeshkeemaquah reserve."

Meeches disputes that, saying that that store is not selling unregulated cannabis.

"Right now we believe we are following all of Health Canada regulations," Meeches said. "Our cannabis supply is regulated and eventually we will provide that information. It looks like we may end up in court because of Brian Pallister and his heavy-handed tactics."

"It looks like we may end up in court because of Brian Pallister and his heavyhanded tactics. Chief Dennis Meeches

Meeches could not confirm it, but believes it is likely that the Madison Street store was submitting the SRF but that the Indigenous Bloom store was not.

"The leadership of the Long Plain First Nation has adopted the Long Plain First Nation Cannabis Law (which) is an expression of the bands inherent right to self-determination, which includes the right to exclusively govern cannabis-related activities on reserve," a release from Long Plains tribal government said.

Provincial regulations state: "A retailer that does not pay the SRF risks losing their provincial retailer license (sic)."

The revenues generated by the SRF are to help fund the social costs of public education, safety, health and addictions associated with the legalization of cannabis.

"There are a lot of moving parts to this story," Meeches said. "When legalization of the cannabis industry first happened we thought initially there would be an opportunity to look at mirroring the tobacco rebate program and we would have been fine with that."

Meeches and others believe the imposition of the SRF is an infringement of First Nations treaty rights to tax exemption.

The Meta Cannabis Supply Co. store closed when its licence was suspended earlier this week. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

All cannabis sold at licensed stores must be purchased from Manitoba Liquor & Lotteries, which can only acquire it from producers licensed by Health Canada, said Lisa Hansen, a spokeswoman for LGCA.

"This framework protects Manitobans by ensuring that cannabis users have access to safe products from regulated retailers. Any sales outside of this framework raise significant public safety concerns," she said.

Indigenous Blooms product all met or exceeded Health Canada regulations, Meeches said.

Long Plains is a franchisee with Indigenous Bloom, which has a chain of stores mostly on First Nation reserves in Western Canada. A spokesperson for Indigenous Bloom was not available for comment.

A spokesman for High Tide Inc., the company that acquired Meta Growth Corp. late last year, said it takes compliance issues very seriously and that the store whose licence was suspended was in complete compliance.

"They (Meta/High Tide) have been unfairly exposed by this action," Meeches said. "Obviously, they are concerned."

Meeches and Omar Shah of High Tide said that there will likely be changes in the partnership arrangement at the Madison Street store.

Meanwhile, it is business as usual at Indigenous Bloom in Portage.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca
Of course you know, this means war.

Opinion

Of course you know, this means war.

Or rather, RBCs latest product offering for everyday bankingchequing and savings accounts and all the other products  is another shot across the bow of the other big five banks, credit unions and other financial institutions fighting to manage our money.

Chris Young / The Canadian Press The Royal Bank of Canada has launched a new product for everyday banking called RBC Vantage, which features a rewards program.

Called RBC Vantage, the highlight of this umbrella structure, covering everything from chequing to TFSAs, is its rewards program for debit transactions.

Of course, if you ask RBC, Vantage is so much more: "It represents our biggest ever, most comprehensive value-proposition and offering for clients that relates to everyday banking," says Erica Nielsen, senior vice-president of banking and client growth at RBC.

"And it really reflects the cumulative benefits when you bank with RBC."

The program  which includes no-fee chequing accounts, provided you sign up for a credit card and another account  is founded on focus group insights. What Canadians told the bank is that they generally feel a like an emotionally neglected spouse in the client/bank relationship.

RBC got the message, Nielsen adds: "It really meant, How do you (the bank) recognize me every single day; how do you recognize me as my relationship grows with you, and how do you make me feel respected for the business I bring to you?"

The campaign couldnt have had better timing, given the results of a recent JD Power survey of Canadian consumers attitudes about banks.

Its Canada Retail Banking Satisfaction Study found the reputation of the big five banks  CIBC, RBC, BMO, TD Canada Trust and Scotiabank  took a hit during the pandemic.

"We clearly saw a change in satisfaction," says John Cabell, director of banking and payments intelligence at JD Power.

Overall satisfaction, measured on a 1,000-point scale, fell to 787 from 790 due to a six-point decline among the big five clients while mid-sized banks  Simplii Financial, Tangerine Bank and ATB Financial  saw a 12-point rise in satisfaction.

"There is really this negative halo that many customers have had with their experience," Cabell says about latest survey findings regarding the big banks.

"Its often with the kind of things you could guess: I had a long wait on the telephone to get to a representative, or I am having problems with fees where they are costing me money whereas before I havent had problems."

Most banks are more than happy to fix theses problems, and generally have been very accommodating during the pandemic. For some Canadians, however, having to call, email or virtual chat with their bank to fix a glitch is a headache they would rather not have.

In contrast, mid-sized banks are online-based to begin with, so clients were already used to managing money online  and prefer email and texting over face-to-face, says Cabell.

But the big five banks, "likely, you had a lot of customers using (online and mobile) channels who didnt want to be there."

Mid-sized banks often have another advantage: no-fee banking, says Stephen Weyman, founder and CEO of HowToSaveMoney and creditcardGenius, websites tracking financial products.

He notes Tangerine and Simplii Financial have strong reputations for offering "great service for no-fee banking." Both happen to among the highest rated in the JD Power survey.

Whats also interesting is Tangerine is owned by Scotiabank, and Simplii by CIBC. So one might ask: Why dont CIBC and Scotia just offer no-fee banking or, for that matter, all of the big five banks do that?

In actuality, all do, providing you meet certain criteria. For example, Scotiabanks Basic Plus Bank Account charges $11.95 a month, or no fees if you have at least $3,000 at the end of each day for the month.

Weyman notes RBCs Vantage program is notable because unlike the other "bigs," its Day to Day Banking chequing account waives its $4 monthly fee if you have two other products with RBC (i.e. mortgage and credit card) and your use the account monthly to do at least two of the following: bill payments, direct deposit or pre-authorized payments.

"If youre looking at the whole package, it is a pretty compelling offering," he says, adding RBC also offers free AirPods for signing up, and meeting other criteria.

Yet if youre still wondering why not just offer a bare-bones, free chequing account and devour the competitors lunches, Weyman says the big banks have no intention of starting a "race to the bottom."

Much like telecoms, the banks are oligarchies fighting over a limited number of clients. And the formula has worked well because they are highly profitable. (That success, by the way, powers the returns in millions of Canadians retirement portfolios.)

As Weyman puts it: "Everybody needs a bank account and most of us already have one, so its not like there are new customers out there to chase after."

Still, big five banks are constantly fighting to win over new customers from competitors while keeping existing ones happy so they dont go somewhere else.

But a straight-up no-frills, no-fees, no strings attached chequing account?

For the time being, that remains the mid-sized banks game.
LAS VEGAS (AP)  Wearing a French maid-inspired lingerie costume and high heels, dancer JoJo Hamner waited patiently to get her COVID-19 vaccine in a line that snaked past a glittery hostess stand under a red-light chandelier.

Jeff Cantrell waits at Larry Flint's Hustler Club strip club after getting his second dose of coronavirus vaccine Friday, May 21, 2021, in Las Vegas. Las Vegas officials held a pop-up vaccine clinic at the strip club (AP Photo/John Locher)

LAS VEGAS (AP)  Wearing a French maid-inspired lingerie costume and high heels, dancer JoJo Hamner waited patiently to get her COVID-19 vaccine in a line that snaked past a glittery hostess stand under a red-light chandelier.

When it was her turn, Hamner sat in a chair and held onto a small feather duster that completed her costume while a nurse administered the shot into her already-exposed arm.

Hamner then waited nearby for the required 15 minutes of observation, sitting with other vaccine recipients in leather chairs between plush purple booths, vacant stages and empty poles at this strip club in Las Vegas.

This is just the most Vegas thing Ive ever seen, she said of the experience.

Larry Flynts Hustler Club, with a spinning disco ball casting rainbow colors on the walls but more lights turned on than usual, was an unconventional site for a walk-in vaccination clinic. But as government officials and health workers try to address the slowing demand for COVID-19 vaccines, theyre increasingly turning to creative ways to incentivize people to show up and get a shot.

This is just another way to access our population, said JoAnn Rupiper, the chief nurse of the Southern Nevada Health District, who monitored the walk-in clinic. It might attract some people who like the novelty of it, I suppose.

The clinic opened for several hours Friday night, administering shots to about 100 people before the strip club opened for its usual business. Several workers at the club, including Hamner, a dancer at a topless revenue, got their shots at the clinic along with members of the public.

Some people who showed up to get shots admitted they were reluctant to get the vaccine but decided to go for it if it meant visiting a strip club.

Roberto Montti, who lives near the club, said he had been putting off getting his shot but realized he should get it in order to resume his love of traveling.

Montti said he probably would have gotten his shot at a more humdrum venue but decided to go to the Hustler Club because it felt familiar.

Ive been here so many  Ive been here a few times. ... Maybe 10 times, give or take, he said with a laugh.

I was going to wait, I tell you that, said Las Vegas resident Michael Myers as he stood between a full-length picture of a naked woman and a sign promoting social distancing and other behaviors to mitigate the virus spread.

Myers wife, Lisa Harper, said he changed his mind when she told him they could both get it at the Hustler club.

I said, Flynts Hustler? She said Yeah. I said, Oh! Let me consider,' Myers said with a laugh.

A lot of people that wouldnt ordinarily do it, a lot of guys, they said, they came here because its Hustler, his wife Harper said. To take away the stodginess of it, to make it Hustler, its very clever.

Nothing says vaccinations like a stripper pole, said the couples friend George Stoecklin, who joined them to get his shot.

Myers, 70, said he was reluctant to get the shot and worried about how fast it had been available. But he noted his age and said he was concerned about his ability to spread the virus and infect others, including his wife.

Myers said he was disappointed there were no dancers on the stage while he got his shot but said, at least I got the scope of it.

More than 46% of the states population age 12 and over has received at least one shot of the vaccine, but Nevada health officials said this week that a steep drop-off in demand for shots may make it impossible for the state to reach a goal of vaccinating 75% of the eligible population.

Nevada officials have been increasingly turning to pop-up clinics in places like churches, schools and senior centers -- and now strip clubs -- to try to get more shots in arms.

As demand has slowed across the country, governments and businesses are turning to other creative ways to get shots in arms. Marijuana dispensaries have offered joints for jabs, breweries have offered shots and a chaser, and Ohio next week plans to debut a lottery system for residents who get vaccinated with a $1 million prize and five full-ride college scholarships.

Las Vegas officials said the Hustler Club approached them about holding the clinic after hosting in a similar vaccination site at the company's New Orleans location. The club offered its own incentives to those who show proof of vaccination: a membership card giving them and five friends free admission, a complimentary bottle of alcohol, dances from a vaccinated entertainer and other perks.

Ralph James, the general manager, said the business thought it would be a good chance to help the community and get back to normal faster. He acknowledged people may not typically think of the strip club as a public health partner but said, this gives everyone a chance to see how clean it is and its a normal business just like any other business.
When venture capitalist and former CBC Dragons Den star Arlene Dickinson looks at Canadas food and beverage processing sector, she sees no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit and innovation.

When venture capitalist and former CBC Dragons Den star Arlene Dickinson looks at Canadas food and beverage processing sector, she sees no shortage of entrepreneurial spirit and innovation.

But it takes more than good ideas and energy to make it in the highly competitive global food business increasingly dominated by multinationals.

"What you see is a lot of innovation happening but not a lot of growth opportunity, the ability for businesses to really scale to not just meet local demand but also global demand," Dickinson said in a recent interview.

Thats the thinking behind her launch earlier this month of Venturepark, an integrated growth chamber for upstart companies vying for market share in food, health and wellness, and agriculture products.

Dickinson has combined all of the pieces needed to support business growth under one "business growth ecosystem" to help companies achieve the scale they need to compete at home and abroad.

The strategy, billed as the first of its kind in Canada, combines capital investments with the expertise young companies need to scale, everything from kitchen innovation space, to marketing, mentorship, with even a media house to help amplify their story.

"Everyone needs to be experts at what they do, but if we all have singular purpose, we can actually work together and play off each other and offer these varying resources to companies that are in need of those resources and help them at the moment when they need them the most," she said.

"I think its difficult to grow a consumer goods company at the best of times; its particularly difficult in Canada, and I think this ecosystem will help grow a lot of companies and help them scale in a way that they deserve to," she said.

Canadas food processing sector is its second-largest manufacturing industry measured as value of its production. It contributes two per cent of our GDP. As the single largest manufacturing employer in this country, it provides jobs for more than 290,000 people and it supplies 70 per cent all processed food and beverages available.

Yet the struggles with global competitiveness, shortages of capital, labour and investments in innovation  at least in part because it lacks critical mass. Of the 7,800 food and beverage processors in Canada, 91 per cent have fewer than 100 employees.

"We see a lot of marketing firms, we see a lot of venture capital firms, we see a lot of organizations and accelerators and incubators, we see media firms  but what we dont see is how they can all be put together to really help businesses along at every stage of their growth and every need that they have to grow," she said. "I think that whats unique about this, is that we really are singularly focused."

Dickinson says the pandemic has raised awareness with consumers about the connections between food, health and environmental values.

"Weve had to think long and hard about what it is that we care about and who we want to support in terms of our local businesses and our local entrepreneurs. Were also starting to understand the impact we have on the not just the economy through entrepreneurialism, but also the environment through our acts of consumerism," she said.

"It is about people, planet, profits I get excited about what we can do. Im tired of giving away our ingredients to everybody else to make into product."

Thats creating opportunities for companies to develop a value chain from the farmer through to the consumer that not only delivers on those values  but tells its story of how.

Common traits of the companies Venturepark wants to work with, including Manitobas own Prairie Fava, include business models that are scalable, a commitment to social capitalism and a keen intuition into evolving market needs.

Dickinson said Canada is famous for exporting ingredients only to buy them back as consumer goods.

"We have the intelligence and the resources. We have every piece of the pie, we just havent made the pie," she said. "Its time for us to make the pie and to sell it."

Laura Rance is vice-president of content for Glacier FarmMedia. She can be reached at lrance@farmmedia.com
The plight of Winnipeg's homeless population weighed on the mind of philanthropist John Pollard after he bought a downtown hotel and tenants had to move into rooming houses.

The plight of Winnipeg's homeless population weighed on the mind of philanthropist John Pollard after he bought a downtown hotel and tenants had to move into rooming houses.

"There has to be a better way for them to live," said Pollard, co-CEO of Pollard Banknote. "If we want to deal with the homelessness problem, I think we've got to build homes."

Pollard decided to do something about that; he'll pay half the $8-million cost of building an apartment block in the Centennial neighbourhood that will house 47 people, including people who use drugs. The remainder will be paid by the three levels of government. The three-storey complex at 390 Ross Ave. is on track to be opened in the fall of 2022.

As Pollard spoke Friday, his voice tightened as he recounted his purchase of the Fortune Building and adjacent Winnipeg Hotel on Main Street at St. Mary Avenue.

People were living in the rundown hotel, and had no other option for a room available at welfare rates.

"You look at some of these downtrodden Main Street strip hotels and they don't look like very nice places to live  and they're not," he said. "They are all absolutely bursting full."

"It's full of bed bugs, it's falling apart (with) lots of criminal activity; there's pushers and there's pimps," said Pollard.

The Trudeau and Pallister governments are chipping in to build the facility, however neither was able to provide details about their share.

"All hands are on deck to tackle this crisis," Manitoba Families Minister Rochelle Squires said.

The province will fund room and board for residents by allocating welfare and housing transfers; and provide opportunities for training and counselling. The building will have 24/7 support staff and communal areas for dining and social activities.

The city approved the project, previously dubbed the Ellen Ross House, in 2019, but the pandemic delayed funding approval.

Federal support is coming through the national housing strategy, which has largely focused on shoring up existing units and providing stipends, but has prompted some new construction in Winnipeg.

"This is truly a coming-together of all levels of government to do the work we need to do, to help secure housing for Canadians," said Liberal MP Adam Vaughan, the parliamentary secretary to the federal housing minister.

Pollard decried a "perverse model" of low-income housing that allow landlords to house tenants in unsafe squalor because their only funding comes source is whatever amounts of money welfare payments provide to recipients.

He argued neighbourhoods such as Centennial need extra housing units right away, and noted that the local community association had no opposition to the project, even with its plans to house drug users.

"Those people have been so welcoming, and there was no sort of not-in-my-backyard attitude," Pollard said.

"It's hard to live in the city of Winnipeg right now and not see that we have a challenge with homelessness."

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
Former news reporter and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak grand chief Sheila North officially announced May 14 she was running to become grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

Opinion

Former news reporter and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak grand chief Sheila North officially announced May 14 she was running to become grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs.

She spent the day making the media rounds, appearing on a high-profile morning show, nightly news programs, and in the pages of the Winnipeg Free Press.

As she shared in her news release, her "four-pillar" platform includes: "Forge relationships, restore nationhood, rebuild activism, and recover wellness."

In other words, basic Indigenous politics.

Yet, she got a lot of attention; an anomaly, as media generally dont pay attention to AMC grand chief candidates (or its election, for that matter.)

This was, in part, due to the fact North has worked for CBC and CTV  such relationships are useful when making such an announcement.

What also helps is North has a track record as a grand chief. She advocated for northern infrastructure on First Nations, murdered and missing Indigenous women and girls, and mental health and anti-suicide supports.

She came second in the 2018 grand chief election at the Assembly of First Nations, losing to Perry Bellegarde but receiving support from a quarter of all chiefs in Canada.

North has even made Chatelaine magazines "top 30 women in Canada" list. She is as close one can get to a "star candidate" in Indigenous politics in Manitoba.

Still, the election for grand chief of Manitobas main lobbying organization for First Nations isnt for months (July 15) and only chiefs vote for the position.

All one needs is a majority of the 62 First Nation members of the assembly. If all show up, thats 32 votes.

Announcing to the public youre running for an organization no one in the public votes for seems like overkill, when you only need to convince 32 people.

This means Norths announcement was really meant for the people around chiefs  and one in particular: current grand chief Arlen Dumas.

Dumas has been quiet on whether he is running again, even though everyone in the know understands he badly wants to stay in the job.

Hes spent much of his career building to be grand chief. In 2017, he got in on the first ballot, with 61 per cent of votes among five candidates.

Thats a landslide in Indigenous politics, where multiple votes and candidates make grand chief elections go far into the night.

Dumas was popular, having just finished nine years as chief of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (Missinippi Nehethowak). He spoke Cree, and was a young, energetic chief, known for resisting mining and being a voice during the Idle No More movement.

He even once declared a "moratorium" against all provincial and federal laws in Cree territory, stating: "The unilateral assertion of jurisdiction or continued theft of our lands and resources and federal and provincial governments will no longer be tolerated."

Dumas seemed destined for a lengthy run as grand chief, until the summer of 2019, when multiple women alleged improper behaviour. They alleged Dumas messaged them, used a fake social media account, and one claimed an affair under false pretense.

With questions being asked about his character, Dumas went into damage control, refusing interviews and issuing news releases, accusing the women of a "smear campaign" and some unknown person impersonating him online.

Even when AMC officials admitted messages came from a phone number listed under Dumas, he called it lies, promised an investigation (which, if held, was never made public) and a meeting with the AMC womens council (also called off).

Suddenly, Dumas announced he was going on leave to "heal" and take professional sensitivity training, promising to change what he called his "informal communication style."

When he reappeared weeks later at the AMC annual general assembly, reporters were banned from the meeting. At another event, an APTN reporter asked him a question about the allegations, and was told to leave.

For two years, his strategy has been to hope the questions go away  and issue mounds of news releases, videos, and announcements. (I have more than 300 in my email inbox.)

Arguably, Dumas has done a decent job; helping First Nations take control of the COVID-19 pandemic response by controlling data alongside provincial authorities.

However, with arguably the strongest female candidate in Manitoba First Nations history about to face him, the #MeToo movement, and rumours previous supporters (such as influential Peguis chief Glenn Hudson) are about to back North, Dumas may be in the fight for his political life.

This time, though, he wont be able to take a leave or issue news releases. Hell have to answer some hard, difficult questions  and let his fellow chiefs decide.

niigaan.sinclair@freepress.mb.ca
A Winnipeg epidemiologist says it's time provincial officials provide some clear benchmarks for life returning to normal, in order to encourage vaccination and give much-needed hope to North America's COVID-19 epicentre.

A Winnipeg epidemiologist says it's time provincial officials provide some clear benchmarks for life returning to normal, in order to encourage vaccination and give much-needed hope to North America's COVID-19 epicentre.

"With ongoing uncertainty, there is a significant increase in anxiety," said Cynthia Carr. "Any layer of concrete information will feel like certainty."

Early this month, Saskatchewan released what it called a reopening roadmap, with three phases of restrictions lifting based on when certain age cohorts reach 70 per cent vaccination.

This past week, Ontario launched its own three-step roadmap, with each step pegged to the percentage of adults with one- and two-vaccine doses.

For example, Ontarians will be able to get haircuts starting July 5  for the first time in three months  if 70 per cent of adults have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, and 20 per cent of them have received two.

Carr said public-health experts know that a lack of clarity wears people down to the point that they stop paying attention to the messaging.

"This has been a challenge, this ongoing uncertainty and escalating anxiety  and then people start just doing their own thing. Because people need things to cope."

Carr said offering people a clear sense of what they can do and when they can do it will give them a sense of control and motivate more to get vaccinated.

"We need to be social, or go to the gym, or go to church or whatever it is that helps you cope."

The province did not have an immediate response to the idea Friday.

Carr also argued the current third wave might not have spun out of control if Manitobans had a concrete sense of the goals they were working toward.

"It would have been ideal to have that message out there early, in association with public-health orders that said: this will be our place until this proportion of the population has been vaccinated," she said.

"Let's show (the public) that math, of what's going to happen, especially if we lollygag, and we let these variants of concern take over  which is what we did.

"Now it's even higher and higher and we're going to be restricted longer and longer."

Carr said Manitobans need to understand that getting back to something resembling normal means immunizing an adequate percentage of the population. And that level rises with the number of COVID-19 cases, especially with more-contagious variants.

"It comes back to math, public-health policy and messaging," she said.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca
CANADAS Roman Catholic bishops have launched a new system for reporting alleged sexual abuse committed by  or covered up by  a bishop.

CANADAS Roman Catholic bishops have launched a new system for reporting alleged sexual abuse committed by  or covered up by  a bishop.

The system furthers the commitment of the Catholic Church to protect minors and vulnerable persons from sexual abuse, Archbishop Richard Gagnon of the Archdiocese of Winnipeg said.

"We want to show the church takes this very seriously, that even the shepherds are accountable, to their members, to the Pope, to Christ," he said.

Gagnon, who is also president of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the system will introduce an additional level of accountability for church leadership in Canada, alongside existing protocols for reporting and responding to sexual abuse or misconduct by priests, deacons and others people with authority.

The national and bilingual reporting system is in response to a global directive from Pope Francis that calls on Catholic dioceses to establish "one or more public, stable and easily accessible systems for submission of reports." It was developed in partnership with Clearview Strategic Partners, a Canadian company that provides independent ethics reporting and whistleblowing platforms.

"This is a way to hold bishops to account, to show that the church takes this very seriously," Gagnon said, adding it is also a way to build trust  something that has been lost over the years.

"We want to dispel the notion held by some that the church is still hiding abusers, that the church has not changed," he said. "Abuse is simply not tolerated."

Gagnon said it is "sad in a way that we need this at all, yet it is still important to do, no matter how sad it is."

Abuse survivors played a role in the systems development, Gagnon said.

Archbishop Albert LeGatt of the Archdiocese of St. Boniface said the reporting system is "a clear expression at all levels of the church from the highest to the lowest that there is to be accountability and transparency."

It is "a whole of church effort, a focus on protecting victims and not trying to protect the church," he said, adding its a "simple and safe way to report abuse, a way for people to be confident it will be dealt with."

Its also a way to prevent a bishop from stopping an investigation, LeGatt said, noting the need for the system comes "from the top  its a global directive from the Holy Father."

People seeking to file an report about a bishop can do so confidentially and anonymously at bishopreportingsystem.ca or by calling 1-866-892-3737.

faith@freepress.mb.ca
Citing Manitobas status as the COVID-19 hot spot in North America, Premier Brian Pallister has appealed to the president of the United States to green light and fast-track the delivery of surplus vaccines across the border.

Citing Manitobas status as the COVID-19 hot spot in North America, Premier Brian Pallister has appealed to the president of the United States to green light and fast-track the delivery of surplus vaccines across the border.

"The United States has millions of vaccines in freezers. They need to be in arms here in Canada. This is a call to arms," Pallister said during his opening remarks at a press conference Saturday morning.

"We need to ensure that our border is used to keep COVID out, but that its never used to keep a vaccine out."

Manitobas immunization team could vaccinate an additional 100,000 people in the next 10 days if it obtained vaccines from North Dakota, Pallister said, while noting there are trucks with freezers ready to pick up vaccines in the U.S. immediately should they be allowed to do so.

The premier spoke about the importance of restoring the two countries economic and social ties as quickly as possible in his latest pitch to U.S. President Joe Biden; he sent Biden a letter with a formal request to allow North Dakota to ship vaccines to Manitoba on Friday. Pallister said he has Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus support in calling on Biden to provide surplus vaccines.

He also mentioned Manitoba learned Friday there are shipping difficulties that will see the provinces orders reduced by 20 per cent in June, but directed specifics on the matter to the vaccine task force.

Download Pallister's letter to Biden

The vaccine task force did not note any projected delays during its weekly Wednesday briefing. A provincial spokesperson could not provide details on the matter Saturday, directing a reporter to the federal government. Ottawa did not immediately provide comment.

The premiers remarks came shortly before the province released its daily COVID-19 update, which included 476 new cases, six deaths  five of which were linked to variants, and a record five-day test positivity rate of 16.8 per cent in the capital.

There are currently 4,984 active cases of the virus, with a total of 74 of the 298 people in hospital being treated in intensive care units.

Also Saturday, a spokesperson for Shared Health confirmed seven patients from Manitoba ICUs had been moved to hospitals in Ontario in recent days and four more patients are "tentatively scheduled" for transfer.

To date, Manitoba has moved four patients to Thunder Bay and a single patient to respective hospitals in Sault Ste. Marie, North Bay and Ottawa. The leaders of both opposition parties accused the premier of attempting to distract the public and shift blame to the White House during a crisis in the local healthcare system Saturday.

"The premier has blamed everybody for the failures in the vaccine rollout and refused to accept responsibility for it himself. To date, hes blamed First Nations people, hes blamed Justin Trudeau, and today, he blames Joe Biden," said Wab Kinew, leader of the Manitoba NDP, during a scrum at the legislature.

Kinew noted Canada started to receive vaccines from the U.S. as early as April. He also questioned how attacking Biden addresses the critical situation in intensive care units in Manitoba and why the province continues to ramp down vaccine appointments on Sundays and holidays.

The national COVID-19 vaccine tracker indicated Manitoba had administered 81 per cent of its total vaccine supply at the start of the May long weekend. More than 100,000 doses remain in freezers in the province.

The premier did not indicate more vaccines would be administered this weekend, instead insisting supply continues to be a key problem in speeding up the rollout.

"We need President Biden to stop saying no and we need president Biden to start saying yes. Yes is the right answer," he said.

Dougald Lamont, leader of the Manitoba Liberals, said the Saturday press conference was a waste of time. "Manitobans need clear guidelines, real enforcement, and real help staying home. Before the premier blames people for not doing their jobs, he should start doing his," Lamont said in a written statement.

Pallister is not the first Canadian premier to call on the U.S. to provide extra vaccine supply. Leaders in Ontario and the Atlantic provinces have made similar requests to border states in recent weeks.

As of Saturday, nearly 58 per cent of adults in Manitoba have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The total partially vaccinated population above age 12 is 53 per cent.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie
Based on voters perceptions that the provincial government has mishandled the pandemic and the recession, Manitobas Progressive Conservatives have slumped significantly in the polls, to the extent that defeat at the next election is a real possibility. Party leader and Premier Brian Pallister has reached a new low in terms of personal popularity, which is a major factor contributing to the decline of the party.

Opinion

Based on voters perceptions that the provincial government has mishandled the pandemic and the recession, Manitobas Progressive Conservatives have slumped significantly in the polls, to the extent that defeat at the next election is a real possibility. Party leader and Premier Brian Pallister has reached a new low in terms of personal popularity, which is a major factor contributing to the decline of the party.

This led me to wonder why there has been almost total silence in the ranks of the Tories regarding the premiers leadership style, his policy positions and his often-contentious actions and statements. The current 38 MLAs have voted as a bloc for controversial bills, and none has publicly criticized such "hardball" legislative tactics as withholding the texts of 19 bills for four months.

There are multiple factors that might account for the loyalty, solidarity and discipline exhibited by the MLAs in the cabinet and caucus. Beyond the legislature, there have been only a few media reports of unrest among rank-and-file party members.

Personal loyalty to the premier might be a factor behind the quiet. In 2012, Pallister became leader by acclamation, which meant there are no former leadership contenders who could be the focal point for internal opposition.

Many of the current MLAs were recruited by him and were elected to support his agenda of lower taxes, reduced deficits/debt and streamlining the bureaucracy. They see their role as delivering on the mandate obtained by the party and defending the actions of government to their constituents. Few MLAs have a sufficient personal vote following to protect them against a provincewide swing against their party.

Electoral success does wonders for party unity. The achievement of two sizable majority governments in the 2016 and 2019 elections probably added to a reservoir of personal loyalty to Pallister. The depth of the reservoir is probably shallow, however. The victories reflected more anger and frustration with the NDP than voter attraction to the PC leader.

By his own admission, Pallister finds it difficult to make a strong emotional connection with others. Cabinet and caucus operate in secret, so it is impossible to gauge precisely the extent to which he has tried, and succeeded, in promoting among his MLAs feelings of belonging, camaraderie and a sense of individual contribution to a shared purpose.

Limited anecdotal evidence suggests Pallister is a loner who often acts unilaterally and lacks the interpersonal skills needed to foster collegiality among his followers.

Party loyalty is probably more important than leadership loyalty. Institutional arrangements and political factors combine to create a cultural norm of team play. The opportunity to voice concerns and objections in the privacy of cabinet and caucus creates an onus on MLAs to support party policies and actions.

Political polarization, heightened partisanship and personal animosities in the legislature reinforce the instinct not to engage in dissent that would provide opportunities for opposition attacks.

As distinct from party loyalty, party discipline involves the use of rewards and punishments to maintain party unity. The premier has important prerogatives, such as the appointment and removal of MLAs from cabinet, to induce conformity. As party leader, he can refuse to approve the nomination of a rebel MLA at the next election. When MLAs embarrass the party, the premier can orchestrate their removal from caucus, forcing them to sit as independents. Pallister has used such prerogatives several times.

Disciplinary measures are used less frequently and are less effective than is implied by popular comments about MLAs being "whipped into line." When there is internal harmony, such disciplinary devices are not needed, and when there is a severe breakdown of party solidarity, such as the open revolt against NDP premier Greg Sellinger in 2014, they lose much of their potency.

The wider political context affects loyalty, solidarity and the need to resort to discipline. Obviously, the past year of emergency conditions has been exceptional and challenging. Likely governments MLAs have been prepared to accept increased centralization of power in the premiers office because urgent decision-making left limited time for consultation and consensus seeking. The fact Pallister mused to a reporter about retiring once achieving a balanced budget may have stifled potential unrest.

Revolts within governing parties tend to happen after more than one term in office, when they are trailing badly in the polls and when an election is approaching. The PCs are in their second term, have been blown off-course by the pandemic and are led by an individual who has trouble communicating with honesty and empathy.

The next fixed-date election Is scheduled for October 2023. A lot can happen before then  a voluntary retirement by Pallister, a resignation forced by mounting pressure from caucus and beyond, an early election called by a new leader or a political comeback that causes Pallister to prolong his career.

Paul G. Thomas is professor emeritus of political studies at the University of Manitoba.
Manitobas business community breathed a collective sigh of relief when the province announced it would only tweak COVID-19 restrictions temporarily this long weekend.

Manitobas business community breathed a collective sigh of relief when the province announced it would only tweak COVID-19 restrictions temporarily this long weekend.

"Weve been told repeatedly cases arent coming directly from storefronts and retailers," said Chuck Davidson, president of the Manitoba Chambers of Commerce, on Friday. "And at this point, I dont think theres very many restrictions left to impose on businesses other than closing down everything entirely."

Public-health officials announced a record-setting 603 COVID-19 cases Thursday, the same day the province said only one person per household will be allowed to enter any business starting today and at least until Wednesday.

On Friday, Manitoba saw another 594 new COVID-19 cases and three more deaths.

"We need to reduce the amount of contacts we have outside our household. Its all up to us," said chief provincial public health officer Dr. Brent Roussin, announcing the upcoming measures. "We know what to do. Weve done it before."

Neither Roussin nor Heather Stefanson, Manitobas health minister, provided details at a news conference Thursday about whether provincial enforcement will be extended to support businesses in order to follow the new rules.

Retailers have repeatedly told the Free Press in previous interviews that all they can do is ask people to follow pandemic measures politely. The onus for getting ticketed should not be on them if pandemic measures are contravened by customers, business owners have said.

In a statement, a provincial spokeswoman said Friday, "Enforcement officials are aware of the new public-health orders and will enforce as part of their regular duties. These orders are some of the strongest in Canada, and Manitobans are reminded that following them will help to bring case counts down."

Dr. Roussin said Thursday that Manitobans are urged to purchase essential items only, but did not limit the sale of non-essential items under public-health orders, as was done during the second wave of the pandemic last fall. A provincial spokeswoman said Friday thats because "best practices are to use the least restrictive measures possible."

John Graham, Prairies director of government relations at the Retail Council of Canada, said the new measures are "only an addition to whats already being followed by the bulk of businesses and customers across the province."

Jonathan Alward, Manitoba director of the Canadian Federation for Independent Business, said "despite how little changed these rules may be, when the province tells people they shouldnt be going out to shop unless absolutely necessary, they need to acknowledge how that will continue to hit businesses financially  who are already in a very dire position at current capacity limits of 10 per cent or closed altogether."

Alward said hes disappointed the province did not extend emergency support for retailers.

"At the end of the day, Im obviously happy were finally following the science with the new measures and not restricting businesses more than they already are," said Davidson. "Certainly though, what is concerning is that were still blanketing the whole provinces businesses with these measures, when there are only cases soaring in certain communities and barely occurring in others."

temur.durrani@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @temurdur
Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman has asked the federal government to send in the military and out-of-province health-care workers to help Manitobas intensive care units keep up with the surge in COVID-19 patients.

Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman has asked the federal government to send in the military and out-of-province health-care workers to help Manitobas intensive care units keep up with the surge in COVID-19 patients.

"For four days, Winnipegs ICUs have been so full that our provincial government has needed to transport patients outside the province to Ontario for help. With our health-care system stretched beyond what it should be we could see even more patients in our ICUs in the coming weeks," said Bowman.

Earlier this week, three intensive care patients were sent to Ontario to free up beds. Two more were sent early Friday and two more were scheduled to be flown out in the evening, bringing the total number to seven.

The mayor said he made the requests during a phone call with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Friday. For the requests to be granted, Bowman said Premier Brian Pallister must officially ask for them, which he urged him to do.

"The information were learning about the situation in our intensive care units is gravely concerning," said Bowman.

The mayor also called for the province to ramp up COVID-19 enforcement, deeming current fines for health order violations "too weak."

"Ive been calling for some time for doubling, if not tripling, the fines for first-time offences Id (also) like to see significant fines, in the range of $100,000, for (those) that are intentionally organizing public protests for the purposes of violating the provincial public health orders," said Bowman.

The mayor said those "organizing super spreader events in our community" must face severe consequences.

He also accused the province of waiting too long to seek help for its hospitals.

"Far too late, far too reactionary, thats the pattern that weve seen at the provincial level," said Bowman.

In an email, a provincial spokesperson said the mayor is entitled to his opinion but the province will focus its pandemic response on the advice of public health experts. The spokesperson claimed Manitoba has issued strict public health orders and fines.

"Manitoba maintained public health restrictions that were stricter than or as strict as every province west of Quebec between the second and third wave, and our additional restrictions were imposed faster than in most other provinces," the statement said.

Manitobas premier also spoke with the prime minister on Friday, asking for up to 50 critical care nurses, 20 respiratory therapists and up to 50 contact tracers.

"This is going to be, we hope, a temporary thing and a short-term thing, but the sooner we get a little bit of backup help here the better," Pallister said.

In a brief statement, the Prime Ministers Office appeared open to the premiers request.

"The prime minister confirmed receiving Manitobas request for additional federal assistance, and committed to working with the province to provide additional supports to keep people safe," the statement said.

When asked if health-care workers could provide sufficient help without military support, Bowman stressed his key priority is to secure enough resources to meet hospital demand.

The province announced 594 new cases of COVID-19 Friday, including 420 in Winnipeg, bringing the capital citys five-day test positivity rate to 16.1 per cent.

 With files from The Canadian Press

Joyanne.pursaga@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @joyanne_pursaga
Even an ounce of humility and honest self-reflection from provincial officials right now would go a long way towards convincing Manitobans they have a handle on the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Even an ounce of humility and honest self-reflection from provincial officials right now would go a long way towards convincing Manitobans they have a handle on the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Instead, many senior officials  elected and non-elected  continue to display a level of arrogance and defensiveness thats making it increasingly difficult for the public to have confidence in government.

That could hurt buy-in when it comes to public-health orders and the need for people to get vaccinated.

(WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Earlier this week Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, claimed the only reason Manitobans are seeing record case numbers is because they are not following the rules.

Earlier this week Dr. Brent Roussin, the chief provincial public health officer, claimed the only reason Manitobans are seeing record case numbers is because they are not following the rules. He took no responsibility for failing to heed warnings from neighbouring jurisdictions last month  including in Ontario, where highly contagious COVID-19 variant strains drove up infection rates and overwhelmed hospitals  by adopting preventative measures here.

Premier Brian Pallister, in his usual belligerent and abrasive style, lashed out again this week at anybody who suggested his government didnt act early enough to prevent the crisis now before us. In a moment of utter delusion Thursday, Pallister claimed the province had the right level of public-health measures in place prior to the latest surge in cases.

Dr. Jazz Atwal, the deputy chief provincial public health officer, was asked Friday to explain how he got it so wrong three weeks ago when he predicted the surge Ontario was experiencing would not happen here. His response: Manitobans didnt follow the rules.

"We were anticipating people would adhere to the orders," said Atwal.

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES We were anticipating people would adhere to the orders, said Dr. Jazz Atwal, the deputy chief provincial public health officer.

"Were all responsible for our interactions, were all responsible for adhering to the orders and adhering to the messaging... thats one of the issues with models, is that it all depends on adherence to public-health orders."

Its an absurd statement. Public health operates under the assumption that not everyone follows the rules. Officials tailor their orders accordingly. The province has good data on compliance through contact-tracing investigations, including how adherence changes over time. Public health has the ability to ramp up orders if more people are flouting the rules.

When they saw the impact variants were having on infection rates and hospitalizations in Ontario and Alberta, they had advance warning that strict measures were needed here immediately. They also had good intelligence on compliance levels at the time. Their job was to find the right level of public-health orders to get ahead of the surge, knowing not everyone would comply with the rules. They failed to do so; now they're making excuses.

If government cant recognize when it fails, its impossible for it to take corrective action to prevent a repeat of its mistakes.

Indeed, those who dont comply  or do so only haphazardly  bear the greatest responsibility for the situation were in. If everyone followed the rules diligently, Manitoba would probably not be in this mess. But short of handing out fines, beefing up enforcement and begging people to obey the rules, theres not much more government can do to get that minority of people to co-operate. Government has to act beyond that to protect the public and prevent hospitals from becoming overwhelmed. By failing to do so last month, in the face of clear evidence and persistent lobbying by medical experts and scientists, officials were derelict in their duty.

If government cant recognize when it fails, its impossible for it to take corrective action to prevent a repeat of its mistakes. By digging in and claiming they did everything possible to avert disaster, its difficult for people to have confidence in their public officials.

First ministers set the tone in government. Pallisters arrogance and combative nature has seeped into the bureaucracy. He has created an unhealthy culture within government that makes it almost impossible to acknowledge errors and realign policy when things go wrong.

Manitobans are now witnessing the consequences of that poisoned environment.

tom.brodbeck@freepress.mb.ca
WINNIPEG - The United States government could give Manitoba's COVID-19 vaccine drive a boost if it allowed individual states like North Dakota to begin exporting shots on their own, the province's premier said Saturday.

Premier of Manitoba Brian Pallister speaks at a news conference at the Manitoba Legislative Building, in Winnipeg on Wednesday, April 7, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski

WINNIPEG - The United States government could give Manitoba's COVID-19 vaccine drive a boost if it allowed individual states like North Dakota to begin exporting shots on their own, the province's premier said Saturday.

Brian Pallister said the U.S. has exported vaccines on a country-to-country basis, but he argued allowing individual states to do so could speed up the process.

Pallister said he has written to U.S. President Joe Biden on the issue, but has not yet received a response.

"The vaccines are sitting in freezers miles away (in North Dakota). We have people here waiting and we need those vaccines up here," Pallister said Saturday.

North Dakota had asked the White House earlier this year for permission to ship some vaccines to Manitoba for teachers and other school workers, but the request was denied, the premier added.

Pallister's comments came hours as Manitoba continued to face a harsh third wave of the pandemic.

Health officials reported 476 new COVID-19 cases Saturday  down from a record 603 earlier in the week  and six new deaths linked to the virus.

The percentage of people testing positive, averaged over five days, continued to rise and stood at 14.3 per cent provincially and 16.8 per cent in Winnipeg.

The province's intensive care units have been pushed to such an extent that some patients are being transferred to hospitals in Ontario.

To address the dire situation, Ottawa agreed to send another 50 contact tracers to Manitoba.

Science Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne shared the news in a tweet on Saturday night.

Pallister had also called Friday for the federal government to send 50 critical care nurses and 20 respiratory therapists to Manitoba, but Champagne did not address that request.

As of Saturday, 48 per cent of Manitobans aged 12 and over had received at least one dose of a vaccine, according to provincial data.

The Opposition New Democrats said Pallister's rare Saturday news conference was an attempt to divert people's attention.

"What we see is a premier flailing in a desperate attempt to distract from the failures of his government," NDP Leader Wab Kinew said.

North Dakota only has some 55,000 doses on hand, Kinew added, so its ability to help Manitobans is limited.

Pallister said all extra vaccines are welcome, especially amid uncertainty over some future supplies. The Public Health Agency of Canada said Friday it is no longer confident it will receive another six-to-eight million doses of the Moderna vaccine next month.

"Your country has more vaccines than it will administer, our country has less vaccines than it needs," Pallister wrote in his letter to Biden, dated Thursday.

"This is a perfect partnership opportunity to keep our citizens safe, our economies strong, and our borders open as we battle COVID-19 together."

Biden announced on Monday the U.S. will share an additional 20 million doses with other countries over the next six weeks, although there was no word on how many might come Canada's way.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 22, 2021
It will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean. A total of 3,700 sailors, aviators and marines are involved in the deployment which will cover 25,000 nautical miles.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said the deployment will be flying the flag for Global Britain  projecting our influence, signaling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow."

The trip comes after the British governments review of defense and foreign policy recommended that the U.K. "tilt its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region, in response to China's growing influence on the world stage.

One of the things well be doing clearly is showing to our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea and, in a confident but not a confrontational way, we will be vindicating that point, Johnson said while visiting the HMS Queen Elizabeth on Friday.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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NEW YORK (AP) - As the anniversary of George Floyds murder approaches, some people say the best way to honor him is for Congress to pass a bill in his name that overhauls policing. The George Floyd Justice in Policing Act would ban chokeholds, prohibit no-knock raids and create a national registry for officers who are disciplined for serious misconduct. But many activists warn that some of the proposed reforms have not been enough to stop past police abuses. Their reservations reflect a divide within the movement over what would constitute real progress. The House approved the bill earlier this year, but it faces resistance from Republicans in the closely divided Senate.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - New York Attorney General Letitia James says an ongoing investigation surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo will conclude when it concludes."

She said Friday that she has ignored criticism from his top aide that the probe is politically motivated. James says the ongoing investigation into whether the governor sexually harassed women is very thorough and comprehensive.

Her office is also probing whether Cuomo illegally used state resources to write and promote his COVID-19 leadership book. In mid-April, state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli issued a letter authorizing James to open a criminal inquiry into Cuomos book deal.

Cuomos spokesperson Rich Azzopardi accused both DiNapoli and James of trying to further political self-interest.


Even as the shell of the Wynn Hospital towers over downtown Utica, legal battles continue, in an effort to stop it. Rochester legal firm, the Zoghlin Group, has filed a petition on behalf of Oriskany LLC, the owner of 525-527 Oriskany Street, the lot on which Enterprise Rent-A-Car sits, in the footprint of the hospital parking garage.

"The community has been consistently opposed to this parking garage on these parcels: when the land owners wouldn't sell to MVHS, the County stepped in," says Attorney Bridget O'Toole, of the Zoghlin Group. "Eminent Domain is a drastic step and should only be undertaken in strict accordance with the law."

The petition names Oneida County and its Board of Legislators, claiming the board did not follow the letter of law in some aspects of its effort to condemn properties in the downtown parking garage footprint, whose owners refuse to sell to MVHS. Among the areas the petition calls into question: the State Environmental Quality Review, or, "SEQR" process, and, a public hearing that was held remotely, during which multiple people had difficulty participating.

"The SEQR process involved the parking garage, what was considered part of what was approved, and we are actually bound by those findings and those determinations, so, I think the SEQR issue has been resolved with regard to the eminent doman part," says County Attorney, Peter Rayhill, adding that he doesn't believe there's a legal issue with the remotely-held hearing, either. "And so they've raised that issue and there have been decisions that it's clear you can do that, but I'll be intrigued to see how that plays out and we will comply with whatever the appelate department determines."

The Appelate Division is expected to take up the petition in its October term. Construction of the parking garage has not yet begun.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP)  Indiana University is requiring all students and employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations for the fall semester and is threatening to cancel class registrations and fire staff members who dont comply.

IU officials announced the requirement for its campuses across the state Friday, saying it will allow the university to lift most coronavirus-related restrictions such as face masks and physical distancing. The university says knowing that the vast majority students and employees are vaccinated is the only way it can confidently return to in-person classes, more in-person events and a more typical university experience.

All students, faculty and staff members should have their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 1 in order to meet the universitys requirement. They will have to demonstrate that two weeks have passed since theyve received the final vaccine dose by Aug. 15 or when they first return to campus.

The University of Notre Dame is ordering a similar vaccination requirement for students and employees before the fall semester.

Exemptions to the IUs vaccination requirement will be limited, including medical exemptions and documented and significant religious exemptions, the university said.
LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - In honor of national police week, the Lafayette police department honored officers who are retiring and officers who have performed exemplary police work.

"It's just nice every once in a while to be able to give a little of the recognition back and show them how much we appreciate the work that they are doing," said Chief Patrick Flannelly.

On Friday, the Lafayette police department recognized officers for life-saving moments and exemplary police work. They also congratulated those who retired. One of those retirees is Perry Amos.

"It feels like a part of me I am leaving behind but the best part of it is I've met so many great officers and I know that they are going to do a fantastic job so I know it doesn't end and the good work is going to continue," said Perry Amos a Retired Executive Officer for LPD.

Former officer Amos served on the Lafayette police force for 30 years. He says he wanted to serve to change stereotypes about police officers.

"Honestly, I wanted to change how officers saw minorities and how minorities saw officers," said Amos.

He has advice for officers who are currently navigating serving the public during this trying time for law enforcement.

"Talk less and listen more, said Amos. Don't take things personally. Just because someone is yelling at you does not mean they are mad at you. Listen to them."

Lafayette Police Chief Patrick Flannelly says he hopes this will shine a light on how much police help the community.

"I hope people will take a collective breath and you know maybe don't get so caught up in the negativity all the time and really take a moment to appreciate the efforts that police officers undertake every year," said Flannelly.

Police also honored two civilians at tonight's ceremony who played a big role in serving the community.
CARROLL COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI)  The Carroll County Sheriffs Office and the Carroll County Prosecutors Office are investigating a late-night shooting in northeastern Carroll County Thursday night.

According to the Carroll County Sheriffs Office, officials received a 911 report of a 17-year-old girl who had been shot and was lying motionless in the roadway near the Burrows Presbyterian Church. Burrows is located eleven miles northeast of Delphi, off of the Hoosier Heartland. Police said when they arrived on the scene, they found a female juvenile, alert and conscious, with what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to the upper torso. Police said the injury appeared to not look life-threatening.

Before being taken to a hospital, police were able to briefly talk with the victim and gain a suspect vehicle description described as a gray Mitsubishi ERS passenger car.

At 11:48 p.m., Tippecanoe County Sheriffs Deputies stopped a vehicle having a similar description on the Hoosier Heartland Highway, in northeastern Tippecanoe County, and detained the people in the vehicle.

Documents show Emmett Davis, 22, Lafayette and Mike-Anthony Stephens, 20, also of Lafayette, were taken into custody and transported to the Carroll County Jail in Delphi. Davis was preliminarily arrested for Attempted Murder (Level 1 felony); Aggravated Battery (Level 3 felony); and Robbery (Level 3 felony). Stephens was initially arrested for Assisting a Criminal (Level 5 felony). Davis is being held on a $100,000 bond and Stephens on a $10,000 bond.

Carroll County investigators believing the incident may have been a botched robbery attempt that may have involved drugs.
Authorities are investigating assaults in New York and Los Angeles as tensions flair over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict amid days of violence between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza that have left hundreds of people dead. Supporters of Israel are shown gathered at New York's Times Square on Thursday.
White House officials on Friday presented a counteroffer to Republican lawmakers on their infrastructure and jobs package that reduced the size of the proposal from $2.25 trillion to $1.7 trillion, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki. Psaki is shown speaking during the daily press briefing the White House on April 27, 2021 in Washington, D.C.
On Wednesday, the nearly one million Amazon workers throughout the United States received an automated text alert notifying them that as of Monday, May 24 the company would allow fully-vaccinated employees to go without masks while on the job, unless mandated by state or local regulations.

According to the alert, employees at least two weeks past receiving full vaccination may enter their vaccine information in the A to Z Amazon phone app, claim a $40 bonus from the company if they have not already done so, and receive a check mark on their profiles to show to staff at temperature check points at the building entrance. Doing this will allow Amazonians to forego masks. In later weeks, Amazon will provide vaccinated employees with stickers to wear on their personnel badges. Starting mid-June, the A to Z app will begin requiring workers to upload their vaccine card information.

An Amazon fulfillment center (Wikimedia Commons)

The announcement comes a week after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), announced the that all vaccinated individuals in the United States can participate in indoor and outdoor activities, large or small, without wearing a mask or physical distancing.

As the World Socialist Web Site wrote at the time, the new guidance, which flew in the face of the broad views of public health experts, was a political, not a scientific, decision intended to signal that all measures that impinge on business interests, from social distancing requirements to enhanced sanitary guidelines, are to be dropped.

This was confirmed, as US states and a wide number of employers announced an abrupt end to their masking policies. At the time, Amazon had called the announcement very positive and great news but insisted that until the company could determine how to apply the new rules, face coverings were still required.

It has been over a year [since the pandemic started] and Amazon is still trying to take shortcuts, said Trey, a member of the BWI2 Amazon Rank-and File Safety Committee in Baltimore, in response to the announcement. The committee, an organization set up and run by rank-and-file Amazon workers to defend themselves and their co-workers against the unsafe and exploitative practices of the company, was formed in December.

Trey recalled that the company regularly fails to notify its employees when they have been exposed to someone testing positive. Now Im supposed to trust an honor system [where everyone reports their vaccination status honestly], he stated. Other workers, including one recently infected by COVID-19, insisted that its far too early to consider this action, as the company is still sending out almost daily alerts of multiple new positive cases.

The announcement comes as Amazon is in the midst of a massive hiring spree, with a target of adding 75,000 more workers to its nearly 1.2 million-strong global workforce. This is being coupled with a plan to award raises to over 500,000 members of its workforce throughout the month of May.

Workers speaking to the IAWV have denounced these policies as attempts to incentivize workers to take jobs under conditions of increased safety risks. In addition, such a hiring spree will create conditions for mass spreader events as it will add thousands of new employees to Amazons ranks, many of whom will not be familiar with the details of the new rules.

Demonstrating the dangers presented by the rapidly shifting public safety guidelines, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the United States top infectious disease expert, noted in a deliberately understated appeal Thursday, that [u]nfortunately some people interpreted [the CDC announcement] as everyone can get rid of their mask, which is not the case. Already, stories of individuals showing up at business places without masks, regardless of regional and local policies, have been featured in the media.

Throughout the pandemic, Amazon has shed even the miniscule precautions it adopted at the beginning of the pandemic. The company eliminated the token $2 hourly hazard pay bonuses over a year ago. Starting in February, the company rapidly began removing other safety measures. It has brought back in-person stand-up informational meetings and ending the staggering of shifts in recent months.

Despite the temporary inclusion of largely cosmetic safety precautions, which were instituted to defuse worker militancy in opposition to the companys relentless exploitation, the company has still recorded tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases. In October, Amazon officials announced that at least 20,000 Amazonians had been infected. That count, from nearly eight months ago, is long out of date.

Over the same period that thousands of workers were infected in Amazon facilities, corporate CEOs enjoyed a surge in their wealth, with Amazon founder and former-CEO Jeff Bezos personal fortune increasing to over $200 billion throughout the pandemic. The deaths of Amazon workers, such as 38-year old Poushawn Brown, who died of unknown causes after working in the companys warehouses, have meanwhile been swept under the rug by the corporation, which has not bothered to tally COVID-19 deaths at its facilities.

While the corporation falsely insists that workers are protected from the further spread of the pandemic in its facilities, the removal of all restraints, including masks for the vaccinated, will be used by Amazon management as an excuse to eliminate any responsibility to monitor COVID-19 infections in the workplace, take safety measures or provide sick leave for workers.

On Monday, Amazon announced a new initiative called WorkingWell, which will utilize physical, mental and nutritional support, among other wellness services, according to CNBC. The company has stated that the wellness programs aim is to reduce recordable incident rates, or injuries, by 50 percent by 2025. As the International Amazon Workers Voice has written, this program and others like it will be used as cover to impose ever-higher levels of exploitation on its workforce while placing the onus for inevitable workplace injuries on the employees.
On Monday, World Socialist Web Site writer Evan Blake was banned from the national Facebook group Badass Teachers Association (BATs) with no explanation. This act of censorship took place shortly after Blake attempted to post the WSWS Perspective, Survey of epidemiologists exposes lies that children do not spread COVID-19, which explained the dangers involved with school reopenings and the decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to end masking guidelines. The article calls for educators and the entire working class to oppose these policies.

This censorship occurs the same week that substantial sections of the leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) unleashed a series of threatening tweets celebrating the assassination of Leon Trotsky, the co-leader of the Russian Revolution and the greatest strategist of world socialist revolution. Many members of the BATs Facebook group are either members of the DSA or sympathetic to its politics, with most likely unaware of the leaderships vicious anti-communist tweets.

Evan Blake

BATs administrators are attempting to stifle the growing opposition of teachers to the policies of the Biden administration and the complicity of the unions. Last Friday, Blake had posted a separate article he wrote on a speech given by American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten, during which she demanded the full reopening of schools this fall. This post garnered a large response, with over 150 reactions and over 150 comments, the vast majority condemning Weingarten and calling for her to be removed from her position.

All class-conscious workers must oppose the growing censorship of left-wing political organizations, of which the WSWS is the principal target. While internet censorship has been spearheaded by the state and the giant tech monopolies Google, Facebook, Twitter and Amazon, there are growing efforts among middle-class, pseudo-left elements such as the BATs administrators to silence a genuine socialist perspective.

BATs was created in June 2013 as a forum for dissident teachers and a pressure group focused on opposing the school privatization and standardized testing regimes that deepened under the Obama administration. It quickly attracted a large following, ballooning to over 25,000 members within a few months. This led to the creation of a Twitter feed, a website, a blog and separate Facebook groups in every state. Today, the national Facebook group has roughly 68,800 members.

From the start, BATs has been politically subordinate to the Democratic Party and the teachers unions and heavily promotes racial and identity politics. BATs has official caucuses in the AFT and the National Education Association (NEA), as well as in numerous locals across the US. Weingarten herself is a member of the national BATs Facebook group.

Censorship of the WSWS Educators Newsletter began during the powerful West Virginia teachers strike of 2018 as it was winning wide support for the development of independent rank-and-file committees. From the beginning, this strike erupted in opposition to the unions. School workers wildcatted in the southern coal counties and spurred a statewide movement to demand an end to the gross under-funding of the healthcare insurance program which the AFT and NEA had tolerated.

The West Virginia strike galvanized immense support from teachers and other workers worldwide. It marked the beginning of a teachers strike wave that spread across the US, from Oklahoma to Arizona, Los Angeles, Oakland, Washington, Chicago, Denver, and other cities and states. AFT President Randi Weingarten and NEA President Lily Garcia flew from state to state to snuff out strikes and corral teachers behind the slogan Remember in November, demanding they subordinate their struggles to Democratic Party politicking.

BATs administrators joined in behind the union executives. They sought to revive illusions in the discredited unions and began to censor WSWS coverage of these struggles, claiming that the WSWS Educators Newsletter was anti-union.

In a widely viewed Facebook event, WSWS Labor Editor Jerry White debated a West Virginia BATs representative and detailed the strike-breaking and anti-teacher policies embraced by the entire AFT and NEA. White explained that it was the unions that were anti-worker and elaborated the way forward, including uniting with the powerful strike by Frontier Communications workers in West Virginia, as well as autoworkers, coal miners and other workers internationally.

The latest act of censorship by BATs takes place under the unprecedented conditions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. The most recent estimates by the Economist place the global death toll at roughly 10.2 million peoplethree times the official figure of 3.4 million deaths. Worldwide, hundreds of millions of students and educators have been sent back to unsafe classrooms in order to compel parents back to work producing profits. This has led to an untold number of infections and deaths and is a major factor behind the deepening, horrific spread of the virus worldwide.

Throughout the past year, the WSWS has been the sole voice of opposition for educators in the US and globally, writing continuous exposures of the homicidal campaign to reopen schools, which has been facilitated by the teachers unions every step of the way. In the process, we have assisted educators in forming a network of rank-and-file safety committees that are wholly independent of the unions and both big-business parties.

Since President Joe Bidens inauguration, only the WSWS has deepened the fight to oppose the reopening of schools that is now directly orchestrated by the Democrats, the unions, the CDC and the media, all of which have distorted science to fit their pro-corporate agenda.

The BATs administrators, who are far more conservative than most group members, could not stand further criticism of the unions and the Democrats to whom they are deeply tied.

Following his banning from the group, Blake wrote a letter to the seven BATs administrators, demanding his readmission into the group and the democratic right to freely post WSWS articles. He noted, Nothing in my post violated any of the groups rules, indicating that my removal was based on political disagreement with the perspective outlined in the article.

Blake added: The WSWS is the only news outlet in the world that has regularly and consistently advocated for schools and nonessential workplaces to remain closed until the pandemic is contained. Our education articles have attracted a very wide readership over the past year, including an article I wrote on February 17. This was the only article to expose the blatant lies that Joe Biden told a second-grader live on CNN, when he stated, Kids don't get  COVID very often. Its unusual for that to happen. The NEA BAT Caucus even created this meme quoting from the article.

He concluded, The issues raised in Mondays WSWS article on the lifting of mask mandates and the full reopening of schools are life and death questions confronting educators and all workers in the US and globally.

In response to Blakes letter, three of the BATs administrators personally blocked him on Facebook, refusing to readmit him to the group or engage with any of the issues involved. Only one administrator responded by stating: Sorry, I don't have the power to do that. And without knowing the particulars of what the issues were, I wouldn't want to countermand the people who made the decision anyway. Our guidelines are stated clearly on our page, and as a private page, we can choose who we allow in our space.

The dividing lines between the working class and the capitalist ruling classincluding all its agents in the Democratic Party, the unions and their pseudo-left promotersare becoming clearer each day. In banning Blake from their group and blocking him individually, the BATs administrators aim to minimize the ability for a socialist perspective to reach the thousands of increasingly radicalized teachers in the group.

The WSWS Educators Newsletter urges all educators and other workers to oppose the censorship of the WSWS on BATs, and to call for the readmission of Blake into the national BATs Facebook group. Send statements of opposition to this censorship to educators@wsws.org and share this article with coworkers and on social media.
The World Socialist Web Site has begun publishing interviews and messages in support of David OSullivans reinstatement at Cricklewood bus garage in north west London.

OSullivan, 57, was sacked on February 3 after he sought to alert his colleagues to the spread of COVID-19 at the garage. He asserted his rights to a safe workplace under Section 44 of the Employment Rights Act.

David O'Sullivan

At least 60 bus workers in London have died from coronavirus since the start of the pandemic.

Today, we are running statements from bus drivers at Cricklewood garage who are members of the London Bus Rank-and-File Committee. Their names have been removed to protect against victimisation.

The first driver who spoke with WSWS described events in early January leading to OSullivans dismissal: It was a really bad situation, with infections spreading at the double. There were plenty of drivers going off sick and many were being pressured back to work. I personally know some of the drivers who were forced to go back.

The managers didnt want to do anything, they even tried to hide the infections. Track-and-trace at the garage was and is non-existent.

Managers wanted drivers who had Covid symptoms or were waiting for test results to go back to work. Drivers told managers it was unsafe, but they were ignored. Some drivers refused and said, No, Im not coming back, its completely unsafe. But I know others came to work even though they had symptoms, especially new drivers, who didnt know they could refuse.

The committee member gave examples of other safety breaches by Metroline: Social-distancing wasnt enforced. The stand-by drivers were kept in a very small room, all together, waiting for any duty to come in. There was no social-distancing between them. When these issues were raised with management, they said, Its your job, and if youre not happy you can resign.

Passenger limits were never enforced. Nobody cared about that at TfL [Transport for London]. When we as drivers tried to impose the limits, there were passenger complaints against us. Instead of following what TfL saidthat we wont be punished for thatweve been punished. I know some of the drivers who were getting warning letters. So yeah, TfL and Metroline actually forced us to breach their passenger limits.

The WSWS asked about Labour Mayor of London Sadiq Khans recent claim on LBC Radio that drivers cabins were being cleaned between change-overs, [Laughs] I can only say its complete bullshit, honestly. They are not even properly cleaned when the buses go back to the garage. They are not even using disinfectants anymore. So thats complete BS.

Metroline was further failing to warn drivers when colleagues on their route caught Covid: Our co-workers often werent informed, especially when it was a spare driver who was sick. When drivers were informed, it was usually after two weeks, or even three weeks in one case, after the driver got a positive test. Track-and-trace at the garage was complete nonsense and it wasnt enforced at all.

Describing the background to the rank and file committees call for a walkout to halt the spread of infections, the driver recalled, In September we wrote to Metroline and we demanded to be protected from Covid, but the managers completely ignored us. And the union rep also completely ignored our problems and said everything that could be done had been done. So, the drivers made a statement because they wanted to be protected.

The call for a walkout was to try and prevent infections from spreading.

Asked whether drivers had been fearful about the renewed spread of infections, in January, the committee member replied, I would describe it more as anger. The drivers were angry that their voices were not being heard. Their concerns were being ignored and they were being attacked by the company, the passengers and TfL.

OSullivans sacking, he explained, was an attack on the rights of all bus workers: David has been treated unfairly. The company is trying to push our legal rights out of bounds. They want to make us into robotic slaves, to just shut up and do our job and forget about our legal rights. Daves case is being used as a show of strength by the company.

They are even spreading fake rumours about Daves case. They have been saying that Dave was giving out fake Unite flyers and was trying to pose as a union rep. This is ridiculous as the committee statement was actually condemning Unites inaction.

Quite a lot of drivers are being intimidated by what the company is doing. Right now its fear, and anger of course at sacking Dave. Drivers are now getting warned or sent to retraining for very minor things, minor scratches, minor damage that does not affect either the company, the bus, or mileage. We are driving everyday in busy streets and with plenty of traffic out there.

Drivers are being suspended, victimised and warned over everything. Even small mistakes can go to a final written warning. There are at least two disciplinary hearings a day.

Its time to stand up. Its time to show the company and the union that we have rights and a voice. The committees work is very important because the union is trying to cover-up everything. At the beginning of the pandemic they went along with TfL that there was nothing to worry about. The committee was telling the truth, that its a really dangerous virus to all of us, which the deaths of so many drivers has proven. Thanks to the committee, the drivers can actually know the truth, instead of TfL and union propaganda.

Now, its the ruling class against the common people. Its the rich peopleand those in the middle class bought-off by the richagainst the common people who are fighting for their rights. The working class are facing more and more pressure, with our backs against the wall. We are just a revolution waiting to happen.

Another driver from the rank-and-file committee explained, I support the campaign to reinstate David O'Sullivan at Cricklewood. His unjust sacking shows the way all bus drivers were treated during the pandemic which was with complete indifference and contempt by the bus companies, particularly Metroline. All they are interested in is profit and nothing else.

Dave was fighting for the defence of bus drivers lives. He risked his own job and stood up against the company, to do their job, which the union did not do.

In the beginning of the pandemic Metroline refused bus drivers face masks on the grounds that it would frighten passengers. Only later did they introduce the wearing of face masks for drivers entering the garage and output area where we sign on. Even basic PPE [personal protective equipment] was refused and when it became available it was a fight every day to request it.

We as bus drivers worked throughout the pandemic. We had no lockdown, we worked on a Sunday rota which in many cases was longer hours but based on weekday pay rates, which meant a pay cut. Bus drivers who were furloughed lost pay because Metroline refused to top up the 80 percent paid by the government.

The pandemic has been used to effectively tear up our contracts. I did not sign up to work for weekday rates on weekends. But as an individual if you refused to accept these conditions you would be fired. The union should not have accepted this. You are denied your rights. The pandemic has not been a loss for the big corporations such as Metrolinethey have found a way to make more money at our expense. It has only been the working class which has suffered.

Even before the pandemic struck, we were fighting against driver fatigue. This must have played a role in the terrible loss of life by London bus drivers due to the COVID-19 virus. The union has done nothing about these issues. David's fight is our fight against these conditions. Why do we have to place our lives on the line just to go to work? Why, when someone raises basic health and safety issues, are they threatened with the loss of his livelihood?

That is why I support the campaign for Davids reinstatement and to right this wrong that affects all drivers. It is our basic right to come to work in a safe environment. David's defence must be seen to change this present situation.

Visit here to find out more and join the campaign for David OSullivans reinstatement. You can donate to OSullivans legal defence here .
Canada officially recorded its 25,000th COVID-19 death this week. This includes some 10,000 fatalities just in the first 20 weeks of 2021. Yet as far as the ruling elite is concerned, the pandemic is old news, and the time has come to rapidly dismantle all the remaining restrictions aimed at halting the virus spread so that corporate Canada can boost its profits.

This was the unmistakable message of the open letter 61 leading business associations, including the Business Council of Canada, the Chamber of Commerce, and the Quebec Employers Council, addressed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his Liberal government earlier this week, with copies to the 13 provincial and territorial governments. It urged the Trudeau government to even more explicitly embrace a policy of mass infection and social murder that will result in tens of thousands of additional infections and thousands more unnecessary deaths.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford (Photo credit: Ontario government)

The letter began with a totally false presentation of the state of the pandemic. Claiming that the pandemic has reached a turning point, the corporate lobbyists declared, By mid-summer, if not sooner, some three-quarters of Canadian adults will be at least partially vaccinated, and one in five will be fully vaccinated. When that scenario is reached, federal modelling suggests, it should be possible to begin relaxing restrictive measures. Claiming the light at the end of the tunnel grows brighter, the corporate mouthpieces demanded a pan-Canadian approach to reopening our communities, schools and businesses.

What big business is demanding was made even clearer when the letter pointed to the international examples they insist Canadas governments emulate. Other jurisdictions have paved the route for us to follow, they enthused. In February, the United Kingdom unveiled a four-stage roadmap out of lockdown The European Union is currently developing a travel certificate that would replace the existing patchwork of country-specific travel regulations among its 27-member nationsThe US Centers for Disease Control has issued guidance for those who are fully vaccinated.

In other words, the Canadian government should follow the examples of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who infamously declared, No more f***ing lockdowns, let the bodies pile high; the European Union, within whose borders over 700,000 people have lost their lives to COVID-19; and the US, which has the highest official death toll in the world and is currently dismantling the last vestiges of any organized public health response to COVID-19. Last week, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or CDC went so far as to effectively abolish any mask mandate.

When big business urges Trudeau via its open letter to convey a message of hope and optimism to the population and focus on the post-pandemic recovery, they are telling him to serve as the frontman for a ruthless push to reopen the economy and to blithely ignore the inevitable accompanying surge in new infections and deaths. In comments to the National Post, business leaders like Business Council of Canada CEO Goldy Hyder were even more forthright warning that a failure to do so risks stifling Canadas economic recovery and undermining its competitive position.

The claim that the worst of the pandemic is in the past and that what is required is more optimism in order to secure a stable recovery flies in the face of the reality facing the working class. Canada continues to record over 5,100 daily infections, according to the latest seven-day average, well above the peak of the first wave. Massive outbreaks are hitting workplaces across the country, including an ongoing disaster at CNRLs Horizon oil tarsands operation in Alberta that has sickened over 1,500 workers and killed three. Hundreds of workplace outbreaks continue to be reported in Ontario, Quebec, and British Columbia.

Even assuming the midsummer scenario outlined in the business groups letter is achieved, this would in no way justify their cavalier and reckless demands for the scrapping of all anti-COVID-19 measures. Epidemiologists have stressed that 80 to 90 percent of the population will need to be fully inoculated before it will be safe to reopen due to the more infectious and potentially lethal nature of the new variants. Currently, just 48 percent of Canadas population has received a single vaccine dose, and just 4.1 percent or about 1.5 million people are fully vaccinated. Even assuming the business groups optimistic prediction that one in five will be fully vaccinated by midsummer, Canada will barely have achieved a quarter of the target recommended by epidemiologists. Around 80 percent of the population would still be left with inadequate or no protection against the deadly virus.

The reality is that the big business representatives, and their bought-and-paid-for political stooges, have no interest in systematically combatting the pandemic. Their overriding concern is to create the best conditions to allow the super-rich to continue accumulating vast amounts of money and squeeze out of the working class through stepped-up exploitation the hundreds of billions of dollars the state funnelled to the banks and corporations last year through so-called emergency bailouts.

Despite Alberta having among the highest per capita infection and active case rates in all North America, the provinces hard-right United Conservative Party (UCP) government has announced schools will reopen across Alberta as of Tuesday, May 25. The only exceptions are those in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo, where the health care system is collapsing due to dozens of oil sector outbreaks.

On Thursday, Ontario Conservative Premier Doug Ford unveiled a sweeping reopening plan that will scrap all restrictions in three stages. Underscoring the reckless character of the plan, restrictions on indoor gatherings, retail, and dining and recreation would all but be abolished once between 70 and 80 percent of the adult population has received just one vaccine dose, with only 25 percent having received two doses.

Although no official announcement was made about reopening schools, Ontarios chief medical officer of health, Dr. David Williams, refused to rule out reopening schools prior to the end of the academic year next month. Signaling that a reopening is actively being prepared, the province released data on Thursday indicating that the reopening of schools on June 2 would result in a 6-11 percent rise in COVID-19 infections, an increase which officials asserted would be manageable. In other words, they believe that there are enough ICU beds freed up by the deaths of patients during the ebbing of the pandemics third wave to accommodate a new influx of critically ill teachers, parents and children.

The provinces homicidal policies are backed to the hilt by the Trudeau Liberal federal government. It spearheaded the back-to-work/back-to-school drive that triggered Canadas second wave last fall; and in a silence that bespoke support it said nothing as the provinces quickly rescinded the limited lockdown measures they introduced in late December as the second wave peaked, thereby creating conditions for a devastating third wave. In last Septembers throne speech, which only passed thanks to the social democrats of the New Democratic Party, the Liberals insisted that all public health measures must be short-term and implemented at the local level, a formula designed to allow major businesses to continue operating and generating profits.

The trade unions are similarly complicit. They have spent the entire pandemic telling workers that they have common interests with the very same business groups now openly advocating a policy of social murder. As early as last May, Canadian Labour Congress President Hassan Yussuff co-authored a piece with Chamber of Commerce President Perrin Beatty demanding a national economic task force made up of employer, government, and union representatives to oversee the recovery, i.e., to boost the profitability and advance the global interests of corporate Canada. Throughout the pandemic, the unions have suppressed all opposition among workers to dangerous working conditions, denouncing calls for strike action to shut down unsafe facilities as illegal.

In Ontario, the unions have made absolutely clear they will do nothing to oppose the Ford governments possible reopening of schools in June. We look to the medical experts for what they think should be happening, commented Richard Seeley, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation District 6A. Probably a regional approach wouldnt be a bad thing. Our members want to be back in school. They want to see their students again. And we want the kids back as well. But we want it to be done in a safe way.

What this means for teachers is clear: the Ford government has a free hand to decide whatever it likes, and the education unions will go along with it.

At the peak of the third wave in April, Ontarios schools were only closed because local medical officers of health in Toronto and the neighbouring Peel Region took the decision to do so, and because of an outcry from health experts including many of those serving on the governments own COVID-19 Science Advisory Table. No demands were raised by the unions for school closures, even as infections grew among teachers, students, and parents. On the contrary, the Ontario Federation of Labour sent a letter to the Ford government that did not call for a single business closure and pleaded for him to open the door to closer cooperation with the unions on keeping the economy open.

If the ruling elite is to be prevented from continuing to play Russian roulette with the lives of workers and their families, the working class must intervene as an independent political force fighting for a science-based response to the pandemic that prioritizes saving workers lives and livelihoods over capitalist profit. This must include: a complete and total shutdown of all nonessential production until the pandemic is over with full wages for all workers; the maintenance of online learning with billions of dollars in financial support provided to students and their families; and a scientific plan to vaccinate everyone before reopenings are permitted. The resources required for these measures must be seized from the corporations and financial oligarchy in a frontal assault on the capitalist profit system.

To take forward this struggle, we call on all workers to form rank-and-file committees at their workplace, in schools, and neighbourhoods, independent of the pro-capitalist trade union apparatuses.

We encourage workers wishing to participate in this fight to attend the Cross-Canada Educators Rank-and-File Safety Committee meeting, which will take place online this Sunday, May 23, at 1 p.m. eastern time. Email cersc.csppb@gmail.com to register to attend.
Last weekends Constitutional Convention election in Chile saw a crushing defeat for the ruling right wing and the traditional parliamentary opposition in the selection of 155 constituent seats. The results reveal both a deepening of the leftward shift among the masses and the urgent necessity for the working class to break with dangerous illusions in the parliamentary road promoted by the Communist Party and Frente Amplio and their satellite pseudo-left organizations.

Surrounded by military personnel Sebastian Pinera signed national emergency decree on national television (credit: Presidencia de Chile)

Only 40 percent of the eligible electorate voted in the multi-elections that included posts for regional governors, municipal mayors and councilors. The Constitutional Convention will have up to a year to draft a new constitution, the key provisions of which must be approved by a two-thirds majority. After that, another national referendum will decide whether or not to accept the new constitution.

Those that voted overwhelmingly sought candidates who promised to inscribe in the nations new charter guarantees to public health, an education and pension system, democratic rights, an end to social inequality, the redistribution of wealth, environmental protections and indigenous rights.

It needs to be said from the outset that capitalism cannot guarantee any of these demands because it is a system based on social inequality and exploitation. Illusions in bankrupt reformist myths are all the more dangerous today as capitalist governments, from the most powerful imperialist nations to the semi-colonial countries, deal with political, health and social crises by letting it rip.

With the coronavirus pandemic, democracies as varied as Spain and India, France and the US have guaranteed only wanton death. The deliberate implementation of herd immunity policies that put profits above the lives of millions has permitted the global financial and corporate elite to increase their wealth by US$4 trillion to $14 trillion in the last yearwhile workers and their families have had to eat into savings, suffer depression-level unemployment, and see loved ones die in understaffed and under-resourced hospitals and have been forced to send unvaccinated children to school.

Confronted in the last two years with explosive industrial action and an eruption of the international class struggle, bourgeois governments of all types are flirting with authoritarian, conspiratorial and fascistic forms of rule and externalizing their crises of rule by menacing border conflicts and regional wars.

Chile is no exception. Right-wing billionaire President Sebastian Pinera turned to the military to deal with the social eruption of 2019 and decreed a state of emergency for the first time since the return to civilian rule. With the support of Congress, Pinera also passed draconian laws beefing up the repressive apparatus and allowing the use of the military for policing measures. A case has been presented to the International Criminal Court by a group of human rights organizations charging Pinera and civilian and military authorities with crimes against humanity for the police repression that resulted in 36 deaths, disappearances, hundreds mutilated and injured and thousands of human rights abuses, atrocities which continue to this day.

While professing to oppose the government and threatening legal charges against it, the entire parliamentary left including the Frente Amplio coalition and the Stalinist Communist Party unions came to the rescue by offering to work with the beleaguered Pinera government and overseeing national unity peace talks.

They did this to divert the massive anti-capitalist demonstrations into harmless appeals to change the constitution imposed under the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet. A general strike in mid-November 2019 forced on the Stalinist-dominated union confederation, the CUT, proved to be the last called, as an agreement between the parliamentary right and left laid the groundwork for the plebiscite, held last October, challenging the authoritarian constitution.

From then on, the left and CUT initiated token protests and stunts achieving only the dissipation of workers militancy, while the unions in mining, Chiles most important industry, entered into roundtable discussions agreeing to wage freezes and took no industrial action despite the spread of COVID-19 in key mining towns.

Amid the carnage caused by the coronavirus pandemic in Chilewith 1.5 million confirmed and suspected COVID-19 cases over the past 14 months and 35,000 confirmed and suspected deathscommunities rioted against hunger, the lack of running water, government negligence, and indiscriminate police violence. Distribution committees and soup kitchens spontaneously emerged to meet the dire needs of the population.

The parliamentary left and the trade union bureaucracy again sought to divert these initiatives with populist appeals and political stunts.

One was in favor of a series of laws permitting withdrawals from contributions to private pension funds. In reality, the working and middle classes were underwriting their own economic hardship (some US$50 billion has been withdrawn from the AFPs).

Another political stunt was the promotion of a one-time 2.5 percent levy on the super-rich and a temporary 3 percent increase in the corporate tax rate, which, even if passed in the Senate, will prove thoroughly inadequate to finance a so-called basic income for destitute households. Meanwhile, Chiles billionaires doubled their wealth during the pandemic from $21 billion in March 2020 to $42.7 billion in April 2021.

Yet another is a Royalty Bill on copper sales approved at the committee level in the lower house on April 26, three weeks before the constituent elections. In the proposed bill, royalties slide from a marginal rate of 15 percent when the copper prices rise above US$2.00 per lb. to 75 percent when prices exceed US$4.00 per lb. This last maneuver has raised concerns among the mining giants, though it is unlikely to pass in the Senate.

It came as a surprise to no one, except possibly a section of the elite, that both the incumbent right and the traditional parliamentary left would suffer a significant setback in the election held over the May 15-16 weekend. In the October plebiscite, 78 percent had voted to repeal Pinochets charter and to elect a constitutional convention. Moreover, poll after poll has shown that the population despises the establishment parties, the courts and the repressive institutionsPineras support has remained in the single and low double digits for two years.

President Pineras extreme-right coalition Chile Vamos, made up of late Gen. Augusto Pinochets civilian accomplices from National Renovation and the UDI, as well as the fascistic Republican Party, garnered only 39 out of the total 155 constituent seats, an insufficient number to make up the one-third vote required to veto changes.

The center-left Approve coalition, made up of the Socialist Party, the Christian Democrats, the Party for Democracy and the Radical Party, which governed for 24 of the last 30 years of civilian rule, won a mere 25 seats.

While the Approve Dignity coalition of the Stalinist Communist Party (PCCh) and the pseudo-left Frente Amplio (Broad Front) garnered only 27 seats, they likely will receive backing from the 48 independent constituents, many of whom are from Stalinist-aligned social organizations, as well as the 17 indigenous representatives with reserved positions.

The danger lies in the unfounded expectation that the Stalinists and pseudo-left will fight for the interests of the working class and impoverished masses. These parties and their satellites, many of whom ran as independents, are led by layers of the upper-middle class tied to the capitalist state or who wish to be integrated into the state and derive sustenance from it. They all are proven guardians of capitalist private property.

Chiles Stalinist Communist Party (PCCh) has a long historic record in this regard, having paved the way to the 1973 military coup and the violent repression of the Chilean working class by subordinating its struggles to the so-called parliamentary road to socialism and the bourgeois Popular Unity coalition government of Salvador Allende.

Chile under Pinochet was a laboratory for the social counterrevolution that spread worldwide with capitalist globalization. The renovated left and trade union bureaucrats readily accommodated themselves to the new normal in the 1980s, abandoning even the pretense of social reforms during the so-called democratic transition from military rule. If the Stalinists didnt participate in the coalitions that governed during the first two decades of the return to civilian rule in 1990, it wasnt due to some principled opposition.

Fast forward to the 21st century and these organizations rest on a new social base composed of the upper-middle classbureaucrats and functionaries, professionals, academics, journalists, lawyers, celebritieswho promote identity politics as the means of climbing up the political, social and income ladder. With this in mind, they are presenting gender parity in the Constitutional Convention and other state institutions and indigenous and minority representation as an illustration of a progressive, democratic victory when the entire parliamentary exercise has been given the imprimatur of imperialist reaction.

The Economist, mouthpiece of British imperialism since the 1840s, wrote in March, Chile is embarking on a potentially constructive process of redefinition In a country where politicians and institutions, from the Catholic church to the police, are discredited, the process is almost as important as the product. There are important novelties: the assembly must have broadly equal numbers of women and men, 17 seats are reserved for indigenous people and several candidates standing for independent lists are likely to be chosen

The influential US imperialist think tank the Council on Foreign Relations was more categorical in a report issued earlier this month:

Gender parity in the Constitutional Assembly could also represent the first step towards equal access to positions of power and decision-making processes for women.  Such commitments to political inclusion are necessary to strengthen Chiles democracy and to meet the long-neglected needs of its most vulnerable citizens.  But no matter the result, the inclusion of women and indigenous groups at unprecedented levels is a step towards true democratic governance ... (emphasis added).

Rewriting the constitution will not bring an end to the capitalist crisis, the class struggle or the threat of dictatorship in Chile. Nor can the capitalist state be reformed, refounded or democratized. Rather, it must be must be overthrown by the working class in the fight to establish a new state based on workers control.

The critical question confronting the Chilean working class and youth is that of revolutionary leadership. A new party must be built based upon the genuine program of revolutionary international socialism fought for by the International Committee of the Fourth International. Founded by Leon Trotsky, only this international party has defended the political continuity of Marxism through its implacable fight against Stalinism, Social Democracy, Pabloite revisionism and every other form of nationalist anti-Marxism. To take the revolutionary fight forward in Chile youth and workers must study these strategic political and theoretical experiences and draw the necessary conclusions.
On Friday, thousands of high school students struck from class and joined protests opposing the refusal of governments to take action on climate change. Some 47 separate rallies were held including in all of the capital cities, as well as a host of regional centres and smaller towns.

A section of the march in Melbourne

In Sydney, Australias largest city, around 4,000 people attended, while some 5,000 participated in Melbourne. There were crowds ranging from the hundreds to a couple of thousand in cities such as Brisbane, Adelaide and Hobart.

Attendees expressed the broader popular opposition to the failure of successive Liberal-National and Labor governments to address the mounting environmental crisis. Over recent years, the Australian population has been battered by bushfires, floods, droughts and other disasters.

Protesters marching in Sydney

The turnout, however, was substantially lower than at similar climate strikes in recent years. This can not only be explained by concerns over COVID-19. Most restrictions have been lifted, as part of a pro-business reopening of the economy spearheaded by governments and the corporate elite.

Rather, the relatively low attendance reflects the impasse of the protest politics advanced by the environmental groups organising the protests, and a growing scepticism among students that appeals to official politicians are of any value.

The rally in Newcastle

Official speakers and organisers at yesterdays rallies based themselves on an entirely nationalist orientation. There was no discussion of developments outside of Australia.

Instead, the climate crisis was largely reduced to an issue of the right-wing proclivities of Prime Minister Scott Morrison and his Liberal-National Coalition government, who the speakers nevertheless claimed could be pressured into changing course.

No mention was made about the record of Labor and the Greens. Both are big business parties which have done nothing to address climate change when in office. While the majority of speakers were young high school students, at each of the rallies representatives of the unions spoke denouncing the Morrison government.

While they avoided explicitly calling for a vote for Labor and the Greens, the thrust of their remarks was to fraudulently present these parties as a lesser-evil or even a progressive alternative, and to peddle the illusion that change could come about through parliament.

The International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the youth movement of the Socialist Equality Party, advanced a diametrically opposed perspective. IYSSE campaigners distributed a statement placing the climate catastrophe in the context of a series of existential crises produced by capitalism, including the pandemic and the threat of world war. They explained that the only solution was to build a revolutionary movement of the working class, aimed at establishing a socialist society based on meeting social need, not private profit.

In Brisbane, the IYSSE spoke to Minna and Tayla, both in their final year of high school. Tayla said: We came today because climate change is obviously a critical issue. The scientists are telling us that by 2050 we will be at an irreversible point. We are running out of time before our world is truly wrecked.

Tayla and Minna

Minna added: I dont like the way our government is running this. We have a prime minister who doesnt believe in climate change. Change needs to happen and this is going to be part of it, involving ourselves in something bigger than all of us.

Reflecting on the failure of previous protests to effect change, Tayla stated Protests like this are probably a hopeless cause. Theres only so much you can say to someone who doesnt believe in it. Its kind of like talking to a brick wall. When you have a government system set up to inhibit certain things, no matter who is in power, those things are going to be inhibited and affected.

Commenting on the COVID-19 pandemic and the Israeli bombardment of Gaza, Tayla observed: When you look at specific events in history a lot of problems have been caused by things like greed and capitalism. When you have a system thats inherently violent, no matter what you do with that system its always going to be broken.

Tayla said: I hope we make some real difference, but like you said with capitalism, we have been trying this for ages and nothing seems to be working, so we should just get rid of it and start again and do something better.

Riley, another student from Brisbane, said: The Morrison government needs to stop giving public funds to fossil fuels. They dont care about the future generations. We need to have a sustainable energy future.

Riley

To an extent, the problem is capitalism. Its not the best vision, using up all the resources. I think using grassroots political parties that are not in the pockets of the corporations is the best way to go.

In the regional New South Wales city of Newcastle, Josie, a 17-year-old student, said: I see a lot of promises that are not being met and a lot of lip service, but not actually a lot of actions. The Australian government is supposedly committed to the UN Paris climate agreement, however, we are not actually on track for any of the requirements at the moment.

Josie and Sophie

Sophie, her friend, added: The whole argument of the Australian government is we are doing better than governments all over the world. Really, we are in the top percentage for fossil fuels, which is sad.

Most people in the government are out to make money, not to do what is best for the future of the world. Most governments are older generations, not younger generations. They have helped create the problem, but it is not going to be their problem, it is going to be ours.

Josie commented: I think at the moment politics is just so, the top half, not even half, the top percent of society, heavy. You hear about the people who get in, they come from a very high socio-economic status. You have to think, how will these people represent the whole nation, if they have only experienced a very small fraction of what it is like to be Australian?

Josie said it was really concerning that profits were being put before lives in the COVID pandemic. Australia has been buying up vaccines, even though we dont need them to save as many lives, she noted, adding that there has been a big push in the media lately to get everyone back to normal, which is max production.

I just think the priority is shocking. Even the World Health Organisation criticised the fact that most wealthy countries were buying out the vaccinations and locking out third world countries that really need them. You see the crisis in India where its so bad people are being forced to burn bodies in carparks.

Daniel, a 21-year-old worker, said the lack of action on climate change is all about profit, all about the economy. Its not about the future that young people are trying to fight for and grow up in. Its about what is in their wallet.

Daniel

When COVID happened, the first thing that they talked about, it wasnt about the health of the people, the big thing was the economy. The economy has crashed! That was the focus.

Two university students in Newcastle, Sophie and Tarra, said that Capitalism is intrinsically related to climate change. We need to put a stop to capitalism or endless growth, as well as the funding going to unnecessary wars. We are spending so much tax money on it. Biden is putting so much money for arms into Israel, which are used against Palestine. This could be used to address climate change instead.

Sophie and Tarra

Speaking on the current staff sackings and course closures at the University of Newcastle, they commented There are also so many cuts to education as well, to arts and humanities. In terms of electives, there is now one course, whereas before it was about 40. My friends aunty is a lecturer, and everything has been dropped completely and she is losing work. The costs of humanities subjects are also increasing, debt has risen. It has been hectic. The art section is completely void. Nothing is going on there and its sad.

In Melbourne, Jack, a biology student at the University of Melbourne said he had been to a few climate change rallies in the past and was very disappointed with the government inaction around the world.

Jack

When asked what would reverse the impact of climate change Jack stated: Clearly, not just climate marches. We need something else. I know people say when you young people are in charge, youre going to save everything. Maybe thats true, but there are always going to be those that prioritise the economy over the environment. Hopefully it doesnt take the loss of the Great Barrier Reef or tigers to change things.

Jack went on to say that it is not about different nations and putting up borders. The environment has no borders. We need to put aside our differences and know that globally we need to work together. Its not about prioritising individual nationsits about our goal.

On the COVID-19 pandemic, Jack said I agree that almost ubiquitously there has been incompetence [from governments] on the pandemic. Even though they didnt put enough effort and drive into defending against the pandemic, they still acknowledge that it exists. Were still trying to convince some people that climate change is real.

Anna said she first came to a climate protest in Year 8 and nothing has changed since then. I think its one of those things where it is important to show that there are lots of people who are passionate about this and believe that there needs to be change because theyre not going to listen to a few of us.

Isabelle and Anna

In Sydney, Enzo, a Year 10 student, said We came here to protest climate change and hopefully get a response from the government and the people profiting from this industry. The response last year was absolutely nothing.

If someone is profiting off it and they are powerful enough then its very difficult to change. While protesting against the government might help, protesting against the people who are bribing them, who are making money off the world being destroyed is what we need to be doing. They are the reason we cant make change.

Ferdinand, Alex and Enzo with friends

Commenting on the major political parties in Australia, he asked: Is it really democracy if weve got a choice between two parties that are both just as bad? If all we can choose between are two different parties that, at the end of the day, are both pretty similar then we are not really voting on our government.

Alex added Its disappointing they havent done anything and its really important they do and that we try other ways. Protesting is not actually affecting them. We can protest all we want, and it wont change their lives.

Ferdinand, a Year 10 student from Sydney, commented that when it comes to the class system, if you dont have enough money to change it, you cant change it. Whether you protest or not, you are not going to be able to open the eyes of someone who is comfortably sitting in their mansion, making money off inhumane things. They dont see it firsthand and the effect it has on us as people.
Two reports over the past week have revealed that the Pentagon is carrying out secret operations within the US and internationally without congressional oversight and in violation of basic constitutional rights.

The Pentagon [Source: Wikimedia Commons]

An exclusive report by Newsweek on Monday explained that the US military is operating [T]he largest undercover force the world has ever known. The secret army of 60,000 people works under masked identities and in low profile and is part of a special program called signature reduction.

The Newsweek reportwritten by journalist William M. Arkin following a two-year investigation of the programsays that the secret military force is more than ten times the size of the clandestine elements of the CIA, carries out domestic and foreign assignments, both in military uniforms and under civilian cover, in real life and online, sometimes hiding in private businesses and consultancies, some of them household name companies.

Arkin examined over 600 resumes and 1,000 job postings, dozens of Freedom of Information Act requests, and scores of interviews with participants and defense decision-makers to uncover the completely unregulated practice of the US military. The giant clandestine operation has never been the subject of a hearing in Congress, and Arkin says that it challenges U.S. laws, the Geneva Conventions, the code of military conduct and basic accountability.

The infrastructure of the Pentagons covert signature reduction program is based upon 130 private companies with the support of dozens of little known and secret government organizations that award classified contracts and oversee publicly acknowledged operations.

Among the functions of these private businesses are creating false documentation; paying the taxes of individuals operating under assumed identities; manufacturing disguises and other devices used to avoid identification; building invisible devices used to photograph and listen in on the conversations and activity of people around the world.

Over half of the signature reduction army is made up of special operations forces who Arkin says, pursue terrorists in war zones from Pakistan to West Africa but also increasingly work in unacknowledged hot spots, including behind enemy lines in places like North Korea and Iran.

The second largest group is made up of military intelligence specialists, collectors, counter-intelligence agents, even linguists, who are deployed with assumed names in order to conceal their true identities.

Arkin explains that the secret force has been built up over the past decade and is in part a response to the growth of cyberwarfare internationally. He writes that the fastest growing group within the secret army are those who never leave their keyboard. These are the cutting-edge cyber fighters and intelligence collectors who assume false personas online, employing nonattribution and misattribution techniques to hide the who and the where of their online presence while they search for high-value targets and collect what is called publicly accessible informationor even engage in campaigns to influence and manipulate social media.

Although it is well known that the US military-intelligence apparatus is responsible for the transmission of the greatest number, most invasive and most deadly malware and spyware of any country in the world, the Newsweek journalist and editors express surprise that the Pentagon operation has led to thousands of spies who carry out their day-to-day work in various made-up personas, the very type of nefarious operations the United States decries when Russian and Chinese spies do the same.

A former military officer, who oversaw supersecret special access programs of the signature reduction operations, spoke to Newsweek on condition of anonymity. The officer said that no one is fully aware of the extent of the program, nor has much consideration been given to the implications for the military institution. He added, Everything from the status of the Geneva Conventionswere a soldier operating under false identity to be captured by an enemyto Congressional oversight is problematic.

The Newsweek report includes details about the activities of several individuals in the signature reduction operations, most of which involves providing fake identity materials and methods for preventing their cover from being blown. Other details are regarding the electronic eavesdropping techniquessuch as placing secret listening devices into everyday objectsused to monitor the activities and communications of individuals both inside and outside the US.

The fact that the Pentagon has been conducting warrantless surveillance of Americans was exposed in a May 13 letter from Senator Ron Wyden (Democrat from Oregon) to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin that was published by Vices Motherboard Tech.

Wyden asked the Department of Defense (DoD) for detailed information about its data purchasing practices after Motherboard revealed special forces were buying location data last February. The initial DoD responseswhich revealed that the military or intelligence agencies were using internet browsing and other types of dataprompted Wyden to demand more answers about warrantless spying on American citizens.

Wyden wrote that his investigation had confirmed that the Internal Revenue Service, Customs and Border Protection, the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency were all purchasing from private companies the location data of Americans without a warrant.

The Oregon senator also wrote that he had requested answers to his questions in February and that the DoD responded to the first group of question in March and then the remaining questions in April. Among Wydens questions was for the DoD to explain its legal position with regard to the DIAs argument that the Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures do not apply to data about Americans that the government buys, and only apply to data that the government acquires via compulsion.

In typical evasive language the DoD responded that each of its intelligence departments is responsible for ensuring that intelligence activities are carried out in accordance with existing law (including the Fourth Amendment as understood through the Carpenter opinion [of the Supreme Court] and other relevant case law), regulation, and policy. In this case, DIAs Office of General Counsel provided the legal support for the DIA activity.

Wyden explained in his letter that four of the responses by the DoD were designated Controlled Unclassified Information and another was labelled classified. These questions deal with specifics about which agencies are using purchased location data and internet metadata, including netflow and Domain Name System (DNS) records in communications where both ends are within the US and communications where one end is within the US and the other is outside the US. Wyden has requested that the responses to these questions be released to the public by June 15.
Coronavirus cases in England have begun to rise once more, after being in decline for weeks, due to the reopening of the economy and widespread circulation of the highly transmissible Indian variant (B.1.617.2).

On Friday, the health ministry announced that the R (reproduction) rate in England has risen to between 0.9 and 1.1, meaning the virus is no longer in retreat, with every 10 people carrying the virus transmitting it to between nine and 11 other people.

Queue forms down the street at vaccination centre in a pharmacy on Withington Road, in the Whalley Range district of Manchester, England. 20/05/2021 (credit: WSWS media)

Public Health England (PHE) announced Thursday that 3,424 cases of B.1.617.2 had been confirmed in Britaina 160 percent rise on the 1,313 cases confirmed a week earlier. The 3,424 cases marked an increase of 15 percent in just one day, with the figure standing at 2,967 Thursday.

The seven worst Covid hotspots in England are all large ethnically diverse urban areas with a substantial working class and Indian sub-continent populationBolton, Blackburn, Bedford, Kirklees, Burnley, Hounslow and Leicester. The spread of the variant nationwide is clear in that Hounslow is in west London, Bedford in south England Leicester in the East Midlands, Kirklees in West Yorkshire, and other areas in the north west of England.

Bolton recorded 982 new B.1.617.2 cases in seven days, the equivalent of 341.5 cases per 100,000 people. The previous seven days saw a ratio of 189.2 per 100,000.

As the spread of the variant escalated, local authorities are being forced to defy Covid vaccine regulations, which so far have been aimed at immunising the most vulnerable first with older age groups prioritised. On Friday, Manchesterthe largest city of the north west and centre of the Greater Manchester region that contains Boltonannounced it would rollout the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to unvaccinated 16-year-olds in a preventative vaccination plan in target wards with a black, Asian and minority ethnic population above 50 percent. Bolton authorities already have a similar vaccination programme underway.

The effectiveness of vaccination in combating the Indian variant is under review, with positive results indicated in India itself and elsewhere. But there is some evidence that the variant can infect those who have been vaccinated.

The data confirms the fears of scientists that the Indian variant is set to be the dominant strain in the UK in a matter of days. With the economy to be fully reopened by June 21, and travel not prohibited even to countries that have been placed on an amber list, such as France, Spain, Greece and the US, all the conditions are in place for the further spread of the variant globally.

Professor Andrew Hayward, an infectious diseases expert at University College London and member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advising the government was asked Wednesday if the UK was at the start of a third wave of the pandemic. He replied, I think so and that he was very concerned.

Hayward added, I think that concern largely arises from the fact that its more transmissible than the previous variants which was already substantially more transmissible than the variant before that.

I think what we can see is that this strain can circulate very effectively, although it was originally imported through travel to India, its spread fairly effectively first of all within households and now more broadly within communities, so I dont really see why it wouldnt continue to spread in other parts of the country.

He called for more generalised measures to fight the spread of the variant. Fortunately weve had a good proportion of the population vaccinated, but theres still people who arent vaccinated in high-risk groups, the vaccine isnt 100% effective, and also even in the younger groups if you get many, many thousands or hundreds of thousands of cases, then you will expect a lot of hospitalisations and deaths to result from that. So thats the threat. And its really over the next week or two we will see how much these outbreaks that at the moment are relatively localised, how much they become generalised across the population. And if that happens, thats when were going to be much more worried.

The Conservative government is once again turning a blind eye to scientific evidence and warnings, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson insisting, on a visit in Portsmouth to the HMS Queen Elizabeth aircraft carrier Friday, At the moment I can't see anything that makes me think we're going to have to deviate from the roadmap [for reopening]though clearly we must remain cautious in our approach.

The Tories are responding to the demands of big business that no more lockdowns are imposed and to their support base in the more affluent suburban and rural areas of the country not living in the overcrowded urban centres being hit by the resurgence of the virus.

The media is busy amplifying this demand, with the Times insisting Friday, Covid surge testing eases fears over spread of Indian variant. It cited the comments of government deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam who said it was likely that fears that the Indian variant could be up to 50 percent more transmissible than the Kent strain could be assuaged as the mutation, according to estimates, may only be around 30 percent more transmissible!

According to modelling by Sage published this month, a more transmissible rate around 30 percent would see thousands of daily hospitalisation if the disease were allowed to spread.

At every stage of the pandemic, Johnsons government has reverted to its favoured herd immunity policy of mass infection. After abandoning its spring lockdown last summer, the government imposed a series of ineffectual local lockdowns on a regional basis, covering much of northern England, Scotland and south Wales. These were followed in October by a policy of circuit breakers that did nothing to stop the spread. The government finally put in place a four-week limited lockdown in England in November, covering over 50 million people, but by then, it was too late to stop the spread of the Kent variant only first detected in September.

By mid-December the mutated virus was responsible for nearly two-thirds of cases in the capital, London. The failure to impose the necessary public safety measures and restrictions created the conditions for the Kent variant to spread, claiming a greater loss of life than in the first horrific wave and bringing the death toll above 150,000.

Van Tam now compares the infection rate between the Kent variant and the Indian variant, while omitting to mention how much more infectious the Kent variant was compared with the original strain!

The Financial Times in a May 17 editorial declared, Government is right to continue easing restrictions while stepping up jabs to save Britains reopening. It then admitted that Sage says there is a realistic possibility [the Indian variant] is 50 percent more transmissible than the so-called Kent variant, which was itself 40 to 80 percent more contagious than the original coronavirus. The rapid march of the new strain in places such as Bolton and Blackburn suggests it is set, as the Kent variant did, to become the dominant form of the disease. India, where the strain was first identified, has illustrated the tragic dangers of complacency.

The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the ruling class does not give a damn about the deadly consequences of reopening. As Johnson blurted out last October in frustration at having to authorise the November lockdown, No more f***ing lockdowns, let the bodies pile high in their thousands! Moreover, the Tories can depend on their de facto coalition partners in the Labour Party and the trade unions to ram through this assault on the working class. Labour has backed the Tories every move for well over a year in a policy of constructive criticism. Backing the government and insisting that this has be the last lockdown (Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer), even its mealy mouthed appeals to proceed with caution and follow the science have been ditched.
In a newly released interview with Maria Hinojosa of Latino USA, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez stated that the fascist assault on the US Capitol on January 6, directed by then-President Donald Trump, was an all-out attempted coup.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (center), Thursday, Nov. 19, 2020 [Credit: AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin]

Pushing back against the narrative espoused by Trump, the majority of the Republican Party, their far-right and neo-Nazi allies, and a not insignificant layer of the pseudo-left, Ocasio-Cortez explained that her characterization was not some sort of exaggeration. She noted that former Vice President Mike Pence was taken out of the Senate chamber something like 60 seconds before these terrorist insurrectionists got into the Senate chamber. 60 seconds.

Explaining the pivotal role of Pence as president of the Senate, Ocasio-Cortez stated that Pence was the one person, arguably, that had one of the most important roles in making sure that procedurally the Electoral College counts went on as proceeded.

The former vice president drew the ire of Trump after he resisted repeated demands from the would-be dictator that he unconstitutionally overthrow the election during the January 6 formal counting of the previously certified Electoral College votes. After Pence released a letter on the morning of January 6 explaining that he would follow the Constitution and not Trumps demands, Trump responded by telling thousands of Stop the Steal supporters gathered outside the White House to march on the Capitol, fight like hell and save America by preventing Congress from carrying out its procedural task of certifying the victory of his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden. He made a point of denouncing Pence and inciting the mob against him.

Within 15 minutes of Trump ending his speech, his supporters, led by QAnon adherents, Proud Boys and Oath Keeper militia groups, began to storm the Capitol. Within an hour, hundreds of Trump supporters had made their way into the building, chanting, Hang Mike Pence, as gallows were being set up outside the Capitol.

In the interview, Ocasio-Cortez said, 60 seconds could have meant, potentially, the difference between what we have right now and a martial state. And we dont want to acknowledge how close we got, but that is how close we got.

Ocasio-Cortez has been the target of repeated death threats from fascist Republicans for, among other things, acknowledging the reality of January 6. In the interview, she went on to describe the Trump administration as fascistic and revealed that she has enrolled in therapy following the attack.

Alluding to the police stand-down that facilitated the attack, Ocasio-Cortez said: They constructed gallows, functional gallows with nooses, and they put it in front of the Capitol and they were looking for us. And we were not protected. There are things that happened that day, that if 60 seconds went differently, a different door opened, a chair not barricaded in a certain way, we could have a completely different reality right now.

Ocasio-Cortezs remarks come as the forces complicit in Trumps coup attempt, including the majority of the Republican Party, significant sections of the police, military and intelligence leadership, as well as sections of the financial oligarchy, are seeking to dismiss the significance of the attack.

Their attempts to whitewash the coup come as new revelations continue to surface demonstrating that the attack on the Capitol was not a security or intelligence failure, or the result of a lack of imagination, but a coordinated action in which top Pentagon officials appointed by Trump and top Capitol Police officials played a central role.

On Wednesday, the House Administration Committee held the first post-January 6 congressional hearing on the role of the Capitol Police Board, which is charged with overseeing the U.S. Capitol Police. The board consists of the Architect of the Capitol (AOC), the House Sergeant at Arms and the Senate Sergeant at Arms.

The Administration Committee took testimony from Architect of the Capitol J. Brett Blanton and the recently installed House Sergeant at Arms and former D.C. National Guard commander, Gen. William Walker. The new Senate Sergeant at Arms, Karen Gibson, refused to attend the hearing.

In their opening statements, Walker and Blanton made clear that the attack was the result of failures for which there were no innocent explanations. Walker, who previously testified before Congress that he was forced to wait 3 hours and 19 minutes for approval from the Pentagon to deploy his National Guard soldiers even as the Capitol was under siege, said of the 6th: There were failures in equipment; failures in training; failures in intelligence; failures in command and control and communication; poor planning, preparation, and execution.

Architect of the Capitol Blanton is the only member of the Capitol Police Board who retained his position following the attack. Then-Capitol Police Chief Steven Sund, House Sergeant at Arms Paul Irving and Senate Sergeant at Arms Michael Stenger all resigned within days of the attempted coup.

At Wednesdays hearing, Blanton reiterated previous comments he made refuting congressional testimony from the current acting Capitol Police Chief Yogananda Pittman, who claimed that Sund reached out to the Capitol Police Board on January 4, asking for authorization to declare a state of emergency and calling on the board to request National Guard support. Both Pittman and Sund claimed the Board denied his requests.

At the House Administration Committee hearing, Blanton said that he participated in a Law Enforcement Partners Inauguration Briefing hosted by Sund on January 5, during which then-Chief Sund mentioned the expected rally near the White House, but there were no actionable intelligence or credible threats shared at the meeting.

Blanton continued: In terms of support for the United States Capitol Police, as I shared previously, then-Chief Sund did not reach out to me or my staff with a request for an emergency declaration or interest in seeking National Guard support in advance of the breach.

Blanton acknowledged that Sund engaged in conversations with other members of the Board [the House and Senate Sergeants at Arms], but no conversation occurred with me or any AOC employee involved in Board matters. In addition, the AOC has no record of the January 3 intel briefing [which warned that Congress itself would be the target on January 6] cited in the media and by Acting Chief Pittman.

In response to questions from Democratic North Carolina Representative G.K. Butterfield, Blanton confirmed that the Capitol Police did not provide any intelligence to him prior to January 6 warning of an attack on the Capitol.

It was revealed during the hearing that Blanton and his chief security officer had been so concerned about an attack on the Capitol that they provided a timeline to House Administration Committee Chair Zoe Lofgren (Democrat, California) that began on December 28 and went through January 7. The timeline showed they had been collecting information featuring many detailed warnings of events that would come to pass.

Lofgren said, It appears to show that your team was able to gather warnings of violence on the 6th. The AOC staff shared that with the Capitol Police, but one of your staff, according to what you submitted, then reported back, There is no talk about any credible threats or storming the Capitol after talking with Watch Commander Wisham.

Blanton said that he was told, Wisham said he would look through his emails and forward anything he found to us.

Lofgren noted that one of the documents prepared by the Architect of the Capitol security officer stated: There is a threat of weapons being introduced to demonstration activities, Henry Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, was carrying two high capacity firearm magazines when arrested by MPD [D.C. Metro Police Department]. Social media postings provided tips on how to secretly bring in weapons and ammunition to D.C. Oath Keepers and III Percenters who normally engage in armed protest, plan to have weapons. There is also the threat of the Proud Boys and other groups going incognito. For example, the Proud Boys will be wearing all-black. Some demonstrators have announced plans to create mob violence to draw law enforcement to certain areas.

Lofgren then asked Blanton: How did you reconcile the briefings you were getting from your Chief Security Officer, that was prepared for you and your leadership team, with the information you are getting from the Capitol Police, which said there were no specific threats?

Blanton said that his security officer had provided the Capitol Police with newspaper clippings, including from an interview with far-right Trump supporter Representative Louie Gohmert of Texas. In the article, Gohmert threatened riots and violence in the streets after a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by him and other Republicans against Pence in an attempt to overthrow the election.

Blanton said he was told by the Capitol Police, [t]hese are just news articles, they are not credible threats. He reiterated that during a January 5 meeting in which every member of the Police Board was present, once the topic of January 6 came up, Blanton was reassured by then-Chief Sund, [w]e do have a plan for the 6th, a good plan.
On May 13, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced that it is no longer advising that individuals vaccinated against COVID-19 wear masks indoors or socially distance.

The announcement was condemned by leading US and international epidemiologists, who warned that the proposal would lead to the ending of mask mandates nationwide.

Its such a mess! So many of us are really upset. It is incredibly frustrating! said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding in a telephone interview with the World Socialist Web Site on Thursday.

Feigl-Ding is one of hundreds of epidemiologists flabbergasted by the CDCs abandonment of masking mandates, which the White House had touted only a few months ago as vital in controlling the spread of the virus.

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding (courtesy of Dr. Feigl-Ding)

Dr. Ding is involved with the COVID Action Group, whose stated mission objective is to save lives through proactive prevention. He is currently a senior fellow at the Federation of American Scientists and the chief health economist for Microclinic International.

He is also a former faculty member and researcher at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health.

Feigl-Dings Twitter account on the science of the evolving pandemic has garnered a considerable following and a great deal of respect for his frank observations. He has been a critical voice in raising concerns over the rise of COVID-19 variants, the airborne nature of COVID-19 transmission, and the crucial fact that children have been essential in the community transmission of the coronavirus.

Inevitably, now state after state and business after business is saying you dont need to wear your masks if you are vaccinated. But everything is on an honor system, Dr. Feigl-Ding explained. If you go into a grocery store or a workplace, you dont know if the person not wearing a mask is vaccinated, or they dont believe in wearing masks, or are anti-vaxxers. It is horrible to rely on an honor system. That is inherently the problem! There are still too many of us that are still vulnerable, and there are no vaccine passports or electronic verification processes to determine who is or is not vaccinated.

He continued, Less than half of the population has received even one dose of the vaccines. Most young people have yet to receive the vaccine, and those under the age of 12 will most likely not see a dose until sometime this fall. Some children are immunocompromised, who rely on real herd immunity to be protected because the vaccines wont work for them. There are just too many people still very vulnerable.

Feigl-Ding noted that after the CDC rescinded its mask guidance, states and corporations quickly rolled back mask guidance for all customers, without any meaningful way to check if they are vaccinated or not.

In response to concerns over asymptomatic infections, he began to explain that in theory, we know that if you are vaccinated with an mRNA vaccine, your likelihood to become infected is quite small. Generally, with vaccines, asymptomatic effectiveness is usually lower than symptomatic effectiveness.

Feigl-Ding cited the CDC prospective study of 3,950 health care workers, which concluded that effectiveness under natural conditions for those who had received two doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was 90 percent, meaning that, under the observed conditions, 10 percent could develop an asymptomatic infection.

In a study conducted in Qatar that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine, after complete vaccination with two doses, the effectiveness was 87 percent for the B.1.1.7 variant, but only 72.1 percent for the B.1.351 variant, the strain first detected in South Africa.

The vaccines are good at protecting you against severe disease, Feigl-Ding said. The likelihood that you will need to be hospitalized is quite small. But what we still dont have a good handle on is breakthrough infections. These require contact tracing, which is hard to do in super-spreading events. Finding the index patient is not an easy matter.

Breakthrough infections are those in which the SARS-CoV-2 RNA is detected in a person who has been fully vaccinated. Dr. Feigl-Ding added, In this sense, we are trying to answer if once A goes to B, does B go to C? In other words, do infected-vaccinated individuals transmit the virus?

He continued, The study the CDC published on the Kentucky skilled nursing facility is a case in point. An unvaccinated infected health care personnel was responsible for an outbreak there. I think 25 percent of the residents who were fully vaccinated became infected.

According to the CDCs report, 75 out of 83 residents living there had been fully vaccinated. Did that one unvaccinated person infect everybody, or did it get passed from one person to another? Evidence for this needs to be built up, which is lacking.

He then described a series of infections that occurred in Singapore among previously vaccinated airport workers, leading the government to impose new restrictions in the city-state. Last weeks New York Times report noted that 46 cases had been traced to the Singapore Changi Airport, the largest of about 10 clusters of new infections. Some of those infected were among family members of airport workers, who had been vaccinated, Dr. Feigl-Ding explained.

He then asked, Did you hear about the recent cluster of infections in Oklahoma? The health department there has identified a cluster of 17 cases associated with the B-16-17 variant (B.1617.2). Three of these were in fully vaccinated people.

He raised considerable concern over this variant, first detected in India, citing developments in the UK, where it is replacing the B.1.1.7 strain. We arent seeing the numbers yet because they are still buried under the other infections. But its much faster than even the B.1.1.7, about 2.4 times faster than the original virus. But to really understand these dynamics between breakthrough infections, we need more genomic sequencing.

He went on to say, But this is what makes the CDC mask guidelines inherently problematic. They may protect you against getting severely ill or the need to be hospitalized. But by carrying it indoors, by bringing it home, you may invariably infect those who are vulnerable.
Maria Svart

National Director

Democratic Socialists of America

May 22, 2021

Dear Ms. Svart,

On May 17, the World Socialist Web Site reported that during the previous week members of the Democratic Socialists of America had used Twitter to post and disseminate statements and memes celebrating the 1940 assassination of Leon Trotsky, the leader of the 1917 October Revolution and founder of the Fourth International.

As documented by the report, written by Eric London, those involved in these posts and retweets are not politically inexperienced members of the DSA. Rather, as London wrote:

The DSA members celebrating Trotskys assassination include elected national office holders and leaders of its youth wing (YDSA), branch chairs, leaders of campus clubs and prominent DSA podcasters, as well as contributors to the Guardian and DSA-affiliated media outlets such as Jacobin magazine.

Among these leading DSA members are:

1. Nickan Fayyazi, a member of the National Coordinating Committee of the YDSA and co-chair of its UC Berkeley Chapter.

2. Jake Colosa, a member of the New York City DSA steering committee.

3. Alex Lawson, a Vermont DSA organizer.

4. Honda Wang, a DSA Organizing Committee member in lower Manhattan.

5. Kenzo Shibata, a prominent DSA member in Chicago.

6. Brandon Henriquez, co-chair of the DSA Silicon Valley branch.

7. Nate Knauf, a former member of the DSA National Electoral Committee.

8. Guy Brown, a DSA National Political Education Committee member and co-chair of the Charlotte, North Carolina DSA.

9. Blanca Estevez, a member of the DSA National Political Committee.

10. Nate Stewart, a member of the YDSA National Coordinating Committee.

11. Alexander Hernandez, co-chair of the DSA Immigration Rights Group.

12. Austin Binns, a member of the DSA National Electoral Committee.

13. Cole Schenley, co-chair of the DSA branch in Erie, Pennsylvania.

14. Kayleen Pena, a member of the DSA Organizing Committee in New York City.

15. Michael Lumpkin, a member of the DSA Los Angeles Labor Committee.

The involvement of leading members of the DSA in this anti-Trotsky campaign clearly indicates that it was a coordinated response to the WSWSs criticism of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, which had been read by thousands of DSA members. Rather than attempting to reply to the WSWS with legitimate arguments, the DSA leaders descended to the level of political pornography. A tweet by Ben Davis, a prominent DSA member in Washington, D.C., featured a drawing of the assassin preparing to strike Trotsky from behind with an ice pick. Davis added the caption, Clear out the wreckers  thereby invoking the very words used by Stalin to sanction the murderous terror he unleashed in the Soviet Union in 1936.

The assassination of Leon Trotsky was the culmination of savage repression between 1936 and 1940 that targeted the socialist working class and intelligentsia. Within the Soviet Union, Stalins decision to eradicate socialist opposition to his regime resulted in approximately one million executions. The victims included not only the Trotskyist opposition, but all those who had played a significant role in the October Revolution and the early years of the Soviet Republic. The Stalinist terror claimed the lives of major Soviet writers, scientists, and artists.

Beyond the borders of the USSR, the GPU murder machine killed thousands of socialists in Spain, including the leader of the POUM, Andreu Nin (who was tortured to death), and Trotskys secretary, Erwin Wolf. The ferocity of Stalinist repression of socialist opponents of the bourgeois Popular Front government is described in meticulous detail in Burnett Bolloten's study of the Spanish Civil War, not to mention George Orwells Homage to Catalonia. In France, the GPU assassinated Trotskys son, Leon Sedov and the secretary of the Fourth International, Rudolf Klement. The Stalinist killings extended even into the United States. Juliet Poyntz, a member of the American Communist Party who had expressed opposition to the Moscow Trials, was kidnapped in New York City in 1937 and never seen again. In 1943, Carlo Tresca, the famed Italian-American anarchist leader and opponent of Stalinism, was assassinated in New York City.

The DSA traces its history to the American Socialist Party. Notwithstanding their well-known and fundamental political differences with the Trotskyist movement, many of its most prominent leaders, including Norman Thomas, opposed the Moscow Trials. They supported the establishment of the Commission of Inquiry into the trials, chaired by the philosopher John Dewey. The Commission, after extensive hearings and investigation of all available evidence, declared Trotsky to be not guilty and denounced the Moscow Trials as a frame-up.

The stand of the Socialist Party was bitterly denounced by the Stalinists. Norman Thomas was among the principal targets of their attacks. In a speech delivered on March 18, 1938, Earl Browder, the Stalinist lickspittle who led the American Communist Party, declared that Thomas capitulated to Hitler and joined with Trotsky. The Moscow trials have thrown a light upon all such problems, including the political degradation of Norman Thomas.

The DSA has a serious political problem. Its leadership includes individuals who unabashedly declare their solidarity with the monstrous crimes committed by Stalin and his totalitarian bureaucratic regime. This cannot be explained simply as a matter of historical ignorance. The individuals who are actively promoting the anti-Trotsky campaign are not political novices.

In fact, as Eric Londons article documented, many of these individuals have connections to the Democratic Party, a bastion of American anti-communism and imperialism. Its political strategists view the Trotskyist movement  which seeks to establish the political independence of the working class from the pro-capitalist Democratic Party on the basis of a socialist program  as a formidable enemy. It fears the potential of the Trotskyist movement to attract workers and youth who are being radicalized by the intensifying social crisis. The broad-based response to the WSWSs criticism of Ocasio-Cortez defense of the Biden administration was seen as a confirmation of this potential.

The essential political purpose of their campaign against Trotskyism is 1) to poison the political environment within the DSA with reactionary anti-Marxist filth appropriated from Stalinism, and 2) to attract to the DSA socially backward people who are drawn to the anti-communist, chauvinistic and  lets not beat around the bush  anti-Semitic subtext of denunciations of Leon Trotsky. Judging from tweets that have been posted in support of the DSA leaders attacks on Trotsky, the campaign is drawing around your organization extremely reactionary elements who should have no place within a genuinely progressive, let alone socialist organization.

An organization that claims to espouse democratic socialism must make clear that it will not tolerate statements, in any form, that legitimize threats of violence against its political opponents on the left.

The Socialist Equality Party formally requests that the Democratic Socialists of America unequivocally denounce and repudiate the Twitter posts, and statements in any other media, that revive Stalinist lies and celebrate the assassination of Trotsky. The DSA must make clear that the propagation of Stalinist lies, thereby sanctioning not only past but also future attacks on the Trotskyist movement, will not be tolerated and is incompatible with membership in its organization.

In conclusion, allow me to point out that the Socialist Equality Party, notwithstanding its political differences with the DSA, has consistently defended your party and its members against attacks from the political right. Statements in defense of Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez have been prominently posted in the World Socialist Web Site. In fact, we have applied this same policy toward members of the Democratic Party, such as Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, when they have been threatened with violence from the extreme right.

I await your reply.

Yours sincerely,



David North

National Chairman

Socialist Equality Party (US)
Wednesdays demonstration by thousands of police officers outside the National Assembly, called by a group of police unions dominated by the neo-fascist Alliance union, is a sharp warning. The police enjoy the near-unanimous backing of the establishment parties while they call for the building of an authoritarian police state.

The rally was called after the death on May 5 of a police officer in Avignon, Brigadier Eric Masson. It had transparent political aims. While the Macron governments recently-passed global security law is currently being reviewed by the countrys constitutional council, the police demanded minimum sentences for individuals who allegedly assaulted police officers. The police denounced the judicial system and in particular the minister of justice, former defence lawyer Eric Dupont-Moretti.

Fabien Vanhemelryck, the head of the Alliance-police union, booed Dupont-Moretti and, to a standing ovation from the crowd of police officers, shouted: The problem with the police is the justice system. This was a call to break the judicial system and establish a police state.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, center, meets police officers during a police officers demonstration, Wednesday, May 19, 2021 in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

The hatred of strikers and social demonstrations that animated the pro-police demonstrators was expressed in the comment of one protester, who confided his love for the police to Europe1: They are the last bastions of peace. They are fed up with this permanent guerrilla warfare.

In attendance at the rally were Macrons interior minister and former Action Francaise member Gerald Darmanin, the No. 2 of the neo-fascist National Rally, Jordan Bardella and numerous far-right figures, including polemicist and supporter of the Vichy collaborationist regime Eric Zemmour. Bardella said: If we come to power, we will re-establish the authority of the state and we will protect materially, legally, administratively and by law our police.

A federation of 14 police unions had called the demonstration, including Alliance, the CFDT, and the Workers Force-linked Unite-SGP union. The General Confederation of Labour-Police called for a demonstration without backing the main slogans. SUD-Interieur, the police union linked to the New Anti-Capitalist Party (NPA), did not call to support the demonstration.

This almost unanimous support for a far-right demonstration came not only from the trade union apparatuses, but also from the political parties associated with them. The Socialist Party, the Stalinist Communist Party of France and elements of Jean-Luc Melenchons Unsubmissive France (LFI) lined up behind the far-right police union, when there was no mistaking either the political character of the demonstration or the context in which it took place.

The police must have a say in the justice system, said PS first secretary Olivier Faure, who attended the demonstration outside the Assembly. The PS national bureau issued a statement expressing its attachment to and full support for the police and promising to send a delegation of MPs to the demonstration.

Anne Hidalgo, the PS mayor of Paris who is preparing a presidential candidacy, participated in the demonstration after telling Europe1: I will be there with the mayors of my team, of my majority. We must support our police officers, because they are the ones who allow us to live peacefully in our neighbourhoods. She also claimed that their work is very difficult, because they are not sufficiently equipped.

Fabien Roussel, the PCFs presidential candidate, announced his participation in the demonstration, citing his desire to ensure that everyone feels at peace.

Yannick Jadot, the Greens member in the European parliament, participated in the demonstration after tweeting that he wanted to demonstrate his attachment to the police and his expectations of them to re-establish the bond of trust with the French.

Unsubmissive France, which did not participate in the demonstration, stated that the main obstacle for them was their fear of being attacked by neo-fascist police. Adrien Quatennens, an Unsubmisive France deputy, stressed that in absolute terms, given what we stand for, for the police, we would have our place there. But I am not sure that the security conditions are present for us to participate. He was also quick to point out that he felt a form of frustration at not being able to attend the demonstration of the police unions.

So, as the ruling elite prepares the campaign for the 2022 presidential elections, almost everything that the ruling class has presented for decades as left in France has applauded the far-right police demonstration.

These bourgeois and petty-bourgeois parties, having supported decades of austerity and war, followed by an irresponsible and criminal coronavirus policy that has resulted in the deaths of over 108,000 people in France, are aligning themselves with the police force as a bulwark against the social anger of the working class. This same process is taking place not only in France, but internationally.

By sending Darmanin to participate in the police demonstration, the Macron government is continuing its strategy of attacking Marine Le Pen from the right. Darmanin, who already criticised Le Pen in a televised debate as being soft on Islam, is trying to gather support among the police, who are currently voting by 74 percent for Le Pen.

The deadly management of the coronavirus pandemic by governments and the level of social inequality reached under capitalism are incompatible with democracy. Following Donald Trumps unprecedented coup attempt on January 6 in Washington, storming the Capitol in an attempt to prevent Congress from certifying his electoral defeat, democratic norms are collapsing everywhere. In Spain, top military brass denounced the March 2020 workers strikes, which demanded that non-essential workers be allowed to take shelter in their homes, and called for a coup.

In France, the military-police apparatus, aware of the unpopularity of Macron, who has relied on them to repress strikes and yellow vest protests, is calling for dictatorship. Thousands of French officers close to the far right have signed calls for an army intervention in France, that is, a coup detat.

The defence of democratic rights requires the building of an international workers movement, fighting on the basis of a revolutionary and socialist programme, against a failed capitalist social order. This requires a fundamental break with all those parties that attempt to tie workers to Macron, the Socialist Party or their various satellites. Among these must be counted the corrupt national trade union apparatuses, which organise token strikes while holding meetings through their police union federations with the state apparatus that represses them.

Thus, at a press conference before the far-right protest, Melenchon complained: The authority of the state from week to week is diluted and dispersed in the face of behaviour that is inadmissible in a Republic. First the military calling on their active colleagues to rise up, then retired police officers calling on those on active duty to precede the military with bad actions. He pointed out that the demonstration had an ostensibly factional character, attacking the judicial institution.

Yet Melenchon proposes nothing more than to rely on Macron. To combat the threat of a coup, he calls on the public authorities backing the military-police apparatus to investigate the threats of a coup that come from that same apparatus.

The alternative to the ruling class rush to neo-fascist dictatorship is the independent mobilisation of the working class in defence of democratic rights. The International Committee of the Fourth International has called, in the face of the failure of the health policy of the capitalist states during the pandemic, for the formation of an International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees. This call opens a way for workers to organise and fight for a scientific policy in response to the pandemic and a defence of democratic rights.
On Friday, just hours after a fragile ceasefire between Israel and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad came into effect, Israeli security forces fired tear gas, stun grenades and rubber bullets at worshippers in the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. At least 20 Palestinians were injured, with two taken to hospital.

People pass a rubble heap beside a building previously destroyed by an air-strike following a cease-fire reached after an 11-day war between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel, in Gaza City, Friday, May 21, 2021. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Tens of thousands had come for Friday prayers to celebrate the ceasefire. They carried Palestinian flags, distributed sweets and chanted slogans including God is the Greatest and Greetings to Ezzedin al-Qassam, referring to Hamas military wing, led by Mohammed Deif, who has been targeted repeatedly by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). Police entered the compound to confiscate flags and disperse the crowd, provoking angry scuffles. The Jerusalem District commander then ordered mass reinforcements to handle the protesters.

In Sheikh Jarrah, police violently broke up a peaceful protest of hundreds of Palestinians and Jewish Israelis because one of the participants waved a Palestinian flag. The police chief also reinforced the police presence in Silwan, Isawiya and Sheikh Jarrah, having put in place barricades around the East Jerusalem neighbourhoods.

The IDF was preparing for unrest in the West Bank, including in Hebron where Hamas supporters were planning to celebrate the resistances victory. The IDF announced that the Border Police, sent to Lod in Israel to put down Palestinian protests against gun-toting Zionist vigilante groups were to return to the West Bank.

Unrest is also expected in Umm al-Fahm in central Israel, following the fatal shooting in the head of 17-year-old Mohammed Kiwan on Wednesday, leading to protests the police dispersed with tear gas. A general strike closed the town on Thursday, the day of Kiwans funeral.

Israels air strikes continued up until the ceasefire, mediated by Egypt, brought a temporary end to the one-sided war that killed at least 243 Palestinians, including 65 children and wounded more than 1,900. In contrast, just 12 people were killed in Israel.

The scale of the destruction and suffering in just 11 days is truly shocking. Hamas information officer Salaameh Maaruf has estimated the damage to be about $250 million. Of this:

* $92 million is damage to housing and NGO offices,

* $40 million is damage to Gazas commerce and industry,

* $27 million is damage to roads and water and sewage infrastructure,

* $23 million is damage to government buildings,

* $22 million is the cost of replacing the electricity distribution grid, and

* $24 million is damage suffered by the agricultural sector.

About 800,000 people have no regular access to drinking water. Around 10,000 metres of underground sewage and water lines, as well as wastewater networks, sewage evacuation vehicles, wells and a wastewater pumping station have been damaged. At least 50 schools have been seriously damaged.

US President Joe Biden absurdly said that the Israel-Gaza ceasefire would bring a genuine opportunity for progress. He ignored the murderous assaults by Israel on Gaza, including the wars of 2008-09, 2012 and 2014, and the weekly attacks on the Great March of Return in 2018-19, as well as countless other lesser attacks on the besieged enclave greenlighted by Washington and the Arab regimes.

Signaling his ongoing support for Israel against Hamas, Biden said humanitarian assistance for the reconstruction of Gaza would be done in coordination with the Palestinian Authority, run by Hamas rival, President Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank, and in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal. He promised Netanyahu that Washington would replenish Israels Iron Dome missile defence system that had protected it from Hamas projectiles.

There was great rejoicing in Gaza and the occupied West Bank at the end of hostilities, with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh hailing a victory and claiming it would have a wide impact in the regions relationship with Israel. We have destroyed the project of coexistence with Israel, of normalization with Israel, he claimed, and Hamas would enjoy growing regional support. The fight against Israel would continue until the al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem was liberated.

Osama Hamdan, Hamas foreign relations bureau chief, said that Hamas had received assurances regarding Israeli policy toward Sheikh Jarrah, where several families faced eviction, and the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem that had triggered the war.

Israeli politicians, however, gave Hamas leaders no grounds for such optimism. Netanyahu threatened a new level of force if Hamas broke the ceasefire, saying, If Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong. He claimed that the IDFs operations had succeeded in dramatically setting back Hamas, with the destruction of 100 kilometres of tunnels, military infrastructure used for both land and sea attacks, as well as the assassination of 20 senior Hamas members.

Aware that he had made similar claims before without bringing an end to the conflict, Netanyahu said that while Israel had changed the equation the public and Hamas dont know everything... the entirety of our achievements will be revealed over time.

But according to Haaretz, security officials were less than convinced about the success of the operation, noting that Israels strikes on Hamas rocket arsenal and launchers were less damaging than originally thought, with just 40 percent destroyed, meaning Hamas still had a large arsenal of rockets. They criticized the poor intelligence and the IDFs failure to destroy most of Hamas tunnels, as well as the failure to mount a ground invasion and assassinate Yahya Sinwar, Hamas leader, and Mohammed Deif, its military leader.

Defence Minister Benny Gantz, who has spoken with the leaders of the Arab regimes in the last days, threatened Hamas that any funds for the reconstruction of Gaza depended on making progress with Israels other conditions. He warned that without further political and diplomatic progress against Hamas, Operation Guardians of the Walls would end up being another round on the way to the next military operation.

Israels criminal aerial bombardment of the essentially defenceless population was originally triggered by outrage in both the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel over its violent raids on al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan and the threatened expulsion of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan in favour of Jewish settlers. The families have appealed to the Supreme Court, which will hear the Silwan case on Wednesday and the Sheikh Jarrah case, postponed on Jerusalem Day in a bid to quell the turmoil, in a few weeks time. The results of the hearings are likely to further inflame tensions between the Palestinians and fascistic settler groups, under conditions where Israel is now confronted with the very real possibility of a civil war.

At the same time, the war has also intensified the deep political crisis, exemplified by Israels inability to form a stable government after four inconclusive elections in two years. A major factor in Netanyahus provocations against the Palestinians was his determination amid his ongoing trial for corruption, bribery, and breach of trust to torpedo any possibility of opposition leader Yair Lapid forming a coalition government. With Lapids success dependent on support from Mansour Abbass Arab Joint List, the war with Gaza sent one of Lapids potential allies, Naftali Bennett and his right-wing Yamina Party, scurrying back to Netanyahus camp. Despite this, Netanyahu is no nearer to being able to form a government, potentially precipitating a fifth election. It is these conditions that underpin Netanyahus deepening hostility to Iran. On Wednesday, he accused Tehran of launching an armed drone from either Iraq or Syria to Israel via Jordan.
In recent weeks, several federal states have already reopened schools and nurseries on a larger scale. Now, in connection with the general offensive to open up the economy, the complete return to regular operations is being prepared.

In Germanys most populous federal state North Rhine-Westphalia, schools are to switch to fully in-person teaching from May 31. In Schleswig-Holstein, all grades are again being taught face-to-face in almost all districts and towns in the state as of this week.

In Bavaria, according to state Premier President Markus Soder (Christian Social Union, CSU), the vast majority of pupils should be back at school after the Whitsun holidays. The same goal is being pursued by the state government in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania led by state Premier Manuela Schwesig (Social Democratic Party, SPD). In all other federal states, including Thuringia, which is led by the Left Party, school and nursery reopenings are also being pushed forward.

The fact that the federal and state governments are taking this step despite the still high incidence of infections, thus endangering the health and lives of millions of children, parents and educators, has exclusively economic reasons. Beyond seemingly endless demagogic reports about the psychological suffering, the endangerment of childrens well-being in the lockdown and studies about supposedly safe schools in the pandemic, the decision-makers are primarily concerned with freeing up parents to work.

Like last year, the Education and Science Union (GEW) is playing a key role in pushing through the profits before lives policy in the face of enormous resistance among students, educators and parents. On Thursday, GEW national chair Marlis Tepe told the ZDF morning show, We are in favour of opening schools as quickly as possible, depending on the incidence level. Within a range of 50 to 100 per 100,000, the GEW pleads to stay with alternating teaching methods. If it then goes down, then you can go to face-to-face teaching.

Tepe had already backed the move to in-person teaching with the slogan, Whoever opens, must vaccinate. The early vaccination of all teachers meant the health protection of teachers, pupils and their parents could be secured, she claimed.

GEW Chair Marlis Tepe (Ziko van Dijk, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

Everyone knows this is not true. Firstly, the vaccination of teachers is progressing slowly, and a large proportion of teachers are still waiting to be vaccinated. And secondly, even if teachers were fully vaccinated, schools would be breeding grounds for the virus, posing a massive threat to the health and lives of unvaccinated students and their families.

Even vaccinated teachers would be far from safe. COVID-19 variants such as the dangerous Indian variant, for which the effectiveness of many vaccines is at least limited, are also spreading massively in Germany. Worldwide, the pandemic is out of control and about 13,000 people are dying every day. Germany is currently one of the most affected countries in Europe, with around 10,000 infected and 200 deaths per day. According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), at least two more teachers died of COVID-19 in May, bringing the total to at least 33 teachers and educators. Almost 900 have had to be hospitalised since the pandemic began.

Despite this, the individual GEW state associations are competing in supporting and pushing the reopening policies of their respective state governments. The current orgy of reopening is a direct result of their policies. Here is just a brief overview of some of the statements and pronouncements of the GEW in recent weeks.

At the end of April, the GEW Saxony published a Wake-up Call for Open Child Day Care Facilities and Schools. This had been preceded by the interim closure of nurseries and primary schools in most districts of Saxony. The right-wing state coalition of Christian Democrats (CDU), SPD and Greens had previously pursued an incidence-independent reopening coursei.e., a policy openly based on herd immunity. Since the incidence level in almost all Saxonys districts was around 200, the so-called federal emergency brake led to closures in many places. In its wake-up call, the GEW complained, We find it intolerable that for many a girl or boy the nursery or school is the only safe haven and that this place is now closing for them again.

The GEW Rhineland-Palatinate also openly pleaded for keeping schools and nurseries open regardless of incidence level. The GEW Rhineland-Palatinate is critical of setting a fixed incidence value as a threshold, it said in a statement published on April 20. A fixed orientation towards the incidence value would result in frequent changes to the currently applicable measures and thus little planning ability and reliability for employees and parents. This is unequivocal: nurseries and schools should be kept open even when incidence rates are high so that parents can show up at work in a plannable and reliable manner. Explicitly, the GEW demanded regular operations in everyday life with coronavirus, which should only be watched over by the local health authorities.

GEW Hesse already advocated a return to face-to-face teaching in April. In an April 1 press release the union stated that for pedagogical and social reasons, it is a priority that pupils from grade 7 onwards are enabled to return to face-to-face teachingat least daily. Hesse GEW Deputy President Tony C. Schwarz stressed in the same release, For us, this is the most urgent next reopening step that must be taken as soon as the infection situation permits. The students in these grades have not been to school since Christmas.

Then, on April 13, the chair of GEW Hesse, Maike Wiedwald, followed up and demanded in another press release, An early return to face-to-face teaching for these classes, at least daily, must now be a priority. When state Education Minister Alexander Lorz (CDU) finally announced at the beginning of May that in more and more regions of Hesse, pupils, in particular, can go back to school regularly, the GEW supported this push.

In Lower Saxony, too, the GEW is at the forefront of the reopening policy. When the state government set the course for a return to face-to-face teaching at the beginning of May, the GEW state chair Laura Pooth cynically declared, The intended alternating teaching [at home and in schools] will have a positive effect on children and young people, provided the schools have been able to provide comprehensive health protection.

In Berlin, the GEW is working closely with the SPD-Left Party-Green Senate (state executive) to push through the unsafe return to nurseries and schools. When Berlins education senator (state minister) Sandra Scheeres (SPD) announced the return of nurseries to regular operations last week, the chairperson of the GEW Berlin, Doreen Siebernik, complained in a statement that educators are not included in the planning of the nursery reopenings. The GEW vehemently rejects launching protests or even strikes against the ruthless approach of the Senate, as in all other federal states. As a result, since Monday of this week, Berlins nurseries have been back in regular operationwith unforeseeable consequences for children, parents, educators and the infection rate in the capital.

With its support for the reopening policy, the GEW consistently maintains its right-wing policy in the pandemic. As part of the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB), it already supported the federal governments billion-euro bailout package for the banks and corporations at the beginning of last year. Since then, Germanys largest union IG Metall, public sector union Verdi and the other individual unions have played the central role in keeping the factories and workplaces open, even under the most precarious conditions, so that the billions gifted to big business and the rich can be recovered from the working class.

The reactionary and anti-working-class role of the trade unions underlines the importance of the Action Committees for Safe Education that teachers, students and parents have built in Germany and internationally over the past year of the pandemic. Workers can only defend their interests if they organise independently of the capitalist parties and unions and develop an international perspective and strategy against the murderous profits before lives policy.

To stop the pandemic, all schools and non-essential businesses must be closed and all workers and their families must be given the necessary financial support. Resources must be allocated for mass testing, contact tracing and the best medical care for all those infected. The production and distribution of the vaccine must be massively scaled up and removed from the constraints of capitalist profit so that the entire world population is rapidly immunised against the virus.

Then, under conditions where there is sufficient levels of immunization and very low infection rates, billions must be invested to ensure safe teaching conditions in schools and nurseries. At the same time, thousands of additional teachers and educators must be hired and their salaries must be raised significantly.

We appeal to all teachers, students and parents who want to fight for these goals to join the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees today and build action committees for safe education at their institutions.
Ian Allinson is the industrial strike co-ordinator of Manchester Trades Union Council (MTUC) and a member of the RS21 splinter from the Socialist Workers Party, Britains largest pseudo-left group. He has published his latest comment on the dispute at Go North West buses, which was ended May 17.

Manchester Trades Union Council executive committee member Ian Allinson speaking at an online Go North West strike solidarity meeting

Unite the union proclaimed victory after the company agreed to withdraw the threat to impose savage attacks on pay and conditions through a fire and rehire policy.

Allinsons comments accompany a video, Interviews with Go North West bus strikers, on the RS21 web site. Intended as a political whitewash of the sellout agreement on which Unite has ended the strike, he provides an incriminating account of the mechanics of betrayalconfirming the analysis of the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) and its exposure of his role.

Allinson has been elevated to public prominence at Go North West as a frontman for the trades council and political stooge of Unites local representatives. In this role he dutifully posted the press release issued by Unite, declaring the outcome of the dispute a huge victory. But he is fully aware of the anger and sense of betrayal felt by many drivers and was obliged to acknowledge this in an attempt to smooth things over.

He does this by portraying the vote in favour of Unites rotten agreement with Go North West parent company, Go Ahead, as a considered decision of the drivers, rather than the tragic result of Unites deliberate isolation of the dispute and drivers being presented with a fait-accompliall with the vital assistance of Allinson et al.

All the strikers recognise that this wasnt an unqualified victory, he declares. However, Most accepted the logic that they had to make concessions to ensure the viability of their employer

Most drivers accepted the concessions agreed by Unite because, after heroically waging the longest running industrial dispute held in Britain this year, they were told again and again that there was no alternativeand because everything was done by Allinson and the local Unite reps to neuter drivers opposition to the deal, including mounting a slander campaign against the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) for the crime of telling workers the truth of what was being planned.

The local reps and Allinson told Go North West strikers to toast an imminent victory and await the successful outcome to their dispute, after Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey stitched up an agreement behind their backs in consultation with Go Ahead chief executive David Brown, agreeing massive cuts. While strikers were kept in the dark, Allinson had the inside track and had seen the agreement that the reps were tasked with imposing.

He made limited disclosures, admitting that Unite had made substantial concessions, and explained that the cost cutting advocated by the union prior to the industrial actiontotalling 1.3 million of the 1.4 million demanded by Go North Westhad been incorporated. But he then insisted Go North West strikers should still put their faith in Unite, based on its promise to help claw back the concessions in two years time!

Allinson levelled his fire solely against the SEP and the World Socialist Web Site. Warnings that the union was preparing a sellout were met with hysterical denunciations of the SEP as scabs and purveyors of company lies that a deal had been struck, despite knowing full well this was true. An attempt was made to ban SEP members and WSWS readers from posting on the Facebook page of Manchester Left-Wing Forum.

The deal pushed through on May 17 following a mass meeting and ballot was in all essentials the one signed off between Brown and McCluskey, confirmed by the Manchester Evening News as early as May 8, and then reported by the WSWS.

Allinson and his various accomplices denied these facts so that Unite could mount a concerted effort to browbeat and isolate the opposition among Go North West strikers.

The vote on Monday was nonetheless opposed by a significant minority of strikers. Allinson admits, only after the fact, Last week, when Unite officers tried to push members into balloting on the offer, there was strong opposition, forcing the ballot to be delayed while rostering concerns were addressed in further talks.

Even this week, there was a 21.5% No vote. There was huge pressure from the Unite apparatus to accept the deal, leaving strikers unconfident that they would get the support they needed if they fought on and most concluding that this was the best deal they could achieve.

Allinsons article has an accompanying photograph of a large pie, with the words Vote No on its crust, served in the catering tent on the picket line at the Queens Road depot the week before the vote.

In its report of the deal, local media outlet The Meteor also notes that bus drivers initially rejected voting on a deal over the issue of rotas. Drivers with 20-years-service were previously guaranteed a Monday to Friday roster, but during the strike the company was awarding this rota to scabs with as little as 15 months employment. The Meteor article also cited one driver, Marianne, asking, What are we voting for How can we vote on something we have not seen?

This raises the question, Where were you Mr Allinson? What did you do to alert the working class to what you admit was Unites huge pressure on Go North West strikers, and to offer an alternative?

While the WSWS was raising the alarm, Allinson, as MTUC industrial strike co-ordinator, announced the cancellation of a planned solidarity protest outside the Queens Road depot May 13 so that strikers could study the documents presented by Unite!

There is one other significant admission by Allinson. Stating blandly, There were steps that could have been taken to put more pressure on Go Ahead, he explains, But the Unite apparatus discouraged strikers from visiting other bus depots to build solidarity.

In short, Unite was intent on isolating and selling out the dispute, while the political police of the pseudo-left and the local reps were trying to silence the SEP, harassing our members, urging strikers not to talk to us, and whipping up misplaced anger with cries of scab.

Despite his polite critique, Allinson celebrates the strikers having beaten fire and rehire and the worst of Go Aheads attacks. What he does not say is that Go Ahead did not need fire and rehire to push through most of its attacks. It had the services of Unite for that. These include reduced sick pay and the lengthening of the working day, compulsory overtime and unpaid meal breaks.

Jobs will now be lost too. Unite has established a severance scheme with the company via the arbitration service, ACAS, that targets between 70 and 80 jobs. In Allinsons video, Colin Hayden, Unite senior steward, explains that the unions proposed cuts to the company accepted that the depot was overstaffed by 30 drivers, while the company wanted job cuts of between 70 and 80.

We knew the company could not carry that labour cost, he stated. ACAS came up with the idea of a severance scheme. That we sort of thought, yeah, that would give the ability of people to leave the business now, without waiting to have their heads chopped off for the slightest thing in the depot.

Allinson is a typical representative of the union activistinvariably low-ranking functionaries and members of various pseudo-left and Stalinist groups, whose activism is carried out solely in the interests of the union bureaucracys imposition of the dictates of the corporations and preventing an explosion of workers anger getting out of control. Their various newspapers more-or-less dutifully echo the line of Unite. The Communist Party of Britains Morning Star hails an historic victory, the Socialist Party a huge victory, directly parroted from Unites press release. The SWP proclaims Fire and hire defeated, before asking, at what cost?

They all insist that the working class must never challenge the stranglehold of the trade unions, epitomised by the SWP ending its belatedly critical commentary with extended quotes from McCluskey and their favoured candidate to replace him as general secretary, Sharon Graham.

Strikes are the best way to win against fire and rehire, the SWP intones. But the outcome should not be negotiated cuts. To which we can all say, Amen.

The real lesson of the Go North West dispute is that workers need to build rank-and-file committees as genuine organisations of class struggle in direct opposition to the corporatist unions, which function as junior partners of management and the companies. This is the perspective fought for by the SEP.
COVID-19 killed more than 29,000 Indians in the seven days between May 14 and May 20, according to government figures. This included 4,209 fatalities Thursday and 4,529a single-day world recordon Tuesday.

Just in the seven weeks since April 1, Indias official total of COVID-19 fatalities has risen by more than 125,000, or 75 percent, reaching 291,331 as of yesterday morning.

Horrific as these totals are, they are viewed by all but the staunchest defenders of Indias far-right, Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government as gross undercounts.

Jammu and Kashmir State Disaster Response Force soldiers carry empty coffins for transporting bodies of people who died of COVID-19 outside government medical hospital in Jammu, India, Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Channi Anand)

Pre-pandemic, three-quarters of all deaths in India were not properly recorded with a verified cause of death. Furthermore, numerous local studies conducted in recent weeks comparing government death tallies with figures from cremations and burial grounds show a vast discrepancy, with the number of corpses treated under COVID-19 protocols running 5 to 10 times higher than the official statistics would indicate.

Extrapolating from these figures under conditions where on average more than 4,000 Indians are being officially registered as COVID-19 fatalities daily, it is a fairalbeit harrowingassumption that Indias true daily COVID-19 death toll now numbers in the tens of thousands.

This health crisis is compounded by an immense social crisis, with hundreds of millions facing hunger and joblessness, after more than a year in which their meagre living standards have been further squeezed. A recent Azim Premji University study found that an additional 230 million people were pushed below the official 375 rupee ($5) per day poverty line last year.

Prioritizing corporate profit over saving lives, the BJP government has adamantly opposed instituting a nationwide lockdown, as exemplified by Modis infamous April 20 proclamation that his priority is to save India from a lockdown, not the population from the virus. But the state governments that have instituted limited lockdown measures due to the crush of COVID-19 infections and the collapse of their health care systems have refused to provide anything beyond famine relief to the tens of millions stripped of their livelihood. And even that relief is oftentimes difficult to access.

Yesterday, Kamal Nath, a leading Congress Party politician, said an analysis of cremation and graveyard figured showed that in March and April there had been more than 102,000 deaths from COVID-19 in his home state of Madhya Pradesh. Government figures from Indias fifth most populous state put the pandemic death total for the same period at less than 2,000.

Whatever the accuracy of Kamal Naths claims, there is a mountain of evidence pointing to government efforts to cover up and downplay the extent of the COVID-19 carnage. To cite but one example: the Uttar Pradesh Primary Teachers Association has claimed that at least 1,600 teachers and support staff have died from COVID-19 after being forced by the BJP-led state government to help conduct voting for last months local (panchayat) elections; the state authorities initially recognized just three COVID fatalities, and even now put the total at under than 100.

In a desperate attempt to shift attention away from the wave of deaths and the ongoing shortages of medical oxygen, ICU beds and drugs, the BJP government is trumpeting a marked decline in the number of new daily infections. Whereas last week new infections were averaging some 400,000 per day, this week they have fallen below 300,000.

The limited lockdown measures imposed in some states and particularly in Indias largest cities likely have had some impact. But the decline in cases is also associated with reduced testing and the spread of the virus to rural India, where tests are far less readily available and there is little to any public health system to speak of.

On Thursday, the Modi government announced that it will reduce the number of RT-PCR tests, which are widely believed to be the most accurate method to detect COVID-19 infections, to 40 percent of total tests by the end of June. The government has already reduced its RT-PCR testing capacity to 1.2-1.3 million a day from around 1.6 million last week.

A further complicating factor is the sudden prevalence of black fungus or mucormycosis infections. Health expert have linked the surge in mucormycosis cases to the use of steroids to combat COVID-19, particularly on patients already suffering from diabetes. By Wednesday, about 5,000 people across India had reportedly developed black fungus infections, with 126 of them succumbing to the disease. As India now faces an acute shortage of the anti-fungal drug Amphotericin B, many more lives are likely to be taken by this deadly disease.

Under this situation, the Delhi High Court urged the Modi government to immediately import Amphotericin B from wherever it is available in the world. In so doing, the court accepted the Delhi governments contention that under conditions where only 10 percent of the all-India demand for the drug is being met, the Modi governments plans to increase domestic production are inadequate. The premium here, said the court, is time and human life.  You need to import to bridge this gap between the plan to produce more and the actual production coming about, otherwise we will lose more precious lives. We want you to act today.

The court ruling, which is non-binding, reflects concerns within sections of Indias ruling elite over the growing popular anger over the COVID-19 catastrophe, and fears that the criminal mishandling of it by all sections of the political establishment, including opposition-led state governments, is dangerously discrediting bourgeois rule.

In addition to anti-fungal drugs, lives of COVID-19 patients are threatened by shortages of some antibiotics such as Azithromycin and Doxycycline; key steroids, including dexamethasone, methylprednisolone and prednisolone; other life-saving medicines; vitamins; and even the common pain killer paracetamol. These shortages are especially dire in small towns and rural areas. All this comes on top of chronic shortages of medical oxygen. Last week, a further 75 people died due to lack of oxygen at Goas biggest hospital.

The disastrous state of Indias public healthcare system is the product of decades of neglect at the national and state levels. For decades, all levels of Indias government combined have spent a paltry 1.5 percent of GDP per annum on health care.

The shambolic rollout of Indias vaccination program has further increased the vulnerability of the population to the countrys second wave of the pandemica second wave that was both foreseeable and foreseen, but which Modi and the political establishment as a whole wantonly ignored. As of May 20, just 10.7 percent of the Indian population had received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and just 3 percent had been fully vaccinated.

However, when it comes to Indias military the situation is radically different. Underscoring the real priorities of the Modi government, 97 percent of Indias military personnel have received a first dose and almost 90 percent are now fully vaccinated. A senior military officer told the media on Thursday, The vaccination and protocols have helped us maintain operational readiness along the borders with China and Pakistan as well as assist civil administrations across the country in tackling the crisis.
One year ago, on 16 May 2020, poet Ahnaf Jazeem was arrested by police under Sri Lankas draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act. He was falsely accused of promoting (Muslim) extremist ideology by publishing Navarasam (Nine Moods), a Tamil-language poetry book.

Ahnaf Jazeem reading a poem [Source: YouTube]

The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) in Sri Lanka and the Action Committee for the Defence of Freedom of Art and Expression (ACDAE) are campaigning in defence of the young poet and demanding his unconditional release from detention.

We publish below a call issued by the ACDAE, which has launched a petition demanding Jazeems immediate freedom. It was published on the Sinhala-language site of the World Socialist Web Site on May 15. We urge workers, youth and intellectuals to join the defence campaign by signing and circulating the petition below.

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Action Committee for the Defence of Freedom of Art and Expression launches a public petition in defence of poet Ahnaf Jazeem

The poet Ahnaf Jazeem, who was arrested by Sri Lanka police on May 16 last year, is under detention without any formal court charges filed against him. He was arrested by the Terrorism and Investigations Division (TID) of the police, under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) on bogus allegations of teaching and the publication of books on racism and extremism to students.

The government of President Gotabaya Rajapakse is prolonging Ahnafs detention in a sinister attempt to intimidate and force him to make a self-incriminating confession to its allegations.

Navarasam, the poetry anthology written and published in 2017 by Ahnaf, is not banned by any court, and, contrary to the TIDs false claims, is advocating peace, social unity, anti-racism. It includes poems condemning ISIS, declaring that the terrorist organisation has nothing to do with Islam.

Ahnafs arbitrary and unlawful arrest is an anti-democratic attack on freedom of art and expression. The poet is one among hundreds of individuals arrested and detained under the government-sponsored anti-Muslim racist campaign which is designed to intimidate the community and divide the working class along communal lines.

Ahnaf, a 26-year-old Muslim youth, is the eldest son in the family of five children of a day labourer. He has flatly rejected the polices allegations and refused to make any admission of guilt. The poet has no connection with the Easter Sunday terrorist attacks in Colombo and suburbs on 21 April 2019 that killed 269 people and injured hundreds.

Soon after graduating in July 2019, Ahnaf joined the School of Excellence, a private international school in Puttalam, as a teacher of Tamil language and literature. He lived in a dormitory temporarily housed at a building owned by Save the Pearls, a charity organisation.

Save the Pearls is being investigated by police for allegedly promoting Muslim extremism in Sri Lanka in an attempt to link it to the Easter Sunday attacks. Human rights lawyer Hejaaz Hizbullah, an associate of Save the Pearls, who denies the police allegations, has also been detained under PTA since April 2020 and was indicted in March this year.

Ahnaf is barred any access to his lawyers and his family and denied due process. He has been subjected to cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment, including once being handcuffed while asleep, and exposed to unhygienic conditions. He is currently denied any access to news or to a library.

In its Sinhala-language statement published on the World Socialist Web Site on February 16, the ACDAE condemned the poets arrest, called for his unconditional and immediate release and the cessation of all criminal proceedings against him.

The statement said: [F]aced with an unprecedented economic and political crisis, President Rajapakse, from the very inception and serving the interests of big business, began consolidating a presidential dictatorship, broadly based on the military. His government has openly declared an economic war against the working class.

[Against] this backdrop, Rajapakse governments witch-hunt against writers, journalists, social-media activists is, in a heightened form, a continuation of the policies of [the previous] Sirisena-Wickremasinghe government, which, supported by ultra-right Sinhala-Buddhist factions, initiated a deadly racist campaign against Muslims after the terrorist attacks.

The reckless and murderous reaction of the Rajapakse administration to the coronavirus pandemic has heightened mass dissatisfaction and intensified the governments political crisis. The government has responded by deepening its attacks on democratic rights.

The ACDAE emphasises that Ahnafs release can only be ensured as part of a broader political fight by the Sri Lankan and international working class to defend democratic rights and freedom of expression, and by rallying youth, artists, intellectuals on the perspective of international socialism.

The ACDAE also insists that it is imperative for workers to build action committees independent of the trade unions in workplaces, localities and their respective disciplines to wage this struggle in unity with their international class brothers and sisters.

The ACDAE calls upon everybody who values democratic rights and agrees with its statement and public appeal to sign this online petition (translated in English below) and send statements in defence of poet Ahnaf Jazeem to the following addresses:

Secretary of Defence

15/5, Baladaksha Mawatha,

Colombo 03

Attorney General,

Attorney Generals Department,

Hulftsdorp,

Colombo 12

Inspector General of Police,

Police Head Quarters,

Colombo 01

Dear Sirs,

Immediate Release of Poet Ahnaf Jazeem

We, the undersigned, condemn the arrest and continued detention of poet Ahnaf Jazeem, who is the author of the poetry anthology, Navarasam.

We understand that the poet Ahnaf is a victim of your racist campaign against the Muslim community in Sri Lanka, waged in an attempt to divide the working class on communal lines, and suppress its struggles against your governments austerity and anti-democratic measures.

We state that Ahnaf Jazeem is a political prisoner and his unlawful detention is a blatant violation of the freedom of expression and the art of the poet, and of the masses in the country.

The poet Ahnaf Jazeem, as far as we are aware, has not committed any offence alleged by Sri Lanka Police.

Therefore, we hereby demand from the government of Sri Lanka, represented by you, the immediate and unconditional release of the poet Ahnaf Jazeem and the dropping of all criminal investigations and proceedings against him. We also demand that Sri Lankan government pay the poet full compensation for the damage and suffering caused to him.
The Socialist Equality Group in New Zealand is calling for international support for the Pike River Families Committees demand for a thorough investigation of the disaster and the prosecution of the company leaders who turned the mine into a death trap. We appeal to workers around the world to send statements of support for the families and their struggle!

The fight to establish the truth about the deaths of 29 workers killed by an explosion at Pike River coal mine 10 years ago requires the urgent support of working people throughout the world.

The entrance to the Pike River coal mine is seen in Greymouth, New Zealand, Sunday, Nov. 21, 2010 [Credit: AP Photo/Pool]

Families of 23 of the 29 men killed in the 2010 coal mine disaster are demanding that the Labour Party-Greens government, led by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, overturn its recent decision to end the forensic investigation of the mine and seal it permanently, entombing the mens bodies and crucial evidence as to the cause of the disaster. The government is seeking to protect the corporations, state regulatory agencies, politicians and union leaders who all bear responsibility for one of the deadliest industrial disasters in New Zealands history.

On November 19, 2010 the mine, located on the West Coast of the South Island, in production for less than a year, was shaken by a powerful explosion of methane gas. After a second blast five days later, police and the National Party government declared that the 29 men who had been working deep underground were dead. The victims included 24 New Zealanders, two Scotsmen, two Australians and one South African. The youngest, 17-year-old Joseph Dunbar, was killed on his first day underground.

This devastating tragedy was not a random accident, but a crime. It was the outcome of conscious decisions by Pike River Coals (PRC) management that placed profit and production ahead of workers safety. After sending an initial shipment to India in February 2010, following numerous delays and cost overruns, the company significantly ramped up coal extraction in October, with a two-shift, 24-hour operation. PRC was determined to avoid any further expensive delays necessary to bring the mine up to standard.

A royal commission of inquiry in 2012 established that the mine was a death trap. Grossly inadequate ventilation and gas monitoring meant the atmosphere underground was in the explosive range on dozens of occasions in the days leading up to the first blast. Contrary to mandatory guidelines, the mine had no second means of egress. Its main fan was installed underground, something that is never done in coal mines, partly because of the risk that it could be a source of ignition for methane and coal dust.

To this day, however, no one has been held accountable. The entire political establishment, along with government regulators, the trade union bureaucracy, the police and the judicial system, have worked together over the past decade to shield PRCs executives, directors and managers.

Chief executive Peter Whittall was initially charged with health and safety breaches, but these were dropped by the Department of Labour in 2013, in exchange for a one-off payment to the 29 families. The regulatory department itself was complicit in the disaster: it knew about the dangerous conditions at Pike River but did not order the mine closed. Its backroom deal with Whittall was later ruled unlawful by the Supreme Court, but the charges were not reinstated. While the disaster devastated entire communities, Whittall and others in PRCs senior leadership were able to move into comfortable positions in other companies around the world.

As the Socialist Equality Group (New ZealandSEG) explained in a recent webinar, the Pike River deaths and the ongoing cover-up contain vital political lessons for the international working class. The disaster mirrors the experiences of workers in country after country, who are being forced to work in life-threatening conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic. The trade union bureaucracy is enforcing policies described by the British Medical Journal as social murder, while victimising those, like London bus driver David OSullivan, who seek to mobilise workers in opposition to such policies.

Like the pandemic, the SEG argued, Pike River demonstrates the need for workers to build new organisations to take control of their own health and safety out of the hands of the trade unions as well as the corporations and governments they represent. Rank-and-file committees should be established that are run democratically by workers themselves, and are politically independent of the unions. The SEG also raised the need for a genuine socialist political party, fighting to break the working class from the stranglehold of all big business parties, including Labour, and to unite workers of all countries against capitalism.

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU), which had 71 members at Pike River mine, acted as an adjunct to the company, suppressing opposition to its life-threatening practices. It never publicly criticised management or organised industrial actioneven after a group of union members walked off the job to protest the lack of emergency equipment underground. The unions then-leader Andrew Little defended PRCs safety record following the first explosion, telling the media there was nothing unusual about the mine.

Not accidentally, Little is now the minister in charge of Pike River Recovery. He is tasked with shutting down the investigation right at the point where it could uncover critical evidence that could be used to bring criminal charges. He is seeking to protect the company, the government and the union bureaucracy, which he led, and which helped pave the way for the disaster.

In the 2017 election, Labour, led by Ardern and Little, its Green Party allies and the right-wing NZ First Party, sought to deceive the Pike River families with false promises to fully investigate the mine and recover bodies from the mine. Now these pledges are being brushed aside.

Little has made unsubstantiated statements that it is too difficult, expensive and dangerous for investigators to proceed beyond a roof-fall into the mine workings, where they would find the ventilation unit thought to have sparked the first explosion. The ministers claims have been thoroughly demolished by international mining experts who are backing the families fight for justice.

The barriers to a full and thorough investigation, and to holding people criminally accountable for the disaster, are not technical or financial, but political.

The response of successive New Zealand governments to Pike River is a class one, with parallels including the official response to the 2017 Grenfell Tower disaster in London, and the 2011 CTV building collapse in Christchurch. Pike River bears a striking resemblance to other mining disasters including the 1986 and 1994 explosions at BHPs Moura mines in Australia, which killed 23 miners combined, and the 2010 Upper Big Branch disaster in West Virginia, where 29 workers perished. In virtually every case, those responsible have been protected from any serious consequences.

In a recent outburst, seeking to justify abandoning the Pike River investigation, Little told a reporter that the government had to weigh up competing priorities and my priority now is the living. The truth is that Labour and the unions did not prioritise the lives of mining and other workers in 2010, nor are they doing so now. Their real priority is the interests of the corporate elite. They uphold an economic systemcapitalismwhich produced Pike River and countless other disasters and is responsible, on a world scale, for an estimated 7 million deaths from coronavirus.

Prime Minister Jacinda Arderns government is fraudulently promoted by the worlds media and pseudo-left groups as a compassionate, reformist alternative. In reality, New Zealands Labour government has responded to the pandemic and resulting economic crisis, like governments around the world, by handing tens of billions of dollars to big business and the banks. It is overseeing tens of thousands of job cuts and imposing a three-year wage freeze for teachers, nurses and other public sector workers to pay for bailing out the rich.

The SEG, which has for more than 10 years exposed the cover-ups at Pike River on the World Socialist Web Site and in public meetings, is the only political tendency supporting the families fight in insisting on a proper investigation of Pike River mine.

The families determined struggle for truth has brought them into conflict with the entire political establishment, as well as the union bureaucracy. The media and the Ardern governments upper middle class, pseudo-left supporters are seeking to bury the issue.

For the working class internationally, however, this fight has a burning, life-and-death significance that cannot be ignored. Big business must not be allowed to continue to kill and maim with impunity. Human life is more important than corporate profit!

There is no time to lose. According to recent media reports, the government is set to begin preparations to seal up and abandon the mine site as early as next week. Any pretence that there will be prosecutions will be ditched soon afterwards.

The Pike River Families Committee is appealing for support from workers internationally, including mineworkers, to oppose this deliberate coverup and to thoroughly investigate the cause of the disaster and prosecute those responsible. The World Socialist Web Site urges readers to send statements of support using the form below.
On Thursday, the House of Representatives narrowly passed a Democratic-sponsored bill to massively increase funding for the US Capitol Police, whose sparsely deployed forces were quickly overrun by the fascistic mob incited by then-President Trump in the January 6 coup attempt.

In this March 8, 2021 photo, members of the National Guard open a gate in the razor wire topped perimeter fence around the Capitol at sunrise in Washington [Credit: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File]

The bill would allocate $1.9 billion, nearly four times the Capitol Polices 2020 budget, to upgrade and expand existing surveillance and screening procedures, provide mobile fencing, cover the costs of National Guard deployments on and after January 6, and hire hundreds more Capitol Police officers in the coming months.

It would also provide $200 million to establish a quick reaction force within the D.C. National Guard that could be called out at the request of the Capitol Police chief without requiring authorization by civilian authorities or Congress.

The bill was passed by a vote of 213 to 212. No voting Republican lawmakers supported the measure, for the most part in keeping with the overwhelming backing of the Republican Party for the coup plotter-in-chief, Donald Trump, who remains the de facto leader of the party. The bulk of the party and its entire leadership have lined up behind Trumps lying claim that there was no coup attempt on January 6, the election was stolen and the Biden administration is illegitimate.

Their position was summed up by Representative Tony Gonzales of Texas, who said the true emergency was not the attempted overthrow of the 2020 election and creation of a presidential dictatorship under Trump but rather the border crisis and the need for the US to increase its already massive funding of the Israeli military machine in the wake of the latest US-backed slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza.

However, the measure was also opposed by the small number of anti-Trump House members, who have defied the Republican leadership and refused to back the stolen election lie, including some of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the coup attempt.

In the Senate, the Democratic chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Patrick Leahy of Vermont, has raised objections to the House bills plan to establish a quick reaction force outside of civilian control. Presently, mobilization of the D.C. National Guard requires the approval of the Secretary of the Army or the Secretary of Defense.

Official reports by the inspectors general of the Capitol Police and the Department of Homeland Security, as well as congressional testimony by the then-commander of the D.C. National Guard and the Pentagons own timeline of the events of January 6, have substantiated what was already clear as the days events played out in real time on national television: The ability of Trumps insurrectionists, directed by militarily trained militia leaders such as the Proud Boys, to breach the Capitol and spend hours looking to take Democratic lawmakers and even then-Vice President Mike Pence hostage, was the result of a deliberate stand-down of the huge police/military apparatus that surrounds the Capitol and its environs.

It was not the result of any lack of funding or personnel within the Capitol Police or other police forces in the US capital. Indeed, the size of the Capitol Police has more than doubled over the past three decades, particularly in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the declaration of the war on terror.

With a territorial mandate of only two square miles, it is larger than the police departments in Atlanta, St. Louis, New Orleans and Denver. Its budget nearly quadrupled between the early 1990s and 2016, eclipsing that of the police department of Seattle, with a population of 620,000.

Dozens of members of the Capitol Police force have been investigated by federal prosecutors, and at least six have been suspended for their active support of the attackers.

Biden and the Democrats have sought from the outset to cover up the extent of the conspiracy within the state, the military, the police and the intelligence agencies that led to the January 6 coup attempt. Above all, they have worked to obscure the complicity of the Republican Party and its ongoing promotion of far-right and fascistic forces.

This is the significance of the Democrats push for a bipartisan commission to investigate the January 6 events, modeled after the 9/11 Commission. That earlier body carried out the official cover-up of the complicity of US intelligence agencies in allowing the Al Qaeda attack on Washington and New York to be carried out.

On Wednesday, House Democrats were able to secure only 35 Republican votes for the passage of their bill to establish such a commission, having already acceded to terms demanded by the Republicans. That measure faces likely defeat in the Senate, where the Democrats would have to gain 10 Republican votes to override a filibuster.

Similarly, their bill to expand the Capitol Police and further militarize the government complex is unlikely to be approved by the Senate.

It is a reactionary measure, which demonstrates that the overriding concern of the Democratic Party is not to reveal to the American people the truth of what happened on January 6 and the ongoing conspiracy to install a dictatorship but the opposite. The factions within the ruling elite that back the Democrats fear the explosive social and political consequences of a real exposure, under conditions of growing opposition in the working class and anticapitalist sentiment fueled by the murderous policies of the entire ruling elite in response to the pandemic.

That is why the cover-up is combined with a rush to build up the repressive powers of the statethe police, the military, the intelligence agenciesas well as the corporatist trade unions. They are being prepared to be thrown against an eruption of working class struggle.

In this context, the decisive role of the so-called progressive faction within the Democratic House caucus in securing passage of the Capitol Police bill is politically significant.

Members of the so-called Squad, including Democratic Socialists of America members Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Rashida Tlaib, Jamaal Bowman and Cori Bush, along with Ilhan Omar and Ayanna Pressley, threatened to vote against the measure, stating correctly that the failure to prevent the overrunning of the Capitol was not due to a lack of resources.

This led to an eleventh hour scramble by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer to prevent the measure from going down to defeat. After what Politico described as intense conversations with Democratic leaders on the floor, three of the sixAOC, Tlaib and Bowmanagreed to vote present instead of no, thereby allowing the bill to pass.

Later on Thursday, Bush, Omar and Pressley issued a joint statement promoting the Democrats racialist presentation of the January 6 coup and police violence in general, declaring: This bill prioritizes more money for a broken system that has long upheld and protected the white supremacist violence we saw on display that day.

They did not comment on the role of their fellow progressives in ensuring the bills passage.
After Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez deployed the army, special forces and thousands of police to Spains North African enclave of Ceuta, bordering Morocco, a savage manhunt of refugees is underway. Spains Socialist Party (PSOE)-Podemos government is rounding up and deporting thousands of desperate men, women and children after denying them food and medical care.

A map of Spain, Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in north Africa. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Spanish security forces are throwing migrants into the sea and marching through streets, parks and warehouses to search for migrants who may have escaped. Once they are found, migrants are forced into police vans and then taken to detention centres for deportation. A record 5,700 migrants in 24 hours were deported earlier this week as Spanish forces now expel 50 migrants every 2 hours.

The PSOE-Podemos government is acting in blatant violation of Spanish law, which grants migrants the right to be processed individually, so they have the opportunity to claim the right to asylum. Summary deportations, or hot returnsa reactionary measure the PSOE and Podemos earlier promised to revoke once in powerwere legalised by Spains Constitutional Court last year. However, even this reactionary law does not allow for mass expulsions from Ceuta, but only for migrants captured at the border fence separating Moroccan and Spanish territory.

The border fence between Morocco and the Spanish enclave of Ceuta in north Africa. (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

The PSOE-Podemos government is detaining and expelling refugees, including children, in conditions that amount to a horrific violation of elementary human rights. They are effectively working in tandem with the fascistic Vox party, whose leader Santiago Abascal visited Ceuta on Wednesday to receive military salutes and whip up anti-immigrant hatreds.

One widely circulated video shows a Moroccan boy swimming with empty plastic bottles to Ceuta, saying he would rather die than go back to Morocco. He is shown crying as he reaches the beach, only to be led away by soldiers and thrown back on the other side of the border. The young Spanish soldier, speaking the local Arabic dialect, said: He didn't want to go back, he didn't have any family in Morocco, he didn't care if he died from cold; he preferred to die  than go back to Morocco. He added, I never heard that from someone so young.

Hundreds of hungry minors continue are now roaming and sleeping on Ceutas streets. Others are in a large warehouse, with excessive crowding and broken toilets. Al Jazeera interviewed a 14-year-old boy who fled this warehouse. He said his parents had agreed to his attempt to cross into Spain. They see that if I come here I can have a future, the boy, You see your parents cant work, the education system is very weak. What can I say? I cannot even tell you what people eat.

A policeman deployed to Ceuta who spoke to El Pais on condition of anonymity reported the horrific conditions endured by children in the warehouse. I am also a father, he said, noting that many were kept over 15 hours without any food. Some were diabetic, I found them fainting, literally. I had a few nuts on me, and we had to give them food and water ourselves.

These illegal mass deportations testify to the breakdown of democratic rights across Europe. The ruthlessness with which Madrid tramples basic democratic rights underfoot, with the full support of the European Union, is a warning to the working class. Faced with the deepest crisis of capitalism since the 1930s and amid millions of preventable deaths due to capitalist mismanagement of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ruling class is rapidly turning to dictatorship.

Spains barbaric treatment of refugees testifies to how the fascistic Vox party increasingly sets the policy of the PSOE-Podemos government. In December, Vox reacted to the arrival of migrants in the Canary Islands by calling the PSOE-Podemos government to send in the army to block the arrival of refugees in make-shift boats. Now, in Ceuta, the PSOE carried out the exact policy Vox had demanded that they implement in the Canary Islands.

Vox leader Santiago Abascal travelled on Wednesday to Ceuta, where he was welcomed by his sympathisers. Aiming to stoke an atmosphere of murderous hatred of refugees, Abascal told the press that this is not a migratory crisis. It is a genuine invasion of Spains national territory of the neighbouring country. Many of them are men of military age and we see how Morocco is also throwing minors, children and women, being used as human battering rams.

Abascal then travelled to the border fence where he met with soldiers who stood firm to salute him as if he was a higher-ranking officer and took selfies. Soldiers were heard saying, Long live Spain.

Abascal has called a demonstration in Seville tomorrow to agitate against the region accepting 13 refugee children from Ceuta. He has already threatened to withdraw Voxs support from the regional government if it proceeds to accepting the children.

His activities are a further warning of the financial aristocracys rapid turn to dictatorship. Eighty-five years since the fascist coup hatched in Spanish Morocco by General Francisco Franco launched the Spanish Civil War in 1936, Abascal, who defends that coup, is being saluted by soldiers and police. Abascal also talks with fascist retired generals who have discussed killing 26 million leftists and their families in a coup amid strikes against the PSOE-Podemos governments pandemic policies.

A class gulf separates the sympathy towards the migrants felt by millions of workers from the anti-refugee policy of the PSOE-Podemos government and the European ruling class. On Wednesday, the hashtag #GraciasLuna (Thank you, Luna) became a trending topic, after Luna Reyes, a 20-year-old Red Cross volunteer, hugged an exhausted Senegalese man moments after he arrived on the beach. Tens of thousands thanked Luna for her humane gesture after Vox supporters targeted her with a torrent of abuse, forcing Luna to delete her social media accounts.

Nothing could be more disgusting than feigned support of PSOE-Podemos officials for Lunas actions. Spanish Economy Minister Nadia Calvino, busy drafting mass austerity measures against workers, tweeted, Thank you Luna for represent the best value of our society. As for Podemos, its de facto leader since the recent retirement of its former General Secretary Pablo Iglesias, Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz, commented: Much more than a photo. A symbol of hope and solidarity.

These ministers are responsible for implementing the EUs politically criminal Fortress Europe policy, that is, sealing the EUs borders to force desperate migrants to risk their lives to travel to Europe. Tens of thousands have died making this risky journey. Last year, over 2,000 migrants died trying to reach the Canary Islands. For those who reach the islands, they are interned in concentration camps built by the PSOE-Podemos government.

The barbaric treatment of refugees is an unanswerable political indictment in particular of Podemos. This petty-bourgeois party, promoting postmodernism and populist politics and rejecting socialism and the working class, was launched in 2014, promising radical democracy. After implementing austerity and war and opposing a scientific social-distancing policy during the pandemic, costing over 100,000 lives in Spain, their savage abuse of defenceless refugees in alliance with Vox shows how they ended up also trampling up democracy and elementary decency underfoot.
The Labor government in the Australian state of Victoria delivered its annual budget last Thursday, announcing a speedy return to surplus on behalf of finance capital and big business through a combination of measures that include cuts to the real wages of public sector workers.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews delivering a COVID briefing late last year [Screenshot from ABC News broadcast]

Since coming to office in 2014, the government of Premier Daniel Andrews has advanced the interests of the capitalist class, including through the privatisation of public assets such as the Port of Melbourne worth $10 billion, and the Land Titles and Registry office worth $2.9 billion.

In early 2020, state treasurer Tim Pallas announced his intention to deliver an austerity budget, involving spending cuts of $4 billion to maintain the surplus that international credit rating agencies demanded. The pandemic-induced economic slump forced a change in that plan, with last years substantial budget deficit designed to prop up economic activity including through various corporate subsidies.

Now the government is returning to austerity, announcing a planned return to cash surplus by 202223. This is a faster timeline than the federal Liberal-National government.

Public sector expenditure has been slashed by $3.6 billion and a new annual wage cap of just 1.5 percent announced for public sector workers, including teachers, nurses, ambulance workers, and public servants. Many of these workers were placed at significant risk during the coronavirus pandemic, and publicly hailed as heroes by the government, but are now being threatened with a significant cut to their real wages.

Even greater austerity measures against the working class will emerge, as the budget is based on grossly unrealistic forecasts. Growth forecasts include expectations that substantial numbers of migrants, tourists, and international students will return in 2022but this remains in question given the debacle that is the national vaccination program, together with the federal governments refusal to build proper quarantine facilities.

The Victorian government, preparing for an election in November next year, announced several limited investments.

These included $1.6 billion to build 13 new schools in Melbournes outer suburbs, together with upgrades to 35 metropolitan and 17 regional schools. This represents a drop in the bucket compared to the expenditure required to fix existing dilapidated public schools and construct enough new ones to prevent overcrowding and ease pressures on families to send their children to private schools.

The government is also spending $3.8 billion to rebuild the mental health system, after a royal commission into the mental health crisis concluded that the system had catastrophically failed. The Labor Party, in power in Victoria for 18 of the last 22 years, is responsible for this failure at the state level, but is now attempting to take credit for its limited investment.

The new expenditure mostly goes to clinics and intervention serviceswhile doing nothing to address the social crisis caused by the capitalist system that is responsible for the epidemic of mental illness. Currently 20 percent of the population experiences a mental illness in any year.

The mental health initiative is being funded by a new levy on the largest 5 percent of corporations. Businesses with wage bills of more than $10 million will pay an additional 0.5 percent of payroll tax, with another 0.5 percent for businesses paying wages greater than $100 million nationally. Additional taxes on corporate property investors will raise $2.7 billion over four years.

The imposts amount to a tiny fraction of the super profits generated by big business during the pandemic, courtesy of multi-billion dollar federal and state government subsidies. Howls of outrage nevertheless emerged from sections of the ruling class. The Murdoch press hysterically portrayed the budget as a class warfare measure against business. The Age front page featured a cartoon of Treasurer Tim Pallas dressed as Robin Hood.

This ludicrous response served to cover over the pro-business content of the budget. The Labor government is a ruthless representative of the interests of the ultra-wealthy and the corporations. Pallas himself, a former official with the National Union of Workers (now United Workers Union), devoted part of his maiden speech when he entered parliament to denouncing the class struggle. Praising a sense of balance that is a credit to generations of employers and unions, as well as governments, he declared, I want to make one thing clear: I do not now believe nor have I ever believed in the concept of class conflict.

Speaking with the Australian Financial Review, Pallas adamantly defended the governments pro-business record. The state, having been there when the community and business needed it, has every right to say now is your turn to make a contribution, he declared, adding that state government subsidies for property investors totalled $2.6 billion.

The hostility towards the new tax measures within corporate circles reflects a conviction that any measure impinging on the interests of big business and the ultra-wealthy, no matter how minor or tokenistic, is politically illegitimate. Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott pointed to this when she declared the Victorian budget represented a very dangerous precedent of fiscal repair.

A warning to the government was issued by the Australian Industry Groups Tim Piper. We want to make sure that business has a free run from here on in, he declared. This is wider warning to all governments, state and federal, that big business will not tolerate any financial imposts to pay for essential social services.
Rank-and-file Volvo workers in Dublin, Virginia, are demanding the release of the full contract after the United Auto Workers announced that its negotiators had reached another deal, this time for a six-year labor agreement covering the nearly 3,000 workers at the New River Valley plant.

Striking Volvo Truck workers [Source: UAW Local 2069/Facebook]

The UAW Local 2069 bargaining committee released a statement Thursday afternoon saying it had made changes to the previous tentative agreement, which workers rejected by 91 percent on May 16. However, the statement provided only sketchy details, which angered workers more. In addition, workers say that the UAW has deliberately scheduled the ratification vote for Wednesday, June 2, right after the Memorial Day holiday, in the hopes that the turnout would be lower because many workers will be on vacation.

In a statement posted Thursday on the national unions website, UAW Secretary-Treasurer and Director of the UAW Heavy Truck Department Ray Curry, who negotiated the last sellout deal, claimed workers made even more solid gains toward fair pay, benefits and job security protections. In an insult to the intelligence of Volvo workers, Region 8 Director Mitchell Smith said, Out of respect for our members, we will refrain from discussing details publicly until the membership at Volvo Truck can be fully briefed.

Ray Curry [Source: UAW]

The announcement of the deal came the day after the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee (VWRFC), which led the fight to defeat the contract, issued an open letter to the UAW. Workers will not accept any contract that is negotiated behind closed doors, the committee declared, for the simple reason that this would only produce another sellout. The letter, which was widely circulated and spread like wildfire, according to workers, outlined what the VWRFC said was the minimal basis for an agreement that workers will accept, including substantial wage and benefit improvements, the abolition of the multitier wage system and protection of the eight-hour day.

Workers are being told they can ask questions about the deal during meetings that start early this morning at the UAW Local 2069 hall. The last time that happened, workers reported, Local 2069 President Matt Blondino and local officials threatened to walk away from workers challenging them, saying, If they didnt like the contract, they could get another job.

The little information on this contract shows it is just a rejuggling of the words from the old one, a lower seniority assembly worker told the WSWS. We want to see the entire contract. If you were buying a car, you would search for the title and see if there were back taxes owed on it. You want to know what youre buying. We need the full deal released, not just the so-called highlights.

When you read it and compare the language to the previous contract, you can see that it has nothing to do with the top five issues workers wrote down in the survey. Instead, they put higher pay for retirees and insurance. They need this, but this is to sweeten the pot for the old guys to get out sooner. Theres really nothing for anybody else. But this isnt like it was 11 years ago when they got the Core Group to sell us out for better pay. Now everybody wants to be together.

After the tentative agreement was announced, the worker said he had been on the phone all Friday morning with workers opposing the new deal. If you are an employee of Volvo, it pretty much tells you what our local and the main union think about us. It doesnt take rocket science to know that somebodys getting a payoff. There are no numbers. They say theres a decrease in premiums, but what is the decrease? There is no meaning to what they sent out. Its like theyre saying, trust us.

Leaflet from L. 2069 bargaining committee [WSWS Media]

The company and the union got an agreement, but the workers dont want it. We want to go on strike; people are mad. Saturday and Sunday there are going to be meetings with the union officialsId hate to be them. But there will not be a vote on it until after Memorial Day, almost two weeks from now. They want to keep us in there, getting trucks out. They are stocking trucks in other places. Amazon is pissed because they want their trucks. But nobody wants to be in there. Why should I work to make them money when this is what they are offering?

Last month, the UAW abruptly shut down a two-week strike just at the point when it was creating a serious inventory shortage. UAW Executive Curry ordered the workers back into the plant without allowing them to see or vote on the agreement. As details emerged, however, opposition grew, culminating in last Sundays vote when workers overwhelmingly rejected the agreement.

The VWRFC letter unleashed a wellspring of opposition in the plant. Some workers have begun circulating a petition, which has gotten over 1,000 signatures, to remove the local union officials and the bargaining committee. Others are exposing the tens of thousands of dollars the UAW pays local union officials for training, in addition to their Volvo salaries.

One VWRFC member described the outpouring of pent-up feelings as an awakening of workers in the plant.

Facing a growing rebellion by workers, who now have a leadership in the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee, the UAW is resorting to lies and bullying to try to ram through the deal. Its clear that the open letter to the UAW sent by the rank-and-file committee is having an effect, a veteran Volvo worker said. The UAW is denouncing the WSWS and is afraid that everybody has turned on the union after they brought this back again. Everybody is going to vote it down. Theyre talking to each other, and everybody is going to stick together like we did the last time.

They are threatening us now, saying if the new tentative agreement is not voted in that we will be out on strike for three to five months because thats the best they can do. Theyre trying a scare tactic. We are prepared to go out. We were ready the last time. But they put us back to work.

The worker said that local President Blondino is telling the workers to vote yes because the company stepped up and changed a lot. Nothing changed, the worker said. They stretched it out to six years with a 12% raise. That is only 2% a year, less than the 3% in the last TA. In the new deal they reduced the out-of-pocket cost from $4,000 to $2,000 a year, or $56 to $36 a week. By the time the new contract comes up to six years, it will be $3,000. In other words, in the next contract, theyll start at $3,000 and then push it to $6,000-$7,000. Its all about the insurance and benefits. A pay raise wont mean anything it our health care costs go up.

Matt Blondino [Source: UAW L. 2069]

Another younger assembly worker said, Due to the pandemic, a lot of the companies have driven their trucks into the ground, well past what they should have done. Volvo, Freightliner and other companies are getting lots of orders to get the economy going again. We have a lot more leverage than we think.

On Thursday, the Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee distributed a new statement, which began:

Taken aback by the failure of the UAW to push through its contract over our opposition, Volvo is scrambling. A Volvo executive and an Amazon executive flew into Virginia to give marching orders to the plant managers and the UAW to ram through a contract as quickly as possible. Volvo has an agreement to sell trucks to Amazon, and they dont want us workers to get in the way.

In response, the UAW has now announced a new tentative agreement that it is going to try to ram through with lies and threats. We distributed an Open Letter to UAW officials yesterday, but the UAW officials havent gotten the message. The new agreement is a slightly reworded version of the old one that we rejected by 91 percent.

The Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee is being built as the genuine voice of Volvo workers in the plant. In opposition to the UAW and its efforts to divide workers, the committee is fighting to unify all workers and link up their struggles with workers at the Mack-Volvo plants in Maryland, Pennsylvania and Florida and workers throughout the truck and auto industry.

The Volvo Workers Rank-and-File Committee is urging workers to join and build the committee by contacting it by email at volvowrfc@gmail.com or by text at (540) 307-0509.
The World Socialist Web Site is publishing comments and statements from workers and students around the world opposing the war crimes being carried out against the Palestinians. Click here to send us your statement today.

Millions of people throughout the world are shocked and outraged at the brutal terror bombings, ethnic cleansing and communal violence carried out by the Israeli government against Palestinians in Gaza and throughout Israel over the last nearly two weeks.

In the United States, hundreds of thousands of workers and youth have participated in demonstrations against the violence and the criminal role played by US imperialism, both Democrat and Republican, in facilitating these war crimes. Rallies were held in dozens of cities across the US in the last week, including in New York City, Philadelphia, Chicago and Dallas.

A demonstrator holding the flag of Palestine and showing a peace sign marches with others to the Israeli Consulate during a protest against Israel and in support of Palestinians, Saturday, May 15, 2021, in the Westwood section of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ringo H.W. Chiu)

Elliot, a student-worker from Nashville, told the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS): I feel very strongly about this [issue.] I think it is absolutely atrocious that Israel can get away with the systematic extermination of an entire culture and people. He continued: Not only can they get away with it, they are publicly funded by the US and other countries. It is a mass genocide against a people who have no chance against Israel, which is basically an arm of the American military. If we dont act we will lose an entire culture soon.

When asked about the Biden administrations recent arms deal with Israel, he added, I thought it was insane how it took months for them to approve such a small stimulus bill, but within days can fund a mass genocide.

On May 6, just days before the onslaught on Gaza began, the Biden administration informed Congress that it approved the sale of $735 million worth of JDAM and SDB smart bombs to Israelthe very type of munitions which would rain down on the population of Gaza in the following days.

Ric, a fifth-grade teacher in Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), said: It hasnt escaped me that the mainstream media always reports the war crimes as self-defense but never mentions that the Palestinians are an occupied people, who have a right to resist. They also pound the fact that Hamas has fired thousands of rockets which are ineffectual, while ignoring the utter devastation of Palestinian areas by the Israelis. They never mention the war crimes Israel commits, such as targeting civilian homes, doctors, schools, critical infrastructure, the single COVID testing clinic and refugee camps. But all they ever talk about is Israels right to inflict as much damage on the Palestinians as they want in the name of self-defense.

Ric echoed the points made by other workers on the role of the Democratic Party: On Israel, the Democrats are no better under Biden than Republicans under Trump. Basically, its different parties but literally the exact same policy of backing Israel, no matter how ruthless and inhumane they behave.

I strongly condemn the Israeli attacks on Gaza, Luke, a state worker in San Diego, California explained to the WSWS. Luke went on to say that he feels that opposition among workers to these criminal actions are reaching a tipping point: The seawinds are changing direction and there is overwhelming support across the globe for the rights of Palestinians. Netanyahu and the imperialist powers will hold out as long as possible, but the workers of the world understand that imperial control of Gaza is waning, he continued.

Aryana, a San Diego State University (SDSU) student, said: The war crimes being committed by Israel, and the US governments direct support of the ethnic cleansing of Palestinians, demonstrate the shamelessness of the Democratic Party.

During the last election cycle, many young progressives like myself were told to Settle for Biden. We were told he would be better than former President Trump, but his actions do not surprise many of us who anticipated for President Biden to toe the line of US imperialism, Aryana continued.

The blood of innocent Palestinian men, women, and children is being shed while the international community turns a blind eye. Its abhorrent, and my heart breaks for the people of Palestine, who have no choice but to fight for basic human dignity and respect.

On Tuesday Biden visited Dearborn, Michigan, the city with the highest percentage of Arab American residents in the United States, where he was greeted by thousands of people protesting the crimes Israel is committing with US support.

Asked if he would take a question on the conflict from a reporter as he was test-driving a new Ford truck, Biden replied, No, you cant. Not unless you get in front of the car as I step on it.

Matt, a United Parcel Service (UPS) worker in Michigan, spoke out against the role of the Biden administration in facilitating Israels assault, saying I have no idea what Bidens role is; its moronic to help [Israel]. He added, about Bidens hypocrisy in calling for a ceasefire while funding the Israeli government: We see that all the time. Look at Coca Cola promising to be green. Its to save face, its just neoliberalism in a vain effort to fool the people.

To the Palestinian and Israeli working class, he urged, The government is already on verge of its own demise, if you stop working theyll fall and hard. He added, calling for broader political strike, But not just them. We should be striking with them to tell our government to stop its unjust actions.

Elizabeth Castillo, a Registered Nurse in California, sent the WSWS the following statement in opposition to the attacks on Gaza:

As a working-class nurse who believes in human rights for all people, I vehemently condemn the forced occupation of the Palestinian people, the continued dispossession of their homes and land, and the ethnic cleansing being committed by the Israeli government with the full endorsement of US imperialism. There is no comparison to be made between defenseless Palestinians and one of the most advanced war machines in the world, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

The working class in the United States must not accept the war crimes being committed in our name by the ruling class of the United States and Israel. These filthy disgusting crimes against humanity are being committed by both the Democrats and Republicans with funding from taxpayer money. This is money that could have been used to help the American people through a pandemic, but instead it is helping the Israeli government murder innocent working class people and their children.

Castillo ended with a powerful call to workers throughout the US: The American working class must unite with the global working class and stand up against these atrocities and build an antiwar, anti-imperialist movement and fight for a socialist program. We must fight against the imperialist murderous ruling class and their corporate thugs that are profiting from the genocide of the Palestinians and exploitation of the working class all over the world.
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WTVA) -- Police in Columbus are looking for the person who fired into a car Friday afternoon sending one person to the hospital with a single gunshot wound.

The shooting happened around 5:40 p.m. at 14th Avenue North and Railroad Street.

Chief Fred Shelton said one car pulled up and a person inside fired into the other vehicle.

The shooting victim, a man in his twenties from Columbus, drove a half mile before crashing on Bluecutt Road north of the Highway 82 overpass.

An ambulance took the shooting victim to Baptist Memorial Hospital - Golden Triangle before a helicopter flew him to another hospital to be treated.

Shelton added he believes the shooter and the victim knew one another and that police found the weapon used in the shooting.

Officers are looking for a four-door white Chevy Impala in connection with the crime.

You can call Golden Triangle Crime Stoppers at 800-530-7151 if you have information that could help police arrest the shooter.
TUPELO, Miss. (WTVA) - U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., voted against the bill to create an independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Thirty-five House Republicans voted for the bill, including Rep. Michael Guest, also of Mississippi.

U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss. Photo Date: May 21, 2021

Rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the formal approval of Joe Biden's electoral votes. Rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop the formal approval of Joe Biden's electoral votes.

U.S. Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) | Source: guest.house.gov U.S. Rep. Michael Guest (R-MS) | Source: guest.house.gov U.S. Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss. Photo Date: May 21, 2021

The remaining GOP members voted alongside Kelly, and all Democrats voted for the bill.

The final vote was 252-175. The bill moves to the U.S. Senate for a vote.

Read More - Here are the 35 House Republicans who voted for the January 6 commission

WTVA reporter Chelsea Brown spoke with Kelly on Friday about his vote.

"It was completely staffed and completely chosen by Democrats, and we know it was a political effort," he said.

Kelly said the investigation does not need to be partisan or driven by one committee.

"I am one of the primary ones who wants to get to the bottom of what happened on January 6th."

He does believe there should be an independent investigation done with the FBI and the intelligence community.

I believe the long conversations that have happened over the last few months have produced a commission that is fair and is structured," Guest.

When asked about Guest's vote, Kelly said, "Every piece of legislation up there I can find a reason to vote yes for and a reason to vote no for."
BOONEVILLE, Miss. (WTVA)- The family of a Mississippi man imprisoned by the Japanese during WWII received his service medals today.

Walter Gann was born in 1922 and lived in Calhoun City. When he was 18 years old, he was sent to the Philippine islands with the US Army Air Forces. A couple of years later, Gann found himself as a prisoner of a war camp in Japan where he stayed until in the end of the war..

Congressman Trent Kelly and the VFW of Booneville honored corporal Walter Gann and presented his family with two service medals and a flag flown over the U.S. Capitol.

After months of fighting the Japanese in the Philippines, Gann and his fellow soldiers were left with no supplies or food. The soldiers had no choice but to surrender. Gann walked 66 miles in the Bataan death march in April of 1942 without adequate food, water, and in the heat.

"How much you much you must love your family, how much you much you must believe in this nation to endure what they endured," Kelly said.

Even with all of the trauma from the war, Debbie Stolz, describes her father as a sweet and humble man, "He would give you the last of anything he had if you needed it."

Gann spent three and a half years as a prisoner of war in Japan. After the war, he returned to the U.S. and spent time in a hospital before returning to his family farm in Calhoun City. Gann moved to Booneville in 1949 and started his family. He later moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where he died in 1980. He returned to Mississippi one last time and was laid to rest in Jumpertown.

Many family members, friends, and veterans came today to honor Corporal Walter Gann, "I don't know how to express my appreciation that I have for everyone that made this possible and for everyone that came."

Some of Gann's honors include a purple heart, good conduct medal, WWII victory medal, and the bronze star. Congressman Kelly also honored Gann with a proclamation presented in the u. S. House of representatives.
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Charleston, WV (25301)

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Charleston, WV (25301)

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Morgantown, WV (26505)

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Charleston, WV (25311)

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A 55-year-old man who recovered from COVID-19 in Jabalpur has been detected with the white fungus or Aspergillu Flavus infection, making him the first to have the ailment in Madhya Pradesh, a health official said on Saturday. The man was operated on May 17 after his headache and eye pain did not subside, and a test on Friday detected the white fungus infection in his nose, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose Medical College's ENT Department head Dr Kavita Sachdeva told over phone.

White fungus is curable with medicines and does not need injections like Mucormycosis, better known as black fungus, not is it as deadly as the latter, she said.

Both affect people with uncontrolled sugar levels, Sachdeva said, adding that white fungus "is not rare and many people have been cured of it earlier".

Meanwhile, MP Medical Education Minister Vishwas Sarang said the state had 650 confirmed cases of black fungus, a rare and dangerous fungal infection being found in people with COVID-19 as well as those who have recovered.

The state had recently declared black fungus a notified disease.

Also Read: Uttarakhand govt declares black fungus as notifiable disease
Clarksburg, WV (26301)

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Elsa Peretti (Rebecca Dayan) tries on a newly created caftan from Halston (Ewan Gregor), in Halston. The garment would become a signature Halston piece. Jojo Whilden/courtesy
Cheyenne resident and Instacart delivery driver Christina Cross poses with a bouquet of flowers, which is one way she tries to make customers smile at work. She drops off a flower with each delivery, and for her efforts, Instacart recognized her in their Beyond the Cart: A Year of Essential Stories campaign. Courtesy
Police blotter is a list of recent arrests compiled from public records in Laramie County. All people listed here are innocent until proven guilty. Anyone listed who has a charge dismissed or is acquitted of the charge may bring or mail a court document proving such to the WTE editor, 702 W. Lincolnway, Cheyenne, WY 82001.
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)  A powerful roadside bomb that went off on Friday near a vehicle carrying a local leader of an Islamist political party in southwestern Pakistan killed seven people, police and a government spokesman said.

It was unclear who was behind the attack in Chaman, a town in Baluchistan province.

Local police chief Abdul Bashir said the attack took place when Abdul Qadir, a local leader of a faction of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam party, was on his way to attend a pro-Palestinian rally. Along with the seven killed, at least 15 people were wounded, he said.

No one claimed responsibility for the attack and police said they were still investigating. Liaquat Shahwani, a Baluchistan government spokesman, condemned the bombing.

Hours later, responding to calls from the Jamaat-e-Islami party, thousands of Islamists and members of civil society groups rallied in the capital, Islamabad, in support of Palestinians. Similar anti-Israel rallies were also held in other main cities across Pakistan, which is among few countries with no diplomatic ties with Israel.

Earlier on Friday, Pakistans Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi welcomed a cease-fire between Israel and the Hamas militant group that rules the Gaza Strip.

Quetta is the capital of Baluchistan, where security forces in Baluchistan have been battling an insurgency for more than a decade by separatists demanding autonomy or a higher share of the provinces gas and mineral resources. Pakistani Taliban and other militants also have a presence in the province.
Anthony Joshua has been ordered to defend his WBO heavyweight title against mandatory challenger Oleksandr Usyk following the apparent collapse of the Britons fight against domestic rival Tyson Fury.

Fury announced earlier this week he would take on Joshua in Saudi Arabia on August 14, only to be informed hours later by a United States arbitrator that he was contractually obliged to fight Deontay Wilder for a third time.

The legal ruling has led to Furys team turning their attentions to Wilder, while the WBO contacted Eddie Hearn on Wednesday, giving Joshuas promoter 48 hours to show a reason why a fight with Usyk should not be mandated next.

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Hearn requested an extension until Monday morning to the show cause notice in order to discuss the subject matter and other related affairs with Joshua, but that provoked an objection from Usyks team.

The WBO sided with the Ukrainian, who had previously agreed to step aside to allow Joshua-Fury to go ahead, and said in a statement on its website: The extension request is hereby denied.

As a result, the two fighters and their teams have until May 31 to reach an agreement for a fight or purse bids will be immediately called.

Joshua, who also holds the WBA and WBF belts, had seemingly been on the verge of sealing a summer showdown with Fury, but Wilders camp forced a hearing which concluded a trilogy fight against the WBC champion takes precedence.

Hearn had been given until Friday by the WBO to salvage the eagerly-anticipated domestic dust-up, which would seen all four major titles in the blue riband division up for grabs for the first time.

Oleksandr Usyk is the former undisputed world cruiserweight champion (Nick Potts/PA)

But Fury seems resigned to facing a fighter he defeated by seventh-round stoppage in his last bout in February last year after claiming Wilder wanted 20million US dollars to stand down and allow the Joshua fight to proceed.

Joshua, who labelled Fury a fraud in a furious back-and-forth social media exchange between the pair earlier this week, now seems set to turn his attention to Usyk, the former undisputed world cruiserweight champion.

Usyk has won all 18 contests, 13 inside the distance, since turning professional the year after winning heavyweight gold at London 2012  Joshua topped the podium at super-heavyweight.

But Usyk is relatively inexperienced in the heaviest division. He defeated the unheralded Chazz Witherspoon in his first foray at the weight in 2019 before outpointing Joshuas compatriot Derek Chisora last October.
Idris Elba has given a promising update about the long-awaited movie adaptation of the popular BBC series Luther.

Speaking to Variety, the series star (as well as actor and executive producer for the movie) announced that the film will start filming later this year.

"We go into production, fingers crossed, in September. I'm so excited about it, it's been a long time coming," said Elba.

"We're very, very close to pulling the green light on production."

Photo credit: BBC / Des Willie

The original series debuted in 2010 and sees Elba plays the titular detective chief inspector working for the Serious Crime Unit.

His character is dedicated to his work and will always put his job first at the cost of his personal life and his own well-being, as he lets the darkness of the crimes he deals with affect him more than he should.

Over the years the show, created by Neil Cross, has won one Golden Globe, many Emmy awards nominations as well as one BAFTA Best Actor nomination for Elba.

Photo credit: BBC

As well as the upcoming film, fans have been keenly waiting for a sixth season, though at the end of last year Cross confirmed it definitely wasn't happening.

Speaking to Australia's Insider magazine, Cross was quick to dismiss the idea of a sixth run of the Elba-led detective series, stating that he doesn't want to keep "churning it out like sausages".

"There is not going to be a season six  definitively no season six," he told the publication, instead promising more information to come about the film.

Luther is available to watch in full on iPlayer.

Digital Spy's digital magazine is back  and we've got an EXCLUSIVE interview with Dave Bautista. Read every issue now with a 1-month free trial, only on Apple News+ .

Interested in Digital Spy's weekly newsletter? Sign up to get it sent straight to your inbox  and don't forget to join our Watch This Facebook Group for daily TV recommendations and discussions with other readers.

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GoFundMe Randy Bilyeu

A medical nurse saved a dog from a tragic death in 2016 and today the pup is thriving.

Nurse Erin Johnson was a part of a helicopter crew who were on a rescue mission to find a 53-year-old Colorado man after he and his dog Leo were missing for ten days, she shared with CBS during a 48 Hours episode.

Randy Bilyeu was in search of a treasure chest filled with an estimated amount of $1 million of gold in the Rocky Mountains set up by millionaire Forrest Fenn. Bilyeu brought along his pet, from whom he was inseparable.

RELATED: Mountain Lion Nicknamed 'Mr. Handsome' in 'Great' Health After His Capture in San Francisco

"We were notified that this gentleman had been missing  and the weather had been so very cold," Johnson told 48 Hours. "We suspected that this would likely be a body recovery mission rather than being able to find him alive. But of course, we were all cautiously optimistic that we would be able to find him alive."

The crew searched the area via helicopter for Bilyeu, but only found Leo who "was obviously starving," she said.

"Leo did look pretty mangy. He had a sweater on, which was pretty dirty," Johnson recalled. "It was pretty mangy also. But I'm quite certain that that sweater saved his life  it was so bitterly cold that it's hard to believe he survived at all."

RELATED VIDEO: Paralyzed Dog Finds New, Loving Home

The dog was initially "aggressive" and was barking "quite ferociously," but after Johnson slowly coaxing the dog with food, she was able to rescue Leo.

Johnson turned over the dog to a local animal shelter, who then got in contact with Bilyeu's family. The nurse then pleaded with his family so that she could adopt the dog she rescued and they said yes, she revealed to 48 Hours.

Leo, she revealed, is doing much better nearly five years since his rescue and learning new tricks.

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

Fellow treasure hunters went searching for Bilyeu, but unfortunately, he was found dead six months later.
STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Image Queen Elizabeth

Queen Elizabeth is paying her respects.

On Saturday, the Queen visited the company of the HMS Queen Elizabeth  an aircraft carrier named by the monarch in Portsmouth, ahead of its upcoming world tour.

During the visit, the monarch went aboard the ship, where she got a chance to meet with the officers as well as the Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and Royal Marines personnel ahead of the ship's maiden operational deployment. An additional 250 United States Marines will also be serving on the operation.

The Queen wore a matching red coat and hat for the outing as well as a brooch given to her by her late husband Prince Philip, who was a naval veteran. The monarch wore the "Scarab" brooch in yellow gold, carved ruby and diamond, which was a personal gift from Philip in 1966. She also wore the meaningful accessory in a portrait celebrating their 70th wedding anniversary in 2017.

STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Image Queen Elizabeth

STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Image Queen Elizabeth

STEVE PARSONS/POOL/AFP via Getty Image Queen Elizabeth

Over the course of 28 weeks, the ship will lead the United Kingdom Carrier Strike Group on a journey of over 26,000 nautical miles, traveling from the Mediterranean to the Philippine Sea.

HMS Queen Elizabeth is one of the two largest warships ever built by the Royal Navy.

RELATED: Why Queen Elizabeth and Prince Charles Planted a Tree Together at Windsor Castle

Leon Neal/Getty HMS Queen Elizabeth

The Queen named the HMS Queen Elizabeth in July 2014, during a trip she made alongside her husband.

She was also on hand to formally commission the aircraft carrier in 2017, where she was joined by daughter Princess Anne, who wore a naval uniform (she holds some honorary positions in the Royal Navy).

Story continues

"As the daughter, wife and mother of naval officers, I recognize the unique demands our nation asks of you and I will always value my special link with HMS Queen Elizabeth, her ship's company and their families," the Queen said at the time, in a nod to her husband.

Although by that time, the Duke of Edinburgh had retired, the monarch shared a warm message on his behalf.

RELATED VIDEO: Queen Elizabeth Opens Parliament with Prince Charles and Camilla by Her Side

Earlier this month, the Queen attended the State Opening of Parliament  her first official engagement outside of Windsor Castle since Philip's death.

She was accompanied by her son and heir, Prince Charles, and his wife, Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who arrived separately from the Queen.

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!

A former senior aide at the palace previously told PEOPLE, "Her family will step up and be by her side, but she will carry on. She understands that she has a job to do, and [Philip] would have wanted her to crack on. She did do so when he retired from public life."

A close royal insider added, "She will never abdicate because of duty and honor and public service is so deep in her, as it was for him."
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Yankton, SD (57078)

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Greensboro, NC (27407)

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News

Miami, Florida - A Canadian national was sentenced to 32 months in prison for conspiracy to bring undocumented immigrants to the United States for private financial gain in connection with his role in a scheme to smuggle undocumented immigrants from Sri Lanka through the Caribbean and into the United States.

Sri Kajamukam Chelliah, aka Mohan, aka Richie, 55, of Sri Lanka, pleaded guilty on February 24, to conspiracy to bring aliens to the United States for private financial gain. Chelliah admitted to conspiring with others to facilitate the travel of undocumented immigrants from Sri Lanka through Haiti, Turks and Caicos Islands, and the Bahamas to the United States from on or about July 1, 2019, through on or about October 10, 2019. During the course of the conspiracy, Chelliah worked with other human smugglers, arranging housing and transport for undocumented immigrants en route to Canada through the United States. Chelliah arranged for the individuals to be transported from the airport in Port Au Prince, Haiti, to a hotel where Chelliah housed and provided them with food. Chelliah then arranged for transportation by boat from Haiti to Turks and Caicos Islands, then to the Bahamas, and then by boat to Miami, Florida. Chelliah accompanied the individuals, including traveling with them by boat during their journey. The actions undertaken by Chelliah and co-conspirators in furtherance of their smuggling activities were done in exchange for payment.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Nicholas L. McQuaid of the Justice Departments Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida; and Special Agent in Charge Anthony Salisbury of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Miami made the announcement.

HSI Miami investigated the case with assistance from the HSI Human Smuggling Unit and U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The investigation was conducted under the Extraterritorial Criminal Travel Strike Force (ECT) program, a joint partnership between the Criminal Division and HSI. The ECT program focuses on human smuggling networks that may present particular national security or public safety risks, or present grave humanitarian concerns. ECT has dedicated investigative, intelligence and prosecutorial resources. ECT coordinates and receives assistance from other U.S. government agencies and foreign law enforcement authorities.

Trial Attorneys Rami S. Badawy and John Alex-Romano of the Criminal Divisions Human Rights and Special Prosecutions Section (HRSP) and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian Dobbins of the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case with support from HRSP Trial Attorney Jim Hepburn. The Justice Departments Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance in the investigation and in securing the defendants extradition to the United States. The Department of Justice gratefully acknowledges the government of Turks and Caicos Islands for their valuable assistance.
News

Cleveland, Ohio - A federal grand jury in Cleveland, Ohio, returned a superseding indictment on May 13, 2021, that was unsealed Tuesday, charging three Ohio men and one woman with conspiring to operate illegal gambling businesses and to defraud the IRS, among other criminal offenses.

According to the superseding indictment, from 2010 through 2018, Jason Kachner, his spouse Rebecca Kachner, and Ronald DiPietro conspired to operate Skilled Shamrock, an illegal gambling business in Canton, Ohio, and to defraud the IRS in connection with income generated by that business. From 2012 through 2017, patrons at Skilled Shamrock allegedly wagered more than $34 million, producing more than $4 million in net income.

The superseding indictment further charges that from 2013 through 2018, both of the Kachners and Thomas Helmick conspired to operate another Canton-based illegal gambling business, Redemption Skill Games 777 (Redemption). They allegedly conspired to defraud the IRS by filing false tax returns that concealed a substantial portion of Redemptions gross receipts and concealed Redemptions true ownership.

In addition to the conspiracy charges, DiPietro, a Certified Public Accountant, was charged with assisting in the preparation of false tax returns for the Kachners for the years 2013 through 2017. The returns allegedly did not report the Kachners true income from Skilled Shamrock. The Kachners were also charged with filing false individual tax returns for the same years, and Helmick was charged with filing his own false individual income tax returns for the years 2014 through 2016 that allegedly underreported Redemptions gross receipts.

The defendants were arrested on Tuesday, May 18, and made their initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Greenberg of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio. If convicted, Jason and Rebecca Kachner, DiPietro, and Helmick each face a maximum penalty of five years in prison for each conspiracy count and five years in prison for each illegal gambling business count. The Kachners and Helmick also face three years in prison for each false tax return count, and DiPietro faces three years in prison for each count of aiding in the preparation of a false tax return. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Acting Deputy Assistant Attorney General Stuart M. Goldberg of the Justice Departments Tax Division and Acting U.S. Attorney Bridget M. Brennan for the Northern District of Ohio made the announcement.

IRS Criminal Investigation, the U.S. Department of Treasury Office of Inspector General, the Ohio Casino Control Commission, and Ohio Organized Crime Investigations Commission  Major Crimes Tax Force are investigating the case.

Trial Attorneys Richard Rolwing and Sam Bean of the Tax Division, along with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Patton and David Toepfer for the Northern District of Ohio, 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.
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The debate is unfolding as lawmakers prepare to spend much of the summer at home in their districts and attention gradually shifts to next year's campaign. On the cusp of majorities in both chambers of Congress, Republicans are eager to make sure the races become a referendum on President Joe Biden  not their response to the insurrection.

I want our midterm message to be about the kinds of issues that the American people are dealing with," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota. "Its jobs and wages and the economy, national security, safe streets, strong borders and those types of issues, and not relitigating the 2020 election.

Thats why even some of Trumps most fervent critics in the GOP want to make sure that if a commission is formed, its work is done by the end of 2021 to avoid overlap with an election year, a provision included in the House legislation.

Without a firm deadline, the commission would be a political event as opposed to a legitimate endeavor to determine how we can avoid attacks of this nature in the future, said GOP Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, who voted to convict Trump in both of his impeachment trials.
"We have customers who literally cuss at us," said Bartlett, recalling an incident where a man stormed out of the store shouting obscenities after Bartlett pleaded with him to wear a mask. "The country should just have one policy. It would make it easier because we wouldn't have deal with customers who are so rude and awful to us."

The Biden administration had faced pressure to ease restrictions on vaccinated Americans, in part to show the benefits of getting the shot at a time when vaccine demand has started to plateau. Companies are also trying to incentivize their employees to get vaccinated with measures ranging from bonus payments to on-site vaccination drives.

It's unclear if the relaxed mask restrictions will motivate unvaccinated workers to now get their shot. Some may feel more at risk of contracting COVID-19 but others may believe they can enjoy the same privileges as vaccinated workers because no one is checking.
The F-117 is just special in that way, Rowland said. Most airplanes, though, do not need to go through this level of demilitarization.

That would pose a problem for the Nebraska-bound Stealth.

The Air Forces 64 Nighthawks, built by Lockheed, saw service in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and were later used in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were retired in 2008 and sent to storage at the Tonopah Test Range northwest of Las Vegas.

The Air Force only recently began making them available for public display through long-term loan agreements, and the SAC Museum is just the fourth private museum to receive one.

It was supposed to arrive in March. Then the Air Forces media blaster  used to scour the plane's paint  broke down and delayed delivery by more than two months.

Fortunately, the airplane was very close, Rowland said. And they were able to get the equipment working enough to finish it off.
State-owned carrier Air India, on Friday (May 21), revealed that the data of more than 45 lakh users has been compromised in one of the most severe cyberattacks in Indias digital space.

In a tweet, Air India said that its Geneva-based passenger system operator SITA PSS server was subject to a cybersecurity attack. The server is responsible for storing and processing the personal information of fliers.

Data of customers of other global airlines such as Malaysia Airlines, Finnair, Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, and Cathay Pacific has also been stolen in the cybersecurity attack.

Is your data stolen in the Air India data breach?

If you have travelled between August 26 August 2011 and February 20, 2021, then are massive chances that your personal information is now in the hands of hackers.

Personal details of Air India flyers such as name, date of birth and contact information along with your financial details like credit card number were compromised in the cybersecurity attack. The only silver lining here is that the CVV or CVC numbers were not stored in the affected server.

Air India is contacting its customers who were impacted by the breach. If youre among them then you may have already got an email from the company with all details regarding the incident.

Passport details, ticket information, Star Alliance and Air India frequent flyer data has also been stolen in the act. The airline has urged its passengers to quickly change their passwords wherever applicable to ensure the safety of their personal data.

How is Air India securing its servers?

On its part, Air India has launched an investigation into the incident that has put the airline to shame. The national carrier said that it is taking steps to secure the compromised servers.

Air India is currently engaging with external cybersecurity experts to secure its servers. It is also contacting credit card issuers along with resetting the passwords of customers of its frequent flyer programme.

Who is behind the Air India hack?

As of now, none of the hacking organisations has taken the responsibility for the hack. Air India is currently investigating the matter, and is likely to update all its flyers with all the details as soon as it finds any. Moreover, Air India revealed that there was no unauthorised activity detected inside the PSS infrastructure.

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New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed a private school in the national capital, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal-led government to file a response on a plea challenging list of books and curriculum taught in the school.

The petition stated that the school`s syllabus was in contrast to that prescribed by the academic authority.

Hearing the plea, Justice Prateek Jalan asked the Delhi government, CBSE, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), and others to reply to the petition filed by the parents of two students through advocates Khagesh B Jha and Shikha Sharma Bagga.

The Court has listed the matter for further hearing on August 12.The petition has sought to pass an order, writ, or directions for the quashing of the impugned book list and the curriculum taught in the school for those subjects and classes, which is in contrast to that prescribed by the academic authority, and sought enforcement of the directions/orders/circulars issued by Directorate of Education (DOE) for the implementation of Section 29 of RTE Act, 2009 read with CBSE circular dated August 13, 2018, which has been deliberately ignored and violated by the respondent school.

The petition sought to direct the respondent DOE/ Ministry of Education to review the textbooks of the private publishers prescribed by the school in consultation of the curriculum committee, as per the recommendation of the affiliating board, "for having no objectionable content, ambiguity, are practicable, holistic, stress-free, less burdensome, thereby are in consonance with the objective of National Curriculum Framework (NCF), National Education Policy (NEP) of uniformity in education as well as School Bag Policy.

"The petition also sought enforcement of the CBSE circular dated August 13, 2018, read with the School Bag Policy, 2020 formulated by the Ministry of Education for stress-free learning of the students as per NCF, 2005, NEP and said that it has been deliberately ignored and violated by the respondent school.

The petitioner also sought to quash the online exams circular of the respondent "Richmond Global School in Paschim Vihar" scheduled from May 21, along with the enforcement of the order dated April 21 passed by DOE by declaring vacations in school and postpone the online exams schedule on May 21 and May 28 to the month of July.

The petitioner asked the Court to direct the respondent school to conduct the online classes after vacations as per the Pragyata Guidelines for digital education formulated by the Ministry of Education.

The school informed the Court that it will not hold the tests scheduled on May 21 and May 28, which stand postponed until the reopening of the school after the summer vacation, in compliance with the DOE`s circular dated April 21.

The plea further sought to pass an order or direction to the respondent school for not coercing students to purchase and do the work in costly notebooks printed with an emblem of the school only, and to pass an order or direction to the respondent school to publish the list of books prescribed along with the names of the author at the school website as per CBSE by-laws, after seeking permission from DOE prior to prescribing the books to the students, in order to reduce the cost of education.
New Delhi: The Delhi government will have to temporarily stop the inoculation drive for the 18-44 age group from Monday, as it has almost run out of vaccines for this age group, AAP MLA Atishi said on Friday.

She said that in the last one week, Delhi has already shut 235 of the 368 inoculation centres for this category due to a shortage of vaccines.

"The remaining 133 sites will (also) be shut on Saturday, which means the inoculation drive for this age group will have to be stopped temporarily from Monday," she added.

Vaccination drive is not carried out in Delhi on Sundays.

Atishi said only 42,380 doses were left for the 18-44 category as on Friday morning.

The city has received 8.17 lakh vaccine doses for this age group so far, of which 7.75 lakh had been utilised by Friday morning, she said.

Separately, Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia also tweeted that "it is unfortunate that we have to close our centers, for 18+ age group, because of non-availability of vaccine".

Atishi said Delhi has so far received 45.94 lakh vaccine doses for healthcare workers, frontline staff and those aged above 45, of which 43.40 lakh have been administered.

"After Friday evening, the city will have less than one day of Covaxin stock and eight days of Covishield doses left for this category," she said.

The AAP MLA said 77,438 people received vaccine jabs on May 20.

The relatively lesser number of doses administered can be ascribed to the increased dose interval for Covishield vaccine and the city gradually running out stock for the 18-44 age group, Atishi said.

A total of 49.70 lakh doses have been administered in the capital since the inoculation drive began on January 16. Around 11.23 lakh people have got both the doses.

Healthcare workers, frontline staff and those aged above 45 are being given jabs at 661 centres, whereas beneficiaries in the 18-44 age group are being inoculated at 133 centres.

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Patna: With black fungus cases rising in Bihar, it was declared a notifiable disease in the state under the Epidemic Act, 1897 on Saturday (May 22).

Health Minister Mangal Pandey has said that the black fungus has been notified under the Epidemic Disease Act on the instructions of Honorable Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.

Mangal Pandey said that under this, many instructions have been issued by the Health Department. Under this act, all the suspected and certified patients of mucormycosis from all private and government health institutions will be reported to the health department through the district's civil surgeon, with the integrated disease surveillance program.

Mangal Pandey further said that it will be mandatory for all private and government health institutions to follow the guidelines issued by the Central and State Government in the matter of investigation, treatment and management related to mucormycosis.

The Director Head of the Health Department will be able to issue appropriate orders regarding this disease from time to time for investigation, treatment and management. If any institution violates the said provisions, it will be punishable under Section-3 of the Epidemic Disease Act.

Also, no suit or legal action can be instituted in accordance with the provisions of Section-4. The notification will remain in effect for one year from the date of issue.

The state government has already made available 6 thousand vials of Amphotericin, a medicine required for the treatment of this disease, for various medical college cum hospitals and various private hospitals, which will be given free of cost to the patients.

On the other hand, Mr Pandey said that along with Corona, the state government is serious about black fungus and necessary action is being taken in this direction. For a better treatment of such patients, the central government is also continuously procuring oxygen concentrator and other equipment.

On Friday night, 92 Oxygen Concentrator and 21 thousand 600 VTM (Virus Transport Medium) reached Patna by the Indian Air Force special aircraft by the Government of India, which is in the process of being sent to various districts of the state.

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New Delhi: Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday (May 22, 2021) in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed concern over the acute shortage of vital drug, Amphotericin-B, used in the treatment of Mucormycosis, also known as Black Fungus.

Sonia Gandhi in a letter addressed to the Prime Minister, said, "The government has asked the states to declare Mucormycosis an Epidemic under the Epidemic Diseases Act. This means that there must be adequate production and assured supply of essential medicines to treat it and cost-free patient care for those in need of treatment."

The Congress chief urged PM Modi to take immediate action. "I understand that Liposomal Amphotericin-B is absolutely essential for the treatment of Mucormycosis. However, there are reports of its acute scarcity in the market. Further, the illness is not covered in Ayushman Bharat and most other health insurance products," she said.

Congress chiefs remarks came after numerous patients complained about the scarcity of the injection.

Amid the growing number of mucormycosis or 'black fungus' cases across the country, the Centre had urged the states and Union territories to make black fungus or mucormycosis a notifiable disease, stating that the infection is leading to prolonged morbidity and mortality among COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, the Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers Shri D.V Sadananda Gowda announced that after a detailed review of the rising number of cases of Mucormycosis in various states, a total of 23680 additional vials of Amphotericin- B have been allocated to all States/UTs on Saturday.

After a detailed review of rising no. of cases of #Mucormycosis in various states, a total of 23680 additional vials of #Amphotericin- B have been allocated to all States/UTs today. The Allocation has been made based on total no. of patients which is approx. 8848 across country. pic.twitter.com/JPsdEHuz0W  Sadananda Gowda (@DVSadanandGowda) May 22, 2021

The Union Minister also informed that the allocation has been made based on the total number of patients which is approximately 8848 across the country.

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New Delhi: The central government has directed all social media companies to delete any content from their platform that names or refers to the term Indian variant' of coronavirus, as per a report.

According to PTI, the IT Ministry has written to all social media platforms stating that the World Health Organization (WHO) has not associated the term 'Indian Variant' with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports.

Further, the ministry asked these platforms to take down any such content containing the term Indian variant' in order to curb misinformation around COVID-19.

"This is completely FALSE. There is no such variant of Covid-19 scientifically cited as such by the World Health Organisation (WHO). WHO has not associated the term 'Indian Variant' with the B.1.617 variant of the coronavirus in any of its reports," Reuters quoted the IT Ministrys letter as saying.

The Narendra Modi-led Centre has been criticized by the opposition for its handling of the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic which has ravaged the country.

Meanwhile, India recorded over 2.59 lakh new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the caseload to 2,60,31,991. While 4,209 people lost their lives which took the death toll to 2,91,331, as per Union Health ministry data on Friday.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Lucknow: The Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh extended the "partial coronavirus curfew" till 7 am on May 31, state officials informed on Saturday. A government order claimed that there were positive results of the statewide partial coronavirus curfew and was successful in breaking the 'chain of transmission'.

"The Government of Uttar Pradesh is committed to safeguarding the life and livelihood of the people of the State. In this spirit, we have adopted a partial coronavirus curfew policy in this second wave of COVID. Positive results of the statewide partial coronavirus curfew are being seen. This is helping in breaking the transition chain," it said.

The statement also mentioned that the number of cases was steadily dropping and the curfew was massively supported by the citizens.

"Active cases are steadily decreasing. It is being decided to extend the partial coronavirus curfew till 7 am on May 31. Essential services like vaccination, industrial activities, medical work, etc. will continue uninterrupted," it adds.

On May 15, the Chief Minister had chaired a cabinet meeting in which took several important decisions including the extension of the partial COVID curfew.

The partial COVID curfew has been continuously extended in Uttar Pradesh since May 5. Earlier, the state government had imposed weekend curfews.

Uttar Pradesh reported 6046 new COVID-19 cases and 226 deaths in the last 24 hours. While 17,540 people have been recovered from the disease in the said period. The number of active COVID cases in Uttar Pradesh stands at 94,482.
New Delhi: Indian envoy to Russia DB Venkatesh Varma on Saturday (May 21, 2021) announced that the COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V's production in India will begin in August this year.

Venkatesh Varma stated that 850 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine will be produced in India by about September-October.

"Almost 65 to 70% of Sputnik V vaccine produced anywhere in the world will be from India," Envoy Varma added.

He further stated that once the Indian demand is met, Russia will export it to other parts.

Sputnik V, along with COVISHIELD and COVAXIN, are the only three COVID-19 vaccines that have been allowed for use in India.

The envoy also commented on the current situation in India and said that it is coming under control.

On the black fungus crisis, he informed that India is in touch with the Russian authorities if they can supply some medicines related to the treatment of the illness.

This is to be noted that the Russian sovereign wealth fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), which has funded the vaccine, has signed a pact with five Indian companies for production in India.

India has already got 2,10,000 doses of Sputnik V vaccine earlier this month and by the end of May, it will get 3 million doses in form of bulk for fill and finish. By June, this number will increase to 5 million.

The Russian side has also announced that the one dose 'Sputnik lite' COVID-19 vaccine will soon be available in India.

Amid the first and second of COVID-19, India and Russia have cooperated with each other with New Delhi sending hydroxychloroquine to the country in 2020, while Moscow sent two planes full of aid in 2021.

More Russian Aid is expected to reach India in the next few days.

Russia has also requested India to give samples of the B.1.617 COVID-19 virus variant found in the country, with New Delhi working on it.

Asked about the S400 Missile system, envoy Venkatesh Varma said that it will be delivered in the last quarter of this year.

India had signed the contract for the deal during Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit in 2018. Currently, the Indian military specialists are being trained in Russia to operate the missile defence system.

Dismissing delays in contracts in military space, envoy Varma said, "What contracts have already been concluded are proceeding according to schedule, there is no delay in any of the contracts."?


Kolkata: After the West Bengal government issued a warning about Cyclone Yaas, fishermen in coastal areas of East Midnapore districts including Digha, Mandarmoni and Tajpur started returning to the shore.

The administration has asked them to refrain from venturing into sea in the wake of the cyclonic storm. Fishermen were spotted drawing their fishing nets and bringing the small boats to the shore before the cyclone is expected to hit the state.

Meanwhile, 12 teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in districts of Kolkata, Howrah, North 24 Parganas and South 24 Parganas.

While State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Disaster Management Group, Civil Defence have also been kept on standby in order to deal with the impact of Cyclone Yaas.

The state government has also alerted departments like irrigation, Municipal Corporation, Municipality, PHE, Health. Holidays of state officials have been cancelled in the wake of the Cyclone warning.

The PHE department has been asked to keep water pouches ready for relief and rescue of people affected by the Cyclone.

District administration has been directed to set up Cyclone Centres, keeping in mind all COVID-19 protocols. Masks, sanitisers will be made available in these centres.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted a cyclonic storm will cross Odisha-West Bengal coast by May 26 morning. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the deep sea area of central Bay of Bengal between May 23 and May 25 and into north Bay of Bengal along and off the Odisha coast from May 24 to May 27, PTI reported.

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Kolkata: In view of the likeliness of intensification of the low-pressure area in the North Andaman seas into a cyclonic storm Yaas, the Indian Navy has kept its naval ships and aircraft on standby for possible rescue and relief operations in West Bengal and Odisha.

In an official statement on Saturday, the Navy said four naval ships have been kept on standby with Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR). Their bricks, diving, and medical teams will also render assistance in the areas that will be most affected along with the Odisha and West Bengal coast.

Naval Air Stations have also kept their aircraft -- INS Dega at Visakhapatnam and INS Rajali near Chennai -- ready to undertake an aerial survey of the most affected areas, casualty evacuation, and airdrop of relief material as required. Eight flood relief teams, along with four diving teams have also been prepositioned at Odisha and West Bengal to boost the existing resources.

As per the release, the Navy is closely monitoring the movement of the cyclonic storm which is likely to intensify during the next 24 hours over the Bay of Bengal and is moving in the north-westerly direction. It is likely to cross the coast between north Odisha and West Bengal around May 26.

The headquarters, Eastern Naval Command, and Naval Officers-in-Charge at West Bengal and Odisha have also carried out preparatory activities to combat the effects of Cyclone Yaas while being in constant liaison with the state administrations for rendering assistance as required.

A low-pressure area has formed over the east-central Bay of Bengal on Saturday morning, which will intensify into a cyclonic storm by May 24, said the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Low pressure area has formed over eastcentral BoB today morning. To intensify into a CS by 24th May. To intensify further into Very Severe Cyclonic Storm, move north-northwestwards and cross West Bengal and adjoining north Odisha & Bangladesh coasts around 26th evening. pic.twitter.com/DakiLqpw0f  India Meteorological Department (@Indiametdept) May 22, 2021

According to the IMD, it will intensify further into `Very Severe Cyclonic Storm` and will move north-northwestwards and cross West Bengal and adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts around May 26 evening.

"Low-pressure area has formed over the east-central Bay of Bengal today morning. To intensify into a cyclonic storm by May 24. To intensify further into Very Severe Cyclonic Storm, move north-northwestwards and cross West Bengal and adjoining north Odisha and Bangladesh coasts around 26th evening," informed IMD in a tweet.

The weather agency had earlier predicted that the cyclonic storm Yaas will hit the coasts of Odisha and West Bengal on May 26 and both the states will experience heavy rainfall from May 22 to 26.

In view of the cyclonic storm Yaas, an advisory has been issued for fishermen of West Bengal not to venture into the sea from May 23 evening.

(inputs from agency)

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New Delhi: The Odisha government has put all coastal and adjoining districts on high alert in view of the cyclonic storm in the Bay of Bengal.

At least 14 districts have been put on high alert in the state. Meanwhile, the Odisha government has also asked Indian Navy and the Indian Coast Guard to be prepared for the emerging situation, PTI reported.

After meeting senior officers, Odisha Chief Secretary S C Mohapatra said that the state administration is ready if cyclone 'Yaas' has any impact on the state.

IMD has predicted a cyclonic storm will cross Odisha-West Bengal coast by May 26 morning which has been termed Cyclone Yaas.

IMD has yet to forecast the possible path of the system, its speed and landfall location. Nonetheless, the state has been gearing up for the challenge beforehand, Mohapatra informed.

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena told the news agency, "The DIG of Indian Coast Guard has informed us that two of their flights and two ships are making rounds of the Bay of Bengal. They will rescue the fishermen if trapped anywhere in the sea.

Further, he said the authorities of Indian Naval Ship Chilika and Indian Navy have been alerted, who are in touch with the state government.

While suitable pucca buildings have been identified in districts to keep people in safe shelter, he added.

The cyclonic storm is predicted to move north-westwards and reach Odisha-West Bengal coast around May 26 morning, the IMD said. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the deep sea area of central Bay of Bengal between May 23 and May 25 and into north Bay of Bengal along and off the Odisha coast from May 24 to May 27.

Apart from the impact of Cyclone Yaas in Odisha and West Bengal, there is likely to be widespread rains in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and districts of the east coast.

(With PTI inputs)

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New Delhi: India recorded over 2.57 lakh new COVID-19 cases and 4,194 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry's data on Saturday (May 22, 2021).

The country witnessed 2,57,299 fresh infections and now has 29,23,400 active cases.

The total number of coronavirus cases in the country has now increased to 2,62,89,290, of which, 2,95,525 people have succumbed to the virus, while 2,30,70,365 have recovered.

This was India's sixth day when the country observed less than 3 lakh cases, whereas, the daily recoveries outnumbered the daily new COVID-19 cases for the 9th consecutive day.

The country saw a decline in the number of new cases and coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours. Earlier on Friday, there were 2,59,591 infections alongside 4,209 fatalities.

Meanwhile, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare Harsh Vardhan on Friday informed that in Chhattisgarh, intense transmission has been observed since March 2021. The state was observing a near positivity rate of 30% at the start of May. In Himachal Pradesh, there are more than 35,000 active cases, while the fatality rate (1.44%) is much higher than the national average.

Harsh Vardhan underlined the issues like complacency, marriages, super spreader events etc. for the steep rise in cases in Himachal Pradesh. He informed that Goa is witnessing a rising trend with 22,000 active cases. Daman and Diu has 366 active cases and a declining trend is being observed. Similarly, Ladakh is also showing a declining trend with 1,500 active cases at present.

Harsh Vardhan cautioned towards the new emerging trend in the country and highlighted that now the smaller states are showing an upward trend and there is a dire need to be extremely cautious. He asked the states to follow the basic principles of COVID Appropriate Behaviour along with testing, tracking, tracing, treating and now vaccinating to fight against the pandemic.

He also emphasised the need to step up vaccination and reiterated the need to dedicate 70% of vaccines provided by the central government for the second dose. He also requested the states and UTs to be vigilant against vaccination wastage.



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Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir government on Saturday (May 22) has extended the corona curfew across 20 districts till May 31. An official statement said that the lockdown will be strictly imposed however a few essential services are exempted.

Corona Curfew imposed in all 20 districts of J&K till 7 am on Monday,24/5/21 is extended further till 7 am on Monday,31/5/21, reads a tweet by the government on DIPR handle.

COVID CONTAINMENT

Corona Curfew imposed in all 20 distts of J&K till 7 am on Monday,24/5/21 is extended further till 7 am on Monday,31/5/21. Curfew will be strict except for a few essential services. DCs being given limited flexibility to ensure economic activities do not suffer.  DIPR-J&K (@diprjk) May 22, 2021

Curfew will be strict except for a few essential services, the tweet reads further, adding, DCs being given limited flexibility to ensure economic activities do not suffer. It further reads

On April 29 2021, the administration imposed a curfew in 11 districts to control the surge in Covid-19 cases, which was subsequently extended to all the 20 districts the next day till May 24.

The corona curfew across Jammu and Kashmir has been extended by a week in the wake of a surge in Covid cases.

On Friday 3848 new Covid positive cases were reported in Jammu and Kashmir including 1442 from Jammu and 2406 from the Kashmir division.

There were 43 Covid deaths also reported in the Union Territory on Saturday including 27 from the Jammu region and 16 from the Kashmir division.

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New Delhi: As India is grappling with the second wave of deadly COVID-19, several states and Union Territories have extended the coronavirus-induced lockdown or curfew to curb the spread of the virus.

India on Saturday (May 22, 2021) reported over 2,57,299 new infections and 4,194 deaths in the last 24 hours, as per the Union Health Ministry's data.

The total caseload of the country now stands at 2,62,89,290, of which, 2,95,525 people have succumbed to the virus, while 2,30,70,365 have recovered.

Here is the list of states which have extended lockdown or corona curfews this week:

Kerala

The Kerala government on Friday (May 21, 2021) announced that it will be extending the state-wide lockdown till May 30, to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The state has been under lockdown since May 8, 2021 after weekend restrictions and lockdown-like curbs imposed earlier failed to create any desired impact in terms of the daily caseload of the infected persons.

Kerala on Friday reported 29,673 cases and 142 deaths. The average positivity rate in the state was 23.23 percent on Friday.

Karnataka

The Karnataka government on Friday (May 21, 2021) extended the state-wide COVID-19 lockdown for two weeks till June 7. Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa made the announcement on Friday saying that the decision has been taken after a meeting with officials and ministers. Karnataka first imposed COVID-19 lockdown on May 10, 2021.

Karnataka on Friday reported 32,218 cases and 353 deaths. The positivity rate has been over 20 per cent in 27 of the 30 districts in the state.

Goa

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday (May 21, 2021) announced that the state government is extending its ongoing COVID-19 restrictions till May 31 in the view of COVID-19 pandemic.

After a state cabinet meeting, the Goa CM said, "We are extending state curfew to May 31. Norms will continue as they were. Earlier, the authorities had imposed a 15-day long curfew from May 9, 2021.

Goa on Friday reported 1,625 cases and 30 deaths. The positivity rate in the state was 32 percent on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh

The Madhya Pradesh government on Friday (May 21, 2021) extended the ongoing curfew in Bhopal amid a spike in Covid-19 cases till 31 May. The decision to extend the corona curfew has been taken in a meeting of the Bhopal Crisis Management Team. Madhya Pradesh on Friday reported 4,384 cases and 79 deaths.

Additionally, Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday (May 22, 2021) said that corona curfew will be lifted from June 1. "But unlocking should be done in a way that virus doesn't spread again," he said.

Other than Kerala, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh and Goa, many other states have imposed lockdown-like curbs to contain spread of COVID-19.

Heres the complete list:

Uttar Pradesh: Corona curfew till 7 am on May 24

Delhi: Lockdown till 5 am on May 24

Maharashtra: Lockdown till 7 am on June 1

Jharkhand: Partial lockdown till May 27

Haryana: Lockdown restrictions till May 24

Jammu and Kashmir: Corona curfew till 7 am on May 24

Himachal Pradesh: Corona curfew till 7 am on May 26

Chhattisgarh: Lockdown restrictions till May 31

Bihar: Lockdown restrictions till May 25

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Amaravati: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday (May 22) asked the Centre to stop supply of COVID-19 vaccines to private hospitals in view of the limited availability of stocks in the state.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Jagan pointed out that private hospitals were charging as high as Rs 2,000-25,000 for each vaccine dose from people due to the flexibility offered to them to fix the price.

"This makes these doses one of the costliest in the world and invites criticism from the general public. Vaccine is for a public good and ideally it needs to be given free of cost or at least at affordable rates," the Chief Minister said, according to news agency PTI.

"In a situation where there is not enough supply to cater to even the 45-plus age group completely, and no possibility of taking up the free vaccination of the 18-44 age group for the next few months, it appears very unreasonable to allow some private hospitals to vaccinate people of all age groups at such exorbitant rates," he complained.

The Chief Minister observed that it was not only a disadvantage to the poorer sections of society who could not afford such high cost, but it also creates a situation of black marketing of the vaccine, which administratively would be a Herculean task to control.

He said making various options available to the public to get vaccinated in both government and private hospitals would be a good idea only if there was a surplus supply and availability of vaccines, where anyone could choose any mode according to his choice and financial affordability.

"In todays situation, where vaccine supply is very limited, providing this option to private hospitals where they charge an exorbitant price is socially unacceptable and administratively difficult to monitor.

I request you to look into the matter and dispense with the supply of vaccines to private hospitals so that the entire stock is available only to the state and Central governments," the AP Chief Minister added.

Such a decision would be widely appreciated and generate immense goodwill to the government and arrest black marketing of the vaccines, Jagan noted.

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Tiruchirappalli: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday (May 21, 2021) said that decision to extend lockdown in the state will be taken after consulting with a committee of experts.

Whether the curbs should be continued further and in case of extension of restrictions, what relaxations could be offered would all be discussed with experts and MLAs from all parties on Saturday in Chennai, he told reporters.

The lockdown that commenced on May 10 to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 will end on May 24.

Answering a question, the Chief Minister said elected representatives were of the opinion that the curbs should be further extended.

"A decision will be taken (on the extension of lockdown) tomorrow following consultations with experts and representatives of all parties (in the Assembly)," he said.

Citing the view of medical experts that the virus spread is likely to peak soon in Tamil Nadu, he said everyone must follow the COVID-19 related guidelines.

There were views that third wave of the virus was also probable and "we have to be ready to tackle it also," he said.

The day when no one was infected with the virus would really be a day of joy and only then would he be happy, the Chief Minister said.

Stalin, who arrived here as part of his two-day official tour of five districts to review COVID-19 related government work, said the pace of the virus spread has been slowed down and the number of fresh infections has been controlled.

This was due to the lockdown and many measures aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19, he added.

On Thursday and Friday, the CM visited Salem, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli and Madurai districts.

Tamil Nadu on Friday logged 36,184 new COVID-19 cases. The state has 2,74,629 active cases and 19,598 people have succumbed to the infection till date.

The Chief Minister said the second installment of Rs 2,000 under the Rs 4,000 COVID-19 relief assistance plan for rice ration cardholders would be disbursed before June 3, the birth anniversary of former Chief Minister 'Kalaignar' M Karunananidhi.

To another question, he said though the Centre has been considering Tamil Nadu's request for medical oxygen and allotting it, there was a 'problem' in respect of procuring coronavirus vaccines and the state government has been urging the union government to ensure supplies.

In view of the pandemic, there were constraints in visiting Delhi and calling on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and if circumstances favoured, he would go to the national capital and "seek rightfully, the funds and other facilities for Tamil Nadu."

Medical and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian said that Modi, in a virtual meet, lauded the state government and the CM for its virus-related initiatives like the 'car ambulance' and favoured its replication in the rest of the country.

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New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government on Friday (May 21) declared black fungus or mucormycosis as a notified disease under the Epidemic Act.

After meeting with Team-9, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath issued directions to declare black fungus a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act 1897.

A notifiable disease is required by law to be reported to the government authorities.

Around 300 COVID-19 patients infected with black fungus have been admitted to hospitals so far, an official spokesman told PTI.

A government statement on Friday said, "In compliance with the order of the central government, black fungus should also be declared a notified disease on the lines of COVID. Order in this regard should be issued today and be made effective.

In consultation with health experts, the state government is making arrangements for proper medical treatment of all patients, it further read.

On Thursday, the Union Health Ministry had urged states and union territories to declare black fungus or mucormycosis a notifiable disease under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897, stating that the infection is leading to morbidity and mortality amongst COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, officials at the meeting told the UP CM that medicines for the treatment of black fungus infection have been made available in all districts.

(With inputs from agencies)

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New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party leader from West Bengal, and a former Trinamool Congress MLA, Sonali Guha wrote an emotional letter to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee urging the latter to take her back.

In the letter written in Bangla was posted on microblogging site Twitter on Saturday, Guha wrote: "I am writing this with a broken heart that I took the wrong decision of joining another party after being emotional. I could not get accustomed there."

Guha apologised for leaving TMC and claimed she had become emotional.

"The way a fish cannot stay out of the water, I will not be able to live without you, 'Didi'. I seek your forgiveness and if you don't forgive me, I won't be able to live. Please allow me to come back, and spend the rest of my life in your affection," she wrote.

"My decision to join the BJP was a wrong one and I can feel that today. I did not bother to tell the BJP about leaving that party. I always felt unwanted there. They tried to use me and asked me to badmouth Mamata-di. I could not do that," she told PTI.

The former deputy speaker of the state assembly, said she was even willing to meet Mamata Banerjee to discuss her rejoining the TMC ranks.

"I will personally try to meet 'Didi' but she is the chief minister and must be busy. You cannot expect her to give you time whenever you seek an appointment," she said.

Guha, who was a four-time MLA and once considered to be the 'shadow' of the chief minister, had switched alliances before the assembly elections in the state. The former TMC MLA was upset as she was dropped from the TMC's candidates' list. She was among a host of TMC leaders who joined the ranks in BJP.
New Delhi: Veteran Bollywood actor Anupam Kher recently gave an update on his wife Kirron Kher's health and battle with cancer in an interview with a leading daily.

The actor told the Times of India that Kirron is going through chemotherapy which often impacts her state of mind. He divulged that she finds it difficult to cope up with the added stress of the lockdown and COVID situation.

He told TOI, "Kirrons health is improving. Its a tough treatment. She often says that the lockdown and COVID situation have made things difficult. Patients going through this treatment need something to distract themselves. She cant go out or meet people, but the good part is that Kirron is on her way to better health."

"She is holding up fine. There are days when she is positive and then there are days when the chemotherapy impacts her state in many ways. We are all trying our best and she is doing it, too. The doctors do their job, but you have to keep your mental state strong to get past such a difficult treatment. Shes making every effort towards that, and so are we," he continued.

Kher also revealed that he is in touch with his American colleague Robert De Niro and that the latter often checks up on Kirron's health.

"Yes, I have been in touch. Robert had messaged me when he learned about Kirrons health. He had also sent me a video to wish me on my birthday, and he keeps checking on Kirrons health every few days," he added.

Earlier in April, when reports surfaced about Kirron Kher's cancer, husband Anupam Kher had taken to social media and confirmed the news.

He had taken to social media and in a note wrote that 'Kirron has been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer'. Kher and his son Sikander had also reassured fans that Kirron Kher will bounce back soon.

The veteran actress Kirron Kher was first seen in Aasra Pyaar Da - a Punjabi film in 1983. She then went on to star in the 1988 release Pestonjee. She went on to star in several hit films such as Sardari Begum, Devdas, Khamosh Pani, Hum-Tum, Veer Zaara, Rang De Basanti, Khoobsurat amongst several others.

Kirron Kher and Anupam Kher got married in 1985.
New Delhi: Bollywood star Arjun Kapoor has always been vocal about his familial relations. After the late legendary first female superstar of Indian cinema, Sridevi died, Arjun stood like a rock with his father Boney Kapoor and sisters Janhvi and Khushi. The actor recently spoke his heart out on how he handled the entire thing.

In an interview with the Film Companion, Arjun Kapoor said, "My mother's upbringing came in my head. She would've told me to be by my father's side regardless of what obstacles we face, because of a choice he made where he fell in love. And I respect my father for falling in love again. Because love is complex. And we would be silly and churlish sitting here in 2021 saying that you only fall in love once. It's very Bollywood-ised. Love is complex, love is complicated, love isn't always about being in love."

"It's about compatibility, there is friendship, there is saturation. There is unfortunate frustration, people go through different phases in life. You could have been in love with somebody, and you can fall in love with somebody after that, and that has to be understood. I don't agree... I can't say I'm okay with what my father did, because as a child I felt the repercussions, but I understand it. I can't say 'theek hai, hota hai (It's fine, these things happen)', because I will always wonder. But when I rationalise it as an older person who's dealing with his own relationship highs and lows, you understand", he added.

"You try and be a good son, because that's what my mother would want", Arjun Kapoor said.

Boney Kapoor was married to Mona Shourie, with whom he has two kids - Arjun and Anshula. The couple married in 1983 and it lasted till 1996. Mona died of multiple organ failure after battling Cancer and hypertension on March 25, 2012.

The producer later married Sridevi in 1996 and has two daughters with her -Janhvi and Khushi Kapoor. Sridevi was found dead on February 24, 2018, at a Dubai hotel where she had gone to attend a family wedding. Medical reports concluded she died of accidental drowning in a bathtub.

On the work front, Arjun Kapoor was most recently seen in the Netflix film Sardar Ka Grandson.
New Delhi: Mumbai Police has registered a rape case at the city`s DN Nagar Police Station against a man named Kumar Hegde under Sections 376 and 377 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Reports in sections of the media have claimed Hegde is actress Kangana Ranaut`s personal bodyguard, although police refuse to ascertain the accused`s identity.

"A case has been registered against a man named Kumar Hegde under sections 376 and 377 IPC. Prima facie, they had a live-in relationship and a break-up," Senior Police Inspector Bharat Gaikwad of DN Nagar Police Station told IANS.

IPC Sections 376 pertains to rape while Section 377 pertains to unnatural sex.

Asked to confirm reports identifying Hegde as Kangana`s personal bodyguard, Senior Inspector Gaikwad said: "Police ko pata nahin woh kya kaam karta hai (the police is not aware of what work he does)."

According to a report in the website peepingmoon.com, the victim alleged in her statement that she came in contact with the accused eight years ago, and last June accepted Hegde`s proposal for marriage. However, the accused then started forcibly establishing a physical relationship on multiple occasions. She also alleged that on April 27, Hegde fled with Rs 50,000 from her flat.

The website, one of several that have referred to the accused as "Kangana Ranaut`s personal bodyguard", also said that Hegde has also been charged under Section 420, which pertains to cheating, and added that all the cases against him were registered after medical examination and the statement of the victim late on Wednesday night.

We reached out to Kangana`s office and a response is awaited.
London: Britain's Prince William accused the BBC of failing his mother Princess Diana and poisoning her relationship with Prince Charles after an inquiry found a journalist for the broadcaster deceitfully obtained an interview with her in 1995.

William's astonishing rebuke to the public broadcaster comes after a report published Thursday said the inquiry found that BBC journalist Martin Bashir used deceit to win a sensational 1995 interview with Diana and that the broadcaster covered up the deception.

During the "Panorama" interview, watched by more than 20 million viewers in Britain, Diana shocked the nation by admitting to an affair and sharing details of her marriage to the heir to the throne and William`s father, Prince Charles.

Diana died in a Paris car crash in 1997 at the age of 36.

"It is my view that the deceitful way the interview was obtained substantially influenced what my mother said. The interview was a major contribution to making my parents` relationship worse and has since hurt countless others," William, 38, said in a statement.

"It brings indescribable sadness to know that the BBC`s failures contributed significantly to her fear, paranoia and isolation that I remember from those final years with her."

In a separate statement issued at the same time, William`s brother Harry did not mention the BBC by name, but drew broader aim at the media and the "ripple effect of a culture of exploitation and unethical practices (which) ultimately took her life."

"To those who have taken some form of accountability, thank you for owning it. That is the first step towards justice and truth," Harry, 36, said.

"Yet what deeply concerns me is that practices like these - and even worse - are still widespread today. Then, and now, it`s bigger than one outlet, one network, or one publication."

Harry and his wife Meghan quit their duties as members of the royal family and moved to California last year. Harry, who has sued several British tabloids, has spoken out previously about his worries that his mother`s experience of the intense glare of the press would be repeated with his wife.

`LET MY MOTHER DOWN`

The BBC set up the investigation, headed by former senior judge John Dyson, in November following allegations from Diana`s brother Charles Spencer that he had been tricked into introducing her to Bashir.

Dyson`s report found that Bashir, then a little-known reporter, had shown Spencer fake bank statements suggesting that Diana was being bugged by the security services and that two senior aides were being paid to provide information about her.

After it was aired, Bashir repeatedly lied to his bosses about how the interview was obtained, the report said. As questions continued, BBC managers failed to scrutinise his version of events properly and covered up facts about how Bashir had secured the interview.

The inquiry found that the BBC had fallen short of the "high standards of integrity and transparency which are its hallmark," and the BBC has written to Buckingham Palace to apologise.

Bashir apologised for the fake statements but said he stood by his evidence from 25 years ago and he did not believe they had prompted Diana to give the interview.

William said that the BBC should have properly investigated when concerns were first raised in 1995.

"(Diana) was failed not just by a rogue reporter, but by leaders at the BBC who looked the other way rather than asking the tough questions," he said.

"These failings, identified by investigative journalists, not only let my mother down, and my family down; they let the public down too."
New Delhi: A day after celebrating her historical win at Miss Universe 1994 pageant, Sushmita Sen shared the 'special' text message her father sent her on the special day.

Sushmita, who is the first Miss Universe winner from India, celebrated her 27 glorious years of the crowning ceremony on Friday.

The mother-of-two might have received heartfelt messages from all over the globe who congratulated her for bringing the first-ever Miss Universe crown to India, it was her father's thoughtful message which she termed as 'special' on her Instagram handle.

"Wishing you a special day for our life... Today is the 21st day, 21st week and 21st year of the 21st century," read the message which was sent to Sushmita by her father.

The 'Main Hoon Na' star shares a special bond with her father Shubeer Sen, who served the country as an Indian Air Force Officer for many years. In many of her interviews, Sushmita has often shared anecdotes of how her father pulled out all the stops to support her for the Miss Universe pageant.

In a recent Instagram live session where the 45-year-old actor revealed that she was conferred with the prestigious National award titled 'Champions Of Change Award' for her contribution towards women empowerment and social welfare; she also shared that her army-retired father would be proud of her for the win because "when Bharat gives his daughter something, he just gets super happy."

Meanwhile, on the work front, Sushmita made her comeback in the acting career with the Indian crime drama web series 'Aarya' for which she had bagged the title 'Best Actor in drama series' at eminent award shows like Filmfare, Dada Saheb Phalke, Film Critics Guild, Raj Kapoor Award.

Currently, she is shooting for Season 2 of the series. Directed by Ram Madhvani, Sandeep Modi, and Vinod Rawat, 'Aarya' is an official Indian remake of a popular Dutch show 'Penoza'.
New Delhi: The Reserve Bank of India has ordered all major payment platforms such as PhonePe, Paytm, and Mobikwik, among others, to enable mobile wallet interoperability for their customers from FY23 i.e. from April 1, 2022.

With the decision, the central bank is aiming to simplify digital banking in the country. The rule will be applicable on all licensed prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), including mobile wallets and prepaid cards.

What does wallet interoperability mean?



Mobile wallet interoperability will allow customers to send and receive money from various mobile wallets. Using the facility, you will be able to send your money from one wallet to another with just a few clicks. However, only KYC verified users will be able to leverage the facility.

How wallet interoperability is the best thing you could have asked for?

Remember when you got Rs 20 cashback in your Paytm wallet for your mobile recharge, you had no other option but to spend the money for services offered by the Paytm app.

That is now going to end with mobile wallet interoperability, as youll be able to transfer money from say Paytm to PhonePe or from PhonePe to Mobikwik in a few taps. RBI said that digital wallets can facilitate interoperability via Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

The best part is that you can club all the money lying idle in a wallet for withdrawing cash from point-of-sale (PoS) machines. According to RBIs rules, you can withdraw a maximum of Rs 2,000 per transaction up to Rs 10,000 per month per PPI.

The central bank has notified that all cash withdrawal transaction using a mobile wallet will require authentication via an additional factor of authentication (AFA) or PIN, as another layer of security.
State Bank of India (SBI) may need to wrap up all their digital transactions pending for Sunday (May 23) on Saturday (May 22), as the banks online services will be affected due to a technical upgradation.

The state-owned bank said that it will be upgrading its National Electronic Funds Transfer (NEFT) systems after the closure of business on Saturday. SBI customers wont be able to use internet banking, YONO and YONO Lite from 00:01 am to 14:00 pm on Sunday.

Announcing the blackout on Twitter, SBI said, RBI will be undertaking upgradation of its NEFT systems after the close of business on 22 May, 2021. NEFT services on internet banking, YONO and YONO Lite will not be available between 00:01 am and 14:00 pm on Sunday, 23 May, 2021. RTGS services will be available as usual."

The information regarding the NEFT blackout on Sunday was first shared by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). The central bank had urged lenders to update their customers that NEFT transactions from 00:01 hrs to 14:00 hours on Sunday, May 23, 2021, will remain unavailable due to the NEFT system upgrade.

"A technical upgrade of NEFT, targeted to enhance the performance and resilience, is scheduled after the close of business of May 22, 2021. Accordingly, NEFT service will not be available from 00:01 hrs to 14:00 hrs on Sunday, May 23, 2021. The RTGS system will continue to be operational as usual during this period. Similar technical upgrade for RTGS was completed on April 18, 2021," an RBI statement said.

SBI is upgrading online services since Friday, May 21. On Thursday (May 20), SBI had announced that the banks online systems are going under maintenance. The bank alerted its customers about the temporary shutdown of its digital services. We request our esteemed customers to bear with us as we strive to provide a better banking experience," SBI tweeted.

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New Delhi: On Friday (May 21), Amazon announced that the company is pulling the plug on its Prime Now app and website. The Prime Now platform offered two-hour delivery of groceries, fruits and staples across the world.

It is important to note here that Amazon had stopped the Prime Now services in India last year. The company is now suspending the platform in other countries as well.

The two-hour deliveries were fulfilled by Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market, which were integrated into the backend on the Amazon Prime Now service.

What will happen to Prime Now?

Amazon isnt completely doing away with the Prime Now service. Instead, the grocery delivery service will be integrated into its main platform.



In a blog post, the e-commerce giant said, To make this experience even more seamless for customers, we are moving the experience from a separate Prime Now app onto the Amazon app and website so customers can shop all Amazon has to offer from one convenient location.

Stephenie Landry, vice president of grocery at Amazon, said that the Prime Now platform will be completely shut down by the end of 2021. In its global markets, Amazon will now leverage its third-party partnerships to deliver groceries on time to millions of customers, who will be able to place their orders directly from its flagship app or website.

While the experience may vary slightly by country, customers in the U.S. can shop Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market by searching those stores on Amazon.com or the Amazon app, Landry wrote in the blog post.
Cybercrimes have increased enormously over the years and recent cases of data breaches in India only reflect the lackadaisical attitude of companies towards securing their data.

Now the cybercrime cell of Delhi Police has issued a warning to its citizens about a potential scam in which scamsters are duping innocent users by asking them for verification of numbers related to Know Your Customer (KYC) issues.

Delhi Polices cyber-crime cell took to Twitter to reveal that these fraudsters are using fake messages to manipulate users. They are claiming that if a user doesnt do what they say, then their SIM cards will be blocked. Basically, they are asking people to give a call on the phone numbers mentioned in the message.

The cybercrime cell shared a few messages that these fraudsters are using to con people. Dear Customer Your AIRTEL SIM eKYC Has Been Expired Today Please Call Customer Care Number 7477363804 Immediately Your Airtel SIM will be Deactivate within 24 hours Thank You for choosing Airtel, one of the messages read. These scamsters are further asking users to call on these numbers- 7815059531 and 7604015471.

In order to save users from falling into this trap, Delhi Polices cyber-crime cell has shared some measures to help users avoid such scams. It is further asking users to never call on such false numbers or never share any kind of OTP or download an app as per their instructions. Also, it is advisable to never make any of the payments asked for.

Notably, this development came right after Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal warned users against the surge in cyber frauds in India. Please note that Airtel does not sell VIP numbers on the phone and will never ask you to download any third-party apps. In both instances, please immediately call 121 to confirm, the Airtel CEO said.

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Samsung is back with its Back to School campaign offering tons of discounts for students on its Galaxy series. The consumer tech giant is providing discounts on various models such as Galaxy Tab S7+, Galaxy Tab S7, Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and Galaxy Tab A7, among others.

The discounts under the Samsungs Back to School offer depends on whether you buy the device online or offline. Students purchasing devices under the offer from Samsungs Smart cafes and plazas will be eligible for Student Advantage benefits.

Students can also avail Smart Club membership with the purchase of devices offline. The membership comes with reward points and exclusive service benefits, which are over and above the discounts students will get on the purchase of Galaxy Tabs.

Students purchasing the tabs online will receive different perks. Samsung has inked a partnership with Amazon to retail Galaxy Tabs under the ecommerce giants Amazons Prime Young Adult offer. The company is offering benefits up to Rs 2000 on the purchase of Galaxy Tab A7 Wi-Fi and Galaxy Tab S6 Lite Wi-Fi. Amazon is sending a special coupon to eligible customers.

Samsung is also offering a 10% discount to students and teachers for the purchase of Galaxy Tab S7+, Galaxy Tab S7, Galaxy Tab S6 Lite and Galaxy Tab A7 from its online store. Students or teachers will have to use their college/school email id to avail the discount.

Meanwhile, Flipkart is currently running the Smart Upgrade on Tablets offer, wherein the company is providing customers special offers on the purchase of a new Galaxy Tablet. The ecommerce company is offering discounts on several Samsung devices, including the high-end Samsung Galaxy S21 series.
The craze for cryptocurrencies, especially among Gen Z and millennial investors, is at an all-time high. But in 2010, who knew that prices of coins like Bitcoin will one day touch the skies. Such is the tale of a Florida man Laszlo Hanyecz, whose misfortune gave birth to the concept of Bitcoin Pizza Day.

On May 22, 2010, Hanyecz agreed to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two pizzas ordered from Papa John's pizzas, reportedly becoming the first person to use the coin for a commercial transaction. He paid around $41 for the two pizzas, roughly valuing a Bitcoin at just $0.004.

Little did he had thought that just none months the cost of 10,000 Bitcoins will be equivalent to $10,000 or that five years down the memory lane in 2015, the sum would be valued at nearly $2.4 million.

Today is the 11th anniversary of Bitcoin Pizza Day, and the value of 10,000 Bitcoins would have been $648,950,00 if we consider the all-time high of the digital coin.

I'll pay 10,000 bitcoins for a couple of pizzas.. like maybe 2 large ones so I have some leftover for the next day. I like having leftover pizza to nibble on later  If you're interested please let me know and we can work out a deal, Hanyecz had written on a forum, according to the Bitcoin magazine.

If you think that Bitcoin Pizza Day is the only day that crypto investors celebrate then you may be wrong. Crypto investors and miners have been marking occasions every now and then.

For instance, April 11 is now noted as Satoshi Disappear Day because on the day in 20211, Satoshi Nakamoto, who is said to be the creator of Bitcoin, stepped down from his role as project lead.
Chennai: The shoot of the reality show, 'Bigg Boss' in Malayalam at a studio here was cancelled, contestants evicted and the facility was sealed after three guest workers tested positive for coronavirus, police said on Thursday.

Health department officials inspected EVP Film City premises here, where the filming was on with the participation of 240 workers and technicians besides 'actors and actresses' and tests found three workers hailing from Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh to be positive for COVID-19.

An enquiry was done by revenue and police officials over the shoot for the show during the pandemic and violating the two-week lockdown (from May 10) norms in Tamil Nadu, police said in a statement.

Subsequently, authorities ordered organisers of the show, which was scheduled to be completed on June 6, to cancel the shoot immediately and also evicted the workers, actors, actresses and workers from the premises.

Also, the studio floors used for the shoot were locked and sealed by authorities and an enquiry is on, police said.
New Delhi: Popular television actress Charu Asopa and husband Rajeev Sen are all set to welcome their first child. Charu announced her pregnancy on social media with a beautiful post about being 'thankful and grateful'.

In an interview with ETimes, Charu Asopa talked about her pregnancy, family reactions and how everyone is excited about the new bundle of joy. "Rajeev and I were planning this for quite some time but you know these things never happen according to your planning. When we had given up, we got a surprise. I learnt this in my 4th week. I had this feeling that I should do a test and when I did the first test it came out to be negative but the second report came out positive. I was so used to doing tests by then that I was prepared that it was going to be negative, but suddenly I got this surprise. This is a new chapter in Rajeev and my life. I am in my first trimester. The baby is due in November," she said.

"Sushmita didi is so excited. She keeps sending me voice notes and the messages she sends are amazing to hear. She is very happy and is just waiting for the baby. Everybody is so excited, so happy in the family. Be it Rajeev, my mother-in-law, Sushmita didi or my side of the family. It is going to be after a long time that there will be a new baby in the family. So everyone is very happy. I have been getting so many congratulatory messages from everyone ever since I've announced the pregnancy," Charu quipped.

The Mere Angne Mein actress is currently at her mother's place in Bikaner. "I have come to Bikaner because my mother-in-law doesnt stay with us and there was no one to take care of me. Here at least I have my mom, sister, brother and sister-in-law, everyone is around to take care of me. Also, the situation in Mumbai was not that great. Rajeev is in Mumbai right now. We have our pets there so somebody has to be there to look after them. I am going through so many changes in my body. I am experiencing changes emotionally, mentally, physically and every day I am witnessing something new," she said.

Rajeev, who is actress Sushmita Sen's brother, and Charu, a TV actress, got married in a lavish wedding ceremony in Goa in June 2019.
Ottawa: The government of Canada has extended the current flight ban from India and Pakistan, amid the worsening COVID-19 situation, by another month. The ban on incoming flights from India and Pakistan will continue till June 21.

The Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra made the announcement on Friday (May 21, 2021). Alghabra said that the decision of extending the flight ban was taken as part of a campaign to fight COVID-19.

Alghabra said Canada had seen "a significant reduction" in coronavirus infections among arriving airline passengers since Ottawa first announced the bans on April 22 as the number of cases in India soared. The move does not affect cargo flights.

"These ongoing measures will remain in place to help protect Canadians and to manage the elevated risk of imported cases of COVID-19 and variants of concern," he told a briefing.

Government officials said they were in no hurry to open up travel across the border, citing the need to protect public health.

The Canadian authorities also added that as the vaccinations have picked up, the country has seen over a 25 percent drop in daily new cases since last week. The deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo told the briefing that now the daily new cases average around 5,000.

The central province of Manitoba has been badly hit by a third wave of the virus, recording the highest rate of infections in all of Canada in the past seven days.

Premier of Manitoba, Brian Pallister revealed that he asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday (May 21, 2021) to supply critical care nurses, respiratory therapists and contact tracers. Premier Pallister said PM Trudeau indicated that he would provide all the support he could to fight COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the country has so far recorded a total of 1.3 million coronavirus cases, while over 25,111 people succumbed to the infection.

The ban on Indian and Pakistani flights is part of a series of restrictions Canada has imposed to lower the transmission of the virus, including curbs on non-essential travel across the long land border with the United States.

(With Agency inputs)

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Canada has extended its ban on passenger flights from India and Pakistan by 30 days to June 21 as part of a campaign to fight Covid-19, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said on Friday. Alghabra said Canada had seen "a significant reduction" in coronavirus infections among arriving airline passengers since Ottawa first announced the bans on April 22 as the number of cases in India soared. The move does not affect cargo flights.

"These ongoing measures will remain in place to help protect Canadians and to manage the elevated risk of imported cases of Covid-19 and variants of concern," he told a briefing. As vaccinations pick up across Canada, the number of daily new cases has dropped by 25 per cent since last week, and it now averages around 5,000, deputy chief public health officer Howard Njoo told the briefing.

The central province of Manitoba has been badly hit by a third wave of the virus, recording the highest rate of infections in all of Canada in the past seven days. Premier Brian Pallister said he asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday to supply critical care nurses, respiratory therapists and contact tracers. Pallister said Trudeau indicated he would provide all the support he could.

Canada has so far recorded a total of 25,111 deaths from Covid-19 and more than 1.3 million cases overall. The ban on Indian and Pakistani flights is part of a series of restrictions Canada has imposed to lower the transmission of the virus, including curbs on non-essential travel across the long land border with the United States.

Canada said on Thursday that the measure, first applied in March 2020, would be extended by another month to June 21. Government officials said they were in no hurry to open up travel across the border, citing the need to protect public health.

Also read: International flights ban extended till May 31
Presidente @FSagasti en @RPPNoticias: Lo mas importante es demostrar a la ciudadania que se puede gobernar bien y con transparencia. Recuperar la confianza requiere que uno cumpla su palabra y nosotros cumplimos lo que prometemos.#ConfianzaYEsperanza pic.twitter.com/1g2wlGVxb8
#PresidenciaInforma | El presidente de la Republica, @FSagasti, presentara a la 1:00 p. m. el informe a los seis meses de gestion del Gobierno de Transicion y Emergencia.#ConfianzaYEsperanza pic.twitter.com/aXTicNcUXa
"The 34 million jobs, which are temporary, are mostly created for the sowing, maintenance, harvesting, and post-harvesting campaigns for the most versatile Andean tuber," he added.

Quevedo affirmed that last season 339,000 hectares were sown, and farmers were hired to work for the stages of preparing the land, sowing, weeding, second fertilization, hilling, pest control, harvest, and post-harvest.

Ranking of regions where potatoes are grown

On the other hand, Quevedo stated that potato cultivation at the national level is distributed among 19 regions of the country, being the areas with the highest production:

1) Puno which produces 850,000 tons per year. Thus, it accounts for 16% of the national production.

2) Huanuco 745,000 tons per year (14%).

3) La Libertad 533,000 tons (10%).

4) Ayacucho 449,000 tons (8%).

5) Cusco 440,000 tons (8%).

Campaign

The Ministry of Agrarian Development and Irrigation (Midagri) has launched the campaign "Papa Pa' Ti, lo bueno se comparte" (Potatoes for you, the good is shared) , whose main objective is to encourage the consumption of this exquisite Peruvian product in its various preparations.
Presidente @FSagasti en @RPPNoticias: Haremos la transferencia de gestion con transparencia. Dejaremos una serie de procesos en marcha que esperamos que el proximo gobierno lo continue. pic.twitter.com/xajgyvX5Qx
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. The representatives of the Office of the Human Rights Defender of Armenia visited on May 21 a military hospital to meet with the servicemen who have been injured in a recent incident provoked by the Azerbaijani troops near the territory of Sev Lake in Syunik province.

The Ombudsmans staffers held talks with the servicemen, examined their medical documents and collected data about their health condition, as well as the health condition of other servicemen who receive treatment in another military hospital of Armenia.

Following the talks with the wounded servicemen, it was revealed that on May 20, the Azerbaijani armed forces, again citing an obviously fake map, have tried to occupy a hill, which is located in the area adjacent to Sev Lake of Armenias Syunik province, in a deeper section in the direction of the village of Khoznavar.

The Armenian servicemen urged the Azerbaijani forces to return to their initial positions. Firstly, they said they will do that demand, but later on in the evening, the Azerbaijani forces demonstrated an aggressive behavior, deliberately provoked an altercation and attacked the Armenian servicemen. The incident lasted for about 20-30 minutes, after which the Azerbaijani troops had to leave that territory.

The Ombudsmans staffers also talked to the doctors and were interested in the health condition of the injured servicemen. They said that all servicemen are in sufficient condition and continue receiving the necessary medical care.

The Ombudsman views this concrete act of the Azerbaijani forces as a serious provocation, which in fact is directed against the civilian population of the villages of Syunik province, given their illegal advancement attempt in the direction of Khoznavar village.

Its worth mentioning that the chief commander of the Azerbaijani troops, who provoke such incidents and make various provocations, is the President of Azerbaijan who is constantly speaking in the language of threats about the Armenian people and is encouraging hatred.

The international organizations must definitely take into account the real link between these factors and then assess who is the one that distorts the peace in the region, which are the real causes of human rights violations and atrocities.

That particular incident once again confirms the absolute necessity of the Ombudsmans proposal to create a security zone, the Ombudsmans Office said in a statement.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. The ministry of emergency situations reports that roads are passable across Armenia.

The Georgian side informed that the Stepantsminda-Lars highway is open for all types of vehicles.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Security Council of Armenia held a session in the government chaired by caretaker Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, the government told Armenpress.

The current situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border, the process and further actions on solving it were discussed during the session.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Ural Tourism Association (UTA) Mikhail Maltsev has shared his impressions after getting acquainted with Armenias tourism sector for three days.

During a press conference today he stated that he has arrived in Armenia together with the tour operators and reporters of Ural to get acquainted with the operations of the local hotels, tourism companies and the tourism sector in general.

Mr. Maltsev highly appreciated Armenias readiness to host tourists after the coronavirus pandemic, as well as praised the work of the tourism sector representatives.

Absolute readiness, the hotels are also ready to host tourists, the beautiful sites for the tourists to visit are properly presented, he said.

He informed that the Aeroflot airline will start operating Yekaterinburg-Yerevan flights every two weeks starting from June 10, which, according to him, will boost tourism.

In his turn President of the Armenian Tourism Federation Mekhak Apresyan said Ural is a very important tourism market for Armenia.

Our partners are here to recognize Armenia and share their impressions from the countrys tourism opportunities in Ural. To show that everything is ok here, is safe and most importantly that Armenia is beautiful, hospitable, has a delicious cuisine and the expectations of all tourists visiting here are more than justified, he said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Head of the Mission of the Republic of Armenia to the European Union, Ambassador Anna Aghadjanian commented on the recent adoption of the annual resolution-report on Turkey by the European Parliament, the Armenian foreign ministry told Armenpress.

The Ambassadors comment runs as follows:

We welcome the calls made by the European Parliament in its annual report on Turkey, particularly, those to recognize the Armenian Genocide and to refrain from anti-Armenian propaganda. We urge Turkey to respect these calls, including refraining from any action or rhetoric that may escalate the tension in the South Caucasus, defending the rights of ethnic and religious minorities living in Turkey, including citizens of Armenian descent and Christians, as well as urgently putting in place comprehensive anti-discrimination legislation.

The resolution of the European Parliament strongly condemns the transfer of the militants and mercenaries from the jihadist groups in the Northern Syria to Lybia and the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict zone.

It is noteworthy that the European Parliament calls on the EU and EU member states to examine the possibility of adding the extremist movement Gray Wolves in the EU list of terrorist organizations and to ban the activities of its associations in the EU countries. The EU and its member states are urged to closely monitor their activities and to counter their influence, which is especially threatening for people with a Kurdish, Armenian or Greek background and anyone they consider an opponent.
YEREVAN, MAY 22, ARMENPRESS. Armenias defense ministry has commented on the video released by the Azerbaijani side according to which they have positioned in a straight line 5 kilometers away from the Lake Sevan and have captured a hill.

The defense ministry told Armenpress that the adversary is 30 kilometers away from the Lake Sevan in a straight line.

They have not entered into the territory of Armenia and have not captured any hill. The hill which is seen in the video is on the borderline. We have positions and conduct service in different sections of that borderline, on different hills, the ministry said.

Editing and Translating by Aneta Harutyunyan
In 1958 US considered nuclear strike on China over Taiwan: documents Daniel Ellsberg - seen here in 2010 - is a former US military analyst best known for his leak of the so-called Pentagon Papers in 1971

US military planners pushed for nuclear strikes on mainland China in 1958 to protect Taiwan from an invasion by Communist forces, classified documents posted online by Daniel Ellsberg of "Pentagon Papers" fame show.

US planners also assumed that the Soviet Union would aid China and retaliate with nuclear weapons -- a price they deemed worth paying to protect Taiwan, according to the document, first reported by the New York Times.

Former military analyst Ellsberg posted online the classified portion of a top-secret document on the crisis that had been only partially declassified in 1975.

Ellsberg, now 90, is famous for his 1971 leak to US media of a top-secret Pentagon study on the Vietnam war known as the Pentagon Papers.

Ellsberg told the Times that he copied the top-secret Taiwan crisis study in the early 1970s, and is releasing it as tensions mount between the United States and China over Taiwan.

Had an invasion taken place, General Nathan Twining, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, "made it clear that the United States would have used nuclear weapons against Chinese air bases to prevent a successful air interdiction campaign," the document's authors wrote.

If this did not stop an invasion, then there was "no alternative but to conduct nuclear strikes deep into China as far north as Shanghai," the document said, paraphrasing Twining.

In the event, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to rely initially on conventional weapons.

The 1958 crisis ended when Communist forces halted artillery strikes on islands controlled by Taiwan, leaving the area under the control of Nationalist forces under Chiang Kai-shek.

China considers Taiwan to be a rebel province that will one day return to the mainland's fold, by force if necessary.

Washington has recognized Beijing since 1979, but maintains relations with Taipei and is its most important military ally.

- Tensions remain high -

Story continues

In recent months the Chinese air force has increased incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone.

The United States also frequently conducts what it calls "freedom of navigation" operations in the flashpoint Taiwan Strait waterway.

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce his strategy toward China soon, and calls are growing for him to make a clear public commitment to defend Taiwan militarily.

A US law requires Washington to help the island defend itself in the event of a conflict, but the United States has pursued a policy of "strategic ambiguity" for decades, refraining from clearly stating what circumstances would lead it to intervene militarily on Taiwan's behalf.

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COVID-19 vaccination rate slowly ticks up in Cayuga County

Kevin Rivoli, The Citizen Nurse Melissa Wilczek draws a syringe with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine during Cayuga County Health Department's first vaccine clinic at Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES in Aurelius, N.Y., Jan. 9, 2021.

Cayuga County's COVID-19 vaccination rate lags behind the statewide total as health officials push to get residents immunized.

According to the state Department of Health, 30,612 Cayuga County residents are fully vaccinated, up from 27,985 two weeks ago. Nearly 40% of the county's population (77,145) are vaccinated.

The state health department reported 44.5% of Cayuga County residents  and 54.2% of adults age 18 and older  have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Statewide, more than 10.2 million New Yorkers (51.3% of the population) and 63% of adults age 18 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Over 8.6 million residents, or 43.3% of the state's population, are fully vaccinated.

State and county governments across New York have used incentive programs to encourage more residents to get vaccinated. Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Thursday that the state would launch a lottery pilot program for people who get the vaccine at state-run clinics. The top prize is $5 million, with other cash prizes ranging from $20 to $50,000.

In neighboring Onondaga County, a coupon book is given to people who get vaccinated at county-run sites. The book contains vouchers for free beverages and food at local bars and restaurants.

So far, Cayuga County hasn't announced a similar program. Aileen McNabb-Coleman, the chairwoman of the county Legislature, could not be reached for comment about whether there are plans to offer incentives for vaccinations.

The county's vaccination rate could get a significant boost next week. The Cayuga County Health Department, along with East Hill Medical Center, will hold vaccination clinics for students age 12-17. The department is obtaining doses of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine to administer at the clinics. While there are three COVID-19 vaccines available, only the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for ages 12-17.

In its situational update, the health department urged residents to get vaccinated now that the state has eased its mask mandate. Cuomo issued an executive order amending the previous mandate. Now, anyone who is vaccinated does not have to wear a mask in most public settings. Businesses could set their own mask rules.

"With mask mandates being reduced in certain places we want to make sure the community continues to be protected," the department wrote. "One way to be protected is to get vaccinted. The purpose behind the vaccine is to lessen one's chance of serious illness, hospitalization and death."

In other news:

 The health department reported 20 new cases in two days, The county's 7-day average positivity rate has been flat for much of May. The state's COVID-19 tracker shows that the positivity rate is 1.9%. At its peak in January, it was 13%.

There are 95 active cases in mandatory isolation and four COVID-related patients at Auburn Community Hospital. The health department noted that the hospitalization numbers "reflect those residents at (Auburn hospital) and does not include those hospitalized in other hospitals in our region."

The department added that those who are hospitalized have "a wide variety of symptoms, some who are severely ill."

No new deaths were reported.
"It doesn't take you out of the mix for funding, and I think the Empire Corridor under a Biden administration probably gets something," the official said. "But the reality is it probably has an effect on how much you get. If you are up against a high-speed rail project in North Carolina or on the West Coast, I think the government would rather throw money at a project that's ready to go rather than one that needs further study."

Cuomo has had little to say about wrapping up the study. Instead, in his 2020 State of the State address, he called for convening a panel of engineers to "re-examine and rethink strategies" for bringing high-speed rail to New York.

That was 16 months ago, and the panel has yet to be established.

A DOT spokesman said the department is working with the governor's office to have a panel selected "in the near future."

'Amtrak Joe'

Biden got the nickname "Amtrak Joe" because he took the train from his home in Delaware to Washington, D.C., over the course of three decades while serving in the Senate.

He's now in the position to make a transformational change in passenger rail service.
Daimler AGs truck chief expects hydrogen-powered big rigs to play an important role in slashing emissions from the transportation sector despite the technological hurdles and skepticism raised by two prominent rivals.

Focusing solely on battery-electric vehicles would be risky because of the scarcity of certain raw materials and challenges grids will have supporting wide-ranging charging networks for trucks and buses, Martin Daum, Daimler Trucks chief executive officer, said in a phone interview.

We cannot afford to bank on just one technology to reach the climate goals," Daum said. The focus until 2025 will be 100% on battery-electric vehicles. Between 2025 and 2035, were going to need both battery-electric and fuel cell vehicles because the massively growing infrastructure requirements require a two-legged approach."

(Also Read: Daimler, Volvo seek huge cuts in hydrogen fuel cell costs by 2027)

Fuel cells, which generate electricity from hydrogen and therefore eliminate the need to recharge batteries, have been touted for years as a potential alternative to combustion engines. But high costs and sparse fueling infrastructure have stood in the way of broader adoption and left the technology far behind battery-electric powertrains in the passenger-car market.

Electrifying commercial vehicles is more complex -- theyre larger, heavier and used for everything from deliveries to supermarkets in urban areas to long-haul transport in remote areas. Daimler recently formed a joint venture with rival Volvo AB to jointly develop fuel cell stacks.

Daimlers Detractors

While prominent industry leaders including Tesla Inc.s Elon Musk and Volkswagen AGs Herbert Diess have repeatedly criticized fuel cells and argued battery power is the only way forward, Daimler and Volvo arent alone in seeing long-term potential.

Decarbonization of the energy mix represents the most profound shift in energy since the start of the industrial revolution," Sanford Bernstein analysts led by Neil Beveridge said in a note to clients. It is simply impossible to reach net zero by 2050 without hydrogen playing a major role."

Daimlers truck division is the worlds largest maker of commercial vehicles and on track to be spun off from the Mercedes-Benz luxury-car operations this year. The split reflects the diverging technology trends between passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Both will need enormous investment in new technology to comply with stricter emissions standards.

Daum, 61, mapped out more aggressive profitability targets on Thursday and objectives to generate the funds needed to navigate the industrys transformation.

We want to be a resilient company that can avoid losses even in difficult years," he said. The unit plans to list at the Frankfurt stock exchange later this year and could enter the countrys blue-chip DAX Index.

Global Presence

Daimler boasts a truly global footprint thats unique among commercial-vehicle manufacturers. While Volvo just trimmed its presence in Asia by selling its UD Trucks business in Japan, VWs Traton SE unit is finishing its takeover of U.S. truckmaker Navistar International Corp. next quarter.

Apart from Mercedes trucks, Daimlers trucks and buses division comprises Fuso in Japan, BharatBenz in India, Setra in Germany; and Freightliner, Thomas Built and Western Star in North America.

The company has relied heavily on profits from Freightliner in recent years, as North America tends to generate much of the industrys earnings. Executives said Thursday that boosting profitability at European operations will be a top priority and pledged to reduce personnel and material costs to become more competitive in the region.

Asked whether Daimler may consider an acquisition of CNH Industrial NVs Italian business Iveco, Daum said his focus is on the companys own operations. I dont see the need for us to add an asset to our European business," he said. There are no plans for any structural changes."





This story has been published from a wire agency feed without modifications to the text.
Hero MotoCorp on Saturday announced that it is gearing up towards a gradual resumption of operations at its manufacturing plants in India. It will be resuming gradual production at all its plans in the country from May 24, 2021.

The company has already started a single shift production at its Haryana and Haridwar plants from May 17. Moreover, Hero's other plans in Rajasthan, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh, will also start single shift operations from the coming Monday (May 24). Hero added that it continues to monitor the situation and will move towards double-shift production gradually, based on the future situation.

(Also Read: Hero MotoCorp ready to bring in its first electric model next year)

The company also informed in a press note sent earlier on Saturday that the company has already vaccinated more than 90% of the overall Hero MotoCorp employees above 45 years of age. Also, it has commenced an initiative across the organization to vaccinate the remaining workforce.

The company has also recently announced a set up of 100-bed Covid-19 care facility in Gurugram in the fight against the Covid-19's second wave. The company has partnered with the district administration of Gurugram to set up the facility.

Yash Garg, Deputy Commissioner of Gurugram, had said, "The Covid Care centre will help augment our medical infrastructure and enable us to widen the scope of our relief activities for the affected people in the district."

(Also Read: Hero MotoCorp extends warranty period, free service by 2 months due to lockdown)

Hero shared the image of the Covid Care centre earlier this month on social media, saying, "We are glad to partner with the #Gurugram district administration in setting up a 100-bed Covid-19 Care Centre, which will go a long way in supporting the healthcare infrastructure in the city."
And Nemeth said throughout the last year, even as county staff have sought to create guidelines to host special events safely, it has been a moving target.

Nemeth said the county had been working to assess special event applications with a capacity calculator they had created that determined, based on the square footage, what the capacity of the event should be.

But the changes in the CDCs recommendations made much of that obsolete for outdoor events.

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We were able to move forward with removing outdoor capacities and really moving away from that square-footage calculator. And with that, we were able to go back to some of our event producers and let them know that this was the new direction for the county relative to outdoor events, Nemeth said.

Daulton said she was glad to hear the rodeo would be able to move forward at 100% capacity as limits would have forced them to raise ticket prices just to make the event worth it financially.

And even with full capacity, Daulton said they will have some anti-COVID measures in place.
I have grave concerns regarding the security and integrity of these machines, Hobbs wrote to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, which is controlled 4-1 by Republicans.

She urged the county not to use the machines any longer and threatened to initiate a process that could lead to their decertification.

The county spent $6.1 million to lease the machines from Dominion Voting Systems in a three-year contract that expires before the 2022 election. There are three one-year renewal options.

There are real concerns about what the unaccredited auditors have done to Maricopa Countys voting equipment, and whether the machines remain useable for future elections," Dominion said in a statement.

It's clear that the secure chain of custody had been broken, the statement added.

We will not use any of the returned tabulation equipment unless the county, state and vendor are confident that there is no malicious hardware or software installed on the devices, Megan Gilbertson, a spokeswoman for the countys Elections Department, said in an email. The voters of Maricopa County can rest assured that we will not use any equipment  ever  that could pose a risk to free and fair elections.
The mistakes that led to what happened on Wednesday speak to the ability of Texas and the 23 other states that currently have the death penalty to carry out executions, said Dunham, whose group takes no position on capital punishment but has criticized the way states carry out executions.

Texas has more experience in carrying out executions than any other jurisdiction in the Western Hemisphere and if Texas can make a mistake like this, what confidence can the public have in what other states are doing? he said.

Joseph Larsen, a Houston attorney who is also on the board of directors of the Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas, called the lack of media witnesses inexcusable and executions must be done with complete transparency to maintain the integrity of the judicial process.

It is not different from requiring that the trial of the person charged be public and witnessed, he said. Texas officials would like to restrict media access to the extent (most) possible, mostly for political reasons.

Larsen also believes the Texas Department of Criminal Justice violated state law by not having media witnesses on Wednesday.
Marilyn Ann Flemens, age 88 of Prince Frederick, MD, passed away peacefully at her home on Friday, May 14, 2021 surrounded by family, friends, and home care companions. Marilyn was born on July 13, 1932 in Elmira, NY to J. Maxwell Evans and Helen (Sturdevant) Evans of Horseheads, NY. She was a devoted wife and mother who returned later in life to working outside the home, helping to support her family as a salesperson for The Hecht Company, a tax preparatory agent with H&R Block and a realtor with Nyman Realty and Long and Foster.



Marilyn was also a gifted visual artist. Her many skills included interior design and decorating, sewing and oil painting. Her art training included art studies at the University of Maryland. She was a member of the Southern Maryland Art League and she proudly displayed her paintings and other artistic achievements to visitors to her home. Most recently she enjoyed participating in studio art classes at the Southern Pines Senior Center in Lusby, MD.



Upon retirement she moved to Prince Frederick with her good friend and longtime companion Ernest "Andy" Anderson whom she aided during his time of need, becoming his devoted caregiver for over 20 years. She also brought with her her beloved cats: Bear, Coal, Fluffy, Inky and Trinket. Her final pet cat Izzy eventually followed and after his passing Marilyn was thrilled to be joined in life by her cherished Australian cattle dog named Huckleberry better known as Huck.



Marilyn is survived by 3 daughters, a son and their spouses: Michelle Eshelman and Brooke Freeman of Lewes, DE; Sharon M. and Richard Leech of Clarksburg, MD; Suzanne Flemens and William (Bill) Coons of Chicago, IL; and Kevin and Lori Flemens of Apollo Beach, FL; grandchildren: Krysten (Rick) Sneade, Justin Eshelman, Kimberly (Xavier)Watson, and Andrew (Holly) Mona II; Jason Storey; great grandchildren Caleb and Summer Storey and Lily, Andrew III and Audrey Mona along with her onetime spouse and father of her childrenAKenneth C. Flemens. In addition to her parents, she was predeceased by her grandson Michael Leech, her granddaughter Tiffany (Leech) Storey, as well as her brothers Donald, Norman and James Evans and sisters Beverly Coon and Marlene Bischoff and dear friend and aforementioned Ernest F. "Andy" Anderson.



We the family honor and thank Sagepoint caregivers Elise, Tricia and Tanya for all of the loving care, compassion and dedication they so skillfully provided for our mother during her final months; Jackie, Melinda, Lisa and the other hospice workers from Calvert Hospice whose expertise helped make the end of life process less frightening and easier to bear; nurses Mia & Naia from Frederick Health and Rehabilitation for their assistance with communication while our mother was in quarantine; and our mother's very dear friends Helen and Chloe and especially Jan and Henry for the extraordinary amount of unconditional love, kindness, support and dedication they so openly bestowed on her. We hope you take solace in knowing how much Marilyn loved you both and how much we the family have grown to love you as well. You are honorary members of our family and you will always hold a prime spot in our hearts.



The family will receive friends at Lee Funeral Home Calvert, 8200 Jennifer Lane, Owings, MD 20736, on Thursday, May 20, 2021 from 11:00 AM A 12:00 PM where a Memorial Service will be held at 12:00 PM in the Funeral Home Chapel with Pastor Ralph Nevin officiating.



In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in Marilyn's name to : the Linda L Kelley Animal Shelter, 5055 Hallowing Point Rd, Prince Frederick, MD 20678 or Calvert Hospice, P O Box 838, Prince Frederick, MD 20678.



Masks and social distancing still apply until further notice.




Only recently did the industry show signs of recovery. Still, most experts believe there wont be widespread use for another five years or so, and autonomous vehicles wont be in every major city until at least late this decade.

Waymo started offering autonomous rides to a limited number of customers during 2019 in an early testing program in Arizona. Last fall, it opened its ride-hailing program to anyone seeking a ride within its 50-square-mile (129-square-kilometer) service area covering parts of Chandler, Tempe and Mesa.

Our trip began with a welcome from the minivan  an automated voice correctly pronounced my French first name, which people often mangle. A partition separated the empty front seats from the rest of the vehicle, with a sign saying, Dont touch the steering wheel.

I felt uneasy as the minivan crept into an intersection and waited for oncoming traffic to pass before making a left turn. It was as if a ghost was handling the steering wheel.

My jitters lifted until minutes later, when we made a bold left turn at another green light.

With several oncoming cars zipping toward us, the minivan darted across the road into a parking lot. Though we didn't come close to crashing, the turn frightened us.
The Commission said that the deal with Pfizer-BioNTech stipulates that the production of doses must be based in the EU and that essential components are sourced from the region. From the start of the supply in 2022, the delivery to the EU is guaranteed," the Commission said.

AstraZenecas contract with the EU foresaw an initial 300 million doses for distribution among member countries, with an option for a further 100 million. The doses were expected to be delivered throughout 2021 but only 30 million were sent during the first quarter. According to the Commission, the company is set to provide only 70 million doses in the second quarter, rather than the 180 million it had promised.

In sharp contrast with the tense nature of its relationship with AstraZeneca, the Commission highlighted its well-established cooperation" with BioNTech and Pfizer guaranteeing that timely deliveries of the doses are ensured."

The Commission said that under the new deal EU countries will have the possibility to donate some of their allocated doses to non-EU countries or through the U.N-backed effort known as COVAX, which is providing vaccines to low- and middle-income countries.

Kyriakides said the EU is now prioritizing vaccine technologies that have proven their worth, like mRNA vaccines."
One of the most dramatic and easily viewed celestial events  a total lunar eclipse  is fast approaching. The first since January 2019, it happens on May 26 and will be visible from across western North America, western South America, eastern Asia, and Australia.

Lunar eclipses occur only when the moon is in its full phase, whereas solar eclipses take place only when the moon is new. A full moon happens when it is opposite the sun, with Earth in between the two bodies. Thus, when the moon is full, it will be rising on the eastern horizon as the sun is setting on the western horizon.

The alignment of the three bodies is usually a bit off kilter but occasionally, the three line up just right so that Earth is in the path of the sun and blocks its light from reaching the moon. The result of the moons passing through Earths shadow is a darkening of the moon, or lunar eclipse. The deeper into the shadow the moon moves, the greater the eclipse. If the entire surface of the moon moves into shadow, then a total lunar eclipse occurs.
ENR by Gary Lakes, (excerpt: New Administrative Capital Rises in Egypt's Easter Desert)

Development of phase 1 of the NAC will cost about $58 billion when complete in 2030. Basic infrastructure of the phase is complete, and construction on several buildings, including this ministerial building, is slated to be finished in 2022. Photo courtesy Mohamed Abdalla

Egypt is in the midst of a huge construction boomthe center of which is a New Administrative Capital intended to modernize the seat of government for the country of 103 million people in a new city 28 miles east of Cairo.

The Egyptian government announced in 2015 it would build a new capital on 270 sq miles of land located between the main roads leading to the port cities of Suez and Ain El Sokhna. When the NAC is complete in 2050, it will be home to up to 7 million people.

The NAC, designed by U.S.-based Skidmore Ownings and Merrill, consists of three phases. Development of phase 1 will cost about $58 billion when complete in 2030. Basic infrastructure of the phase is complete, and construction on several buildings, slated to be finished in 2022, has begun.

The city will host two towering skyscrapers. An 80-floor tower has been under construction for two years and has reached the 40th floor. When finished, it will be 385-m high, making it the tallest building in Egypt and Africa.

However, the planned Oblisco Capitale, which will look like a Pharaonic obelisk, is due to be inaugurated in 2030 at a height of 1,000 meters, making it the tallest structure in the world.

The Arab Contractors Co., also known as Osman Ahmed Osman Co., is putting the finishing touches on the new parliament building, which so far has required 16.5 million work hours from 6,400 workers and 300 engineers.

The project covers an area of 126,000 sq m. The building has 1,000 administrative offices, and a 50-m-dia dome. Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly said in April that about 52,000 government employees would begin transferring to work at the NAC in August.

Crews have used about 45,000 cu m of concrete; 210,000 cu m of reinforced concrete and 25,000 cu m of reinforced steel in the project, said Ahmad El Aladalany, from the Support Division of Arab Contractors, in an emailed statement.

We have had many challenges with this project, Aladalany said, including COVID-19 and the removal of 500,000 cu m of rock and soil.

Multiple Phases

Phase 1 will establish the core of the new city and concentrate on the essential needs to get the new capital up and running. It covers development of 40,000 acres, including a government district, a commercial district and a downtown district built along the Green River.

Phase 2 will expand the city by a further 47,000 acres with more residential and business areas, and phase 3 will follow the same direction by expanding a further 97,000 acres.

You can imagine a city that stretches from the Nile River to the Red Sea, Mohamed Abdalla, chairman of Coldwell Bank Middle East and vice chairman of Acumen Holding Investment Bank told ENR. We are witnessing something significant in the history of Egypt.

The government is using proceeds from land sales at the new capital to finance the project, said Abdall. He also is chairman of the real estate committee for AmCham Egypt, which promotes business between Egypt and the U.S. We used to worry about investment, but that isnt the case anymore The government isnt having to rely on foreign investors, he said during an interview via Zoom.

The government also is collecting fees on construction that was previously done without licenses under earlier governments, he noted.

Virtually all of Egypts construction companies are involved in the NAC, as is the China State Construction Engineering Corp.
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads.com/2018/05/21/top-feeder-schools-to-wall-street/

Which campus has the best parties? How good is the cafeteria food? Where can you find the most posh dorm rooms? Aside from investigating where you can spread your wings as a social butterfly and where youll feel most at home spending four years of your life, choosing a college has more to do with how youll spend your years after the pomp and circumstance of college life is over. In other words, which school is going to help you land your dream job and  ahem  dream salary.

Weve all heard the saying its not what you know, but who you know. For students who want to break into the lavishly compensated world of investment banking, new data shows it may have something to do with where you go. As in, where you attend school.

TOP FIVE SCHOOLS TAKE UP OVER 15% RECRUITMENT AND HIRING FOR BIG BANKS

If terms like capital markets and portfolio management make you giddy and an investment banking salary is what youre working toward, data from Wall Street Oasiss May 2018 Investment Banking Industry Report suggest New York University (NYU) is the top school you want on your radar.

Wall Street Oasis is a job search and news site for financial services professionals. The site has gathered data from its online community of members to pinpoint which undergraduate institutions bulge bracket firms and other mid-market  but still notable  banks recruit and hire from most frequently.

For 10 top bulge bracket firms such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Wells Fargo, and others, NYU has the strongest presence across all of them according to the latest data. Out of 2,223 users within these top banks, the highest number (87) are graduates from NYU. Following closely behind NYU is Harvard University with 71. Out of more than 440 schools that are represented in the WSO data, NYU, Harvard, Cornell University, University of Pennsylvania, and Columbia University have the highest distribution percentages for graduates represented in large Wall Street firms, soaking up more than 15% of the overall distribution of recruitment and hiring from bulge bracket banks. This extends to more than 25% when you widen the scope to the top 10 schools.

NYU is particularly strong at Barclays Capital, Harvard at JPMorgan, Cornell at Goldman Sachs, UPenn at Credit Suisse, and Columbia at JPMorgan and UBS. Where you dont see NYU as heavily saturated is Deutsche Bank. Cornell, the University of Texas at Austin, Boston College, and Georgia Tech have the highest percentages of graduates there.

Still, NYU has been a leader of the pack as a top feeder school to Wall Street for the past several years according to WSO data. The last time it wasnt in the top spot was 2012 when the school came in second to the University of Pennsylvania.

NYU absolutely has such an advantage because theyre right there, says WSOs CEO Patrick Curtis in reference to the schools geographic advantage. Kids can network and land a lot of interviews, however it doesnt mean NYU is the single, best place.

Its typically said this school is a target or this school is a semi-target. But theres pretty good representation from University of Michigan, University of Virginia, University of Chicago, and others. These schools that are often considered semi-targets for Wall Street are actually in the top 10 of total placement.

Top 25 Schools That Send Students To I-Banks The top five schools take up over 15% recruiting and hiring for big banks
Kemp met his future wife during his brief stint at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln before switching to UNK.

Rachael, who also holds an agribusiness degree, worked three years for the IBP Inc. beef plant in Lexington (now owned by Tyson Foods) while Rusty worked in Kearney.

Thats why it doesnt frighten us, Kemp said of their quest to organize Sustainable Beef LLC and build an 875-employee beef processing plant at North Platte.

Between owned and leased land, the Kemps raise about 1,600 Black Angus and Hereford cattle on 30,000 acres northwest of Tryon, west of Nebraska Highway 97 and south of the Hooker County line.

The couples home place lies 11 miles off the highway, down a sometimes-graveled, sometimes-dirt unfenced road where cows and calves think nothing of coming up to check out strange cars on the path.

Kemp enjoys 2020s technological connections to the outside world. He usually moves his cattle out as yearlings, watching them head for feedlots and processing plants across the nation.

He and Rachael, whose family farmed and raised cattle near Doniphan, got into ranching together at a good time, he said.
Mercury will look like a bright star in the morning sky from June 27 to July 16 and October 18 to November 1. It will shine in the night sky from August 31 to September 21, and November 29 to December 31.

Venus, our closest neighbor in the solar system, will appear in the western sky at dusk in the evenings from May 24 to December 31. It's the second-brightest object in our sky, after the moon.

Mars makes its reddish appearance in the morning sky between November 24 and December 31, and it will be visible in the evening sky through August 22.

Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is the third-brightest object in our sky. It will be on display in the morning sky through August 19. Look for it in the evenings August 20 to December 31 -- but it will be at its brightest from August 8 to September 2.

Saturn's rings are only visible through a telescope, but the planet itself can still be seen with the naked eye in the mornings through August 1 and in the evenings August 2 to December 31. It will be at its brightest during the first four days of August.

Binoculars or a telescope will help you spot the greenish glow of Uranus on the mornings of May 16 to November 3 and the evenings of November 4 to December 31. It will be at its brightest between August 28 and December 31.

And our most distant neighbor in the solar system, Neptune, will be visible through a telescope in the mornings through September 13 and during the evenings September 14 to December 31. It will be at its brightest between July 19 and November 8.

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Charges in Yellowstone County District Court state he set fire to the outside of an apartment building where four adults were inside sleeping. They awoke coughing from the smoke and were able to escape safely.

The owner of the building estimated the cost of repairs at $5,599.

Montanez was identified as the suspect based on a fingerprint lifted from a piece of cardboard used to start another fire on May 10 on the 3200 block of Fifth Avenue South, according to charges.

Investigators say his clothing, build and backpack matched the description of the suspect caught on surveillance footage in connection with other fires in the area still under investigation. Charges state one of the videos showed the suspect walking down an alley and holding a lighter up to different spots on a building's siding, and leaving once the siding caught fire.

The Joyce Circle home in the Heights was not insured, the statement from BFD said. Deputy Fire Marshal Andrew McLain has been assigned to investigate the fire, which drew four BFD engines and a ladder truck, and prompted the department to call in a standby crew to handle calls from the rest of the city.
MOMS also said the city detective then went too far in applying for a search warrant to investigate the business. After the state suspended his license and the court put that suspension on hold, Hallam applied for a search warrant in which MOMS says he misrepresented the earlier court order by indicating to the new judge that the license suspension was upheld, when it was actually put on hold. The business said his presentation of the facts amounted to judicial deception.

Attorneys for the city and Hallam denied in their filing this week that the detective misrepresented any of the facts in his search warrant application, or engaged in any wrongdoing.

But even if he had, they say, the business never met the legal burden for bringing the civil rights claims against a municipality.

The city also zeroed in on the discrepancy between federal law and Montana law, which now allows for both medical marijuana and recreational marijuana  although the recreational market has not yet gone live.

Federal law enforcement officers could shut down every licensed marijuana provider in the State and charge them criminally at any time, the city wrote.

In addition to the civil rights violation claim, MOMS is seeking punitive damages against the city and the detective, among other claims still to be addressed in the lawsuit.

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Allison Carroll Smith, 49, of Huntingtown, MD passed away tragically May 17, 2021.



Allison graduated from Northern High School in 1989 and received a B.A. in Criminal Justice from the University of Maryland in 1994. She began her professional career as a Manager at Footaction. Her sales success there propelled her into several HR/Finance software sales positions, most notably with Workday where she won numerous awards and accolades as top in her field.



Allison was an avid Washington Nationals fan and bobblehead collector. She acquired a love for international travel in recent years with travel to Europe, Vietnam, and India. She was planning a family trip to her favorite place on earth, the US Virgin Islands.



Allison's defining characteristic was her ability to bring people together. She was the link that held together our extended family and many long-distance friendships. She was a gift to everyone she met and had a talent for making people feel comfortable.



Allison was a devoted mother to her children, beloved daughter and sister, and loyal friend to many.



She is survived by daughter, Mykala Smith and son, Evan Smith of Huntingtown, MD; mother, Maureen Carroll of Owings, MD; sister Rebecca (Craig) Clemens, nephews, Colton and Kyle Clemens, and niece, Alyssa Clemens of Eldersburg, MD; and sister, Jennifer Carroll of Addison, TX. Allison was predeceased by her father Douglas Carroll in 2012. She was previously married to Justin W. Smith.



Please join us for a visitation Sunday afternoon May 23, 2021, between 2:00 p.m. A 4:00 p.m. and to celebrate her life Monday, May 24, 2021 at 11:00 a.m. at Rausch Funeral Home, 8325 Mt Harmony Ln, Owings, MD.



In lieu of flowers, the family is requesting donations to the charity where Allison volunteered, Project Echo, benefitting the homeless of Calvert County: https://projectecho.net/donate/


Signing the Colstrip bills into law, Gov. Greg Gianforte framed the legislation as retaliatory toward Washington and Oregon for banning coal power. Both states did so to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

Affordable power generated in Colstrip helped build Seattles big tech economy, but now woke, overzealous regulators in Washington State are punishing the people of Colstrip with their anti-coal agenda. Montana stands with Colstrip, wrote Gianforte, a Republican.

By giving the Montana attorney general final say over maintenance the new law nullifies portions of the private business contract that has guided maintenance decisions at Colstrip for 40 years.

The majority owners of the power plant are asking the court to declare not one but two new Montana laws targeting Colstrip owners as unconstitutional. The other new law forces all Colstrip owner disputes to be arbitrated in Montana, undoing the Colstrip owners agreement that arbitration take place in Spokane Superior Court in Washington State. The Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution prevents states from meddling in business contracts, as does the Montana Constitution.

Theres a paper trail showing that Montana was looking for the maintenance expenses to enforce before the Legislature was finished deliberating on passing the new legislation.
 in their conduct, should conform to the requirements of the law, in professional service to clients;

 should use the laws procedures only for legitimate purposes and not to harass or intimidate others;

 should demonstrate respect for the legal system and for those who serve it, including judges, other lawyers and public officials;

 have a duty, when necessary, to challenge the rectitude of official action, but also a duty to uphold legal process;

 should further the publics understanding of and confidence in the rule of law and the justice system because legal institutions in a constitutional democracy depend on popular participation and support to maintain their authority;

 as officers of the court, have a duty to engender trust in the profession and the rule of law. Trust in the integrity of the system and those who operate it is a basic necessity of the rule of law.

One can only wonder how these principles are honored when the Attorney Generals office, ostensibly retained by the Legislative leadership, states in its April 12, 2021, letter to the Acting Chief Justice of the Montana Supreme Court that its client does not recognize a particular order of the Supreme Court as binding and will not abide by it.
Personal politics

In previous columns, I have noted that North Dakota, being a low-population state, suffers from personal politics, meaning that decisions are sometimes made, not on the basis of what, but on the basis of whom.

Example: When I was presiding in the Senate, the appropriations bill for the 11 state colleges and universities came before the body and someone moved that the question be divided. So we methodically went through the colleges, each one squeaking through by one or two votes. The 11th item was the University of North Dakota headed by Thomas Clifford.

It lost by one vote. The silence was loud.

Casting aside all formalities outlined in Masons rules, a senator from Bismarck jumped up and exclaimed: We cant do this to Tom.

The vote on Item 11 was reconsidered and the appropriation for the university passed.

Location of institutes

Another pitfall will be interfacing the new technical institutes with the existing programs in the educational institutions now teaching parts of STEM. Every institution with a STEM course will want to include its curriculum for a piece of the pie.
The BisMan Community Food Cooperative last Saturday celebrated five years of providing local food to the area, but financial issues put a damper on the food, live music and other festivities, General Manager Shirley Reese said.

"It should be a time of absolute celebration but we have to think through how we're going to get through another five years," she said. "It's a reality check for every member owner. Do we want to see this continue for another five years or do we want to say there are no more food co-ops in North Dakota?"

The food co-op is a member-owned retail grocery store that provides local and organic food. While everyone is welcome to shop there, those who pay the one-time $200 membership fee have access to discounts and financial dividends.

The co-op's history has been marked by financial problems. In 2017, it was behind on more than $236,500 in vendor bills, which was attributed to overstocking and other mismanagement. After years of working its way out of the red, Reese said, the co-op is again facing possible closure.
In 1867, American writer Mark Twain visited the Holy Land. He recorded his impressions in a book titled "The Innocents Abroad."

Twain was appalled when seeing the abandoned and desolate land that was the home of the Bible.

"The further we went, the hotter the sun got and the more rocky and bare, repulsive and dreary, the landscape became," he wrote. "There was hardly a tree or shrub anywhere. Even the olive and the cactus, those fast friends of a worthless soil, had almost deserted the country."

Some 15 years later, Jews began a movement to return to and restore their ancient homeland.

They started rebuilding under horrendous and challenging conditions.

By November 1947, as Jews continued their process of building and Arabs continued their process of hating, the United Nations gave the green light to establish a Jewish state and an adjacent Arab state.

Jews accepted the U.N. partition of the region, declaring the new state of Israel in May 1948, but the Arabs rejected the plan and attacked the newly declared Jewish state. Israelis fought and miraculously prevailed in its War of Independence, and the project of rebuilding the ancient homeland moved forward. Now it is an officially recognized member of the community of nations.
Legislators during the recently completed session made some studies mandatory. They include a review of the Public Employees Retirement System, access to private and public land for hunting, higher education affordability, prescription drug pricing, state agency fees and possible uses of earnings from the Legacy Fund.

All of the topics make sense. The Legislature acted on some of the issues, but in each case saw the need for more research and information. Legislators moved ahead with the electronic posting of land for no hunting. Hunters can check a database to see where land is open to hunting. Landowners still have the option of posting their land, but electronic posting is considered sufficient notice that no hunting is allowed.

Along with K-12 funding, there are studies on competency-based learning and innovative education programs, criteria for alternative teacher licensure, compulsory school attendance, and a review of statutes on career and technical education.

There are several studies in the energy field including natural gas and propane infrastructure development, policies involving bonding and ensuring reclamation of coal conversion facilities, and a review of deductions for postproduction costs under oil and gas leases.
North Dakota citizens can beat the COVID-19 virus -- if everyone contributes to the effort.

First, get vaccinated. Fifty percent of North Dakota adults have been vaccinated against COVID-19 according to the CDC's vaccine tracker, but 70% is needed to achieve herd immunity. Now is the time to get vaccinated. All vaccines are highly effective at preventing the disease; less than 1% fully vaccinated North Dakotans have become ill with the virus.

The vaccines are very safe. Millions of vaccine doses have been administered with only a handful of serious adverse reactions per million administered vaccinations. It is far safer to receive a vaccination than to refuse a vaccination.

It also appears that the current vaccines offer protection against many emerging variants.

Second, if not fully vaccinated, a person should continue to wear a face covering indoors. Studies have demonstrated that masks significantly reduce the risk of transmission of the COVID-19 virus. Respect the decision of businesses that continue to require masks. Protect yourself and others.

Also, wash hands (or use a sanitizer). This routine practice minimizes the spread of nasty bacteria and viruses.
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"If you were undecided about getting a vaccine or dubious about getting a vaccine, now you have an added bonus," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Thursday during a stop in Buffalo.

Ohio has launched its own vaccine-related lottery. In that state, five vaccinated residents who are at least 18 years old will receive $1 million each. Vaccination rates among Ohioans 16 and older increased 28% since the lottery was announced, Gov. Mike DeWine said.

DeWine tweeted: "I know that some may say, 'DeWine, you're crazy! This million-dollar drawing idea of yours is a waste of money.' But truly, the real waste at this point in the pandemic  when the vaccine is readily available to anyone who wants it  is a life lost to Covid-19."

Not all the incentives out there are on such a grand scale. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio promoted free fries for vaccinated people at Shake Shack restaurants in the city, even sampling some of the fare with delight at a press conference.

At Buffalo Transport, Kimmins and his business partner also got the Covid-19 vaccine, but they did not claim the $500 for it. "I believe in the science," he said. "I believe it was the best thing for Buffalo Transport and our customers and fortunately for us, the majority of our employees agreed."
The cemetery recently bought new mowers and other equipment and repaired other equipment that had been discarded. Sinclair's family donated money for the 250-space columbarium. He said it would have cost the cemetery about $60,000.

"It didnt incur any cost to the cemetery, so every space we sell in there is pure profit for the cemetery," said Sinclair, who runs a machine shop in Wilson and is president of the Wilson Historical Society.

The cemetery is charging $1,495 for two niches in the columbarium until July 1, after which the price will rise. That compares to $1,850 for an in-ground burial plot.

The cemetery owns 60 acres of land, with half of it undeveloped.

It averaged 60 to 80 burials a year until last year, when the pace roughly doubled. Sinclair attributes that to Covid-19 deaths.

"Things are much more stable. Were on a much better financial footing, although were not rolling in funds," he said.

The Sinclairs have a family plot at Glenwood. John's great-uncle, Norman Sinclair, well-known as the longtime president of Lockport Savings Bank, is buried there. That's how John Sinclair became involved in cemetery management.
Walter "Wayne" Wathen, age 57 of Faulkner, Maryland, died on May 15, 2021 at the University of Maryland Charles Regional Medical Center in La Plata, Maryland.



Wayne was a loving and devoted son, husband, father, stepfather, grandfather, and friend to all. He first joined the Charles County Rescue Squad on February 1, 1982 at the age of 18 and served from 1982 through 1986. Wayne transferred to the Charles County Rescue Squad and returned to Bel Alton VFD on December 1, 1996. He became the department's first EMS Chief, serving in that office 1997 through 1999 and in 2001. He began his career with Maryland Toll Facilities Police in February 1986 and graduated from the police academy in July 1986. In November 1987, he started with the La Plata Police Department and was promoted to Sargent in December 1988. He started the La Plata Crime Watch Program in 1991, established the Crime Watch Council in 1993, and his first participation with National Night Out was in 1994. In January 2005 he was promoted to Lieutenant. In September of 2015 he was promoted to Captain.



Wayne loved his family, Sunday dinner with his wife and kids, crabbing and cooking crabs, hunting, fishing, and teaching the girls to do all these things. He also enjoyed volunteering his time for anyone one that needed it. Family was very important to him and he loved to help others and make sure our home was always open and welcoming for others.



He was the son of James Monroe Wathen and Delores Ellen Wathen. In addition to his mother, he is survived by his wife, Susan "Sue" Campbell-Wathen; his daughter, Meredith Ellen Wathen; his step-daughters, Melinda Sue Blaine (husband, Dwight) and Amanda Campbell; his brother, Allen Wathen (wife, Carol); his sister, Susan Ann Wathen (husband, Thomas Goldsborough, Jr.); and his granddaughter, Alexandra Blaine.



The visitation is on Friday, May 21, 2021 from 1:30PM until time of Funeral Service at 3PM at Raymond Funeral Service Chapel, 5635 Washington Avenue, La Plata, Maryland 20646. Interment will be private.



Memorial contributions in memory of Wayne Wathen are requested to be made to Charles Regional Medical Foundation (CRMC Foundation), Cardiac and Pulmonary Rehabilitation, PO Box 1701, La Plata, Maryland 20646.
The numbers are trending in the right direction, and we've taken action to reopen the state's economy and relax restrictions, particularly for vaccinated people, he said.

The vaccines are providing protection against all of the variants of concern identified by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and all of those variants have been found in Erie County, according to University at Buffalo researchers.

The virus is still out there and it is different than what we started with, Dr. Jennifer A. Surtees said in a written statement. She is co-director of the Genome, Environment and Microbiome Community of Excellence at UB and associate professor of biochemistry in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences.

Over 90% of cases sequenced in April in Western New York were variants of concern, said Surtees, who leads the sequencing team. She described variants of concern as mutations that are more easily transmitted, which cause more severe disease and are less able to be neutralized by antibody treatments.

The B.1.1.7 variant of concern, originally identified in the United Kingdom, is now dominant in Erie County, accounting for roughly half the cases in April, UB said. The other variants of concern detected here are B.1.351, (South Africa), B.1.427 (California) and P.1 (Brazil).
Gillibrand is running for something, sort of. Unlike other politicians, whose responses to questions about their presidential dreams tend to fall somewhere on the scale between coy and deceitful, Gillibrand has recently talked freely about her presidential ambitions to The Buffalo News  twice  and to Politico.

Reflecting on the White House bid she ended in August 2019, Gillibrand told The News in an interview: "I learned so much on that race and I think I benefited so much, so I would love to do it again someday. I would just like to do it and be successful, so I just have to wait to see when that time would be right."

The time clearly wasn't right in 2020. Facing off against a field of better-known Democrats and encountering some resentment for calling for the resignation of then-Sen. Al Franken, a popular progressive accused of inappropriately touching women, Gillibrand struggled to crack 1% in national polls.

That being the case, some find it odd that Gillibrand is so anxious to run for president again.


TEL AVIV, Israel  Thousands are rallying in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

The demonstration on Saturday night was one of several held across Israel to call for peace between Israelis and Palestinians in the wake of 11 days of fighting in Gaza that ended with a cease-fire early on Friday.

Demonstrators marched through the city and later gathered in the central Habima Square to hear from politicians and artists.

Ayman Odeh, the leader of the main Arab party in parliament, called for a Palestinian state to be established alongside Israel. Odeh said: There are two peoples here. Both deserve the right to self-determination.

Israeli author David Grossman said that the battle today is not between Arabs and Jews, but between those on both sides who strive to live in peace and in a fair partnership, and those on both sides who are fed by hatred and violence.



GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip  The top Hamas leader in Gaza, Yehiyeh Sinwar, made his first public appearance since the militant groups war with Israel erupted earlier this month.
Steve Felano, a gun rights advocate with a background in marketing, launched his campaign in December by declaring he would not enforce any laws he views as unconstitutional. He called New York State government a threat to public safety, adding that nonenforcement will be a big priority. Thats a startling statement to hear from someone running for a job in law enforcement.

The campaign hit another low point last week when the head of a run-rights group publicly criticized Healy-Case for comments she made 15 years ago as a police lieutenant after two fellow officers were shot on Elmwood Avenue, one fatally. Healy-Case expressed outrage at the number of young teenagers who had access to guns in the city.

People in this country should be stamping their feet and demanding stronger gun laws, she said.

Frank J. Panasuk, a member of the 1791 Society, criticized Healy-Case on the groups Facebook page, saying he does not believe her stance against the SAFE Act is genuine. Panasuks group has endorsed John C. Garcia, a retired Buffalo detective who is also seeking the Republican nomination for sheriff.
So much with respect to war seems deterministic and inevitable even unavoidable. So long as there are humans there will be war. The great Greek historian and general, Thucydides, identified fear, honor and self interest as immutable human characteristics that are the root causes of war.

Graham Allison a famous international scholar has warned and written of a Thucydides Trap between an established power and an ascendant power. He identifies 12 of 16 cases throughout history where this occurs and points to the United States and China in a cautionary manner, hoping that Thucydides can provide an escape to this trap.

There is another Greek thinker who provided a way to successfully wage war against war itself and not each other. I am speaking of the poet Homer who represents an occidental wisdom tradition in his works The Iliad and The Odyssey. Homer wrote in the Eighth Century B.C. during archaic Greece, just after the Greek dark ages with city states in perpetual war and rivalry. The solution out of war which helped usher in a period of civilization, peace and prosperity was xenia. Xenia is the Greek word for hospitality and kindness to foreigners. This was ritualized and extolled by the leader of the Greek gods, Zeus, who would wander around as a foreigner and if he stopped at a house that was not hospitable, they risked incurring divine wrath.
In the Lake Trout Division, Mike Kimsey of Lacona earned the $1,000 and $200 for big fish for the day in the division when he hauled in a 24-pound, 12-ounce fish on Mothers Day. It was a personal best. He was fishing with friend Charlie Trump of Sackets Harbor aboard the Ramblin Rose, a 25-foot Chaparral.

They were fishing out of Henderson Harbor out of Stoney Creek, using cowbells and a lemon-lime Spin-N-Glo to drag the bottom in 150-feet of water. The fish hit at 10:30 a.m. and it was the final fish of the day. Trump also put a 20-pound, 10-ounce laker on the board May 14 using the same tactic to place third.

Second place for lake trout was Cassidy Folts of Springwater with a 20-pound, 14-ounce fish. He was fishing with his father, Ron, aboard the 20-foot Trophy Bayliner Against the Wind near Braddock Bay in 170 feet of water using a green hammerhead cowbell setup with a green Gambler Rig. It was close to a personal best for Foltz, catching it the final morning of the derby at 8 a.m.

Youth winner in the Lake Trout Division was Connor Vogt of Ontario. He was fishing with Richard Redsicker, also of Ontario, near Pultneyville on the bottom in 135 feet of water using cowbells with a white with green dots spin-n-glo. He broke his personal-best lake trout four times in the same day, May 15.
WASHINGTON  President Biden on Friday tapped career U.S. diplomat Sung Kim as his special envoy to North Korea, marking what could be a critical step toward reengaging with Pyongyang.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the second foreign leader to visit the White House during Bidens tenure, welcomed Kims appointment on Friday, describing it as the first commitment of the U.S. for exploring diplomacy, demonstrating readiness for dialogue with North Korea.

The White House completed its North Korea policy review at the end of April, in close consultation with its allies in South Korea and the region.

Biden, during a joint press conference with President Moon, said his ultimate goal is denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. He acknowledged it wont be easy. I want to make practical progress, he said. Were under no illusions how difficult this is.

Sung Kim testifies before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Capitol Hill in 2015. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

So far, the administration has provided more detail about what its North Korea strategy will not be, rather than sharing its own plans. Biden told reporters on Friday that unlike President Donald Trump, if he or his senior officials were to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, they would not give him all that hes looking for and allow him to move in a direction of appearing to be more serious about what he wasnt serious about.

Our policy will not focus on achieving a grand bargain, nor will it rely on strategic patience, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki in early May, distancing Bidens strategy from that of his predecessors, both Trump and Barack Obama. Instead, it will consist of a calibrated, practical approach that is open to and will explore diplomacy, she continued.

Sung Kim, who is currently the acting assistant secretary of the State Departments Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, has a long history serving in the region, including as the U.S. ambassador to South Korea under President Obama. In 2008 he served as the U.S. special envoy for the so-called six-party talks, meetings where representatives from North Korea, South Korea, Japan, China, Russia and the United States discussed limiting North Koreas nuclear weapons development, which achieved brief success before Pyongyang pulled out of talks in 2009.

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President Biden, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and climate envoy John Kerry at a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and others at the White House on Friday. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

During a background briefing with journalists prior to the joint press conference, a senior administration official explained that the Biden administration is trying to be flexible in its approach toward North Korea. The process is likely to be challenging, the official said.

Moon, who has only one year left in office, has focused during his presidency on leaving a legacy of peace with his northern neighbors. Speaking through a translator during the press conference on Friday, Moon declared denuclearization the more urgent common task that our two countries must face.

Moon has recently pushed to partner economically with the North and loosen sanctions, and he worked hand in hand with Trump to ramp up direct diplomacy with Kim Jong Un, leading to a highly publicized, first-of-its-kind summit between the two leaders in Singapore in 2018.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi in 2019. (Manan Vatsyayana/AFP via Getty Images)

One of Moons major reasons for visiting Washington is to ensure the Biden administration policy incorporates his peace agenda for the Korean peninsula, wrote David Maxwell, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies focused on North Korea, in an email to Yahoo News. Moon spoke earlier this week about his intentions of finding a breakthrough in long-stalled peace negotiations with Pyongyang.

While the White House has made at least one attempt to reach out to North Korea, Pyongyang so far has refused to respond, arguing it will engage when Washington drops its hostile attitude, according to statements released by state news agency KCNA.

Washington and Seoul have different priorities and timelines, but these differences will not cause tensions as long as North Korea rejects all forms of dialogue, wrote Bruce Klingner, a senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation and former CIA analyst focused on North Korea, in an email.

Divisions would be more evident if Kim were to initiate another charm offensive, he concluded.

____

Read more from Yahoo News:
World leaders met at the Global Health Summit, co-hosted by the European Commission and Italy as part of its G20 presidency, to adopt an agenda to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic, and develop and endorse a Rome Declaration of principles, at a time when the virus is surging and spreading uncontrollably in many parts of the world.

With nine people losing their lives to Covid-19 every minute, and as the risk of even more transmissible and dangerous variants increases, the Global Health Summit comes at a critical juncture. The future of the pandemic is in the hands of the G20 leaders, said top WHO officials.

The ACT-Accelerator was launched just over a year ago in response to the G20s call for a global mechanism to accelerate the development of tests, treatments and vaccines and to ensure their equitable distribution.

Hosted by the World Health Organization, the ACT-Accelerator offers the only end-to-end multilateral solution to speeding up an end to the acute phase of the Covid-19 pandemic, they stated.

The ACT-Accelerator welcomes the commitments made at the Global Health Summit and will work with countries to operationalize rapidly these pledges, both financial and  crucially  for over 100 million doses of scarce vaccine. Current financial commitments are reflected in the ACT-Accelerator interactive funding tracker. However, a significant funding gap remains.

Speeding up an end to the pandemic through the ACT-Accelerator would cost less than 1% of what governments are spending on stimulus packages to treat the consequences of the pandemic.

As the economic and social costs of the pandemic continue to escalate, the case for global solidarity, grows even stronger. The world now needs the G20 to ACT.

The Rome Declaration, released at the end of the summit, reaffirmed leaders support for the ACT-Accelerator and underlined the necessity to share the financial burden and close the funding gap, in order for the ACT Accelerator to fulfil its mandate for the equitable allocation and delivery of tests, treatments and vaccines to defeat the pandemic.

Of vital importance, the group also emphasized its support for global sharing of vaccine doses approved for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO) and through Covax.

Carl Bildt, Special Envoy for the ACT-Accelerator and former Prime Minister of Sweden, said: "Todays commitments are welcome  but more action is needed now, not in weeks or months, to change the course of the pandemic."

"While some countries have moved beyond just words, by donating vaccines and pledging to fully finance the ACT-Accelerator, further action is needed from G20 and G7 leaders if we are to stop this virus from spreading and mutating further. We all have substantial work ahead of us," he stated.

Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO, said: "We now have an opportunity to fix the global imbalance. First, we need to close the $18.5 billion funding gap for the ACT Accelerator. Second, we need countries to donate tens of millions of doses of vaccines immediately through Covax  which is the agreed global mechanism for distributing vaccines."

"We will need hundreds of millions more doses. We need companies to help make donations happen fast, and to give Covax the first right of refusal on all uncommitted doses now, in 2021. Third, we must urgently and dramatically scale up production of all of these tools, through voluntary licensing, sharing technology and know-how, and waiving intellectual property rights," stated Dr Ghebreyesus.

"We are at a critical juncture. The creation of the ACT Accelerator represents a historic, forward-thinking effort based on the principles of solidarity and equity. Lets seize the moment and finish the job we started, " he added.

Accotrding to him, the commitments at the global meet come at a critical point in the pandemic. "Only through concerted and rigorous testing to control virus spread, access to life-saving oxygen and dexamethasone to save lives, and vaccines to protect people  can bring this pandemic under control," he stated.

"A massive disparity in access to tests, treatments and vaccines between the worlds richest and poorest countries is prolonging the pandemic in all parts of the world. Funding the work of the ACT-Accelerator now would speed up an end to the pandemic everywhere," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
An assessment by an outside group indicated substantial need for programming of this type in the Wausau area, he said. Projections show strong, sustained enrollment and graduates starting salaries would fall within the range of $75,000 to $90,000.

Meyer said the contract was pretty vague but that expectations were fully discussed with Cross and the work actually began when he was still serving as chancellor. He said he personally covered his travel expenses, received no employee benefits through the System other than his salary and was also subject to a salary reduction through the System furloughs.

Meyer saw himself as the jumper cables to kick-start the program and pass the torch on to the Stout and Stevens Point chancellors, both of whom are relatively recent new hires. He worked with local employers to discuss their needs and also on securing accreditation for the program.

The project holds tremendous economic and educational benefit for the Wausau region, and Mr. Meyers unique background, credibility and skill set were critical to developing it, System spokesperson Mark Pitsch said.

Meyers background includes five years as Stouts chancellor, time as dean of the universitys engineering college and a stint as president of a technical college in northwest Wisconsin.
(CNN)  The Russian military plane touched down in heavy wind and light snow, then slid across the icy tarmac.

That the large, four-engine Ilyushin Il-76 airlifter could land at all on the Franz Josef Land archipelago in the middle of the Arctic Ocean, is a testament to Moscow's growing military might in this remote part of the world.

Russia recently expanded the runway at its Nagurskoye air base on the archipelago to 3,500 meters long, meaning it can land and refuel most of its military aircraft here, including jet fighters to patrol the polar skies.

Asked whether this also meant Russia's heavy strategic bombers, like the TU-95 "Bear," were able to operate from here, Maj. Gen. Igor Churkin proudly confirmed they could.

"Of course they can," he boasted, pointing to a briefing chart of the base. "Have a look. We can land all types of aircraft on this base."

Russia's armed forces granted media organizations, including CNN, rare access to the military's northernmost outpost on the island of Alexandra Land, earlier this week, perhaps a show of force ahead of a meeting of the Arctic Council, a high-level group of eight nations bordering the northern polar region where this year Russia took up the chairmanship of the Council. It's one of a growing number of Arctic bases that Russia has built or upgraded in recent years.

Construction on the base, known as the Arctic Trefoil, was completed in 2017. It lies just 160 miles (257 kilometers) east from the easternmost part of Norway's Svalbard archipelago  NATO territory.

The new base is built to house around 150 soldiers and is designed to ensure that Russia's Northern Fleet can be autonomous and self-sufficient. It's all part of what President Vladimir Putin says is a key effort to bolster Moscow presence in the Arctic to ensure the "the future" of Russia.

The base has what the Russians describe as a state-of-the-art radar station to monitor movements by NATO ships and aircraft. The air commander said the troops up here frequently track US and other aircraft they deem to be adversarial. The army also paraded to journalists two powerful coastal defense rockets it has placed on Franz Josef Land, which it says can hit ships or land targets more than 200 miles offshore.

"Just yesterday, we saw a NATO reconnaissance plane. We accompanied it for four hours by transmitting all the information to the higher command centers, the positions of the plane and its trajectory, in which direction it was heading," Churkin said. "The enemy will not go un-noticed."

CNN was unable to independently verify his claims. But it is clear that the great power competition is heating up in the Arctic, and Russia views this base as a key asset in that struggle.

The White House has been watching Russia's military buildup with increasing concern. Ahead of the Arctic Council, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the US has "concerns about some of the increased military activities in the Arctic."

Blinken came face to face for the first time as Secretary of State with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday on the sidelines of the Arctic Council in Reykjavik. Blinken said "it's no secret" that the US and Russia "have differences." Lavrov responded by saying Russia was prepared to discuss "all issues on the table" but added that, "we greatly diverge when it comes to our assessment of the international situation and our approaches towards how we should resolve it."

Putin on Thursday threatened to "knock out" the teeth of foreign foes wanting to "bite" off parts of Russia's territory. Without naming or specifying anyone, Putin said critics complained that his country's vast energy resources belong only to Russia and said developing Russia's armed forces was the only solution.

"They should know, those who are going to do this, that we will knock out everyone's teeth so that they cannot bite anymore ... and the key to this is the development of our Armed Forces," he said during a televised conference call.

Territorial claims

Russia has gone to great lengths in recent years to expand its territorial claims to the region.

In 2007, Russian divers in a submersible planted a Russian flag on the Arctic Ocean seabed at the North Pole. The move was criticized by then Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay, who said: "This isn't the 15th century. You can't go around the world and just plant flags and say, 'We're claiming this territory.'"

The flag-planting may have been a symbolic move, but since then Russia has been methodically strengthening its airfields and bases at multiple locations on its Arctic coast.

The nerve center for Russia's Arctic push is its Northern Fleet, headquartered in the closed military city of Severomorsk on the coast of the Barents Sea, 830 miles from Alexandra Land. The Northern Fleet has recently acquired a variety of new ships and submarines to increase its capabilities, but it also has jet fighters, air defense systems and intelligence assets under its command, the head of the Northern Fleet told CNN during the tour.

Under the UN Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), coastal nations with territory inside the Arctic Circle have jurisdiction to exploit natural resources within 200 nautical miles from their coastal baselines. However, in order to claim control over more of the seabed, countries can submit scientific evidence to the UN that their continental shelves have extended.

In March this year, Moscow also submitted two new addendums to the UN, seeking to expand the international definition of the limits of its continental shelf.

The main reason for the increase in tensions in the Arctic is global warming. As temperatures rise and the polar ice caps melt, more of the Arctic is becoming accessible both for military operations and economic activity. Russia quickly realized its far north would soon become a new frontier, so has developed a major strategy to develop the area.

That rests on three main pillars: military strength, domination of the Northern Sea Route  an increasingly viable trade route between the West and Asia as the polar ice further recedes  and the exploitation of natural resources like gas and minerals in the Arctic.

Moscow's claims to the Arctic are not without merit, as around 53% of the coastline of the Arctic Ocean is Russian territory.

Lavrov days before the Arctic Council reiterated Russia's claim to the area saying: "It has been absolutely clear for everyone for a long time that this is our territory, this is our land, and we are responsible for our Arctic coast to be safe. Everything that our country does there is absolutely legitimate."

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center think tank, told CNN that a big part of Russia's interests is indeed about reaping the "economic riches" of the area.

Some experts believe around a quarter of the world's undiscovered oil and gas reserves could be located in the Arctic region, and Russia is keen to tap them.

Moscow has already built a liquid natural gas installation and shipping facility on the Yamal peninsula in northern Russia. The project relies heavily on cooperation with China, which has also been eyeing up the newly accessible region. Beijing even declared itself a "near Arctic State" in 2018 much to the dismay of the United States.

"I made clear that it is a communist fiction for China to be a "near-Arctic nation" when you are 900 miles from the Arctic. This pangolin's nose under the Arctic tent went on for too long  we did what we do by calling out simple reality. #ChinaIsNotNearArctic," then outgoing US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a tweet in January of this year.

The race for the Arctic has already led to disputes between Russia and NATO allies. In 2018, the US sailed an aircraft carrier into the Arctic Ocean for the first time since the collapse of the Soviet Union as part of massive NATO military drills.

"The American and NATO armed forces have become accustomed to performing regular drills alone or in groups of surface warships. We haven't had that since the post-World War II era," Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, the commander of Russia's Northern Fleet, said during CNN's brief visit to Severomorsk.

This competition between Russia and the West is probably here to stay, and the reason is simple, according to Trenin of the Carnegie Moscow Center. "There are things to be exploited, areas where you could can make real money, lots of resources available there, natural gas and rare metals so Russia is developing it," he said.

But Trenin added there is also a "powerful military element" to Russia's expansion in the Arctic. "If you look at the globe, rather than at the map, then you would realize that the shortest route between US missile bases and Russian targets is not over the Atlantic, but it's over the Arctic.

"And similarly," he said, "for the Russian missiles pointed at US targets."

Anna Chernova contributed to this report.

This story was first published on CNN.com "As the US and Russia spar over the Arctic, Putin creates new facts on the ground"
(CNN)  Covid-19 vaccines have created at least nine new billionaires after shares in companies producing the shots soared.

Topping the list of new billionaires are Moderna CEO Stephane Bancel and Ugur Sahin, the CEO of BioNTech, which has produced a vaccine with Pfizer. Both CEOs are now worth around $4 billion, according to an analysis by the People's Vaccine Alliance, a campaign group that includes Oxfam, UNAIDS, Global Justice Now and Amnesty International.

Senior executives from China's CanSino Biologics and early investors in Moderna have also become billionaires on paper as shares skyrocketed, partly in expectation of profits earned from Covid-19 vaccines, which also bode well for the companies' future prospects. The analysis was compiled using data from the Forbes Rich List.

Moderna's share price has gained more than 700% since February 2020, while BioNTech has surged 600%. CanSino Biologics' stock is up about 440% over the same period. The company's single-dose Covid-19 vaccine was approved for use in China in February.

Activists said the wealth generation highlighted the stark inequality that has resulted from the pandemic. The nine new billionaires are worth a combined $19.3 billion, enough to fully vaccinate some 780 million people in low-income countries, campaigners said.

"These billionaires are the human face of the huge profits many pharmaceutical corporations are making from the monopoly they hold on these vaccines," Anne Marriott, Oxfam's health policy manager, said in a statement. "These vaccines were funded by public money and should be first and foremost a global public good, not a private profit opportunity," she added.

The report coincides with the G20 Global Health Summit taking place on Friday at which world leaders are expected to discuss waiving intellectual property rights on vaccines.

US President Joe Biden has backed the move, which supporters say will help expand the global supply and narrow the vaccination gap between rich and poor countries. Opponents, such as Germany, have argued that protecting intellectual property is vital to innovation and say that removing patents won't meaningfully increase supply due to limited production capacity and insufficient vaccine components.

According to the World Health Organization, 87% of vaccine doses have gone to high- or upper middle-income countries, while low income countries have received just 0.2%. In a paper published Friday, IMF chief economist Gita Gopinath said that vaccinating 60% of the global population by mid-2022 would cost just $50 billion.

Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, said during the health summit on Friday that the company will provide 2 billion doses of its vaccine to low- and middle-income countries over the next 18 months. Pfizer expects its sales of the vaccine to total about $26 billion by the end of this year, with a profit margin approaching 30%.

Bourla has defended the decision to profit from the vaccine, saying his company assumed all the risk to develop it and invested as much as $2 billion in research and development.

Vaccine billions

BioNTech, which received 325 million ($397 million) from the German government for the development of the vaccine, said it is committed to supplying low-income countries with its vaccine at cost. "We all know that no one will be safe until everyone is safe," the company added.

In a statement shared with CNN Business, it said that complex manufacturing processes and the length of time it takes to build new factories are among the major obstacles to increasing the global supply of vaccines. "Patents are not the limiting factor," it said.

BioNTech made a net profit of 1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) in the first three months of the year, largely thanks to its share of sales from the Covid-19 vaccine, compared with a loss of 53.4 million ($75.9 million) for the same period last year.

Moderna's Covid-19 vaccine sales hit $1.7 billion in the first three months of this year and it had its first profitable quarter ever, the company reported earlier this month. Goldman Sachs expects Moderna to make $13.2 billion in Covid-19 vaccine revenue in 2021. The company has received billions of dollars in funding from the US government for development of its vaccine.

CanSino Biologics and Moderna did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement last month, Bancel said that Moderna is willing to license its intellectual property to other companies "for the post-pandemic period."

AstraZeneca, which produced a vaccine with researchers at Oxford University, has agreed to provide doses at cost until at least July 2021, and in perpetuity to low and middle-income countries. Johnson & Johnson has also said it will provide its vaccine on a not-for-profit basis, as long as the world continues suffering from the pandemic.

- Chris Isidore and Naomi Thomas contributed reporting.

This story was first published on CNN.com COVID-19 vaccine profits mint 9 new pharma billionaires
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22)  On International Biodiversity Day, a conservation group stressed the importance of allowing indigenous people to participate in efforts to preserve the country's natural resources.

Adryon Javier, from the Center for Conservation Innovation PH, Inc., said she spent almost four years in Mindoro province, working with the Mangyans on conservation efforts, as well as equipping them with the technical skills to defend their ancestral lands.

The indigenous tribes have a spiritual connection with the environment that involves understanding ecological processes, Javier said, from noticing the presence and absence of certain wildlife, to changes in soil fertility.

"They offer an alternative view of the world, one that sees natural processes as cyclical, one that reflects respect for the Earth, and most of all, one that considers actions in the context of future generations," said Javier during a webinar with the University of the Philippines Association of Biology Majors on Saturday.

She described the tribes as "subsistence farmers, herders, fishermen, hunters with a vast collection of knowledge of how the ecology of their surroundings work."

Javier said her organizations' research also found that forests are degrading at a much slower pace in ancestral domains. The communities' forest homes are rich in biodiversity.

Red-tagging

These IPs, however, often meet obstacles, such as the stigma of being associated with rebels due to some members taking part in the communist movement.

IPs are also victims of red-tagging, Javier shared, which has been a pressing issue in the country that targets various members of the public, even politicians and celebrities.

"One of the many misconceptions of our IP groups... is for them being red-tagged or automatically being labeled as members of the rebel group," Javier pointed out.

"But you must all remember these are people with their own minds. If you ever recognize some of them joining these groups, it is most probably because it is their own choice," she added.

The challenge comes as communities are already battling extractive industries - mining, oil exploration, and illegal logging - that intrude into their territory.

Despite these hurdles, indigenous people still seek to participate in the conservation fight, Javier said.

Advocates continue to push for the passage of the "indigenous communities conserved areas" or ICCA bill, which aims to give priority to indigenous people in the management of their conservation areas.

In November 2020, the United Nations also "revitalized" its system-wide action plan that provides a framework for indigenous people's survival, dignity and well-being.

"indigenous peoples are indispensable partners in achieving the [sustainable development goals] and the long-term COVID-19 recovery process, including through their contributions to the protection of biodiversity and the fight against climate change," the United Nations System Chief Executives Board for Coordination said.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22)  The Department of Health is not yet keen on running 24/7 vaccinations as it is banking on the private sector to open mass vaccination centers.

In a virtual briefing Saturday, Health Undersecretary Ma. Rosario Vergeire said the proposal of House Deputy Speaker and 1-Pacman Party-list Rep. Mikee Romero for COVID-19 vaccination sites to have non-stop operations is "not yet a priority."

In a statement on Friday, Romero urged Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. to consider the proposal as this could boost the Philippines' goal of reaching herd immunity.

He added putting up 24/7 vaccination centers could also "address the problem of overcrowding and help ensure the strict observance of health and safety protocols."

Vergeire, however, said: "Our priority now is our partnership with the private sector kung saan magbubukas sila nang malalaking vaccination sites [where they will open large-scale vaccination sites]."

Aside from establishing mass vaccination centers, the private sector is already gearing up to deploy its own healthcare workers to assist in the country's immunization program.

But Vergeire said the DOH may consider Romero's suggestion once the government receives the bulk of its procured coronavirus vaccines.

READ: TIMELINE: COVID-19 vaccine deliveries and rollout in the Philippines

The Philippine government is hoping to vaccinate up to 70 million Filipinos by the end of 2021.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) Two CNN Philippines news programs and senior anchor Rico Hizon clinched major honors at the University of the Philippines Los Banos' "Gandingan" multimedia awards held on Saturday.

CNN Philippines' weekday 9 p.m. newscast "The Final Word" won as "Most Development-oriented News Story"  one of the general awards for the television category.

Hizon was also recognized as "Best TV Program Host" for the weekly business show "The Exchange," and "Best News Anchor" for "The Final Word."

CNN Philippines' morning newscast "New Day" also won a special award as the UP Community Broadcasters' Society's Choice for the "Gandingan Ng Kalusugan."

The Gandingan Awards  which was again held virtually this year  recognized best programs, hosts, and personalities for the categories of radio, television, and online.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22) Negotiations for the compensation for Filipino fishermen abandoned by a Chinese vessel that hit their boat in the West Philippine Sea will begin next month, according to the Foreign Affairs Department.

In a statement on Saturday, the DFA said the Justice department will lead talks on the maritime incident nearly two years ago in the vicinity of Recto Bank (Reed Bank), one of the issues raised in the Philippines-China Bilateral Consultation Mechanism on the South China Sea.

The Philippines highlighted the progress made in the settlement of the Gem-Ver allision issue involving a Philippine fishing boat and a Chinese vessel, DFA said about Fridays meeting.

The Department of Justice will take the lead in seeking just compensation for the victims in negotiations to be held next month, it added.

On June 9, 2019, a Chinese vessel hit the anchored Filipino boat F/B Gem-Ver near Recto Bank, an underwater feature claimed by both Manila and Beijing, and left 22 Filipino fishermen floating in the open seas. The Filipinos were rescued by Vietnamese fishermen.

The DOJ said last year that the local fishermen are due civil damages worth over 12 million.

The amount would cover boat repair, lost income for six months, as well as moral damages, Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra earlier told CNN Philippines.

The owner of the Chinese vessel that rammed the Gem-Ver boat earlier apologized, but maintained that it was an accidental collision.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, May 22)  The country recorded its highest daily vaccination rate last May 20, almost three months after it started its COVID-19 immunization drive, according to Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr.

In a statement, Galvez said the government administered 229,769 vaccine doses on Thursday.

A total of 3,718,308 doses have so far been administered across the country, as of May 20. Currently, the government is focusing on providing COVID-19 shots to healthcare workers, senior citizens, and people with comorbidities.

"I am very confident that with the current pace that we have, we can breach the four million mark by early next week," Galvez said.

With the current development on vaccine deliveries, Galvez is optimistic the Philippines can administer "at least half a million doses or more daily."

"By June, we will expect to have higher outputs when we all join hands in accelerating the vaccination and open our target population from the economic and government frontliners (A4) and indigent/poor communities (A5)," he added.

Galvez said Filipinos can expect that by the start of the third quarter, vaccine shipments to the Philippines will be boosted to 15 to 20 million doses monthly.

Earlier this week, Galvez said herd immunity can be achieved in Metro Manila and several other areas dealing with high COVID-19 cases by November.
(CNN)  In early May, doctors in India began raising the alarm about a rise in mucormycosis  a rare and potentially deadly infection also known as black fungus.

Many of those being infected are coronavirus patients, or those who have recently recovered from Covid-19, whose immune systems have been weakened by the virus or who have underlying conditions -- most notably diabetes.

In the past few weeks, thousands of black fungus cases have been reported across the country, with hundreds hospitalized and at least 90 dead. Two states have declared it an epidemic, and the central government has made it a notifiable disease.

Here's what we know about black fungus and its spread in India.

How do you get it, and what are the symptoms?

Black fungus is caused by mold found in damp environments like soil or compost, and can attack the respiratory tract. It is not contagious and does not spread from person to person.

Several types of fungi can cause the disease. These fungi aren't harmful to most people, but can cause serious infections among those with weakened immune systems, according to the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Black fungus commonly affects the sinuses or lungs after a person inhales fungal spores in the air, and can also affect the skin following a surface injury like a cut or burn. Symptoms depend on where in the body the fungus is growing, but can include facial swelling, fever, skin ulcers and black lesions in the mouth.

The disease "begins to manifest as skin infection in the air pockets located behind our forehead, nose, cheekbones, and in between the eyes and teeth," said the Indian Health Ministry in a statement on May 14. "It then spreads to eyes, lungs and can even spread to the brain. It leads to blackening or discoloration over the nose, blurred or double vision, chest pain, breathing difficulties and coughing of blood."

"One of the ways mucormycosis travels is by invading the blood vessels," said Dr. Hemant Thacker, consultant physician and cardiometabolic specialist at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai. "It compromises the circulation to the distal organ, and thus produces what is called as necrosis or death of tissue, which then becomes black. So it is then given the name black fungus."

In the most severe cases, the infection "goes through the blood vessels into the brain," potentially causing loss of eyesight or creating a "gaping hole" in the face, he added. "If not controlled, not treated, it can have a mortality (rate) of anything from 20% to 50%."

A 2005 study of 929 cases dating back to 1885 found an overall mortality rate of 54%, according to the CDC. The mortality rate also depends on the type of fungus involved and which part of the body is affected. For instance, it's less deadly for people with sinus infections, but more deadly for those with lung infections.

What is the link to COVID-19?

Immunocompromised people are more susceptible to infection  including COVID-19 patients, diabetic patients, people who take steroids, and those with other comorbidities like cancer or organ transplants, said the Indian Health Ministry.

Covid patients are particularly susceptible because not only does the virus affect their immune system  treatment drugs can also suppress their immune response. "Due to these factors, COVID-19 patients face a renewed risk of failing the battle against attacks mounted by organisms such as mucormycetes," said the ministry, referring to the fungi that cause mucormycosis.

Covid patients undergoing oxygen therapy in ICUs may have humidifiers in the ward  which can raise their exposure to moisture, and make them more prone to fungal infection, said the ministry.

"The fungus takes the window of opportunity, invades the body," said Thacker. "This body has a small opening because of Covid, because of the sugars (high glucose levels), because of the antibiotics  because of so many other things, (black fungus) gets a foothold."

The ministry cautioned "this does not mean that every Covid patient will get infected by Mucormycosis," as it's uncommon among those without diabetes.

According to India's official National Health Portal, the prevalence of diabetes in the country is as high as 12% to 18% of the adult population, especially in urban areas.

"India is the diabetic capital of the world," said Thacker from Breach Candy Hospital. "We have tropical climates where the fungus festers. So all this has led to the black fungus epidemic."

How do you treat it?

Black fungus is treated with antifungal medicines, often given intravenously, according to the CDC. The most common medicines include Amphotericin B  a drug currently being used in Indian states to combat the outbreak.

Patients may need up to six weeks of anti-fungal medicine to recover. Their recovery depends on how early the disease was diagnosed and treated.

Often, surgery is required to cut away dead or infected tissue. "In some patients, this may result in loss of upper jaw or sometimes even the eye," said the Indian Health Ministry in its statement.

Demand is rising in India for Amphotericin B  but it's in short supply, as hospitals had not anticipated the number of cases.

Bhavya Reddy, a resident in India's southern Telangana state, said her father was diagnosed with black fungus on April 26  just as he was recovering from COVID-19.

"Once he started to recover (from Covid) his face started to swell," Reddy said. "When the swelling did not reduce, (doctors) told us to get the injection." The hospital did not have supply of Amphotericin B, and she had to appeal to the state's chief minister to receive vials of the drug, she said.

Once the medicine was secured, her father underwent an endoscopic sinus surgery to relieve the swelling.

Mansukh Mandaviya, a junior minister of the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, tweeted on Thursday adding that five companies have been approved to produce the drug in India, in addition to an existing six.

How common is it?

The disease is globally distributed, and generally pretty rare  though it can be hard to place exact estimates of its prevalence due to lack of comprehensive surveillance and data.

In the US, laboratory surveillance in the San Fancisco Bay Area between 1992 to 1993 suggested an annual rate of 1.7 cases per million people, according to the CDC.

However, the disease appears to be more common in India  one study by Indian microbiologists, published in March in the journal Microorganisms, suggested black fungus is 70 times more prevalent in India than in global data.

There are several possible reasons why  there is a higher rate of "uncontrolled diabetes" in India, said the study. Many patients they studied didn't even know they had diabetes until they were diagnosed with black fungus, demonstrating "the lack of regular health check-ups in the Indian population," said the study.

The black fungus mortality rate in India is also "considerably high due to delays in seeking medical attention and diagnosing the disease, and challenges in managing the advanced stage of infection," said the study.

The country's climate is also a factor, said Thacker. "This fungus can grow on the side of a bread that is kept outside," he said. "It can grow anywhere in the form of a mold, but in tropical countries with the humidity ... it tends to fester."

The current outbreak could also be because "we are in summertime, it's hot, it's humid," he added. "Everybody knows that fungus infection festers in these kinds of climes."

Where has it been reported?

More than 3,200 black fungus cases have so far been recorded across the five states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Telangana and Gujarat.

Maharashtra has the highest number, with more than 2,000 cases reported and 800 hospitalized. At least 90 people have died of the disease in the state.

Gujarat has reported at least 369 cases in just one hospital.

On Thursday, the central government classified mucormycosis as a notifiable disease, meaning all states and union territories have to report their cases to federal authorities.

"We now have a new challenge of black fungus, we need to be cautious and prepare for it," Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Friday.

At least seven states have declared black fungus a notifiable disease, in accordance with the central government's advisory to collect data, according to respective state government authorities.

"These cases are being found in patients who have recovered from Covid, so there are a number of complications," said J. V. Modi, medical superintendent at Gujarat's Ahmedabad Civil Hospital. He added the hospital has seen a rise of cases in the past 10 days, as the country appeared to pass the peak of its second coronavirus wave.

This story was first published on CNN.com "They recovered from Covid, only to die of 'black fungus.' What we know about the disease sweeping India"
The NBB Group, comprising National Bank of Bahrain and Bahrain Islamic Bank, has announced the closing an Ijara facility for Oman-based Mazoon Electricity Company (MZEC), with the duo acting as the sole structuring, arranging and bookrunning banks on the facility.

The debut Islamic financing facility by the Oman-based GRE was signed for an amount of $235 million. The proceeds will be used to finance the capital expenditure plans of MZEC for 2021, mainly comprising investments in the electricity distribution and supply network in its license area in Oman.

The facility is structured as a two-year ijara bridge facility marking the first Islamic bank facility for Nama Group that has in the past raised several conventional bank loan facilities and issuances in the debt capital markets under RegS and 144a format, including a 10-year $500 million debut Sukuk in 2017.

The facility received interest from regional banks of Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE with 12 financiers participating in the facility and an oversubscribed order book.

Commenting on the achievement, NBB Group CEO (Corporate & Institutional Investment Banking) Hisham AlKurdi, said: "The NBB Group is delighted to advise and arrange financing for strategically important transactions such as the electricity distribution and supply sector in Oman. The success of a debut Islamic facility by Mazoon Electricity paves the way to attract capital from Islamic financiers for critical infrastructure."

"As the national bank of the Kingdom of Bahrain, NBB Group views Oman as one of its key markets and is proud to be associated with Mazoon Electricity and Nama Holding on this transaction," he stated.

The deal comes as part of the NBB Groups continuous efforts to further develop its activities and offerings, targeting both Bahraini and strategic GCC customers, he added.

Mazoon Electricity CEO Salim Said Al Kamyani said: "The inaugural Islamic financing facility is a milestone transaction for the group, thus adding new banking relationships to the group and providing it access to Islamic financiers of the region to fund the investment in electricity distribution infrastructure of the sultanate."

Mazoon electricity is owned by Oman government through its holding company for the electricity and water sector, Nama Holding; which inturn is owned by the sultanate's sovereign wealth fund Oman Investment Authority.

Nama Chief Financial Officer Ahmed Tufail expressed delight at the support the group had received from Islamic financiers for this transaction.

"It reinforces the confidence placed by a broad array of capital providers in the transparent and robust regulatory framework of the electricity sector of Oman and its strong credit fundamentals," he added.
Mariska Hargitay is speaking out about being part of the real-life story of an 11-year-old girl who fought off an alleged kidnapper.

The actress, who has played the role of police investigator Olivia Benson for more than 20 years on the hit police drama "Law & Order: SVU," posted about the young girl, whose alleged attempted abduction was caught on camera while she waited for her school bus in Pensacola, Florida.

Hargitay reposted an Instagram message from "Today" about their interview with the girl, identified as Alyssa, and her mom.

The star wrote in the caption, "Alyssa, first and most important, I am so relieved and grateful to know that you are safe."

"And I am so honored to be part of your incredible story," Hargitay wrote. "You are one BRAVE, Strong and Smart young woman."

Alyssa told "Today" she had been mixing blue paint with homemade slime at the time and knew from watching Hargitay's show that she should try to get some of it on her alleged abductor.

"I knew that that might be better evidence if the cops do find him," the girl said.
Project SEARCH lasts about a year as the students begin in August before graduating in May.

It was amazing, Laska said, of his time with Project SEARCH. It is full of really nice people and full of support that you will need in the world. I think its good for people with disabilities to help them succeed in real life.

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The five high school students came from Columbus Public (Dubas and Sullivan), Lakeview (Denton), Boone Central (Dockweiler) and St. Edward (Laska). This past year, they helped the hospital in different departments, including housekeeping, child care, nutrition services, maintenance and human resources.

Their contributions were appreciated, Allen said.

They were very, very helpful at a very busy time for us in our history, she said. So I thought it was valuable to be able to continue the program and their growth.

One running theme during the graduation was how much the students grew during their time. Many of the speakers commented on how the five were unsure, quiet individuals when they first started, but as the year played out, they became more confident and well-spoken.
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Shirley, who still lives in Columbus, said she was surprised to learn about the memorial and that she and the entire family is flattered to have the education building named after Johannes.

The whole family feels very honored that they thought that much of him and he was that respected, Shirley said.

Shirley said her husband would be very humbled by the honor. Gottschalk said LPNNRD has not yet finalized the exact name of the education building, but that it will include Johannes name.

Along with the approval of the education building name change, the board approved an $18,138.75 cost increase for the Wanahoo Stilling Basin. Valley Corporation is estimated to be completed with the project by May 31.

The construction company started with the project back in December. Because of the large amount of water coming out of the three tubes under the dam during floods, it displaced all of the rip rap rocks which created a void that is now underwater at the end of the spillway.

Valley Corporation has been working to put in matting over the void area with mesh over large boulders called gabion baskets in several large sections. These sections will then be connected which will prevent having loose riprap down where the strong floodwaters could come.
"All the new trucks that we have in the fire department, he has helped design and made sure they were purchased," said Josh Dahlberg, Schacher's son-in-law and current fire chief. "It makes our firefighting way easier."

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Schacher was the fire chief for more than 30 years up until January when Dahlberg took over.

"I was elected by the members of the fire department," Dahlberg said.

Dahlberg admitted he has some big shoes to fill. Schacher has been around for a lot of the fire department's history.

"Way back  the whistle would blow in the middle of the night and scare the heck out of you, wake you up," Edwin Schacher's wife, Kathleen Schacher, said. "He'd jump out of bed and I would practically hold his pants out for him to jump into."

These days, Edwin Schacher said, volunteer firefighters are alerted of a fire via text, call or pager.

Edwin Schacher said he's seen and dealt with many grass and structure fires -- more grass fires in recent years, he said.

"They used to plow big hay bales by their sheds and then they'd start (on fire). You'd have to tear all that apart to get it out," Edwin Schacher said.
The youth from the (Columbus Middle School) club that we have put together different pictures to show their format, what it means to them and how they process or how they work through issues and what they turn to help them through that, YFFC Juvenile Services Director Corenna Iverson told Pony Express Ride volunteers.

The letter stated the number of local youth lost to death by suicide within the past five years and mentioned the suicide awareness presentation held on April 28 by the Northeast Nebraska Suicide Prevention Coalition.

Doing nothing is not an option  Things will not eventually get better on their own  We need your help the letter states.

Iverson told The Telegram both of those efforts help to unite the nonprofits teens in sharing the message.

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We all want to come together as a community and support our youth in whatever way we can, Iverson said.

Two of the four local youth present at YFFC on Friday spoke to Pony Express Ride motorcyclists about mental health concerns in children and young adults.
In a statement shared with CNN Business, it said that complex manufacturing processes and the length of time it takes to build new factories are among the major obstacles to increasing the global supply of vaccines. "Patents are not the limiting factor," it said.

BioNTech made a net profit of 1.1 billion ($1.3 billion) in the first three months of the year, largely thanks to its share of sales from the COVID-19 vaccine, compared with a loss of 53.4 million ($75.9 million) for the same period last year.

Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine sales hit $1.7 billion in the first three months of this year and it had its first profitable quarter ever, the company reported earlier this month. Goldman Sachs expects Moderna to make $13.2 billion in COVID-19 vaccine revenue in 2021. The company has received billions of dollars in funding from the US government for development of its vaccine.

CanSino Biologics and Moderna did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement last month, Bancel said that Moderna is willing to license its intellectual property to other companies "for the post-pandemic period."
The deal drew opposition from many of the companys journalists in an unusual spate of employee activism. They set up rallies, tried to find local buyers and begged for a rescue in their own newspapers. They had rooted for a higher bid from hotel mogul Stewart Bainum in the belief that it would be better for local journalism, although that never came to fruition. They lobbied Tribune's No. 2 investor, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, to vote no and scuttle the deal.

In a blog post, the president of the union representing Tribune journalists lamented that Tribune's shareholders had  let everyone down  by approving the deal, but said the union would continue to hold Alden Global Capital accountable.

Confusion arose earlier in the day when a spokeswoman for Soon-Shiong said he abstained from the vote. According to Tribunes April 20 proxy statement, which states that approval of the deal required the votes of at least two-thirds of shares not owned by Alden, an abstain vote counted the same as an against vote.
The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children, with 1,910 people wounded. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. Twelve people were killed in Israel, all but one of them civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl.

Celebrations erupted in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem at 2 a.m. when the cease-fire took hold.

In Gaza City, thousands took to the streets, and young men waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, passed out sweets, honked horns and set off fireworks.

At noon prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, hundreds held similar celebrations, waving flags and cheering Hamas. It was unclear what sparked the ensuing violence, in which police fired stun grenades and tear gas, and Palestinians threw rocks. Israeli police said they arrested 16 people. Similar clashes broke out in parts of the West Bank.

Gazans had a day of recovery after 11 days of Israeli bombardment.

Shoppers stocked up on fresh fruit and vegetables at a Gaza City open-air market that reopened after being closed during the fighting. Workers swept up rubble.
A giant panda cub born during the pandemic and so far only seen by the public on a virtual "Panda Cam" will greet visitors in person for the f
Do the commission without them. If the insurrectionist abetters are not part of the probe process, it frees up the Democrats to be more firmly in charge, with full subpoena power to unearth which House GOPers were in backstage cahoots with the MAGA rioters. Who knew what when? And in the White House, what exactly was the lame-duck loser doing while the besieged Capitol Police were waiting for military assistance? What did the insurrectionist-in-chief know during that three hour gap, and when did he know it?

If a Democratic-led commission were to ultimately deliver a devastating verdict  which is likely where the facts will indeed lead it  then of course the Republicans would try to discredit it as partisan. Let them do their thing. Better to have them scream at top volume from outside the probe, than to have them working to sabotage the probe from the inside. Because you know that if a bipartisan commission were to ultimately be created, McConnell and McCarthy would be free to appoint GOP members who wear the Trump armband and take their marching orders from Mar-a-Lago.
Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia), the flag carrier of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, has resumed its international flights through 43 international stations in 30 destinations, reported Saudi Press Agency (SPA).



The move comes after the Ministry of Interior's decision to lift the suspension of citizens' travel outside the Kingdom came into effect.



Saudi Airlines confirmed that it will operate 153 scheduled flights every week from Riyadh, and 178 flights from Jeddah.



Furthermore, the resumption of the first international flights departing from the Kingdom will be from Riyadh to Hyderabad, and from Jeddah to Dhaka. As for its first international flights coming to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, it will be the Cairo flight to Riyadh and the Jakarta flight to Jeddah.



Saudi Airlines also confirmed its readiness to operate its flights to 71 stations out of 95 stations, of which 28 are domestic and 43 international destinations, and that flights to and from Jeddah will be operated from Terminal 1 at King Abdulaziz Airport.
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Pandemic babies: New Midstate parents miss traditions, face changing guidelines during pregnancies

There were moments when being pregnant during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic was just plain awkward.

Lockdown orders were issued about a month after Jessica Poe found out she and her husband, Justin, were expecting. The Lower Frankford Township couple saw few people outside of immediate family and close friends, and Jessica was only visible from the chest up in Zoom meetings with committees and co-workers, which presented a dilemma.

Do you randomly announce at a meeting that youre pregnant? Do you mention it in an email?

Its something that naturally speaks for itself when youre in person, she said.

The pandemic disrupted the common experiences of pregnancy. Baby showers were canceled or held virtually. Spouses werent allowed to attend doctors appointments. Changing guidelines added an air of uncertainty to an already anxious time.

And some moms-to-be felt so alone.

Submitted photo Christian Perry II, son of Nakia and Christian Perry, will celebrate his first birthday June 1.

Changing guidelines

Everything just feels like a blur. This past year went so fast and so slow at the same time, Nakia Perry said.

Nakia and her husband, Christian, found they were expecting in early October 2019. The early, less frequent visits to the doctor proceeded as normal for the Lancaster couple.

The lockdown began, though, as the frequency of the visits picked up. Christian could no longer allowed to go along, and Nakia could not use FaceTime for him to be there virtually or record video to watch later.

By that time, Christian said he had been at the big appointments where parents hear the babys heartbeat and find out the gender.

It was the smaller, more frequent appointments that I wasnt able to be part of, he said.

Jessica and Justin, too, had a mixed bag on doctors visits.

There were two or three that I was in the parking lot, waiting, he said. It was another half-hour of suspense.

AP analysis: The expected COVID baby boom may be a baby bust When most of the U.S. went into lockdown over a year ago, some speculated that confining couples to their homes  with little to entertain them beyond Netflix  would lead to a lot of baby-making. But the statistics suggest the opposite happened.

Timing could mean the world during a pandemic pregnancy. For Jessica, the in-depth ultrasound normally scheduled at 20 weeks had to be delayed by two weeks. In that two weeks, the guidelines changed. At 20 weeks, Justin would not have been allowed to attend. At 22 weeks, he could.

I cant imagine being in that one alone, Jessica said.

What the Poes experienced wasnt unusual. Dr. Chavone Momon-Nelson, a Carlisle obstetrician and gynecologist, said that early in the pandemic only the patient could enter the office for visits.

At times that provided not a little bit of stress, but that was a lot of stress for patients, she said.

As the COVID case numbers dropped going into the summer, the office allowed one support person to enter the office for appointments, but that changed again when the fall surge of cases hit. At any given moment, the best Momon-Nelson could do was tell a patient what the guidelines were for both office visits and for delivery at the hospital at that time and warn them that the guidelines could change on a dime.

Most patients understood that, she said. Sometimes the significant others could not be at the appointments and sometimes they could be at the appointments.

The office incorporated telemedicine into the practice as part of their creative scheduling to reduce the number of people in the office, Momon-Nelson said.

Thats part of taking the lemons from COVID and making lemonade, she said. Telemedicine was something that was being used within health care, but with COVID-19 and this pandemic, it really pushed the envelope of how we could use telemedicine to our advantage.

The advent of telemedicine marked a difference between the first and second pregnancies for Carlisles Hilary Masland Comeau. In July, Hilary and her husband, Jared, found out they were expecting their second child and she immediately called the doctor to schedule her first appointment.

With their first son, Walden who is now 2, that visit was in the office at around seven or eight weeks. This time, there was a Zoom call at eight weeks and an in-person visit at 10 weeks that seemed to Hilary to be longer than she remembered from the first pregnancy.

It was almost like a double appointment since they didnt see me earlier on, she said.

From the start, Hilary went solo to the appointments. She said that might have been harder for some, but she expected to have some of them on her own anyway since her husband is a teacher. The hard ones were the big appointments like the 20-week ultrasound.

That one was more of a lonely appointment. Otherwise, it didnt impact me too much, she said.

Gitt / Tammie Gitt, The Sentinel Henry Poe, son of Jessica and Justin Poe, was born only weeks before the fall surge that saw COVID-19 cases reach their highest levels during the pandemic.

Missing traditions

Being pregnant during COVID meant no special maternity photo shoots and no baby showers unless it was done virtually. Even the classes that are offered to soon-to-be parents were affected by the pandemic.

The Perrys signed up for everything, including classes on CPR, breast feeding and labor procedure. The classes were replaced with links to information.

We were expecting to be able to bond with other young parents. As you can imagine, we were very nervous and this class was to put us at ease and provide the information that we were looking for, and it all got canceled, Nakia said.

Classes were also canceled for the Poes, but they were given a Zoom option.

It was nice that they adapted and offered that to us. Definitely different, Jessica said. Im sure it would have been a different experience if we could have gone in person.

The couples were also cautious about their own exposure to COVID during pregnancy. When shopping for baby items, Jessica read reviews and ordered online rather than evaluating items in a store.

Nakia said she and Christian basically went into isolation out of concerns that a bout with COVID would affect her lung capacity and, by extension, not give the baby the oxygen he needed.

We didnt do all of the things that we thought would happen in our first normal pregnancy, she said. COVID was so new and everyone didnt know how it was spreading at first. We just didnt want to risk my health or the babys health because of it.

Hilary missed the human interactions from being pregnant in the workplace, like quick talks over coffee when people would acknowledge the baby bump.

I felt like I was kind of hiding in my house with the second, she said.

Submitted Hilary Masland Comeau, her husband, Jared, and son Walden welcomed Hugo in March.

Arrivals

The ebbs and flows of the waves of the pandemic meant families couldnt be sure what the rules at the hospital might be when the big day came.

What rules were in place in February might be different in March or April, said Hilary, who was due in April. It was hard to say what exactly I would be faced with.

Christian and Nakia welcomed their son, Christian, on June 1. At the time, the state began lifting lockdowns, but restrictions were still in place at Lancaster General Hospital.

Nakia went through the first two and a half hours of labor by herself while the hospital ran tests, including a COVID test.

Thats not how I imagined the beginning of my delivery experience, Nakia said.

For Christian, the waiting was the hardest part. As a first-time dad, he said, your mind is racing anyway. Youre anxious and you dont know exactly whats going on  and you have to sit in the parking lot.

Youre driving as fast as you can to get to the hospital and then, once you get there, its a waiting game, he said. With everything thats going on right now and I had to sit in my car and wait to be able to go in.

Once Christian came into the hospital, he had to stay until their son and Nakia were discharged. If he left, he would not have been allowed to return.

The restrictions also prevented Nakia and Christians mothers from being in the hospital. Both women had multiple children, and Nakia hoped to have them in the room to watch for the warning signs of the complications that affect Black women during pregnancy.

I think I would have felt more at ease if our mothers who went through this were there, she said.

She wasnt alone. Momon-Nelson also saw Black patients who were concerned that their support system would not be able to be at the hospital.

Black women experience complications at a rate significantly higher than that of their white counterparts, including risk of death, postpartum hemorrhage, preeclampsia and preterm birth, Momon-Nelson said.

When we acknowledge that there is an issue, we acknowledge that Black women die from pregnancy-related complications three to four times that of white women. We look at Black women as a potential complication in itself, she said.

Michele Breneman, a NICU nurse at UPMC Harrisburg, said they did see some cases in which a baby was born to a mother who was positive for COVID. Protocols were set up to transport the newborn to the NICU through a closed system to prevent exposure to the rest of the hospital.

In those cases, the mother was not allowed to see the baby for 10 days if she was not showing symptoms. If she was symptomatic, that time was extended to 20 days.

In one case, the mother was in the ICU with a severe case of COVID, resulting in an emergency C-section. Doctors, respiratory therapists, NICU staff and other medical personnel came together to know exactly what they had to do to protect the child.

We really had to think outside the box to make sure we had the best care and safe care for the baby in that situation, Breneman said.

Parents of babies in the NICU were allowed to visit their children at anytime, provided they were not positive for COVID, she said.

After her son, Hugo, was born on March 28, Hilary couldnt wait to get out of the hospital. She wanted to introduce Hugo to his big brother and she missed the visits from family members that had broken up the day when she was in the hospital with her first son. Hilary and Jared asked to leave early, and were permitted to do so.

We rushed our time in the hospital because we didnt have visitors. It made us feel like we were ready to leave early, she said.

Though visitors were allowed to drop off gifts for Nakia and Christian, they were not allowed to enter.

That was the biggest thing, just not being able to share that moment and have the visitors come that usually would have come, Christian said.

Jessica and Justin, however, welcomed the time alone with their newborn.

I didnt think that was a negative thing, Justin said. We were able to have privacy and give full attention to the doctors and everything.

Momon-Nelson said its possible that the new normal in a post-COVID world will continue to limit visitors.

Having a whole bunch of people in and out of the hospital. Is that necessarily the best thing? Is that necessarily the best thing for Mom, baby and even Dad as theyre trying to really bond with their new baby? she said.

Submitted Jessica and Justin Poe pose with their son, Henry, who was born in October 2020.

Looking ahead

The new parents proceeded with caution after taking their newborns home. For Christian and Nakia that meant making sure his grandparents were masked when they came to visit. Jessica and Justin made sure to bundle up their son to take him outside for visits with family. Both families kept to themselves at a time when they might otherwise have been celebrating their new arrivals.

Jessica saw the time as a bit of a break for a new mom.

The first month youre just so overwhelmed with everything anyway so youre not even thinking about going out, she said. Its kind of nice that you dont even have the pressure to do anything.

That isolation, though, has not been a positive for some new moms. Momon-Nelson has been concerned about rising issues with mental health among expectant and new mothers, especially post-partum. Quarantines and social distancing meant that the mothers or grandmothers who would have been there to help and provide support in those exhausting days could not be there.

A lot of patients were feeling a lot of stress and anxiety because with COVID it was the unknown, she said. With COVID, it wasnt really sure who was going to be available to come to the hospital and who could be there and who could not be there.

Noting that vaccines are the passport to opening up, Momon-Nelson said the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology says women who are pregnant and breastfeeding are safe to get the COVID vaccine regardless of whether its the Moderna, Pfizer or Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine included preliminary information from the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines showing there were no neonatal deaths as a result of the vaccinations.

Overall, these vaccines are safe in pregnancy. I wouldnt necessarily say recommended, but they are safe, she said.

She said she spends time at every visit talking to her patients and answering their questions about the vaccine, and supporting their decision either way.

I want them to make a decision for their health based off of facts and not based off of fear or some conspiracy, she said.

Hilary, who was vaccinated while pregnant, is hoping Hugo is developing the antibodies first through the vaccine itself and now through breastfeeding. Other than that, she doesnt hold any additional concerns for her second child in regards to the pandemic.

Im probably concerned the same amount I was with my first child in that I want people just to be smart and wash their hands and follow those simple rules, she said.

With vaccinations on the rise and cases of COVID-19 declining, the families are venturing out. Theyve been going to parks, taking walks and slowly, cautiously introducing their little ones to the world.

As with everything for these pandemic babies, timing is the difference-maker. Jessica and Justin are hoping the pandemic continues to subside through the summer to give them a chance at a first birthday party for Henry.

Christian and Nakia were hoping for the same with Christian, but with only a few weeks until the big day, they dont think it will happen this year.

In my mind, I thought that COVID would not have lasted this long. Im sure a lot of people thought that, she said.
The current COVID-19 fuss has caused adverse effects on the business industry. However, as businesses transform seamlessly to accommodate changes caused by the pandemic, the e-commerce industry has experienced a boom for a niche of products. Even in a marketplace platform such as Amazon, sellers have noticed at least 8 products that customers frequently add to their carts.

Buying Trends in 2021

Industry influencers often determine buying trends, and the current customer behavior is fast shifting towards trending products. Thankfully, social media has a hand in promoting buying trends for most products in 2020 and 2021.

8 Amazon Items That Are Flying Off The Shelves

With thousands of products today, some people rely on social media recommendations and reviews that back bestsellers in the online market. In this regard, let us explore 8 Amazon Items you can feel confident purchasing this spring.

1. Little Green Machine
He always wanted me to finish school, he added.

With the tuition help of a VA program, he graduated from Mineral Area College last week after just starting in January 2020 and taking three honors classes.

I study anywhere from six to eight hours a day, every day, he said. That's the only way that I can, I guess, rehabilitate my brain so that I can get the grades that I have.

Right away, hes starting classes at the University of Missouri-St. Louis to be a secondary art teacher. He also hopes to go on a get his doctorate.

For him, his art has always been therapeutic, whether its his pencil and charcoal drawings or tattoos, which he did before his accident.

After the accident, his art doesnt come as easily, but he isnt giving up.

It isn't at the level I want it to be, but your brain is a muscle, he added. Youve got to exercise it. Thats the only way I'll get back to where I used to be.

Now he hopes to inspire the next generation of artists.

Nikki Overfelt-Chifalu is a reporter for the Daily Journal. She can be reached at noverfelt@dailyjournalonline.com.

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Henderson spoke next and further explained the Wayfair Bill.

Thats going to kick in 2024, he said. It creates $120 million or more in revenue for the state that will lower your income tax by 1/10 of 1%. They anticipate it will lower state income tax by 3/10 of 1%.

With a $34 billion budget in Missouri, Henderson said that they put together full funding for K-12 education. He gave an overview of what was added to the budget for the upcoming year.

We put more money in for veterans, he said. More in for mental health, and we need to do more. We put more in for nursing homes and in-home health care. We did put more in for two-year institutions and four-year [education] institutions.

Henderson also touted that the three of them teamed up to get $5 million in the budget for the new Vocational Technical Center for Mineral Area College.

Speaking last, Wright brought up House Bill 271, the vaccine passports which prevents the requirement of having to carry a COVID vaccination card in the state of Missouri. He also described House Bill 476 that helps veterans.

Our veterans and their spouses can come into our state and the licenses that they have brought to the state with them can be used here, he said.
Why are they coming? Because they have heard -- correctly -- that this moment presents a huge opportunity to enter the United States illegally without fear of being sent home. "While most of the migrants do not necessarily understand the intricacies of U.S. border policy, many said in interviews that they perceived a limited-time offer to enter the United States," Jordan writes. "Friends and family members already in the country, along with smugglers eager to cash in, have assured them that they will not be turned away -- and this is proving to be true. 'What we're hearing back home is that the new president is facilitating entry, and there is demand for labor,' said Rodrigo Neto, who came from Brazil."

And so they are crossing the border in record numbers -- 178,622 known cases in April, on top of 172,331 in March. Look for there to be even more in May.

The situation is absolutely, completely, 100% Joe Biden's fault. Yes, it is what many Democrats wanted. It is what many activists and commentators wanted. For that matter, it is what The New York Times editorial board wanted. But the fact is, it would not happen without the president of the United States making it happen. The president could order border officials under his authority to enforce the law and turn away those who have no legal right to enter the United States other than at a port of entry.
These were not rehearsed statements, Mueller said. They were heartfelt, and they each had their versions of what happened. If there is any consistency in these statements, it was because the defendant was consistent in these acts.

One woman, identified in court only as Jen B., testified that in 2003, Masterson, a friend from the church where she had been born a member, had taken her upstairs from the hot tub at his Los Angeles home and raped her in his bedroom. Masterson's attorney said the two had consensual sex. They pointed out that her testimony that Masterson threatened her with a gun hadn't appeared in an initial police report in 2004.

Another woman, identified in court only as Christina B., was five years into a relationship with Masterson in 2001 when she said she woke to him raping her during the night, and fought back and got him to stop by pulling his hair. Masterson's lawyers argued that that she had reframed the incident in recent years only after another alleged rape she reported could not lead to charges.
Virginias new tuition-free program to help qualifying adults pursue jobs in high-demand fields such as health care and manufacturing doesnt currently apply to programs at the Charlottesville Albemarle Technical Education Center.

However, a partnership with Piedmont Virginia Community College could change that. If PVCC became the operator of CATECs adult programs that fall under the states G3 initiative, then students enrolled could have their tuition, fees and books paid for.

I think we can do something great for the community, PVCC President Frank Friedman told CATEC board members at a meeting this past week. ... This is a chance to really do something for people who want to get into those programs but cant afford it.

The CATEC board started discussing the possibility of partnering with Piedmont at the meeting, and officials from both schools will look into whether its feasible. The boards of both schools would have to sign off on any agreement. The classes would still be held at the CATEC facility.

Nothings going to happen unless were all happy with the partnership and the arrangement, Friedman said.
A Youngkin adviser, who discussed campaign strategy on condition of anonymity, acknowledged the necessity of retaining Trump loyalists while still winning more centrist voters. Youngkin won't bring in conservative figures, like Cruz, to vouch for him, but his fundamental message as the pro-business outsider wont change, the adviser said.

Its a test case of whether Republicans can find a way of uniting Trumps base with suburban voters that have defected from the party, and Youngkin is probably the best candidate they could have chosen to do that, said Bob Holsworth, a Virginia political consultant who has served on bipartisan boards and commissions. But, to do that, they have to do something other than emphasize the issues that won him the nomination.

Holsworth said that, in addition to embracing false claims of election fraud, other signature Trump issues, like promises to drain the swamp," never played well in Virginia  where the northern part of the state's Washington suburbs and other areas have economies dependent on the federal bureaucracy.

"What he did was, he drained Northern Virginia of Republicans, Holswroth said.
Upon receiving and opening the container, pharmacy staff found three vials of medication that were supposed to be stored under refrigeration but had been delivered to an unlicensed area, he wrote. The vials totaled close to $10,000 worth of medication and the temperature was out of range.

Waste is a concern even when medication is delivered correctly. When providers source their own drugs, they can use the same medication for multiple patients  a prescription drug such as Remicade, for example, which can treat multiple autoimmune diseases. But when drugs are white bagged, theyre specifically prescribed and approved for a single person.

Chemotherapy drugs, for example, have a high efficacy and toxicity margin, meaning theres a tight window of the right dose for the right patient at the right time, said Dr. Richard Ingram, president of a private oncology practice in Winchester. In other words, if a patient develops severe side effects to a medication, or the dose has to be adjusted based on weight or symptoms, it cant be used to treat someone else.

The system has shipped a drug that the patient is no longer going to receive, he said. And it cant be repurposed like general inventory. So the practice can be very wasteful.
DUBLIN  Union employees at a Volvo plant in Virginia have reached a second tentative labor agreement with additional gains, according to United Auto Workers officials.

Details of the deal were being withheld until UAW members at the assembly operations facility in Dublin could be briefed about their contract ahead of an upcoming ratification vote, the union said in a statement Thursday.

About 2,900 of the 3,300 people who work at the New River Valley plant are represented by the union, according to Volvo Trucks North America.

Out of respect for our members, we will refrain from discussing details publicly until the membership at Volvo Truck can be fully briefed, said Mitchell Smith, director of UAW Region 8. Ultimately, it is our members contract, and UAW Volvo Truck members will make this final decision as they vote.

Negotiations for a new five-year deal began in February. An initial tentative agreement was reached April 30 following a workers strike, and union employees rejected a tentative labor agreement on May 16.
Emirates has pledged its support to tourism in Indonesia through a memorandum of commitment (MoC) outlining joint marketing activities to promote the country.

The MoC was signed at Arabian Travel Market 2021, by Orhan Abbas, Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations  Far East at Emirates and Nia Niscaya, Deputy Minister for Marketing, the Ministry of Tourism & Creative Economy of the Republic of Indonesia. Also present at the signing ceremony was K. Candra Negara, Consul General of the Republic of Indonesia for Dubai and the Northern Emirates and Adnan Kazim, Emirates' Chief Commercial Officer.

With Indonesia being an important part of the Emirates network since 1992, both parties will partner on joint campaigns that will benefit the airline and tourism for the Indonesian destinations and showcase their appeal to visitors and holiday-makers. Based on the long-standing and fruitful relationship that Emirates has shared with Indonesia over the years and the success of its routes to Jakarta and Bali, Emirates hopes to build on achievements so far and support in the recovery phase as restrictions ease in addition to providing valuable contributions to the country's tourism sector.

By forging the new partnership, both parties have committed to strengthening the relationship through collaborations on strategies and marketing initiatives that will showcase what the destinations have to offer and positively impact its tourism industry and economy.

The agreement will see marketing activities including support for attendance of tourism trade shows and fairs, trade familiarisation trips, product presentations and workshops, advertising campaigns, the provision of logistical support, amongst others, to be undertaken jointly by Emirates and the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy Republic of Indonesia, as Indonesia is gearing up to welcome back international visitors.

Since the pandemic, Emirates resumed operations to Jakarta in June 2020 and is now serving travellers on the route with daily flights, operated by the Boeing 777-300ER.

Emirates commenced its operations in Indonesia with the launch of its route to Jakarta in 1992 and increased its frequency to twice-daily flights in 2010. In 2015, Emirates began serving its second destination in Indonesia with the addition of Bali to its network, with non-stop daily flights. In 2018, Emirates launched its linked service between Bali and Auckland, providing direct and convenient access for travellers from New Zealand to visit the exotic island destination. - TradeArabia News Service
Its a long way from a groundbreaking ceremony, but a sign-unveiling ceremony is moving in the right direction.

City officials joined with representatives of the Virginia Museum of Natural History to reveal a sign at the site of the planned VMNH satellite campus in Waynesboro.

With 20,000 square feet of exhibit space, we will interpret the natural history of the Blue Ridge and Shenandoah Valley for all citizens, said Thomas Benzing, chairman of the museums Board of Trustees.

There are stories to be told about the unique geology of these mountains and this river, he said. The South River, a tributary of the Shenandoah, runs through Waynesboro.

And the prediction is: People will want to hear those stories.

The Waynesboro campus is expected to draw 65,000 visitors per year, 40,000 of them from outside the area. The tourism figure is predicated in part on visitation to the nearby Skyline Drive and Blue Ridge Parkway; tourists have only to come off the mountain and drive a mere three miles to reach the Waynesboro site.

A feasibility study said the museum will bring in an average of $335,000 per year in its first five years of operation, compared to expenses of around $250,000, according to the projects website.
One in every 10 children in the Blue Ridge Area is food insecure. The need for food assistance, including among those who have never accessed the network before, continues to increase as unemployment and underemployment persist.

If COVID-19 has done anything, it has shown us that the face of hunger is not a far and distant one, but rather a neighbor, a family member, a friend, a classmate.

It was this mindset that led the charge in the School Food Drive for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which saw 18 schools across the Charlottesville-Albemarle area come together to support our communitys food security. I had the privilege, as the student coordinator, to watch  in a time that may be defined by our isolation  as schools, teachers, staff, PTAs, parents, and students found ways to come together to support the food drive.

As boxes and barrels overflowed with shelf-stable items and canned foods, students were able to see firsthand the power of community organization in times of need. I was personally able to watch collections spill over the Albemarle High School lobby, as student after student brought donations in support of the effort.
The city council has a good plan. The narrower lanes will slow traffic.

Narrower vehicle lanes will make it too difficult for larger vehicles.

A separate pedestrian solution should be constructed away from any vehicular traffic.

Widening the sidewalk could work best if a barrier is put up between the sidewalk and vehicular traffic.

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Denton Energy Center serving its purpose, council members, others say

Jeff Woo/DRC One of the largest gas-fired power plants in the country, the Denton Energy Center went offline twice during Februarys winter storm. Denton City Council members and others maintain that the center is serving its purpose. Tony Puente Bob Bland Paul Meltzer

Jesse Davis

The Denton Energy Center is operating as it was designed, and Februarys winter storm did not change that, officials and others say.

The winter storm is kind of a separate issue because operation of DEC was so badly interrupted, council member Jesse Davis said. Its not fair to judge its performance by conditions that existed, including not having fuel available. If fuel had been available, it would have been operating at peak.

Jesse Davis

One of the largest natural gas-fired power plants in the country, DEC went offline twice during the winter storm of Feb. 15-17, when the Electric Reliability Council of Texas issued Energy Emergency Alert Level 3 that forced rotating power outages throughout Denton and across Texas.

Fuel shortages

It tripped off because of the fuel interruption, said Tony Puente, executive director of utilities. The DEC runs whenever the price in the marketplace is above our cost to generate. That could be for five minutes at a time, five hours or five days. Its all a function of what the market price is for energy and the cost to produce that energy.

Tony Puente

At DEC, two operators work 12-hour shifts and monitor energy prices and whats happening on the statewide grid.

Equipment must be ready at all times because DEC is a quick-start facility, said Terry Naulty, assistant general manager of Denton Municipal Electric. We have 12 engines, and this is one of the plants [in Texas] to restart power if the grid went totally black.

DEC is one of 13 quick-start or black-start facilities (a power plant that can start without support from the grid) in the state.

When that request comes in from ERCOT, we have 60 minutes to respond, Naulty said.

The plant went online in 2019  a predominantly renewable source, he said. Especially when solar input is minimal, DEC supplements that energy.

During Februarys winter storm, when temperatures dropped well below freezing, fuel was frozen, some generators could not be used across the grid, and some Denton residents went hours at a time without electricity and running water. Only those homes and businesses on the same circuits as infrastructure considered critical maintained electricity throughout the storm.

Jeff Woo/DRC One of the largest gas-fired power plants in the country, the Denton Energy Center went offline twice during Februarys winter storm. Denton City Council members and others maintain that the center is serving its purpose.

Worst-case scenario

I would say that it shows the worst-case scenario that can happen, and it did happen, said Bob Bland, professor of local government at the University of North Texas. The rolling power outages were not caused by a failure to DME or DEC. They are victims like everyone else. There are benefits to having a city-owned electric power plant. Those benefits outweigh the costs.

Bob Bland

DEC, on which construction began in 2016, is a 225-megawatt natural gas operation. It was proposed as a way to free Denton from coal-fired power. In February  the latest data available  revenue for the plant was listed at nearly $118 million. For the fiscal year that started on Oct. 1, total revenue is almost $123 million.

Debt service on the plant is about $25 million per year in the first few years of a 20-year obligation.

These gas plants are designed for 35 years of life, Naulty said. But if you operate and maintain them, you will likely get 50 years out of a facility like this.

Bland said he favors what Denton officials have done with DEC.

I am still in favor of a city-owned utility, he said. It can work, and the city has invested a lot here. I think those are good investments.

As for DEC, it is a $240 million investment.

The DEC was to go along with our 100% renewable goal, former Denton Mayor Chris Watts said. Some additional revenue is applied to offset the purchase power cost. DEC made more money than the debt service over [four days]. DME is buying power, and DME is selling power. The revenue on the sell side goes to offset what we paid on the paid side. It does benefit ratepayers because it offsets purchase power costs.

Common misunderstanding

Council member Paul Meltzer agreed.

Paul Meltzer

I definitely think the idea that it would be backup power for us was a common misunderstanding  maybe easier to allow than to correct, he said. The Renewable Denton Plan  was about how the DEC would enable us to confidently go to more use of renewables. I think 80% was the plan then. I may be the one who later coined the explanation that its a financial hedge  not a physical hedge.

Meltzer also emphasized that the financial investment in DEC is substantial.

Its very unpredictable and may turn out to be about a wash, he said. We could be cumulatively behind for 20 years, until its paid for, then get 10 more years of life out of the plant without having to make payments. Maybe we catch up or somewhat less, maybe somewhat more.

According to the city of Denton, DME is one of 2,000 community-owned public utility companies in the U.S., providing service to more than 56,000 customers with annual sales of nearly 1.5 million megawatt-hours.

Status of ERCOT suit

Meanwhile, ERCOT remains under a temporary restraining order following a lawsuit filed in February by the city of Denton.

On May 10, the court heard ERCOT testimony to plea to jurisdiction, Ryan Adams, Dentons director of customer service and public affairs, said recently. The temporary restraining order runs to June 1, when the hearing on the temporary injunction is scheduled, Adams said.

In April, ERCOT in the 353rd Judicial District Court in Travis County, challenged that is not the proper venue in the suit, and a hearing was scheduled for May 10 in the 250th Judicial District Court.

The temporary restraining order was imposed by 16th Judicial District Court Judge Sherry Shipman in February in Denton County. Weeks later, she granted ERCOTs motion for transfer, sending the case to Travis County. It prohibits ERCOT from using the uplift mechanism by which it spreads the cost of municipalities unable to pay exorbitant energy bills onto other municipalities, including Denton.

For example, a city unable to pay part or all of its energy bill to ERCOT because of the sky-high costs imposed during the weather event in February would have its debt pushed onto other cities.

The city of Denton contends cities are barred from making such payments. It filed the suit after Denton Municipal Electric spent $207 million to buy electricity from ERCOT. DMEs annual budget is $231.4 million.

According to documents, the average price of energy per megawatt-hour in February was $23.73. During the rotating outages that began around the state on Feb. 15, that increased to $2,400 per megawatt-hour.

Denton staff members on Feb. 19 issued $100 million in new debt to meet immediate cash flow needs for DME. During the 2019-20 fiscal year, DME spent almost $64 million on power purchases. That compares with just over $97 million the previous year. The utility is carrying about $851 million in debt, in general obligation bonds, revenue bonds and certificates of obligation.

A little more than a week after rotating power outages began in February, Denton City Council members gave the OK to allow DME to borrow up to $300 million to cover costs incurred during the storm.

Ultimately, the city is seeking a permanent injunction that would, in part, keep ERCOT from demanding payments to cover others debts and keep ERCOT from taking action against the city for not making those payments. The temporary injunction would do the same at least until trial.

Related
The Watchdog: What everyone else gives away for free, Texas government might soon charge you for
RAMIRO VALDEZ has been a frequent guest columnist in the Denton Record-Chronicle and is a retired area counselor. He welcomes feedback and suggestions via letters to the editor or emailed to rambam.valdez@gmail.com.
MANUEL TABOADA lives, works and writes in Denton. He welcomes feedback and can be reached at manueltaboada.com .
People march through the streets during the Drop the Charges march and rally Saturday, Sept. 26, 2020 in Denver. The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized the march after five anti-racist organizers were arrested on multiple charges pertaining to protests for Elijah McClain in Aurora this summer. (Michael Ciaglo/Special to The Denver Gazette)
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Days after confirming that Jamaicas 700MHz tender had been successful, the Minister of Science, Energy and Technology Daryl Vaz has named domestic operator Rock Mobile as the island nations third licensee.

Vaz noted that the Cabinet reached its decision with lightning speed, but added that the new player would also need to act swiftly, with a commercial launch expected within one year of receiving its licence. The company is required to be fully operational within two years, with coverage reaching 95% of the population.

According to records from Jamaicas Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), Rock Mobile has held ISP, Carrier, International Service Provider and Domestic Voice Service Provider licences since June 2020. TeleGeography reports that the firm first expressed an interest in obtaining Jamaicas third licence in January this year.

Bidders for the available 700MHz spectrum were required to submit technical and financial proposals for the concession, with the latter pledged in US dollars. The holding consists of a 210MHz block of 4G-ready spectrum, with the concession valid for 15 years.

Owned by former Scotiabank Jamaica head Bruce Bowen  together with his wife  Rock Mobile will fill the vacancy left following the shuttering of Caricel, which operated services using the 700MHz holding between 2016 and 2020.
Idahos governor was on hand Wednesday to help break ground for Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories 140,000-square-foot printed circuit board factory in Moscow, welcoming one of the few new plants of its kind to be built in the United States in the last decade.
METAIRIE, La. (AP)  A Louisiana man had a chunk of his nose bitten off by a man he bought a drink for, authorities said.

Bryan Thayer, 34, told The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate that he finished a shift at the Metairie bar he owns and stopped by another bar just before 5 a.m. on May 8.

He and a friend bought a drink for a man later identified as Andrew Nierman, according to the Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office.

The drink spilled on Nierman, but Thayer told the news outlet that he and his friend bought him another. He said the 32-year-old Neirman walked away but came back a few moments later and threatened Thayer.

He grabbed my head and took a chunk out of my nose, Thayer said.

Authorities said Nierman ran from the bar and got into a vehicle. Thayer, bleeding profusely, got the attention of a nearby deputy.

The deputy stopped Nierman, who said, I was just accosted by him, so I bit him in the face, according to an incident report.
Thomas Moss, Houston County Forester, was one of 26 students who recently graduated from the Alabama Forestry Commissions 2020-2021 Forestry Academy at the Solon Dixon Forestry Education Center in Andalusia. Gov. Kay Ivey gave the keynote address, thanking the class for their dedication in protecting and caring for Alabama's trees, forests, and citizens.

The Alabama Forestry Commission established the original Forestry Academy in 1979 and it continued through 1994. Now, after 26 years, the Academy has been reinstituted. This first graduating class of the new Academy is composed of recently hired AFC employees from 20 counties across Alabama who serve in various positions including forest rangers, foresters, and a public relations specialist.

These individuals have completed eight weeks of intensive classroom study and field exercises in forest protection, forest management, and teamwork building. This year's class took home a wealth of knowledge that will last the entirety of their career. Along with this knowledge, these employees gained friendships among their classmates and expressed a newfound level of camaraderie.
NEW YORK (AP)  New York's attorney general said Friday that she's assigned two lawyers to work with the Manhattan district's attorney's office on a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's business dealings.

Attorney General Letitia James said her office is working alongside and cooperating with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. on the criminal probe. Vance's office has been investigating Trump for about two years.

James, a Democrat, said her office is also continuing its ongoing civil investigation into the the Republican ex-president and his company, the Trump Organization.

Two of our assistant attorney generals have been cross designated as district attorneys," James said at a news conference on an unrelated topic.

It was James' first appearance before the news media since her office announced Tuesday night that its Trump investigation had evolved into a criminal matter. She did not say what prompted her office to expand its investigation into a criminal probe.
KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP)  A coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff, an expert mountaineering guide said, giving the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials that the disease has spread to the worlds highest peak.

Lukas Furtenbach of Austria, who last week became the only prominent outfitter to halt his Everest expedition due to virus fears, said Saturday one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpa guides have tested positive.

I think with all the confirmed cases we know now  confirmed from (rescue) pilots, from insurance, from doctors, from expedition leaders  I have the positive tests so we can prove this, Furtenbach told The Associated Press in Nepals capital, Kathmandu.

We have at least 100 people minimum positive for COVID in base camp, and then the numbers might be something like 150 or 200, he said.

He said it was obvious there were many cases at the Everest base camp because he could visibly see people were sick, and could hear people coughing in their tents.

A total of 408 foreign climbers were issued permits to climb Everest this season, aided by several hundred Sherpas and support staff who've been stationed at base camp since April.
The name of the bill is not hyperbole. As more readers move to digital platforms to find local news, it is vitally important that news organizations footing the bill to create the content be fairly compensated for its distribution.

Journalism  especially local journalism  is more important than ever. Readership is rising even as revenue generated by those readers is falling. This bill would help local news publishers negotiate with the dominant tech platforms to establish fair prices for the stories they create.

Recent experiences in Australia and Europe demonstrate that other countries recognize the disparity in bargaining power between news publishers and Facebook and Google and are moving toward a new compensation model for publishers, one that ensures equitable terms are offered to all publishers and that platforms participate in good faith.

The revenue shared by the online giants in exchange for the news stories that drives their traffic would help pay the salaries of journalists who keep communities from becoming news deserts.

Across the United States, more than 2,000 local newspapers have closed their doors since 2004. That is 2,000 communities with little or no reporting about local governments, businesses, community happenings, and sports. With no local journalism, communities suffer.
With regard to Pete Rawlins May 16 letter to the editor, I would like to offer my counter argument. I know of no other state that has implemented gambling and/or lottery using the proceeds to replace taxes that they removed from citizens. It's an honorable idea but one that misses the point. If you're going to implement a process to collect revenues from citizens so you can refund revenues to citizens, it's really just a wash between who's getting the benefit and who's getting the pain.

The states that have had the best implementation of gambling/lottery legalization are those that have used the proceeds to fund Pre-K and HOPE Scholarships (free college tuition). Take our neighbor Georgia. Georgia uses the proceeds from its lottery to fund tuition grants/scholarships for undergraduate students to eligible Georgia colleges, universities, or technical colleges, as well as funding for 4-year-old Pre-K children.
Le Thi Thuy feeds her son in a rented room in Thu Duc, HCMC, May 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet.

Vietnam's Labor Code stipulates that an employee can work a maximum of 200 extra hours a year, but many workers in HCMC are happy to exceed the limit.

To afford the expenses in the city, some even work up to 1,000 hours a year extra.

It is 7 a.m. and the bell for the morning shift rings. Le Thi Thuy, 33, starts a new working day at an electronics company in the hi-tech park in Thu Duc City where she has been working for more than 10 years.

She only leaves after 7 p.m., after finishing three hours of overtime. She goes home, makes dinner and cleans up, and only gets to spend some time with her son at around midnight.

Her company works in two shifts, the first ending at 4:30 p.m., but employees can work until 7 p.m if they want to.

The night shift ends at 4:30 a.m. and overtime until 7 a.m. is permitted.

After working for four days, employees can take two days off, but Thuy and many of her colleagues hardly do so.

Thuy estimates her total overtime hours in a year at around 1,000.

The Labor Code caps overtime at 40 hours a month and 200 a year, and 300 in certain industries like textile and garment, leather, seafood processing, telecommunications, and water and power distribution.

For people like Thuy, low salaries and high cost of living mean they have no choice but to exceed the overtime limit.

Her family rents a small house on Le Van Viet Street in Thu Duc City for VND4 million ($174) a month and there are expenses for food, milk, diapers, and medical bills.

Her salary is VND7 million a month and her husband's is lower.

After working around 100 hours overtime a month, she gets around VND13 million in all, and she only stops working overtime when the company runs out of materials.

"I don't know how long I can continue working overtime, but I need money to raise my family," she says.

Nguyen Thanh Luan and Hoang Kim Quan, both 24, have not met for nearly a week though they share a room on Lo Lu Street in Thu Duc City. The men from the Central Highlands province of Dak Lak work in different companies.

Hoang Kim Quan (L) and Nguyen Thanh Luan at their rented room in Thu Duc, HCMC, in May 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Le Tuyet.

Last week Luan worked the night shift and Quan the morning shift.

They work 12 hours straight and eat all three meals in office, and have not spent much on anything other than necessities so they can save as much money as possible.

Luan says he logs nearly 100 hours' overtime every month and earns a total salary of around VND15 million. After covering his expenses, he sends VND10 million home to help his parents repay debts and raise his two children.

Quan works at a printing company warehouse and does 100 hours of overtime a month to earn VND10 million.

"It's a pity no girl wants to fall in love with me," he says. He used to have a girlfriend but they broke up because he did not have time to go out with her to drink coffee or watch movies.

Health risks and limited personal time

Huynh Van Tuan, chairman of the trade union affiliated to the HCMC Export Processing Zone and Industrial Park Authority (HEPZA), says working nearly 1,000 hours' a year overtime is not uncommon since low incomes otherwise make it difficult for workers to cover their expenses in Saigon.

Overtime work also helps reduce costs since they eat in their factory and only return to their rented rooms to sleep, he points out.

Many workers even risk their health working overtime and do not have time to take care of their families, he says.

He plans to make a list of businesses where the overtime limits are exceeded by 100 hours a month and submit it to the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs for inspection.

Vu Ngoc Ha, director of the Dong Nai Trade Union Legal Consultancy Center, says though the law caps overtime work at 300 hours a year, most businesses pay based on minimum wages, making incomes too low.

In Dong Nai, for instance, businesses that allow overtime find it easy to recruit workers, he says. In some places, workers even go on strike demanding that businesses should increase the maximum overtime hours permitted, he says.

"Since workers break the overtime limit on their own volition, it is difficult for authorities to penalize businesses."

To ensure workers do not have to work thousands of hours overtime a year, the government should adjust the minimum wage, control prices and have favorable health, education and housing policies for workers, he adds.

Vietnams three major cities, HCMC, Da Nang and Hanoi, are among Southeast Asia's 20 most expensive cities, according to data released earlier this year by user-contributed database Numbeo.

It estimates the average monthly expense in HCMC for a single person, excluding rent, at $469.
Vietnam wants EU to help it acquire Covid vaccine

A nurse holds a vial of the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine in HCMC, May 11, 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Huu Khoa.

National Assembly chairman Vuong Dinh Hue has sought the EUs help for Vietnam to access Covid-19 vaccines and vaccine production technologies.

Speaking at a Friday meeting with Giorgio Aliberti, Ambassador of the European Union to Vietnam, he thanked the EU for its support, which has enabled Vietnam to source vaccines through Covax, a global mechanism for distribution of vaccines to developing countries and people in conflict zones.

But the vaccination rate in Vietnam remains low, precluding herd immunity, he said.

"Under the present circumstances, no region, country or person is safe without a vaccine against Covid-19."

He said countries and businesses that possess the vaccine know-how should share it with other countries, especially those severely affected by the pandemic.

Aliberti admitted it is important to increase vaccination against Covid to achieve wide coverage as soon as possible.

Saying the EU strongly supports the Covax mechanism and has so far provided nearly 2.5 million doses to Vietnam, he promised that more doses would be delivered before year-end.

Vietnam is currently using the vaccine produced by British-Swedish firm AstraZeneca for its public vaccination program.

The country has received over 2.6 million doses of the vaccine, with 117,600 doses through commercial contracts and the rest through Covax, and immunized over a million of its 96 million people.

It has also been developing its own vaccines, with Nanocovax by Nanogen Pharmaceutical Biotechnology JSC and Covivac the Institute of Vaccines and Medical Biological having entered human trials.

Since a new Covid wave began on April 27 the country has had 1,913 cases in 30 cities and provinces.
A person receives a dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine at a vaccination center in Chicago, Illinois, U.S., April 6, 2021. Photo by Reuters/Carlos Barria.

Vietnam travel agencies are launching "vaccine tours" to the U.S. to boost a hobbled tourism industry, with some states allowing foreigners to receive Covid-19 jabs.

Hong Ngoc Ha Travel Company, headquartered in District 1 of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), became the first Vietnamese travel agency to launch a vaccine tour aimed at high-income tourists and those wishing to pay short-term visit or visit relatives, as well as access vaccines from the U.S.

The tour is advertised at a cost of nearly VND45 million ($1,950) for an eight-day trip, including one-way air ticket from HCMC to American cities like New York or Los Angeles, three-star standard hotel room and a single dose of Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine, Le Van Tri, head of the companys media department said.

The jabs developed by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna require a two-dose regimen with a 21-day interval, while Johnson & Johnsons vaccine needs only one dose, he added.

The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is about 66 percent effective at preventing symptomatic Covid-19, according to data released by the producer.

HCMC-based Fiditour is also planning to launch a coronavirus vaccine tour to the U.S.

Tran Thi Bao Thu, director of marketing and communications at Fiditour, said the company is working closely on the plan to ensure feasibility for visa application as well as guarantee return for visitors. Details about the tour are expected to be released at the end of this month.

Fiditour's caution in launching the new tour is based on concern about obtaining return air tickets because of limited commercial flights and high costs due to the pandemic.

Tri said the total cost for the vaccine tour, including entry fees, quarantine and Covid-19 testing as well as air tickets for the return journey could rise to VND170 million ($7,000) per person.

Vu The Binh, deputy chairman of Vietnam Tourism Association, said currently the sale of vaccine tours to the U.S. is not banned, but that tourists returning to Vietnam will have to comply with pandemic protocols as regulated by the health ministry, including 21-day centralized quarantine and Covid-19 testing.

Starting May 5, Vietnam had extended its quarantine policy from 14 to 21 days for foreign arrivals as the country grappled with its fourth coronavirus wave.

The U.S. is offering supporting policies on Covid-19 vaccination for international visitors in an effort to bring visitors back; therefore, it is not difficult to register for injections at medical facilities.

People aged two years and older can enter the U.S. as long as they present a negative Covid-19 test done within three days before entry or have been treated for Covid-19 within 90 days before departure. They are also exempt from centralized isolation.

While poor and low-income countries are struggling to secure enough vaccine doses due to a lack of supply, the U.S. is outpacing the rest of the world in its vaccination roll-out campaign as 47 percent of adults were fully inoculated as of this month, according to the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Several travel agencies in Thailand are selling coronavirus "vaccine tours" to the U.S. while travelers from Mexico, Argentina to Latin America are booking flights there to take advantage of one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns.
Govt-and-politics

top story

Nevada Republicans punished for defying statehouse mask rule

Assemblywomen Annie Black, left, and Jill Dickman

CARSON CITY (AP)  Long-simmering disputes over coronavirus restrictions in the Nevada statehouse boiled over on Thursday when the Democratic majority voted to punish Republican lawmakers for refusing to comply with rules in place to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Under rules announced Wednesday, people in the statehouse can roam the building without face-coverings as long as they have been vaccinated. Republican Assemblywomen Annie Black and Jill Dickman went mask-less on the Assembly floor, but they refused to make known whether or not they had received vaccines on Thursday.

Dickman was escorted out of the Assembly floor after staff told her that she would have to prove that she had been vaccinated. She refused. In a party-line vote, the Assembly elected to strip Black of her right to vote on measures and address the chamber until she apologized for violating legislative rules. She refused to be escorted out.

This is WAY out of control! Black tweeted after the incident.

Black, who attended the Save America protest in Washington D.C. on Jan. 6, has been admonished for posting videos of herself in the statehouse unmasked. Last week, lawmakers bickered over whether wearing masks should be required for an outdoor group photograph.

Democratic Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson said the Assembly rules allowed people to forego masks but required they wear them if they have not been vaccinated.

We were informed that there were persons who had not confirmed they were vaccinated and would not wear masks, so they didnt comply with our rules, he said.

Its unclear how legislative staff determines who has been vaccinated. Frierson directed comments to Legislative Counsel Bureau Director Brenda Erdoes, who did not respond to requests for comment.

The mask fight mirrors similar clashes in other statehouses and the U.S. Congress. Congressional Republicans were fined on Wednesday for not complying with the bodys mask rules.

In the Nevada statehouse, Republicans have clamored for months about coronavirus restrictions. They have argued that if restaurants, bars and casinos can open, then the Legislature should as well. Democrats, who control the statehouse, have argued that restrictions mirror those in place in many workplaces and are necessary to protect the health and safety of staff.

On Tuesday, Black violated the rules by taking off her mask to address the Assembly and was later warned that she could be censured and stripped of her right to vote if she continued to flout rules that lawmakers approved when the Legislature convened in February.

The Nevada Legislature continues to insist that everyone wear a mask here in this building unless cloistered alone in their office, Black said on the Assembly floor after removing her mask. Its especially absurd to require masks here on the floor of the Assembly, where were not only sufficiently social distanced, but separated by plexiglass shields.

Dickman said she believed nobody should have to disclose personal medical information and said government officials asking people to show a paper to prove vaccine status was coercive and overreaching.

I am not willing to make public my private information, Dickman said. Apparently we have de facto vaccine passports in the Nevada Legislature which  since we dont have them in the state or the country  doesnt make sense to me.

The restrictions in place in the statehouse have gradually been loosened throughout the four-month legislative session as infection rates have fallen and vaccination rates have risen. The building was initially closed to the public except for a limited number of reporters but reopened on an appointment-only basis in April.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on May 13 eased face-covering guidelines outdoors and in most indoor settings, but left it to state and local governments to implement their own rules, which can differ between public settings and individual workplaces.
Managing the geese is important, so we work with NDOW and Fish and Wildlife Services to make sure they are managed properly, said Jessie Bahr, president and general manager.

Bahr said both wildlife and people could share the 32-acre Marina property to its full capacity without one crowding out the other.

There has to be a good balance, she explained. I think thats the key. We have a nice Marina for the residents, but not just for the geese.

+3 WATCH NOW: On the horizon: H2GO Watersports looks ahead after profitable summer SPRING CREEK  As the sun sets on an eventful summer, the Chacon family makes plans for next season.

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H2Go Watersports Rentals will resume operations at the Marina this summer, offering kayaks, pedal boats, paddleboards and inflatables for rent.

The rentals, along with an increase in visitors seeking outdoor recreation last summer, proved to the association that the amenity needed to better define swimming and fishing areas.

Fishing from the pier will be relocated to two floating docks on each side of the Marina. They will be far enough away from people splashing and jumping into the water and positioned in colder and deeper areas for better catches.

The fishermen will have their serenity areas, and we can have kids play in this area without disturbing them, Kerr said.
The new program would provide tuition-free classes for everyone, regardless of income.

If the proposal sounds familiar, its probably because you heard it in 2015 from then-President Barack Obama. Other liberal candidates also brought up the idea during the last election. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, discussed the issue with the Elko Daily when he was campaigning here in December 2019.

People understand that if their kids are going to make it into the middle class they often need a higher education, he said. To my mind what weve got to do is make public colleges and universities tuition free  not only colleges but trade schools as well for those young people who want to work with their hands.

Free college and canceling student debt were significant elements in Sanders platform to reduce wealth and income inequality.

Unlike Sanders plan, Bidens would cover only community colleges, not universities.

Shortly after Biden was inaugurated, Pew Research Center conducted a poll that said 39% of Republicans support the idea of tuition-free college.
Last week, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention updated their guidance for fully vaccinated people. The statement read that those who are fully vaccinated can can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.

The CDC has reported that around 37% of those in the United States are fully vaccinated, up nearly eight points since late April. As for those who have received one dose, the numbers are also increasing steadily from forty-two percent in late April, to forty-seven percent as of 20 May. While these numbers are encouraging this still leaves more than half of the population unvaccinated and unprotected.

Many full vaccinated people were excited to hear the news on masks, but it creates complications for employers as many begin to staff up. Additionally, some businesses and organizations are wondering how or if they are able to ask about status to allow entry or service. Some states like Florida have enacted laws to ban the use of vaccine passports, one way to quickly identify those who are vaxed from those that are not.

Can businesses or employers ask about vaccine status?

The US Equal Employment Opportunities Commission released guidance in December stating that it was okay for employers to ask for proof of vaccination. However, it is important that the employer does not ask for any additional medical information as this could lead to legal and privacy violations. Neither the EEOC or the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have not provided any additional information since the CDC updates on mask-wearing.

This leaves many employers in the dark on how to treat vaccinated and unvaccinated workers. To date, many are relying on OSHA guidance from January that did not outline any guidance on the permissibility of treating vaccinated workers differently than unvaccinated workers, but does remind employers that workers who are forgoing vaccination for medical or religious reasons should be accommodated.

Both organizations have posted on their websites that they are currently reviewing the information put out by the CDC and developing new guidance.

OSHAs reads:

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued new guidance relating to recommended precautions for people who are fully vaccinated, which is applicable to activities outside of healthcare and a few other environments. OSHA is reviewing the recent CDC guidance and will update our materials on this website accordingly. Until those updates are complete, please refer to the CDC guidance for information on measures appropriate to protect fully vaccinated workers.

Until more guidance has been released, legal experts are advising that businesses who would like proof of vaccination make verification easy and do not force employees to turn over additional medical information. This is critical to avoiding violations relating to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Guidance for asking friends and families about their vaccine status

The etiquette experts have been asked, and they have answered saying that it is very important that the question of if a person has been vaccinated not be avoided out fears of being rude. There are polite ways to ask the question which can help in ensuring that the conversation is productive and useful.

USA Today spoke with Mister Manners himself, Thomas P. Farley who said asking about vaccine status is not like asking someone their age. He warns that making the topic taboo could have negative health outcomes for society as a whole.

Some tips from the experts including, talking about your own vaccine experience to start the conversation, and remaining positive and non-judgmental. Regardless of the decision made by those around you to get vaccinated, the experts say it is best to establish your own boundaries to determine what you are comfortable with.
Citing the need to get people back to work 23 Republican-led states have decided that enhanced unemployment benefits helping Americans who couldnt work due to the pandemic are holding back the economic recovery. Although the financial assistance is slated to continue until the first week of September in the federal bill, some of those states have chosen to start ending benefits as soon as June.

Montana was the first state to get the ball rolling on 4 May, followed soon afterwards by additional states, announcing the end of participation in the enhanced benefits program. Some states while ending participation in the federal programs are instating incentives to return to work.

What unemployment benefits will end?

The majority of states have or will reinstate job search requirements in order to continue to receive unemployment benefits. Although the federal government has not shortened the amount of time that individuals can receive federal unemployment compensation President Biden has said that anyone collecting unemployment, who was offered a suitable job, must take the job or lose their unemployment benefits," when speaking about the April jobs report in early May.

Requirements to receive financial assistance while unemployed vary from state to state. If youre worried about potential changes to benefits that you are receiving, it is best to check with your states online unemployment portal or call your states unemployment office.

Some states, beginning as early as 12 June, will end their participation in:

Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) program, which provides unemployment benefits to those who normally dont qualify like the self-employed and gig workers, or those who couldnt work due to the pandemic.

which provides unemployment benefits to those who normally dont qualify like the self-employed and gig workers, or those who couldnt work due to the pandemic. Pandemic Emergency Unemployment Compensation (PEUC) program, which provides those that have exhausted their state benefits with additional weeks.

which provides those that have exhausted their state benefits with additional weeks. Federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation (FPUC) program, which provides an extra $300 per week to unemployment benefits.

which provides an extra $300 per week to unemployment benefits. Mixed Earner Unemployment Compensation (MEUC) program, which provides an additional $100 to those that are both wage earners and self-employed.

Which states are ending enhanced pandemic unemployment benefits?

The following states have announced that they will cease participation in the enhanced federal unemployment benefits programs. This doesn't affect normal state unemployment compensation, which will continue according to each states rules and requirements to claim benefits.

12 June

Alaska, Iowa, Mississippi, and Missouri

19 June

Alabama, Idaho, Indiana, New Hampshire, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Wyoming

26 June

Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Texas, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah

27 June

Montana

30 June

South Carolina

3 July

Tennessee

10 July

Arizona

Four states are offering benefits to return to work

Of the four states above, Arizona, Montana, New Hampshire and Oklahoma have announced plans to entice workers back to available jobs.

Arizona: Governor Doug Ducey announced a $2,000 Arizona Back To Work bonus to encourage state residents to rejoin the workforce full-time and a smaller bonus for individuals who get part-time work. It also provides child care support, educational opportunities and rental assistance as incentives to return to the workforce.

Montana: The state will offer those with an active unemployment claim as of 4 May, 2021 a one-time $1,200 bonus payment. In order to be eligible individuals must: discontinue receiving unemployment insurance benefits; accept an offer of employment in any industry in Montana; and complete at least four full weeks of paid employment.

New Hampshire: Governor Chris Sununu announced a $10 million program that will provide a bonus on a first come, first serve basis to those workers who would get paid $25 per hour or less if they returned to work. Currently unemployed individuals must return to work for at least eight weeks. For a full-time job eligible individuals will receive $1,000 and for part-time work $500. The bonus can be claimed starting immediately before benefits are set to end.

Oklahoma: The state will give the first 20,000 currently receiving unemployment benefits who return to work a $1,200 Return to Work Incentive.
The Ancient City of Kashgar, a famous tourist destination in Kashgar City of northwest Chinas Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, hosts a variety of unique shops.

Shops at the Ancient City of Kashgar (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

The bustling atmosphere at the Ancient City attracts many young people to start up their own businesses, one of whom is Mewlan Turaq, a 28-year-old Kashgar native who opened his own cultural and creative shop, Rumi Creatives.

Mewlan Turaq in front of Rumi Creatives (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Rumi Creatives creates culture- and tourism-themed products. It seeks to promote Kashgars traditional culture by selling traditional local costumes, accessories, artworks, and daily products. Its business has also extended into tourism through taking traditionally-themed photographs for visitors dressed in local clothes. As a business opened in 2018, Rumi Creatives has expanded from a small shop into a company with around 20 employees.

Products inside Rumi Creatives (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Products inside Rumi Creatives (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Born and raised in Kashgar, Turaq moved to Nanchang for college, worked in Chengdu and Shanghai after graduation, and finally moved back to his hometown to start his own business. Initially, he went to a medical school, but had ideas of starting up his business since his college days. I started collecting antique things back in college. And now, we do repair work of antique products.

For just a little over two years, Rumi Creatives has become a tourist attraction at the Ancient City. People would search up our address and come visit us. Even though my shop is located deep in the Ancient City, people would still come find us.

The exterior of Rumi Creatives (Junye Zhang/Guangming Picture)

Turaq attributes his success to his passion for promoting local culture and his innovative ideas. His favorite products are the canvas bags and T-shirts which he helped design. I hire painters to paint specific images and have them printed onto the bags and T-shirts. They are products which represent my aesthetic taste.

Turaqs idea of starting Rumi Creatives started back when he lived in Nanchang. When I lived in other parts of the country, people kept telling me they wanted to see new things coming from Xinjiang. People who visited Kashgar and Xinjiang 20 to 30 years ago said there is not much difference between things that are being sold now and back then. This gave me the idea to create innovative products inspired by our local culture, said Turaq. The world is developing at such a rapid speed, where everything is happening so fast and upgrading all the time. I want the cultural aspect to keep in pace with other aspects of society, to let people see the new and more developed Xinjiang.

Speaking about his decision to move back to Kashgar, Turaq said that the city attracted him because there are lots of opportunities here for young people. Many young people are moving back here because it is so easy to start their own businesses. The government provides lots of support for young people who want to start up their own things, and there are not a lot of restrictions.

The government offered help to Turaq both before and after he started his business. When I wanted to start my own company, I had no idea about the registration procedure and the filing work involved. People from the government would guide me, and offer classes informing us on the processes of starting up our businesses, said Turaq. After Rumi Creatives began operation, the local government also helped increase Turaqs publicity. The government would increase our media exposure. They want to push young people with original ideas to the forefront, to make us known to the public, and attract more people to come to Kashgar.

Aside from the business opportunities, Turaq is also deeply fond of Kashgars local culture. He emphasized quite a few times that he has a passion for his native culture, which is the biggest inspiration for his start-up plan. Speaking of aspects of the local culture he likes the most, Turaq said it is the traditional songs and dances that have permeated into every aspect of peoples lives in Kashgar. He highly recommends tourists to visit local bars, listen to live-house performances and experience the different musical and cultural dynamics here.

Although Turaq lived in other parts of the country for eight years, he was ultimately lured back to Kashgar due to his love for its local culture, and his confidence in the burgeoning opportunities bursting in Kashgar. "There is so much potential in the tourist industry here, said Turaq. I don't need to go anywhere else."

[ Editor: JYZ ]
The resumption of the supply of Dnieper water to Crimea is possible only after its demilitarization and de-occupation, speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleh Nikolenko said.

"There are enough water resources for domestic use in Crimea. The problem has exacerbated due to its massive militarization: the development of military bases and enterprises of the military-industrial complex of the Russian Federation. In fact, the Russian military has jeopardized the satisfaction of basic needs of the Crimean civilian population," Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine agency on Saturday.

According to him, this proves once again the destructive nature of the Russian policy in the Ukrainian territories occupied by it.

"On the other hand, the Russian side does not abandon attempts to shift responsibility onto others. Let me remind you that in accordance with international law, Russia, as an occupying state, is responsible for the situation on the peninsula. Our position is clear: the resumption of the supply of Dnieper water to Crimea is possible only after its demilitarization and de-occupation," the speaker of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine said.

According to Russian media, earlier Deputy Director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry Illia Timokhov said at an international online conference that "the ongoing water blockade of the peninsula could lead to another humanitarian catastrophe with hard-to-predict consequences."
Three soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were wounded on Friday near the village of Luhanske as a result of shelling by Russia-led forces, the press center of the Joint Forces Operation said.

"On May 21, in the area of the Joint Forces operation, in the area of responsibility of the Pivnich (North) task force, three servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were injured as a result of the shelling by the armed formations of the Russian Federation of the positions of our units near the settlement of Luhanske.

It is noted that the wounded received first aid and were hospitalized in a satisfactory condition.

Ukrainian soldiers returned fire in response to the shelling of the enemy.
The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline is Russia's weapon in a hybrid war against Ukraine, as well as a direct threat to Europe's energy security, leader of the Holos party MP Kira Rudyk said.

Commenting on the appeal adopted by the Verkhovna Rada to the U.S. Congress (draft resolution No. 5520) with a call to impose sanctions against all participants in the construction of Nord Stream 2, the politician said that it is almost completed, but with the help of international partners, the gas pipeline can still be stopped.

"The Nord Stream 2 project is a direct threat not only to the energy security of Ukraine, but also to Europe. It is Russia's weapon in a hybrid war, an additional instrument of influence and pressure on Europe. Also, it means more expensive gas for Ukrainians, and less income from its transit for the state. In particular, Ukraine will annually lose $1.5 billion in case of launching Nord Stream 2," the press service of the Holos party quotes Rudyk.

According to the MP, blocking the construction of the gas pipeline today is the only way to deprive Russia of the strong leverage over European countries.

"Ukraine is very grateful to the United States for its consistent position on the illegal actions of the aggressor country. And today we count on the support of our colleagues in the American Congress to stop the aggressor together," the MP said.
At an online meeting of the Hanoi Steering Committee for COVID-19 Prevention and Control held on May 21, Anh, who is also the head of the committee, noted that, with election day coming up, all levels, sectors and people need to thoroughly grasp the direction of the Prime Minister, to absolutely not be negligent or let down vigilance against the epidemic.

All localities and units were asked to ensure the prevention and control of COVID-19, especially at polling stations.

Meanwhile, at a same meeting on the same day in Ho Chi Minh City, Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong said that to ensure the safety against the epidemic, the city authorities have decided to stop festivals and religious ceremonies, as well as events gathering more than 20 people, while stopping meetings with more than 30 people in one room, and 20 or more people outside of construction sites, offices, schools and hospitals.

For small roadside eateries, it is recommended not to focus on eating in, only on take-away. For a restaurant with more than 10 employees, it must comply with the principle of no more than 20 people gathering at a time, ensuring social distancing. For hotels and restaurants, no more than 20 people can be served at a time in a room and social distancing must be adhered to.

On the same day, An Giang Central General Hospital held a ceremony to receive 2,500 SARS-CoV-2 test kits (worth VND1.5 billion), sponsored by Loc Troi Group Joint Stock Company.

The Da Nang Red Cross Society organised a humanitarian market to support 350 disadvantaged households affected by the COVID-19 epidemic in the area. Each resident from such homes was given a voucher worth VND500,000 to buy necessities at the market.

Leaders of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour visit and present financial support worth VND100 million to the Thai Binh Provincial General Hospital, Thai Binh Province, May 21, 2021. (Photo: NDO/Phuc Quan)



On May 21, the Vietnam General Confederation of Labour sent four delegations to inspect the preparation for the national election and COVID-19 prevention in the localities of Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Hung Yen, Hanoi, Ha Nam and Vinh Phuc. The delegation also visited and supported workers affected by COVID-19 with VND1 million each, awarding a total VND700 million.

Toyota Motor Vietnam has supported the People's Committee of Vinh Phuc Province with a COVID-19 Real-time PCR rapid test machine, worth VND1.57 billion, to help Vinh Phuc strengthen its medical resources and quickly control any outbreaks.

On the afternoon of May 21, the Vietnam Orchid Development Fund (under the Vietnam Orchid Association) presented the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases with VND1.2 billion worth of 10 HFNC non-invasive ventilators, two intubation machines with cameras, 10 walkie-talkies, five wifi cameras, 10 fresh air purifiers and three washers and dryers.

On the same day, Do Van Chien, President of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, received a donation worth VND3 billion from the Masterise Group to contribute more resources to help Vietnam fight the epidemic.

On May 21, at the Nam Giang Border Gate, Nam Giang District (Quang Nam Province), Quang Nam authorities handed over medical supplies and equipment worth more than VND534 million to help Sekong Province in Laos fight the COVID-19 epidemic. Previously, the Quang Nam Border Guard also provided rice, food, medical supplies and other equipment to Sekong to a total value of over VND450 million.

On the same day, the An Giang Provincial Youth Union organised a delegation to donate medical supplies for the prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic and essential supplies to support the Preychulsa District in Takeo Province, Cambodia.
Responding to reporters query regarding a cease-fire agreement reached by Israel and Hamas, Hang said Vietnam welcomes and appeals to relevant sides to respect and seriously observe the agreement, and not to take actions that would complicate the situation.

We highly evaluate reconciliation efforts of the international community, especially the United Nations and several related countries. We call on the international community to increase humanitarian aid, including support for activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), in order to help Palestinians soon overcome difficulties and stabilise their lives, she said.
Vietnam records 52 more Covid-19 infections, patient tally surpasses 5,000

52 more Covid-19 infection cases have just been confirmed in Vietnam, raising the total number of patients in the country to 5,013, the Ministry of Health reported at noon on Saturday.















Illustrative photo







According to the ministry's report, 50 of the newly-confirmed patients are locally-transmitted cases most of whom were detected in quarantine sites or areas under lockdown in some northern provinces, including 34 in Bac Giang, 10 in Hanoi, four in Hung Yen, and two in Hai Duong.





The 34 cases in Bac Giang were recorded at some industrial parks of Van Trung, Dinh Tram, Song Khe-Noi Hoang, and Quang Chau which have reported a large outbreak over the last few days. On Friday, 99 infections were also reported in the province. Local authorities have temporarily closed these four industrial parks for Covid-19 prevention and control.

Two imported patients include a boy and a girl who are both five years old and come from India. They arrived in Hanoi on May 7 and tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 in their second testing on May 21. The two are now being treated at a hospital in Hanoi.





As of Saturday noon, 1,962 locally-transmitted cases have been reported since the new outbreak occurred in the country on April 27. The outbreak has so far spread to 30 cities and provinces nationwide.



With these new infection cases, the number of Covid-19 patients in Vietnam has increased to 5,013, including 3,532 locally-transmitted cases.



As of 6 pm on May 21, a total of 2,689 Covid-19 patients had recovered and been discharged from hospital.



So far there have been 41 deaths, most of them being the elderly with serious underlying diseases.



At present, over 179, 000 people who had close contact with Covid-19 patients or returned from virus-hit areas are being monitored at hospitals, quarantine facilities, and at home.



On May 21, an additional 5,587 people were given Covid-19 vaccine in Vietnam, raising the total number of vaccinated people in the country to 1,026,672 including 28,961 people having received two doses.
Kyle Rittenhouse listens during his pretrial hearing at the Kenosha County Courthouse in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S., (Photo : Sean Krajacic/Kenosha News/Pool via REUTERS)

Kyle Rittenhouse, the teenager charged with fatally shooting two people and wounding a third during protests in Wisconsin last August, made his first in-person court appearance on Friday ahead of trial in November.



Rittenhouse, 18, had been attending court hearings remotely from his lawyer's office but was able to appear in person before Kenosha County Circuit Judge Bruce Schroeder for the pre-trial hearing following a relaxation of COVID-19 protocols.



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The teenager sat to the left of his lawyer and was wearing a blue shirt, navy blazer and black face mask. He did not speak during the hearing, which mainly covered routine matters and lasted roughly 20 minutes.



Schroeder set a few pre-trial deadlines for the prosecutors and Rittenhouse's legal team, including July 1 for any motions and Aug. 1 for a questionnaire for potential jurors.



Rittenhouse has been charged with homicide and five other criminal counts related to the shootings, in which Joseph Rosenbaum and Anthony Huber were killed and Gaige Grosskreutz was wounded.



Rittenhouse had traveled on Aug. 25 from his home in nearby Antioch, Illinois, in a self-appointed role to protect businesses in Kenosha, where the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, had sparked large protests against police brutality and racism.



His lawyers have said their client acted in self-defense.


A Boeing 737 MAX airplane lands after a test flight at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, (Photo : REUTERS/Karen Ducey/File Photo/File Photo)

Planemaker Boeing Co has drawn up preliminary plans for a fresh sprint in 737 MAX output to as many as 42 jets a month in fall 2022, industry sources said, in a bid to extend its recovery from overlapping safety and COVID-19 crises.



The plans would lift output beyond an early 2022 target of 31 a month, which the sources said Boeing aims to reach in March.



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But implementation will depend on a cocktail of factors including demand, the uncertain capacity of some suppliers and Boeing's success in reducing a surplus of jets already built.



Boeing declined to comment and pointed to its latest guidance. Last month it reaffirmed plans to raise MAX output from an unspecified "low" rate to 31 a month by early 2022.



Shares in the planemaker rose as much as 3.7% in early trading, outpacing a slightly firmer U.S. market.



Production was halted in 2019 after Boeing's fastest-selling model was grounded in the wake of fatal crashes. It resumed last May at a fraction of its original pace while Boeing navigated regulatory approvals and a fragile supply chain.



It is still awaiting the go-ahead from China after winning Western approvals late last year. Chief Executive Dave Calhoun has warned that the timing of remaining approvals will influence the shape of Boeing's final production ramp-up.



As an interim step, Boeing hopes to speed monthly output from single digits now to about 26 a month at the end of 2021 at its Renton factory near Seattle, two of the sources said.



Higher production could inject much-needed cash into the supply chain and reduce Boeing's component costs.



The Puget Sound aerospace industry has already started to pick up steam. Sources say Boeing has been placing parts orders again, while fuselages can be seen heading by rail to the Seattle area from Spirit AeroSystems' Wichita factory.



STEEP CLIMB



That comes as demand for medium-haul jets such as the 737 MAX and competing Airbus A320neo begins to recover from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, boosted by widespread vaccinations, especially in the busy U.S. domestic market.



However, several U.S. and European suppliers view output plans of both planemakers as optimistic, saying that concerns remain over the health of the global aerospace supply chain.



"The biggest risk that we can see with Boeing's plans is the inability of the supply chain to keep up," Vertical Research Partners analyst Rob Stallard wrote in a client note about Reuters' story.



Boeing's efforts to restore production are also tied to the pace at which it offloads an inventory of parked airplanes that swelled during the nearly two years the MAX was grounded.



The published target of 31 a month has already slipped from late 2021 to early 2022.



In Europe, Airbus has ordered suppliers to get ready for higher output while warning them over quality glitches that can reflect overstretched supply chains.



Both plane giants are embarking on their steepest ever climb in output, drawing reassurance from accumulated parts inventory and the fact that their plants had already covered the same territory in the past, albeit at slower rates of increase.



But neither yet feels ready to return to the record volumes seen before recent shocks to the industry.



Before the 2019 grounding, Boeing was producing 52 MAX a month on its way to a target of 57. Airbus was making close to 60 of its A320neo airplanes a month before last year's lockdowns.



Airbus plans to raise output from 40 to 45 airplanes a month by end-2021. Reuters reported last week it had asked suppliers to prepare for 53 a month by end-2022.



Output of larger long-haul jets remains depressed by a business travel slump and is not expected to recover soon.


SpaceX founder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk looks on as he visits the construction site of Tesla's gigafactory in Gruenheide, (Photo : REUTERS/Michele Tantussi)

Elon Musk said on Friday that Tesla was close to establishing a presence in Russia and was looking at whether it could open factories there.



Addressing an event in Russia via video link, Musk said the company already had production sites in China and the United States, but was looking at opening production facilities in other parts of the world.



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The Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade invited Musk to Russia.



"Dear @Elonmusk, we were delighted to learn that you are considering building a factory in Russia. By the way, we have a number of state support measures for local OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers). Come to see us, we'll talk about it :)," it said on social media in English.



Russian small private carmaker Zetta is designing an electric car and plans to launch production this year.



The auto industry in Russia, a global oil and gas exporter, has no successful electric car projects at present and analysts see slim prospects in the near future, primarily due to poor charging infrastructure.


Pro-Trump protesters storm the U.S. Capitol to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, (Photo : REUTERS/Ahmed Gaber)

Nearly four months after the U.S. Capitol attack, just one of more than 440 people charged has pleaded guilty, a sign of tough conditions set by prosecutors for plea deals and resistance by defense lawyers to their demands.



This reflects the high stakes of cases stemming from the worst violence at the Capitol in modern history, which left five people dead.



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U.S. officials have suggested in court hearings that defendants might be interested in pleading guilty, a move that typically can result in a shorter sentence. Prosecutors routinely seek to resolve cases through plea bargains. But legal experts said it is relatively early in this process for either prosecutors or defense lawyers to be reaching quick deals.



Lawyers for more than a dozen defendants said plea talks so far have foundered because prosecutors demanded their clients turn over social media data, cell phones and other evidence, while also pushing for prison sentences they would not accept.



Without plea deals, hundreds of separate trials will move forward, a time-consuming process now extended by a case backlog resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.



Moreover, without evidence provided under plea bargains, federal prosecutors may have a harder time building cases against leaders of the violence on more serious charges such as conspiracy or violation of laws intended to fight organized crime.



The Justice Department has launched a massive investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, when hundreds of supporters of Donald Trump stormed the building after the then-president falsely claimed in a fiery speech that the election had been stolen from him. The mob smashed windows, fought with police and sent lawmakers into hiding.



Many participants also live-streamed their actions on social media or posted pictures afterwards of themselves, making it relatively easy for law enforcement agencies to make hundreds of arrests rapidly.



The charges have ranged widely, from disorderly conduct to assaulting officers and conspiracy.



Key conspiracy cases have largely focused on leaders of the right-wing Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups. They face charges of obstruction of an official proceeding, destruction of government property and occupying a restricted building.



Some defendants facing lesser charges have been surprised by prosecutors' demands. Defense lawyers have complained that their insistence on obtaining cell phones and other physical and digital evidence is excessive. That data could be used to build cases against planners of the violence.



Attorney Steven Metcalf said he rejected a plea deal that would have sent his client Richard Barnett to prison for several years. The man from Gravette, Arkansas was seen in a widely circulated photograph sitting at a desk with his feet up in House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi's office.



"We might consider something more reasonable," Metcalfe said.



Former federal prosecutor Laurie Levenson, a law professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that by taking a tough stand in plea-bargain negotiations, prosecutors are "sending a message" about how seriously they take the riot cases.



"It is still relatively early in the process," Levenson said. "Prosecutors don't want to ... set the standards too low. There's not a lot incentive for prosecutors to give a sweetheart deal."



Prosecutors are also likely focused on amassing as much evidence as they can, she said, hence the requests for defendants to surrender phones and other data.



The one person who has pleaded guilty so far, Oath Keepers founding member Jon Schaffer, agreed to turn over "any and all evidence" of crimes that he was aware of and to fully cooperate with prosecutors, according to his plea deal filed in federal court.



LITTLE LEEWAY



The lawyer for Jacob Chansley, the man nicknamed the "QAnon Shaman" who was photographed wearing a horned headdress inside the Capitol, said the prosecutors he has talked to appear to have less leeway to negotiate deals without consulting Washington than he normally encounters in federal cases.



"We have been working as collaboratively as we can with the government," said Albert Watkins, a St. Louis lawyer who represents Chansley and three other Jan. 6 defendants.



A Justice Department spokesman would not comment on possible plea deals or whether senior officials have slowed efforts by frontline prosecutors to strike deals.



At a court hearing this month, prosecutors indicated that senior officials had approved possible plea deal offers for four defendants charged with attacking police in a Capitol tunnel with firecrackers and chemicals.



But lawyers for some of them said no offers have materialized.



"While it is true that the government indicated that they are 'in the process of extending plea offers in our case,' there have been no discussions regarding same or an intention of entertaining same," said Carlos Diaz-Cobo, who represents Christopher Quaglin of New Jersey, who faces charges including civil disorder.



"Our intention, at this point, is to go to trial," Diaz-Cobo added.



Plea discussions appear to be advanced in the case of at least one other accused rioter, court records showed. Douglas Jensen of Des Moines, Iowa, faces charges including violent entry of the Capitol and disrupting government business. Court records showed that a conference in early May was postponed until June while the parties decide if they want to proceed with a plea. Jensen's lawyer declined to comment.



(This story refiles to add dropped first name for Christopher Quaglin and dropped words to paragraph 24)


Attorney General Merrick Garland speaks during a hearing on "Domestic Violent Extremism in America." before the Senate Appropriations Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, (Photo : Bill O'Leary/Pool via REUTERS)

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland faces a Monday deadline to decide whether to appeal a court order criticizing his predecessor William Barr, an early test of his willingness to defend the Justice Department's acts during Donald Trump's presidency.



U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson gave the Justice Department until May 24 to appeal a decision she issued earlier this month that faulted Barr for how he publicly summarized Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 2019 report and ordered the release of a related internal memo.



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A group of U.S. Senate Democrats on May 14 urged Garland not to appeal Jackson's decision, saying in a letter that Barr's actions need to be exposed quickly.



"To be clear, these misrepresentations preceded your confirmation as Attorney General, but the Department you now lead bears responsibility for redressing them," the letter stated.



There are competing interests that Garland must balance in making his decision even if he may personally disapprove of Barr's conduct, said Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer in Washington who has been following the litigation.



An appeal would signal to civil servants in the Justice Department that Garland will back them in court when they come under fire, Moss said.



"For Garland, one interest here is the need to defend the honor and integrity of the department," Moss said. "The competing interest, of course, is the desire for some transparency."



Mueller investigated Russia's role in the 2016 U.S. election, as well as whether Trump tried to impede his probe.



The special counsel's April 2019 report outlined 10 episodes in which Trump tried to get the special counsel fired, limit the scope of his investigation, or otherwise interfere with the probe.



Mueller stopped short of concluding that Trump had committed the crime of obstruction of justice, but did not exonerate him of wrongdoing either, leaving Barr or Congress the option to take action against the Republican president.



Before publicly releasing Mueller's report, Barr sent a letter to congressional leaders and held a news conference that summarized Mueller's findings. Many Democrats have accused Barr of misrepresenting Mueller's findings in order to change the public narrative at the time.



Jackson validated this view in her stinging May 3 decision. She said Barr misrepresented the Mueller report in his letter to Congress, and ordered the release of a 2019 legal memorandum to a government accountability group.



The judge said the memorandum, prepared for Barr as he considered his decision, did not qualify as a protected attorney-client communication.



In her decision, Jackson characterized the memo as a "strategic" document, concluding that Barr had come to a predetermined conclusion not to charge Trump with obstruction of justice.



Her ruling came in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal watchdog group.


Egypt's Army Chief of Staff Lt. General Mohamed Farid hailed on Thursday the combat readiness of the participating personnel in the Egyptian-Sudanese Nile Eagles 1 military drill that qualifies them to carry out all the missions that may be assigned to them under various circumstances.

Farid's remarks came in his speech, issued in a video statement on Thursday by Egypt's official military spokesperson, during his attendance at the main phase of the air forces' drill which has been ongoing since the beginning of the week in Sudan.

The joint training, which runs until 26 November, is being conducted between the two neighbouring countries for the first time. It takes place in one of the Sudanese air bases and involves the Egyptian special forces Thunderbolt.

Farid said that the training can be evaluated as an advanced, sophisticated, professional, and integrated one in terms of coordination, planning, management, and leadership.

"It is a dear day to our souls because of the meanings and indications it carries that affirm the unity of purpose, destiny, will, and vision for joint action. Where we observe and reap today the outcomes of cooperation and coordination in launching a new and qualitative stage in the history of joint military action," Farid said in his speech during the launch of the main phase of the drill.

The first stages of the joint exercise began with theoretical and practical lectures that aimed to unify the required concepts and enhance personnels skills to manage joint air operations with high competence, the Egyptian Army spokesman Tamer El-Refaie said in an earlier statement.

The exercise seeks to achieve the maximum possible benefit for the participating personnel to manage air operations, El-Refaie added.

The exercise also seeks to measure the degree of preparedness of the forces to conduct joint operations on targets, through following the most appropriate tactics, to accomplish missions under different circumstances, he added.

Also, many joint defensive and offensive sorties have been conducted to attack hostile targets and protect other vital targets, with the participation of multi-tasking fighter jets.

Farid added that the rapid development in the nature of threats and challenges facing the Egyptian and Sudanese national security "increases the necessity and imperative of not only cooperation but also strategic coordination" between the two countries.

From his side, the Sudanese Chief of Staff praised Farid's visit, which he said is a continuation of the distinguished relations between the Egyptian and Sudanese armed forces, the Egyptian statement said.

He also expressed his aspiration for the coming stage to witness more cooperation and mutual integration, the statement noted.

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Units from the Egyptian and Sudanese Air Forces and Special Forces (thunderbolt) are conducting a joint air drill, dubbed Nile Eagles 2, at Meroe Air Base in Sudan, the Egyptian Armed Forces spokesman said on Wednesday.

According to an official statement, the forces carried out intensified training activities, the first stage of which started with refining skills to manage joint air operations with high efficiency.

The troops also conducted joint sorties to attack hostile targets and protect vital targets, with the participation of multirole fighter aircraft, the statement added.

The special forces of both sides trained on raids and stealth operations, as well as firing from different shooting positions.

The Chief of Staff of the Sudanese Armed Forces, Mohamed Othman, who inspected the troops participating in the exercise, praised the "harmony" displayed in the performance of the two sides.

The statement noted that the exercise aims to achieve the maximum possible benefit in terms of planning and carrying out air operations as well as to measure the readiness of the forces to carry out joint operations on various objectives.

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The Egyptian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Mohamed Farid witnessed the end of aerial exercises dubbed Nile Eagles 2 between Egyptian and Sudanese forces, a statement by the Armed Forces read on Monday.

The activities of the final stage of the drill, held in the Republic of Sudan, began with a detailed presentation of the various past stages of the exercise to demonstrate the preparedness of participating forces to execute any assigned missions.

The final stage included equipping and the take-off of several multi-role combat jets and helicopters to execute aerial interception and protect forces, carrying out combat operations against deep targets, and securing vital targets.

The special forces of both armies also carried out activities to eliminate terrorist hotbeds, the statement said, adding that the final exercise demonstrated high standards reached by participating forces.

Farid delivered a speech praising the high combat readiness by both Egyptian and Sudanese forces, adding that the exercises were the core of combat competence and determining factor for the success of forces in executing missions efficiently and competently.

He also held a separate meeting with his Sudanese counterpart, General Mohamed Osman Al-Hussein, where they discussed several issues of common interest and security and military challenges and threats.

They also tackled military cooperation programs in the coming period, the statement said, adding that both top military officials agreed on the importance of employing acquired experience from the joint drill to upgrade operational missions.

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Sudan's Sovereign Council chief Abdel-Fattah Al-Burhan said his country is not planning to go to war with Ethiopia over the ongoing border tensions but affirmed Sudan is ready to defend its lands.

In an interview with Al-Arabiya satellite news channel late on Friday, Al-Burhan described neighbouring Ethiopia and Ethiopians as a friendly country and people that Sudan has brotherly relations with.

Tensions rose between Sudan and Ethiopia over the ownership of the fertile Al-Fashqa region that lies within the Sudanese borders and is inhabited by Ethiopian and Sudanese farmers.

Sudan has deployed troops in Al-Fashqa in recent months, leading Ethiopia to accuse Sudan of having invaded a land that is part of Ethiopia's territory.

All we have done is a redeployment within our territories, Al-Burhan said. We did not fight Ethiopia and will not do so because we have no disputes with Ethiopia requiring a war.

The Sudanese official added that hostility towards Ethiopia has never been in our vocabulary. However, it is Ethiopia that claims it has lands inside Sudan.

Al-Burhan said Sudan is not planning to launch an attack against any neighbouring or regional country, but it is ready to defend its territories.

However, he warned that Ethiopia's statements on Al-Fashqa dispute are regretable and concerning, and fuel the probability of war and tussle.

There is great hostility from the Ethiopian side, claiming that Sudan occupied Ethiopian lands and robbed Ethiopian citizens of their property, and this is not true, Al-Burhan said.

These lands are Sudanese, and Ethiopia knows that it has launched systematic and repeated attacks against Sudanese farmers since 1996 until it was able to place Ethiopian citizens and forces on a large part of the Sudanese territory, Al-Burhan added.

Al-Burhan called on Ethiopia to pull back its forces and military camps in Sudan, saying that Sudan is ready to engage in negotiations and discuss the need for coordination on the border issue.

On possible foreign intervention to resolve the border crisis, Al-Burhan said Sudan does not object to the mediation of any party to stop the predictable war that the Ethiopian side calls for.

GERD dispute

Addressing the Egyptian and Sudanese dispute with Ethiopia over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Al-Burhan affirmed Sudans adherence to its call for a written legally binding agreement on the filling and operation of the dam.

He underscored the failure of the talks under the auspices of the African Union (AU) following decade-long talks to reach a consensus among the three countries.

Sudan has recently proposed that an international quartet of the United Nations, United States, AU, and European Union mediate in the stalled GERD talks, a step that Ethiopia has to date rejected.

A week after the latest AU-sponsored talks between the three countries collapsed in DR Congos capital of Kinshasa earlier this month, Sudans Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok on Tuesday called for a tripartite summit with his Egyptian and Ethiopian counterparts within 10 days.

During the interview, Al-Burhan said Hamdoks invitation is in line with the steps stipulated in the Declaration of Principles signed by Egypt, Sudan and Ethiopia in 2015 in case negotiations faltered.

Ethiopia plans to move ahead with the second filling of the dam in July despite the objections of Egypt and Sudan over the move in the absence of a legally binding deal.

Egypt on 13 April sent a letter to the UN Security Council, calling on the international community to intervene in the GERD dispute by persuading Ethiopia against taking any unilateral action.
Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has asserted Egypt's continued support to Sudan in order to achieve stability and development in the African nation, calling on all partners to back the Sudanese efforts.

Addressing the Paris Conference to support Sudans transition on Monday, El-Sisi announced Egypts contribution to the international initiative meant to settle Sudans debts through the utilisation of Egypts quota at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for doubtful debts to be settled.

The Paris Conference, hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron and attended by world and African leaders, aims to rally support for the Sudanese government in the transition that followed the 2019 toppling of former president Omar Al-Bashir, who rule the country for three decades.

Egypt participation in the event, El-Sisi added, stems from a deep conviction that "the security and stability of Sudan is an integral part of Egypt's and the region's."

"It also mirrors Egypt's commitment and steadfast political will to spare no effort to support the sustainability of peace, development and stability in Sudan," he stressed.

El-Sisi praised the economic vision put forward by the interim government and its effort to benefit from the Egyptian experience in economic reform in order to achieve economic stability and clear its accumulated debts.

Sudan seeks assistance in paying off a $60 billion foreign debt bill to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It is also attempting to secure investment in order to revive its economy weakened during Al-Bashir's era.

Speaking about how to support Sudan's transition, the Egyptian President called on Sudanese parties to lead efforts to bring peace and stability to their lands under a framework of comprehensive national consensus based on the national priorities of the Sudanese people.

He also praised the "tangible" achievements made by the transitional government, notably reaching a comprehensive peace agreement last October, which he said requires the international community's support for full implementation.

October's peace agreement between Sudan's transitional government and rebel groups was meant to put an end to decades-long regional conflicts that have left millions displaced and hundreds of thousands dead.

El-Sisi also urged support for the Sudanese efforts in the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration programme aimed at ex-combatants.

"The challenges that have been faced by many countries in our region have proven that building the fundamentals of the state and its various institutions on staunch and sound foundations, especially the unified national army, is the main pillar to ensure peace and stability in it," he assured.

He called for upholding the principle of citizenship based on national consensus to confront attempts at division.

Peace, stability, and the Nile

El-Sisi also said that maintaining peace and stability in Khartoum requires the provision of a "favourable" political and security environment at the regional level, based on the rules of international law and relevant international agreements, including the 1902 Agreement.

"I stress, in this regard, the importance of supporting Sudan's right to spread its sovereignty over all of its lands," he said.

He emphasised that if the political will is available, the Nile River can be used to help foster comprehensive cooperation between the countries of the Nile Basin in a way that enhances stability in the region without harming any party.

Border tensions remain high between Sudan and Ethiopia over the Al-Fashaqa region, where Ethiopian farmers have long cultivated fertile land claimed by Sudan.

Also, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam being built by Addis Ababa on the Blue Nile, a tributary of the Nile, has been a source of contention between Ethiopia one side, and Sudan and Egypt on the other.

Negotiations between the three countries have been on hold due to Addis Ababas refusal to sign a legally binding deal on the rules for filling and operating the controversial dam to ensure the downstream countries water rights.

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Egypt sent on Friday a massive relief convoy to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, Presidential Spokesman Bassam Rady said, adding that the convoy grouped 130 aid-laden trucks.

The trucks, laden with 2,500 tons of foodstuff, medicines, baby formula, clothes and appliances, are provided by Long Live Egypt Fund to the Palestinian people, Rady added.

He said that sending the convoy comes in line with directives by President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to offer all support for the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

An Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and the Palestinian factions to end an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip. It came into effect as of Friday 21 May at 2am (23:00 GMT) Palestinian time.

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Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said Cairo will do its best, through its security delegations to the Palestinians and Israelis to consolidate the Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israeli and Gaza and ensure that none of the two sides would breach it in the future.

An Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire deal has been reached between Israel and the Palestinian factions to end an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip. It came into effect as of Friday 21 May at 2am (23:00 GMT) Palestinian time.

Egypt sent two security delegations to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian territories to follow up on the implementation of the ceasefire.In remarks to MBC TV channel over the phone, Shoukry affirmed that the Palestinian cause has always been among the priorities of the Egyptian leadership, government and people.

Shoukry noted that President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi makes it a point to closely follow up all Palestinian developments and Egyptians have always stood by their Palestinian brethren and made great sacrifices to support their cause.

Shoukry said that the Egyptian leadership has had firsthand knowledge of all efforts and contacts to de-escalate tension between the Palestinians and Israelis until the Friday ceasefire was achieved.

He noted that since day one of the flare-up of tension in Jerusalem and the ensuing military escalations, the Egyptian focus has been on serving the interest of the Palestinian people and trying to keep them out of harms way.

Also, Egypt has been concerned with preserving the Arab identity of Jerusalem and preventing any attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque and all other holy sites in the occupied Palestinian lands, whether Islamic or Christian, he added.

Egypt went to great lengths to stand by the brotherly Palestinian people, he said citing the efforts exerted by the Egyptian political, security, intelligence and health authorities.

He said that the world community and international partners, most particularly the US, should return to shouldering their responsibility toward reviving direct Palestinian-Israeli peace talks to reach a lasting just solution to the decades-long conflict and restore the legitimate rights of the Palestinians topped by their rights to independence and statehood.

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President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi has mourned renowned Egyptian comedian Samir Ghanem who died on Thursday, describing him as a model of an artist who lived to spread joy and make everyone happy.

"I mourn with deep sorrow artist Samir Ghanem who passed away yesterday," El-Sisi said on his official social media accounts.

He added that the late artist "left behind a great legacy that put a smile on the faces of Egyptians and the Arab world."

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EgyptAir started a Covid-19 vaccination campaign for its cabin crew and frontline workers, a senior official said on Friday.

The move aims at maintaining the safety of the workers and the passengers, Chairman of EgyptAir for Medical Services Ayman Salah said in a statement.

He added that the companys hospital is ready to receive staff members from all subsidiaries, and a date for vaccinating their families will be announced soon.

The Ministry of Health is conducting a nationwide innoculation campaign using the Chinese Sinopharm and British AstraZeneca vacines.

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An Egyptian diplomat says two teams of Egyptian mediators are in Israel and the Palestinian territories to continue talks on firming up a cease-fire deal  and securing a long-term calm.

The diplomat said Saturday discussions include implementing agreed-on measures in Gaza and Jerusalem, including ways to prevent practices that led to the latest fighting.

The official did not elaborate. He was apparently referring to violence at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the planned eviction of Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem.

The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss behind-the-scenes deliberations.

The cease-fire took effect Friday. The 11-day war left more than 250 dead  the vast majority Palestinians  and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip

The diplomat also said Israel has given a green light to Gaza fishermen to return to sea Saturday as part of the cease-fire deal.

The Egyptian delegations arrived in Israel and the Palestinian territories Friday, according to Egypts official MENA news agency. The delegations met with Palestinian factions in Gaza directly after they arrived, MENA reported.

Hussein Sheikh, a senior aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, tweeted that one of the Egyptian delegation planned to hold talks with the Palestinian leadership in Ramallah on Saturday.

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Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi welcomed on Saturday the visit of Cypriot Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikos Christodoulides to Cairo, stressing the solid and strategic relations between Egypt and Cyprus in multiple fields.

In a meeting between El-Sisi and Christodoulides, a statement by the Egyptian presidency said, the president affirmed the states desire to strengthen the mechanisms of joint cooperation, especially on the political, military, trade, and energy levels.

This comes, El-Sisi stressed, as Egypt and Cyprus, together with Greece, are enhancing cooperation to achieve their common interests and goals in the Eastern Mediterranean region and to confront the various challenges in the region.

Egypt, Greece, and Cyprus signed a tripartite political and economic cooperation mechanism agreement in Nicosia in October 2020. The three countries chose the Cypriot capital to serve as the headquarters of the secretariat of the tripartite mechanism effort starting the spring of 2021.

El-Sisi asked asked Christodoulides during the meeting, attended by Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry, to convey his greetings to Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades.

The Cypriot top diplomat expressed his country's appreciation of the close cooperation ties with Egypt, which are seen as a model for constructive cooperation between Mediterranean countries, especially in light of Egypt's privileged position, regional weight, and its pivotal role in the region under the leadership of El-Sisi, the statement said.

Cyprus will remain one of the supporters of Egypt in the European Union, Christodoulides was quoted by the Egyptian statement as saying, stressing Cyprus' interest in boosting bilateral cooperation.

He highlighted Cyprus' interest in developing the tripartite cooperation mechanism between Egypt, Greece and Cyprus, which is considered a successful and effective mechanism for regular institutional coordination and cooperation in achieving the economic and social development of the three countries.

Egypts Presidential Spokesperson Bassam Rady noted that the meeting witnessed an exchange of visions on regional issues of common interest, in light of the stability of common stances of the two countries and the consistency of their interests in the Eastern Mediterranean region.

The meeting also witnessed an affirmation that the East Mediterranean Gas Forum (EMGF) represents one of the most important tools for collaboration, which will open horizons for cooperation and investment between the countries of the region in the fields of energy and gas, Rady said.

Established in 2019 as an international organisation headquartered in Cairo, the EMGFs statute came into force in March 2021 in a meeting in the Egyptian capital between the foreign ministers of the founding members: Egypt, Palestine, Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, and Israel.

The forum aims to establish a regional gas market in the Eastern Mediterranean and enhance trade relations among the member states.

On Saturday, El-Sisi and Christodoulides also discussed developments in the Palestinian cause in light of the recent developments, Rady said, adding that the Cypriot minister expressed his country's sincere appreciation of Egypts efforts to reach a ceasefire between the Palestinian and Israeli sides in the Gaza Strip.

Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, which was lauded by regional and international countries. The ceasefire came into effect early on Friday, ending 11 days of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The aggression left more than 250 Palestinians dead, hundreds injured and homeless, while tens of residential and commercial buildings were shelled by Israeli air strikes.

The escalation had sparked on 10 May when Israel cracked down on Palestinian demonstrators protesting against Israels plan to forcibly expel Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah district in East Jerusalem.

El-Sisi stressed the importance of prompt work to revive peace negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides on the basis of the two-state solution, international legitimacy decisions, which and the rules of international law.

Egypt has been supporting the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Earlier on Sunday, Shoukry had a separate meeting with his Cypriot counterpart. The two officials consulted on a number of issues of bilateral cooperation as well as regional issues of mutual interest, a statement by the foreign ministry said.

Shoukry stated during his meeting with Christodoulides that the absence of any real horizon for the peace process may lead to the continuation of renewed conflict between the Israeli and Palestinian parties, which requires intensifying international efforts to re-launch the negotiations process as soon as possible.

The two ministers also discussed regional files and issues of common concern, especially Libya and the Eastern Mediterranean, emphasising the importance of continued consultation between them in the coming period, the statement added.

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Egyptian army forces arrived in the southern neighbour of Sudan to participate in the joint military drill Guardians of the Nile, a statement by the Egyptian army spokesperson said on Saturday.

The Guardians of the Nile is a continuation of the previous series of military drills Nile Eagles 1 and Nile Eagles 2 by Egypt and Sudan, Brigadier-General Tamer El-Refaie noted in the statement.

Egypt and Sudans Air and Special Forces performed joint aerial exercises Nile Eagles 1 in November 2020 and Nile Eagles 2 in March and April 2021.

The Ground, Air and Navy Forces of Egypt and Sudan are participating in the Guardians of the Nile military drills to confirm the readiness of the joint forces and increasing the training experiences of the two countries armed forces, El-Refaie said.

From his side, Head of the Training Department at the Sudanese General Staff Major General Malek Al-Tayeb has welcomed the participating Egyptian armed forces, the statement said.

Al-Tayeb has praised the efficiency and readiness of the Egyptian forces, as well as the distinguished training and combat experiences, stressing that the training aims at exchanging experiences and enhancing means of military cooperation between the two countries, the statement noted.

According to a statement by the Sudanese Armed Forces, the Egyptian-Sudanese military drills will take place in Sudan from 26 to 31 May.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has expressed his thanks to Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for Cairos efforts in calming down the situation, helping reconstruct the Gaza Strip and aiming to return to the political track of ending the Israeli occupation of Palestines territories, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported on Saturday.

Abbas' remarks came during his meeting on Saturday at the presidential headquarters in Ramallah with an Egyptian security delegation that was briefed on the latest developments in the Palestinian territories, according to WAFA.

An Egyptian-sponsored ceasefire deal, which was praised by regional and international countries, has been reached between Israel and the Palestinian factions to end an 11-day military operation in the Gaza Strip. It came into effect as of Friday 21st May at 2am (23:00 GMT) Palestinian time.

Few hours after reaching ceasefire, Egypt sent two security delegations  which are set to monitor the ceasefire  to the Palestinians and Israelis to consolidate the Egypt-brokered ceasefire between Israel and Gaza and to ensure that none of the two sides would breach it in the future.

During his meeting with the Egyptian security delegation, Abbas discussed developments related to the calm in Gaza, Jerusalem and the West Bank, and coordinating efforts in seeking reconstruction in the Gaza Strip, as well as the issues related to arranging the internal Palestinian scene.

On 18 May, El-Sisi announced the allocation of $500 million as part of an Egyptian initiative for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip  with the involvement of Egyptian companies  where tens of buildings had been destroyed leaving hundreds of Palestinians homeless in the enclave due to the Israeli 11-day heavy air strikes that caused the death of more than 250 Palestinians.

The Egyptian initiative would also include training young Palestinian cadres in developmental programmes in order to become acquainted with the latest developments in management, leadership and technology, as according to a statement by the Egyptian presidency.

The Egyptian delegation conveyed on Saturday the greetings of El-Sisi to his Palestinian counterpart Abbas and to the people of Palestine, WAFA said.

The Egyptian security delegation's meeting with Abbas witnessed the attendance of Minister Hussein El-Sheikh, Chairman of the Palestinian Civil Affairs Commission and Member of the Executive Committee of the Fatah Movement, along with Maged Farag, Palestinian Intelligence Chief.

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Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed, on Saturday and over phone, the latest developments in the Palestinian scene with his Norwegian counterpart Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide.

In a statement, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Hafez stated that the Norwegian foreign minister hailed the Egyptian role and Egypt's efforts that led to a ceasefire between the Israelis and Palestinians.

Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, which was also lauded by regional and international countries. The ceasefire came into effect early on Friday, ending 11 days of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The aggression left more than 250 Palestinians dead, hundreds injured and homeless, while tens of residential and commercial buildings were shelled by Israeli air strikes.

The escalation had sparked on 10 May when Israel cracked down on Palestinian demonstrators protesting against Israels plan to forcibly expel Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah district in East Jerusalem.

Hafez added that both top diplomats exchanged views regarding the latest developments on the Palestinian arena and the ongoing efforts to stabilise calm between the two sides. He also stressed the importance of providing the appropriate atmosphere to quickly revive the peace process of attempting to reach a comprehensive political settlement in accordance to the relevant international decisions.

Egypt, for a while, has been supporting the two-state solution with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Hafez said that their talks also tackled the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip.

On 18 May, El-Sisi announced the allocation of $500 million as part of an Egyptian initiative for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip  with the involvement of Egyptian companies. The allocation comes in where tens of buildings have been destroyed leaving hundreds of Palestinians homeless in the enclave due to the Israeli aggression of the 11-day heavy air strikes that caused the death of more than 250 Palestinians.

The top diplomats also touched upon the efforts providing aid and development support to the rest of the Palestinian territories, especially with the important role that Norway plays within the framework of the AD HOC LIAISON COMMITTEE (AHLC), the statement said.

The AHLC, which is chaired by Norway and co-sponsored by the EU and the US, serves as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the occupied Palestinian territory, seeking to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel.

The two foreign ministers also discussed means to enhance bilateral relations between Egypt and Norway, Hafez concluded.

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Egypt's parliament  the House of Representatives  is scheduled to meet on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday to discuss a new agenda of laws.

On Sunday, the House will debate a five-article bill aimed at raising minimum bonuses and incentives granted to state employees. A report prepared by the Labour Force Committee and the Budget Committee clarified that the new bill comes to reflect the state's commitment to achieving economic and social stability for the families of state employees. "This bill also comes at a time [of] difficult economic conditions, high market prices and [while] the coronavirus pandemic hard hit many sectors of society, particularly state employees," said the report.

The first article of the bill states that the minimum periodical bonus granted to state employees, addressed by the 81/2016 Civil Service Law, will be increased to be EGP 75 per month.

As for state employees not addressed by the 81/2016 Civil Service Law, article two indicates that they will be granted a special bonus at a rate of 13 per cent of their basic salary, and with a minimum of EGP 75 per month, as of the beginning of July 2021.

Moreover, article three states that an additional incentive granted for state employees and workers, both addressed and not addressed by the Civil Service Law, will be increased between EGP 225 and EGP 400, depending on the employee's job level. "Workers at the third level will get an additional incentive of EGP 225, those at the second level will get EGP 275, those at the third level will get EGP 325 and those at "excellent level" will get EGP 400," said the report.

Article five also states that workers in the public sector as well as public enterprise companies will also be given a grant equal to that paid to those working at the state's administrative units.

Finance Minister Mohamed Maait said, last March, that the minimum wage and bonus increases for state employees working at the administrative body of the state will cost the government EGP 37 billion in total.

The House is also scheduled to discuss a new law on establishing an investment fund for charitable endowments (Wakfs). A report by the House's Religious Affairs Committee said the objective of the fund is to spend on improving living conditions in slum areas as well as building on Islamic projects.

Meanwhile, the House is expected to a take a final vote on six laws that were approved over the past month. These include laws on dismissing state employees who test positive for drugs, reducing documentation and notarisation fees, establishing the Tahya Misr Fund, changing the electricity law, setting up the Egyptian Omra (semi-pilgrimage) online portal, and amending the penal code.

On Tuesday, Minister of Housing Assem El-Gazzar will answer questions from MPs on sanitary drainage projects, drinking water networks, desalination stations as well as social and cooperative housing programmes.

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Ethiopia's military prosecutors have convicted three soldiers of rape and pressed charges against 28 others suspected of killing civilians in the ongoing conflict in the northern Tigray region, the attorney general's office announced Friday.

In addition, 25 other soldiers are charged with rape and other forms of sexual violence, the statement said.

The six-month-old Tigray conflict is blamed for the deaths of thousands of people and atrocities including rape, extrajudicial killings, and forced evictions, according to local authorities and aid groups.

The statement by the attorney general's office also confirmed reports of two massacres in Tigray. It said that 229 civilians were killed in the town of Mai Kadra at the beginning of November. And it said that 110 civilians were killed in the city of Axum on November 27 and 28 by Eritrean troops.

The investigation shows that 70 civilians have been killed in the city (of Axum) while they were outdoors, said the report, adding that some of those killed might have been irregular combatants. Forty civilians seem to have been taken out of their homes and killed in home-to-home raids conducted by Eritrean troops, said the report.

The deadly Tigray conflict started on November 4 after Ethiopia accused former leaders of the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front, or TPLF, of ordering an attack on an Ethiopian army base in the region.

Ethiopia's leader, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, sent troops that quickly ousted the TPLF from Tigray's major cities and towns but a guerilla fight is widely reported to be continuing across the region.

Reports of atrocities have led U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to allege that ``ethnic cleansing'' is taking place in the western Tigray area.

On Thursday, the U.S. Senate passed a resolution condemning all violence against civilians in Tigray and calling for the withdrawal of troops from neighboring Eritrea, which also sent troops to Tigray to support the Ethiopian government.

On Friday, some Ethiopians both at home and abroad staged a Hands Off Ethiopia social media campaign in which they urged foreign countries to stop meddling in Ethiopia's affairs.

Abiy, who came to power in 2018 and introduced sweeping democratic reforms for which he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, has promised that the upcoming parliamentary elections on June 21 will be free and fair. His Prosperity Party must win a majority of seats in Ethiopia's parliament for him to remain prime minister.

In addition to the Tigray conflict, Abiy's government is struggling to contain ethnic violence in several regions of Ethiopia. The opposition Oromo Federalist Congress has pledged to boycott the vote, saying it is being harassed by the authorities. Several of its leaders are still in prison following a wave of violent unrest sparked last summer by the killing of an Oromo musician.

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The United States on Thursday announced sanctions against two of Yemen's Houthi rebel commanders, who are leading an offensive to seize the last northern government stronghold of Marib.

Yemen's civil war, which started in 2014, pits Iran-backed Houthi rebels against an internationally recognised government supported by a Saudi-led military coalition.

The Houthis launched in February a fierce offensive to seize Marib, capital of an oil-rich region, where heavy battles have exacerbated what the UN already calls the world's worst humanitarian crisis.

US Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking said sanctions were placed on Mohammed Abdul Kareem al-Ghamari, the Houthi's Chief of the General Staff, who is leading the push to seize Marib, as well as Youssef al-Madani, another Houthi commander leading forces in the campaign.

"If there were no offensive, if there were a commitment to peace, if the parties are all showing up to deal constructively with the UN envoy, there would be no need for designations," Lenderking told reporters in an online press briefing.

Lenderking said he regretted that the Houthis were absent during recent ceasefire talks.

"The Houthis are not winning in Marib and, instead, they're putting a great deal of stress on an already very fragile humanitarian situation," he added.

Yemen's long war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced millions.

Marib lies about 120 kilometres (75 miles) east of the rebel-held capital Sanaa.

Along with its surrounding oil fields, it makes up the last significant pocket of government-held territory in the north, the rest of which is under rebel control.

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Israel and Hamas both claimed victory on Friday after their forces ended 11 days of fighting, but humanitarian officials warned that the damage to Gaza would take years to rebuild.

After working behind the scenes for days to reach a truce, the White House said Washington had received assurances from the relevant parties that they were committed to the ceasefire.

As Palestinians and Israelis began to assess the scale of the damage, one Gazan said his neighbourhood looked as if it had been hit by a tsunami. How can the world call itself civilised? Abu Ali asked, standing next to the rubble of a 14-storey tower block.

Palestinian officials put the reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars, while economists said the fighting could curb Israels economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Five more bodies were pulled from Gaza's rubble, taking the death toll to 248, including 66 children, with more than 1,900 wounded.

The Israeli military said an Israeli soldier had been killed as well as 12 civilians, including two children. Hundreds were treated for injuries after rocket salvoes caused panic and sent people as far away as Tel Aviv rushing into shelters.

World Health Organization spokeswoman Margaret Harris said Gazas health facilities were in danger of being overwhelmed by the thousands of injuries.

She called for immediate access into the Gaza Strip for health supplies and personnel. The real challenges are the closures, she told a virtual U.N. briefing.

Gaza has for years been subjected to an Israeli blockade that restricts the passage of people and goods.

Palestinians say the restrictions amount to collective punishment of Gaza's 2 million population.

Fabrizio Carboni, regional director of the International Committee of the Red Cross, echoed WHO's call for urgent medical supplies, adding: "It will take years to rebuild - and even more to rebuild the fractured lives."

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that aid would be sent quickly to Gaza, but coordinated with the Palestinian Authority - Hamas's Western-backed rival in the occupied West Bank - "in a manner that does not permit Hamas to simply restock its military arsenal".

DUELLING LEADERS

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a televised address to Israelis, saying the operation had damaged Hamas's ability to launch missiles at Israel.

He said Israel had destroyed Hamas's extensive tunnel network, its rocket factories, weapons laboratories and storage facilities, and killed more than 200 militants, including 25 senior figures.

"Hamas can't hide anymore. That's a great achievement for Israel," he said.

"We eliminated an important part of Hamas's and Islamic Jihad's command echelon. And whoever was not killed knows today that our long arm can reach him anywhere, above ground or underground."

Israel said Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other militant groups fired around 4,350 rockets from Gaza during the conflict, of which around 640 fell short into the Gaza Strip. The Israeli military said that 90% of those that crossed the border had been intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defence system.

Iran, which does not recognise Israel but supports Hamas and says it has transformed the Palestinians fighters arsenal, said they had won a historic victory over Israel. The Iranian Revolutionary Guards warned Israel to expect deadly blows.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh cast the fighting as successful resistance to a militarily and economically stronger foe.

"We will rebuild what the occupation (Israel) destroyed and restore our capabilities," he said, "and we will not abandon our obligations and duties to the families of martyrs, the wounded and those whose homes were destroyed."

Haniyeh expressed gratitude to Egyptian, Qatari and U.N. mediators, and to Iran, "which has not given up on providing the resistance with money, weapons and technology".

Ezzat el-Reshiq, a senior member of the Hamas political bureau, told Reuters in Doha the movement's demands included protection for the Al-Aqsa mosque, and for Palestinians threatened with eviction from their homes in East Jerusalem.

RAMADAN CLASHES

The Israel-Hamas hostilities were set off on May 10 in part by Israeli police raids on the Al-Aqsa compound and clashes with Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Thousands gathered there again for this Fridays prayers, with many demonstrating in support of Gaza.

Israeli police fired stun grenades towards demonstrators, who threw rocks and petrol bombs at officers, and Palestinian medics said some 20 Palestinians were wounded.

The confrontations died down within about an hour, with Israeli police pulling back to the compounds gates.

Civilians on both sides of the Gaza border were sceptical about the chances for peace.

"What is truce? What does it mean?" said Samira Abdallah Naseer, a mother of 11 children sitting near the wreckage of a building near Beit Hanoun in the north of the Gaza Strip.

We returned our houses, and we found no place to sit, no water, no electricity, no mattresses, nothing, she said.

In a cafe in the Israeli port city of Ashdod, north of Gaza, student Dan Kiri, 25, said Israel should continue attacking Hamas until it collapsed.

Its only a matter of time until the next operation in Gaza, he said.

The truce, mediated by Egypt, appeared to be part of a two-stage deal, with Cairo sending security delegations to Tel Aviv and the Palestinian territories to agree on measures to maintain stability.

White House spokesman Jen Psaki said that "our engagement with the leader of Egypt was a key part of that discussion and a key part of bringing an end to the conflict, given their important relationship with Hamas". Biden on Thursday made his first call to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as president.

The biggest obstacle to securing a deal was concern from Israel and Hamas about the public reactions from their own side, and their opponents, if they accepted a ceasefire, two Egyptian security sources said.

In our negotiations with the two parties, we depended on the need for each of them to see the scale of the damage done to civilians, and we charged each party with its criminal and international liabilities towards civilians, one of the sources said.

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U.S. President Joe Biden took office in January determined to focus his time and energy on the coronavirus pandemic and economic downturn at home and big challenges such as China, Russia and Iran abroad.

But after a Gaza conflict that required intensive behind-the-scenes U.S. diplomacy, his aides are having to reorder their priorities as they seek to stabilize an Israel-Hamas ceasefire, craft a reconstruction aid plan for the Palestinians and prevent a recurrence of what became Biden's first foreign policy crisis.

The focus, one U.S. official said, is on "what would come next, with an eye towards moving beyond the violence ... so that we do all we can to minimize the chances that we find ourselves back here in five years or two years."

The administration's more activist tone is a clear departure from the stand-back approach that marked the first few months in office for a president reluctant to tackle the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which confounded the peacemaking efforts of his recent predecessors.

He still has shown no immediate interest in plunging into an new bid to revitalize long-dormant peace efforts at a time when most analysts see little or no prospect for successful negotiations.

But there are growing signs of renewed U.S. engagement now that the rocket fire from Gaza and Israeli bombardments appear to have ceased. This comes after Biden faced heavy pressure to take on a more assertive role  as well as a stronger line with Israel - from progressive Democrats whose support was crucial to his 2020 election victory.

Following what U.S. officials described as round-the-clock diplomatic contacts that helped achieve a ceasefire deal on Thursday, Biden is dispatching Secretary of State Antony Blinken to meet with Israeli, Palestinian and regional leaders in coming days on his first visit to the Middle East.

MAJOR AID PACKAGE

Topping the list of U.S. tasks will be to assemble major humanitarian and reconstruction aid for Gaza. After days of Israeli air strikes, Gaza officials said 16,800 homes had been damaged, and residents were receiving only three or four hours of power a day. Palestinian officials put the cost of reconstruction in the tens of millions of dollars.

Biden said on Thursday the United States would work through the United Nations and with other international stakeholders and that such assistance would be coordinated with the Palestinian Authority, Hamas' rival, which governs only in parts of the occupied West Bank. Hamas is deemed a terrorist group in the West and by Israel, which the militants have vowed to destroy.

U.S. officials said the administration was preparing an assistance package and announcements are expected soon. That would be in addition to the $235 million in U.S. aid to the Palestinians announced in April, restarting funding for the United Nations agency supporting refugees and restoring other assistance cut off by then-President Donald Trump.

Another move under consideration aimed at repairing ties with the Palestinians that all but collapsed during Trump's tenure would be reopening the U.S. consulate in East Jerusalem that served the Palestinians and which Trump closed, a person close to the matter said.

At the same time, the Biden administration is looking to leverage the so-called Abraham Accords, agreements reached under Trump for normalization of relations between Israel and Gulf neighbors Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates as well as Morocco and Sudan, to help facilitate contacts between Israel and the Palestinians, U.S. officials said.

Many Palestinians say they felt betrayed by their Arab brethren for agreeing deals with Israel without demanding progress toward the creation of a Palestinian state.

"What we've learned from the Abraham Accords is that when you ignore the Palestinian-Israeli conflict in doing this, that not only does it dim the prospects for negotiations, but it actually has the possibility of adding another spark," the U.S. official said.

Any effort to draw a link between Israel's normalization with Arab states and the latest violence would likely be rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Biden spoke to him six times during ceasefire negotiations, and though the right-wing leader, who was close to Trump, ultimately agreed to halt air strikes, they remain at odds over the Iran nuclear deal and other issues.

Progressive Democrats said they were pleased with the ceasefire but called on the Biden administration to work towards a longer-term solution.

"We can build on this progress by addressing the root causes of the violence, and work towards a two-state solution, and an end to the blockade & occupation, while pressing for a lasting peace for Israelis & Palestinians," U.S. Representative Ro Khanna wrote on Twitter.

Pressure on the Biden administration is also building internationally.

At the United Nations, a senior Arab diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said "immediate engagement with the heavy weight" of the U.S. administration was now needed within the "right parameters" to resume broader efforts to achieve peace.

There has even been talk of revitalizing the Middle East quartet of mediators  a longtime grouping of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations that was little used during the Trump years  to try to coax the Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

But analysts hold out little hope for any major diplomatic initiative anytime soon.

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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has received a phone call from U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken following the cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers.

Abbas' office says the two discussed the latest developments in the call on Friday evening. The Palestinian leader urged the Biden administration to pressure Israel to halt Israeli violence in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.

The statement said Abbas appreciated U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian aid and mobilize the international support necessary for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority.

The U.S. State Department has said that Blinken would visit the region next week ``to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians'' in the wake of the truce. Blinken and Abbas are to meet during the visit.

The cease-fire was brokered by neighboring Egypt after the U.S. pressed Israel to wind down its campaign on Gaza.

*This story was edited by Ahram Online

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UN Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Mark Lowcock announced Saturday a $4.5 million allocation from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to the rising humanitarian needs in Gaza.

This came after a ceasefire reached between Israel and the Palestinians, according to the UN information center.

Meanwhile, Spokesman for the Secretary-General Stephane Dujarric said this is in addition to the $14.1 million, which were announced earlier this week for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), which comes from the central Pooled Funds for the OPT.

"We also expect to have a three-month inter-agency Flash Appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory issued next week," he said.

Strong financial support is, of course, crucial to meet needs especially in Gaza, and also the West Bank. It is also critical that the Occupied Palestinian Territory Humanitarian Fund is replenished, he added.

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Lebanon's president has said he believes Prime Minister-designate Saad al-Hariri is incapable of forming a government to pull the nation out of financial crisis.

President Michel Aoun's verdict was contained in a letter read out to parliament on Friday and which will be discussed on Saturday.

The letter, seen by Reuters, follows months of political negotiations in a country where allegiances tend to follow sectarian lines.

The existing government has been acting in a caretaker capacity since resigning after a huge explosion in a portside warehouse tore through Beirut in August. The blast further complicated the task of rescuing an economy that has been in a tailspin since late 2019.

"It has become evident that the prime minister-designate is unable to form a government capable of salvation and meaningful contact with foreign financial institutions, international funds and donor countries," Aoun, a Maronite Christian, wrote in his letter.

Hariri, a Sunni Muslim who like his assassinated father has headed several previous governments, was present during Friday's session.

Hariri was designated in October, after a previous prime minister-designate failed to form a cabinet of technocrats.

Western and other donors, led by former colonial power France, have said Lebanon needs to form a viable cabinet of technocrats or specialists before they will release aid funds. Talks with the International Monetary Fund have stumbled.

Gulf states, which in the past have provided financial support, are reluctant to step because of frustrations over the rising influence of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite group backed by their rival Iran.

Tensions with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab nations were stoked this week by disparaging comments about them by Lebanon's foreign minister in a television interview. The minister quit his caretaker post shortly afterwards.

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The United Nations Security Council on Saturday called for "the full adherence to the ceasefire" in the 11-day conflict between Israel and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

In the first statement on the issue, Security Council members "welcomed the announcement of a ceasefire beginning May 21 and recognized the important role Egypt, other regional countries" played in it, and stressed "the immediate need for humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian civilian population, particularly in Gaza."

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The prime minister of Tunisia, which is struggling with a deep economic crisis, called Saturday for a relaunch of economic cooperation with Libya at the start of a two-day visit.

"Our economies complement each other, and what is good for Libya is also good for Tunisia," Mechichi said after landing in the capital of the oil-rich neighbouring country.

He was accompanied by several government ministers and around 100 business leaders expected to take part in a joint economic forum in Tripoli.

Ten years since Tunisia's 2011 revolution, the North African country faces political and economic crises compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures.

Unemployment has risen to 18 percent, with predictions it could reach 20 percent by the end of the year, according to a joint study by the government and United Nations.

The IMF expects the country will see GDP growth of 3.8 percent this year, after an unprecedented 8.9 percent contraction in 2020.

"We will not abandon Tunisia to face alone the effects of the coronavirus pandemic or its political and security situation," said Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.

He said Libya would remove restrictions on imports from Tunisia and Tunisian workers in the country would be given official papers.

Libya and Tunisia also signed an accord aimed at "facilitating commercial trade and the movement of citizens" between the two states.

Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 revolution that toppled and killed veteran leader Moamer Kadhafi.

The turmoil sharply reduced cross-border trade and turned Libya into a launchpad for a series of bloody jihadist attacks in Tunisia.

But ties have improved since Dbeibah was sworn in earlier this year under a UN-led process to restore stability in Libya.

Tunisian President Kais Saied visited Libya in March, and TunisAir announced Tuesday it has resumed flights to Libya.

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Mauritania's parliament on Saturday urged the International Criminal Court to prosecute Israeli officials for "genocide" after an 11-day conflict with Palestinians that claimed over 260 lives.

Mohamed Ould Rzeizime, a lawmaker from the ruling Union for the Republic party, told AFP that the 157-seat national assembly unanimously adopted the non-binding resolution.

"The national assembly considers the ongoing Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people as one of the worst crimes of genocide," read the resolution, which was seen by AFP.

It added that the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague must "prosecute those involved in this aggression".

Mauritania, a conservative Muslim nation of 4.5 million people, broke off diplomatic relations with Israel in 2009.

The ICC had already opened an investigation in March into possible war crimes in the Palestinian Territories by both Israeli forces and Palestinian armed groups since 2014.

The move infuriated Israel which is not a member of the court, while Palestine has been a state party to the ICC since 2015.

Last week, outgoing ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said that she noted with "great concern the escalation of violence" in the West Bank and Gaza "and the possible commission of crimes under the Rome Statute," which founded the ICC.

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Queen Elizabeth II made a quick visit Saturday to the Royal Navy's flagship aircraft carrier that bears the name of her eponymous forebear, ahead of its maiden operational deployment.

The HMS Queen Elizabeth, named after the Tudor-era monarch who vanquished the Spanish Armada, will be leading a 28-week deployment to the Far East that Prime Minister Boris Johnson has insisted is not confrontational towards China.

The 3 billion-pound ($4.2 billion) ship, which has eight RAF F35B stealth fighter jets on board, will depart from Portsmouth Naval Base in southern England later Saturday. It will be accompanied by six Royal Navy ships, a submarine, 14 naval helicopters and a company of Royal Marines.

Arriving by helicopter, the 95-year-old monarch was greeted by the ship's commanding officer Captain Angus Essenhigh and Commodore Stephen Moorhouse, commander of the U.K. Carrier Strike Group.

The carrier group will travel through the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea, then from the Gulf of Aden to the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean to the Philippine Sea.

It will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean. A total of 3,700 sailors, aviators and marines are involved in the deployment which will cover 25,000 nautical miles.

Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has said the deployment ``will be flying the flag for Global Britain _ projecting our influence, signalling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow.``

The trip comes after the British government's review of defense and foreign policy recommended that the U.K. ``tilt'' its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region, in response to China's growing influence on the world stage.

``One of the things we'll be doing clearly is showing to our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea and, in a confident but not a confrontational way, we will be vindicating that point,'' Johnson said when visiting the ship on Friday.

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A month after an explosives-laden drone targeted US forces at an Iraq base, the top American commander for the Middle East says finding better ways to counter such attacks is a top priority, and the United States is still behind the curve on solutions.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters traveling with him that the use of small drones by Iranian-backed militia is only going to grow in the next few years. He spent the day in Iraq on Thursday, but for security reasons, media accompanying him were not allowed to report on his visit until after he left the region.

The drones, which are cheap and easy to buy, are often difficult to detect and problematic to defeat. McKenzie said the US must find more ways to counter their use by America's enemies in the Middle East and elsewhere.

``We're working very hard to find technical fixes that would allow us to be more effective against drones,'' McKenzie said. Efforts are underway, he said, to look for ways to cut command and control links between a drone and its operator, improve radar sensors to quickly identify the threat as it approaches, and find effective electronic and kinetic ways to bring them down. He added that fencing and high netting can also be used as protective measures.

``We're open to all kinds of things'' he said. ``The Army is working it very hard. Still, I don' t think we're where we want to be.''

In mid-April, an drone targeted US.led coalition forces near a northern Iraq airport, causing a large fire and damage to a building. There were no casualties.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack. The US has blamed Iran-backed militia groups for previous attacks, most of them rockets that have targeted the American presence in Baghdad, the capital, and military bases across Iraq.

Overall attacks against coalition troops have been frequent since a U.S.-directed drone strike killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani near the Baghdad airport last year. Iraqi militia leader Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis was also killed in the attack. The strike drew the ire of mostly Shiite Iraqi lawmakers and prompted parliament to pass a nonbinding resolution to pressure the Iraqi government to oust foreign troops from the country.

The Biden administration has resumed strategic talks with Baghdad, initiated under President Donald Trump, in which the future of US troop presence in Iraq is a central point of discussion. McKenzie and others have expressed optimism that the US will maintain a military presence in the country

The militia groups, McKenzie said, are frustrated because there had been some hope that US forces would leave Iraq, particularly in the wake of the Soleimani strike.

``They believe they can carry out attacks at a fairly low level that won't provoke a response, yet will create enough friction that will eventually induce us to leave,'' McKenzie told reporters traveling with him. ``I think it's a dangerous situation.''

He said he believes the U.S.-led coalition still has work to do in Iraq to help defeat the Islamic State group, which maintains some presence in western and northern Iraq. But he said the Iraqi security forces have done a good job battling IS.

After spending Thursday in Iraq, McKenzie was in Syria on Friday, meeting with U.S. and partner commanders and forces at four different bases.

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Morocco said Saturday the Western Saharan independence movement leader had entered Spain with forged documents and demanded an investigation into the incident at the centre of a diplomatic row.

Brahim Ghali, who heads the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, has been treated for Covid-19 in Spain since mid-April, a move that has angered Morocco.

Tensions between the two countries rose further after thousands of migrants crossed the border from Morocco into Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta this week.

Analysts have said Rabat allowed the crossings to pressure Madrid to recognise Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara.

Ghali, who is in his 70s, travelled to Spain "with forged documents and a fake identity", Fouad Yazourh, a senior Moroccan foreign ministry official, told reporters.

"An investigation, which we hope will be transparent, should be carried out to shed light on this affair," he added.

In April, Morocco summoned the Spanish ambassador to express its "exasperation" after Ghali was allowed into Spain for medical care and demanded an explanation.

The Spanish foreign ministry said at the time that he had been allowed into the country for "strictly humanitarian reasons".

Earlier this week, judicial sources told AFP that a Spanish court has reopened a probe into allegations of torture against Ghali.

The accusations were filed by the Spain-based Sahrawi Association for the Defence of Human Rights, the sources said.

The group alleges dissident members of the Western Sahara independence movement were held in camps in Algeria where they underwent torture and in some cases were killed.

The Algeria-backed Polisario Front has long fought for Western Sahara's independence from Morocco. A desert region the size of Britain, it was a Spanish colony until 1975.

Morocco has offered Western Sahara autonomy, but maintains the territory is a sovereign part of the kingdom.

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The Sawiris Foundation for Social Development announced the winners of the 16th Sawiris Cultural Award on Friday.

This Edition is considered the largest in the history of the award in terms of the number of submitted works. A total of 1263 literary works were submitted to various fields of the award.

This year, 12 young and established writers received awards for their distinguished work in the fields including novel, short story, screenplay, playwriting, and literary criticism.

Dr. Iman Yahya won the best novel award - under the established writers contest - for her novel 'Al-Zawga Al-Mexicia' (The Mexican Wife), published by Dar Al-Shorouk. Meanwhile, the award for best short story collection, written by an established writer, went to Samir El-Fil for his collection 'Autobis 77' (Bus Line 77) that was published by the Egyptian General Book Authority.

The award for best novel written by a young writer went to Ahmed Al-Fakharany for his novel 'Bayasat Al-Shawam' published by Dar Al-Ain. The same novel also won the translation award, which was added to the awards branches this year in an attempt to encourage contemporary literary excellence and introduce creative young writers to readers outside the borders of the Arab region. The literary award includes translating the winning novel into English, covering all contracting costs with a publishing house for the translation, printing and the publishing of the novel.

As for second-place in the young writers novel contest, the award went to Ahmed Al-Morsi for his novel 'What Remains of the Sun' published by Dar Al-Bashir.

The first-place prize for best short story collection made by a young writer went to Gilan Al-Shamsi for her short story collection 'As if the story is missing' published by Al-Ain Publishing House. In second-place, Muhammad Faraj won with his short story collection 'Long Term Plans' published by Dar Al-Ain.

Regarding the best screenplay award, established writer Samar Taher won for her screenplay of the movie 'Al-Nazeel' (The Inmate), while Paula Tadros Thabet won the young writers' contest for his screenplay of 'Abdullah'.

In the field of playwriting, the first-place award went to Faisal Rizk for his play 'Hakawy Al-Aragouz' (Tales of the puppet), while second-place went to Mina Bebbawy for his play 'Bernatanya'.

As for the award for best submitted work in the field of literary criticism, it was awarded ex aequo to Sameh Fayez for his book 'Stories about Reading' published by the Egyptian-Lebanese House and to Professor Abdel-Nasser Hilal for his book 'The Visual Turn - from Text to Speech published by the Egyptian General Book Authority.

In order to encourage young writers, financial rewards are also granted for the shortlisted nominated work.

Granted in the novel contest: 'Random Arrangements' by Dunya Kamal Al-Qalash, 'Ahmar Larang' (Blood Oranges) by Charles Akl, and 'Camelia's Ghosts' By Nora Naji.

With regard to the short story collection, the grants went to: 'Sleep Thieves' by Amjad Al-Sabban, 'Visions of the Holy City' by Omaima Subhy, and 'A Report on Al-Refaeia' by Muhammad Al-Fuly.

In the screenplay category: 'The Ghazala who fled the schoolyard' by Ahmed Ihab Abdel-Warith, 'Where Did Shaker Abaza Go?' by Mahmoud Hassan Abdel-Alim, 'Hamlet' by Al-Sayed Abdel-Nabi, 'Kilo 35' by Mahmoud Ahmed Abd-Rahman.

This year, six jury committees of prominent writers; filmmakers; critics and drama professors in Egypt participated in the evaluation of the work that was submitted and selection of the winners.

Literature Jury (Section One - Established Writers): Prof. Rania Fathy (Committee Rapporteur), Prof. Hussein Hammouda, Writer and Novelist Subhi Moussa, Writer and Journalist Karima Kamal, as well as Writer and Novelist Mansoura Ezz El-Din.

Literature Jury (Section Two - Young Writers): Prof. Hala Kamal (Committee Rapporteur), Writer and Novelist Reem Bassiouni, Writer and Novelist Sahar Al-Moji, Writer and Journalist Muhammad Shair along with Writer and Journalist Hisham Aslan.

Screenplay Jury (First Branch - Senior Writers): Director and Producer Marianne Khoury (Committee Rapporteur), Film Director Dr. Ahmed Maher, Film Director Dr. Hassan Issa, Prof. Salma Mubarak, and Film Critic Issam Zakaria.

Screenplay Jury (Second branch - Young Writers): Film Director Hala Jalal (Committee Rapporteur), Film Director Ahmed Fawzi Saleh, Prof. Ashraf Rajeh, Film Director Amir Ramses, and screenwriter Maryam Naoum.

Playwriting Jury: Theatre Director Hassan Al-Greetly (Committee Rapporteur), Prof. Amal Mazhar, Prof. Dalia Al-Shayal, Professor Dina Amin, and Theatre Director Tariq Al-Douairi.

Literary Criticism Jury: Prof. Faten Morsi (Committee Rapporteur), Prof. Sahar Abdel-Hakim, Prof. Mohamed Badawy, Prof. Hoda Ayyad, and Prof. Walid Al-Hamamsy.

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This week Egypt was engaged in an intensive diplomatic reach-out in the hope of containing the conflict between Israel and Palestinian factions.

Egyptian diplomats were also busy pushing to secure international support to defuse tensions over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) dispute, and to consolidate the fragile stability in Libya.



In the midst of the diplomatic flurry, Cairo and the Biden administration suddenly found themselves in intense consultations. According to government sources, in addition to a phone call between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukri, there has been coordination between Cairo and Washington at many levels to help set the ground for an end to the confrontation between Israel and Palestinian factions in Gaza.



By Tuesday over 220 Palestinians, including 60 children, had been killed in Israels assault on Gaza, and the Strips already inadequate infrastructure had been further degraded. Israel sustained 10 causalities, including one child.



Egypt is providing Palestinians with much needed medical support and opened the Rafah crossing to allow Palestinians wounded in the Israeli assault to be treated in Arish. On Tuesday President Abdel-Fattah Al-Sisi pledged a $500 million package to help with the reconstruction of Gaza.



Egypts idea of a ceasefire is based on a humanitarian armistice followed by the resumption of Cairo-sponsored security talks leading to a  relatively  long-term truce, with the possibility of a prisoner swap.



Sources say the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza is forcing the US to support efforts to secure a ceasefire, hopefully sometime this week.



I think we are [now] in agreement with Washington that it would be very hazardous to allow things to carry on unchecked. For the crisis to continue is not in the interest of regional stability at all. We need to work closely to make sure the parties commit to a ceasefire as soon as possible, said an Egyptian diplomatic source.



Hisham Youssef, senior fellow at the United States Institute of Peace, argues both Egypt and the US have an interest in securing a ceasefire. Egypt has long worked to stop any escalation on the Palestinian-Israeli front  this was the case in the wars in 2008-2009, 2012, 2014 and it is not any different today,  he says.



He points out that, in working to facilitate a longer-term truce and a prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, Cairo was already engaged with regional and international players and will continue to work with influential capitals to secure a ceasefire.



And now, Youssef adds, the Biden administration has been forced, however unwillingly, to prioritise the Palestinian situation, and in pursuit of a ceasefire realises that Egypt, a leading regional player with direct contacts and influence on both the Palestinians and Israel, cannot be bypassed.



Egypt and the US will work together to reach a ceasefire. The main question is whether they will succeed in getting a political process started to allow for the serious resumption of peace talks.



Maged Abdel-Fattah, permanent representative of the Arab League to the UN Security Council, says the Arab Group in New York is working hard to secure support for an immediate ceasefire plan that Egypt and other Arab countries, particularly Jordan, are pushing. He warns, however, that without a prompt political process that re-launches serious peace talks the cycle of violence will not be broken.



In addition to de-escalation in Gaza, Cairo is working to avert any escalation over GERD or disruption to the fragile state of stability in Libya. In both endeavours it is seeking to engage leading international players.



Egyptian officials have already noted a new willingness on the part of Washington to find a political settlement to the dispute over GERD.



Jeffrey Feltman, US envoy for the Horn of Africa, visited Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia late last month. Following his tour, the US State Department urged the three countries to resume talks sponsored by the African Union and agree a settlement that meets all their concerns.



The Horn of Africa is at an inflection point, and the decisions that are made in the weeks and months ahead will have significant implications for the people of the region as well as for US interests, read a US State Department statement issued this week.



That the US is now throwing its weight beyond AU-led talks signals a major shift in Washingtons position, argues Amany Al-Tawil, an expert on African affairs at Al-Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies.



While the US is not offering direct mediation, it is certainly going to be involved, directly and heavily, in pushing the DRC-led talks, she says.



DRC, the current chair of the AU, has already hosted an unsuccessful round of talks involving the foreign and water ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, and according to government sources another meeting is currently in the works. Later this month or early next month, said one.



In Paris this week for a meeting on development in Africa, President Al-Sisi had a brief encounter with his Ethiopian counterpart, Sahle-Work Zewde. According to an informed source, Al-Sisi pressed Zewde to work with Egypt and Sudan to serve the interests of the people of all three countries.



GERD was also high on the agenda of Al-Sisis talks in France with French President Emmanuel Macron and with African leaders.



Libya was another top issue for Al-Sisi in Paris. France and Egypt have both offered support to the transitional government in Libya.



Egyptian officials say Cairo and Washington have upgraded their contacts over Libya. The Biden administration is concerned about the strong Russian presence in Egypts western neighbour and, according to officials, the positions of Cairo and Washington are quite close. Both capitals want a stable and militia-free Libya.



Government sources say Egypt is working with all involved parties, Washington included, to guarantee foreign militias start leaving Libya as soon as possible. The recent easing of tensions in Egypts relations with Turkey and Qatar, they add, is helping to serve this goal, as has the election, earlier this year, of the new transitional government.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 May, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Gilles Carbonnier, vice president of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) was in Egypt for a three-day visit during which he met with top-level officials to discuss joint action on Covid-19 as well as the humanitarian activities of the organisation.

In an exclusive interview with Al-Ahram Weekly on 6 May in Cairo, Carbonnier spoke of the humanitarian situation in conflict-hit countries in the Middle East and Africa, including Libya, Syria, Yemen and Ethiopia.

What were the highlights of your visit to Egypt?

It was three full days of mainly interacting with the Egyptian authorities, the Red Crescent Society, and the partners with whom we develop our humanitarian activities in the country. It was an occasion to remind ourselves of the fact that we have had an excellent relationship with Egypt for more than 100 years.

The ICRC was already present in Egypt during World War I when we visited prisoners of war. Since then, the ICRC has worked to alleviate suffering and has responded to every major crisis Egypt has known. Today, we are working with the Egyptian Red Crescent and the Ministry of Health to offer support during Covid-19.

Part of my visit included looking at what we have done so far and the steps that we will take in order to be able to support our counterparts in Egypt. For instance, there was recently a major train accident. We helped by strengthening the capacity of health workers to deal with mass casualties and save lives during such an event.

We engage with the Foreign Ministry on a range of issues, including promoting international humanitarian law as it applies to large-scale armed violence and conflicts. We have discussed with the Ministry of Social Solidarity some of the humanitarian challenges in the region and the activities we run with the Egyptian Red Crescent to support vulnerable people in North Sinai. The Egyptian Red Crescent, with our support, is running food and non-food programmes for people who face difficulties and are affected by the situation in North Sinai.

The ICRC has major operations today in Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Ethiopia and Libya. These are all issues of interest for Egypt, and my visit provided an opportunity to discuss ongoing humanitarian challenges in neighbouring countries and the protection we provide to the populations affected by these crises. I also gave a lecture at the Egyptian Centre for Strategic Studies which allowed me to meet with researchers from different generations and discuss the economic aspects of protracted crises.

Have you spoken to the interim authorities in Libya? And what, amid Covid-19, a weak economy, and post-war arrangements, are your plans there?

We have large operations in Libya, a main office in Tripoli and offices in Benghazi, Misrata and Sabha. We have been present throughout the conflict, offering emergency medical assistance, reaching out to all parties to the conflict and promoting the application of international humanitarian law which includes protecting the civilian population from harm.

We are keeping this dialogue alive to ensure that both the civilian population and infrastructure are protected in case of renewed hostilities. We have also provided food assistance, non-food items and water to people affected by the conflict.

Thousands and thousands of internally displaced people (IDPs) had to leave their homes because of the conflict. If I am not mistaken, Libya has over 30,000 IDPs, and now they want to go back. The issue is when this happens. We have to be very careful because there are a lot of unexploded devices still there. There are grave threats ahead of restoring livelihoods, and we are working with all partners to resolve them. We also continue to support the health infrastructure which has been badly damaged. Medical facilities were attacked during the conflict. It is important that we work with all parties to make sure that the health infrastructure is protected. Within a month, I might visit Libya to meet our teams there to be ready for any situation that may arise in the future.

Bearing in mind the situations in Syria and Yemen, how hard is it to provide humanitarian assistance to civilians in times of conflict?

It is always difficult to work amid armed conflicts but this is our core mission, something we have been doing for over 160 years. We have learned, and improved the ways in which we can be effective in protecting civilians and providing life-saving assistance to them during armed conflicts.

If you look at Syria and Yemen, and this also applies to Libya, we see three basic trends. One is that these conflicts are protracted: they dont last for six years like World War II. They keep going on for a decade, sometimes two or more, as has happened in Afghanistan, Columbia and Iraq. Several generations are affected by them. People are forced to raise their children, sometimes their grandchildren, in situations of protracted armed conflict. This means ICRC must try to find ways to make a sustainable, humanitarian impact. Instead of providing food assistance forever, we are concerned about how we can provide the affected population with income-generating job opportunities so that they have a livelihood and a dignified life. What we also see is that people need connectivity during protracted armed conflicts. They need mobile phones and Internet connections which help them speak to loved ones and relatives, access information about the situation and take measures to protect themselves and their children as much as they can. We provide assistance that responds to these evolving needs.

Another trend is that armed conflicts have become urban. We have seen images of, and heard about, the destruction in Aleppo, Homs, Hama, Taiz and Marib. When armed conflicts happen in densely-populated cities and artillery and heavy explosives are used, it becomes more difficult to protect civilians.

A third aspect, which adds further complexity, is the fragmentation of armed actors. This has been the case in Libya. We have to make sure that all armed groups appreciate what the ICRC is doing and engage with it to ensure our teams can safely operate.

The humanitarian consequences in Syria and Yemen are horrific for the populations. Syria, which was a middle-income country with a sophisticated health system, is now a low-income one with a partially-destroyed health system. Its basic infrastructure is on the brink of collapse, a major concern for us, and we have been calling on the international community to support us in maintaining vital infrastructure. This is a priority because if electricity-generating systems collapse you cannot ensure the provision and pumping of water to the population and this can lead to epidemics in urban centres and beyond.

Maintaining medical infrastructure is key. We operate at scale in Syria: it is our eighth year in a row and our Syria operation is the major one for us in terms of budget. Today  although some people might believe that the situation is improving because armed conflict has receded in some parts of the country  the humanitarian situation remains dire amid an intense economic crisis. The Syrian people need life-saving aid. The situation is extremely tense in terms of food security. We estimate that about two-thirds of the population needs some form of humanitarian assistance. In Yemen three-quarters of the population needs humanitarian assistance.

The Covid-19 pandemic has added a layer of complexity. In its wake some of our major donors face major budget constraints and budgetary priorities have shifted from foreign aid to domestic issues related to the pandemic. We do everything we can in this context. I would like to highlight that  in Syria just as Yemen  there is no humanitarian solution to the conflict. We need a political solution. The ICRC is not responsible for engaging in political discussions.

Internal conflicts in Ethiopia, in the Tigray region and elsewhere, have resulted in a refugee crisis in Sudan. How are you dealing with the situation?

It is a very worrying situation. We had a team in Mekelle, the capital of Tigray province, before the conflict started, and have remained present and active in Mekelle and Tigray, the only humanitarian organisation to do so.

As soon as we could, we arranged a convoy to bring medical supplies to Mekelle, and from there to other towns of Tigray. Our priority during the conflict was to treat those who had been wounded.

We have also seen a massive movement of population fleeing the hostilities. We have opened offices in Gedaref in neighbouring Sudan and, together with other organisations like the UNHCR, we have provided direct response to 72,000 Tigrayan people in Sudan.

In Sudan we worked to restore family links and allow people to connect with their families.

We are still very much active in Tigray, building our humanitarian response in terms of the provision of water, food and non-food items to support the medical mission. We are also engaging with parties to the conflict, underlining the basic rules that should be respected in armed conflicts and trying to persuade them to protect civilians from the impact of hostilities and respond to their needs.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 May, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weeky

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The fallout from the Covid-19 pandemic has been hard on the whole world, but for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region effects have been even more pronounced.

The impact on our region has been compounded. Our region has pandemics of its own, comprising fragility, conflict, and people suffering from oppression, including our sisters and brothers in Palestine, Executive Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Mahmoud Mohieldin told participants at the 27th annual conference of the Economic Research Forum (ERF), a Cairo-based regional think tank.

Titled Sustainable Development Goals and External Shocks in the MENA Region, the conference is being held virtually this year.

In addition to major deterioration and pressure on health systems globally and locally, the pandemic has caused an unprecedented increase in the number of those suffering from acute hunger, almost doubling to reach 265 million, he said.

Ending extreme poverty had been on a declining trajectory since 1998, but that had been reversed because of the pandemic. 120 million people have been added to the increase in the number of the extremely poor, reaching roughly 750 million rather than the previous figure of 644 million before Covid-19, with significant effects on the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Education poverty was another area of concern, as not everyone has access to online education. The number of those suffering from education deprivation, let alone quality of education, has increased by 10 per cent.

Meanwhile, while global growth projections are optimistic, there are likely to be discrepancies. While some advanced economies have managed to spend 7.5 per cent of their GDP to support their economies, middle-income economies have only been able to spend around 2.5 per cent.

Another area of inequality between nations is the uneven vaccine roll-out around the world. While the US and Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries are doing well, the rest of the world will suffer from the lack of vaccination, according to Mohieldin.

He said that while a proposal for a temporary waiver on intellectual property rights as far as the vaccine and essential health solutions are concerned has been accepted, the process to implement that waiver could take until December. That means that emerging and developing markets may not see adequate vaccination before a couple of years.

The advanced economies need to act fast, not only for health reasons, but also because the world is dependent on supplies and inputs from developing and emerging markets. That needs to be a priority for the G7 and G20 and the leadership of international organisations, he stressed.

Shedding more light on the effects of the pandemic on the MENA region, Mounir Tabet, deputy executive secretary of the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (UN ESCWA), said pre-existing structural deficiencies in the region had been spotlighted by the pandemic.

The rentier nature of most Arab economies resulted in greater vulnerability due to the unpredictability of oil prices, remittances and tourism revenues, the three main sources of revenues for the region, Tabet said.

Moreover, he said, while the region had not fully recovered from the 2008 financial crisis, Covid-19 had caused a three per cent contraction in GDP on average and in some instances, such as Lebanon, as high as 20 per cent. The Arab region remains poorly integrated into the global economy, so even if the latter begins to recover, that might not immediately impact the region.

Inadequate social-protection systems and ill-prepared institutions in the region meant that people who had suffered from the consequences of the pandemic and economic slowdowns and work stoppages had not been compensated enough, he said.

Added to this, Tabet pointed to the large refugee and humanitarian burden of more than 55 million refugees in the region.

Poverty and inequality were two further challenges facing the region, he said. ESCWA estimates that the pandemic has added 14.3 million people to the poor, bringing the total to 115 million people, with almost a quarter of the regions population below the poverty line.

Inequality continues to grow. The Arab region has some of the highest rates of income inequality in the world, where in some instances 10 per cent of earners account for more than 60 per cent of national income, he said. There is also inequality according to age and gender, where women and young people continue to suffer from higher unemployment, lower education, and less political participation.

Conflict and instability are other major challenges to the region. Almost half the population has been impacted directly or indirectly by political instability, meaning that the impact in these countries is deeper and recovery will be lower, particularly since such conflict has rolled back human development gains, including the SDGs, Tabet said.

This is not only the case in countries directly affected by conflict, but also in neighbouring countries suffering from spillover effects, he added.

Youth unemployment is an additional challenge facing the region, according to Tabet. It stands at around 30 per cent, or the highest youth unemployment rate in the world, he pointed out. The content that education systems deliver remains far from transformative. Curricula are limited and rarely innovative. The teaching profession is under-valued and under paid, he said.

The transition from school to work continues to be extended, he said, not only due to Covid-19 and the economic slowdown, but also due to the structural weaknesses of Arab economies unable to create enough decent and value-adding jobs to absorb new entrants into the job market, let alone reduce the stock of the unemployed.

This adds to frustration, political instability, and could potentially feed extremist thinking and behaviour, he said.

More investment in high value-added industry was needed to allow the region to benefit from the fourth industrial revolution or to effectively integrate into sustainable and future-oriented global value chains, he said.

Without such investment, the millions of the unemployed will continue to be a burden on society, a lost generation, and a threat to political stability. So far, investment in the region continues to be directed to oil and gas and the construction and real-estate sectors, however.

Tabet said that with an already high debt and debt-servicing burden and an unpredictable revenue stream for most countries, financing the recovery is going to be uncertain, but it should not be done through additional unsustainable debt.

Mohieldin pointed to the huge increase in sustainable debt issuances in the region from $30 billion in January 2020 to around $150 billion by March 2021. These are bonds and loans raised with environmental and social purposes in mind, but they are still a fraction of what is needed, he said.

He said the region has $1 trillion that could be mobilised to help achieve the SDGs, but it is currently being placed in low-risk, low-return investments. A pipeline of projects and enhancements to the business environment were needed to attract such funds, he said.

Besides these efforts, Mohieldin said there needed to be a global effort to prevent the accumulation of debt becoming a debt crisis. The Debt Service Suspension Initiative by the World Bank for low-income countries was good, but it was not enough, he said.

Digitisation was another area the region needs to work on. The MENA region is not sufficiently prepared for the coming digital era, and it must increase investment in communications infrastructure, digital literacy, e-services, including e-commerce, e-banking and fintech, and cultural online products like online museums, Tabet said.

Traditional sources of revenue like tourism are unlikely to recover quickly, so the region will need to innovate in investment and diversify revenue streams, Tabet said, optimising growth from the green, digital, and circular economy, besides the traditional sectors of agriculture, industry, services, and tourism.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 May, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Ongoing for months, the Battle of Marib has left tens of Yemenis dead and thousands displaced. The city was the temporary home of millions of refugees who fled from northern Yemen following clashes between the Houthi militia and the internationally recognised government.

During the years of the Yemen War which erupted with the intervention of the Saudi-led Arab Coalition to support said government in March 2015, the region and city of Marib was the most secure area in Yemen. Refugees who escaped the horrors in the north  now controlled by the Houthis  found safety there.

However, in late February, hundreds of Houthis headed to gas-and oil-rich region. Marib and Taiz are the last two strongholds of the legitimate government in the north.

Joining the ranks of the Houthis in the Battle of Marib are officers from the Yemeni armed forces with tribal and religious links to the militia.

On the other side stand the forces of the Yemeni government, led by President Abd Rabbu Mansour Hadi, and fighters from the Yemeni Congregation for Reform, known as Al-Islah Party, which is the political front of the Muslim Brotherhood in Yemen.

The Yemeni government also enjoys the support of the air forces of the Arab Coalition. Many circles criticise the legitimate government for its fragility and weakness. According to Naguib Seddik, former chairman of the Press Syndicate in Aden, if it were not for the Saudi air force, the Houthis would have taken hold of Marib.

If the Houthis control Marib, Hadis government will be defeated and the militia will be tempted to take the battle to Taiz, said Mohamed Al-Mikhlafi, former minister of legal affairs in the transitional government formed following the overthrow of late president Ali Abdullah Saleh.

Indeed, the Houthis have been attempting to start a war in the city of Taiz which they have been blockading for years.

It is not surprising that the Houthis  Zaydi Shias  have not controlled Marib and Taiz, which are almost entirely Sunni strongholds. However, they took control of Sirwah, northeast of Marib, and Harib, one of the most prominent cities in Marib governorate, and they have encircled the city, sources who preferred to remain anonymous told Al-Ahram Weekly.

The militia fighters have recently been using motorcycles, instead of four-wheel drive vehicles, the cars of choice for desert fighters since the flare-up of conflicts in Libya and Chad in the 1980s.

A number of Yemeni military personnel attributed the tactical shift to powerful air strikes conducted by the Arab Coalition.

Nonetheless, supporters of the Hadi government are hopeful the Houthis will be defeated in Marib just like they were in 2015-16 when the militia attempted to take hold of the oil-rich region to tip the scale in its favour but was beaten by the southern government forces and the Arab Coalition troops present on the ground.

At that time, government forces loyal to the Saleh regime were fighting alongside the Houthis. They didnt succeed in taking control of Marib, however.

Today presents a different picture. Salehs supporters are part of the Houthi side following the murder of their president as a result of clashes in the capital Sanaa, and the coalition forces are not operating on the ground but making do with air strikes.

Moreover, government forces are weaker now following the split that occurred in their ranks after Hadis forces clashed with the fighters of the transitional council that is demanding secession and a return to the south as an independent state as was the case before the unification of Yemen in 1991.

Adding to the fragility of the governments position is that for two decades Marib has been a stronghold of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, one of the most active branches of the terrorist organisation. In addition, Marib has also been home to Salafi jihadists loyal to the Islamic State.

The Iran-backed Houthis are exploiting the situation, saying the Arab Coalition is fighting alongside terrorists  despite Saudi Arabias years-long efforts in the war against terrorism.

The Houthis access to Marib will be a deafening political and military blow to the Muslim Brotherhood and their Salafi allies. It will also be a defeat to the legitimate government and will lay the groundwork for the divide between the north and south of Yemen.

The militia prefers to rule the north, where there is a relative majority Zaydi over the Shafei Sunni. If they rule the south as well, they will lose balance, said Seddik, who resides in Aden, the temporary capital of the legitimate government.

The numbers of Zaydis and Sunnis are almost similar, with the Shias being slightly more in Yemen.

What the Houthis really want is to take over the oil of Marib to gain a real source of income, Seddik added.

At present, a large portion of the Yemeni people support the divide of the country. The southerners now live in a semi-independent state that only lacks the regional and international conditions to be recognised as the Southern Yemen Republic.

The southerners are building their demands for secession on the social and cultural differences between them and the northerners, in addition to the proliferation of Sunni Sufism which is rejected by the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest representative of the northern Sunnis, and not welcomed by the Zaydis.

Another reason the Houthis are eyeing the north is that that region is more conservative and is socially and culturally controlled by the Zaydis.

However, the Houthis will not say no to ruling a unified Yemen if they have to, although they would want the south to be able to defend them instead of bearing the burden of a unified Yemen on their own.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 May, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Despite decades of conflict, non-Arabs might know little about Palestine beyond the news. It is Palestinian artists who have best presented the human cost of occupation and violence. Hundreds of films are available on such platforms as Shahid, OSN, Netflix, Watch It  and they are eye openers.



The MBC-owned Shahid offers nine films by Palestinian filmmakers based in Palestine or the diaspora. These include Palestinian director Najwa Najjars latest, Between Heaven and Earth (2019). Best known for Pomegranates and Myrrh (2009) and Eyes of a Thief (2014), the latter being Palestines 2015 Academy and Golden Globe Awards nomination, Najjar has won many awards. Between Heaven and Earth did not travel as far or wide as it might have due to the pandemic, but it did win awards including the 2019 Cairo International Film Festival Naguib Mahfouz Award for Best Screenplay. Starring Mona Hawa, Firas Nassar, Lamis Ammar and Louise Heem, the film, based around the divorce of a young couple, is road trip shot all across Palestine.



Another Palestinian film to see is Ghost Hunting (2017) by Raed Andoni, who also made the critically acclaimed documentary Fix Me (2009). Both films are dig into the trauma of living under occupation. In Ghost hunting, real people recall their dehumanising experience at the Moskovia Interrogation Centre in Jerusalem. Starring Palestinian director-actor Ramzi Maqdisi, it received the best documentary at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2017, and was selected but not nominated as a Palestinian Academy Awards entry that year.



Hany Abu-Assads Omar (2013) is a remarkable film by the director of Paradise Now (2006). Both films were Palestinian Oscar entries. Omar was also screened in the Un Certain Regard section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it won a Special Jury Prize, and at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Starring Adam Bakri, Leem Lubany and Eyad Hourani, the film follows the relationship of three friends, Omar, Tarek and Amjad and Amjads sister Nadia who all live in the West Bank and who are continuously kept off-balance by political tensions. Abu-Assads latest is a Hollywood film unrelated to Palestine, The Mountain Between Us (2017), which stars Idris Elba, and Kate Winslet.



In his debut feature film, Screwdriver (2018), Bassam Jarbawi tackles one mans return home after 15 years in an Israeli jail. Played by the renowned Palestinian actor and cinematographer Ziad Bakri, the son of celebrated Palestinian director Moammed Bakry, Screwdriver had its world premiere at the 2018 Venice Film Festival and its Middle East premiere at El Gouna Film Festival.



The Reports on Sarah and Saleem (2018) is yet another gem by Muayad Alayan, whose debut feature was Love, Theft and Other Entanglements (2015). It shows flesh-and-blood Palestinains acting (often controversially) in real-life ways, and often generates heated debate for that reason. Among nine awards, The Reports on Sarah and Saleem won two at the 2018 Rotterdam International Film Festival, the Audience Award and a special mention (Tiger Award) for to screenwriter Rami Musa Alayan. The jury commented, This well-crafted screenplay shows us four humans, each with their own flaws and desires, who have to face the consequences of their actions in a complicated, divided world. The screenplay intertwines the personal and the political and manages to balance a complex plot with convincing characters. This proves to be the basis for a strong film by a talented director and an excellent cast. The film stars Adeeb Safadi, Maisa Abd Elhadi and Kamel Al Basha.



Villa Touma (2014) by Suha Arraf is another controversial film, but the controversy relates rather to the fact that 70 percent of its budget came from Israeli sources. They wanted me to call the film Israeli and not Palestinian, and wanted the film to represent Israel at festivals abroad, Arraf said in an interview on Jadaliyya web site. But I am an Arab, Palestinian and xitizen of Israel  I have the right to define my own identity. Starring Nisreen Faour, Ula Tabari, and Cherien Dabis, the film follows a Palestinian Christian family of three women (Violette, Juliette, and Antoinette) who are wholly immersed in the past, isolated from Palestinian society within their Villa Touma in Ramallah. When their niece Khadija, who was raised in an orphanage, appears in their life, they embark on a journey through class, gender and religion. Though the film went to court over its identity, it participated in over 50 festivals including Venice in the name of Palestine and won several awards and honours. Arraf was on Variety magazines Top 10 Screenwriters to Watch.



Despite a long documentary career that started in the mid-1980s, often working in collaboration with her husband, Lebanese filmmaker Jean Khalil Chamoun, Palestinian filmmaker Mai Masri did not make a feature film until 2015. Starring Maisa Abd Elhadi, Nadira Omran, and Rakeen Saad, 3000 Nights is the story of a young Palestinian schoolteacher who gives birth to a son inside an Israeli prison where she has to fight to protect him, survive and keep up hope. The film was shot in a real prison with an almost entirely female cast, with most of actresses having a strong connection with imprisonment whether directly or through their families. It was Palestines official submission for the Golden Globe Awards and Jordans official submission to the Academy Awards. It was officially selected in many prestigious film festivals including Toronto and Busan, and won the Tanit dBronze at the 2016 Carthage Film Festival.



The Time That Remains (2009), widely believed to be the closing part of a trilogy by Palestinian filmmaker Elia Suleiman that also includes Chronicle of a Disappearance (1996) and Divine Intervention (2002). Although, being autobiographical drama, it is the most personal film in the trilogy, the film is also an account of the state of Israel from its creation in 1948 to the present day. The film stars Ali Suliman, Saleh Bakri, and Elia Suleiman himself, who appears in most of his movies. Competing for the Palme dOr of the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, The Time That Remains was on the official selection of the Toronto International Film Festival, among many other honours and awards.



Shahid also features a tiny selection of short films including The Parrot (2016) by Jordanian directors Amjad Al-Rasheed and Darin J. Sallam. According to Amjad Al-Rasheed, it is based on the true story of his grandmother who left Jerusalem fir Jordan in the 1930s shortly before the Zionist occupation of Palestine. All her stories to her grandson were about the little parrot she left behind at a Haifa home she would never be able to return to. Al-Rasheed used to wonder how the poor little creature dealt with its new life with the Mizrahi Jewish family from Tunisia who take over the house.



OSN, another streaming platform that celebrates some of the latest Palestinian productions, offers 200 Meters (2020) by Ameen Nayfeh. The film premiered at the 77th Venice International Film Festival where it won the BNL Peoples Choice Audience Award. It was also the Jordanian entry for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. Starring Ali Suliman, Anna Unterberger and Lana Zreik, it won four awards at El Gouna film festival where it had its Middle East premiere, including the best actor award and the FIPRESCI International Critics Prize. Based on a true story witnessed by the director-writer himself, 200 Meters is a road film about a Palestinian father trapped on the other side of the separation wall as he tries to reach the hospital where his son is.



OSN also offers Elia Suleimans latest, It Must Be Heaven (2019). Starring Elia Suleiman, Tarik Kopty, and Kareem Ghneim, the film was selected to compete for the Palme dOr at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival, where it won the FIPRESCI Prize,and received a Special Mention. It was also selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 92nd Academy Awards, but it was not nominated. The film depicts a mans attempt to flee his problems in Palestine  only to encounter the same problems. The story of the film draws on Suleimans own life journey.



Among the short films recently acquired by OSN, there are three interesting shorts about Palestine and Palestinians. Bonbone (2017) by Rakan Mayasi stars Saleh Bakri, Rana Alamuddin, and Nadira Omran. The film, which won 14 awards including the Best Short Film award at the 2018 Moscow International Film Festival, is about a Palestinian couple resorting to an unusual way to have a baby as the husband is detained in an Israeli jail where visits are restricted.



The other film is A Drowning Man (2017) by Mahdi Fleifel, starring Atef Alshafei, Jalal Qaniry and Thymios Koukios. Fleifels debut fiction film, it is about a refugee drowning in sorrow and hardship, struggling to survive another day in a foreign country. The film was nominated for the 2018 BAFTA Best Short Film prize and the 2017 Palme dOrs Best Short Film prize and won the Muhr Award in addition to a Special Mention at the 2017 Dubai International Film Festival.



There is also Five Boys and a Wheel (2016) by Said Zagha, starring Ali Suliman, Nadira Omran, and Haidar Kfouf. Based on the American author Raymond Carvers short story Bicycles, Muscles, Cigarettes, it is about a school teacher who must regain his young sons confidence and admiration through an act of violence, symbolically reflecting the directors perspective on the political conflict.



Nominated for the 93rd Academy Awards, the Palestinian-British director Farah Nabulsis debut The Present (2020) is streaming exclusively on Netflix. Starring renowned actor Saleh Bakri, it centres on a Palestinian man in the West Bank who sets out with his daughter to buy his wife a gift, and demonstrates the struggles they go through among soldiers, segregated roads and checkpoints. The short film has also been nominated for Best British Short at the BAFTAs. Nominated for 45 awards, it won over 20 honours including the Audience Award at Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival.



Also on Netflix, there is Ibrahim: A Fate to Define (2019), a documentary feature by Lina Al Abed. The film which won the Best Arab Film award at El Gouna Film Festival tracks the directors journey to find out about her father, Ibrahim Al Abed, who left house one day 1987, when she was six, never to come back. Said father turns out to have ben a secret agent for the Revolutionary Council, a militant faction that opposed the PLOs attempts to adopt more peaceful solutions to the conflict with Israel.



Another Palestinian film on the same platform is Wajib (2017) by Annemarie Jacir, starring Mohammad Bakri, Saleh Bakri, and Tarik Kopty. It was screened in the Contemporary World Cinema section at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival. It was also selected as the Palestinian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 90th Academy Awards, but not nominated. Another road movie, it is about a father and son travelling amid wedding preparations in the buildup to Christmas in Nazareth. The film won 23 awards including the Arab Critics Award for Best Actor at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival, the Muhr Award for both Best Fiction Feature and Best Actor at the 2017 Dubai International Film Festival and four awards at the 2017 Locarno International Film Festival.



The Egyptian-based streaming platform Watch It, although it does not yet focus on non-Egyptian content, is streaming three Egyptian films about the Arab-Israeli conflict: The Road to Eilat (1994) by Inam Mohamed Ali, Cousins (2009) by Sherif Arafa and Dignity Day (2004) by Ali Abdelkhaleq.



In addition to the pre-paid streaming platforms, there are also a few nonprofit streaming platforms which aim to spread independent Arab cinema among audiences across the world. These include the Aflamuna and the Palestine Film Institute, where several Arab and Palestinian films are streamed on a regular basis but for a limited period of time.

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 May, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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The Tahya Misr Fund sent on Friday a massive relief convoy to the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip
It is hard to conceive the degree of impertinence and deception that we have been subjected to during the Covid-19 era.



We have been abused, insulted, violated, tampered with, and deceived by governments, scientists, doctors, politicians, businesses, and other institutions we have long trusted.



It has been done maliciously, knowingly, indifferently and heartlessly.



Every day, every hour of every day instructions, misinformation, rules and regulations, driving fear into our hearts as we washed our hands and kept our distance, and masked our faces and disinfected our surroundings and avoided family and friends and yet three million people died of Covid-19.



Did all this make any difference? Did it solve the problem? Did it kill the virus? They had no idea what they were doing and they still do not know.



Why have three million died and 147 million were infected? Why were the scientists unprepared for SARS-CoV-2? They were already well familiar with SARS 1, why were we not provided with protection?



Do we yet know its origin? Is it lab-made or natural? Did it jump from bat to man? Did it start long before December 2019? Why is the US funding the Wuhan Institute of Virology and its BSL-4 lab?



Theories, guesses and mostly lies, lies, lies.



That is their trade. Lying allows them to hide, to self-protect, to endure and to retain their power.



This whole week we were forced to look back at the lies propagated by the UN, the US, and the UK when they decided to usurp the land of Palestine, hand it over to the Jews, while promising an independent country to Palestinians. Has it happened?



Israel has grabbed more and more land with the approval of the US. What about all the promises to the displaced citizens? Lies, lies, lies.



A democracy indeed. The state of Israel is built on lies; the holocaust, the persecution, the Nazis. Why has every country rejected them? Any movies about that? What are they guilty of? What is the reason for the persecution? Were they the provocateurs of such violent acts?



The answer may be crystal clear considering their treatment of the Palestinians, but who is seeking truth nowadays?



The world has gobbled up their lies, protected them, funded them and instead of gratitude, they have been guilty of spying on the US, their main benefactor. Does the name Jonathan Pollard ring a bell? How about the sinking of the USS Liberty, the American ship killing 34 young American men and wounding many others. Is not America their main, perhaps their only ally, aiding them in building one of the worlds greatest armies?



Where is that august league of nations known as the United Nations? Helpless as ever  feeding us lie after lie, overruled and vetoed regularly by the US. What harm and hate has Israel tossed on the US? And what has it gained in return?



All we can think of is money. Yes, Americas own funds to Israel helps the Israeli lobby select, endorse, bankroll and elect its supporters.



Money is a big motivator for lying, perhaps the biggest. A Dr Fauci, now famous for his flip-flopping on coronavirus misinformation, must have been paid handsomely to change his mind on a daily basis.



As a scientist, he deals in facts, evidence, truth, but not when it comes to money.



We know politicians, statesmen, presidents lie to their people without feeling any guilt. Why do we know that? Because they never stop. They continue on the path to deception, it is so much easier.



Even scientists, our fountains of truth, have been caught lying, distorting facts and figures in their surveys and researches. We do not hear about them as much because they are covered up by their fellow scientist, who also lie.



We know merchants, businessmen, salesmen, statesmen, politicians, presidents lie, with no remorse. How do we know that? Because they never stop. They continue to march in the deception parade, because they gain from it and all we do is keep silent. They must be punished. We need to stop them. Do we?



To be fair, we all lie. Surveys have shown that we lie at least twice a day. Not all lies are intended to harm, but little white lies can turn into Big Black lies if we do not self-regulate.



According to behavioural psychologist of Duke University, Dan Ariely: the dangerous thing about lying is people do not understand how it changes us. It becomes easier and easier, almost natural.



Lying is hard work. A Harvard U neuroscientist, Joshua Greene, presented a study to a group with a chance for monetary gain. With a frontal MRI machine they discovered increased activity in the amygdala a crucial part of the brain that produces fear, anxiety and emotional response. Liars were trying to decide between truth and lies. Lying has to do with the ability to resist temptation.



Studies have shown that children begin deception as early as six months, fake, crying for attention. By age two, psychologists have documented children lying & consider it a development milestone like walking or crawling. It requires sophisticated planning, seize the situation effectively and manipulate their elders.



What about that sense of morality taught by all religions. That huger for truth and justice.



That is fading fast as long as lying works. It pays off; it keeps us out of trouble and can even save lives.



Is this the civilisation we worked so hard to achieve?





People are never more beautiful than when acknowledging themselves as liars.



Mark Twain (1835-1910)

*A version of this article appears in print in the 20 May, 2021 edition of Al-Ahram Weekly

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Egypt's immediate and serious support to the Palestinians was no surprise, especially for those who recognise the long standing and deeply rooted ties between the two peoples and their leaderships.

Indeed, Gaza is a different story because the Strip was under the Egyptian administration since 1948 and thousands of our youth were martyred there fighting in wars that were not only in defence of Palestine but also of our national security. We have realised long ago that Palestine, which is tightly connected with the Levant area, is one of the main gates to our security.

President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi's decision to open the Rafah border crossing for Palestinians injured during the Israelis attacks on the Strip stemmed from our responsibility towards the people in Gaza and the leading role that Egypt has played for decades in support of their cause.

Hala Zayed, the health minister, instructed that 11 hospitals be prepped to receive injured Palestinians. Six hospitals of the 11 are in Cairo, reserved for the most critical cases, with 900 beds and more than 3,600 medical staff. The primary location for receiving the wounded was Arish, where the Egyptian and Palestinian flags embraced hundreds of the medical staff who together chanted for the solidarity of the two peoples' aspirations for peace.

Furthermore, the president pledged $500 million for the reconstruction of Gaza and a special account for donation was thus opened throughout the country's banks to receive donations through the account of Tahya Misr.

Alongside these efforts to help civilian victims of the Israeli attack on the Strip, Cairo was seriously involved in negotiating a ceasefire. Intensive efforts were thus exerted and lines of communication with leaders of the Arab world, Islamic states, Europe, and the US were opened. Permanent members in the United Nations Security Council were also reached to issue a quick ceasefire resolution and find a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue based on previous UN resolutions with a Palestinian state established on the 1967 borders and East Jerusalem as its capital.

Unfortunately, Cairos efforts didn't receive enough media coverage due to the deteriorating situation in Gaza.

Egypts position is based on several factors, such as the urgent need to unify Palestinian factions, and resolving the dispute between Fatah and Hamas to lead them to form a legitimate, unified front, not only in the Palestinian territories but across the world. A coherent stand once developed between the two disputed factions will in turn unify their efforts in the West Bank and the Strip. Reconciliation efforts were also extended to include other Palestinian factions that finally succeeded in ensuring that a unified Palestinian stance is the real beginning to realise the Palestinian dream of a homeland.

There is also a need to convince world powers of the necessity of resolving the Palestinian issue to diffuse the dispute between the Palestinians and Israelis. The recognition of the Palestinians' right to establish their state is the most needed step now. The dispute between Palestinian factions was taken as a pretext by the Israelis to stall negotiations, waste valuable time, hamper efforts to settle the problem, eat up more and more of the occupied territories in the West Bank. The time wasted was used by Israel to enhance the construction of settlements to envelop Jerusalem as a Jewish city, thus depriving the Palestinians of their right to establish a state.

Moreover, the rising voices of Israel's right and radical parties which reject the Palestinians' sheer existence on their territories have added to the already tense situation.

However, Egypt stood firmly with the Palestinians and reiterated all the international resolutions issued by the United Nations in this regard. Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry expressed Cairo's stance during the last UN Security Council meeting in which he said the holy month of Ramadan saw many aggressive incidents and provocations against the Palestinians who were trying to pray at Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Along these lines of provocations, an operation was launched to evacuate Arab residents from Sheikh Jarrah area at the eastern part of Jerusalem, further inflaming the situation and sparking the anger of millions of Arabs and Muslims across the world.

For Arabs and Muslims, the international stand since 1967 was more about marketing illusions about the Palestinians' rights that will never materialise. However, as Shoukry affirmed, there will be no peace in this region without a fair and just solution to the Palestinian cause. "Now we need not reinvent the wheel; the resolutions have been there for decades and the establishment of two states has always been the only possible and practical solution agreed upon by all parties involved."

Supporting the Palestinian issue has always been part of Cairo's responsibilities as a regional player with considerable weight in the international arena. Egypt has been siding by the legitimate rules and just regulations of the international law. Despite all odds, this country has always embraced all Palestinian factions and worked closely with them to unify their stands. Egypt has and always will be the refuge for all Arabs despite all differences and will work for their unity as a means to settle the issues of concern and to achieve progress and pursue development for their peoples.

Egyptians feel as much. All Egyptian parties expressed their solidarity to the Palestinian cause, such as the doctors union, industrialists and other popular organisations. The main vision and mission will always be for Egypt and the Egyptians to ignore the frictions at difficult times. They will always work towards unity and take the side of justice until all Arabs make their dreams come true.

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Tunisia PM visits Libya seeking economic cooperation



AFP, , Saturday 22 May 2021



"Our economies complement each other, and what is good for Libya is also good for Tunisia," Mechichi said after landing in Tripoli



The prime minister of Tunisia, which is struggling with a deep economic crisis, called Saturday for a relaunch of economic cooperation with Libya at the start of a two-day visit.



"Our economies complement each other, and what is good for Libya is also good for Tunisia," Mechichi said after landing in the capital of the oil-rich neighbouring country.



He was accompanied by several government ministers and around 100 business leaders expected to take part in a joint economic forum in Tripoli.



Ten years since Tunisia's 2011 revolution, the North African country faces political and economic crises compounded by the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures.



Unemployment has risen to 18 percent, with predictions it could reach 20 percent by the end of the year, according to a joint study by the government and United Nations.



The IMF expects the country will see GDP growth of 3.8 percent this year, after an unprecedented 8.9 percent contraction in 2020.



"We will not abandon Tunisia to face alone the effects of the coronavirus pandemic or its political and security situation," said Libya's Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah.



He said Libya would remove restrictions on imports from Tunisia and Tunisian workers in the country would be given official papers.



Libya and Tunisia also signed an accord aimed at "facilitating commercial trade and the movement of citizens" between the two states.



Libya descended into chaos following the 2011 revolution that toppled and killed veteran leader Moamer Kadhafi.



The turmoil sharply reduced cross-border trade and turned Libya into a launchpad for a series of bloody jihadist attacks in Tunisia.



But ties have improved since Dbeibah was sworn in earlier this year under a UN-led process to restore stability in Libya.



Tunisian President Kais Saied visited Libya in March, and TunisAir announced Tuesday it has resumed flights to Libya.



https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/411652.aspx
Egyptian, Norwegian FMs discuss latest developments in Palestinian scene



Ahram Online, Saturday 22 May 2021



The Norwegian foreign minister hailed Egypt's role and efforts that led to a ceasefire between the Israelis and Palestinians



Egypts Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry discussed, on Saturday and over phone, the latest developments in the Palestinian scene with his Norwegian counterpart Ine Marie Eriksen Soreide.



In a statement, the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Ahmed Hafez stated that the Norwegian foreign minister hailed the Egyptian role and Egypt's efforts that led to a ceasefire between the Israelis and Palestinians.



Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Palestine, which was also lauded by regional and international countries. The ceasefire came into effect early on Friday, ending 11 days of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. The aggression left more than 250 Palestinians dead, hundreds injured and homeless, while tens of residential and commercial buildings were shelled by Israeli air strikes.



The escalation had sparked on 10 May when Israel cracked down on Palestinian demonstrators protesting against Israels plan to forcibly expel Palestinian families from the Sheikh Jarrah district in East Jerusalem.



Hafez added that both top diplomats exchanged views regarding the latest developments on the Palestinian arena and the ongoing efforts to stabilise calm between the two sides. He also stressed the importance of providing the appropriate atmosphere to quickly revive the peace process of attempting to reach a comprehensive political settlement in accordance to the relevant international decisions.



Egypt, for a while, has been supporting the two-state solution with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the borders of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.



Hafez said that their talks also tackled the reconstruction process in the Gaza Strip.



On 18 May, El-Sisi announced the allocation of $500 million as part of an Egyptian initiative for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip  with the involvement of Egyptian companies. The allocation comes in where tens of buildings have been destroyed leaving hundreds of Palestinians homeless in the enclave due to the Israeli aggression of the 11-day heavy air strikes that caused the death of more than 250 Palestinians.



The top diplomats also touched upon the efforts providing aid and development support to the rest of the Palestinian territories, especially with the important role that Norway plays within the framework of the AD HOC LIAISON COMMITTEE (AHLC), the statement said.



The AHLC, which is chaired by Norway and co-sponsored by the EU and the US, serves as the principal policy-level coordination mechanism for development assistance to the occupied Palestinian territory, seeking to promote dialogue between donors, the Palestinian Authority and the Government of Israel.



The two foreign ministers also discussed means to enhance bilateral relations between Egypt and Norway, Hafez concluded.



https://english.ahram.org.eg/News/411655.aspx
KYODO NEWS - May 22, 2021 - 21:17 | All, Japan, Coronavirus

A total of 28 prefectures and large cities in Japan are either planning or considering setting up large-scale coronavirus vaccination sites to expedite inoculation of elderly people, a Kyodo News survey showed Saturday.

About 90 percent of such local governments will use the vaccine developed by Moderna Inc. of the United States and approved by the health ministry on Friday.

Miyagi, Gunma, and Aichi prefectures will open their venues on Monday, followed by the city of Kobe on Tuesday, according to the survey conducted on 47 prefectural and 20 municipal governments from Tuesday to Friday.

The central government will begin vaccinations at state-run mass vaccination sites in Tokyo and Osaka on Monday as it aims to complete the vaccinations of the elderly by the end of July.

Japan's vaccination program lags behind other developed countries. Since its launch in February, beginning with health care workers and later expanding to people aged 65 or older, only around 4 percent of the country's population of 126 million has received at least one dose.

Osaka city is aiming to vaccinate around 3,500 people per day, the highest target among the 28 local governments.

Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga has vowed to ramp up vaccinations to 1 million shots a day in the country.

However, a number of local governments face challenges in securing enough doctors and nurses to administer the shots due to limited medical resources, among other reasons. It is unclear whether inoculations at those sites will proceed smoothly.

Notable challenges mentioned in the survey included "securing doctors and other personnel," "appointment systems without causing confusion," and "handling of cancellations on the day of vaccinations."
Beijing:

China on Thursday said an Indian drone had recently "intruded" into its airspace and crashed in the Sikkim sector, prompting it to lodge a diplomatic protest to India over the violation of China's territorial sovereignty.

China's Defence Ministry said that the Indian unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) crashed into the Chinese side of the border.

The Indian drone "intruded" into China's airspace and crashed recently, and China's border troops have conducted identification and verification over the vehicle, said Zhang Shuili, deputy head of the combat bureau of the Western Theatre Command's joint staff department.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the country has lodged a diplomatic protest to India over the drone violating Chinese sovereignty.

He said the drone had crashed in the Sikkim section. Dokalam is located in the Sikkim section of the India, China border.

However, there was no immediate response from the Indian Defence Ministry.

The Chinese military's western theatre command jurisdiction covers almost all of the 3488-km Line of Actual Control (LAC), including Tibet's border region with India and the Ladakh region.

Read more: Saudis slam Trump's 'irresponsible' Jerusalem move

"India's move has infringed upon China's territorial sovereignty, and we are strongly dissatisfied with and opposed to this", Zhang was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

"We will fulfil our mission and responsibility and defend China's national sovereignty and security resolutely", he said.

The Chinese military's claim came months after India and China were locked in a standoff in the Dokalam sector after the Chinese troops began constructing a road near the Bhutantri junction.

The 73-day-long Dokalam standoff ended on August 28 after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to India's Chicken Neck corridor.

India had objected to the construction highlighting its security concerns. The road was being built by the Chinese troops in the area also claimed by Bhutan.

The military's charge comes ahead of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to New Delhi to take part in the Russia-India-China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting to be held on December 11.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told media on Wednesday that Wang will meet top Indian officials on its sidelines.

This will be the first visit by a top Chinese official to India after the Dokalam crisis and commencement of second five-year term after Chinese President Xi Jinping.

It is expected to be followed by the 20th round of India-China boundary talks in New Delhi between Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, who are the designated Special Representatives.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Scientists at the Brown University in the United States have claimed that Jupiter's moon Europa has raised possibility of alien life.

The movement of tectonic plates produces the energy needed for life, and Europa has an ice surface, but researchers say this point cannot deny the fact that subduction or movement of the plates can happen.

Recent conspiracy theories have claimed that aliens created the moon and lived in it.

Last month, a UFO was spotted on both Google Maps and Google Earth. To try communicating with extra-terrestrial (ET) beings, the Messaging to Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (METI) Organisation sent a signal to outer space.

Brandon Johnson, an assistant professor at the Department of Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences at the Brown University said, If indeed theres life in that ocean, subduction offers a way to supply the nutrients it would need.

Adding salt to an ice slab would be like adding little weights to it because salt is denser than ice. So, rather than temperature, we show that differences in the salt content of the ice could enable subduction to happen on Europa. Its fascinating to think that we might have plate tectonics somewhere other than Earth. Thinking from the standpoint of comparative planetology, if we can now study plate tectonics in this very different place, it might be able to help us understand how plate tectonics got started on the Earth, Johnson added.

Meanwhile, Goddard Space Flight Centre of NASA in Maryland reportedly found evidence that Pluto could also support life.

Also Read: War on Mars? Mysterious cannonball proves 'alien' civility annihilated by decade-old war

These objects need to be considered as potential reservoirs of water and life. If our study is correct, we now may have more places in our solar system that possess some of the critical elements for extra-terrestrial life, said Prabal Saxena, lead author at the Goddard Space Flight Centre.

For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Washington:

US President Donald Trump will recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and will direct the State Department to initiate the process of moving the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, according to senior administration officials.



According to senior administration officials, Trump is expected to make the announcement along with his policy at about 1 pm (local time) on Wednesday (11.30 pm IST).



The President would say that the US government recognises that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. He views this as recognition of historic reality. Jerusalem has been capital of Jewish people since ancient times and modern reality that it has been the seat of government, important ministries, its legislature, the Supreme court, a senior administration official told reporters on the eve of Trumps much anticipated announcement on Jerusalem.



In his remarks, Trump will also direct the State Department to initiate the process of moving the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Noting that finding appropriate land and construction of a new embassy would take at least a couple of years, officials said Trump would continue to give waiver  as required by the Congress - for not moving its diplomatic mission to Jerusalem.



In taking this action, another senior administration official said, Trump will fulfil a major campaign promise that has been made by a number of previous presidential candidates. Trumps action enjoys broad bipartisan support in the Congress.



Such a move which is being opposed by the countries in the Middle East, is unlikely to have an impact on the two- state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, the official said. Trump remains committed to achieving a lasting peace agreement between the Palestinians and Israel, and is optimistic that peace can be achieved, the official said, adding that not recognising Jerusalem as capital of Israel has done nothing to achieve peace for more than two decades.



Trump, the official said, recognises that the specific boundaries of Israeli sovereignty are subject to final status negotiations.



Responding to questions, senior administration officials said the President believes that this would have no impact on the peace process. He believes that the deal is within reach and can be achieved.



Earlier, Trump spoke over phone with a number of world leaders in the Middle East to share his decision on Jerusalem, the White House said.



Trump spoke separately with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Palestine President Mahmoud Abbas, King Abdullah II of Jordan, President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi of Egypt, and King Salman Bin Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia. This announcement does not change US policy over these specific borders, the senior administration official said, while another official asserting that the President is not taking a decision that affects any of the boundaries and sovereignty.



Trumps anticipated announcement received mixed message from lawmakers.



Senator Ted Cruz described this as a historical announcement. I strongly encourage and would unequivocally support President Trump formally recognising Jerusalem as Israels capital and beginning the important process of moving our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, he said.



Meanwhile, Senator Bernie Sanders said he is extremely concerned by reports that Trump plans to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital. Theres a reason why all past US administrations have avoided making this move, and why leaders from all over the world, including a group of former Israeli ambassadors, have warned Trump against doing it. It would dramatically undermine the prospects for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement, and severely, perhaps irreparably, damage the US ability to broker that peace, Sanders said. What the US should be doing now is bringing adversaries in the middle east together to seek common solutions, not exacerbating tensions in this highly volatile region, he said.



Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat professor for peace and development, University of Maryland told PBS newspaper that it is a historic development. Its huge historically, because not only has the US not recognised Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, but really historically the international community has seen Jerusalem as very different. In fact, even West Jerusalem wasnt recognised by the US, in part because there was some international status and vision for Jerusalem historically, Telhami said.



Meanwhile, the State Department warned US embassies around the world to prepare for possible protests and violence and banned travel by government employees and their families to Jerusalems Old City and the West Bank.

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Beijing:

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will travel to New Delhi to attend the meeting of RIC Foreign Ministers on December 10 and hold talks with top Indian officials, his office announced on Wednesday.

Wang's visit would be the first high-level trip by a Chinese official to India after the Dokalam standoff.

The 73-day-long Dokalam standoff ended on August 28 after Chinese troops stopped building a key road close to India's Chicken Neck corridor.

India had objected to the construction highlighting its security concerns. The road was being built by the Chinese troops in the area also claimed by Bhutan.

On sidelines of Russia, India and China (RIC) Foreign Ministers meeting, he will hold talks with top Indian officials, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told the media.

The 15th RIC meeting will be held in New Delhi India on December 11.

"According to our information, Wang will meet with the top officials of India and detailed information will be released in due course," Geng said.

During the RIC meeting, the three foreign ministers will exchange views on major international and regional issues of common concern and deepen trilateral pragmatic cooperation, he said.

"We believe under the joint efforts of the three parties, this meeting will achieve expected outcomes," he said.

Media reports previously said the RIC meeting was planned for April 2017 but Wang did not confirm dates in the backdrop of China's protests over the Dalai Lama visiting Arunachal Pradesh in the same month.

Also Read: Chinas Wang Yi calls Russias Sergei Lavrov to help cool N Korea situation

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet.

Wang's visit to Delhi is regarded significant as it would set tone for President Xi Jinping's policy approach to India in his second term as the head of the ruling Communist Party of China.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

After devastating lives in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Lakshadweep, the deadly Cyclone Ockhi has now moved towards poll-bound Gujarat.

The Cyclone is now slowly losing its intensity and expected to make a landfall in the Gulf of Khambhat and Surat around midnight.

It is very likely to continue to move north-northwestwards, weaken gradually and cross south Gujarat and adjoining Maharashtra coasts near Surat as a deep depression by the night of December 5, said India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Fishermen in Gujarat and Maharashtra were advised not to venture into sea and the Maharashtra govt has declared a holiday in schools and colleges in four districts.

So far, the deadly Cyclone Ockhi has claimed at least 39 lives while around 139 people were still missing, the Ministry of Home Affairs said.

Here are the live updates of Cyclone Ockhi:

# Cyclone Ockhi is gradually weakening into a depression and may not hit the Gujarat coast near Surat as predicted earlier, the Meteorological Centre said in Ahmedabad tonight. Cyclonic storm Ockhi has already turned into a deep depression and may hit south Gujarat only as a depression late tonight, according to an official statement.

# I have spoken to Health Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Gujarat regarding Cyclone Ockhi , and have assured them that all support will be extended by the Centre, in terms of medicines and medical teams: JP Nadda,Health Minister

# CycloneOckhi around 350 km south-SW of Surat,it is expected to cross tonight. It is showing sign of decreasing in intensity.Issued heavy rainfall alert in coastal districts only for tonight, wind speed expected to be around 65-70 kmph when cyclone cross: Director, IMD Ahmedabad

# Every attempt is being made by Coast Guard, Indian Navy & Indian Air Force to get the missing fishermen and to bring them back to safety. I have been quoting the numbers given to me by the state govt: Union Defence Minister Sitharaman

# Cyclone Ockhi today passed the Mumbai coast and much to the relief of the people, it just brought rains and therewas no damage to life or property.

# We have kept the communication lines open. We are trying to monitor that no water logging takes place and the water supply is in ample amount: Gujarat CM Vijay Rupani in Surat

# Prime Minister Narendra Modi's rally in Surat on December 6 has been postponed. He will now address a rally on December 7 at 1 PM, reports Purab Patel from Gujarat.

# As IMD informs cyclone OCKHI is 230km West- SouthWest of Mumbai, likely to continue to move North- NorthEastward, weaken gradually and will cross South Gujrat and North Maharashtra coast. No impact on Mumbai City and Suburb. All Roads & Rails traffic are running smoothly, please don't create panic: DMU, MCGM

# Continuously monitoring the situation arising in various parts of the country due to #CycloneOckhi. Spoke to all relevant authorities and officials. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected, tweets PM Modi.

Continuously monitoring the situation arising in various parts of the country due to #CycloneOckhi. Spoke to all relevant authorities and officials. All possible assistance is being provided to those affected.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) December 5, 2017

# The Kerala government today said that 'Operation Synergy, a joint rescue mission by Navy, Air force, Coast guards and state fisheries department has been launched trace 92 fishermen, still missing in high seas after cyclone Ockhi hit the state coast on November 29 and 30.

# Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday called off poll rallies of party national president Amit Shah due to Cyclone Ockhi. He had to address public meetings in Rajula, Mahuva and Shihor constituencies in the poll-bound state.

# As per the latest forecast released by the Meteorological Centre here, the cyclone is now just 390 kms away from Surat.

The cyclone is approaching Gujarat steadily and now lies centred in the Arabian Sea just 390 kms away from Surat. It is very likely to continue moving north-northwestwards, an official of the MeT centre said.

# Take a look at the #CycloneOckhi #MumbaiRains update from Skymet weather.

# Light to moderate #rains with one or two heavy spells are likely over #Gujarat, North Maharashtra, and Andaman and the Nicobar Islands: Skymet Weather

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London:

An Islamist terror plot to assassinate British Prime Minister Theresa May has been foiled by the country's security services who arrested two men in connection with the scheme, media reports said today.

Two men were arrested last week following a joint operation by MI5, the UK's counter-terrorism security service, and police.

The two men have been arrested on suspicion of plotting to kill the prime minister by using a bomb disguised as a bag to blow off the gates of Downing Street and then attack her with knives.

The suspects were detained during raids in London and Birmingham last week and charged with terrorism offences. They are due to appear in Westminster Magistrates' Court.

Security officials believe the alleged Islamist plot is the ninth to have been thwarted since March this year.

The attack on Westminster in March heralded the start of a spate of attacks, with five terrorist atrocities getting through Britain's defences this year and claiming a total of 36 lives in London and Manchester.

The details of the latest plot emerged as an official report into the terrorist attacks Britain suffered between March and June was released.

The plot was revealed to the Cabinet on Tuesday by Andrew Parker, the head of MI5, who also told ministers that security services have foiled nine terrorist attacks on the UK in the last year, media reports said.

The Metropolitan Police said Naa'imur Zakariyah Rahman, 20, from north London, and Mohammed Aqib Imran, 21, from Birmingham, had been charged with preparing a terrorist act.

A Scotland Yard spokesperson declined to confirm that the arrests were linked to a plot to attack May.

It comes as a new report found that security services could possibly have prevented a suicide attack at the Manchester Arena in May. Bomber Salman Abedi killed 22 people when he blew himself up outside an Ariana Grande concert.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Dalit leader Jignesh Mevani on Tuesday blamed that BJP party workers attacked his convoy when he was on his way for poll campaign. But, the ruling party denied the charge.

The 34-year-old is contesting Gujarat polls from Vadagam in Banaskantha district as an independent candidate. Mewani is enjoying support of the Congress.

The constituency is reserved for SC candidates.

The Police officials informed that one of the vehicles in his convoy was hit by a stone, damaging its window, but no one was hurt.

Banaskantha SP Niraj Badgujar said, "A vehicle in Mevani's convoy was hit by a stone but nobody was injured. Mevani was in another vehicle. We will initiate whatever legal proceedings are required in the matter."

Mevani said the BJP was scared of him and that's why it was resorting to such acts.

"Friends, supporters of the BJP today attacked me at Takarwada village. The BJP is scared and therefore it is resorting to such acts. But I am a revolutionary, will not get scared," Mevani wrote on Twitter in Hindi.

#ShamefulAct #_

           ,                 ,            pic.twitter.com/wOlLLfhFef  Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) December 5, 2017

In another tweet, he asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi if it was "your idea or (BJP chief) Amit Shah's to attack those who are winning election, because this is not Gujarat's tradition".

However, the BJP denied Mevani's allegations.

Gujarat BJP spokesperson Jagdish Bhavsar said his party had nothing to do with the attack on Mevani's convoy. "These are false allegations. Even our Chief Minister (Vijay Rupani) has said we should celebrate this festival of democracy (elections) in right spirit and not indulge in violence," Bhavsar said.

Mevani is pitted against Vijay Chakravarthi of the BJP. The seat is currently held by Manibhai Vaghela of the Congress.

The Congress had asked Vaghela not to contest from the seat "as part of an agreement" with the Dalit leader. (With PTI Inputs)
Riyadh:

Saudi Arabia on Thursday slammed US President Donald Trump's decision to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital, calling the move "unjustified and irresponsible".

Trump ended seven decades of US ambiguity on the status of the disputed city, prompting an almost universal diplomatic backlash and fears of new bloodshed in the Middle East.

He also kicked off the process of moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

"The kingdom expresses great regret over the US president's decision to recognise Jerusalem as the capital of Israel," said a Saudi royal court statement carried by the official Saudi Press Agency.

The decision goes against the "historical and permanent rights of the Palestinian people", the royal court said, calling on Trump to reconsider his decision.

"The kingdom has already warned of the serious consequences of such an unjustified and irresponsible move," the statement said.

"The US move represents a significant decline in efforts to push a peace process and is a violation of the historically

neutral American position on Jerusalem."

Saudi King Salman on Tuesday had warned Trump that moving the US embassy for Israel to Jerusalem was a "dangerous step" that could rile Muslims worldwide.

Trump's announcement appears to have cast a pall over relations between Saudi Arabia and the US, which have warmed in the months after his election, with the president choosing the Gulf kingdom for his first overseas visit in May.

While the two countries have long been allies, Riyadh viewed Trump's predecessor Barack Obama as overly friendly with its arch-nemesis Iran.

Israel and Saudi Arabia have no official diplomatic relations.

For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Senior Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on Thursday apologised to Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his neech remark after party vice president Rahul Gandhi rebuked him for using foul language.

Earlier in the day, Aiyar was asked to comment on PM Modi appropriating Babasaheb Ambedkar into his election campaign in Gujarat.

Referring to PM Modi, Aiyar had said, "This person is a 'neech aadmi'. He is not civilised and in a situation like this, there is no need to practise such dirty politics."

Aiyars remark sparked a massive controversy with both BJP and PM Modi slamming the leader and Congress for using "insulting" language.

Modi said the language, Congress leaders are speaking is not acceptable in a democracy and people will answer them with their votes.

One Congress leader, who has studied in best institutions, served as a diplomat, was a Minister in Cabinet, he said Modi is Neech. This is insulting. This is nothing but a Mughalai Mindset, PM Modi said while addressing a rally in Surat.

Let them keep calling me Neech we will not respond. We do not have this mindset and want to congratulate them for theirs. If anything- we will answer them for their mindset with our votes on 9th and 14th, he said.

Reacting to Aiyars remark, Rahul Gandhi rebuked the senior Congress leader reminding him of the partys culture and heritage.

Rahul Gandhi said, "despite the fact that BJP and PM routinly use filthy language to attack Congress, I do not appreciate the tone and language used by Mr Mani Shankar Aiyer to address the Prime Minister as it was against the culture and heritage of Congress party."

Both Congress and I expect him to apologise for what he said, Rahul said.

Soon after Rahul Gandhis instructions, Mani Shankar Aiyar came out with an explanation and said by neech, he meant low level.

I think in English when I speak in Hindi as Hindi is not my mother tongue. So if it has some other meaning then I apologize, Aiyer said.

Also Read : BJP to get absolute majority in Gujarat, Congress slides below 50: News Nation survey

BJP also responded strongly and criticised Aiyar for his neech comment saying the party is proud of PM Modi and Aiyars mindset is a darbaari one.

Mani Shankar Aiyar has called our PM neech but we are proud of our Prime Minister, he has answered (Mani Shankar Aiyar) very politely & sensibly. Aiyars mindset is a darbaari one, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said while addressing a press conference.

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

Xiaomi is all set to officially launch Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus on Thursday. The company is hosting a mega event in Beijing and Xiaomi fans can watch live streaming of the launch on the companys official website.

One can watch live launch of the smartphones by clicking on Change Location and selecting Mainland China.

Prices of Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus were reportedly revealed on Wednesday, a day ahead of the official launch. As per AliExpress, Redmi 5 and Redmi 5 Plus is priced at $199-$249 which is roughly around Rs 12,500 and Rs 16,000 respectively.

Redmi 5

Talking about its features, it is expected that Redmi 5 will sport a 5.7-inch HD display with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a resolution of 1440x720.

As per latest reports, it is expected to come with two variants of 3GB and 4GB and powered by Snapdragon 450 SoC which is more powerful than its predecessor.

It is rumoured to have 5-megapixel camera in the front and 12-megapixel lens on the back with pretty decent picture quality.

Xiaomi Redmi 5 will reportedly have 3200 mAh battery and runs on Android Nougat 7.1

Redmi 5 Plus

It is expected to have a 5.9-inch FHD display with 1080x2160 resolution with an aspect ratio of 18:9.

Redmi 5 Plus will come in two options of 3GB and 4GB with 32GB and 64GB respectively. It is tipped to be powered by a Snapdragon 625 or 630 SoC processor.

Talking about its camera, Redmi 5 Plus will support 5MP camera in front along with LED flash and 12MP rear camera.

Redmi 5 Plus is expected to have a powerhouse of 4000mAh battery.
New Delhi:

A premature baby, who was delivered in Max Hospital and wrongly declared dead last week, has died during treatment, police said on Wednesday.

The baby, born on November 30, died last evening.

We just learnt of the sad demise of the 23-week preterm baby, who was on ventilator support, Max Healthcare authorities said in a statement.

Our deepest condolences are with the parents and other family members. While we understand that survival in extreme preterm births is rare, it is always painful for the parents and family. We wish them the strength to cope with their loss, it said.

Aslam Khan, deputy commissioner of police (northwest), also confirmed the news.

A panel formed by the Delhi government to look into the case on Tuesday found Max Hospital guilty of not following prescribed medical norms in dealing with newborn infants.

The case relates to the birth of twins (a boy and a girl) on November 30. The parents alleged the babies were declared dead by the Max Hospital in Shalimar Bagh but they later discovered that the boy was alive.

The parents said they were told by the hospital that both the babies were stillborn. The infants were handed over to them in a polythene bag, they said.

The family discovered that the baby boy was breathing just before the last rites, the police said.

On December 2, Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain had said the hospitals licence could be cancelled if a probe found it guilty of medical negligence. PTI

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

If you have never visited this breathtakingly beautiful land of lush green pastures, now is the time to go. The place has unmatched natural beauty, torrential rains, and weather that is way more temperamental than you. The best way to explore Ireland is through road amidst the greenery. The tranquility of this place is sure to bring you back at least one more time in your travelers life. When in Ireland dont forget to visit Kylemore Abbey, Connemara National Park, Dublin, Slieve League, Gleniff Horseshoe, Mullaghmore Beach, Ashford Castle, The Irish Countryside.

Oman

One place that is definitely emerging as one of the best tourist destinations in the Middle East, if you want to avoid the crowded UAE, is Oman. It is the right place to be if you want to learn the cultural diversity of Arab history. Oman gives you a fair chance to look into the ancient world of Arabia through a contemporary mirror among highly educated people who do not boast of their excessive wealth but embrace tourists with warmth and a treasure of ancient culture. Oman is perfect for a quiet and rich cultural tour of Arabian history, art, and architecture. Dont miss Omans highest mountain Jebel Shams, a beautiful town Nakhal, Sharqiya sands, Dhofar, Wadi Shab and more.

Philippines

Get lost in the pristine beaches and islands of the Philippines. It has the largest group of islands in the world and thus gives you ample of crystal clear blue water and heavenly beaches. Once you visit the beaches of the Philippines, you are less likely to find a better beach anywhere in the world. Not only the water but also the flora and fauna of this country are sure to make you fall in love with it. The sanctity of this place is sure to embrace you with a heart full of cherished experiences. The food, climate, and the people all together make this a must-visit place this year.

Morocco

One of the most appealing places in Africa, Morocco is known for its beautiful deserts, high mountains, souks, and ancient Medina. From the peaks of High Atlas to the Saharan dunes, Morocco has everything a traveler needs to quench his thirst for history, culture, and beauty. The splendid aroma of spices and the simplicity of the people add to the treasured mix of Morocco. Marrakesh, Fez, Agadir, beaches and modern architecture sweeps you away. So next time you want to wander a place of ancient history and tradition that still lives in the heart of people; book a ticket for Morocco.

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Prominent healthcare groups in the United Arab Emirates have come forward to offer jobs to nurses from Kerala who have been stranded here after falling prey to COVID-19 job scams.

According to a report on Wednesday, Gulf News said: "Several nurses from the south Indian state were stranded after being duped by recruitment agencies who charged exorbitant commissions ranging from Rs 200,000 to Rs 350,000. They were offered jobs at Covid-19 vaccination and testing centres in the UAE." Following this report, prominent healthcare groups have now offered jobs to the affected nurses.

As per Gulf News on Friday, Azad Moopen, chairman and managing director of Aster DM Healthcare, said: "We are ready to hire whoever is qualified and have sufficient experience with or without licence. They should be able to perform well in the interview.

"If they don't have a licence, we can start processing their visas and provide them support to try for licence." Sanjay M. Paithankar, Managing Director of Right Health, said his group was also willing to hire up to 40 nurses.

"We have just opened five more facilities in Dubai. They can join immediately. There are flats ready to accommodate them. We will arrange visa, accommodation, transportation plus basic salary till they get the DHA license. Our company will also help them appear for tests to get DHA licence," he said

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E-commerce is experiencing substantial growth in China. According to a World Economic Forum report from earlier this year that cited data from Statista and eMarketer, Chinese e-commerce made up more than half of global Internet retail sales. According to eMarketer, e-commerce in China is expanding at a faster pace than anywhere else in the world.

From 2016 to 2020, Chinas share of e-commerce as a part of total retail sales in the country more than doubled from 20% to 44%. In contrast, the share of e-commerce as a part of total retail sales in countries like U.K. and the United States was 27.7% and 14.5%, respectively, over the same period.

Using the TipRanks Stock Comparison tool, let us compare two Chinese e-commerce companies, Alibaba, and JD.com, and see how Wall Street analysts feel about these stocks.

Alibaba (BABA)

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. is a Chinese e-commerce giant, founded by Jack Ma, that operates various online marketplaces that cater to different market segments. The companys TaoBao is a marketplace that is specifically tailored towards individuals and small businesses while TMall is an online marketplace for premium products.

Ali Express targets global customers and enables them to buy directly from manufacturers and distributors located not only in China but also internationally.

Freshippo is the companys grocery retail chain while Lazada is an online retailing platform that specifically caters to customers in South East Asia in countries like Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia.

The company has also started a local services and on-demand food delivery platform in China after it acquired Ele.me in 2018. In FY21, Ele.mes active customer base on an annual basis was up 20% year-over-year due to improvements in users' experiences. BABA intends to continue investing in the platform as it perceives a cross-selling opportunity between the food delivery service and its other on-demand services.

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Alibaba also provides cloud services and operates a logistics network, Cainiao Network, which Ali Express leverages for its services. Alibaba intends to continue investing in cross-border logistic hubs in Europe, strengthen infrastructure support to international and local e-commerce businesses, and develop its logistics network in key markets.

Last week, BABA reported fiscal fourth-quarter results and posted revenues of 187.4 billion yuan, a jump of 64% year-over-year, beating the consensus estimate of 179.9 billion yuan. However, the company reported an operating loss of 7.7 billion yuan, its first quarterly loss as a public company since its IPO in 2014.

A major reason for this loss was an antitrust fine of 18.2 billion yuan that Chinese regulators slapped on the company in April. Excluding the fine, it would have reported an operating profit of 10.6 billion yuan.

The company plans to ramp up investing in core strategic areas in FY2022 which include helping merchants reduce their operating costs, acquisition of new users, technology innovation, strengthening supply chain capabilities, developing infrastructure, and increasing geographic coverage in China. It anticipates revenues in FY22 of 930 billion yuan, indicating nearly 30% growth year-over-year.

Alibaba had annual active consumers of around 891 million in China by the end of March. The company is targeting growing its Chinese customers to over 1 billion in FY22.

BABA is also looking at strengthening its investment in Taobao Deals, which offers value-for-money products for price-conscious consumers. The company is looking at reaching out to consumers in rural and under-developed areas in China with Taobao Deals. The Taobao Deals app had 130 million active users in March, 27 million more than it had in December last year.

The popularity of the app has also resulted in average spending increasing more on Taobao Deals than the increase in average spending of consumers on Chinese retail marketplaces.

The company provides cloud services to different industries under the brand, Alibaba Cloud, which was one of the companys fastest-growing businesses in FY21 and a key revenue growth driver. This business has turned profitable over the last two quarters. Alibaba intends to invest more in this business by investing in core products such as big data platforms, database and storage, and other Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products.

Alibaba believes that Taobao Deals, Taobao Grocery, Freshippo, and new features added to its core platform will continue to be long-term growth catalysts for the company. As a result, BABA continues to remain focused on strengthening these businesses. (See Alibaba stock analysis on TipRanks)

Last week, Robert W. Baird analyst Colin Sebastian lowered the price target from $285 to $270 and reiterated a Buy on the stock. Sebastian commented on the companys fiscal Q4 results in a research note to investors, Sentiment remains decidedly mixed, but we continue to like BABA for patient, longer-term investors.

However, we expect that "core marketplace" margins should remain relatively steady, even as Alibaba spends aggressively to grow New Retail initiatives (including community/group sales), expand logistics and local services, and drive further momentum for Taobao Deals. Also notable, Alibaba Cloud revenues missed expectations due to the loss of one large customer, Sebastian added.

Consensus among analysts on Wall Street is a Strong Buy based on 25 Buys and 1 Hold. The average analyst price target of $304.55 implies 41.3% upside potential to current levels.

JD.com (JD)

JD.com is a Chinese e-commerce platform that reports primarily under three business segments; retail, logistics, and new businesses. The companys retail arm provides around 500 million active customers direct access to a wide array of products including electronics, apparel, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), and fresh food. The company also has an international platform, JD Worldwide, which enables international brands to sell directly to customers in China, even if they dont have a brick-and-mortar presence in China.

JDs logistics business provides supply chain and logistics solutions to businesses while the new business segment includes the companys international business, its cloud, and artificial intelligence (AI) business, JD Property, and Jingxi. Jingxi operates in retail and focuses on lower-tier markets in China.

The company posted better-than-expected Q1 results on May 19. JD.coms Q1 earnings came in at $0.38 (RMB2.47) per ADS, versus RMB1.98 in the same quarter last year. Analysts were expecting earnings of $0.35 per ADS.

JD reported net revenues of $31 billion (RMB203.2 billion) up 39% year-on-year surpassing analysts expectations of $29.8 billion. Results were supported by outstanding performance in both the services and product sectors.

While the company did not provide any formal fiscal guidance, JD remained optimistic about its retail business over the long term. The company has already brought brands like Starbucks, Decathlon, and Guozijian to its platform. JD will celebrate its 18th anniversary at its upcoming grand promotion on June 18. One of the company's goals is to help more than 230 brands achieve sales of RMB100 million.

JD stated at its earnings call that its retail business model has evolved beyond an online business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce model and that the company was looking at ways to become an omnichannel retailer by strengthening its supply chain management and logistics and leveraging its integrated marketing capabilities, to be able to serve its consumers, anywhere and anytime.

The company stated at its earnings call, JD Retail, as the core business of JD.com, will continue to strive for high-end healthy growth in 2021 and serve as the cornerstone for JD.com's overall development. (See JD.com stock analysis on TipRanks)

On May 19, Stifel Nicolaus analyst Scott Devitt reiterated a Buy and a price target of $95 on the stock. Devitt said in a note to investors, As a base case, we expect stable margins in 2Q for JD Retail on a y/y basis as the company compares against one-time benefits in 2Q:20 stemming from government incentives related to the pandemic.

We continue to expect measured investments in the company's key strategic areas, including supply chain and logistics, omnichannel, and social commerce will limit margin expansion in 2021. We are modestly raising our FY revenue estimates, reflecting ongoing strength in customer acquisition, though leaving our margin forecast unchanged, Devitt added.

Consensus among analysts on Wall Street is a Strong Buy based on 15 Buys and 2 Holds. The average analyst price target of $102.24 implies 39.9% upside potential to current levels.

Bottom Line

While analysts are strongly bullish about both Alibaba and JD.com, based on the upside potential over the next twelve months, Alibaba seems a more compelling buy.
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All figures in USD, unless stated otherwise

TORONTO, May 21, 2021 /CNW/ - Halo Collective Inc.'s ("Halo" or the "Company") (NEO: HALO) (OTCQX: HCANF) (Germany: A9KN) wholly-owned subsidiary Bophelo Bioscience & Wellness (Pty) Ltd. ("Bophelo") is partnering with OG DNA Genetics Inc. ("DNA Genetics" or "DNA") to grow premium California-style cannabis in Lesotho. Bopehlo operates a 200-hectare cannabis cultivation site near Mafeteng, the first Special Economic Zone ("SEZ") in Lesotho, Africa.1 DNA Genetics is one of the world's leading creators of high-quality cannabis seeds, whose strains consistently contain high cannabinoid and terpene concentrations. Bophelo and DNA entered a seed purchase agreement giving Bophelo exclusive rights to develop new and existing strains of DNA medical cannabis in Lesotho for export worldwide.

Bophelo Bioscience Grows Premium DNA Genetics California-Style Cannabis in Lesotho (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

Bophelo Bioscience Grows Premium DNA Genetics California-Style Cannabis in Lesotho (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

Bophelo Bioscience Grows Premium DNA Genetics California-Style Cannabis in Lesotho (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

Bophelo Bioscience Grows Premium DNA Genetics California-Style Cannabis in Lesotho (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

Harvest Update

Bophelo finalized the summer harvest with more than 400,000 grams of sellable flower. Despite difficult growing conditions this season due to eight weeks of unusual weather, strong results were achieved with eight strains providing over 20% of THC A in line with the highest quality sun-grown cannabis found in Oregon and California.

Current test results from ISO laboratory testing are shown below:

Strain Name THC A% OG DNA Holy Grail (1) 28.2 Blue Berry Haze 23.2 Mother Load Kush 22.9 OG DNA Chocolope (1) 22.7 Sugar Punch 21.9 Kolossus 21.0 Afghani Fields 20.7 Madchem 20.2

This marks a significant milestone in quality, as 20% and higher is the desired standard in most medical markets. Strains above 25% are considered the highest quality for natural sun-grown cannabis. Additional strains await test results with the anticipation that more strains that will test over 20%. Each of these strains has been selected as a "Production Strain" and will be a large section of our spring planting beginning in October.

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The success of the DNA strains in the Lesotho environment has yielded high quality cannabis that would be expected to sell at a premium price. The DNA Genetics team plans to visit Bophelo's cultivation site in late June or early July to establish more unique strains potentially by crossing local genetics to make a new class of African-California cannabis strains as part of the Halo and Bophelo partnership.

Aaron Yarkoni, Co-Founder of DNA Genetics said, "We're excited about all the progress we have made in Africa with Halo. We have grown all over the world, and this is the first time I have seen both the Prime Minister with his cabinet visit the site. It's an honor to participate in creating a Special Economic Zone, creating jobs, and most of all, providing our highest quality cannabis strain varieties to people all over the world. The team in Lesotho has been doing an incredible job with our genetics, and we're proud to show the world what we've achieved. It's been a great partnership."

Image captured at Bophelo Bioscience of the recent visit of The Prime Minister with his Cabinet Members (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

"The cannabis we are growing would be top-shelf sun-grown cannabis. Our cost of production is among the lowest in the world, and our quality is among the highest, as independent lab test results demonstrate. I am excited to scale this year and then next and start bringing strong revenue with high margins with the cannabis that all medicinal cannabis patients will demand," said Kiran Sidhu, CEO and Co-Founder of Halo.

Sales Opportunities

Bophelo continues to work on the export process in Lesotho and the import process in South Africa to allow independent third-party compliance product testing. The result will enable Bophelo to sell products abroad through third parties exporters and resellers.

Interested third parties have been identified, and Bophelo expects to make initial sample product sales abroad as soon as the protocols are firmly established. It is anticipated that these protocols will be completed by late July.

GACP Certification Targeted for June

With the outer 1.6 km of fence complete, work is now beginning on the inner fence. These two elements significantly increase the security of the sitea significant accomplishment. (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

With the outer 1.6 km of fence complete, work is now beginning on the inner fence. These two elements significantly increase the security of the sitea significant accomplishment. The inner fence should be completed by June. The ablutions continue to progress with the roof to be installed and inner finish work expected to be completed within four weeks. Proper curing, storage, and post-harvest processing facilities are the longest lead time items and can possibly be done in late June. The state-of-the-art security system and corporate headquarters are already finished.

Cravo Green Houses Starting to Arrive

Work has been completed to supply electricity sufficient to power 1 acre (0.4 hectares) of greenhouse spacea major accomplishment. Planning is in process to build out the electrical infrastructure in preparation to start foundation work, which is expected to be completed by the middle of July. Bophelo plans to use high-quality systems, including EPHOS lighting systems.

Despite numerous delays due primarily to Covid-19, the first container of Cravo parts is expected to be on time and arrive in South Africa by the end of June. This shipment contains the foundation for the greenhouse. Plans to build out the drainage and foundation are being finalized with the expectation to pour concrete starting in late July and early August. The goal is to begin planting in this first greenhouse by October. Once this prototype proves successful, Bophelo plans to implement a total of 15 acres of Cravo Greenhouses by the middle of 2023, capable of producing up to 48 million grams of flower annually, which is expected to be one of the largest greenhouse complexes in the world.

Extraction Will Soon Be Up and Running

The 16 m2 extraction facility is almost complete, with initial extractions expected to begin in June. The first month of extraction will be focused on learning standard operating procedures to ensure safe extractions. Bophelo will utilize the "B" buds from its cultivation along with cannabis procured from other license holders. Shatter and oil will be produced for sale within Africa to additional medical licenses. If possible, the oil will be exported out of Africa as well.

Covid-19 Mitigation Strategy in Place

Management at Bophelo anticipated the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19 and prepared a contingency grow plan to allow the expansion of an additional two acres (0.8 hectares) of grow space. This would increase Bophelo's conventional greenhouse space at a minimum from 0.7 acres (0.3 hectares) to 2.7 acres (1.1 hectares) even in the event of a total lockdown due to Covid-19. This canopy would be in addition to the planned Cravo Greenhouses. Bophelo expects to have at least 6 acres of canopy growing by May 2022, as much as Halo's East Evan's Creek Facility with equal or better quality but at a significantly lower cost and contributing to Halo's gross margin .

"Covid had a significant impact on Bophelo's ability to expand in 2021. We built the team and grew despite the challenges as well as learned some valuable lessons. We are a few weeks late on GACP certification but aim to be certified in July. We are well-positioned to continue growing and thriving at a fast pace," said Andreas Met, Managing Director of Bophelo and Halo Co-Founder.

About Halo Collective Inc.

Halo is a leading, vertically integrated cannabis company that cultivates, extracts, manufactures, and distributes quality cannabis flower, oils, and concentrates and has sold approximately nine million grams of oils and concentrates since inception. Halo continues to evolve its business and scale efficiently, partnering with trustworthy leaders in the industry, who value the Company's operational expertise in bringing top-tier products to market. Current growth includes expansion in key U.S. markets, the United Kingdom and Africa, with planned expansion into the Canadian retail market.

Halo is led by a strong, diverse, and innovative management team with deep industry knowledge and blue-chip experience. The Company is currently operating in the United States in California and Oregon. The Company sells cannabis products principally to dispensaries under its brands, Hush, Mojave, and Exhale, and under partnership or license with OG DNA Genetics, Terphogz and FlowerShop*, a cannabis lifestyle and conceptual wellness brand in which G-Eazy is a partner and key member of FlowerShop*.

As part of continued expansion and vertical integration in the U.S., Halo boasts several grow operations throughout Oregon and California. In Oregon, the Company has a combined 9 acres of outdoor cultivation, including East Evans Creek, a six-acre grow site in Jackson County, Blue Sky Farms, a two-acre grow site located in Jackson County and Winberry Farms, a one-acre grow site located 30 miles outside Eugene in Lane County. In California, the Company is building out Ukiah Ventures, a planned 30,000-square-foot indoor grow and cannabis processing facility, including up to an additional five acres of industrial land to expand this indoor grow site. Recently, Halo partnered with Green Matter Holding to purchase Bar X Farm in Lake County, developing up to 80 acres of cultivation which would comprise the largest grow in California.

Internationally, the Company's subsidiary Bophelo is currently cultivating medicinal cannabis in Lesotho. Once fully built out, Halo believes Bophelo to be one of the largest licensed marijuana cultivation sites in the world with a future capacity of up to 495 acres. To further Halo's global presence, the Company has recently acquired CBPM importation and distribution licensing in the United Kingdom via medical cannabis suppliers Canmart. Halo expects the cultivation and manufacturing operations of Bophelo, combined with the importation and distribution capabilities of Canmart, to drive a well-positioned business to serve the U.K. market.

The Company also has acquired a range of software development assets, including technology platforms CannPOS, Cannalift, and, more recently, CannaFeels. Halo also owns the discrete sublingual dosing technology, Accudab. The Company intends to spin-off these assets along with its intellectual property and patent applications into its subsidiary Halo Tek Inc. and complete a distribution to shareholders on a record date to be determined by Halo.

For further information regarding Halo, see Halo's disclosure documents on SEDAR at www.sedar.com

Connect with Halo Collective: Email | Website | LinkedIn | Twitter | Instagram

About OG DNA Genetics Inc.

DNA was rooted in Los Angeles and founded in Amsterdam in 2004 by Don Morris and Aaron Yarkoni. Over the last decade, the Company has built and curated a seasoned genetic library and developed proven standard operating procedures for genetic selection, breeding, and cultivation. In a world that is increasingly opening up to commercial cannabis activity, DNA is positioned to become the first, truly geographically diversified company with multiple partnerships with top-licensed producers and brands that have built their companies and global presence utilizing the "Powered by DNA" model.

For more information, please visit www.dnagenetics.com

About Bophelo

Bophelo is based in the Kingdom of Lesotho, Southern Africa, and is the holder of one of a limited number of licenses issued in Lesotho for the production of medicinal cannabis products. Situated 70 kilometers from the capital city of Maseru, Bophelo's operating site is an ideal location with ample labor, free water, flat land area, and low crime rates. The favorable high altitude and low humidity climate provide clean and organic growing conditions within the mountainous region. With the motto "Sechaba se tlisa lerou" translated in English, meaning community brings wealth, Bophelo highlights the value of community and empowerment of the Basotho people, focusing on the development of women and youth. Bophelo is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Halo.

For more information about Bophelo, please visit www.bophelo-bioscience.com

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Information and Statements

This press release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation and may also contain statements that may constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking information and forward-looking statements are not representative of historical facts or information or current condition, but instead represent only Halo's beliefs regarding future events, plans or objectives, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of Halo's control. Generally, such forward-looking information or forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "plans", "expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "budget", "scheduled", "estimates", "forecasts", "intends", "anticipates" or "does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words and phrases or may contain statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "could", "would", "might" or "will be taken", "will continue", "will occur" or "will be achieved". Forward-looking information may relate to anticipated events or results including, but not limited to the development and expansion of Bophelo's operations and the granting of certifications, Bophelo's prospects, including with respect to the distribution of cannabis products produced by Bophelo, Halo's planned expansion into the Canadian retail market, the expected size and capabilities of the final facility planned at Ukiah Ventures, the size of Halo's planned cultivation facility in Northern California and the ability of Bophelo and Canmart to serve the E.U., U.K. and Australian market.

By identifying such information and statements in this manner, Halo is alerting the reader that such information and statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such information and statements. In addition, in connection with the forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release, Halo has made certain assumptions. Although Halo believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing, and the expectations contained in, the forward-looking information and statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on such information and statements, and no assurance or guarantee can be given that such forward-looking information and statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information and statements. Among others, the key factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information and statements are the following: unforeseen delays or circumstances that prevent the applicable stock exchanges from commencing trading in the Company's shares or warrants; delays in obtaining required licenses or approvals, delays or unforeseen costs incurred in connection with construction, the ability of competitors to scale operations in Northern California, delays or unforeseen difficulties in connection with the cultivation and harvest of Halo's raw material, changes in general economic, business and political conditions, including changes in the financial markets; and the other risks disclosed in the Company's annual information form dated March 31, 2021 and other disclosure documents available on the Company's profile at www.sedar.com. Should one or more of these risks, uncertainties or other factors materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking information or statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described herein as intended, planned, anticipated, believed, estimated or expected.

The forward-looking information and forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and Halo does not undertake to update any forward-looking information and/or forward-looking statements that are contained or referenced herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking information and statements attributable to Halo or persons acting on its behalf is expressly qualified in its entirety by this notice.

www.haloco.com (CNW Group/Halo Collective Inc.)

SOURCE Halo Collective Inc.

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The Tesla logo is seen on a car in Los Angeles

BERKELEY, Calif. (Reuters) - A California regulator said on Monday it is reviewing whether Tesla Inc violated regulations by falsely promoting its advanced driver-assistance systems as being "full self-driving."

Tesla's driver assistant features, which it describes as "Autopilot" or "full self-driving" are under growing scrutiny following a series of accidents and online videos of Tesla cars driving with no one in the driver's seat.

Tesla charges $10,000 for its semi-automated features such as lane changing and parking assistance under its full self-driving (FSD) software.

Tesla says on its website that the features do not make the vehicle autonomous, but the term FSD is widely used by CEO Elon Musk who has over 50 million Twitter followers.

Consumer Groups and experts have criticised Tesla for misleading consumers into believing that the car can drive by itself without providing an adequate driver monitoring system to prevent the system's misuse, contributing to fatal accidents.

A Tesla car driver killed in a recent accident in California had praised the automaker's "full self-driving" features and posted videos of himself apparently driving with his hands off the wheel.

A 25-year-old man was also arrested earlier this month after driving a Tesla while in the backseat in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) said in a statement it has "the matter under review," referring to the regulation that "prohibits a company from advertising vehicles for sale or lease as autonomous..."

A violation of the rule could lead to the suspension or the revocation of a manufacturer's occupational license, among other administrative actions, it added, without elaborating.

Tesla was not immediately available for comment.

"We call on Tesla to stop using hyperbolic terminology to sell its already impressive technology," Jason Levine, executive Director at Center For Auto Safety, told Reuters.

(Reporting by Hyunjoo Jin; editing by Richard Pullin)
Member of the European Parliament Maximilian Krah congratulated the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Tibet Autonomous Region and praised its development and achievements.

Berlin, Germany, May 22, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Maximilian Krah, a member of the German Alternative fur Deutschland in the European Parliament and vice chairman of the China-EU Friendship Group, recently announced his views on Tibet through a video on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region. Maximilian Krah has played an increasingly important role in the European Parliament as a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament, a member of the International Trade Committee of the European Parliament and a member of the Human Rights Subcommittee of the European Parliament.

Maximilian Krah talks about Tibet experience and expresses blessings

https://youtu.be/oD0rDcYmsgo

Maximilian Krah revealed that he went to Tibet in China as a tourist for the first time in 2002 and was very shocked by the local development. Maximilian Krah said: "It is difficult for ordinary people to understand Tibet objectively outside of China. so it is important to go there to experience local development and achievements. For example, to protect Tibetan cultural heritage, the human rights of monks have been effectively protected by the state, new temples have been built, and at the same time The old temple was repaired. A large part of this comes from the support of Beijing and Shanghai, including the construction of new schools. The whole of China has participated in the construction of Tibet, which has enabled Tibet to enter the modern life of the new world while preserving its history and culture."

Maximilian Krah also revealed that he hopes to further strengthen the exchanges between Germany and China and strengthen economic and trade relations. Tibet can also play an important role through tourism and manufacturing, and cooperate with the luxury goods industry in Europe. Maximilian Krah believes that Tibet is an inherent territory of China. During the 70 years since the establishment of the autonomous region, human rights have been effectively protected, culture has been inherited and carried forward, and the economy and living standards have been continuously improved. They have any reason to be proud of their achievements.

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In addition, Maximilian Krah expressed his congratulations on the 70th anniversary of the founding of China's Tibet Autonomous Region, and hoped that the Tibet Autonomous Region can make more achievements in ecological environmental protection and cultural heritage protection. As China develops, Tibet will develop better. Maximilian Krah also expressed regret that he did not have the opportunity to visit Tibet because of the epidemic. Maximilian Krah said, "I hope that after the epidemic, we can go to Tibet to see in person what development achievements have been made from 2002 to the present. I heard that the world's highest high-speed railway to Lhasa has been completed.

They combine history with the future. "

Maximilian Krah's sincere words also revealed the importance of establishing cultural exchanges to promote economic and trade development in the context of increasing global uncertainties in 2021. The Tibet Autonomous Region has also celebrated its 70th anniversary. Maximilian Krah said at the end of the video to enjoy this celebration and wish for better achievements in the future.

Overview of the Development of Tibet Autonomous Region

The Tibet Autonomous Region is approaching the 70th anniversary of its founding. The Chinese government's management of the Tibet Autonomous Region has ensured the equality, unity, mutual assistance, and common prosperity and development of local residents. At the same time, residents in Tibet have the right to participate in the management of state affairs and independently manage the affairs of the region. The Tibet Autonomous Region, like other regions in China, has institutional guarantees and policy preferences.

Since the establishment of the Tibet Autonomous Region 70 years ago, the Central Government of China has formulated many special preferential policies for Tibet to help the region develop better. The policies cover various fields such as finance, taxation and finance, infrastructure, industrial development, education and health, cultural protection, and ecological civilization. The support for Tibet is constantly increasing, which has greatly improved the production and living conditions of the residents in Tibet, and the residents' sense of happiness and security is constantly increasing and rising. This is a major achievement.

In 2020, the per capita disposable income of urban and rural residents in the Tibet Autonomous Region will double that in 2010. The per capita disposable income of rural residents was 14,598 yuan, an increase of 12.7% over the previous year. It has maintained double-digit growth for 18 consecutive years. The growth rate has remained at about 13% in the past five years. This is a shocking growth rate that even exceeds The region with the strongest economy in China. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 41156 yuan, an increase of 10% over 2019.

In addition, the Chinese government has also invested huge manpower, financial resources, and material resources, using various methods such as law, economy, and administration to effectively protect and develop the excellent traditional culture of Tibet. While maintaining the traditional methods and styles of clothing, food, and housing, the residents of the Tibet Autonomous Region have also absorbed many new modern cultural customs. This is a perfect fusion of tradition and modernity. At the same time, religious freedom is also greatly guaranteed in Tibet. In the Tibet Autonomous Region, all religions and sects are equal, and religious believers and non-believers are treated equally. There are more than 1,700 places for religious activities in Tibetan Buddhism, with approximately 46,000 monks and nuns. In just a few decades, as if spanning thousands of years, the Tibet Autonomous Region has gone from mysterious and backward to bright and prosperous. With the stability and continuous progress of the region, we also look forward to greater achievements in the future, which deserves any recognition and applause in the world.



Contact:

Maximilian Krah

maximilian.krah@europarl.europa.eu

https://maximilian-krah.de/

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(Bloomberg) -- Nvidia Corp. shares jumped Friday after the graphics-chipmaker said it would split its shares 4-for-1 in an effort to make them more accessible to investors and employees.

The split, in the form of a stock dividend, is subject to shareholder approval at the Santa Clara, California-based companys annual meeting on June 3, Nvidia said in a statement Friday. The move, if approved, would increase the common stock to 4 billion shares. The shares jumped 3.1% as trading got underway in New York Friday.

Currently Nvidia has about 622.4 million shares outstanding, valuing the company at $363.8 billion, based on Thursdays closing share price of $584.50. The stock has gained 12% so far this year.

If shareholders approve the plan, each Nvidia stockholder of record on June 21 will receive a dividend of three additional shares of common stock for every share held, to be distributed after the close of trading on July 19. Trading is expected to begin on a stock split-adjusted basis on July 20.

More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com

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MANILA, May 22 (Reuters) - The Philippines and China held "friendly and candid" talks on the South China Sea, the Philippines' foreign ministry said on Saturday, days after the minister ordered Chinese vessels out of the disputed waterway in an expletive-laced tweet.

The presence of hundreds Chinese vessels inside the Philippines 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) has been the latest source of tensions between the two countries in the South China Sea, through which $3 trillion worth of goods pass every year.

The Philippines said the encroaching vessels were manned by militia, while Beijing said they were fishing boats sheltering from bad weather.

"The two sides had friendly and candid exchanges on the general situation and specific issues of concern in the South China Sea," under a bilateral consultation mechanism convened in 2016 to ease tensions in the strategic waterway, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a statement.

"There was mutual recognition of the importance of dialogue in easing tensions and understanding each country's position and intentions in the area," the DFA said.

Earlier this month, Philippines Foreign Minister Teodoro Locsin likened China to "an ugly oaf" for its behaviour in the waterway.

"China, my friend, how politely can I put it? Let me see OGET THE FUCK OUT," Locsin tweeted on his personal account.

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who prefers to not provoke Beijing and wants to tap it for loans and investment, barred his ministers from talking about the South China Sea situation in public after the outburst.

Also discussed during Friday's dialogue was the row over the June 2019 sinking of a Philippine fishing boat by a Chinese fishing vessel that abandoned the Filipino fishermen in the South China Sea. The Philippine justice ministry will seek compensation for the victims, the DFA said.

Despite recent tensions, ties between the Philippines and China have improved under Duterte, who described the 2016 arbitration ruling on the South China Sea that went in Philippines' favour as just a "piece of paper" he could throw in the trash.

But the Philippines reiterated its call on Beijing to respect international law, including the arbitral ruling during the talks, the DFA said. (Reporting by Karen Lema; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
NEW YORK, May 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Pomerantz LLP announces that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Provention Bio, Inc. ("Provention" or the "Company") (NASDAQ: PRVB) and certain of its officers. The class action, filed in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and docketed under 21-cv-11613, is on behalf of a class consisting of all persons and entities other than Defendants that purchased or otherwise acquired Provention securities between November 2, 2020 and April 8, 2021, both dates inclusive (the "Class Period"), seeking to recover damages caused by Defendants' violations of the federal securities laws and to pursue remedies under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 promulgated thereunder, against the Company and certain of its top officials.

Fighting for victims of securities fraud for more than 85 years (PRNewsfoto/Pomerantz LLP)

If you are a shareholder who purchased Provention securities during the Class Period, you have until July 20, 2021 to ask the Court to appoint you as Lead Plaintiff for the class. A copy of the Complaint can be obtained at www.pomerantzlaw.com. To discuss this action, contact Robert S. Willoughby at newaction@pomlaw.com or 888.476.6529 (or 888.4-POMLAW), toll-free, Ext. 7980. Those who inquire by e-mail are encouraged to include their mailing address, telephone number, and the number of shares purchased.

[Click here for information about joining the class action]

Provention is a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company that focuses on the development and commercialization of therapeutics and solutions to intercept and prevent immune-mediated diseases. The Company's product candidates include, among others, PRV-031 teplizumab and monoclonal antibodies, in Phase III clinical trial for the interception of type one diabetes ("T1D").

In November 2020, Provention completed the rolling submission of a Biologics License Application ("BLA") to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") for teplizumab for the delay or prevention of clinical T1D in at-risk individuals (the "teplizumab BLA").

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The complaint alleges that, throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and misleading statements regarding the Company's business, operations, and compliance policies. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) the teplizumab BLA was deficient in its submitted form and would require additional data to secure FDA approval; (ii) accordingly, the teplizumab BLA lacked the evidentiary support the Company had led investors to believe it possessed; (iii) the Company had thus overstated the teplizumab BLA's approval prospects and hence the commercialization timeline for teplizumab; and (iv) as a result, the Company's public statements were materially false and misleading at all relevant times.

On April 8, 2021, Provention issued a press release "announc[ing] that the Company received a notification on April 2, 2021 from the [FDA], stating that, as part of its ongoing review of the Company's [BLA] for teplizumab for the delay or prevention of clinical [T1D], the FDA has identified deficiencies that preclude discussion of labeling and post-marketing requirements/commitments at this time."

On this news, Provention's stock price fell $1.73 per share, or 17.78%, to close at $8.00 per share on April 9, 2021.

The Pomerantz Firm, with offices in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Paris is acknowledged as one of the premier firms in the areas of corporate, securities, and antitrust class litigation. Founded by the late Abraham L. Pomerantz, known as the dean of the class action bar, the Pomerantz Firm pioneered the field of securities class actions. Today, more than 80 years later, the Pomerantz Firm continues in the tradition he established, fighting for the rights of the victims of securities fraud, breaches of fiduciary duty, and corporate misconduct. The Firm has recovered numerous multimillion-dollar damages awards on behalf of class members. See www.pomerantzlaw.com

CONTACT:

Robert S. Willoughby

Pomerantz LLP

rswilloughby@pomlaw.com

888-476-6529 ext. 7980

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SOURCE Pomerantz LLP
NEW YORK, May 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --

Rosen Law Firm, P.A. Logo

WHY: Rosen Law Firm, a global investor rights law firm, reminds purchasers of the securities of Skillz Inc. f/k/a Flying Eagle Acquisition Corp. (NYSE: SKLZ, FEAC) between December 16, 2020 and April 19, 2021, inclusive (the "Class Period"), of the important July 7, 2021 lead plaintiff deadline.

SO WHAT: If you purchased Skillz 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 Skillz class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2093.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 July 7, 2021. A lead plaintiff is a representative party acting on behalf of other class members in directing the litigation.

WHY ROSEN LAW: We encourage investors to select qualified counsel with a track record of success in leadership roles. Often, firms issuing notices do not have comparable experience or resources. The Rosen Law Firm represents investors throughout the globe, concentrating its practice in securities class actions and shareholder derivative litigation. Rosen Law Firm has achieved the largest ever securities class action settlement against a Chinese Company. Rosen Law Firm was Ranked No. 1 by ISS Securities Class Action Services for number of securities class action settlements in 2017. The firm has been ranked in the top 4 each year since 2013 and has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. In 2019 alone the firm secured over $438 million for investors. In 2020, founding partner Laurence Rosen was named by law360 as a Titan of Plaintiffs' Bar. Many of the firm's attorneys have been recognized by Lawdragon and Super Lawyers.

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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) the three games responsible for a majority of Skillz's revenues had declined substantially; (2) Skillz's revenue recognition policy misrepresented the Company's financial condition; (3) Skillz had unrealistic market growth projections, specifically in the Android market; and (4) as a result of the foregoing, defendants' statements about its business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times. When the true details entered the market, the lawsuit claims that investors suffered damages.

To join the Skillz class action, go to http://www.rosenlegal.com/cases-register-2093.html or call Phillip Kim, Esq. toll-free at 866-767-3653 or email pkim@rosenlegal.com or cases@rosenlegal.com for information on the class action.

No Class Has Been Certified. Until a class is certified, you are not represented by counsel unless you retain one. You may select counsel of your choice. You may also remain an absent class member and do nothing at this point. An investor's ability to share in any potential future recovery is not dependent upon serving as lead plaintiff.

Follow us for updates on LinkedIn: 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

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www.rosenlegal.com

Cision

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SOURCE Rosen Law Firm, P.A.
Stafford County Public Schools will move forward with a new daily schedule for the upcoming year.

Start times are later for high school students and earlier for elementary school students than in previous years, but slightly altered from those proposed last week.

Elementary students will start their days at either 7:45 or 8:15 a.m., middle school and preschool students at 8:45 a.m. and high school students at 9:20.

The school day will end at 3:30 p.m. for high school students, a half hour earlier than the previously proposed dismissal time of 4 p.m.

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Elementary students will be dismissed at 1:55 or 2:25 p.m. and middle school students at 2:55 p.m.

In a presentation for the School Board at a special called meeting Tuesday evening, Stanley Jones, associate superintendent of instructional services, said having elementary start first will ensure younger students attend school when they are most ready to learn; support teachers with time to plan very intentional, differentiated instruction; minimize loss of instructional time due to late arrivals in the morning; and minimize delayed dismissal, resulting in tired students, and loss of collaborative planning time for teachers to best address student needs.
Jackson said she believes the older Black generation has become complacent because overt discrimination, such as segregated schools and laws against interracial marriage, has ended. She recalled that NAACP leaders were booed at a protest in Fredericksburg last year because demonstrators believed they wanted to water down their message.

The equality they fought for was very physical and in-your-face, Jackson said. It was discrimination-centered, very vocal and public racism. Were fighting things that have been imbedded in our systems. They dont see it as we see it.

Lanaisha Foreman is one of the leaders of the FXBG Freedom Initiative. Foreman said her concern with the NAACP is that when the protests began last year, the leaders were critical of the methods of the younger generation.

Foreman said her only recollection of local NAACP chapters was them telling us how to protest. She said they werent available when more than 50 demonstrators needed legal assistance after receiving summonses charging them with violating a city curfew. Most of those charged were eventually acquitted or agreed to perform community service in exchange for the charges being expunged.
Biden and Netanyahu's talks were just a small sample of the furious diplomacy that the White House conducted. The president and senior aides had over 80 engagements -- by phone or in person -- as it looked for an endgame to the fighting, according to the White House.

Biden's speech celebrating the cease-fire lasted just 3  minutes  delivered just in time for evening news broadcasts. He reiterated his belief that Israel has a right to defend itself, expressed condolences for Palestinian civilians who died in the Israeli bombardment and promised that humanitarian aid to Gaza Strip was on its way.

It was an enigmatic, and perhaps fitting, bookend to the sort of messy Middle East crisis he had hoped to avoid, particularly early in a presidency already oversubscribed with managing the public health and economic tumult caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The conflict had also exposed a rift between Biden and members of his own party. The president who over nearly 50 years in national politics has burnished a reputation for unwavering support of Israel leads a Democratic Party that has trended toward a far more divided outlook on the correct path to peace between Israel and the Palestinians. And Republicans, for their part, were all too eager to use the raging violence as ammunition against Biden's presidency.
The representative office on the island territory is closed. The Tsai administration welcomed anti-establishment demonstrators from the former British colony. Taiwanese government: The Lam executive has shown its contempt for democracy. In 2020, nearly 11,000 Hong citizens moved to Taiwan.

Hong Kong (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The closure of Hong Kong's representative office in Taiwan is due to the "repeated and gross interference" of the island's authorities in the internal affairs of the former British colony. Hong Kong authorities are referring above all to the welcome offered by Taipei to anti-establishment demonstrators fleeing the semi-autonomous Chinese territory.

Carrie Lams government suspended the operations of the City Office in Taipei on May 18. At the time of the announcement, it did not provide any explanation, apart from the clarification that the decision was not linked to the resurgence of the pandemic from Covid-19 in Taiwan.

Hong Kong authorities accuse the Tsai Ing-wen administration of carrying out "provocative" acts. They also argue that Office staff in Taipei have faced threats from Taiwanese "radicals". The Taiwanese government replied that it only offered "humanitarian" aid to Hong Kong citizens fleeing in search of freedom. By interpreting this support as a "provocation", says the Taiwanese leadership, the Hong Kong executive has shown its contempt for democratic values.

Last year, more than 10,800 Hong Kong citizens moved to Taiwan - nearly double the number in 2019. The increase came after the Lam executive passed a draconian national security law in June: Beijing imposed a crack down on the democracy movement. According to several observers, Hong Kong has cut off official relations with Taipei on the orders of the central government, which considers the island a "rebel province".
Saturday

HomeStore, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 701 E. Dodge St., Fremont. The HomeStore sells donated items at discounted prices. Proceeds support the mission of Fremont Area Habitat for Humanity.

Scribner Fire & Rescue Department freewill sausage gravy and biscuit breakfast, 8-11 a.m., Scribner Fire Station. Proceeds will be used for equipment and training.

Bob Bruner Memorial Fishing Derby, 9 a.m. to noon, Lake 16, Fremont Lakes State Recreation Area. This free event is open to anyone. Each child must be accompanied by a parent to be entered into the derby and casting contest. No fishing license or park entry permit is required this day only. Over $3,000 of rods and reels will be given away (while supplies last). Free hot dogs and pop will be served (while supplies last).

Alcoholics Anonymous meeting, 10 a.m., Chapter 5 Club, 136 N. Main St., Fremont. The cost is $15 for drivers and $10 for riders. There will be door prizes and drawings held during the event with 2021 poker run shirts available for purchase. All proceeds will go directly to Miles For Heroes as the nonprofit organization works with veterans as they experience the outdoors and networking statewide. For more information, contact Travis Von Seggern at 402-720-8378.
The Fremont Public Schools Board of Education announced on Thursday that a special meeting will take place Wednesday, May 26 to interview and nominate a vacant board position.

The seat was vacated following the death of longtime board member Dan Moran.

Moran, who served on FPSs Board of Education for the last 20 years, died following a battle with cancer in April.

The board outlined plans to replace Morans seat during its regular meeting on May 10. In that meeting, the board acknowledged Morans vacancy and passed a timeline breaking down the next steps for filling his position on the board.

According to that timeline, an AdHoc committee would have been formed on May 24 to screen applicants who submitted a letter of interest and resume to be interviewed for the position.

Next weeks special meeting lists five unnamed applicants to be interviewed during the meeting. Of those applicants, one would subsequently be nominated to fill the remainder of Morans term.

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Morans current term runs through Jan. 9, 2023.
Two transformers were recently placed at a new Fremont substation that aims to supply WholeStone Farms expansion with power.

Last week, the transformers were delivered to Substation H, located at Cloverly and Yager roads, according to a press release from the City of Fremont.

In addition to serving the WholeStone load, we will have some additional capacity to either serve any additional load in the area, whether it comes from WholeStone or any other customer that might come in down in that area, Electrical Engineer Director Al Kaspar said.

Kaspar said the substation had been in discussion for years after WholeStone approached the city about its plans for expansion.

It became apparent fairly quickly that the amount of load they were talking about adding, we didnt have enough capacity in the area to serve that much load, he said.

The city later met with an engineering firm, who projected that the load would be around 15 MW. After meeting with the city, WholeStone purchased a piece of land to use as the substation site and agreed to pay two-thirds of the sites cost.
The death toll from bombings outside a high school in the Afghan capital has risen to 100 dead and 160 wounded, says the office of Sarwar Danish, Afghanistan's second vice president.

Three powerful bombs detonated outside the Sayed Ul-Shuhada high school in Kabul on May 8 as students, many of them teenage girls, were leaving class.

The attack occurred in Dasht-e-Barchi, a predominately Shiite enclave in Kabul that is home to the Hazara minority.

Islamic State (IS) and Taliban militants -- Sunni extremist groups that consider Shia apostates -- have been blamed for devastating attacks that have killed hundreds of Hazara in the area in recent years.

Danishs office said on May 22 that many of the hundreds of survivors were severely wounded by the blasts.

It warned that the death toll could rise further.

The attack, which was not claimed by any group, was one of the deadliest since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 toppled the Taliban from power.

Violence has soared in Afghanistan since the start of the international troop withdrawal on May 1, with the Taliban seizing districts and overrunning government military bases in rural areas.

There has also been a sharp uptick in deadly suicide bombings in urban areas that have been blamed on the Taliban.
President Joe Biden is awarding his first Medal of Honor to a 94-year-old retired Army colonel for bravery more than a half-century ago in the Korean War
FILE - In this June 14, 2018, file photo, the FBI seal is seen before a news conference at FBI headquarters in Washington. An FBI employee has been indicted on charges that she stored classified documents and other national security information at home over the course of more than a decade, the Justice Department said Friday.
Dear Ken: My old fireplace is dark red and doesnt fit in to my color scheme any more. How do I paint it? What color would you suggest?  Jan

Answer: This is pretty easy, but as with all paint jobs, the key is in the preparation. Apply a couple of coats of a primer/sealer, like KILZ or Bullseye 1-2-3. You can roll it on if youd like, but a better idea is to use a small sprayer, after you mask off the area. The primer will help seal the pores in the brick so your top coat covers more completely  not to mention it will be easier to apply. You could choose a neutral color, like a tan or off-white  perhaps three shades darker than the walls. Or if theres a favorite accent color in the room, key off of it and use the darker tint. Finally, you could re-create the mortar lines between the bricks with a dark gray or brown paint applied with a small brush.

Dear Ken: We have a Bruce gun metal floor that is badly scratched. Also, our doors are dark and also gouged and in bad shape. Can we refinish them?  Lisa

Answer: You have a factory-finished hardwood floor system. There are basically two styles: solid wood and laminates. The former can usually be sanded and refinished with a new gloss coat. But the laminate floor system  consisting of multiple layers of colored veneer and interior unfinished filler woods  is problematic. Sometimes the top layer is thick enough for refinishing, and sometimes its not.

The Bruce website is a little vague on this, so I would advise you to take a sample of your wood to a local flooring dealer for more advice. If you cant find a leftover scrap, remove one of the heat vent covers and take digital pictures of the edge of one of the boards.

The doors are a lot easier; I would paint them. These old, dark mahogany veneer doors can be primed and painted with a semi-gloss latex paint in a neutral color  like off-white or beige. If they are scratched, apply some wood filler or spackling to the blemishes first.

Dear Ken: Some time ago you reviewed a device to circulate hot water. I cant find it. Can you tell me again?  Billy

Answer: Check out the Watts Premier system. It pulls hot water from the water heater and shoves it back down the cold side pipe. That means that you dont have to wait nearly as long each morning for a hot shower. And that can save thousands of gallons of water at your house each year, since you dont have to run cold down the drain first. Plus it has a built-in timer, so it only runs when you need hot water. Program it to kick on just before you arise in the morning and youll have almost instant hot water. It comes as a kit with all the appropriate fittings, a sensor and supply lines for an easy install; I saw it online for $176 and change.

This recirculating scheme is especially useful if you have a tankless water heater. These take even longer to get hot water to you, because the burner has to kick on first. So a small pump like this will have it at your fingertips just when you need it.

Dear Ken: I want to add a light to the front of my garage above the door. Should I wire it into the regular light switch or the old fixture itself?  Matt

Answer: Why not save time (and wire) by connecting it to the nearest garage outlet. It will then be hot all the time, but if you choose a motion detector fixture, it will only come on only when its needed. Why burn an outside light all night long when, instead, the fixture can be on standby, ready to turn itself on to startle any unwanted visitors?

Dear Ken: One of my outside faucets has developed a small dribble. A plumber wants over $400 to replace it. How can I repair it myself?  David

Answer: Like all faucets, the exterior hose spigots have a washer to control the water flow. In this case, its deep inside the sleeve  maybe 10 inches or so  to protect it from freezing. Find the hex nut just under the handle and soak it overnight with a penetrating fluid, like WD-40; then use a fairly good-sized pipe wrench to loosen the shaft. Pull it straight out and youll see the washer on the inside end. Replace the existing flat washer with a cone- shaped version. Why? The metal innards of these older faucets wear out, so the fatter washer will help fill in the gaps and stop the leak.

Dear readers: Hows your disposal smell lately? This the time of the year when bacteria fester inside its chamber and release that unpleasant odor around the sink. Its the gunk on the underside of that rubber splash guard that can be the source of this stench; use a round toilet bowl brush dipped in ammonia to scrub the accumulated gunk under there and as far inside the top of the disposer chamber as you can reach.

Then throw in several handfuls of ice cubes plus half a lemon, turn on the disposal and let it run for a few minutes to scour out its insides.

On a routine basis, it also helps to dump a half cup of pine oil cleaner into the drain on each side of the kitchen sink. Do it just before retiring and dont rinse until next morning.

Ken Moon is a home inspector in the Pikes Peak region. His call-in radio show airs at 4 p.m. Saturdays on KRDO, FM 105.5 and AM 1240. Visit aroundthehouse.com
Though clusters in K-12 schools grew yet again this week, Colorado experienced a decline in COVID-19 outbreaks for the first time since late March, according to state data released Wednesday, providing additional evidence that the state's fourth wave is beginning to subside.
Bishop Zhang Weizhu has been imprisoned on other occasions. A large number of policemen broke into the factory that served as a seminary and arrested the students and professors.

Rome (AsiaNews) - In the space of just two days, almost all the ecclesiastical personnel of the apostolic prefecture of Xinxiang were wiped out with an operation by the police forces of the province of Hebei. Yesterday 21 May the bishop Msgr. Zhang Weizhu; the day before, seven priests and 10 seminarians were arrested.

On the early afternoon of May 20, at least 100 policemen from Hebei province - from Cangzhou, Hejian, and Shaheqiao - surrounded the building used as a diocesan seminary in Shaheqiao (Hebei). Xinxiang, in fact, used a small factory owned by a Hebei Catholic as a seminary. The police entered the building and arrested four priests, seminary professors, and three other priests who carry out pastoral work. Together with them, 10 seminarians who attended lessons in the factory were arrested.

Following the directives of the New Regulations on religious activities, the factory was closed and the director of the company was arrested.

The apostolic prefecture of Xinxiang is not recognized by the Chinese government. As a result the activities of priests, seminarians and faithful are considered "illegal" and "criminal".

After the raid, the policemen confiscated all the personal effects of the priests and seminarians.

Given the huge deployment of police forces, the raid is thought to have been planned for some time. The civil authorities believe that there are other seminarians who have managed to escape and are looking for them in the surrounding area.

Public security and police are going from house to house in search of them. If they discover that there are signs attributable to the Catholic faith (crosses, statues, sacred images, photos of the pope, etc.), the owners are fined and the objects seized and destroyed.

According to many observers, since the signing of the provisional agreement between China and the Holy See, the persecution of Catholics - especially the unofficial ones - has increased. The Agreement concerns only the appointment of new bishops, but had a premise that all outstanding issues regarding the life of the Church would remain on standby, to be addressed later in further dialogue between the two parties. Instead the police forces have placed bishops under house arrest, imposed very high fines on the faithful, expelled parish priests from churches, arrested priests and seminarians. For many faithful "the Agreement has been betrayed".

Mgr Giuseppe Zhang Weizhu, 63, was ordained a bishop in 1991 and has suffered several periods of imprisonment. The apostolic prefecture of Xinxiang has 100,000 faithful.
Colorado Springs, CO (80903)

Today

Clear skies. Low 53F. SSE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 53F. SSE winds at 10 to 20 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
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Parade: The North Iowa Band Festival parade starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday and will begin at North Pennsylvania Avenue and Third Street Northeast before traveling 1.5 miles south and then east on East State Street.

Frein said that her favorite moment of the entire festival is hearing "Seventy Six Trombones" play during the parade. "When I hear the song first start playing, I cant help but get teary-eyed and think: Were going. And I think this year that feeling will be infinitely higher because were just so excited to be able to get together and celebrate our musical heritage."

The grand marshals for the parade this year are essential employees.

Essential workers who are interested in marching in the parade can gather on the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Third Street Northeast at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 29. Representatives from CG Public Health and Curries will lead the Grand Marshal parade entry.

Chris Bell, a long-time North Iowa music educator, is this year's Band Master, and Stu Nevermann Run Director Carrie Berg is the recipient of the Klempnauer Award.
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Shavone Logans son left the house about 15 to 20 minutes before she received a call no mother would ever want to get.

He was happy, she said of her sons mood just before she would later find out he had been fatally shot.

Police arrested a suspect, 19-year-old Majusty Miles, of Danville, in the homicide that happened at Purdum Woods Apartments at 1575 Richmond Blvd. at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.

Miles has been charged with second-degree murder and is being held without bond in the Danville City Jail.

Neither of the men lived in Purdum Woods Apartments, according to police. Evidence at this point in the case indicates that Miles and Logan knew one another and the shooting was the result of an ongoing dispute between the two of them.

Danville Police Department Capt. Richard Chvvis told the Danville Register & Bee said the shooting was not gang-related.

The victim, 19-year-old Jontavious Logan, was found lying on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to his chest near the K building of the apartment complex. Police responded to the scene following a report of someone having been shot, a news release from the Danville Police Department stated.
We cannot continue to kick this can down the road, Jones said. If we dont address these issues, were going to have serious problems later on.

Proposed improvements include adding 33,460 square feet at Johnson, built in 1952 and last renovated in 2004. It is currently 54,950 square feet. That would cost $22 million.

About 27,725 square feet would be added at Woodberry Hills, which was built in 1959 and last renovated in 2002. That project is estimated at about $18 million. Woodberry Hills is currently 36,600 square feet.

Langston, built in 1957 and most recently renovated in 2001, would see an additional 1,700 square feet, plus a new running track. The project for the additional space would be about $25 million. The school currently includes 109,700 square feet.

The 318,300-square-foot high school at GW was built in 1955 and last upgraded in 2002. Proposed additions would be 57,650 square feet at a price tag of $77 million.

Stadium renovations at GW and the new track at Langston would cost about $7 million.

Projects at Forest Hills, Gibson and Park Avenue would total about $45 million.
In Martinsville, Grace Network Executive Director Tracy Hinchcliff said she was a bit taken back by the survey results, as I know many organizations have worked hard to bring health and wellbeing to our community.

The results say that we have quite a bit of work to do in several categories.

Factors that influence health often are intertwined, Spillmann said: where you live, job opportunities, how far one gets in school  transportation, access, availability, finances.

The thing a lot of this gets to is education. Its hard to put my finger on any one thing that would make a difference. If we made sure everybody were educated and then good jobs people could go to that paid a living wage and had insurance, a lot of these would improve over time.

The coronavirus pandemic has been harder hitting on people who have more health issues and fewer resources. It points out the disparities people talk about, the racial and ethnic disparities. It often comes down to those who have resources and those who dont have resources, Spillmann said.

Fourteen percent of children in the state live in single-parent households versus nearly half  47%  in Danville.
Thousands rallied in the Israeli city of Tel Aviv, calling for coexistence between Jews and Arabs.

The fighting began on May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

The war has further sidelined Hamas' main political rival, the internationally backed Palestinian Authority, which oversees autonomous enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Hamas' popularity seemed to be growing as it positioned itself as a defender of Palestinian claims to Jerusalem.

On Friday, hours after the cease-fire took effect, thousands of Palestinians in the Al-Aqsa compound chanted against Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and his self-rule government. Dogs of the Palestinian Authority, out, out," they shouted, and "The people want the president to leave.

It was an unprecedented display of anger against Abbas. The conflict also brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years.
A report drawn up by the Egitim-Sen school union reveals that 44% of teachers report attendance less than 20% of the total. Turkey is among the first four countries in the world to have closed schools for the longest period in 2020. 56% of teachers have not yet received the vaccine.

Istanbul (AsiaNews) - The new coronavirus pandemic in Turkey has deprived at least four million students of access to school due to the closure of institutions and did not have the technological means for online learning.

This is what emerges from a report published in recent days by the science teacher's union (Egitim-Sen), according to which 44% of teachers interviewed affirm that the figure on attendance in classes was less than 20% of the total.

The Turkish Ministry of Education reports that out of 18 million compulsory school students, only 12.8 million were able to regularly and actively follow virtual lessons through the Education Information Network (EBA).

"When the number of private schools' students are deduced, we can easily estimate that nearly four million children and young people are neither in distance education nor in face-to-face education," it says.

In the first phase of the pandemic, there were over six million young people deprived of any form of education, face to face or online.

The government of Ankara decided to close schools in early March 2020, immediately after the first confirmed case of Covid-19 in the country. According to a further study by international experts, Turkey is among the first four nations in the world to have closed all schools of all levels for the longest time due to the pandemic last year.

The professors explain that distance learning represents a further obstacle to the study and learning possibilities of young people, especially the weaker sections of the population. Problems that have emerged include inadequate internet connections to attend lessons or the lack of tools such as computers, laptops or tablets. Students also show little interest in virtual lessons, do not learn enough or develop, after some time, a kind of network addiction. In addition, there is a problem of lack of physical activity due to repeated lockdowns and travel restrictions.

After months of growth, in the last period, Covid-19 seems to have suffered a drastic slowdown in Turkey with daily cases below 10,000 (yesterday +9385), for a total of over 5.1 million since the beginning of the health emergency, although the figure appears to be underestimated.

For a long time, the government did not include asymptomatic patients in the official figures of the pandemic. With the last 207 deaths recorded, the total number of victims is 45,626.

Of the 3,743 teachers interviewed in Egitim-Sen's research, 56% say they have not yet been vaccinated. 15% received two doses of the vaccine and 29% received at least one inoculation, in line with the data available to the Turkish Ministry of Education. For the unions, the government must ensure greater efforts to return to face-to-face lessons and, in cases of real emergency, allocate funds "to facilitate distance learning" among the weakest. Finally, students must be supported by providing them with adequate internet connections and means for Dad, especially for those who have fallen behind in learning.
Since Democrats gained control of the presidency and Congress, the Middle East has been returning to previous behavior. Mullahs have ramped up their heated sermons against Israel and vile labeling of Jews, reminiscent of a not-too-distant past in Nazi Germany. Anti-Semitism is also rising in Europe.

All the U.S. does is issue tepid statements. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said, While we urge de-escalation on all sides, we also recognize Israels legitimate right to defend itself, to defend its people and its territory.

This is meaningless if policies dont follow.

The Taliban is in the process of retaking Afghanistan as U.S. troops withdraw. It clearly sees this sign as an invitation to return to the days of mandatory burqas for women, denying females jobs, education and other freedoms they have recently enjoyed. A re-established base for al-Qaeda may soon follow.

Another sign taken seriously by enemies of Israel and the West is the Biden administrations determination to re-enter nuclear talks with Iran, a country whose religious and political leaders have refused to stop their enrichment of uranium and have not been deterred in their determination to eradicate Israel. Bargains with the devil do not end well. See Dr. Faust and the Munich Agreement for examples.
Of course, there is no reason that you shouldnt be vaccinated.

The shot always has been relatively painless  yes, we realize that some of us fear needles like others fear clowns  and its a millisecond that most dont even notice. And, yes, sometimes people have a few hours of illness after the second shot. That varies greatly from individual to individual.

But the more painful part  getting an appointment for a shot  is no longer relevant. You can walk into many places and bare your arm and be done with it.

Even better, anyone 12 and older can get a shot, which means many families can be completely vaccinated. We think by fall that younger children will be, too. That will be a glorious day to push us to herd immunity.

Only  only  a LOT of us have not bothered.

Do you know people who simply have NOT been vaccinated? So do we, and we find that both troubling and unacceptable.

Statewide, the Virginia Department of Health reports, slightly more than half of us have had at least one shot, and slightly more than 4 in 10 of us are fully vaccinated. There are some folks who took one shot and inexplicably havent taken the second.
"That timeline could be short or long depending on whether the defendants want to continue to fight, as they've done for 40 years, or if they want to acknowledge that justice was done and step up and do their part," Abrams said. "At the end of the day, it's the state of North Carolina, and its own insurers, and the question I would have is, there was a clear and grave injustice.

"The state has the opportunity to continue to fight rectifying that, or it can step up to the plate and make these two citizens whole, as the jury demanded that they do."

McCollum, 57, and Brown, 53, entered the world four years apart and were once condemned to leave it on the same day. During the first trial in 1984, the state built its case solely on the basis of McCollum and Brown's confessions. The jury needed 29 minutes to return a guilty verdict, then sentenced the brothers to death. A Robeson County judge ordered their executions to be carried out on December 28, 1984.

Appeals delayed it, and Brown, who entered prison as the state's youngest death row inmate, was later re-sentenced to life without parole. McCollum remained on death row, becoming North Carolina's longest-serving death row inmate. Both men feared they would die in prison until 2014, when DNA on a cigarette butt placed a convicted rapist and murderer named Roscoe Artis at the scene of the crime.
RALEIGH  A day after Republican lawmakers proposed paying unemployed North Carolinians as much as $1,500 to get off unemployment and obtain a job, Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has issued a new executive order on unemployment.

Part of his new order Friday brings back pre-pandemic requirements for people seeking unemployment benefits. Soon, anyone who seeks benefits will have to prove they are looking for a job. Many unemployed people in the state already must follow those rules, due to a different order Cooper signed in March. The order Cooper issued Friday will apply it to everyone who is unemployed as of June 6.

As our state emerges from the pandemic, we want to help people safely return to work as soon as possible, Cooper said in a statement. Reinstating the work search guidelines will help connect claimants with employers, resources and tools to help them return to the workforce.

But the order is a carrot-and-stick approach, and it doesnt just have stricter rules for jobless North Carolinians. It also has the potential promise of incentives to help people return to work. Its along the lines of the bill that Republican lawmakers put forth this week to give unemployed people up to $1,500 if they can find and keep a job this summer.
Todays Highlight in History:

On May 22, 2017, a suicide bomber set off an improvised explosive device that killed 22 people at the end of an Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England.

On May 22:

In 1813, composer Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany.

In 1915, the Lassen Peak volcano in Northern California exploded, devastating nearby areas but causing no deaths.

In 1939, the foreign ministers of Germany and Italy, Joachim von Ribbentrop and Galeazzo Ciano, signed a Pact of Steel committing the two countries to a military alliance.

In 1960, an earthquake of magnitude 9.5, the strongest ever measured, struck southern Chile, claiming some 1,655 lives.

In 1962, Continental Airlines Flight 11, en route from Chicago to Kansas City, Missouri, crashed after a bomb apparently brought on board by a passenger exploded, killing all 45 occupants of the Boeing 707.

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In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson, speaking at the University of Michigan, outlined the goals of his Great Society, saying that it rests on abundance and liberty for all and demands an end to poverty and racial injustice.

In 1967, a fire at the LInnovation department store in Brussels killed 322 people. Poet and playwright Langston Hughes died in New York at age 65.

In 1968, the nuclear-powered submarine USS Scorpion, with 99 men aboard, sank in the Atlantic Ocean. (The remains of the sub were later found on the ocean floor 400 miles southwest of the Azores.)

In 1969, the lunar module of Apollo 10, with Thomas P. Stafford and Eugene Cernan aboard, flew to within nine miles of the moons surface in a dress rehearsal for the first lunar landing.

In 1992, after a reign lasting nearly 30 years, Johnny Carson hosted NBCs Tonight Show for the final time (Jay Leno took over as host three days later).

In 2011, a tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, with winds up to 250 mph, claiming at least 159 lives and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses.

In 2018, Stacey Abrams won Georgias Democratic gubernatorial primary, making her the first woman nominee for Georgia governor from either major party. (Abrams, seeking to become the nations first Black female governor, was defeated in November by Republican Brian Kemp.)

In 2011, a tornado devastated Joplin, Missouri, with winds up to 250 mph, claiming at least 159 lives and destroying about 8,000 homes and businesses.

In 2016, President Barack Obama arrived in Vietnam, making him the third sitting president to visit the country since the end of the war.

In 2020, one year ago: President Donald Trump labeled houses of worship as essential and called on governors to let them reopen; he threatened to override governors who defied him. As Americans headed into the Memorial Day weekend, health officials urged them to follow social distancing and other measures aimed at stopping the spread of the coronavirus. In a radio interview, Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden suggested that African Americans who backed President Donald Trump aint black; he later said he should not have been so cavalier. A Pakistani airliner crashed near the airport in Karachi, killing 97 of the 99 people on board. Full House star Lori Loughlin and her fashion designer husband, Mossimo Giannulli, pleaded guilty to paying half a million dollars into the University of Southern California as part of a college admissions bribery scheme. (Loughlin would spend two months behind bars; Giannulli began a five-month sentence in November 2020 and was released to home confinement in April 2021.)

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SANTA FE, N.M. (AP)  Virgin Galactic on Saturday made its first rocket-powered flight from New Mexico to the fringe of space in a manned shuttle, as the company forges toward offering tourist flights to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere.

High above the desert in a cloudless sky, the VSS Unity ignited its rocket to hurtle the ship and two pilots toward space. A live feed by NASASpaceFlight.com showed the ship accelerating upward and confirmed a landing later via radar.

Virgin Galactic announced that its VSS Unity shuttle accelerated to three times the speed of sound and reached an altitude of just over 55 miles (89 kilometers) above sea level before making its gliding return through the atmosphere.

British billionaire and Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson said the flight and landing bring the roughly 15-year-old venture tantalizingly close to commercial flights for tourists. Virgin Galactic says those flights could begin next year.

Today was just an incredible step in the right direction, Branson told The Associated Press shortly after the flight landings. "It tested a lot of new systems that the teams have been building and they all worked.

Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said at least two more undated test flights lie ahead  the next with four mission specialist passengers in the cabin. Pending trials also include a flight that will take Branson to the edge of space.

The flight today was elegant, beautiful," Colglazier said. Were going to analyze all the data that we gather on these flights. But watching from the ground and speaking with our pilots, it was magnificent. So now its time for us to do this again.

Virgin Galactic said the flight provided an assessment of upgrades to a horizontal stabilizer, other flight controls and a suite of cabin cameras designed to provide live images of the flight to people on the ground. The shuttle also carried a scientific payload in cooperation with NASAs Flight Opportunities Program.

Preparations for the latest flight included a maintenance review of the special carrier plane that flies the six-passenger spacecraft to a high altitude, where it is released so it can fire its rocket motor and make the final push to space.

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The first powered test of the rocket ship in New Mexico from Spaceport America was delayed repeatedly before Saturday's launch. In December 2020, computer trouble caused by electromagnetic interference prevented the spaceships rocket from firing properly. Instead of soaring toward space, the ship and its two pilots were forced to make an immediate landing.

While Virgin Galactics stock price ticked up this week with the announcement of the latest test being scheduled for Saturday, it wasnt enough to overcome the losses seen since a peak in February. Some analysts have cautioned that it could be a while before the company sees profits as the exact start of commercial operations is still up in the air.

Virgin Galactic is one of a few companies looking to cash in on customers with an interest in space.

Elon Musks SpaceX will launch a billionaire and his sweepstakes winners in September. That is expected to be followed in January 2022 by a flight by three businessmen to the International Space Station.

Jeff Bezos Blue Origin launched a new capsule in January as part of testing as it aims to get its program for tourists, scientists and professional astronauts off the ground. Its planning for liftoff of its first crewed flight on July 20, the date of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

Virgin Galactic has reached space twice before. The first time was from California in December 2018.

The flights are designed to reach an altitude of at least 50 miles (80 kilometers) as the rocket motor is turned off and the crew prepares to reenter the atmosphere and glide to a landing.

As part of the return trip, a feathering system slows and stabilizes the craft as it re-enters the atmosphere.

New Mexico taxpayers have invested over $200 million in the Spaceport America hangar and launch facility, near Truth or Consequences, after Branson and then-Gov. Bill Richardson, a Democrat, pitched the plan for the facility, with Virgin Galactic as the anchor tenant.

Richardson watched Saturday's flight from the ground below and later thanked the residents of local counties who committed early on to a sales tax increase to support the venture.

Its finally a great day after all of us taking a lot of heat  mainly me  over a period of time, Richardson said. But its happened. Its successful.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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The Madison County Board approved an $850,000 settlement in a federal lawsuit filed by a former government official who accused a board member of sexual harassment, the Madison County State's Attorney's office confirmed Friday.

Lawyers for Madison County and plaintiff Kristen Poshard, former administrator of the county's Community Development Department, reached a settlement in March, but the documents filed in U.S. District Court for Southern Illinois at that time did not disclose the settlement amount.

"We are pleased that this case has come to a resolution," said Ferne Wolf, Poshard's attorney, in an email statement. She also confirmed the settlement amount.

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Poshard filed suit in March 2019, alleging she was fired for complaining that then-board member Philip Chapman, of Highland, had repeatedly sexually harassed her in 2017 and that county administrators did nothing to stop it.

Poshard joined the county in December 2016 as the county's chief deputy administrator, before being promoted to administrator of the Community Development Department in March 2017. She was placed on leave in August 2017 for "violations of the county's personnel policy."

Her employment was then terminated by the county board in a near unanimous vote in October 2017.

In the lawsuit, Poshard alleges she reported the sexual harassment to County Chairman Kurt Prenzler in June 2017, after complaints to her immediate supervisor were ignored.

Outside of the actual settlement, Madison County had spent $328,425 in legal fees by December 2020, the BND previously reported.

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GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Palestinians rallied by the thousands Friday after a cease-fire took effect in the latest Gaza war, with many viewing it as a costly but clear victory for the Islamic militant group Hamas. Israel vowed to respond with a new level of force to further hostilities.

The 11-day war left more than 250 dead  the vast majority Palestinians  and brought widespread devastation to the already impoverished Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip. But the rocket barrages that brought life to a standstill in much of Israel were seen by many Palestinians as a bold response to perceived Israeli abuses in Jerusalem, the emotional heart of the conflict.

Like the three previous wars, t he latest round of fighting ended inconclusively.

Israel claimed it inflicted heavy damage on Hamas but once again was unable to halt the rockets. Even as it claims victory, Hamas faces the daunting challenge of rebuilding in a territory already suffering from high unemployment and a coronavirus outbreak, and from years of blockade by Egypt and Israel.

The conflict brought to the surface deep frustration among Palestinians, whether in the occupied West Bank, Gaza or within Israel, over the status quo, with the Israeli-Palestinian peace process all but abandoned for years.

The continued volatility was on display when clashes broke out between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police following Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a flashpoint holy site in Jerusalem sacred to Jews and Muslims. Clashes there earlier this month were one of the main triggers for the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fended off criticism from his hawkish base who said he ended the offensive prematurely without a more decisive blow to Hamas.

Israel had done daring and new things, and this without being dragged into unnecessary adventures, he said. Its forces caused maximum damage to Hamas with a minimum of casualties in Israel, he added.

Netanyahu warned against further attacks, saying, If Hamas thinks we will tolerate a drizzle of rockets, it is wrong. He vowed to respond with a new level of force against aggression anywhere in Israel.

He said Israeli strikes killed more than 200 militants, including 25 senior commanders, and hit more than 100 kilometers (60 miles) of militant tunnels. Hamas and the Islamic Jihad militant group have only acknowledged 20 fighters killed.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech from the Qatari capital of Doha that the war opened the door to new phases that will witness many victories. He called it a quantum leap that will build support among Palestinians for resistance rather than failed negotiations.

The Gaza Health Ministry says at least 243 Palestinians were killed, including 66 children, with 1,910 people wounded. It does not differentiate between fighters and civilians. Twelve people were killed in Israel, all but one of them civilians, including a 5-year-old boy and 16-year-old girl.

Celebrations erupted in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem at 2 a.m. when the cease-fire took hold.

In Gaza City, thousands took to the streets, and young men waved Palestinian and Hamas flags, passed out sweets, honked horns and set off fireworks.

At noon prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, hundreds held similar celebrations, waving flags and cheering Hamas. It was unclear what sparked the ensuing violence, in which police fired stun grenades and tear gas, and Palestinians threw rocks. Israeli police said they arrested 16 people. Similar clashes broke out in parts of the West Bank.

Gazans had a day of recovery after 11 days of Israeli bombardment.

Shoppers stocked up on fresh fruit and vegetables at a Gaza City open-air market that reopened after being closed during the fighting. Workers swept up rubble.

Life will return, because this is not the first war, and it will not be the last war, said shop owner Ashraf Abu Mohammad. The heart is in pain, there have been disasters, families wiped from the civil registry, and this saddens us. But this is our fate in this land, to remain patient.

Residents in the hard-hit town of Beit Hanoun surveyed wrecked homes.

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We see such huge destruction here, its the first time in history weve seen this, said Azhar Nsair. The cease-fire is for people who didnt suffer, who didnt lose their loved ones, whose homes were not bombed.

Rescue workers were still recovering bodies. Five were collected Friday in the town of Khan Younis, including that of a 3-year-old, the Red Crescent emergency service said.

Tens of thousands returned home after sheltering in U.N. schools. At the peak, 66,000 people were crammed inside, but on Friday the number fell under 1,000, U.N. spokesman Sephane Dujarric said.

After the cease-fire, the U.N. sent 13 trucks with food, COVID-19 vaccines, medical supplies and medicines into Gaza. The world body also allocated $18.6 million in emergency humanitarian aid.

The bombardment struck a blow to the already decrepit infrastructure in the small coastal territory, home to more than 2 million Palestinians. It flattened high-rises and houses, tore up roads and wrecked water systems. At least 30 health facilities were damaged, forcing a halt to coronavirus testing in the territory.

The fighting began May 10, when Hamas militants in Gaza fired long-range rockets toward Jerusalem. The barrage came after days of clashes between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at Al-Aqsa. Heavy-handed police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers had inflamed tensions.

Competing claims to Jerusalem have repeatedly triggered bouts of violence. Israel captured east Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza in the 1967 war and the Palestinians want them for their future state.

Hamas and other militant groups fired over 4,000 rockets at Israeli cities. Dozens landed as far north as the bustling commercial capital of Tel Aviv.

Israel, meanwhile, conducted hundreds of airstrikes. A senior Israeli army official said it hit 1,600 military targets.

The United States, Israels closest and most important ally, initially backed what it called Israels right to self-defense against indiscriminate rocket fire. But as fighting dragged on and deaths mounted, the Americans increasingly pressured Israel to stop the offensive, and Egypt brokered the cease-fire.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken plans to visit the region to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians. the State Department said. He spoke Friday with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who asked that Washington follow up on stopping Israeli measures in Jerusalem, like raids on the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the planned evictions of Palestinians from the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, Abbas office said.

President Joe Biden welcomed the cease-fire. He said the U.S. was committed to helping Israel replenish its supply of interceptor missiles and to working with the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority  not Hamas  to provide humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Later Friday, he said there has been no shift in his commitment to Israels security, but insisted a two-state solution that includes a state for Palestinians remains the only answer to that conflict.

Speaking at the end of a visit by the president of South Korea, Biden also played down the idea that the newly ended fighting had opened a rift among Democrats, as scores of Democrats split with Bidens quiet diplomacy with ally Israel to publicly demand a cease-fire.

My party still supports Israel, Biden said. Lets get something straight here, he added. Until the region says unequivocally they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.

The Palestinian militants claimed Netanyahu had agreed to halt further Israeli actions at Al-Aqsa and the Sheikh Jarrah evictions. An Egyptian official said only that tensions in Jerusalem will be addressed.

Netanyahu faced heavy criticism from members of his hawkish, nationalist base. Gideon Saar, a former ally who leads a small party, called the cease-fire embarrassing.

Itamar Ben Gvir, head of the far-right Jewish Power party, told Israeli TVs Channel 13 that, with the cease-fire, the government spat in the face of residents of southern Israel, and said it should topple Hamas and reoccupy Gaza.



Krauss reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writers Isabel DeBre in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Laurie Kellman in Tel Aviv, Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Iris Samuels in Helena, Montana, and Karin Laub in the West Bank contributed.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
After weeks of pondering writing about racism, it was seemingly more difficult to begin writing about such a harmful and emotional topic. The preponderance of the desire without action finally came to a head after a discussion with Sr. JoAn Schullian, O.S.F.

She called about a topic unrelated to racism. It was rather strange to share with her the predicament about writing on racism. She listened carefully and gave encouragement. Sr. Schullian followed up with a stern note of encouragement about writing the article. The confirmation had come, and now it was time for the action.

Racism is not new to African Americans ,who have direct experiences associated with the fangs of destruction it can cause. Lately, Asian Americans have been included as a group experiencing racism. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that there are over 800 hate groups across the country.

The question recently posed to Americans has been, Is America Racist? While that is a relevant question that deserves discussion and resolves, there is another pressing question for those who are on the receiving end of racism. The question is, How has racism affected the quality of life and well-being of individuals who are Black and brown?

For sure, the time has come to seek more resolves to eliminate racism than just sitting around bemoaning its harm.

Racism rears its grotesque figure in a multitude of ways. Most likely racism is present when there is a difference in treatment between white employees versus Blacks. For example, although the Black person may have been employed longer than the white person and received high marks for a job well done, racism gives the promotion to the white, and not to the Black. Another example: Blacks might have a hard time buying a house in a given subdivision because there is an unwritten rule that certain races are not welcome or redlining occurs. The pain associated with racism is insufferable.

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Fortunately, over the years, Decatur had groups putting forth efforts to improve better race relations. One of the most distinguished groups from the past was a group that promoted Racism Not In Our Town. Signs were posted at various entrance points into the city.

Oftentimes, the signs were misinterpreted to mean that there was no racism in Decatur. Carolyn Wagner, Michael Diggs and others were instrumental in bringing attention to racism. In reality, the group conveyed the message that racism was not wanted in the town.

Another group that emerged and is still in existence is the Human Relations Commission under the auspices of the City of Decatur. Citizens have a place to file a complaint relevant to unjust treatment as associated with race.

The newest group ready to tackle racism is the Decatur School Board. The school board, with four of the members recently ending their term, is to be commended for the efforts in generating the document "Resolution on Racism." The document is a step in the right direction. The school board also passed an equity policy which supports the resolution. A special thanks goes to the school board for keeping it real about racism.

It does not matter about ones educational attainment or social status in life while being a person of color; there is a high risk of experiencing racism. I, too, have experienced racism in housing, on the job, while eating out, and the list goes on and on.

However, as Langston Hughes espoused in his poem, I, Too, my testimony is I, too, am America! Nobody is going to make me accept racism as being allowable and justifiable.

It is time for every community to stand strong against racism.

Jeanelle Norman is the branch president of the Decatur NAACP.

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One of the great political memes of the Trump era was that Maines moderate GOP Sen. Susan Collins is concerned over the presidents latest extreme action  even as she continued to vote in lockstep with a GOP dominated by the Former Guy.

But one thing that Collins insisted she wasnt concerned about  even as Donald Trump tilted the Supreme Court to the far right with his three appointments  was the fear that the new justices might vote to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationally.

Collins  who had trumpeted her support for abortion rights in winning as a Republican in a state thats voted for Democrats in recent presidential elections  said during the 2018 brouhaha over Trumps naming of eventual Justice Brett Kavanaugh that the nominee assured her that, like Chief Justice John Roberts, he believed Roe v. Wade is a matter of settled law.

Maybe Collins should be concerned now. On Monday, the Supreme Court stunned veteran observers with the announcement that during its 2021-22 term it will hear an appeal over a 2018 Mississippi state law that banned abortions after 15 weeks and which was struck down by a lower court, citing the precedent of Roe v. Wade. Over the last decade, the Supreme Court had refused to even hear similar cases, but that was before the recent turnover at SCOTUS  including the arrival of Kavanaugh and 2020-confirmed Justice Amy Coney Barrett, who in a 1998 law review article had referred to abortion as always immoral.

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Would the high court actually strike down the 48-year status quo on abortion rights, handing the final say back to the states? Many legal observers are doubtful that the justices  even with a 6-3 conservative majority  will go that far, that fast. Barrett said in a 2016 campus talk she didnt expect Roe v. Wade would go away, but she did see an opening for increased restrictions  like the law subsequently passed in Mississippi.

But could the sudden, rapid tremors around abortion rights be the warning of a political earthquake? For those watching through the prism of realpolitick, the abortion battle has always looked like a weird game of chicken where the drag racers swerve to safety at the last moment  safety being a place where the threats Roe v. Wade might be overturned were more useful for raising money and energizing voters than working for actual change.

But with the possibility of the courts most impactful abortion ruling in a half-century coming next spring, political experts say any court bombshells could dramatically alter the 2022 midterms.

Its hard for pundits to know exactly how a ruling would affect 2022 voting because Americans views on abortion are fairly complicated. Large majorities  in the range of 60% to as high as 70%  tell pollsters that they do not want the court to overturn Roe v. Wade. But surveys also find surprisingly strong support for some government restrictions on reproductive rights, which means the devil could be in the details of the Mississippi case. Whats more, many voters rank abortion rights low on their list of important issues  although the controversy tends to drive activism among those who do see it as a critical matter.

ny move by the Supreme Court to poke the bear of abortion politics with a sharp stick could backfire on Republicans next year by putting the legacy of Donald Trump back on the ballot. After all, the conventional fear is that Bidens 2020 victory was driven heavily by affluent, college-educated voters who were desperate to go back to brunch and not think about politics for the next four years. Curtailing reproductive rights  and the reminder that a Republican-led Senate as early as 2023 could block Biden from appointing new judges  could reunite the band of the Trump resistance, with a 2018 level of activism.

Will Bunch is national columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

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Closing immunization gap, President Xi pledges providing more COVID-19 vaccines

Xinhua) 09:01, May 22, 2021

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends the Global Health Summit and delivers a speech via video in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pledged to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to the best of China's ability to the world, calling for rejection of vaccine nationalism to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.

Xi made the remarks via video at the Global Health Summit, which was co-hosted by Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, and the European Commission.

REJECTING VACCINE NATIONALISM

"It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries," Xi said, calling for upholding fairness and equity to close the immunization gap.

Having already supplied 300 million doses of vaccines to the world, China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability, he said.

The Chinese president also pledged to support its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them.

"Having announced support for waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, China also supports the World Trade Organization and other international institutions in making an early decision on this matter," he said.

Xi proposed setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.

"Vaccines are powerful tools in the fight against the pandemic. Yet, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute, as some developed Western countries are hoarding vaccines while offering nothing but superficial lip service to countries in urgent need," said Su Xiaohui, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.

Notwithstanding the limited production capacity and enormous demand at home, China has honored its commitment by providing free vaccines to more than 80 developing countries in urgent need and exporting vaccines to 43 countries.

MAKING EXTRAORDINARY RESPONSE

In the face of continuing ravages of the pandemic, with repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus, Xi called for putting people's lives and health front and center, demonstrating a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and making extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge.

He called on G20 members to adopt responsible macro-economic policies and step up coordination to keep the global industrial and supply chains safe and smooth.

"It is essential to give continued support by such means as debt suspension and development aid to developing countries, especially vulnerable countries facing exceptional difficulties," Xi said.

China is fully implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has so far put off debt repayment exceeding 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, the highest deferral amount among G20 members. China has also provided 2 billion U.S. dollars in assistance for the COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries hit by the pandemic.

At the summit, Xi announced that China will provide an additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.

In addition to financial aid, China has sent medical supplies to more than 150 countries and 13 international organizations, providing more than 280 billion masks, 3.4 billion protective suits and 4 billion testing kits to the world.

"China has indeed walked the talk, demonstrating its undertaking as a major responsible country," Su said.

BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF HEALTH FOR ALL

"The pandemic is yet another reminder that we humanity rise and fall together with a shared future," Xi stressed.

The Chinese president called for championing the vision of building a global community of health for all and firmly rejecting any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus.

Political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response on the domestic front. It would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world, he said.

Xi said G20 members need to shoulder responsibilities in global cooperation against the virus, and lose no time in remedying deficiencies, closing loopholes and strengthening weak links in a bid to enhance preparedness and capacity for coping with major public health emergencies.

Stressing the need to address both the symptoms and root causes, Xi suggested strengthening and leveraging the role of the UN and the WHO and improving the global disease prevention and control system to better prevent and respond to future pandemics.

"It is also important that we enhance our capacity of monitoring, early-warning and emergency response, our capacity of treatment of major pandemics, of contingency reserve and logistics, of fighting disinformation, and of providing support to developing countries," Xi said.

"The virus respects no borders or races, and COVID-19 serves as a stark reminder that countries must rise above differences in geography, race, history, culture and social system and work together for a community with a shared future," said Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
by Shafique Khokhar

According to the police, the target was the leader Maulana Abdul Qadir Luni, who was injured. Throughout the country there were demonstrations for "Palestine Solidarity Day".

Chaman (AsiaNews) - Seven people were killed and seventeen wounded in a demonstration in favor of the Palestinian people, when a bomb exploded yesterday at the Murghi Bazaar in Chaman (Balochistan), during the "Palestine Solidarity Day" launched by various Islamic organizations in the country. Chaman's was organized by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam - Nazaryati (JUI).

The bomb went off near the vehicle of Abdul Qadir Luni, deputy head of Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, who was injured. The whole area of the Murghi Bazaar was isolated and local hospitals treated the injured. Many of them were taken to Chaman hospital, others to Quetta.

According to the police, the target of the attack was Maulana Abdul Qadir Luni. The explosive had been placed on a motorcycle parked near the venue and operated with a remote control just as the Maulana Luni was leaving the stage along with other leaders and staff.

Balochistan Chief Minister, Jam Kamal Khan Alyani, condemned the attack, reiterating that the terrorists deserve no respite and no one will be allowed to disturb the law and order of the province.

Palestine Day was celebrated in Karachi, Rawalpindi, Attock, Taxila and other cities, with strong criticism of Israel and in defense of the people of Gaza.

Shahbaz Sharif, president of the PML-N (Pakistan Muslim League-N) stressed that the massacres of people in Palestine are similar to the massacres that take place in Kashmir. Both problems must be solved in accordance with UN resolutions. If these problems are not solved, he added, there will be no peace in the world.

The pastor of St Anthony's Church in Karachi, Fr. Arthur Charles expressed his bitterness over the "vandalism" of the Israeli occupation, which offends not only the Palestinians, but the whole world. He also said he supports the two-state solution: "Both Israelis and Palestinians have the right to exist and to live in peace and security within the borders recognized by the international community."
The media landscape has changed dramatically so far in the 21st century.

We can access information in manners we'd only imagined a mere 20 years ago.

That's been enough of a challenge for those who were struggling with becoming accustomed to the World Wide Web when that disrupted lives. Imagine the challenge of learning to navigate the minefield of today's internet.

That's part of the thought behind a bill that's advanced out of a Senate committee. High schools in Illinois would be required to offer instruction in how to understand and evaluate news and social media as part of their computer literacy courses.

Critical thinking is a skill, and one that must be continually refined. Just because someone can create an attractive and persuasive graphic or craft a well-written sentence or paragraph doesn't mean their information is correct.

We've all been fooled by the internet at some point. And with technology racing faster than our ability to grasp or harness it, we're going to need to use all of our wits, along with the wits of others, to understand truths in our world.

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Deepfakes are a recent numbing development. Deepfakes use a form of artificial intelligence called deep learning to make images of fake events. The British newspaper The Guardian calls it the 21st centurys answer to Photoshopping. (Although photo manipulation has existed since the 19th century.)

If we have trouble discerning and explaining the manipulation of facts, how do learn to differentiate real and fake moving images?

OUR VIEW: Heartbroken community mourns Officer Chris Oberheim From the Herald & Review editorial board: "With each succeeding detail, the story of Champaign police officer Chris Oberheim's death became more tragic."

Critical thinking is one of the most important tools we use in daily life. Instruction in developing the skill from the earliest age possible is vital to our society.

Republican Sen. Terri Bryant questioned how objective schools could be in teaching students how to evaluate news stories by separating factual news from fake news. If thats a concern, we have more to worry about than teaching critical thinking. Teachers are trained in how to instruct students in media usage.

Were living in a contentious time where we can sometimes argue about what actually is the truth. One person's propaganda is another person's absolute, and vice versa.

It shouldnt take a law for this to be taught as a common-sense approach to the world. But were at a point in time where the move is required.

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The bear simply knocked it to the side and the force of the blow knocked Minish to the ground.

"As he lunged up on top of me, I grabbed his lower jaw to pull him away," he said, saying that's how he got a puncture wound in his hand. "But he tossed me aside there, grabbed a quarter of my face."

"He took a small bite and then he took a second bite, and the second bite is the one that broke the bones  and crushed my right cheek basically," he said.

When the bear let go, Minish turned his face to the ground and put his hands over his head.

And then the bear just walked away.

He surmises the bear left because he no longer perceived Minish as a threat. The bear's exit  Alaska State Troopers said later they did not locate the bear  gave him time assess damage.

"I realized I was in pretty bad shape because I had all this blood everywhere," he said.

He called 911 on his cellphone. While he was talking to a dispatcher, he pulled off his surveyor's vest and his T-shirt and wrapped them around his head in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
Iraqi leaders earlier this year talked about repatriating some of their citizens, but did not follow through. So the plans for next week have been met with a bit of skepticism, and it appeared unclear whether it might be more than a one-time deal.

The al-Hol camp is home to as many as 70,000 people  mostly women and children  who have been displaced by the civil war in Syria and the battle against the Islamic State group. As many as half are Iraqis. About 10,000 foreigners are housed in a secure annex, and many in the camp remain die-hard IS supporters.

Many countries have refused to repatriate their citizens who were among those from around the world who came to join IS after the extremists declared their caliphate in 2014. The groups physical hold on territory was ended in 2017, but many countries balk at repatriating their citizens, fearing their links to IS.

In late March, the main U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force in northeast Syria conducted a five-day sweep inside al-Hol that was assisted by U.S. forces. At least 125 suspects were arrested.

Since then, McKenzie said, security has gotten better at the camp. But, he added, security has no real impact on the radicalization of the youth there.
A Bristol, Tennessee man has been identified as the person who died Thursday in an officer-involved shooting in Washington County, Virginia, according to the Virginia State Police.

On Friday, VSP identified the man as 31-year-old Brandon S. Odell.

The investigation by the Virginia State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Wytheville Field Office into Thursdays shooting remains ongoing. Once the investigation is completed, the findings will be turned over to the Washington County commonwealths attorney for final review and adjudication, VSP said in a news release.

Shortly after 11 a.m. Thursday, Washington County Sheriffs Office deputies were dispatched to the Economy Inn on Lee Highway regarding a guest who was suspected of being in violation of a protective order, the VSP said.

When the deputies arrived at Odells motel room, he gave consent for both the room and his pickup truck to be searched, the release states. Deputies said they found a firearm in the pickup truck and illegal narcotics inside the room.

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While trying to take Odell into custody, the man reached under a mattress and pulled out a gun, VSP said. One of the deputies then shot Odell, the release states. He died at the scene and a gun was found inside the room, the VSP said.
The holiday was created Oct. 1, 1961, when Congress authorized the president to designate May 15 of each year to honor peace officers. President John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law Oct. 1, 1962. The first Peace Officers Memorial Day was May 15, 1963, honoring those officers who lost their lives through their deeds in carrying out their duties.

Reilly acknowledged that sworn law enforcement officers accept great responsibilities and great risks when they take their oaths to serve and protect, and often fall under great scrutiny when called upon to act in pressure-filled, emotionally-charged situations that require them to make split-second decisions that could mean the difference between life and death.

Every day we ask the police to do so much, he said, noting that many people who ask law enforcement officers to clean up their communities and rid them of crime are often those who seek to defund the police or have officers arrested when something goes wrong. These officers deserve our respect not scorn. These brave men and women who go into law enforcement know full well that one day they may be called upon to lay down their life in the call of duty. These 20 men and women who we honor today made that choice to go into law enforcement willingly. That is why their ultimate sacrifice means so much. They served and sacrificed for a purpose far greater than themselves.
I was reminded that Cousin Junior used to refer to Boones Farm Strawberry Hill as space wine after he drank two bottles, tripped over a goat, hit his head on a concrete block and saw stars for two days.

I didnt quit drinking space wine. said Cousin Junior. but I did sell the goat.

Moving along, NBC News reports those sneaky Russians are plotting to beat the great US of A in the race to produce a SPACE MOVIE.

The Russian space agency Roscosmos announced in early May it had selected actors to film a movie called Challenge aboard the International Space Station, which may or may not be about a smuggling ring dealing in outrageously expensive space wine.

It would be the first movie filmed in space, beating a previously announced collaboration between Tom Cruise and NASA.

Houston, we have a problem. As proud Americans, we need to spend all of our collective energy making sure our favorite hot-shot pretend jet pilot/bartender/lawyer/sports agent/secret agent/race car driver/vampire is the first actor to chew scenery  and maybe wash it down with space wine  in outer space.

Hopefully, the role will not be that of a whacked-out SPACE COMMANDER.
Watch: Princess Diana interview: Earl Spencer shares family photo hours before release of report into explosive BBC chat

BBC reporter Martin Bashir used "deceitful behaviour" to secure a Panorama interview with Princess Diana in 1995, a new investigation has found.

The BBC opened a fresh inquiry into the interview more than 25 years after it first aired after Earl Spencer, Diana's brother, raised questions about methods used by Bashir to get Diana to agree to the programme.

The programme became known for one of Diana's most famous statements - that there were "three people" in her marriage to Charles, after revelations about his affair with Camilla.

The BBC has sent letters of apology to Prince Charles, Prince William, Prince Harry and Earl Spencer.

It will return all awards associated with the programme, including a 1996 Bafta.

Earl Spencer said Bashir had faked bank statements which he showed to the earl in order to get access to the princess.

The earl said the statements related to his sisters former private secretary Patrick Jephson, and another former royal household member, and that Bashir made claims that Diana's phone lines were bugged.

A 1.4m report released on Thursday found that Bashir used "deceitful behaviour" to get to the earl, who then introduced him to the princess.

It also said Bashir had been "devious and dishonest", saying his actions had been "carefully planned".

A fake bank statement relating to Penfold Consultants (Jersey), as published in an Annex to Lord Dyson's independent investigation into the circumstances around the Panorama interview with the Princess of Wales. (PA/BBC)

Fake bank statements relating to News International and Penfold Consultants (Jersey). The statements got Bashir an interview with Diana. (PA/BBC)

However the report, by Lord Dyson, has concluded that Diana may have done the interview anyway because she was keen on the idea by mid-1995.

It suggests she might have chosen to talk to Nicholas Witchell, rather than Bashir, who at that time was relatively unknown. Witchell at the time was a diplomatic correspondent, and is now BBC royal correspondent.

Witchell was lined up in early stages to interview her, but was swapped for Bashir by then editor Steve Hewlett, who died in 2017. The interview would likely have focussed around her role and her work.

Story continues

Read more: 7 of Princess Diana's explosive claims in BBC interview that tore royals in two

Bashir released an apology after the report became public, saying it was the "second time" he had "willingly fully co-operated with an investigation" into the programme.

Bashir said in a statement: I apologised then, and I do so again now, over the fact that I asked for bank statements to be mocked up.

"It was a stupid thing to do and was an action I deeply regret. But I absolutely stand by the evidence I gave a quarter of a century ago, and again more recently."

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He said the statements had "no bearing whatsoever on the personal choice by Princess Diana to take part in the interview".

He said: "In fact, despite his other findings, Lord Dyson himself in any event accepts that the princess would probably have agreed to be interviewed without what he describes as my intervention.

It is saddening that this single issue has been allowed to overshadow the princess brave decision to tell her story, to courageously talk through the difficulties she faced, and, to help address the silence and stigma that surrounded mental health issues all those years ago.

"She led the way in addressing so many of these issues and thats why I will always remain immensely proud of that interview.

The BBC's first report into the programme was carried out in 1996, but failed to interview Earl Spencer, who was part of this investigation.

Earl Spencer said he had declined to talk to the Mail On Sunday when they discovered the forged bank statements in 1996, but on the basis that he was trying to settle into a more anonymous life in South Africa, where he had moved with his then wife and four children.

Martin Bashir at the Pride of Britain Awards in London in 2019. (PA Images via Getty Images)

In this report, the earl says he has respect for the BBC, and though he would have asked Diana about it, he probably would have given them evidence in 1996. However it criticises those in charge at the time for not even trying to reach him.

After the report was released, he tweeted: "I'd like to thank the TV journalist Andy Webb for his tireless professionalism in bringing the Bashir-Panorama-BBC scandal to light. If he hadnt have pursued this story for well over a decade, and shared his findings with me last October, todays findings wouldnt have surfaced."

Diana wrote a letter to the BBC defending the interview and confirming she had not seen the bank statements, saying she was happy with how it had gone, with no regrets.

While there was suspicion about the authenticity of the note, royal lawyers at Harbottle and Lewis have confirmed to this inquiry that the letter in the BBC records is likely to be genuine.

The report also details what happened when the letter went missing, saying that someone was asked to guard the letter "with their life" and subsequently took it home for safekeeping.

It was found in November 2020 when the story emerged that it was missing from BBC property.

The letter reads: "Martin Bashir did not show me any documents, nor give me any information that I was not previously aware of. I consented to the interview on Panorama without any undue pressure and have no regrets concerning the matter."

The letter written by the Princess of Wales to Martin Bashir after her 1995 Panorama interview with him, as published in an Annex to Lord Dyson's independent investigation into the circumstances around the programme. (BBC/PA)

The letter was signed by Diana and royal lawyers at Harbottle and Lewis said it was likely to be genuine. (PA/BBC)

It was signed by Diana.

Lord Dyson, the former master of the rolls and head of civil justice, was appointed to carry out the new investigation. An inquiry in 1996 was run by former director-general Lord Tony Hall.

As the report was released, Lord Hall said his report "fell well short of what was required" and he was "wrong to give Martin Bashir the benefit of the doubt".

In a statement to the PA news agency, he said: "I have read Lord Dysons report, and I accept that our investigation 25 years ago into how Panorama secured the interview with Princess Diana fell well short of what was required.

"In hindsight, there were further steps we could and should have taken following complaints about Martin Bashirs conduct.

"I was wrong to give Martin Bashir the benefit of the doubt, basing that judgment as I did on what appeared to be deep remorse on his part.

"Throughout my 35-year career at the BBC, I have always acted in ways I believe were fair, impartial and with the public interest front and centre.

"While Lord Dyson does not criticise my integrity, I am sorry that our investigation failed to meet the standards that were required."

Lord Dyson, former master of the rolls, carried out the investigation. (Lewis Whyld/PA Images via Getty Images)

Read more: How Prince Harry became a mental health champion

Lord Birt, director-general of the BBC at the time of the interview, said in a statement: "We now know that the BBC harboured a rogue reporter on Panorama who fabricated an elaborate, detailed but wholly false account of his dealings with Earl Spencer and Princess Diana.

"This is a shocking blot on the BBCs enduring commitment to honest journalism; and it is a matter of the greatest regret that it has taken 25 years for the full truth to emerge.

"As the director-general at the time, I offer my deep apologies to Earl Spencer and to all others affected."

The BBCs current director-general Tim Davie said the corporation accepts the findings of the report "in full".

Martin Bashir interviews Princess Diana in Kensington Palace for the television program Panorama in 1995. (Corbis via Getty Images)

Davie added: "While the BBC cannot turn back the clock after a quarter of a century, we can make a full and unconditional apology. The BBC offers that today."

Ahead of the release of the report, Earl Spencer shared a childhood picture of him with Diana, with the words: "Some bonds go back a very long way."

Dianas son the Duke of Cambridge welcomed the launch of the investigation late last year, saying it "should help establish the truth behind the actions" that led to the programme.

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, was also said to support the inquiry.

A Panorama programme looking at the investigation was delayed, having originally been intended to air on Monday.

It will now air on 20 May, following the report's release.

Bashir quit his role as the BBC's religion editor last week on health grounds. He has been ill with complications from COVID-19.

After the interview, Charles and Diana finalised their divorce, and Diana was stripped of her HRH status, as well as the royal protection that went with it at the time.

She died in 1997, at the age of 36, in a car crash in Paris.

Watch: Princess Diana's funeral footage appears in Prince Harry's The Me You Can't See trailer
New Delhi, May 22 (PTI) The BJP on Saturday slammed former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath for allegedly linking a coronavirus variant with India and accused the Congress of making frequent statements to 'insult' the country and weaken its fight against COVID-19.

Senior BJP leader and Union minister Prakash Javadekar told reporters that the Congress was not playing the role of a responsible opposition and had instead fallen to doing negative politics.

He alleged that Nath used the term 'Indian corona' during an interaction and noted that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has clarified that any variant is not named after any country.

Javadekar said, 'He (Nath) did not stop there and said 'hamari pahchan mera Bharat covid'... This is an insult to India. Many Congress leaders are making such statements. Many leaders said this is an Indian variant.' Responding to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to ensure the assured supply of essential medicines for the treatment of mucormycosis (black fungus) and cost-free care to those affected, Javadekar said India has brought medicines from abroad also and is providing states with adequate supply.

He accused opposition leaders of spreading doubts and fear among people, and said they had done it when Covaxin, an indigenous vaccine against COVID-19, was launched.

Now it is being claimed that those having Covaxin jabs will face travel ban because it is not listed in other countries, Javadekar said.

'As far as I know this process is on, and the WHO has not taken any such decision,' he said.

Statements from the Congress have not only insulted the country but also worked to weaken the fight against the pandemic, the Union minister alleged.

'Sonia Gandhi should tell as to why the Congress is doing such negative politics and why has she not condemned Kamal Nath's remarks,' Javadekar said. PTI KR ANB ANB
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis (Photo Credit - Reuters)

Vilnius [Lithuania], May 23 (ANI): Lithuania has pulled out of China's 17+1 cooperation forum with central and eastern European states, a move that demonstrates its rising concerns and dissatisfaction with Beijing.

"There is no such thing as 17+1 anymore as for practical purposes Lithuania is out," Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis told POLITICO in an email, referring to Beijing's initiative to engage Central and Eastern European countries.

"From our perspective, it is high time for the EU to move from a dividing 16+1 format to a more uniting and therefore much more efficient 27+1," Landsbergis said.

The Foreign Minister has even urged other EU member countries to follow suit amid worsening ties between the 27-member bloc and China.

The ninth summit between China and the Central and Eastern European countries slated to be held in the first half of 2020 was postponed indefinitely due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This comes after the Lithuanian parliament on Thursday became the latest to describe China's treatment of its Uyghur minority as "genocide", voting to call for a UN probe of the internment camps in the country's northwest region of Xinjiang.

Lithuania's move is the latest indication of the deteriorating ties between the European Union and China, South China Morning Post (SCMP) reported.

Meanwhile, Members of the European Parliament on Thursday voted to freeze the legislative process for ratifying the EU's investment pact with China, until Beijing lifts sanctions against EU lawmakers, in retaliation for the condemnation of human rights abuses in Xinjiang province.

China had responded by saying that EU states "disregarded facts" on the human rights issue in Xinjiang after the European Parliament froze the legislative process for ratifying the investment pact with Beijing, in response to sanctions against EU lawmakers.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Friday had defended the sanctions against the EU members, saying that it was a "legitimate reaction" to the EU's moves of imposing sanctions on Beijing. (ANI)
Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih (File photo)

Male [Maldives], May 22 (ANI): In order to curb the spread of COVID-19, President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih on Friday extended the duration of the previously announced government office closure, from May 22 to May 25.

According to the President's Office, all government offices in the Greater Male Region are to remain closed as a precautionary measure, reported avas.mv.

Despite the temporary closure of offices and directive for employees to work from home as necessary, all essential services would continue without interruption by allowing the minimum number of required employees to attend their respective offices.

A Minister or head of an office or institution should authorise any exemptions. In contrast, government offices would provide other public services online, reported avas.mv.

In his directive, President Solih reiterated the importance of adhering to the instructions of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Regardless of the decision to close government offices, the period would not be declared government holidays. (ANI)
Almost 30% of Marylanders 12 to 17 years old have received at least one vaccine dose, according to health department data. A week ago, less than 20% of that age group had gotten a Pfizer immunization, the only vaccine approved for use in people under 18.
Mamata Banerjees lieutenant-turned-rival, Suvendu Adhikari, is the giant slayer of West Bengal politics, having defeated the Chief Minister from the Nandigram seat in the recently held assembly elections. He speaks to News18 in his first detailed interview after being rewarded by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with the Leader of the Opposition post in the assembly.

CM Mamata Banerjee may contest from her old seat of Bhabanipur now that Sovandeb Chhattopadhyay has resigned as MLA

The fact is she should have not accepted the post of the Chief Minister on ethical grounds. Her party may have won, but she was rejected in Nandigram. In Kerala in 1996, when the LDF (Left Democratic Front) won the elections, their Chief Ministerial face, VS Achuthanandan, lost his seat and did not take up the post of the Chief Minister.

PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme is finally operational in Bengal, but just seven lakh farmers got the money this time

In West Bengalover 70 lakh farmers should get the benefit of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Scheme, as per figures of the 2011 Census, but (they) were not getting the money. The Prime Minister and the BJP made this a big issue. And finally, the agriculture department of West Bengal inaugurated a portal last year and 40 lakh farmers registered there. But just seven lakh, out of the 40 lakh farmers, have got the benefit this time. The ground reality is that the state government has only sent names to the Centre of TMC (ruling Trinamool Congress) leaders and TMC cadre, and especially of those from a community which has been used as a vote bank by the TMC. The names of those farmers who are BJP supporters and who do not support the TMC have not been sent, though they fit the criteria for this scheme. Even for the seven lakh farmers who got the benefit, the CM got a leaflet distributed from every BDO office that claimed she had fought and got them this money. This is totally an opportunist behaviour to grab credit for a central government scheme. Right now, there is no election in the near future in Bengal, but Mamata Banerjee is still playing politics. Politics should be left for near the elections. But in West Bengal, this is what happens all the time and 365 days.

Story continues

How will BJP act as a strong opposition in West Bengal? You are now Leader of the Opposition (LoP).

Compared to the other states, in West Bengal, the constitutional scope to work, and respect and recognition are not there for the LoP. I saw it when I was part of the government in the last 10 years, when the Leader of the Opposition got no respect from the TMC. But, as the LoP now, I will perform my duty with all energy and enthusiasm in order to be a constructive opposition, and raise issues strongly while respecting the dignity of the assembly. We had won 77 seats in the recent elections, and later two of our MPs who contested resigned. So we have 75 MLAs now. It is a good strength for the Opposition.

What is your analysis on why the BJP could not win the West Bengal elections?

I will go to New Delhi and meet our party president JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. I will share my practical experience of these elections inside our party forums, and not in the media.

CBI arrested TMC ministers such as Firhad Hakim in the Narada case soon after the elections. TMC has questioned the timing of the action and asked why CBI has not got sanction so far to act against you.

I will not speak on this matter. The matter is sub-judice and before the Lok Sabha Speaker. Regarding the timing, that is a non-issuequestions could have been raised if this action had happened during the elections, as some might have said this brought advantage to one party. Law is taking its own course.

The BJP has made post-poll violence in West Bengal a big issue, but the TMC has termed it an exaggeration.

Over 30 of our cadres were killed in post-poll violence by TMC cadres, and daily extortion and violence are still going on. Ten thousand to twelve thousand complaints have been lodged by us with the police regarding this, but there are some areas where there is no scope of even lodging a complaint. The judiciary should look at this  lots of representations have also gone to the President of India, the Prime Minister and the Home Minister. The central government and the judiciary should look into this and do something. People of West Bengal had to flee due to the violence and become refugees in Assam and Jharkhand and Odisha. There is no scope of doing a movement in West Bengal as a lockdown is on, and the state government can use the law around the pandemic against us. But this law is not invoked when TMC does a big protest in Kolkata or outside the CBI office. The Chief Minister is herself staging a dharna at the CBI office. But (when) three BJP MLAs sat on a protest in Siliguri over rising Covid deaths, they were taken away by police within 30 minutes.

Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here
Nepal's President Bidya Devi Bhandari

Kathmandu [Nepal], May 22 (ANI): Nepal President Bidhya Devi Bhandari has dissolved the country's House of Representatives on the recommendation of the cabinet and called for fresh elections in November.

The President's office in the wee hours of Saturday issued a release announcing the dissolution of house for the second time as per Article 76 (7) of the Constitution of Nepal.

The next election will be held on November 12 and 19 as per the recommendation of the Cabinet.

Article 76 (7) of the Constitution states "If the Prime Minister appointed according to clause (5) fails to get the vote of confidence or if any member fails to be appointed as Prime Minister, the President shall, on the recommendation of Prime Minister, dissolve the House of Representatives and fix a date to conduct another election within six months."

Calling an emergency Cabinet meeting just minutes after President Bhandari said that neither Oli nor Nepali Congress (NC) President Sher Bahadur Deuba can be appointed the next PM, Oli recommended President Bhandari to dissolve the House and hold the election in two stages on November 12 and 19.

Ahead of the declaration of fresh elections, President Bhandari also announced none of the claims by incumbent caretaker Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Nepali Congress President Sher Bahadur Deuba's claim over next PM will be accepted.

The reason given was that Oli cannot be appointed PM as 26 lawmakers of CPN-UML and 12 of Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) that he (Oli) included in his claim to contend support of 153 House of Representatives (HoR) members have signed in support of Deuba.

Also, the President argued that Deuba cannot be appointed as UML Chairman and the parliamentary party leader has written not to recognise signatures of 26 UML lawmakers. Oli also wrote to the President stating, the lawmakers who are attempting "floor-crossing" will be punished for indiscipline in a way that they will not even remain member of the Lower House.

Story continues

Along with Chairman Mahantha Thakur and Parliamentary leader Rajendra Mahato of Janata Samajbadi Party also wrote to President Bhandari requesting not to recognize signatures of 12 JSP lawmakers. They claimed that those lawmakers have signed against the dignity of the party.

Oli on Friday afternoon staked claim first claiming that he has support of 153 HoR members including 121 CPN-UML lawmakers and 32 of Janata Samajwadi Party (JSP) just a day after telling President Bhandari to go for formation of new government in accordance with Article 76(5) of the Constitution pointing out he does not have numbers to pass the floor test.

Likewise, NC President Deuba then reached Shital Niwas with list of 149 lawmakers including 26 lawmakers from the Khanal-Nepal faction of UML, 12 of the Yadav-Bhattarai faction of JSP and one from Rashtriya Janamorcha. UML lawmaker Madhav Kumar Nepal, and others who Oli claimed support him were present in person when Deuba submitted his claim.

The opposition leaders left the Shital Niwas at five in the afternoon after the deadline given by President Bhandari for formation of the new government as per Article 76(5) of the Constitution expired.

The current strength of HoR is 271 after Maoist Centre expelled four lawmakers who joined CPN-UML after the Supreme Court (SC) invalidated unification of UML and Maoist Centre on March 7.

UML in the dissolved parliament had 121 lawmakers including those of the Khanal-Nepal faction, NC 63 (but two are suspended), Maoist Centre has 49 (including Speaker), JSP 34 (including two suspended) and three lawmakers are independent. (ANI)
Several council members stated that they hope organizations in the community will come out to help fund the permanent placement of the schoolhouse once it is preserved. Council Member Ella Mae Small said she thinks the community could come together for the school like it did to preserve the old courthouse.

This school does mean a lot to me because it is part of Afro-American history, the councilwoman said. It is a statement to the Afro-American community that we value our history.

Green Street Land Co. Founder Orndorff also stated that, just like he hopes to preserve the history of the Oaklawn house, he wants the school to find its permanent home in the community.

After discovering the history of this building, it became a vital part of the Oaklawn story  one that deserves to have a second life as a relic of its time, he said.

As the city enters into an agreement with the developer for preserving the school, Propst said her work has just started in diving into the history of the building. And she hopes the Cabarrus community sees the school as an opportunity to preserve more of its history.

Treasures like this are lost left and right every day, she said. That lesser known history, the untold stories that come from this community  we saved the big, pretty courthouse, we saved the white-textile-mill-owners home on North Main street U.S.A., but we are not always saving the vernacular architecture, the common mans home. We are really not saving the communities of Black or Indigenous peoples as much as we should.
Every day at the nursing home, Hugo invited me into his sister's suite to make "small talk" with both of them.

Hugo's good-natured sister always asked Hugo emphatically, "What's new? Hugo, what is new?" So he and I told her about what was going on in the world, and in our own individual lives. Hugo brought necessities and delicious baked goods. He entertained his sister with some of their family's recent pictures. One picture, in particular, was of his six great grandchildren. Hugo was quite fond of all of the youngsters.

After entertaining Hugo's gracious sister, I drove him to other errands, such as the pharmacy, the bank, and the barber shop.

Hugo and I had several substantial conversations, especially while sometimes sitting in the late afternoon onset of rush hour traffic. Every few days, Hugo would share what his plans were for that evening. These activities always included his wife, and other married couples some of whom I had known.
A shoe cobbler for nearly 32 years, Jane Lovell of Charleston has repaired numerous shoes and mended all sorts of other leather goods.

Her reputation as a "can do" person, however, has also led her into making repairs to all sorts of things, such as leaf blowers, belts, hats, coveralls, tents, swimming pool covers, holsters, and even netting high above the indoor track at Eastern Illinois University's Lantz Fieldhouse.

"Whenever anything needs repairs," she said, "everybody says, Take it to the shoe lady.'"

She is willing to take on almost any project, even if it's something she has never done.

"I'll try," she said. "I tell people there's always a first time."

Repairing the nets at Lantz Field House several years ago was her most exciting and unusual job to date, Lovell said.

"I was up in the air (40 or more feet) on a lift while I did the sewing. Larry (her husband) went with me, but he stayed on the floor."

"Jane will do just about anything," said customer Nellie Hughes of Charleston. "She's a hard worker and she'll fix whatever needs to be fixed. "

Hughes and her husband, Steve, both retired, are longtime customers at the repair shop.

"It's a good place to go," Mrs. Hughes said. "Jane is always in a good mood, always smiling and joking. She has the only shoe repair shop around here. If she'd retire, I guess we'd just wear holes in our shoes."

The shoe repair business has changed tremendously in 32 years, Lovell said, motioning to a pair of 7-inch stiletto heels she was going to put toe caps on.

"It used to be leather, rubber and crepe soles that I worked on, but now I get a lot of man-made stuff. Sometimes I don't have a clue what to do with it.

"This new modern sole is man-made - chemical to start with I think. I'm not sure how the soles are constructed, but I'm sure they're liquid to start, because they melt when I try to sand them."

Lovell said she began working in shoe repair when she was 25.

"I worked for Walt Childress, I think that was his name, in a little, bitty shop east of the Will Rogers Theatre on Monroe Street. We eventually became partners.

"A few months after Larry and I got married, in 1978, we rented a shop a few doors east of where Walt's shop had been. He had moved on to another location by then."

The shop was moved again in 1982, to its current location at 610 Seventh St.

Lovell took a course in orthopedic shoe technology from Ball State University partly, she said, so she could better understand doctors' prescriptions.

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It has served her well, and that part of her business has allowed her to provide for customers who need shoes built up or other normally expensive orthopedic changes.

One customer drives 50 to 60 miles each time his child needs adjustments made to shoes. He's more than willing to make the trip because, while Lovell charges $20, elsewhere he pays $100.

Equipment Lovell uses for shoe repair includes nailers, one for larger heels and another for women's heels; a wheel for pulling off heels; a "Five-in-One" machine that sizes and cuts leather; two sewing machines, one with a long arm and rotating needle that sews circles; stretchers; and a sander and buffer.

"The only thing this one ever does," she said, pointing to another machine, "is sew the edge of the shoe. It doesn't do anything else.

There's hand-sewing, too, using some good-sized needles she said, holding up a large battle-scarred needle. "I've pulled on this one with the pliers so many times, it isn't straight anymore."

While she has had a total of two or three employees over the years, Lovell does all the work herself now, and believes she may have the only shoe repair shop in the county.

"It's something you have to have a knack for, and something you really like doing. If not, you just couldn't do the job," she said.

The Lovells live above the shoe store, which is convenient especially during inclement weather.

"My family used to call when the weather was bad and ask if I had made it to work OK," Lovell said. "I'd tell them I did all right, but I slipped and spilled my coffee coming downstairs."

Her husband, who is retired, visits his wife often, especially in the late afternoon.

"Larry comes down about closing time to walk me home," she joked.

While the shop's location is convenient, Lovell said she isn't tempted to work longer hours.

"I could come down and work at night, but I don't. I might have done that 30 years ago but not any more. I used to come in at 4 a.m. and work until 10 at night, but I don't want to do it now. I guess I've gotten lazy."

Business is brisk, and Lovell could use some help from the main characters in the Grimm Brothers' fairytale, "The Elves and the Shoemaker," but they have yet to make an appearance.

Although she doesn't make new shoes, Lovell makes old shoes last beyond their normal lifespan for a fraction of the cost her customers would have to pay to replace them.

She figures a steady business has less to do with the economy than a person having a favorite pair of shoes they don't want to quit wearing.

"They bring them in and I keep fixing them up," she said. "I'll probably be working another 30 years; probably still be here in the shop when I'm 90."

Contact Bonnie Clark at bclark@jg-tc.com or 238-6847.

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WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed Americas return to the world stage and said both leaders pledged in their meeting to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Biden told a joint news conference with Moon that he was dispatching career diplomat Sung Kim, who previously served as ambassador to South Korea, to serve as the special envoy to the region. Moon said the move by Biden reflects the firm commitment of the U.S. for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea.

Biden also announced that the U.S. would vaccinate 550,000 South Korean servicemembers who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula.

This marks the first commitment by the Biden administration for what it plans to do with the 80 million vaccine doses it aims to distribute globally in the next six weeks. Biden has said he hopes to use domestically produced vaccines as a modern-day arsenal of democracy, a reference to the U.S. effort to arm allies in World War II. At the same time, the White House has pledged not to attach policy conditions to countries receiving the doses as global vaccine diplomacy heats up.

Moon came to Washington seeking renewed diplomatic urgency by the U.S. on curbing North Koreas nuclear program, even as the White House signaled that it is taking a longer view on the issue. The two also discussed coordination on vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security concerns spurred by China.

Their meeting was only Biden's second in-person session with a foreign leader because of the coronavirus pandemic. His first was with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Moon said afterward he and Biden spoke "like old friends and emphasized the need for cooperation on security issues in the region.

The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Biden did not rule out meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim. But in a veiled reference to former President Donald Trumps charm offensive with Kim, Biden said he would not replicate the efforts of the recent past.

Trump met face-to-face with the dictator on three occasions and exchanged what he called love letters with the leader.

I would not give him all that hes looking for," Biden said of Kim, namely international recognition.

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Biden paid tribute to the long history of shared sacrifice by the two allies. His formal talks with Moon in the afternoon ran long, Biden said in earlier remarks, because I enjoyed the meeting so much that it caused us to move everything back. He said his staff interrupted repeatedly to warn they were over time.

At the press conference, Biden also took a moment to note South Korea's growing influence on mainstream American culture. He said that now K-pop fans are universal" and noted Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn winning the Oscar award last month for her performance in Minari as well as the South Korean film Parasite winning the best picture award at the 2020 Oscars.

Moon said, The world is welcoming Americas return, an oblique reference to Trump's attempts to disengage on some aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy and Biden would veer from the strategies of his two most recent predecessors, rejecting both Trumps deeply personal effort to win over Kim and Barack Obamas more hands-off approach.

But the administration has yet to detail what its third-way effort to try to prod the North to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

Moon started his day at the White House complex by meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top Biden advisers. Moon also participated in a Medal of Honor ceremony for Ralph Puckett, a 94-year-old Army veteran who was celebrated for his gallantry during the Korean War more than 70 years ago.

Without the sacrifice of veterans including Colonel Puckett ... freedom and democracy we enjoy today couldnt have blossomed in Korea, said Moon.

Moon, who will leave office next May, is eager to resume stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang and between Seoul and Pyongyang. But the Biden administration, which confirmed in March that it had made outreach efforts to the North without success, has been less enthusiastic about the idea of direct negotiations in the near term.

Still, Moon made clear before the meeting that he would nudge Biden to renew diplomatic efforts with the North.

Biden also used the meeting to press South Korea to adopt a more ambitious 2030 target for curbing carbon emissions and to urge Seoul to do more to counter Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden also wants Moon to take a strong stance on China's activity toward Taiwan and other provocative moves Beijing has made in the region. Biden has sought to rally Pacific allies to coordinate on China, which Biden sees as the United States' fiercest economic competitor.

South Korea could be reluctant to speak out about China, an important trading partner that it also sees as key in dealing with the North Korean government. Moon told the press conference there was no pressure on the issue from Biden in their meeting.



Associated Press writer Alexandra Jaffe contributed reporting.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Shareholders of Tribune Publishing, one of the countrys largest newspaper chains, approved a $630 million takeover bid by hedge fund Alden Global Capital on Friday, the company said in a brief statement. Alden, which already owned nearly one-third of Tribune, stands to take full control of the Chicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and other Tribune papers.

Through its Digital First Media chain, Alden owns the Boston Herald, Denver Post and San Jose Mercury News.

Tribune offered little additional detail beyond the fact that it expects the deal to close on May 25. In a statement, Alden said the move reaffirms our commitment to the newspaper industry" and its focus on retooling publications so they can operate sustainably over the long term."

The Alden deal is just the latest major acquisition of a newspaper company by an investment firm dedicated to maximizing profits in distressed industries. The collapse of print advertising as readers migrated to digital publications has rocked the traditional newspaper business. Publishers have shut down more than 2,000 papers over the past 15 years and half of newsroom jobs have disappeared.

Investment firm owners are often criticized for valuing profits over the mission of local journalism, and Alden is no exception.

The deal drew opposition from many of the companys journalists in an unusual spate of employee activism. They set up rallies, tried to find local buyers and begged for a rescue in their own newspapers. They had rooted for a higher bid from hotel mogul Stewart Bainum in the belief that it would be better for local journalism, although that never came to fruition. They lobbied Tribune's No. 2 investor, Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, to vote no and scuttle the deal.

In a blog post, the president of the union representing Tribune journalists lamented that Tribune's shareholders had  let everyone down  by approving the deal, but said the union would continue to hold Alden Global Capital accountable.

Confusion arose earlier in the day when a spokeswoman for Soon-Shiong said he abstained from the vote. According to Tribunes April 20 proxy statement, which states that approval of the deal required the votes of at least two-thirds of shares not owned by Alden, an abstain vote counted the same as an against vote.

Neither Tribune nor its board made any public comments on vote result until late in the day Friday. In its statement, Tribune effectively confirmed earlier reporting attributed to unnamed Tribune officials that Soon-Shiongs ballots were submitted without the abstain box checked, and so were counted as yes votes toward the Alden takeover in accordance with the instructions on the ballot. Tribune did not name Soon-Shiong directly, but said that proxies from one of the company's largest shareholders were submitted in this fashion.

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Soon-Shiong's representative, Hillary Manning, said the billionaire viewed Tribune as a passive investment and that he is focused on the revitalization of the L.A. Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune, which he bought from Tribune in 2018. Soon-Shiong stands to gain about $150 million from his Tribune stake.

Legal experts agreed that if Soon-Shiong left his ballot blank, he likely did so deliberately.

One possibility, said Andrew Verstein, a UCLA School of Law professor, is that Soon-Shiong intended to vote yes but didnt want to take flak for that vote. If you say yes, people yell at you for selling out the newspaper," he said.

Alden became Tribunes largest shareholder in 2019. The union representing Tribunes journalists says the hedge funds cost cuts have already led to shrinking newsrooms and closed offices. A 2020 report from the University of North Carolinas journalism school said the combination of Alden and Tribune would be the countrys second-largest newspaper publisher by circulation, behind Gannett.

Tribune itself is no stranger to cost cuts and shrinking newsrooms. After emerging from bankruptcy in 2012, it split from its TV broadcasting arm in 2014 and since then has bought and sold papers including the Los Angeles Times (sold), the San Diego Union-Tribune (bought and then sold) and the New York Daily News (bought, then hit with layoffs that cut its editorial staff in half ). Its annual revenue has fallen by more than half since 2015, and by the end of 2020 its number of full- and part-time employees stood at 2,865 people, just 40% of its headcount five years earlier.

Overall, publishers have shut down more than 2,000 papers over the past 15 years; half of newsroom jobs have disappeared.

Investment firms have played a significant role in consolidating the industry as online competition drew away readers' attention and ad dollars. Hedge fund Chatham Asset Management bought newspaper chain McClatchy in an auction last year following the company's bankruptcy, beating a bid from Alden. A newspaper company managed by private equity firm Fortress bought Gannett in 2019 with a high-interest loan from another private equity firm. The newspaper company, which retained the Gannett name and is publicly traded, has since ended the management arrangement with Fortress.

An expected higher bid for the whole company from the hotel mogul Bainum never fully materialized after he was unable to find a buyer for the Chicago Tribune. Hansjorg Wyss, a billionaire from Wyoming who had expressed interest in owning the Chicago Tribune, joined Bainum's bid, then subsequently dropped out. He did not say why.

Prior to his bid for all of Tribune, Bainum struck a side deal to buy Baltimore Sun Media from Tribune for $65 million via a nonprofit. In a statement, Bainum said that while his efforts to buy Tribune have fallen short, his focus now is on Baltimore and Maryland, where he is evaluating various options to create nonprofit newsrooms.



An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Alden would gain control of the Los Angeles Times in a successful bid for Tribune. The newspaper is owned by Tribunes No. 2 investor, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and is not part of the Alden deal.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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Zane Grey

Pearl Zane Grey (January 30, 1872-October 24, 1939) was an American author best known for his very popular adventure novels and stories associated with the Western Frontier.

His success was further enhanced by having his writings adapted as films and television shows. Also, two television episodes, and a television series, Dick Powells Zane Grey Theater demonstrated his continued success.

Grey grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, but moved with his family to Columbus, Ohio, due to his fathers poor investments. His father was a dentist and hoped that his son Zane would follow in his profession of dentistry.

Zane complied with his fathers wishes and obtained the training to become a dentist. The young Zane would open his dentistry practice in New York City. But after some time, Zane thought the practice of dentistry was boring so spent his time in polishing his writing skills.

Grey was an avid reader of adventure stories such as "Robinson Crusoe." Zane would write his first story, "Jim of the Cave," when he was fifteen years old. His father found the book and tore it to shreds and then severely beat him.

Grey found the love of his life when canoeing in 1900. He met seventeen-year-old Lina Roth, better known as Dolly.

They were married five years later in 1905. The marriage was difficult for Dolly as Grey suffered bouts of depression, anger, and mood swings, which affected him most of his life.

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Dolly managed Greys career and raised their three children. Not an ideal husband, Grey would spend months away from the family. Grey would fish, write his stories, and spend time with his many mistresses.

Throughout their marriage, Zane highly valued Dollys management of his career and raising their children. Dolly would also edit his writing and handled all his contract negotiations with publishers, agents, and movie studios.

Their considerable correspondence shows evidence of his lasting love for her despite his infidelities and personal emotional turmoil.

Grey read Owen Wisters great Western novel "The Virginian."

After studying this books style, Grey decided to write his own Western novel by the name of "Betty Zane" in 1903. Zanes first attempt at writing was rejected by Harper and Brothers. After the rejection Zane lapsed into deep despair.

After a number of rejections of later books, Zane finally wrote a book that the publishers found to be of value. In fact, "Riders of the Purple Sage" was one of the most successful Western novels of all time.

As Zane became a household name, Harper eagerly received all of Zanes manuscripts. Noting the success of the Western novel, other publishers started selling Western novels.

During the 1930s, Grey continued to write, but the Great Depression hurt the publishing industry. However, Zane continued to receive royalty income, so he did better than many financially. Nearly half of the film adaptations of his novels were made in the 1930s.

Grey became one of the first millionaire authors. With his veracity and emotional intensity, he connected with millions of readers worldwide, and inspired many Western writers.

Zane would live only until the age of 67. His final resting place is the Union Cemetery in Pennsylvania.

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The GOP representatives noted the N.C. Restaurant and Lodging Association reports that restaurants in the state are down about 70,000 workers  roughly 17% of the industrys workforce  compared with before the pandemic.

Winston-Salem Journal food editor Michael Hastings reported in April that the $64,000 question is where are these missing workers that used to cook, bartend and wait tables?

One theory is that is some career restaurant workers found other employment last year when their restaurant closed or operate with skeletal staffs. They decided they would stay where they are, particularly if the hourly pay is higher.

Although some local restauranteurs cited the $300 weekly federal UI benefit, most restaurateurs said they think that accounts for only a small part of the labor shortage.

One possible answer to the labor shortage is paying a fixed hourly wage on top of tips, but in a Catch-22 scenario that may not be possible without additional customers that can only be served with additional kitchen and wait staff.

GOP legislators also cited that currently there are 250,000 North Carolinians receiving UI benefits, yet NCWorks lists more than 200,000 current job openings.
Summary

In the introduction to Drunken Fireworks, King writes about a woman who recognized him at a grocery store. She identified him as the man who wrote scary stories. She said she preferred uplifting stories like Shawshank Redemption. King told her that he wrote that novel too, but she did not believe him.

King warns his reader that he has no use for genres. He likes to write a variety of different styles, but does not care for the term local color (448). He writes that the story Drunken Fireworks grew from a story he heard told about a fireworks arms race on a lake in Maine.

The story Drunken Fireworks is presented in the form of a statement given to Police Chief Andrew Clutterbuck by resident Alden McCausland.

Alden tells his story to the chief in a meandering way beginning with the death of...
Listing is a way of managing anxiety. So it isnt surprising that some of us have become more committed than usual to organizing our lives with pad and pen, even if actual productivity doesnt follow. Just getting things down on paper in an orderly fashion can sometimes feel like an accomplishment.

My lists of late, however, have taken on a new character. Were not talking broccoli and errands here. Though it startles me a little to admit, Ive been compiling columns of the living and the dead. That is, people who are, in fact, alive or dead. It isnt so much that I dont remember who has died; its that I dont want to forget them. The same goes for the living. I dont want to forget to remember  and act upon  how much they mean to me.

This isnt busy work. Every now and then a person comes to mind and I catch my breath because theyre gone. If I dont remember them, who will? Doesnt friendship require that we spend at least a few moments now and then recalling someone who once meant so much? I am tortured by such questions. The converse is obvious: Who will remember us? And for how long?
Peter addressed the crowd with the following explanation recorded in Acts 2: 36-47. God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah. When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the apostles, Brothers, what shall we do? Peter replied, Repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all whom the Lord our God will call. He pleaded with them, Save yourselves from this corrupt generation. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about 3,000 were added that day. They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they broke bread in their homes with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
The Cooper administration launched Thursday North Carolina's version of a vaccination lottery featuring four $1 million cash prizes and those newly vaccinated getting two entries.

Meanwhile, Gov. Roy Cooper said he will provide Friday a status update on his COVID-19 statewide pandemic emergency order.
Abortion has contributed to the caustic environment in which we now live. People kill each other nightly on the streets of major cities. Buildings are burned and riots are becoming increasingly normal behavior. A Wall Street Journal story predicts we face a summer of unrest.

This disrespect for human life, law, order and morality has extended to pressure at the other end of life with assisted suicide laws in some states and, as we have seen with COVID-19, a lack of concern about the elderly in nursing homes.

According to the Guttmacher Institute, which tracks the number of abortions in the U.S., more than 62 million abortions have been performed since 1973. Guttmacher acknowledges the figure may be lower than the actual number. Black women have experienced induced abortions at a rate nearly four times that of white women for at least three decades. One might think that if Black lives matter, the weakest and most vulnerable would matter most. Think of the potential of these lost lives.

While the number of abortions has been in decline in recent years for several reasons, including the free services of crisis pregnancy centers, which work to dissuade women from getting an abortion, (Planned Parenthood charges for the procedure), any lost innocent life is one too many.
North Carolina is emerging from a pandemic strong and growing, with new jobs and new neighbors arriving daily. We welcome this growth, but in order for our communities to thrive, our infrastructure must catch up and keep up. In recent weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and second gentleman Douglas Emhoff visited North Carolina with a plan to help transform our state and nations infrastructure.

That means resilient roads and bridges. Rail and commuter transportation. Job training and trade skills through community colleges. Affordable housing opportunities, particularly in our historically underserved areas. Access to high-speed internet. These are all building blocks for strong communities where businesses can flourish and families can thrive.

I know North Carolina will come out on the other side of this pandemic stronger than ever. But its critical that everybody has the opportunity to share in our states successes  not just those at the top  and the American Jobs Plan will help us get that done.

This historic plan includes transformational investments for infrastructure in our communities that are right on time.
To those who ever harbored any doubts about how blatant and virulent the racism and white supremacy were that dominated North Carolinas culture, law and politics well into the 20th century, Pulitzer Prize-winning author David Zucchinos most recent book, Wilmingtons Lie: The Murderous Coup of 1898 and the Rise of White Supremacy, is a must-read.

To get a sense of how grim the reality was that Zucchino describes in his painstaking account of the brutal insurrection that was perpetrated against the multi-racial government of what was, at the time, North Carolinas largest city, try doing the following:

Take a moment to picture some of the worst and most fiendish villains youve ever seen in a film or another work of fiction  the bad guys who are so evil that they seem like caricatures of bad guys. Now imagine that a large collection of such individuals have been transported to late-19th century North Carolina for the purpose of executing a publicly proclaimed campaign to violently impose white supremacy as the law of the land. Thats the remarkable story that Wilmingtons Lie documents.

The horrors Zucchino reports are utterly stupefying and nauseating. The people who carried out these despicable acts were representatives of the human species at its lowest and most shockingly vile.
Nebraska

editor's pick topical alert top story

Stealth fighter making final approach to Ashland's SAC museum

Courtesy photo The Nebraska-bound F-117 Nighthawk traveled through Nevada on Thursday.

The Air Force removes the rockets from beneath an airplanes ejection seats before releasing it for public display.

But thats just part of its standard demilitarization process.

Technicians also drain all the fluids, neutralize the weapon systems and recover any radioactive components from certain jet engines. Its an extended effort, said Mike Rowland, aircraft acquisitions manager for the National Museum of the Air Force.

'An extremely important piece'  Stealth Fighter headed to SAC Museum The F-117 Nighthawk will arrive in Nebraska on a semi-trailer and spend the next year in the museum's restoration area.

The Air Force cant send hazardous items out to a civilian museum, he said. Its about a three- to four-month process under best-case conditions from the time they pull the airplane out of storage.

And its an even more complicated job for an F-117 Nighthawk, now strapped to a flatbed trailer and headed cross-country to the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum near Ashland.

Courtesy photo The F-117 left Nevada's Tonopah Test Range on Thursday and is scheduled to arrive in Ashland on Sunday.

The so-called Stealth Fighter was known for its ability to evade enemy radar, and the late-20th century technology that made it so elusive is still considered classified, Rowland said.

The aircrafts nose, leading edges of its wings and other body parts have internal structures the Air Force wouldnt want others to see, and its paint contains radar-absorbing compounds that need to be stripped and sand-blasted.

The F-117 is just special in that way, Rowland said. Most airplanes, though, do not need to go through this level of demilitarization.

Courtesy photo To prepare the F-117 Nighthawk for a long-term loan to the SAC Museum in Ashland, the Air Force stripped it of classified materials  its radar-absorbing paint, and its nose, wing edges and other parts.

That would pose a problem for the Nebraska-bound Stealth.

The Air Forces 64 Nighthawks, built by Lockheed, saw service in the Persian Gulf War of 1991 and were later used in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were retired in 2008 and sent to storage at the Tonopah Test Range northwest of Las Vegas.

WWII radio pioneer gives new life to planes at SAC museum Roger Ihle became a radar pioneer during World War II, performing a role that now seems so elementary but was, 70 years ago, top-secret and revolutionary.

The Air Force only recently began making them available for public display through long-term loan agreements, and the SAC Museum is just the fourth private museum to receive one.

It was supposed to arrive in March. Then the Air Forces media blaster  used to scour the plane's paint  broke down and delayed delivery by more than two months.

Fortunately, the airplane was very close, Rowland said. And they were able to get the equipment working enough to finish it off.

Courtesy photo The Nebraska-bound F-117, also known as the Stealth Fighter, was stripped down, loaded onto a trailer and is headed to the Strategic Air Command and Aerospace Museum near Ashland.

This week, three SAC Museum staffers traveled to Nevada to escort their newest display to Nebraska. The F-117 was once capable of high-altitude cruising speeds of up to 620 mph, but it will take several days to make the trip east after leaving Nevada early Thursday.

And it will take even longer for SACs two restoration staffers and three dozen volunteers to get it show-ready for the museum floor, said John Lefler Jr., the museum's marketing manager.

They need to reattach the wings and  with detailed drawings and diagrams provided by Lockheed and the Air Force  fabricate replicas of the nose, wing edges, engine inlet grids and all of the other classified parts that were removed. Then they need to give it a paint job.

Its an expensive process, Lefler said, though he didnt have an estimated cost. Its closer to $100,000 than $10,000.

The army that saved the Superfortress The big bomber made its last flight in 1959. It was parked, retired, subjected to decades of decay. Then came the birds, the bats, the rodents and the rot. Then, the army of volunteers.

The restoration should be complete  and the F-117 on permanent display  by summer 2022.

But the public wont have to wait that long to see it.

By next week, the museum will make room for it in the restoration hangar, reattach the wings and invite guests to get a close-up look at the formerly elusive aircraft.

Photos: Offutt Air Force Base through the years
Danny Lee Ladelys office is decorated with a lifetime of cinematic memories.

Cinematic, because after 48 years serving as director of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, Ladely has lived and breathed film for most of his life.

Among the memorabilia: A photo of him alongside Martin Sheen, a movie poster for Sideways signed by director Alexander Payne, a sketch of Ladely drawn by Academy Award-nominated cartoonist Bill Plympton stuck to the back of the door, a framed portrait of the theaters benefactor, Mary Ross.

Ask about any of these things and Ladely, clad in a bolo tie, will lean back in his chair and launch into a story  the time Peter Fonda picked a fight with some college students at Yia Yias pizza during his visit, or the time he brought actor and director Peter Riegert to the Ross, introduced him to UNL English Professor Gerald Shapiro, and they ended up making a movie together based off of Shapiro's short story.

The funny thing is, Ladely never really knew hed dedicate so much of his time to independent films until hed already spent decades doing it. Movie theaters seemed to just be a recurring theme in his life, a place he had always loved since he saw his first John Wayne flick growing up in Gordon.
Speedway Motors Museum of American Speed in Lincoln and Darryl Starbirds National Rod & Custom Car Hall of Fame in Afton, Oklahoma, announced a merger May 17 that enables Speedway to showcase some of Starbirds custom car creations.

Darryl Starbird is one of the most prolific custom car builders, and an artist who was consistently able to gain national recognition for his creations," said Tim Matthews, curator at the Museum of American Speed. "His customs have been showcased in all of the popular car magazines for decades.

"His car creations feature a space-age, futuristic style that people find exciting and memorable," Matthews continued. "He is certainly king of the bubble top, and like Toad in 'American Graffiti' explains, 'Any car as good as Starbirds Superfleck Moonbird has to be amazing!' Custom car fans now have two places to see Starbirds fabulous creations.

The Museum of American Speed, located at 599 Oak Creek Drive, is home to over 150,000 square feet of display space on three levels. The museum was formed to present a continuous chronology of automotive racing engine and speed equipment development and to preserve, interpret and display items significant in racing and automotive history.
Today

Lots of sunshine. High 74F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

Tonight

Clear skies. Low 52F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph.

Tomorrow

Sunny, along with a few afternoon clouds. High 87F. SSE winds shifting to N at 10 to 15 mph.
The soil and water near some of the most polluted wells in Minnesota is almost entirely clean three years after a new type of wheat was planted on the surface.

The perennial wheat, called Kernza, was grown just west of Brainerd on a few acres immediately surrounding wells within corn and soybean fields. Over the past three years, it cut nitrate contamination from the cornfields by 96% and from soybeans by 86%.

The drastic drop of the increasingly prevalent and damaging nitrate pollution shows that even small plantings of the wheat crop may be able to protect water supplies in croplands, potentially saving taxpayers and small towns from spending millions of dollars on nitrate treatment systems. That all depends, however, on how quickly the demand and market for Kernza can grow, and if the wheat will be profitable enough to make it worthwhile for farmers to carve out space to grow it inside more established corn and soybean operations.

"We're seeing some promising results from a relatively small amount of acreage," said Jacob Jungers, a researcher at the University of Minnesota. "We have cities that are becoming somewhat desperate now for a solution. The idea is to keep expanding the size of the project, increasing the acreage to the point where we can start to see the direct impact on a community's drinking water."
At a meeting Monday, county officials refuted the allegations and issued a 14-page response to Fann, calling her accusations "false, defamatory, and beneath the dignity of the Senate." The letter, along with a separate technical memo, detailed the procedures around the vote and explained how they had been misunderstood by those behind the Senate's audit. In refuting the claim about deleted databases, the county listed a number of technical mistakes that may have been made by the firms running the audit when they configured a copy of the data and searched for the files in question. Furthermore, Megan Gilbertson, communications director for Maricopa County Elections Department, told The Associated Press that "the county backs up and archives all of its election data."

On Tuesday, Ben Cotton, the founder of a computer forensics firm working on the audit, told key senators the data in question had been deleted from the server he copied but he also acknowledged he had recovered the data and had access to it  thereby undermining the claim that the database had been permanently destroyed. Seals were not improperly broken on ballots, as was alleged. They were opened before the tabulated ballots were put in long-term storage, which is standard procedure, according to county officials.
OMAHA  An Omaha man who was captured after he fled to Nicaragua to avoid child pornography charges was ordered Friday to be held on $50 million bail.

Douglas County District Judge J. Russell Derr imposed the bail and other restrictions on 29-year-old Adam Hawhee, who faces two counts of child enticement, 26 counts of possession of child pornography and two counts of failure to appear in court.

Hawhee previously paid $135,000 cash to be released from jail on the charges and then didnt appear for court hearings in December. He was arrested in Nicaragua in April and returned to Omaha this month.

This isnt the common situation, Derr said in delivering his ruling Friday. He didnt just not appear, he fled the country.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine, who has been an attorney for four decades, said it was the highest bail amount he had ever heard.

After Hawhee approached two 7-year-old girls at a park in March 2020, investigators went to his home, where they confiscated electronic equipment with more than 100 child pornography photos  some involving babies, prosecutors said.

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And on Feb. 26, Wetherell, 40, died at the Nebraska Correctional Center for Women in York of an undisclosed medical condition, according to a prison news release.

On Wednesday, the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the matter moot because of her death and vacated the district court judgment.

The next day, Danielle Conrad, executive director of the ACLU of Nebraska, said the decision followed seven years of litigation with positive developments in both state and federal court in the case it filed challenging the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services for denying its clients the fundamental right to marry.

"With the recent death of one of our clients, we are reminded that justice delayed is justice denied. Ms. Wetherells friends and family have our sincere condolences," she said.

Conrad said they are conferring with Gillpatrick and the legal team about potential next steps.

"The bottom line is this: Our clients were simply asking for the ability to marry. Marriage is a fundamental right, including for Nebraskans who are incarcerated, she said.

According to court records, the couple had met through a mutual friend before they were in prison.
Gov. Pete Ricketts, who appoints the nine citizen members of the Trust Board and is a staunch supporter of ethanol, defended the switch, saying that increasing use of the corn-based fuel benefits the environment. But conservationists decried the swap, calling it politically motivated and contrary to the past practice of following the recommendations of the board's grant committee. A lawsuit has been filed against the board over the funding switch.

The decision prompted the formation of the Friends of the Environmental Trust, a group of former board members and people involved in the creation of the trust three decades ago. They maintain that current board members have strayed from the original intent of the trust, which uses about half of the proceeds from the state lottery.
At that point, Tanner Shaw, Langley's stepson, became president of the limited-liability company that owns both Mead Cattle and AltEn.

Only recently in the spring of 2021 have the entities apparently begun purposefully segregating activities, like in connection with the pending sale, the companies said.

Champion Feeders of Hereford, Texas, filed an application in April with Saunders County and Village of Mead planning officials for the conditional use permit to run the feed yard, which would precede a sale of the property.

While the Saunders County Planning and Zoning Commission signed off on the permit request, putting it on the county boards agenda, supervisors have delayed their decision as they await the results of pesticide testing at Mead Cattle.

An agenda item to take up the application appears on the boards next meeting, scheduled for Tuesday morning in Wahoo.

Saunders County Attorney Joe Dobesh said the board had received the letter, but wasnt sure what impact the late-stage request would have on the supervisors decision.

This certainly came out of the blue, Dobesh said. We would have appreciated these companies getting involved and getting in touch with us years ago.
The coin, a silver shilling with a portrait of King Charles I, was created by the royal mint in the Tower of London back in England at around the time the fort was settled in 1634, according to Travis Parno, the director of research and collections at the Historic St. Mary's City museum.
Even the most optimistic industry forecasters say air travel demand in the U.S. won't return to pre-pandemic levels until 2024.

To appeal to coronavirus-leery travelers, airlines have relaxed or removed some of the fees and restrictions that have made flying less than enjoyable for many passengers.

"The last thing a lot of companies want to do is alienate their most loyal and lucrative customers," said Matt Schulz, chief credit analyst and loyalty reward program expert at Lending Tree. "It's in their interest to play as nicely as they can."

The policy changes adopted over the last year or so were an effort to "offer increased flexibility for customers," said Carter Yang, a spokesperson for Airlines for America, a trade group for the nation's airlines.

When coronavirus cases began to surge in early 2020, Delta, American, Alaska, Frontier, Hawaiian, JetBlue and Southwest airlines announced plans to promote physical distancing between passengers by blocking fliers from booking the middle seats in some or all sections of the cabin.

Every airline has since ended the middle-seat blocking strategy. Delta was the last major U.S. carrier to continue the program, ending it April 30.
Attendees will learn about group buy discounts, federal tax credits and grants available from Focus on Energy. They will be able to sign up for a free solar analysis which will provide the financial and environmental benefits of renewable solar technology.

No matter if the installation is for a business or a residence, participants in the group buy program will benefit from the streamlined process and the financial savings made possible through this type of economies of scale format, Chris Litzau, co-director of SWSGB, said in a statement.

In the first five years of the program, 75 families and 6 businesses received solar installations, a total of 485 KW installed solar.

Each year, these systems produce an estimated 658,000 kilowatt-hours of energy. Over the projected 40-year life of these systems, the panels offset the environmental impact equivalency of 1,832,742 gallons of gasoline consumed or 18,657 metric tons of CO2 produced.

They are equal to the environmental benefit of growing 308,503 trees over ten years.

Eagle Point Solar is headquartered in Dubuque, Iowa, with additional offices in Cedar Rapids, Iowa; Davenport, Iowa; Canton, Illinois; Oshkosh and Milwaukee.
RACINE  A Racine man allegedly took car from the impound lot and proceeded to crash into multiple cars in a police chase.

Marcus D. Salisbury, 21, of the 1500 block of Boyd Avenue, was charged with four felony counts of second-degree recklessly endangering safety, felony counts of attempting to flee or elude an officer and hit and run causing injury and misdemeanor counts of obstructing an officer.

According to a criminal complaint:

On Thursday, an officer was sent to the impound lot at 2215 S. Memorial Drive for a suspect with an active warrant attempting to retrieve his car.

Officers arrived and saw two people in the car. The officers approached and the car accelerated and began swerving into oncoming traffic, spinning completely out, before regaining control and fleeing northbound. Officers followed the car and saw the car drive past multiple stop signs and driving onto oncoming traffic. The officers then terminated the pursuit.

An officer later saw the car lose control and eventually crash into other cars, causing injury to one of the occupants. The driver then got out and fled on foot and the officer began to pursue the driver, eventually tasing him. The driver was identified as Salisbury.
By the time Millie and I got back to the car, we had logged only about a mile and a half, but we had discovered a new place, learned some new plants, spotted some colorful birds and seen a view of Baltimore that not many folks get to see. This park is not listed on the AllTrails app, so Im not sure if there are other trails to explore. There didnt appear to be any, particularly on the south side of Fairview Beach Road. Perhaps there will be in the future. This might be a blank canvas for some would-be trailblazer.
Ultimately, Abbott said shes seen customers relieved when they realize the location is not requiring masks. If they see us, a lot of them, boom  they take it (their mask) off, she said.

Keeping customers comfortable Anastasia Salazar, employee at Kortendick Ace Hardware at 3806 Douglas Ave., checks out a customer on Thursday. Laura Abbott, store manager in

Abbott shared the store is still maintaining other safety and cleanliness policies, including keeping plexiglass up between customers and employees at the register.

Angela Downs, one of the owners at Chit Chaat, a Pakistani restaurant at 550 State St., said theyre also maintaining certain guidelines, like social distancing, and are still adamant about cleaning and sanitizing.

Before vaccinations became more common, the staff was strict about everyone wearing masks, Downs said. Last week, she was wearing a mask while taking orders, and a sign asking customers to wear masks was still hanging in the front window.

Now, we feel like more people are vaccinated, Downs said Thursday, adding the staff is less strict about mandating masks for the customers, especially when they have to take their masks off while eating inside.

Downs said staff members in the front of the house still wear their masks to make customers feel more comfortable. Every staff member is vaccinated, she noted.

Unmasked shopper A customer not wearing a mask leaves Pick 'N Save, 5111 Douglas Ave., on Thursday.
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

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In an interview Friday, Hyatt said his clients had abandoned plans to redevelop both properties together and were moving forward on renovations to an existing structure at 103 Annapolis Street. They will figure out what to do with 101 Annapolis Street in the future.
Harris also acknowledged that the past COVID year has been so difficult for seniors.

She made a point to call out how we can really be instruments for change after the pandemic in how we can go back to whatever the new normal is, Fick said.

She said, Dont be motivated by a view of who you can be. You can be anything you want. Dont let anyone tell you otherwise. I thought it was a powerful message, especially to high school seniors, she added.

Status of Women conference

Its been quite a year for Fick, 18, the daughter of Walt and Cecelia Fick.

A Girl Scout for 14 years, she took a twisting road to appear in Sundays CNN special. She and most of the other Girl Scouts who will appear had been selected to take part in the 2020 United Nations Commission on the Status of Women. The U.N. holds the commission annually.

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All U.S. Girl Scout councils were invited to apply. The Girl Scouts Spirit of Nebraska Council was one of just four nationwide chosen to send delegates. Fick applied to be a delegate and was accepted, along with Emma Bitterman of Gretna and Journey Noyes of Aurora. A fourth girl chosen was unable to participate.
Mosley wanted Meadowlark to be a Unified Champion School for a few years, but she decided to wait until she settled into her kindergarten teaching position. She knew this year was the right time for it to happen.

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I just want a more inclusive, more unified environment because I think we are all different. ... We need to be OK with being different and celebrating those differences because we can learn from each other, she said.

The designation of Unified Champion School helps the school to implement inclusive sports, youth leadership opportunities and whole-school engagement. Each schools programs can vary greatly from school to school based on needs, goals, schedules and other factors, but the basic building blocks are the same.

One of the first activities Meadowlark did as a Unified Champion School was a storybook walk along the Dryland River Walk. Two books, The Invisible Boy and Stand Tall, Molly Lou Melon, were on display May 17-20. The books focus on kindness and being true to oneself.
BAGHDAD (AP)  A month after an explosives-laden drone targeted U.S. forces at an Iraq base, the top American commander for the Middle East says finding better ways to counter such attacks is a top priority, and the United States is still behind the curve on solutions.

Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie told reporters traveling with him that the use of small drones by Iranian-backed militia is only going to grow in the next few years. He spent the day in Iraq on Thursday, but for security reasons, media accompanying him were not allowed to report on his visit until after he left the region.

The drones, which are cheap and easy to buy, are often difficult to detect and problematic to defeat. McKenzie said the U.S. must find more ways to counter their use by America's enemies in the Middle East and elsewhere.

Were working very hard to find technical fixes that would allow us to be more effective against drones, McKenzie said. Efforts are underway, he said, to look for ways to cut command and control links between a drone and its operator, improve radar sensors to quickly identify the threat as it approaches, and find effective electronic and kinetic ways to bring them down. He added that fencing and high netting can also be used as protective measures.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka  Sri Lanka halted passenger trains and buses for four days as authorities imposed a fresh travel ban across the country, in its latest efforts to curb the escalating number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.
The main assumption of these billion-dollar broadband plans is that we should use our resources to focus exclusively on broadband fiber connections while avoiding investment in mobile and satellite networks that are vastly cheaper, more efficient, and provide fast speeds.

Elon Musks SpaceX recently launched an additional 60 satellites for his Starlink project, which aims to provide low-cost satellite broadband internet across the world. By the end of 2021, there will be 1,000 satellites providing internet to over 10,000 customers worldwide, accessing download speeds of up to 300 megabits per second, above and beyond the FCC minimum of 25 megabits per second.

Rather than put all our resources in wired broadband connections, the government should practice technology neutrality  not favoring one technology over any other. That is the smartest way to provide coverage to every American.

For instance, 15% of Americans rely on smartphones for their internet and do not have broadband at home, according to Pew Research. That is equally split between urban and rural regions of the country. Whether that is because no broadband options exist, or because consumers prefer mobile internet, however, is not clear.
The SUV continues to the 1200 block of Preston Street, where it strikes a parked car and the driver jumps out and flees. The helicopter continues directing officers to the 2000 block of Washington St., where Dixon ran into a gap between the rear of two rowhomes. After an officer approaches, Dixon can be seen with his hands up and kneeling on the ground.
CHEER: To parents and families who are planning something super special for a Class of 2021 graduate in coming days. Now that masking and distancing requirements are eased for those vaccinated, gatherings can be held. For these students who have missed out on so many key moments and events for a year and a half, its time to celebrate like its 2021. They deserve it.

CHEER: To the stay at home employees who have been persevering through the pandemic. These are the folks who get up every day, get their kids ready for school, walk down their hallway and go to work, while maintaining some semblance of order in their household. They may be called back to the office soon, and their routine will change, but before that happens they deserve a cheer. Job well done.

CHEER: To Kwik Trip, your frequent stop, on exceeding original job growth and capital investment goals at its La Crosse campus over the last five years, even throughout the pandemic. For that it is being awarded an additional $5 million in tax credits by the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Kwik Trip is a Wisconsin success story, said Missy Hughes of WEDC. No arguments here. Now for another coffee stop.
Please consider attending the June 10 virtual public hearing for the Roth Feeder Pig II CAFO expansion, and sharing why you think the DNR needs to re-evaluate rubber-stamping the states largest hog CAFO in one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and sensitive areas of Wisconsin.

The Wisconsin DNR has never denied a single permit for a factory farm, or Concentrated Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO). it almost never conducts environmental impact statements. Why should Roth Feeder Pigs proposed expansion be different?

First, if Roth Feeder Pig is granted, this expanded facility south of Steuben will become the largest hog CAFO in the state, creating over 12 million gallons of liquid manure every year.

Second, the proposed location is a narrow karstic ridge (filled with caves, sinkholes, springs, and other direct conduits to groundwater), overlooking a neighborhood along the Kickapoo River and wetlands of continental importance.

Finally, over 200 Crawford County residents and landowners requested that the DNR conduct a serious review of the potential impacts of this operation, a request supported by 48 organizations, including all local Farmers Union chapters.
The number of women in farming is on the rise.

The 2017 U.S. Census of Agriculture, which has been surveying the gender, race and ethnic origin of principal farm operators since 2007, reported more than 36% of American farmers are women. Twenty-nine percent are principal operators, and 78% of all female producers are involved in daily decisions.

In Virginia, female farmers are involved with 23,575 farms, and they are principal operators of 16,456 of them.

Joanne Jones, who manages Dark Leaf Farm in Appomattox County, is one of them.

I feel like women always have played more of a role than whats been recognized, she said.

At her husbands familys third-generation tobacco farm, Jones plants and harvests dark leaf tobacco, soybeans and wheat, and oversees the operations varied agritourism and pick-your-own activities. She also handles the farms paperwork.

If youre the one doing that, you know whats making money and whats not  whats losing, whats gaining.

Jones, who also works as a full-time Virginia Cooperative Extension agent in Charlotte County, admits it was difficult getting people to take her seriously in the early days, but six years as president of Appomattox County Farm Bureau helped her build respect.

A place for everyone in ag

Third-generation farmer Sarah Morton believes theres a place for everybody within the culture of agriculture.

She became principal operator of Cattle Run Farm in Greene County in 2011. Her father previously operated the beef cattle farm but when he scaled down operations, Morton and her brother, Ralph, who is a military veteran, took over.

After my brother transitioned back, we began a phase approach to diversify our operation, taking it beyond a hobby, she said. They connected with the Virginia Cooperative Extension Small Farm Outreach Program at Virginia State University, where they were introduced to blackberry production.

Today we have thornless blackberries, raised-bed vegetable production, and currently utilize grow towers for indoor lettuce and Swiss chard production, Morton said.

Last year they expanded into pasture-raised pork, and they plan to build a high tunnel to extend their produce-growing season in the fall. This spring, Morton will launch an on-site agribusiness  rental accommodations called the Sarah-James Inn, named in memory of her parents.

Beyond managing the farms strategic initiatives, Morton assists with planting and harvesting. She also owns a small berry farm in Albemarle County called Five Oaks Farm, where she plans to expand into viticulture.

Rockbridge County farmer Jennifer Leech also manages the bulk of the work relating to her familys dairy farm.

She serves as the herdsman for Ingleside Dairy Farm, a role she inherited two months after graduating with a degree in dairy science from Virginia Tech in 2006. Since then, the third-generation farmer manages the farms 340 dairy cows.

Leech makes decisions on when the animals are vaccinated and how health abnormalities are addressed. She also handles breeding responsibilities and facilitates group changes within the herd.

Ingleside has been equipped with robotic milking machines since 2012, technology which Leech noted has lessened the dairy industrys emphasis on brawn.

You dont need to have broad shoulders to do the work anymore, she said.

Encouraged by the growing number of women who are choosing careers in production agriculture, Leech said the trend makes sense.

In general, women tend to be nurturing and caring, she said. When you think about a farm, thats exactly what you need. You need someone whos patient, nurturing and caring with the animals or crops, and it just makes sense that women are drawn to these kinds of careers.
Over the past three weeks, Pennsylvania providers have increasingly requested fewer doses of COVID-19 vaccines than federally allocated, just as the state is ramping up its efforts to get shots into reluctant arms.

Requests for vaccine doses have dropped 74% from April 26 to May 10, according to the latest data available from the Pennsylvania Department of Health.

Eroding demand  experts say  could hamper vaccination campaigns targeting difficult-to-reach communities, such as the one underway in Lancaster County.

This just tells you that youre hitting a wall; that the people who wanted to be vaccinated are largely vaccinated now, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious diseases physician and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security.

With the crush of those desperate and willing to get a COVID-19 vaccine relegated to the not-so-distant past, health officials say the real work begins now.

In general, what were finding is that its getting harder and harder to find people to get vaccinated, Adalja said.

This has real-world consequences as vaccines have been touted as the way to return to pre-pandemic life.

Its our shot at really bringing the pandemic to an end, said Dr. Mark Goedecker, vice president and regional medical director for WellSpan Healths central region.

We cant make assumptions

Roughly 37% of Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

Pennsylvania falls in the middle of the pack, with 20 states having a greater percentage of its population fully vaccinated.

As of Monday, about 39% of Pennsylvanians were fully vaccinated.

In Lancaster County, more than 197,000 individuals  or roughly 36% of the countys population  were fully protected against the pathogen, as of Monday.

Achieving herd immunity has long been the goal for eradicating the novel coronavirus.

Herd immunity is when a sufficient number of people are protected from a disease  either through infection or vaccination  that its spread is significantly curtailed or even stopped in the wider community. Its what led Gov. Tom Wolf, while lifting other mitigations, to keep his face mask order in place for unvaccinated individuals until 70% of Pennsylvania adults are fully vaccinated.

Initially  when vaccines were still an unrealized hope  scientists and public health experts had speculated, to be protective, that 60%-to-70% or more of the population would need to be inoculated.

Now  with daily vaccination rates dramatically slipping  reaching herd immunity increasingly appears unlikely because of emerging variants and a stubborn hesitancy with the vaccines.

Weve hit a lot of the big areas with our major vaccination sites and now weve got to take the vaccine to the people, said Goedecker, with WellSpan.

Goedecker added, We cant make assumptions about why people arent getting the vaccine. Thats the biggest mistake we can make.

Itll add up

Roughly six weeks ago, a countywide coalition emerged to address COVID-19 vaccine access and equity.

Facilitated by Alice Yoder, executive director of Community Health at Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, the coalition is comprised of about 30 members with various ties to vulnerable communities.

Many of these trusted partners  as Yoder calls them  have already held a number of pop-up clinics aimed at vaccinating Lancaster Countys rural population, refugees and the homeless, among others. The idea behind these pop-ups is to vaccinate individuals where they are, rather than require they go to a mass vaccination site.

A one-size-fits-all campaign doesnt really fit all, said Rachel Helwig, development and communications coordinator for Church World Service Lancaster, which provides support to refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers.

With large swaths of the county still unvaccinated, and fewer clamoring for a shot, the days of inoculating hundreds or thousands in a single setting may soon be in the rearview mirror.

It may not be 1,000 people a day, Yoder said. It could be those 10s or 50s, but itll add up.

But even these more targeted efforts have not been without missteps.

A recent clinic directed at Latinos in Lancaster, for example, didnt have Spanish speakers to field phone appointments. And many of these clinics have occurred during work hours, a challenge for low-wage workers who are least likely to have paid time off and often have less schedule predictability and flexibility.

I think we could have and should have done a better job, said Dr. Cherise Hamblin, founder of Patients R Waiting, a nonprofit organization focused on eliminating health disparities by increasing diversity in medicine.

Hamblin, an OB-GYN physician at Lancaster General Hospital, added, The hard work, weve known that it was needed from the very beginning.

A steady decline

Early in the vaccine rollout when demand outstripped supply, it was not uncommon for patients to travel out of the county for an appointment or seek help from vaccine hunters.

Those days are gone.

Although designed to accommodate 6,000 people a day, the Lancaster County Community Vaccination Center at the former Bon-Ton in Park City Center hit its apex on April 20, with 5,834 vaccinations.

Brett Marcy, a spokesman for the mass vaccination site, told LNP | LancasterOnline in an email that Following that peak, we began to see a steady decline in first-dose vaccine demand and the average number of daily vaccines is roughly half of initial projections. In response to waning interest, the site has discontinued Sunday appointments and curbed its operating hours.

This isnt just a Lancaster County phenomenon. Demand has tumbled across Pennsylvania and the nation.

Nationally, the number of daily doses administered peaked on April 1, with 4.2 million Americans rolling up a sleeve. Since then, the seven-day rolling average has plummeted from 3.08 million to 187, 762 on Tuesday.

In Pennsylvania, vaccine providers the week of May 10 requested 25% of the states weekly allocation, or 149,220 doses out of the nearly 600,000 available, state data shows. The previous week, providers requested nearly 400,000 doses out of the more than 600,000 Pennsylvania was allocated.

April 26 marked the turning point in Pennsylvania after which vaccine requests began dropping.

With providers no longer required to administer 80% of their allotted vaccine within seven days and fewer arms to jab, it is likely the vaccine doses delivered last week does not represent the existing supply in Pennsylvania.

The decreased in demand  local health care leaders say  indicates a real need to pivot.

It says we thought we could just open the doors and people would just come in, Hamblin said. Thats the reason why the lag is there.

Its important to be nimble

Vaccine hesitancy is a complex issue with no single motive driving reluctance.

Among the reasons are a distrust of the government and health organizations; apprehensions around efficacy and safety; personal freedom and side effect worries.

And  in the case of the Johnson & Johnson/Janssen vaccine  some harbor moral concerns about its development, as the J&J vaccine was produced, in part, using cell lines derived from an aborted fetus.

Jon Carlson, lead pastor of the Forest Hills Mennonite Church, said he urged parishioners to consult their doctor and estimates 70% of his Leola congregation are vaccinated.

I think some of its that theyre not always aware how complicated medicine is, said Carlson, who recently spoke during a United Way of Lancaster County panel on access and equity.

The J&J vaccine has been an attractive choice for targeting difficult-to-reach populations such as the homeless, undocumented and Plain communities. This is because the single-dose vaccine requires rallying these communities only once.

So, the federal suspension last month presented an unwanted setback to the coalition.

Its important to be nimble, said Yoder, facilitator of the COVID-19 Access and Equity Coalition. Whats working now may not work in two weeks.

It remains unclear how widely the J&J vaccine will be deployed in Lancaster County. But Yoder said the one-dose vaccine could still be an integral part in the coalitions efforts.

When offered a choice of vaccines, in two hours at a recent clinic in Peach Bottom, half of the patients opted for the J&J vaccine, Yoder said.

Inequities have exited for decades

Strategies to address vaccine hesitancy have also turned to providing incentives.

Those incentives have included everything from a free beer and a free ride, to college to a chance to win $1 million, to track time behind the pace car on Alabamas Talladega Superspeedway. Locally, for example, Lancaster-based Woodstream Corp. is giving a day off and $300 to employees who get vaccinated.

For all the hand-wringing over the disinclined  Yoder and other community leaders contend  vaccine access is as big an issue as hesitancy.

Inequities have existed for decades and generations relative to communities of color, said Blanding Watson, Lancaster NAACP president. I think that people of color always get the tail end of things when it comes to health care.

COVID-19 laid bare many of these inequities with communities of color having been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic.

Blacks and Latinos have had some of the highest COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates in the U.S., the likely result of social determinants of health, generally recognized as the environmental conditions where people live, work and play.

Watson added, I think its hesitancy and access. I think its both.

Yoder, with the COVID-19 Access and Equity Coalition, could not agree more.

A self-described optimist, Yoder said shes encouraged despite the late nights because the effort  which will likely continue through the summer  does not rely on a single strategy.

Were in it for the long haul, Yoder said. If we dont achieve it in the next month, well just keep on going.
A motorist is in serious condition after being struck by a train in York County on Saturday morning, according to a report by WGAL.

The driver of the vehicle was struck by a Norfolk Southern train headed west at a crossing near West Cly Road in Newberry Township, west of Falmouth across the Susquehanna River, just before 6:30 a.m., according to the report.

The driver sustained serious injuries and was taken to a hospital, according to the report. The trains crew was uninjured.

West Cly Road was shut down between Reeser Hill Road and River Drive for more than four hours, WGAL said.

The collision is being investigated by Newberry Township police and Nortfolk Southern, according to the report.

The 107-car train was headed to Conway, Pennsylvania when the crash occurred.
On January 3, somewhere around Quarryville, leaders of patriotic groups gathered to plan for then-president Donald Trumps rally in Washington, D.C., three days later, according to an affidavit filed as part of a federal criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C.

This will be the day we get our comms on point with multiple other patriot groups, share rally points etc. This one is important and I believe this is our last chance to organize before the show. This meeting will be for leaders only, James Brenehy wrote to Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the Oath Keepers, inviting him to the meeting.

According to the complaint, the Oath Keepers are a large but loosely organized collection of

individuals, some of whom are associated with militias. Some members of the Oath Keepers believe that the federal government has been coopted by a cabal of elites actively trying to strip American citizens of their rights.

Though Oath Keepers accept anyone as members, they focus on recruiting current and former military, law enforcement and first-responders, the complaint said. The groups website said its membership is nonpartisan and consists of people who pledge to fulfill their oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic.

Breheny, an Oath Keeper from New Jersey, was indicted Tuesday by the FBI on a charge of illegally entering the U.S. Capitol.

That Quarryville was the meeting location was disclosed in the criminal complaint charging Breheny. The complaint did not say where exactly the meeting was held, only that the meeting was in a building that had been rented.

An FBI spokeswoman declined to identify the location Friday.

Clark Bearinger, Quarryvilles police chief, said on Friday he had no idea where the meeting took place, either. Federal investigators contacted him after the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as part of their investigations, he said, adding he was unable to talk more about that.

Still, he said, hed like to know who was at the meeting.

The Pennsylvania State Police, which covers the area outside of Quarryville, did not immediately respond to a message left Friday afternoon.

The criminal complaint does not say who attended the meeting, or if Rhodes attended.

An email sent Friday to the Oath Keepers Lancaster chapter was not immediately returned.

Quarryville is near Drumore Township, where state House Speaker Bryan Cutler lives. On December 30, more than 100 people protested outside Cutlers district office in the Buck and, later, outside his home, baselessly claiming election fraud robbed former President Donald Trump of victory in Pennsylvania urging him to overturn Pennsylvanias election results. Many of those protesters returned on January 3 to again call on Cutler to invoke what they said was the Legislatures prerogative to strip President-elect Joe Biden of the states electors and certify Trump as the winner.

Protest organizer Frank Scavo, of Lackawanna County, was charged in March by the federal government with illegally entering the Capitol on January 6.

Michael Straub, Cutlers spokesman, said Cutler didnt know about the Quarryville meeting until a reporter called to ask about it. Straub said Cutler was surprised to hear of such a gathering.

The Southern End Community Center did not rent out its building on Jan. 3, said a man who answered the phone Friday. Messages left Friday afternoon with the Solanco Fair Association, which also rents buildings, were not immediately returned.

Lancaster Countians at the Capitol

One person from Lancaster County is among the more than 400 people charged in the Capitol riots and the FBI is looking for a man LNP has identified through social media.

The government, which expects to charge at least 100 more people, has said in court filings that the investigation will likely be one of the largest in American history.

Michael Lopatic, of Manheim Township, has been charged with repeatedly punching one police officer in the head outside the Capitol. He has been released on bail pending trial after spending nearly three months in federal detention.

The FBI is also seeking the identity of a man whose photo is posted on its Capitol violence page. LNP identified him as Samuel Lazar, of Ephrata, in an April 10 story.

Video shows him pepper-spraying police and trying to pull down a metal bike rack used by police as a barrier outside the Capitol. He was also seen May 15 at a fundraiser for state Sen. Doug Mastriano, the Adams County Republican who is considering a run for governor next year. The event Lazar attended, in Mechanicsburg, featured a speech by Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor and personal attorney for former President Trump.
A Lebanon County man stole four cars and attempted to steal a fifth during an eight-hour spree across three central Pennsylvania counties, including Lancaster County, that ended with authorities chasing him down, according to state police.

The spree began when Jesse Dene Brubaker, 29, of Myerstown, stole a car from the 700 block of East Lincoln Avenue in Jackson Township, Lebanon County, at around noon on Friday, police said in a news release.

An in-vehicle security system was able to shut down the car, which was later found with a flat tire in the 400 block of East 28th Division Highway in Elizabeth Township, Lancaster County, according to the news release.

Brubaker then stole a 2015 Chevrolet Silverado that had its keys in the center console from Brickerville Electric at 442 East 28th Division Highway, police said. Employees attempted to stop Brubaker, who they last saw heading south along Reifsnyder Road.

Brubaker abandoned the truck at a farm in the 2000 block of Bossler Road in West Donegal Township, where he stole a 2007 Chevrolet Silverado by again finding the keys inside, according to the news release.

Brubaker then continued to the 3000 block of Bosssler Road where he exited the truck and began walking around on a chicken farm, police said. A neighbor spotted Brubaker entering a building on the property and parked their 2015 Mazda 6 to approach him, only to have Brubaker exit the building from a side door and steal the Mazda 6.

Brubaker continued north to the 2300 block of Geyers Church Road in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, where he attempted to steal a fifth car, a BMW sedan, but was thwarted by a homeowner, police said. Brubaker returned to the stolen Mazda 6 and continued southeast, back into Lancaster County.

The stolen Mazda 6 was spotted by the vehicles owners brother near Shaffer Road and Route 30 in Mount Joy Township, according to the news release. Manheim Borough and Northwest Regional police began chasing the vehicle into Lebanon County at 7:24 p.m., and troopers began canvassing the area.

A resident in the 100 block of Wintersville Road in Jackson Township, Lebanon County, alerted authorities that the stolen Mazda 6 was abandoned in their backyard, police said. Brubaker was seen fleeing into a nearby farm field carrying a backpack.

Brubaker ran from troopers on foot when they tracked him down in the field, though he was ultimately captured and arrested at around 8 p.m., according to the news release.

A multitude of charges from jurisdictions in several counties are pending, according to the news release.

Brubaker was confined to Berks County Prison after he was unable to post a $50,000 bail on preexisting charges of possession of a prohibited firearm, resisting arrest and seven other weapons and drug offenses, court records show. He will face a preliminary hearing for those charges before Judge Andrea Book on June 2.

Brubaker has previously pleaded guilty to driving under the influence at least four times since 2010 as well as fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, burglary, theft, criminal trespass, numerous drug charges and other offenses, according to court records.
Mail-in ballot counting will likely continue into Monday as elections officials continue to re-mark thousands of ballots made unscannable by the countys mail-in ballot vendor.

On Saturday, 12 teams of three workers were transferring votes from the faulty ballots to new ballots that can be scanned. As of 1 p.m. Saturday, roughly 2,700 of the 12,300 affected ballots had been transferred to new, scannable ballots.

Christa Miller, chief clerk of the Lancaster County Board of Elections, said the teams are prioritizing contested races to get the most high-priority races finished first.

The transfer to new ballots is necessary because the countys mail-in ballot vendor  Michigan Election Resources, which recently changed its name to Plerus  printed multisheet ballots in the wrong order. The printing error made the majority of mail-in ballots submitted by voters unreadable by county elections office scanning machines.

Elections staff began the work around 9:45 a.m. Friday after the board of elections approved the plan. The three-person teams consist of one person reading the selections from a misprinted ballot, one recording those on a correct ballot, and one observer checking the work.

By the end of Friday, approximately 1,500 had been re-marked, less than the original goal of 2,000 for Friday; targets for both Saturday and Sunday were 5,000.

Meanwhile, late Friday afternoon State Sen. Ryan Aument, R-Mount Joy, announced that he would be introducing legislation to suspend the use of no-excuse mail-in balloting until the spring of 2023, citing the misprinting and other errors caused by the countys vendor.

Though this particular vendor has taken responsibility for the errors, these examples have only added to the confusion and distrust surrounding mail-in voting in my district, he wrote. Parties on both sides of the aisle have acknowledged issues stemming from the current statue that necessitate a change in the law. We must address these inadequacies if we are to restore confidence in the election system and results they produce.
South Coatesville police Chief Kevin Pierce opened discussion about stray dogs during the May 11 Borough Council meeting held virtually on Zoom.

We have to figure out a way to address that, Pierce told council.

During his police report, he told council about a rising occurrence of loose dogs roaming through the town. He suggested council begin looking into establishing a contract with the Brandywine Valley SPCA in West Chester again. Council did not take any further action.

Pierce said municipalities must have a contract with the Brandywine Valley SPCA to turn in stray pets. The only exception is animal cruelty cases, which the SPCA and other animal rescue organizations are mandated by law to intervene.

South Coatesville officials previously attempted to draft a joint contract with nearby Modena Borough, which declined due to costs. Pierce said he thought a joint contract would make sense because it would save money.

Linda Torelli, marketing director of the Brandywine Valley SPCA, confirmed in a May 14 email discussions with South Coatesville did occur last year. The March 2020 proposal included an annual base fee of $1,688, $112 per stray dog, plus an additional $56 if the dog is unclaimed. The Brandywine Valley SPCA also charges a $46 response fee and $112 for an overnight emergency.

Pierce said he has seized dogs himself and placed them in the back of his police vehicle. When a canine issue arises, he makes every effort to find the owner. On two occasions last month, a shelter in Downingtown took in stray dogs he discovered. He tried on a third occasion but the shelter was full. Fortunately, the owner was found.

Our hands are kind of tied, the chief said.

The chief then said Coatesville city has a contract with the SPCA. Councilmember Renee Carey said Coatesville has a super serious problem with stray dogs. She then suggested to Pierce to ask Coatesville if South Coatesville could join their contract. The chief responded, he would ask city officials for feedback.

Were doing the best we can to address it with the means we have, Pierce said.
A year ago, as Pennsylvania restricted restaurants and bars to minimize spread of COVID-19, Wrightsville Borough Council suspended the boroughs open container law in an effort to boost business for local establishments.

Now with COVID-19 cases receding, people getting vaccinated and the state opening up, Borough Council discussed at its May 17 meeting whether or not to reinstate the open container law.

If it were up to council President Eric J. White, he would extend the suspension for another six months just to get us through the summer.

Weve had good results with this, he said. People seem to like it.

The Burning Bridge Tavern has had numerous events outside during the past year, closing off a portion of Front Street and allowing people to purchase drinks  or to bring their own  and enjoy them outside while listening to live music. A representative from the bar at the council meeting said the bar sells only about one-third of the alcohol at those events, with people bringing the rest on their own.

Council Vice President Frederick C. Smith Jr. favors reinstating the open container law, even though he agrees there have not been any problems with people abusing the lack of it. Just because theres not been a problem doesnt mean there wont be, and it helps to maintain order, he said. He also noted some residents have told him they dont like having the law suspended.

Council discussed what liability there might be to the borough if there werent an open container law, or how they could make changes to allow some flexibility in enforcement. In one scenario, White envisions a neighbor walking across the street to his buddys with an open drink and not looking over your shoulder for The Man.

Im in favor of people having more rights, White said. The open container law takes away peoples rights.
This is a budget that allows me to deploy our resources across the city, based on the manpower we have and the demands of our city and the needs of our community, Harrison said. It does require me to be fiscally responsible and make smart management decisions on how, when and where to deploy.
The May 18 LNP | LancasterOnline had a story with the headline Protesters decry masks at Manheim Central.

One of the protesters was saying that masks affect the children spiritually.

Spirituality deals with the belief that theres something bigger and better than the individual. If a simple piece of cloth is enough to ruin that, then maybe the individual isnt that spiritual to begin with.

Mask mandates keep people safe, and if more people had understood that from the start, we might not still be dealing with this virus 14 months after it started.

Ross Kaiser

East Petersburg
EIR LEAD EDITORIAL FOR SATURIDAY, MAY 22, 2021

Model Actions for Humanity from China and Russia

May 21, 2021 (EIRNS)Very early this morning, the ceasefire went into uncertain effect between Israel and Palestine, after 11 days of strife, with terrible destruction in Gaza. As of last night, 232 Palestinians were dead, with 1,700 wounded; 12 Israelis were dead, with 335 wounded. The bloodshed is the legacy of the long-standing British policy impact in the extended region, which has reached the point of economic and social breakdown, and murderous figures like Benjamin Netanyahu.

Within hours of the ceasefire, China announced an aid package for Gaza of $1 million and 200,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine. Today, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said that China, which holds the chairmanship of the UN Security Council this month, will make it a priority to intervene through the UN Security Council and as a supporting nation, to get action underway on the two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

On what to do for survival and economic development in the extended region, in addition to emergency aid urgently required in Gaza, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere, Chinas Foreign Minister Wang Yi toured six states in the greater Persian Gulf in March, addressing economic programs in the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. In line with this perspective, Russia is already active in Egypt with the nuclear power plant construction in El Dabaa and other projects. China and Iraq have infrastructure plans pending.

Russia, in a completely different setting this week, also took a distinctive initiative for general benefit. In Reykjavik yesterday was the concluding meeting of this years Arctic Council Ministerialmade up of those eight nations whose far north territory lies within the Arctic. U.S. Secretary of State Tony Blinken at different points chose to make accusations against Russia. But Russia, which as of yesterday, adopted the two-year rotating chairmanship of the Arctic Council, announced its support for furthering collaboration in the Arctic. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that, as soon as conditions permit, there should be the convening of an Arctic Summit, in which all questionsincluding how to restrain militarization of the Arctic, are on the agenda for review and cooperation, not conflict.

Today Schiller Institute President Helga Zepp-LaRouche, in her weekly webcast, spoke of Russia and China as a very attractive model in terms of their initiatives. Yesterday, President Xi Jinping and President Vladimir Putin spoke together at an online event marking the start-up of two-nation construction in China of four reactors, two each at two nuclear power plants.

Its very refreshing, Mrs. Zepp-LaRouche described it,

because President Putin and President Xi Jinping decided to celebrate the collaboration of China and Russia in the construction of these four new nuclear reactors, with the help of Russian technologynot only the construction as such, but to make it a point that this is the beginning of a much larger contribution of the two countries to work to improve the innovation for all of humanity. And Xi Jinping, in particular, said they want to make a decisive contribution to such a transformation. I think this is extremely important: Because if these two countries, one being one of the two largest atomic powers, Russia; and China being the second largest economy, and also becoming a sizable military forceif these two countries decide they will go on a course of advanced technology, higher energy flux densities; and given the fact that their attitude is sharing a lot of projects, a lot of technology with developing countries, this is becoming a very attractive model. And it really breaks this Green New Deal, and I think it is a good example of how you can go about things in a completely different way.

At the Global Health Summit today hosted in Rome, with online international participation, President Xi made a statement, expressing universal values. The event, sponsored by the European Commission and the Italian Presidency of the Group of 20, had dozens of speakers from governments, international institutions, multinationals, and health experts. The Schiller Institute on May 14, issued a statement for international circulation before this event, to further the understanding that the required world agenda in the pandemic, and related crises, is to mobilize for full health security in every nation, not just medical supplies and temporary gestures.

President Xi, along with pledging $3 billion over the next three years, for both medical and socioeconomic aid, outlined five points of principle: One, we must put people and their lives first. Two, we must act on science, and take all needed epidemiological and economic measures. Three, we must stick together; we have a shared future. Four, uphold fairness; reject vaccine nationalism, and stigmatism, vaccines must be made a global good. Five, proper governance means to establish contingency measures and logistical capacity to respond to crises.

In conclusion, President Xi called for us to build a global community of health for alla brighter future for humanity.
Ceasefire Begun in Gaza

May 21, 2021 (EIRNS)By all accounts, the Egyptian-mediated ceasefire between Israel and Gaza which took effect at 2:00 a.m., May 21 local time (23:00 UTC, May 20) is holding, though fingers remain poised on triggers if something goes wrong. Times of Israel reported that the tenuous nature of the ceasefire was highlighted with violence and threats continuing until minutes before the deadline. Both sides have declared victory and are warning at the same time of retaliation for any violation. Hamass military wing warned it would carry out widespread attackson Haifa in Israels north to the Ramon area in the southif Israel did not abide by the pact. At the same time, Hamas foreign relations chief Osama Hamdan said that Hamas had received assurances regarding Israeli policy toward Sheikh Jarrah and the Temple Mount in East Jerusalem. Defense Minister Benny Gantz denied Hamass claims of assurances on Jerusalem as completely false. 

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday afternoon, May 20, that the security cabinet had unanimously accepted the recommendation of all security officials, the IDF chief of staff, the head of the Shin Bet, the head of the Mossad and the head of the National Security Council, to accept the Egyptian initiative for a bilateral ceasefire without any conditions, which will take effect later.

The toll of casualties is reported to be 12 dead and over 335 wounded on the Israeli side and 232 dead65 of them childrenand over 1,700 wounded in Gaza.

The ceasefire, as always, doesnt solve anything and could be followed by another war in a few months or a few years time if a real solution is not taken up. Riyad al Maliki, the Palestinian foreign minister said as much at the UN General Assembly meeting May 20. He told reporters on the sidelines of the meeting that the world must now tackle the difficult issues of Jerusalems future and achieving an independent Palestinian state, reported the Associated Press. He said that while a ceasefire is good, it doesnt address the core issue that started the violence. He identified the core issue as the desecration by Israeli soldiers and settlers of the Al-Aqsa mosque, Islams third holiest site, and the Israeli policy of evicting Palestinians from their homes in the citys different neighborhoods including Sheikh Jarrah, actions which triggered the Hamas rocket barrage from Gaza. Al-Maliki accused Israel of intending to erase the multicultural, multi-religious character of the city of Jerusalem saying: We are opposed to that, we reject that, and well keep working to prevent that from happening.

Al Maliki said Israels normalization of relations with some Arab countries including the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, doesnt waive the questions of the future of Jerusalem and a Palestinian state. To the contrary, we see today that the issue of Palestine and the Palestinian question, the issue of Jerusalem and the occupation of Jerusalem, is the most important issue for all Muslims and Arabs and the world alike, Al-Malki said. We want to see the Palestinian people free and also living in their own independent Palestinian state with east Jerusalem as its capital, he said.
Chinas Xi Jinping Seeks Working Together To Build a Global Community of Health for All

May 21, 2021 (EIRNS)Chinese President Xi Jinping addressed the virtual Global Health Summit today, sponsored by the EU and the Italian Presidency of the G20, held in Rome. In his comments, Working Together To Build a Global Community of Health for All, Xi put forward a five-point program for dealing with the pandemic and returning to policies of growth. He announced that China will donate $3 billion over the next three years to the world fight against COVID-19, for both medical support, and for socio-economic support.

First, he said,

What has happened proves that to completely defeat the virus, we must put peoples lives and health front and center ... and make extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge. No effort must be spared to attend every case, save every patient, and truly respect the value and dignity of every human life. Meanwhile, it is also important to minimize the potential impact on peoples lives and maintain general order in our society.

Second,

we must follow science-based policies and ensure a coordinated and systemic response. We should advocate the spirit of science, adopt a science-based approach, and follow the law of science. ... G20 members need to adopt responsible macro-economic policies and step up coordination to keep the global industrial and supply chains safe and smooth. It is essential to give continued support by such means as debt suspension and development aid to developing countries, especially vulnerable countries facing exceptional difficulties.

Third, he urged for solidarity and cooperation and rejecting all attempts to politicize or stigmatize the virus as forces in the U.S. and Britain have been trying to do.

The pandemic is yet another reminder that we humanity rise and fall together with a shared future. ... Political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response on the domestic front. It would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world.

Fourth,

we must uphold fairness and equity as we strive to close the immunization gap. A year ago, I proposed that vaccines should be made a global public good. Today, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute. It is imperative ... to find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries. Major vaccine-developing and producing countries need to take up their responsibility to provide more vaccines to developing countries in urgent need, and they also need to support their businesses in joint research and authorized production with other countries having the relevant capacity.

Fifth, we must address both the symptoms and root causes as we improve the governance system and seek preparedness for meeting future pandemics, strengthening the role of the UN and the WHO.

At the end, he pointed out that China had provided 300 million doses of vaccine to other countries and will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability.
The World Health Organization, or WHO, says the COVID-19 pandemic has set back years of efforts to end neglected tropical diseases.

Neglected tropical diseases are a group of 20 diseases that affect 1.7 billion people, mainly from poor communities in tropical areas. Forty percent of the people affected are in Africa.

These diseases are both life-threatening and physically damaging. The WHO reports great progress has been made in the treatment of these diseases over the past 10 years. It says 42 countries around the world no longer have cases of at least one disease.



Mwelecele Malecela is director of the WHOs neglected tropical diseases department. She says she fears a lot of this good work could be undone because of the harmful effects of COVID-19.

She says the pandemic has led to disruptions and delays in services for neglected tropical diseases. She says mass treatment campaigns, observations of affected areas, and the transport and giving out of medicines have been stopped.

Malecela said, "All the efforts that have been done to control neglected tropical diseases, to bring about elimination in most of the affected countries, will be reversed if the focus is not kept. She added that observation and continued efforts in countries that are nearing zero cases are needed.

The WHO says that Guinea Worm disease, one of the neglected tropical diseases, is about to be eliminated. The organization says there were only 27 human cases reported in six African countries last year. In 1986, there were as many as 3.5 million human cases of the disease in 21 African and Asian countries.

Yaws is a long-term skin infection that can be eliminated in South Asia.

And Malecela says there are other success stories. They include possible elimination of Trachoma, a bacterial infection in the eye, in Morocco, Ghana and The Gambia. And the WHO has eliminated Lymphatic filariasis in seventeen countries, including Togo, Malawi and Yemen.

At the end of January, the WHO announced a plan to eliminate these neglected tropical diseases by 2030. Health officials consider the plan an important part of making sure countries strengthen their health systems after COVID-19.

Im Jill Robbins.

Lisa Schlein reported this story for Voice of America. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

neglected  adj. not given enough attention or care

tropical  adj. of, relating to, occurring in, or used in the part of the world that is near the equator where the weather is very warm

disruption  n. the act or process of something being unable to continue in the normal way: an interruption of the normal progress or activity of (something)

elimination  n. the act or process of removing something or someone

focus  n. directed attention


When some people face difficulty, they look at their problem creatively. They consider a problem not as a barrier but as a chance to make something good.

And Americans have a saying for that: When life gives you lemons, make lemonade! In other words, just add sugar and water and a sour fruit can become a sweet drink.

Well, recently a family in New York decided to take on the pandemic lemon. But instead of a popular summertime drink, the family cooked up a meal: lemon rosemary chicken.

Traci Cangiano and her daughters Daniella and Kristina launched the Facebook group Quarantine Kitchen in March 2020 when restaurants closed because of COVID-19. The family shared personal recipes on the group page and sought the same from members. The group grew into a lively, online community of tens of thousands of people.

Then, the Cangianos decided to reach out to the world in another way. The family collected the recipes from the Facebook group and created a cookbook, called In the Quarantine Kitchen. It is published and for sale on the web marketplace, Etsy.

The cookbook includes 120 recipes. All of the them were posted during the pandemic on the Quarantine Kitchen page.

It kind of grew and grew said Daniella Cangiano. We were able to take something really negative and make it something really positive.

The 250-page cookbook contains more than just recipes. It has family photos. Some people share their memories of family coming together for special meals. Others explore how food and meals can be designed to celebrate the lives of loved ones lost.

The first group of the books sold well and quickly. Now, In the Quarantine Kitchen is in its second printing.

We started it as a way just to share our dinner with our family and friends. We didnt see in the beginning what it would become. We just thought it was something fun to do, something to distract us, said Daniella Cangiano.

The women are giving all profits from the books sales to The Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation. That organization honors firefighter Stephen Siller and all those in public emergency services.

Siller died while saving people trapped in the burning World Trade Center in New York City on September 11, 2001, just hours after the terrorist attack.

Types of recipes

Some dishes are beloved family recipes, like Nannys Stuffed Calamari in Red Sauce and Aunt Nellies Fried Chicken.

Other dishes were made up during the pandemic. One such dish was a version of tres leches, or three milks, cake. The recipe turns it into frozen treats because ice cream shops were closed.

On the Quarantine Kitchen page, families from around the world sent messages of thanks for the meal ideas and sense of community. One woman wrote that her daughter had cancer and they checked the site together every day to see what people were cooking.

Traci said, I would never think in a million years a Facebook page would affect peoples lives like that.

Online, the community has stayed active. New postings go up every few hours. Traci added, We could probably do five more books. I kid you not.

Now, more than a year later, the Facebook group has more than 44,000 members. The top posters by country are the United States, Canada, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. Next come Portugal, Vietnam, India, Cambodia, and South Africa.

Traci Cangiano told the AP that the cookbook grew out of that Facebook community and is a collection of the stories and recipes shared there. She said the publication is like a memory book for the year 2020.

I hope we never see anything like 2020 again, added Traci, but this book will serve as a nice reminder.

The pandemic has unsettled life for many people around the world, including this Staten Island family.

Kristina is in her last year of high school and the Quarantine Kitchen helps to ease the pressure she feels. Theres a lot going on, but its definitely helped, she said.

Her older sister, Daniella, graduated from St. Johns University and loves to bake. She shares her creations with the Facebook group and likes to hear what others think of them.

That kind of kept me going. I knew I had something to look forward to, even though things were kind of crazy, she said. I was able to still bake and still enjoy that. And sharing that love of baking with others online," Daniella said, "was so much fun.

Im Caty Weaver.

And Im Anna Matteo.

Mark Kennedy wrote this story for the Associated Press. Anna Matteo adapted it for VOA Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.

________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

sour  n. having an acid taste that is like the taste of a lemon

recipe  n. a set of instructions for making food

negative  adj. harmful or bad : not wanted

positive  adj. good or useful

printing  n. the process of producing books, magazines, etc. by using machinery

distract  v. to take (attention) away from someone or something

crazy  adj. unable to think in a clear or sensible way : wild and uncontrolled




The 500th anniversary of the Spanish battle to conquer Mexico arrives on May 22.

Some believe the battle for Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital now called Mexico City, was the birth of modern Mexico. Others believe it was the start of a tragedy that has lasted for centuries.

The battle lasted for months before the city fell to Hernan Cortes and the Spanish conquistadores, or conquerors. The battle was one of the few times an Indigenous army fought European colonial powers.

The fall of Tenochtitlan opened the modern history of the West, said historian Salvador Rueda. He is director of the citys Chapultepec Museum.

The event is memorialized by a plaque in the citys Plaza of Three Cultures. It honors Indigenous Mexico, Spanish colonialism and the mixed-race Mexico, also called Mestizo, that came from the conquest.

It was neither a triumph nor a defeat. It was the painful birth of the Mestizo (mixed-race) Mexico today, the plaque reads.



The Mexican government has backed that idea ever since: Mexico is a non-racial, non-racist, unified nation where everyone is mixed-race, bearing the blood of both conquerors and conquered.

A few streets away is a different message. On the wall of the small church of Tequipeuhcan, another plaque reads: Tequipeuhcan: The place where slavery began. It says this is the place where the Aztec Emperor was taken prisoner after his defeat.

The fall of Mexico-Tenochtitlan started a tale of epidemics, abuses and 300 years of colonial rule in Mexico, said the citys mayor Claudia Sheinbaum.

Over the next three centuries, colonizers stole the land from Indigenous peoples and made them work it, taking the wealth for themselves.

David M. Carballo is a professor of Latin American studies at Boston University. He said the conquest of Mexico connected the transatlantic to transpacific world and all the habited continents. That kicked off what we now call globalization.



Cortes and his 900 Spanish soldiers started the battle on May 22, 1521. The Spanish army was strong and experienced. It had spent hundreds of years fighting to take back Spain from the Moors. They also brought in other Indigenous peoples who were oppressed by the Aztecs to join the fight.

They stopped water and food from entering the city. Their most powerful weapon, however, was the disease smallpox, which they brought with them from Spain. Against this disease, the Aztecs were defenseless.

Carlo Viesca is a medical historian at Mexicos National Autonomous University. He said about 150,000 of the citys 300,000 citizens died of smallpox before the Spaniards took control. One Spaniard described it as walking on corpses, said Viesca.

Because of the number of bodies and the smell of death, the Spanish could not live in the city for months. Eventually, they destroyed all the buildings to bury the dead in the wreckage.

The history of Mexico might have been very different if the former leader, Emporer Cuauhtemoc, had not died of smallpox in 1520.

He had successfully led the Aztec resistance, but was captured and tortured by the Spanish before dying of smallpox. He is still a beloved figure in Mexican history.

The defeat of the Aztecs showed the hopelessness of any attempt by Indigenous peoples in South America to fight the Europeans and their huge armies. There were some battles, mostly between the Spanish and Inca armies during the conquest of Peru. But eventually, the Indigenous peoples fell back on guerrilla actions, such as raids followed by retreats into the remote countryside.

Im Susan Shand.

The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

___________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

conquer  v. to defeat

indigenous  adj. produced, living, or existing naturally in a particular region or environment

plaque  n. a flat, thin piece of metal or wood with writing on it that is used especially as a reminder of something (such as a historic event or an achievement)

triumph  n. a victory

habited - adj. referring to a place where human beings live

globalizeation v. to make (something) cover, involve, or affect the entire world

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Per the contract, Levander anticipates $500,000 for construction and installation costs related to the project and around $95,000 are eligible for tax increment financing. The projected annual tax shift related to this project is $8,929, according to the redevelopment plan.

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The CDA approved the contract and the issuance of the TIF note to Levander.

The proposed redevelopment plan with the City of Lexington and

Lacy Construction was also considered.

City Manager Joe Pepplitsch said plan is to convey empty lots the city owns and is planning to use for housing development to the CDA so Lacey Construction can build up to 40 new housing units. The city council recently approved conveying the lots.

The homes will be in the workforce housing type, were improvements will be at least $225,000.00 but not exceeding $275,000.00. They will be built in a ranch style, at first starting out with crawl spaces, and then possibly basements, once Lacy Construction gets a better feel for the market in the area.

The lots being conveyed to the CDA are in the Northwest Third Addition, Northwest Sixth Addition, Northwest Fourth Addition, Paulsens First Addition, Parkview Addition and the new plat of the ODonnell Fourth Addition.
Thomas Klitgaard

Foreign Purchases of U.S. Government Securities

Government Saving versus Personal Saving during the Pandemic

What to Look For Going Forward

How to cite this post:

Thomas Klitgaard, Is the United States Relying on Foreign Investors to Finance Its Bigger Budget Deficit?, Federal Reserve Bank of New York Liberty Street Economics, May 21, 2021, https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2021/05/is-the-united-states-relying-on-foreign-investors-to-finance-its-bigger-budget-deficit.html

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York or the Federal Reserve System. Any errors or omissions are the responsibility of the author.

The fiscal packages passed in 2020 and 2021 to help the economy cope with the pandemic caused a dramatic increase in federal government borrowing. One might have expected that foreign investors were important buyers of this new debt, but that was not the case. They were instead net sellers of Treasury securities. Still, the amount of money flowing into the United States increased last year, which helped fund the governments borrowing, if only indirectly. The upturn in inflows, though, was quite modest as a surge in domestic personal saving largely covered the governments heightened borrowing needs. How the reliance on foreign funds changes in 2021, when the government deficit will again be quite elevated, will depend on whether domestic personal saving remains high.Federal government actions during the pandemic caused a surge in the amount of federal debt outstanding. Specifically, the level of U.S. government marketable debt held by the public, pulled from the Treasurys Statement of the Public Debt , rose by $4.3 trillion over the course of 2020, climbing from $16.7 trillion to $21.0 trillion. For comparison, this measure of debt increased by $1.1 trillion in 2019. Balance of payments data show that foreign investors did not step in to buy this additional debt. Instead, they were net sellers of federal government securities, to the tune $75 billion. This was a change from being net buyers of $226 billion of these securities in 2019. Foreign investors were interested in other assets, with cross-border financial inflows going toward purchases of equities and investment funds ($726 billion) and corporate bonds ($194 billion).Considering just Treasury securities in examining the role of foreign investors, though, misses the more important question of how much financial inflows rose to help fund the U.S. economy. From this perspective, increased foreign investment in U.S. assets created a pool of money that would not have been there otherwise, indirectly supporting sales of Treasury securities.One way to connect the change in the budget deficit with the change in borrowing from abroad is to rely on national income identities. Start with the notion that someones spending is another persons income. To simplify the discussion, assume the U.S. economy is closed to the rest of the world so that domestic spending always equals domestic income. Spending can be broken down into consumption and physical investment spending and income can be broken down into consumption and saving. Consumption is the same for both identities, so you are left with the identity that investment spending must equal domestic saving.Removing the assumption of a closed economy allows for a country to borrow from the rest of the world or lend depending on the difference between its saving and investment spending. In the case of the United States, the economy borrows from the rest of the world because domestic saving is insufficient to finance investment spending. For financial markets, this plays out as follows: the amount of cross-border financial inflows (for example, to buy Treasury securities) exceeds financial outflows from U.S. investors buying foreign assets by the amount determined by the domestic saving-investment spending gap.To see what happened to U.S. borrowing in 2020, we break down U.S. saving into public (federal government, state and local government) and private (personal, business) components. (Note that government saving is not the same as the budget deficit because the saving calculation considers the difference between government income and consumption and does not include the governments investment spending.)The table below shows how all these components fit into the saving-investment spending framework. There was a $217 billion decline in saving in 2020 relative to the 2019 level, with a huge deterioration in federal government saving mostly offset by a jump in personal saving and a more modest increase in state and local government saving. Adding in a decline in investment spending ($105 billion) leaves the saving gap only $113 billion wider than it was in 2019. (The United States borrowed $503 billion in 2019.) Put another way, 90 percent of the $2.1 trillion decrease in federal government saving in 2020 was offset by increases in other sources of domestic saving and lower investment spending.From this perspective, foreigners helped offset the increase in federal government dissaving, but the scale of their contribution was modest.The fiscal support packages passed in December 2020 and March 2021 will substantially increase the amount of Treasury debt again this year. So, will the pace of net foreign investment continue to be relatively stable? Unfortunately, while the saving-investment spending framework is useful for understanding what happened, it is less useful in predicting what will happen going forward. It is just an identity, after all, and offers no insights about the interactions between the various forms of saving and the economy.One is thus left to speculate. A retreat in state and local saving and an increase in investment spending would seem to be in the cards, judging by their levels last year relative to pre-pandemic times. Both developments would increase foreign borrowing.The table above, though, suggests that the most important unknown is whether personal saving will again offset high federal government dissaving. Consider two extreme outcomes. In one case, consumers take the extra saving accumulated in 2020 as an increase in their wealth and do not let it affect their spending behavior. As a result, personal saving remains high this year, again boosted by government transfer payments, and there is little effort to spend down this accumulated savings going forward. The other extreme has consumers running down the extra savings when the pandemic eases over the course of the year and spending rises to match income. The flow of personal saving then disappears and the economys reliance on foreign financial inflows jumps.A further complicating factor in anticipating how this plays out is that the amount of U.S. borrowing has to be equal to the sum of net lending by the rest of the world. Essentially, any increase in the U.S. saving shortfall has to be matched by a bigger saving surplus elsewhere and the mechanism that makes this identity hold has very unclear implications for exchange rates and global asset prices.
Busy parents with limited options are often faced with the need to eat out on a regular basis with their families. The default options for kids meals in restaurants are almost always sugary drinks. These meals also include more calories, fat and sugar than meals served at home. Our lives are busy, and more and more, were grabbing a meal on the run or eating out. Thats why its so important that restaurants offer healthy food and beverage options especially for children.
Launch news A satellite is slated to launch during daytime hours from Vandenberg Space Force Base in September. According to Mayor Jenelle Osborne, the launch of the LANDSAT-9 satellite will be conducted during the day "so we can all watch it go up and not just listen to it like we did for the Mars launch." Leading up to the launch, Osborne said a monthlong series of community activities are planned that include the creation of a mural, trivia nights and various educational opportunities. More details will be released in the coming weeks.

A new grocery store, housing project for veterans, 40-acre cannabis operation and daytime satellite launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base all are on the horizon for Lompoc and its residents.

Mayor Jenelle Osborne highlighted future developments and past accomplishments during her annual State of the City address on May 19. The one-hour address was presented in a virtual format and facilitated by Amber Wilson, president and CEO of the Lompoc Valley Chamber of Commerce.

"The future is looking brighter for our city as we emerge from the pandemic," she said.

New businesses include an Aldi grocery store that will share space at the former Vons property with Boot Barn. Aldi is a family-owned discount supermarket chain known for carrying low-cost proprietary product lines.

"We can make sure that the neighborhood doesn't lose out on a walkable, close grocery store," Osborne said.

The mayor also confirmed coffee shops Dutch Bros. and Human Bean will open within the 2021-23 budget cycle, which she hopes will alleviate the overflow of cars at local Starbucks drive-thru locations.

She said the community also can look forward to the opening of COLD Coast Brewing and Flower City Ballroom and Events Center, both located on Ocean Avenue.

Additional commerce will include a number of cannabis dispensaries and a large cultivation operation. Specifically, Lompoc will become the 40-acre headquarters for Central Coast Agriculture.

Housing is also on its way, Osborne announced.

In addition to a 44-unit development going in near the YMCA, she said the Santa Barbara County Housing Authority received approval to build a 15-unit veterans housing project in Lompoc. A mixed-use project also will break ground across the street from Solvang Brewing Co., featuring residential accommodations on the top level and retail space on the lower level.

+4 Dutch Bros. Coffee coming to Lompoc, seeking permit to demolish former La Botte restaurant Coffee companies The Human Bean and Dutch Bros. are planning to open drive-thru shops on the northside of Lompoc, which involves the demolitio

"Plans were submitted and permits were pulled despite the pandemic," she said.

Osborne applauded the city's building division run by one individual who, over the last year, was responsible for issuing 1,180 building permits and completing over 3,000 building inspections.

"The city has been dealing with being closed for business," she explained, "but we never fully closed for business unlike many other cities that completely shut down and worked remotely from home. Our city staff has been present in all of our government buildings."

Although processes were slowed, she said, city staff continued to serve member of the community with in-person appointments throughout the pandemic.

By June 15, Osborne expects that city buildings will fully reopen.

In highlighting the work of first responders, Osborne credited both police and fire personnel who serve the community during the pandemic despite being hampered by staff shortages.

"In 2020 alone, our police department took 17,000 911 calls," Osborne said. "This is a heavy load for a community of our size."

By year's end, Osborne said the goal is to have a fully staffed police department.

Osborne also reported that the city's fire department has stayed busy.

Since mid-2019, she said the department has reviewed over 500 building plans, inspected 800 construction sites and visited more than 1,500 sites to address weed abatement, a preventative measure she said will benefit Lompoc moving into fire season.

"All of our city services continued to function," she said, also noting Lompoc's obligations as a "full-service city" in which vital utilities provided to residents include water, electricity, trash pickup and wastewater treatment. "We were very lucky not to have the COVID outbreak impact the delivering of these services."

During her address, Osborne shared what she considers the city's most notable success: the completion of Beattie Park, the largest inclusive playground in Santa Barbara County, funded by Prop. 68.

City of Lompoc to hold special council meeting on Thursday; public invited The Lompoc City Council will hold a special meeting at 6:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss the city's allocation of American Rescue Plan Act relief funds.

The project, which broke ground on Aug. 31, 2020, after the City Council approved a nearly $740,000 contract with Great Western Installations Inc., welcomed children on March 3. The park features a play area for children of all ability levels as well as an adult fitness section.

"Beattie has set an example of what we want all our city parks to look like," she said.

Osborne highlighted other areas of progress over the last year, including an overhaul of the city's 30-year-old online utility billing system, launch of Lompoc's weekly Outdoor Community Market on Ocean Avenue and the city's approval of a $13.19 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds.

Areas that could receive funding include the city's fire and police departments, public works, library, and parks and recreation divisions.

"There's a lot going on in the community despite the pandemic," Osborne said. "[The pandemic] proved that we need to get outdoors and connect with each other and support local businesses."

+4 Santa Barbara County Animal Services' new vision de-emphasizes shelters A new vision for Santa Barbara County Division of Animal Services that will move away from shelters toward community foster care won the una

+4 Solvang Brewing Co. in Lompoc aims for mid-May reopening; expands canned product line Solvang Brewing Co. Hoptions Taproom in Lompoc remains standing after two COVID-related shutdowns last year, while owners now eye a mid-May re
Mary Sharratts masterful new historical fiction is set in the 15th century, a time when there was a papal schism, lessening of the Black Plague and the beginnings of the Hundred Years War  a time when the majority of people could not read and women certainly did not write books.

Margery Kempe had visions after her first child was born, seeing demons all around her. Seeking spiritual help, Margery turned to Julian of Norwich, a walled-in anchoress, mystic and teacher who had a series of 16 visions in 1373. She wrote about those visions in Revelations of Divine Love, thought to be the earliest surviving book written in English by a woman. Julian stretched out her arms through the small window of her cell and welcomed the tired and confused mother. The women bonded, and Julian confessed she had written a book. When she learned Margery was taking a trip to the Holy Land as a pilgrim, she asked her new friend to smuggle her books manuscript out of the country hidden inside her pilgrims staff.

So begins the adventures of Margery, who narrates Revelations. Breaking just about every rule of being a good wife, she leaves her five living children, including an infant, dons a white gown and sets out for Jerusalem. After her journey, Margery cared for her sick husband and eventually wrote The Book of Margery Kempe, the first autobiography in the English language.

Besides bringing to life the sounds, smells and colors of medieval times, as seen through Margerys eyes, Sharratt is at her best when shes imagining the vivid visions of Dame Julian and Margery, both of whom see God as much a mother as a father.

Sharratt is the author of seven novels including Summit Avenue.
It will carry out visits to 40 countries including India, Japan, South Korea and Singapore with more than 70 engagements, including sailing alongside the French carrier Charles De Gaulle in the Mediterranean. A total of 3,700 sailors, aviators and marines are involved in the deployment which will cover 25,000 nautical miles.

Defense Secretary Ben Wallace has said the deployment will be flying the flag for Global Britain  projecting our influence, signaling our power, engaging with our friends and reaffirming our commitment to addressing the security challenges of today and tomorrow."

The trip comes after the British governments review of defense and foreign policy recommended that the U.K. "tilt its focus towards the Indo-Pacific region, in response to China's growing influence on the world stage.

One of the things well be doing clearly is showing to our friends in China that we believe in the international law of the sea and, in a confident but not a confrontational way, we will be vindicating that point, Johnson said while visiting the HMS Queen Elizabeth on Friday.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP)  An Ojibwe scroll lost since the late 1800s is on its way home, thanks to the efforts of two St. Paul businessmen.

Sean Blanchet and Robert Snell, owners of Revere Auctions, noticed an Ojibwe birchbark scroll with Minnesota ties pop up on a Boston auction website. Thinking it may be of cultural relevance to the local Ojibwe, Blanchet contacted the auction house and offered to buy it outright. He also reached out for help from other interested parties and donors.

He learned the business had taken the scroll out of the auction and offered it to him for purchase, a move that surprised him and pleased advocates of the Ojibwe.

Im thrilled to see it happen, said David Chang, a history professor at the University of Minnesota who assisted Blanchet in his appeal. It is really very meaningful to bring this back home. This is a sacred object, an item that is a living ancestor to practicers of the Miteiwin religion.

The four-by-four-inch scroll is composed of four sections of birchbark lashed together with hide ties. The pages are coiled and carved with images and landscapes relevant to specific and private ceremonies.
Preckwinkle seemed more aloof than Lightfoot, compromised by her long tenure in government. But she struck me as better suited, by experience and temperament, for the unforgiving work of running the city. She understood the machinery of governance and had endured more of the brutalities of a fully public life. To me, that made Preckwinkle a pro. To many voters, that made her a hack, and Im aware of only two friends in my wide social circle, one Black and one white, who also voted for her.
While the funds are one thing, the message in the name of the beer itself and can label design available to all collaborators is bound to have an impact in and of themselves. Not only is it emblazoned with Hope for the Days Its OK not to be OK mantra, it has phone numbers for a suicide prevention hotline, as well as mental health resources for sexual assault survivors, veterans, LGBTQ youth, trans people and substance abusers.

In a video promoting the Things We Dont Say cause, Mike Willaford, head brewer of Tin Whiskers Brewing in St. Paul, disclosed he has bipolar disorder  true to the name of the beer. This is the giant elephant in the room in the beer industry  mental health, he said. The hope is this goes from things we dont say to things we can say, to things we do say  that we normalize talking about mental health in conversations.

At least 10 brewers in Wisconsin joined Eagle Park in brewing Things We Dont Say. Among those with their versions entered in Untappd, a beer social media app, were Working Draft in Madison; Gathering Place, Good City, Company, Component and New Barons in Milwaukee; Brewing Projekt in Eau Claire; McFleshmans in Appleton; 608 in La Crosse; Badger State in Green Bay; and Sawmill in Merrill.
Wisconsins U.S. senators on Friday recommended a federal prosecutor and a private practice attorney as candidates to be the lead federal prosecutor for the Madison-based Western District of Wisconsin.

The bipartisan Wisconsin Federal Nominating Commission  headed by Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Madison, and Ron Johnson, R-Oshkosh  nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Schlipper and Sopen Shah, an associate attorney in the Madison office of the law firm of Perkins Coie, to succeed Scott Blader as U.S. attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.

Schlipper was an assistant district attorney in Dane County for nearly five years before joining the U.S. Attorneys Office in 2016. She is a 2011 graduate of the UW-Madison Law School. She also has a masters degree in social work from Loyola University of Chicago and previously worked in social services before attending law school.

Shah is a 2015 graduate of Yale Law School. At Perkins Coie, she specializes in business litigation and in appeals, issues and strategy, according to the firms website. Recently, she represented the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Wisconsin in a voting case which, in a span of three weeks, went from U.S. District Court in Madison to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Ladson-Billings and a number of Black and brown parents at the school, whose children were also told they couldnt take the class, got together and wrote a letter to the high school principal, the school board president and then-superintendent Art Rainwater asking for teachers to meet with the families. Her daughter was admitted to the class, along with a number of other Black and brown students, and excelled.

You have to constantly fight, Ladson-Billings said. If Im fighting, what is happening to that single mother on Allied Drive or Darbo-Worthington who is working morning, noon and night, who is trusting the school to do right by their kid? Thats why 75% of Black kids who are eligible for advanced placement dont take it.

Vicki Bier, a parent of a current student in Madison schools, is one of a number of community members who would like to see the district maintain a hybrid of both earned and stand-alone honors courses.

When the district says earned honors is good for all children, I think thats actually a religious statement. Its an article of faith. I dont think there is empirical evidence for it, she said. I think that earned honors should be maintained and should grow, but I think it is really important to maintain stand-alone honors as an option as well.
MOBILE, Ala.  In the first seconds of video of the events leading to the April 21 police shooting of Andrew Brown Jr., you see the unnecessary force so common in law enforcement in America. You also see the police violence that characterizes the so-called war on drugs.

Sitting in the back of a pickup, seven Pasquotank County, North Carolina, sheriffs deputies are dressed in tactical gear as if they are patrolling the streets of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Brown had never been incarcerated for a violent offense, but those gung-ho deputies jumped off the truck as if they were going after a high-value terrorist.

They were not. Their job was to execute arrest and search warrants for drug-related offenses. Brown was no drug kingpin, no Pablo Escobar or Joaquin El Chapo Guzman. Yet he was shot five times as he tried to flee, once in the back of the head, according to his family.

It will take generations of work to excise the implicit prejudices from policing in America. They are embedded deeply in many of the men and women who wear law enforcement uniforms. That helps explain why major police unions across the country endorsed the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump, who ran both times as the reincarnation of George Wallace.
BOISE (AP)  The Ada County prosecutors office has received online criticism after promoting its services in honor of Crime Victims Rights Week last month with a post on Twitter where the thin blue line flag was visible in the background.

The tweet included a link to a blog post that highlighted victim-witness coordinators who work to make victims feel empowered when moving through the criminal justice system.

Several people and organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Idaho, questioned if the prosecutors also served residents who experienced police violence, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Whether they are victims of police brutality, whether they have experienced domestic violence at the hands of a law enforcement officer, that may all have implications on whether a victim may feel safe, said Lauren Bramwell, a policy strategist for the ACLU of Idaho.

The thin blue line, a reference to the blue of police uniforms, is a symbol worn to show support for law enforcement. But the symbol recently has become politically charged and used by counterprotesters at rallies for racial justice and the Black Lives Matter movement.
Ybarra said that if she didnt have sex with him that she wouldnt make it out of the hotel room alive, the IFPD detective wrote in the affidavit.

The next day, J reportedly attempted to recruit the two other girls, telling them they would get tattoos if they went with her and the victim. She said they could keep 10% of the money made and that she would keep 90%. She referred to the two older children as her top girls and reportedly said they could not change their minds.

The 16-year-old told police she was concerned when the 11-year-old said she wanted to come along. Both she and the 15-year-old victim told police they did not believe the youngest girl understood what they were going to do. Both of the older girls said they went with J in hopes of protecting the younger child.

The 16-year-old said she felt protective of the youngest girl, but said she was afraid to speak up to J. She said she told a staff member at the group home what was happening. The staff member told police the girl said J had threatened to shoot them if they did not go with her. The staff member told her boss, but that when she went to check on the girls, they were gone. The youth home then contacted police.
Kauffman said some GPS data exists across the world and in many cases data still must be gathered to create detailed and accurate maps.

We started engaging with some of our colleagues around the world who were studying Arctic caribou and the Serengeti wildebeest and Mongolian gazelle, African elephants and zebra and all these other species that migrate, he said. What we saw was that all of these migrations are threatened by the same types of things. Theyre all threatened mostly by barriers, fences, road development and things we do on the landscape that make migrations more difficult. We realize that for the most part none of these iconic migrations had been mapped in sufficient detail to guide their conservation.

Biologists have learned that ungulates ability to move between seasonal ranges is critical for many species.

Those animals cant make a very good living if they stay in one place year-round, Kauffman said. In the case of the Serengeti wildebeest, they are essentially following the rain and the nutritious green grass that comes from those rains. Across the world you see in these ungulate populations, those that are migratory tend to be the most abundant. The reason you have 1.3 million wildebeest in the Serengeti is because those animals are able to make a great living by doing that multi 100-kilometer migration.
Typically, Sadegh said, drought would be caused by a lack of precipitation over time. But climate change has made flash droughts  ones that develop in a matter of weeks  much more common. Theyre also spreading across the region, and Idaho could bear the brunt of that phenomenon.

When youre downwind  which we are  from a lot of the places that are in really bad droughts, then that air that became warm and dry comes to our region, sucks up all the soil moisture and dries our region too, he said.

According to the U.S. Drought Monitor, Sadegh and his coauthors wrote, about 84% of the West is experiencing some form of drought. Nearly half of Idaho has some level of drought, according to a May 1 report from the Natural Resources Conservation Service. California, Nevada, Utah and Oregon are experiencing some level of drought across the entirety of the states.

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While Idaho appears to be faring better than many Western states, thanks to a mild winter and warm spring, the level of drought is accelerating rapidly as already-meager snowpack melts early. Closest to the Treasure Valley, this years snowpack was middling. But in other parts of Southern Idaho  like the Wood River Valley  snowpack hit dangerously low levels, as minuscule as 5% of the average.
Dozens of migrants gathered for respite outside of Nawal Ben Chalout's family home, where she had shifted around to give shelter to three young men.

"The boys are very confused, very scared, I talk to them and they ask for food," Ben Chalout said, adding that her neighbors were also opening their doors to offer a place to sleep and eat. "Sometimes they dont even want food. They have questions, they want information.

A dozen Ceuta residents and migrants attended the funeral Saturday of a Moroccan teenager who died on May 17 while trying to swim across the border from Morocco with thousands of other migrants and asylum-seekers.

Members of the local Muslim community washed the victims body, wrapped it in white shrouds and chanted prayers before burying it in a Ceuta cemetery according to religious customs.

Solidarity with migrants in Ceuta has not been unanimous. Several migrants spoke of attacks by groups of locals at night as they slept in the streets or fields.

Fouad, an Algerian man who was in Morocco and crossed into Ceuta earlier this week, said armed men woke him up pointing a gun at him. They beat him and others with a stick, used pepper spray on him and took his phone and money.
But despite pleas from Gov. Brad Little, House Democratic Leader Ilana Rubel of Boise and others, Bedke refused to yield.

What that means for the early childhood grant is unclear.

As reported in Idaho Education News, AEYP advocates believe approaching the Legislature for its blessing may be more of a courtesy than a requirement. The federal government may forward the money anyway.

Others arent so sure and if the program dies, it leaves many of Idahos youngest children in an early education desert where the need for services outstrips the supply.

The state is among only six that refuses to spend its own resources on quality pre-kindergarten programs.

It means a year of assessing the needs of young children and their families across the state  and then building a foundation to meet those needs  will have been for naught.

At least some of the 15 early childhood education collaboratives formed with funds from the initial grant  including one at Kendrick-Juliaetta  will not survive.
Pakistan-China cordial relations growing day by day: Pakistani PM

Xinhua) 10:17, May 22, 2021

Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses the inauguration ceremony of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (K-2) in Islamabad, capital of Pakistan on May 21, 2021. Speaking virtually at the inauguration ceremony of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (K-2), Imran Khan said that Friday marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and apart from the ever-strengthening bilateral ties, the people-to-people contacts have also become deep-rooted with the passage of time. (Press Information Department/Handout via Xinhua)

ISLAMABAD, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan said on Friday that the cordial relations between Pakistan and China are growing deeper and stronger day by day.

Speaking virtually at the inauguration ceremony of the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant Unit-2 (K-2), Khan said that Friday marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and apart from the ever-strengthening bilateral ties, the people-to-people contacts have also become deep-rooted with the passage of time.

He said that the reason behind the deep-rooted bond is that "Pakistanis believe that China is a friend which will always stand by them in their hard times, which has developed an emotional association in their hearts with China."

"We are lucky that our deep friendship is with a country from which we can learn a lot. The way China progressed quickly has a great example for Pakistan to learn," the Pakistani prime minister said.

Khan lauded China for making a huge success in eradicating absolute poverty. "I will say that eradicating poverty is just like winning a big battle, and it did not happen in one day. I believe that Pakistan can learn how to lift its people from poverty."

He said that the greatest mission of his government is to lift people out of poverty and China is a great example for the ruling party because "there is no other country in the world which has set such an example to follow."

Khan also said that the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor will open new prospect of development in the fields of agriculture and industrial development with the support of China after bringing great improvement in energy supply and infrastructure in Pakistan.

Khan said that his country badly needs clean energy projects and the K-2 will carter the need, adding that the power plant will not only enable the transfer of technology from China but also equip local people with skills to use the state-of-the-art technology.

The K-2 is the first foreign nuclear power unit using Hualong One, a Chinese domestically designed third-generation reactor that has a design life of 60 years and meets the strictest safety standards in the world.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
He and Sterling-Angus, 24, who lives in New York and is a business analyst for McKinsey & Co., wrote the statements based on publications in academic journals they read about compatible relationships. They also read the research behind the 36 Questions That Lead to Love, but McGregor clarified that they were not looking to help strangers fall in love; instead, they were focused on compatibility pairings within a set group of individuals.
Dr. Danny Avula, the state's vaccine coordinator, said in a call with pediatricians this week that the lack of supply or appointment constraints indicates the trend could continue. But shifting to on-site vaccinations at doctors' offices will be crucial.

"Clearly a lot of opportunity left," Avula told providers. "You all as pediatricians will be a big part of that."

Rates among 16- and 17-year-olds have faltered, Avula said, adding how about 37% of that population is vaccinated while being eligible for months.

The most infections linked to variants, which are a more transmissible COVID-19 strain, are among the 10-to-29 age group, according to VDH's Friday update.

One in 5 of the state's total cases, the most of any population, were people in their 20s. When tacking on residents between the ages of 0 and 19, that number jumps to being more than a third of all infections.

One of them was Carolyn Loftin's daughter.

Loftin, 38, is the Director of Housing for Urban Hope and a part-time case investigator for VDH. She has five children in Richmond Public Schools. Four are in the 12-to-15 age range.
A man who romanced at least eight women in three states that he met through dating websites and conned out of $267,361 pleaded guilty to mail fraud in federal court Friday in Richmond.

Eugene Johnson Jr., 39, of Leonardtown, Md., faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced Sept. 17 by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson. Federal sentencing guidelines, not binding on Hudson, will likely call for a lesser term.

Johnson ran the scam from December 2014 to January 2018, lying about having a romantic attachment to the women and then asked them for money after falsely claiming pressing financial needs.

Johnson allegedly used websites including Plenty of Fish to meet women in three states including Virginia.

Using aliases, Johnson obtained the telephone numbers of his victims and communicated with them over the telephone or via text messages. In at least one case he falsely posed as a U.S. Marine and the father of a child whose mother had died.

Johnson falsely claimed that he wanted to marry each woman, buy a house with her, and raise his son and any children she might have together, according to authorities.
And lets put that into real numbers, not percentages: There are more than 96,000 residents of the district who are not fully vaccinated, and about 87,000 have had no shot at all.

The only number close to acceptable in the district is that 42.5% of the residents of Martinsville have had at least one shot, but only 34.5% of them are fully vaccinated. Patrick County has only 31.1% who have had even one shot, and about 26% are fully vaccinated. Henry County also has a full-vaccination rate below 30%.

Even when you deduct the number of children who havent had the opportunity, thats a lot of arms not reaching out to help the community.

And that leaves 70% of us who still are REQUIRED to wear a mask everywhere.

And then we see people say stuff like this:

I only wear a mask when forced [and Im] not taking the shot for a long time, as one woman said.

And we want to say grow up.

You realize, dont you, that there are variants out there trying to sending us back into pandemic shutdown? Are you going to help them or help your neighbors, as the New Testament tells us to do?
WARSAW, Poland (AP)  A fire engulfed a conveyer belt at Polands largest brown coal mine Saturday before it was extinguished, and a linked power plant will have one of its units shut because the fire disrupted coal deliveries.

The midday fire at the Belchatow mine in central Poland covered the area that includes Polands largest lignite power plant with huge clouds of black smoke. The fire was the second incident this week forcing the suspension of some of the power plants generators.

A spokesman for Lodz region firefighters, Jedrzej Pawlak, said the conveyer belt was 30 meters (98 feet) high, making access to the flames difficult. No casualties were reported, Pawlak said.

State energy group PGE, which runs the mine and the neighboring power plant, said later that the fire was out but had disrupted lignite deliveries to one of the plant's 11 units, which will have to be shut down temporarily. PGE said the shutdown would not cause any power shortages.

PGE said on Twitter the fire was caused by the ignition of brown coal that was being conveyed to the Belchatow plant's Unit 14 reactor but did not reach it.
The seven-day average for new cases dropped below 30,000 per day this week. CDC director Rochelle Walensky says cases havent been this low since June 18.

The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552, a rate not seen since July.

Health experts credit the rollout of vaccines to a dramatic turnaround since January. But they also caution that not enough Americans have been vaccinated to completely extinguish the virus. President Joe Biden is trying to convince people to sign up for shots by reminding them that vaccines offer a return to normal life.

More than 60% of people over 18 have received at least one shot, and almost half are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Alabamas vaccination rate  34% of people have received at least one dose  is one of the lowest in the country. Health experts are concerned some areas with low vaccination rates, such as a swath of Southern states, could give rise to new virus variants that may be more resistant to vaccinations.



WASHINGTON  Standardized tests are returning to the nations schools, but with lower stakes and an option to opt out for many families.
In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, employees pack boxes containing vials of Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine at the Serum Institute of India in Pune, India. India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File

Last year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the United Nations his country would make enough COVID-19 vaccines "to help all humanity." Now India is struggling to meet its own domestic needs for the shots amid a startling surge of infections.

As the world's largest maker of vaccines, India always was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But a mixture of overconfidence, poor planning and bad luck has prevented that from happening.

Here's a look at what went wrong:

CAUGHT OFF GUARD

Officials in India seemed to have been caught off guard by several things, including the speed at which vaccines were approved for use around the world. India like many other countries had been working under the assumption that vaccines wouldn't be ready for use until mid-2021.

Instead, they started being greenlit in some countries in Decemberupping the pressure to not only produce but deliver promised shots as soon as possible. India, which approved two vaccines in January, turned out to not be ready for the eventual demand either at home or abroad.

The government's plan had been to vaccinate 300 million of the India's nearly 1.4 billion people by August. But it hadn't actually reserved even close to enough shots to do so. It had just assumedpartly based on projections from the country's vaccine makersthat there would be enough doses to both vaccinate people at home and fulfill promised orders abroad.

In this Jan. 21, 2021, file photo, vials of Covishield, a version of the AstraZeneca vaccine, are seen on a filling machine at the Serum Institute of India in Pune, India. India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File

There also was little domestic urgency because India's infections had been declining consistently for months. In fact, in January, just days after India kicked off its domestic vaccination campaign and also started exporting shots, Modi declared victory over the pandemic at a virtual gathering of the World Economic Forum.

Modi's government seemed to bask in the early success of its so-called "vaccine diplomacy" and the Foreign Ministry reiterated time and again that exports were calibrated according to the needs of the domestic immunization program.

Experts say that turned out to be a dangerous miscalculation as an explosion of domestic cases was just around the corner.

Dr. Vineeta Bal, who studies immune systems at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Pune city, said the government should've been planning for the future instead of celebrating its "victory" over the virus.

"I've no idea why people didn't think about it," she said. "Did no one do the calculation ... of how many doses will be needed in India?"

In this April 26, 2021, file photo, Indians queue up to get vaccinated against the COVID-19 in Mumbai, India. India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File

PRODUCTION PROBLEMS

India has two main COVID-19 vaccine producers: the Serum Institute of India, which is making the AstraZeneca vaccine, and Bharat Biotech, which is making its own local vaccine.

India allowed the companies to start producing their shots last year as they waited for formal approval from regulators. Both the government and the companies thought that by the time the shots were approved they would have larger stockpiles of the vaccines than they did.

Scaling up manufacturing has turned out to be a problem for both companies.

Serum Institute's chief executive, Adar Poonawalla, told The Associated Press in December that the target was to make up to 100 million shots monthly by January and to split them equally between India and the world. But the federal government told states last month that the company was producing just 60 million shots a month.

In this Jan. 16, 2021, file photo, a health worker is administered COVID-19 vaccine at a hospital in Kolkata, India.India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Bikas Das, File

The company has said that a fire in its facilities in January and a U.S. embargo on exporting raw materials needed to make the jabs has hobbled production. Poonawalla told AP that pivoting away from suppliers in the U.S. could result in a delay of up to six months.

Bharat Biotech chairman Krishna Ella told reporters in January that the company was aiming to make 700 million shots in 2021. But India's federal government told states last month that the company was producing just 10 million shots a month.

The government said last month that it was giving the company millions of dollars in grants to try to help it ramp up production.

Neither company nor India's Health Ministry responded to requests for comment.

WHAT NEXT?

With India recording hundreds of thousands of new infections each day, the government on May 1 opened up vaccination to all adults. That caused a surge in demand that has laid bare the extent of the shortage.

In this May 5, 2021, file photo, Indian youth wait to get vaccinated against the coronavirus at Radha Soami Satsang Ground in New Delhi, India. India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Ishant Chauhan, File

India has so far received just 196 million shots, including 10 million as a part of COVAX, a worldwide initiative aimed at providing equitable access to vaccines. Just 41 million people have been fully vaccinated, while 104 million more have received the first shot.

But the number of shots administered has declined from an average of 3.6 million a day on April 10 to about 1.4 million a day on May 20.

To help with the shortage, India has greenlit the Russian vaccine Sputnik V, and 200,000 doses of it arrived last week.

The government says supplies will improve soon and expects more than 2 billion shots to be available between August and December, according to Dr. V.K. Paul, a government adviser. That would include 750 million shots made by Serum Institute, 550 million shots made by Bharat Biotech and 156 million shots from Russia.

There also are plans for five Indian companies to make the Russian vaccine locally and for Serum Institute to make a version of the Novavax vaccine and vaccines from five other Indian companies whose shots are still being tested.

In this April 8, 2021, file photo, a note informing about the non-availability of COVID-19 vaccine is seen pasted on a wall of a vaccination centre in Mumbai, India. India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File

In this May. 3, 2021, file photo, a woman who was turned back following shortage of COVID-19 vaccine argues with a doctor at a vaccination center in Mumbai, India. India, the world's largest maker of vaccines, was expected to play a pivotal role in global efforts to immunize against COVID-19. But its own capacity is proving to be insufficient for its own massive needs amid a ferocious surge of new infections. In past weeks, many people wanting to get vaccines have been turned away. Experts say that this is due to bad planning. Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool, File

But experts warn that such estimates are once again too optimistic.

"These are optimistic estimates ... there are many ifs and buts that one needs to consider," said Bal.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Its not going to overcome the impact of the pandemic everywhere for everybody, said Henson, who co-authored several policy papers on the ARPA spending with Kalt. And its not going to fix 100 years of under-investment in tribal lands. This pile of money rolled out this year wont undo what those commissions on civil rights identified.

"Its a chance to address some of those things, but it wont make Indian country as prosperous as the rest of the United States on average," he added. "That doubles the needs of tribes to be really strategic and put this money to use. Its going to be really exciting over the next couple years to see how these tribes use these funds.

Already in Montana, tribal governments have launched multi-million dollar projects aimed at long-term problems on their reservations. The newly recognized Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians has started construction on a medical center after decades of inequity in health care access. The Blackfeet Nation has begun replacing its old copper phone wires with fiber-optic lines capable of modern internet service. Fort Belknap invested in its economic development program. And the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes on the Flathead Indian Reservation bought new housing to address both short-term pandemic quarantine needs and long-term homelessness.
The Missoula County Public Schools Board of Trustees will discuss the districts draft reopening plan for next fall at Tuesdays meeting, which proposes changes to the bell schedules for area middle schools and high schools.

All schools are expected to return to the classroom in Phase 3, or a traditional school model, of the districts reopening plan. The proposed changes include an earlier start for middle schools to accommodate a later start time for high school. There is no change mentioned for the elementary bell schedules.

Next school year, MCPS is proposing the high school day return to a longer schedule starting about 8:55 a.m. and ending at 3:55 p.m. A district committee recommended a later start time for high school students in 2018, citing academic and social/emotional benefits, according to the plan.

Middle schools will also return to a longer schedule, starting at approximately 7:50 a.m. and concluding at 2:45 p.m.

Thursday early release is anticipated to continue next year for staff professional development, according to the draft plan. Elementary schools will release by 2:30 p.m. and middle schools at 2 p.m. Rather than an early release, high schools will pilot a late start on Thursdays with the school day beginning at 9:40 a.m.
While people continue to get vaccinated, COVID-19 is still infecting people in Burke County and the state.

Friday saw Burke County add 27 new cases to its total since Monday for a total of 10,242 cases, up from 10,215 cases Monday.

The Burke County COVID-19 dashboard showed 224 active cases of the virus on Friday, with six people hospitalized due to the virus. The county has reported a total of 162 deaths because of the virus.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services reported 1,020 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday across the state, with 763 people hospitalized due to the virus. The state has reported a total of 12,958 virus deaths.

Health officials are still encouraging people to get vaccinated against the virus.

On Friday, the state reported 47.4% of the states adult population are fully vaccinated, while 52.2% have received at least one dose of the vaccine.

In Burke County, 27.5% of the countys adult population (24,876 people) are fully vaccinated, while 29% of the population (26,266 people) have received at least one dose of a vaccine.

Vaccines

Locations in Burke County offering the COVID-19 vaccine include:
Its rooted in this respectability politics that says that for Black people to succeed, we have to conform to these really silly stereotypes, he said, We need to wear our hair a certain length, walk a certain way and when we speak, dont speak too loudly. All of this is set up so as not to be perceived as a threat by others.
Often, an inventor has misgivings about his or her invention. Take for instance Tim Berners-Lee, who created the main software of the World Wide Web. His biggest regret was adding // after https: in a web address. It was standard for programming but didnt serve any real purpose, and when looking back in 2009, he said leaving it out would have saved time and space. Its OK, Tim, we forgive you and the world has adjusted quite well.

And speaking about OK, in the 1830s, people jokingly spelled abbreviations incorrectly, and one of the most famous was an abbreviation for All correct, a trendy version for orl korrekt, and later shortened to simply OK. Historians think it stuck because Martin Van Buren, known as Old Kinderhook after his hometown in New York, supporters called themselves the OK Club when he was campaigning for reelection. Popular as ever, it remains in our vocabulary today.

Although rocket liftoffs arent as popular as they were years ago when the public sat glued in front of the black and white TV to watch a NASA rocket soar into space, what you might not know is that NASA uses countdowns because of a sci-fi film. The countdown Fritz Lang used to create suspense in the rocket launch scene of his 1929 silent film Frau im Mond didnt just change film history, it also inspired NASA to use countdowns before its own blastoffs.
The F-86 Sabre fighter jet outside Bert Mooney Airport is long overdue for restorative work, and the Airport Authority Board has formed a committee to figure out how to make it happen. Board chairman Dave Holman said the jet needs a new canopy, a new coat of paint and new tires. The current canopy is in bad shape, he said, and the tires are rotted by the sun. The committee is also considering improving the landscaping and positioning of the plane, if funds are available.

Weve been talking about renovating this for, Id say, the last five to six years, Holman said.

Holman has been on the board for about 13 years, and he says in that time the plane hasnt received any maintenance. He estimates the tires have needed to be replaced for a decade.

Any work on the plane has to be approved by the U.S. Air Force and the county, since the plane is on loan to the county from the National Museum of the United States Air Force, and the airport is just its display location.

Its not our jet, Airport Manager Pam Chamberlin said. Were just trying to make it look presentable.
Talen Energy not only owns a share of Colstrip, it is paid by the other owners to operate the power plant. On May 17, Department of Environmental Quality Director Christopher Dorrington wrote Talen Plant Manager Neil Dennehy informing the Talen employee that DEQ has become aware that ownership partners in for Colstrip Steam Electric Station (CSES) may have evaluated and set funding for the on-going operation and maintenance of this facility below historic norms. I am concerned that, should this be true, the CSES facility may find itself in noncompliance with an applicable requirement, thereby subjecting the facility to possible enforcement actions brought not only by the DEQ, but also by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and/or citizens.
For the last week, students and staff created practice runs to assure the chain would go down properly on the big day. Staff helped set up about 2,000 boxes in the schools gymnasium the day before while students set up the hallways.

During the set-up, several students  including Ray Votio and Gabe Alvidrez  helped with communication, letting other parts of the building know if there were any issues with the domino chain, such as not having enough boxes.

Its fun, because I get to hold a walkie talkie. Its not every day you get to hold a real walkie talkie, Votio said. When asked what his thoughts were when the challenge was first announced, he said, At first I was like, thats kind of crazy, I dont think we can do it. But look at us now! We passed the goal!

Alvidrez hoped they would get the world record for Longest Cereal Box Domino Chain, but was glad they did this project and was happy to help the community.

Votio felt grateful the school created a fun event, and was thankful to everyone who donated. He gave a special shout-out to the Muscatine Police Department, who donated 1,000 boxes of cereal only 24 hours earlier, which made sure that the students were able to reach their goal just in time. They help us, we help back! he said.
Bahena Riveras defense lawyers made the case Friday that the confession was false and coerced as a result of sleep deprivation and harsh interrogation techniques. They played videos for jurors showing their client sleeping during the 11-hour interrogation.

Investigators initially searched Bahena Riveras car on Aug. 20, 2018, after he gave his consent and submitted to the interrogation.

Criminalist Amy Johnson testified that investigators initially overlooked the blood stain on the trunks rubber seal, but found it during an additional search two days later.

Scott said that stain was the first match for Tibbetts DNA. Later analysis of blood found on the trunks liner also was a match for Tibbetts, whose DNA had been collected from one of her water bottles during the investigation into her disappearance and from her body when it was discovered in the field, she said.

Other blood spots found in the trunk and on several items in it did not have enough material to compare for DNA purposes, she said.

Members of the jury of 15 people, including three alternates, appeared to pay close attention during the DNA testimony, with at least three jotting notes in their court-issued notebooks.
MADISON, Wis. (AP)  Kyle Rittenhouse, the Illinois man accused of killing two people during the chaotic protests that followed the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin, was due Friday to make his first in-person court appearance.

COVID-19 protocols in the Kenosha County courthouse have forced Rittenhouse to make all his court appearances since he was charged in August via video from his attorney's office. But those restrictions have lifted and he was expected to appear in person for a mid-morning status conference.

Attorneys and prosecutors were expected to iron out scheduling details ahead of Rittenhouse's November trial in what should be a routine proceeding. He faces multiple counts, including homicide and reckless endangerment.

Prosecutors say Rittenhouse, who was 17 at the time, shot and killed two people and wounded a third in August after traveling from his home in Antioch, Illinois, to Kenosha. The city was in the throes of several nights of sometimes violent demonstrations after Officer Rusten Sheskey shot Blake, leaving the Black man paralyzed from the waist down.
DECATUR, Ill. (AP)  A procession led by a hearse bearing the body of a slain police officer moved across central Illinois on Thursday, giving hundreds a chance to pay their respects.

Law enforcement agencies and other first responders escorted the body of Champaign police Officer Chris Oberheim, 44, through several cities, starting in Champaign, passing through Monticello, where he lived, and ending at a funeral home in Decatur, where Oberheim began his law enforcement career.

In Monticello, people lined Bridge Street to show respect to their neighbor. Vic Zimmerman, superintendent of the Monticello School District, said in a statement that Oberheim was involved in the lives of his four daughters, three of whom currently attend Monticello schools.

Police officers, firefighters, and other first responders put their lives on the line every day to ensure that the rest of us are safe  they are there when we need them during our most difficult times and are often not appreciated for their daily work, Zimmerman said.
LONDON (AP)  Animal rights protesters are blockading four McDonald's distribution centers in the U.K. in an attempt to get the burger chain to commit to becoming fully plant-based by 2025.
SKOPJE, North Macedonia (AP)  The foreign ministers of Austria, the Czech Republic and Slovenia voiced unanimous support Saturday for North Macedonia and Albania to start membership talks with European Union, arguing that bilateral issues should not block the EU's enlargement into the Western Balkans.

Austrias Alexander Schallenberg, the Czech Republic's Jakub Kulhanek and Slovenias Anze Logar arrived in North Macedonia's capital, Skopje, to offer their backing for EU accession talks scheduled for June. The three plan to visit Albania, which also wants to join the EU, on Sunday.

Bulgaria refused last year to approve the EUs membership negotiation framework for North Macedonia, effectively blocking the official start of membership talks with its smaller Balkan neighbor.

Bulgaria wants North Macedonia to formally recognize that its language has Bulgarian roots and to stamp out allegedly anti-Bulgarian rhetoric. The government in Skopje says the Macedonian identity and language are not open to discussion.

Bulgaria on Friday ruled out again a possible reversal of its veto following a meeting with EU officials.

The Czech Republics Kulhanek said it is not fair for one EU member nation to condition the enlargement process on a bilateral dispute.
South African banks are eager to expand the availability of E-Home Affairs in South Africa  they are just waiting for the Department of Home Affairs to sign a partnership agreement before they can roll out the service to more branches.

This is according to Nedbank, which was answering questions from MyBroadband regarding the delays it faced in rolling out new E-Home Affairs branches during 2020.

At the start of 2020  before South Africa recorded its first case of COVID-19  Absa, FNB, Nedbank, and Standard Bank revealed their plans to expand their E-Home Affairs footprint substantially by the end of the year.

However, only Standard Bank was able to add E-Home Affairs capabilities to some of its branches during the year.

Nedbank told MyBroadband that its roll-out plans were affected by COVID-19, the National State of Disaster and the ensuing lockdowns, but said that the pandemic was only part of the reason for the delays.

The delays are largely as a result of the finalisation of the partnership agreement with the Department of Home Affairs, and we have not been able to open any more [E-Home Affairs] offices in the last year aside from those already in place, a spokesperson for Nedbank stated.

Nedbank said it intends to expand its E-Home Affairs offering, but it is waiting on the Department.

There is big dependency on the Department of Home Affairs finalising a partnership agreement with participating banks that will see banks offering this service as part of their own operating models  using their own staff, Nedbank said.

Currently, the [Home Affairs] appointed staff manage and operate dedicated areas within participating banks where they process appointments that are booked via the DHA website.

A glaring gap in the E-Home Affairs network is the fact that one of South Africas largest banks, Capitec, does not offer the service.

The E-Home Affairs system only allows you to book appointments and collect your documents from a bank where you are a client.

If your bank does not participate in the programme, or if your bank does not have an E-Home Affairs branch near you, then you will have to book your biometric data capture appointment at the best available Home Affairs office.

MyBroadband asked South Africas big five banks and the Department of Home Affairs why the system was designed this way.

This decision was informed by the Department of Home Affairs, Nedbank told MyBroadband.

This is how the appointment booking process is set up on the [E-Home Affairs] website. Its the same process for all banks and ensures that it does not create a competitive advantage for any one bank.

Standard Bank told MyBroadband that this was an agreement between all banks at the time when the e-Channel proof-of-concept  which ultimately became E-Home Affairs  launched in 2015.

FNB didnt answer the question directly, but said that the E-Home Affairs system has become an essential service that has issued over 251,000 passports and smart IDs through its branches.

We believe that the consistent expansion of this essential service will provide more customers with convenience by avoiding long queues when applying for their smart IDs and passports, said the CEO of FNB Points of Presence, Lee-Anne van Zyl.

Absa declined to comment and referred questions to Home Affairs, while Home Affairs and Capitec did not respond to requests for comment by the time of publication.

However, Capitec previously told MyBroadband that it has no plans to add Home Affairs service desks, as it has smaller optimised premises to help keep its fees as low as possible.

Now read: Now read: How I got my new South African passport in a week
But another accusation came to light after his return, the brewery said: The new allegation of Pauls sexual misconduct made it clear that he could no longer be a part of Pollyannas future. We immediately got to work listening to the victims story and those that were a witness to it. With all the information in hand, we took swift action and within a weekend, the president and CEO of the company was out.
What happens with your most sensitive information when cybercriminals get their hands on it? It goes up for sale on the Dark Web, of course.

In 2021 alone, companies like Microsoft, Mastercard, LinkedIn and most notably Facebook have all been subject to cyberattacks that saw the personal information of millions being leaked.

These breaches are alarming, and evoke uncertainty about how secure our information is with even the largest and most trusted names in the digital world.

What exactly is the Dark Web?

First founded in 2000 in the form of Freenet, the notion of the Dark Web began as a decentralised online platform free from government censorship.

From its inception it attracted users who sought more privacy than the traditional internet could offer as it enabled users to interact anonymously.

This need for privacy was revolutionised by the creation of Tor in 2002. Tor is a network that performs various encryptions and redirections that make users virtually untraceable with the specific aim of avoiding government surveillance because, believe it or not, online government spying was already a big deal in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Malicious intent, however, was not central to the motivations of the early users and creators.

In fact, one of the first things called for when Tor gained traction was the ability for people under oppressive regimes to be allowed access to the Dark Web so they could browse and interact without censorship.

It was at this point that the ability to bypass government firewalls came into the fold and as you may guess, gave considerable freedom for those seeking to take advantage.

A central concern remained the potential for transactions to be easily traceable by governments. That was until 2009 and the creation of Bitcoin.

Bitcoins increased privacy compared to centralised currency paved the way for illegal marketplaces to spawn around the Dark Web and until today these marketplaces are where the illicit trade of various goods and services are hosted, such as, for example, the trade of personal information of those subject to data breaches.

Vendors, storefronts and alarming ease of access

The vendors in many of these marketplaces seem quite casual about their trade.

These storefronts, as one example below shows, seem almost like those you would find on your average second hand website like Gumtree or Ebay and appears unaware of the fact that it is trading illegal information worth millions.

These nefarious platforms even have review systems similar to those on standard online stores:

In my research I was somewhat disconcerted at the ease with which I was able to gain access to the Dark Web.

The platform looked similar to a standard Internet Explorer that could be navigated quite easily and explored with limited forum research and a bit of time spent clicking back and forth.

The apparent ease with which these vendors are able to sell their goods and buyers are able to access them is quite frightening and could be cause for concern over the widespread use of cryptocurrency, which is the backbone of this underground economy.

Most of these marketplaces are transitioning to the Monero cryptocurrency, which provides even more privacy than Bitcoin.

Yet, notwithstanding the ability for illicit trade created by the Dark Web, crime will exist as much without the internet and crypto as with it, and the most we as everyday users can do is to be certain our personal data is secure.

A deep dive into the illicit marketplaces on the dark web done by Zachary Ignoffo for Privacy Affairs reveals the average prices your information sells for.

The table below is as updated on May 9 2021.
WINDSOR, Calif. (AP)  After refusing to quit for more than a month, the mayor of a California wine country town who has been accused of sexual assault by nine women has resigned from the job.

In a statement addressed to residents of the town of Windsor, Dominic Foppoli continued to deny the women's claims and suggested that a new allegation made against him by a former reality TV star was driven by the San Francisco Chronicle's reporting on him.

"I have no doubt she is making these allegations in an attempt to leverage the situation to her advantage, the statement said.

Police in Palm Beach, Florida, are investigating claims that Foppoli sexually assaulted Farrah Abraham, 29, in March when he was visiting the area. The Chronicle said Abraham contacted police six days before it published its investigation detailing some of the other women's accusations, which include forced oral copulation and rape.

Abraham starred in the MTV reality shows 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom more than a decade ago. Her attorney said she turned over evidence to police to support her account.
Higher COVID rates in poor communities contributed to the disparity. Parents in highly infected areas have been reluctant to send their children back to school, and teachers in those areas resisted returning. Parents in low transmission areas, meanwhile, pressured school boards to reopen.

California is something of an outlier, according to monthly surveys of school reopening by the federal governments Institute of Education Sciences. With full classroom access available to only 11% of its students, the state is at or near the bottom, according to its March survey. Other states ranged to as high as 100%. In arch-rival Texas, 93% of students have full classroom access.

Months-long stalemates between teacher unions and local school leaders over the terms of reopening have been a major factor in Californias tardiness. Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislatures dominant Democrats, who are politically allied with the unions, have been noticeably unwilling to intervene.

However, leaving reopening decisions in local hands has undermined the promise of universal public education and led to the disparity that EdSource noted  classroom access for kids in upscale communities and homebound status quo in poor communities.
We will present a very serious, weighty [electoral] list. Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a representative of the opposition Armenian Revolutionary Federation-ARF Dashnaktsutyun, said this in an interview with a local television, and in connection with their running in the snap parliamentary elections on June 20.

He noted that the work on this list was almost over. "In 3-4 days we will present it to the Central [Electoral] Commission. We will present a very serious, weighty list. On the list we will see people with a track-record in the state apparatus, you will see experienced politicians, also, young, fresh faces, you will see famous doctors, teachers, journalists, analysts; that is, people who have a past performance, knowledge, experience, and are ready to come and serve for their country and homeland. Comparing with the [electoral] lists of other parties, you will see what team we present," he said.

According to Saghatelyan, the aforesaid is also a serious signal to the Armenian society as to with which persons they will be running in these elections, and what they want. "In this sense, we will present a quite interesting and competitive team," he added.
YEREVAN.  Representatives of a number of NGOs held a protest Friday outside the Russian embassy in Armenia.

Mariam Avagyan, coordinator of the Assembly of Refugees from Azerbaijan SSR, told 168.am that they had handed the embassy a letter in which a number of issues were raised, including removing Turkey from the Russian-Turkish monitoring group in the Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh) conflict zone because it is a genocidal country, and Azerbaijan should leave the occupied territories of Artsakh so that refugees and displaced persons can return to those territories. They stressed that the Azerbaijanis had militarily infiltrated the sovereign territory of Armenia, and they are expecting the CSTO to take some actionsnot watch closely.

Avagyan said that they had recently met with the head of the PACE Committee on Migration, Refugees and Displaced Persons, and informed that 14,000 refugees alone from Azerbaijan SSR had lived in the seven Artsakh regions now occupied by Azerbaijan. "We also called to immediately get the [OSCE] Minsk Group active, which is obligated to restore the status quo that existed until September 27, 2020 and to start the peace negotiation process," she added.
NATO Secretary-General affirms willingness for cooperation with Russia

Armenia Special Investigation Service charges political party member for giving electoral bribe

Armenia Central Electoral Commission grants motion to launch criminal prosecution against MP candidate

"I Have the Honor" bloc member: Coronavirus and 'nikolavirus' (Nikol Pashinyan) are both lethal

Greek PM: Greece willing to back positive EU agenda for Turkey

Russia Deputy FM, France Ambassador discuss settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict

CoE: We are engaged in a dialogue to develop a set of confidence-building measures between Armenia, Azerbaijan

Armenia 3rd President states when country's security system began to collapse

Armenia Armed Forces' General Staff ex-deputy chief on acting PM's statement on his "National Hero" title

Armenia Arevik National Park director dismissed for being a friend of Meghri mayor

Reuters: Erdogan's summit with Biden clouded by bitter disputes

Armenia acting MOD receives Head of ICRC Delegation

Gagik Tsarukyan: Armenia needs to develop the economy by using resources of country and people

Gagik Tsarukyan: Russia is Armenia's main ally, and this can't be altered

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijanis try to carry out engineering works in Kut border section, Armenian side counters

Armenia 1st President's nephew and his son involved in brawl in Yerevan

Snap elections online voting starts, Azerbaijan continues 'trial' of Armenian POWs, Jun 11 digest

Armenian former high-tech industry minister, member of ruling party on June 9 brawl in Yerevan

Robert Kocharyan: If Armenia wants a peaceful settlement of Karabakh conflict, it needs to give Azerbaijan hope

Armenia acting PM: During campaign meetings hundreds of mothers thanked me for signing Nov. 9 document

Citizens are demanded to applaud Armenia acting PM

Armenia ruling party lawmaker, MP candidate: Civil Contracts election promises are continuation of 2018 promises

Armenia villager to Nikol Pashinyan: Yard of Turk's house is in front of our military post

Opposition Prosperous Armenia Party assures that it's not expecting ministerial positions

Robert Kocharyan: "Armenia" bloc will restore and deepen country's ties with allies

Czech Rep. parliament committee calls on Azerbaijan to release all Armenian captives immediately

"Armenia" bloc member Armen Gevorgyan holds meetings with diplomatic corps and international organizations

Dollar still dropping in Armenia

Azerbaijan announces names of 26 Armenian servicemen it intends to "put on trial"

Armenian publishing house to print 66,925,000 ballots for upcoming snap parliamentary elections

"Armenia" bloc member: There are reports that over 10 police buses escorted acting PM yesterday

Gallup: "Armenia" bloc records slightly higher indicator than ruling party

Armenia acting PM has been obligated to publicly apologize to Khachatryan family

"Armenia" bloc: Robert Kocharyan and ARF-D resolved crisis that Levon Ter-Petrosyan created in 1998

Intellectual Armenia Party to support "Armenia" bloc in snap parliamentary elections

Armenia ruling party MP's powers terminated

Brawl takes place during Armenia ruling Civil Contract Party's campaign meeting, case launched

Armenia acting premier: We also have enclave under Azerbaijan rule

Holy Etchmiadzin: We express regret for unwise, inappropriate statements of acting PM

"I have the honor" bloc member: Armenia acting PM has instructed his voters to go to polls by afternoon

Prosperous Armenia Party MP: Enemy does not divide Armenians into "blacks" and "whites"

Bright Armenia Party leader: Acting premier will not be able to get 60% of votes

Armenia acting PM: There are people in media who are more like "killers" than journalists

Ex-President Kocharyan: 2009-2018 I did not agree with Armenia authorities on many issues

Armenia has new millionaires

Armenia President visits Russia embassy, meets with ambassador

Artsakh search continues Friday for remains of Armenian soldiers killed in war

Armenia ruling party election offices heads being paid by provincial halls?

Armenia emergency ministry preparing for a new cooperation with USAID

US, Turkey top defense officials discuss regional issues

95 new cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Armenia

G7 leaders pledge to share 1bn doses of coronavirus vaccine with world

Armenia snap parliamentary elections online voting starts

Trump tells Biden to give Putin his warmest regards

Newspaper: Pashinyan is both Armenia acting PM and not

Newspaper: Why is Armenia arms dealer released from custody?

National Geographic officially announces 5th ocean

Armenia MP candidate is detained

Armenia Prosecutor General receives OSCE/ODIHR election observation mission's delegation

France's Macron intends to discuss situation in Nagorno-Karabakh with Turkish counterpart

Armenia 3rd President on Nikol Pashinyan: People look at him and say 'greetings, son of a b**ch'

US Department of Commerce intends to impose sanctions against Armenia's Armenal aluminum foil producer/exporter

Armenia 1st President recalls his "remedial secession" formula for Nagorno-Karabakh conflict settlement

"I Have the Honor" bloc to Armenian authorities: Let them try to use force or threaten anyone

Armenia 2nd President: Everything that makes us Armenian has been destroyed over past three years

Azerbaijan continues obscene farce, "investigation" into case of another 26 Armenian POWs is over

Ex-governor presents situation in Armenia's Syunik Province

Armenia 3rd President doesn't know why Nikol Pashinyan hasn't signed the pro-Armenian document he's talking about

Armenia's Pashinyan: If I'm guilty, execute me, and I'll submit

Armenia acting PM holds march with twice as many security and police officers in Vanadzor (PHOTO)

Armenia acting MOD attaches importance to transparency of procurement and supplies in Armed Forces

Remains of 4 more Armenian servicemen found and removed from Artsakh's Jrakan region

Enigmatic incident takes places in Yerevan, semi-decayed body of man found under bridge

Philip Reeker: Azerbaijani Armed Forces need to return to positions of May 11

Armenia opposition party leader says he's ready to form coalition with all forces, except for ruling party

Armenia MOD: Azerbaijani side opens fire at military posts in border section of Gegharkunik Province

Head of Armenia's Mission to OSCE: Goals of OSCE and CSTO serve as ground for their cooperation

Azerbaijan shares documents on 8 Armenian POWs, COVID-19 in Armenia, Jun 10 digest

Azerbaijanis open gunfire at military posts in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province for nearly 30 minutes

Armenia acting justice minister expresses gratitude to US for supporting government's reforms agenda
The Kremlin said it would like to understand the actions of the US, which has imposed new sanctions on the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project amid announcements about the intention to hold a meeting between the presidents of the two countries, Interfax reported.

"We need to find that out. Everything is as normal with our partners. They say one thing, but do something completely different," said Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Russian president, when asked if Washington's aforesaid move would be taken into account when Moscow decides on a possible meeting of President Vladimir Putin.

"Let's see how it will be better for us," Peskov added.
Gun-related homicides in midsized and large American cities have skyrocketed during the pandemic, and criminologists believe coronavirus-related socioeconomic loss in many communities is driving that trend. A study by the Council on Criminal Justice tracked a 30% increase in homicides overall in a sample of 34 U.S. cities in 2020 as well as an 8% increase in gun assaults.
YEREVAN.  The Azerbaijanis are trying not to make the mistakes that the Armenian side had made back in 1994, analyst Argishti Kiviryan told a press conference Saturday.

"In 1994, when the Armenian side had an absolute advantage over the Azerbaijani side and Azerbaijan did not have an army, the Armenian side went to a ceasefire, whereas we could have tried to get more, but we did not do that. Now, seeing the current state of the Armenian side (), Azerbaijan is trying not to make that mistake," he said.

As per Kiviryan, Azerbaijan is trying to get more than it got with the November 9 document because it is sure that when Armenia becomes stronger, it will restore what it lost. "And that is why they are trying to snatch more from the Armenian side than they did in the second Artsakh [Nagorno-Karabakh] war, and to snatch such documents from the Armenian side that will allow it [Azerbaijan] to legitimately solve the issue of the rest of Artsakh. With the document they want to extort from Armenia, they will actually get that Armenia will recognize the Azerbaijani territories, [Azerbaijan] will have a legitimate right to raise the Azerbaijani flag over [Artsakh capital] Stepanakert," added Argishti Kiviryan.

According to the analyst, the main task to get out of the current situation is the quick restoration of the Armenian army, whereas the current Armenian authorities have not taken any steps in that direction since November 9. "As long as there is no army, Azerbaijan will always try to create similar situations," Kiviryan stressed.

In Kiviryans words, acting PM Nikol Pashinyan has become a catastrophe for Armenia. "This person does not master foreign policy skills. An investigation should find out what he intends to do in the future when he will not be in power. Nikol Pashinyan always chooses the worst from the worst options. And to stand up and tell the nation another lie, that this is the best pro-Armenian document, is the new peak of his cynicism," concluded Argishti Kiviryan.
We have seen the loss of almost an entire neighborhood, Innocent Bahala Shamavu said. All the houses in Buhene neighborhood were burned and thats why we are asking all the provincial authorities and authorities at the national level as well as all the partners, all the people of good faith in the world, to come to the aid of this population.
Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri called the president of the country the reason for the failure of negotiations on the formation of the cabinet of ministers, as a result of which the country remains without a government for more than seven months, The National news reported.

Speaking at a special parliamentary session, Hariri said he refused to form a government that would satisfy President Michel Aoun. Instead, he intends to promise to form a cabinet that can stop the country's economic collapse.

Hariri stressed that President Aoun's letter to parliament was an attempt to withdraw his candidacy as prime minister. He said this political attack was the result of his refusal to comply with Aoun's demands on the composition of the new administration.

Lebanon has been without a government for seven months as Hariri fails to secure a cabinet, a Special Session of Parliament has been called to discuss a letter of complaint from President Michel Aoun regarding the deadlock in negotiations to form a government.
Biden and Moon meet and discuss North Korea

Biden and Moon meet and discuss North Korea

US President Joe Biden and South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Friday injected fresh urgency into attempts to engage North Korea in dialogue over its nuclear weapons, with Biden saying he would meet its leader Kim Jong-un under the right conditions.



At a joint news conference, Biden and Moon both said the complete denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula is their goal. Biden said he was "under no illusions" about the difficulty of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear arsenals after his predecessors failed.



"We both are deeply concerned about the situation," Biden said, adding that he and Moon shared a willingness to engage diplomatically with the North "to take pragmatic steps to reduce tensions."



North Korea thus far has rebuffed US entreaties for diplomacy since Biden took over from Donald Trump, who had three summits with Kim and the two famously exchanged "beautiful letters."



Kim nonetheless refused to give up his nuclear weapons but did impose a freeze on testing them. He has not tested a nuclear bomb nor launched an inter-continental ballistic missile since 2017, although experts believe his arsenal has steadily grown.



Biden said he would be willing to meet Kim under the right conditions - if he agreed to discuss his nuclear programme and that his advisers first met with their North Korean counterparts to lay the groundwork.



Biden said a veteran State Department official, Sung Kim, would serve as special US envoy for North Korea.



South Korea had been pushing for the appointment of an envoy, and Moon, for whom engagement with North Korea is a legacy issue before he leaves office next year, said Sung Kim would help explore whether North Korea is willing to engage diplomatically. He said he expected a positive response.



Sung Kim is a Korean-American diplomat who served as special envoy for North Korea under President Barack Obama and helped set up Trump's summits with Kim Jong-un.



He has also been ambassador to South Korea, the Philippines and Indonesia and most recently served in an acting capacity as the top US diplomat for East Asia.



Biden said that for him to meet with Kim there would have to be a commitment from the North Korean leader "that there's discussion about his nuclear arsenal."



"I would not do what had been done in the recent past; I would not give him all he's looking for - international recognition as legitimate and allow him to move in the direction of appearing to be more ... serious about what he wasn't at all serious about," he said.



Biden's comments appeared to reflect a shift in his thinking. The White House had said in March it was not Biden's intention to meet with Kim.



Jenny Town of 38 North, a Washington-based North Korea-watching project, said Sung Kim's appointment was positive given the Biden administration had signalled it was in no hurry to fill the post. However, it has given no indication of what concessions it might offer to bring about talks.



"The problem has been that the administration has only talked about denuclearisation and continues to characterise any interactions with North Korea as nuclear negotiations," she said. "So it's still a tough sell to get the North Koreans back to the table, but obviously Moon is going to push very hard."



Moon said Biden had expressed support for intra-Korean dialogue and cooperation, but Town said this would not mean much unless Washington, which has refused to ease sanctions on Pyongyang, allowed Seoul the space to move forward with this.



Biden's administration undertook a broad review of North Korea policy but has said little about what its new policy actually entails.



US officials have said only that it would not be the approach favoured by Obama of refusing to engage the North, or Trump's flashy summitry.



In their day of talks, Biden and Moon reaffirmed a strong alliance between the two countries after the strains created by Trump, who badgered Moon as weak and threatened to pull US troops out of South Korea.



Moon was the second foreign leader - after Japan's prime minister - to visit the White House since Biden took office in January, and Biden said their conversations were those of "old friends."



The two also discussed mainland China and Taiwan. Taiwan has complained of repeated military pressure from Beijing with Chinas air force making frequent forays into Taiwans air defence identification zone.



"We've shared the view that peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait is extremely important, and we agreed to work together on that matter while considering special characteristics in relations between China and Taiwan," Moon said.



In another win for Moon, who has faced pressure at home over his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, he said the United States and South Korea had agreed a vaccine partnership that would combine US expertise and Korean production capacity.



He said this would help supply Covid-19 vaccines in the Indo-Pacific region, while Biden said the United States would provide vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean soldiers. (Reuters)
US military planners pushed for nuclear strikes on mainland China in 1958 to protect Taiwan from an invasion by Communist forces, classified documents posted online by Daniel Ellsberg of "Pentagon Papers" fame show.

US planners also assumed that the Soviet Union would aid China and retaliate with nuclear weapons -- a price they deemed worth paying to protect Taiwan, according to the document, first reported by the New York Times.

Former military analyst Ellsberg posted online the classified portion of a top-secret document on the crisis that had been only partially declassified in 1975.

Ellsberg, now 90, is famous for his 1971 leak to US media of a top-secret Pentagon study on the Vietnam war known as the Pentagon Papers.

Ellsberg told the Times that he copied the top-secret Taiwan crisis study in the early 1970s, and is releasing it as tensions mount between the United States and China over Taiwan.

Had an invasion taken place, General Nathan Twining, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the time, "made it clear that the United States would have used nuclear weapons against Chinese air bases to prevent a successful air interdiction campaign," the document's authors wrote.

If this did not stop an invasion, then there was "no alternative but to conduct nuclear strikes deep into China as far north as Shanghai," the document said, paraphrasing Twining.

In the event, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower decided to rely initially on conventional weapons.

The 1958 crisis ended when Communist forces halted artillery strikes on islands controlled by Taiwan, leaving the area under the control of Nationalist forces under Chiang Kai-shek.

China considers Taiwan to be a rebel province that will one day return to the mainland's fold, by force if necessary.

Washington has recognized Beijing since 1979, but maintains relations with Taipei and is its most important military ally.

- Tensions remain high -

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In recent months the Chinese air force has increased incursions into Taiwan's air defense identification zone.

The United States also frequently conducts what it calls "freedom of navigation" operations in the flashpoint Taiwan Strait waterway.

US President Joe Biden is expected to announce his strategy toward China soon, and calls are growing for him to make a clear public commitment to defend Taiwan militarily.

A US law requires Washington to help the island defend itself in the event of a conflict, but the United States has pursued a policy of "strategic ambiguity" for decades, refraining from clearly stating what circumstances would lead it to intervene militarily on Taiwan's behalf.

ch-bur/bbk
Hackers have stolen data on about 4.5 million Air India passengers around the world in the latest breach reported by a major airline.

Names, credit card numbers and passport information were among the data stolen, Air India said in a statement released late Friday.

The state-owned giant said it was "securing the compromised servers" and using "external specialists" on data security as well as working with credit card companies.

"We deeply regret the inconvenience caused and appreciate continued support and trust of our passengers," the airline said.

A number of airlines have been hit by data breaches in recent years. British Airways was fined $28 million last year by a British watchdog after details of 400,000 passengers were lost in a 2018 cyberattack.

Cathay Pacific was fined $700,000 after details of more than nine million clients were lost in 2018.

And low-cost carrier EasyJet said last year that hackers had taken the email and travel details of about nine million customers.

Air India announced in March that it had been informed in February by its data processing company, SITA PSS of a cyberattack.

The breach involved personal data registered between August 2011 and February 2021, the airline said.

SITA, which provides IT backup to much of the aviation industry, said at the time that it had been the target of a "highly sophisticated attack" that had affected a number of airlines.

Air India is part of the Star Alliance coalition of airlines and SITA handles computer operations for its frequent flyer programme.

Other airlines in the alliance warned passengers in March of the cyberattack but most said only names and frequent flyer numbers had been accessed.

tw/jah
This month in Atlanta, as hundreds of pro-Palestinian demonstrators rallied downtown, one sign stood out: We cant breathe since 1948, it read  a nod to the social unrest of the past year after the murder of George Floyd.

Experts said its a reflection of the way that American support for the Palestinian cause is growing, a trend that a Gallup poll showed was on the rise even before the most recent Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Its not a huge surprise that a lot of nonwhite Americans can empathize and identify with Palestinians because of their own history of oppression and settler colonialism, said Khaled Elgindy, senior fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington. The old image of Israel as David fighting the Arab Goliath, if it was ever true, is now completely obsolete. Israel is not the underdog anymore, and people realize that.

Results of Gallups annual World Affairs poll, released in March, show that although most Americans still sympathize with Israel, favorable views of Palestinians are on the rise. Roughly 30% of overall respondents said they had favorable views of the Palestinian Authority, up from 21% in 2018 and higher than the annual average of 19% since 2001.

Such views are increasingly partisan: Republican support for Israel is at 85% compared with 77% of Independents and 64% of Democrats. The percentage of Republicans who view the Palestinian Authority favorably has risen to 19%, up from 9% in 2018.

Demonstrators march in support of Palestinians on May 16 in Chicago in response to fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in the Middle East.

That Palestinians and the Black Lives Matter movement gained support concurrently is not a coincidence, said Elgindy, director of the Washington institute's Palestine and Palestinian-Israeli Affairs program. Both are rooted in similar anger over a lack of accountability, police brutality and systemic racism, he said, especially among young people.

As buildings fall in Gaza and whole families are wiped out, and as the United States stays largely silent about the plight of Palestinians, he said, that contrast has not been lost on large numbers of Americans who are starting to awaken to this. For a lot of young people who were in middle school the last time this happened and not necessarily politically aware, theyre coming of age politically, and theyre horrified.

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The area encompassing Israel and the Palestinian territories is home to about 6.8 million Israelis and 6.8 million Palestinians, according to Human Rights Watch. Israel exercises primary authority over the territories, which consist of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, and Palestinian self-rule is limited. According to the human rights organization, the discrimination and subjugation experienced by Palestinians in parts of the territories are tantamount to apartheid and persecution.

Hamas, a militant group that controls the Gaza Strip, does not recognize Israel's right to exist and is designated a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.

Omar Baddar, communication director for the California-based Institute for Middle East Understanding, said that even before the recent conflict, liberals had been increasingly critical of Israel and fired up about human rights, and in that environment, it makes perfect sense that American support for Israeli apartheid would raise eyebrows."

According to the Gallup poll, although more Americans say the United States should pressure Palestinians more than Israel to resolve the conflict, those saying the onus is on Israel represent a new high of 34%, up from 27% in 2018.

Anti-Semitic incidents have hit record highs in recent years, according to a report from the Anti-Defamation League. There were 2,024 reported in the USA in 2020, the third-highest record since ADL began counting such incidents in 1979.

Baddar, who is Palestinian American, said the rising pushback against Israel has grown partly out of U.S. dealings with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose antagonistic relationship with President Barack Obama was followed by a much friendlier one with President Donald Trump, who basically embraced him, he said, as the Israeli government moved further to the right.

Friday, a tenuous cease-fire halted the latest round of fighting between Israel, Palestinians and Hamas, which began May 10 when the militant group fired rockets toward Jerusalem after confrontations between Palestinian protesters and Israeli police at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, a site sacred to Jews and Muslims. Aggressive police tactics at the compound and the threatened eviction of dozens of Palestinian families by Jewish settlers inflamed tensions.

Israel launched hundreds of airstrikes that it said targeted Hamas infrastructure. Hamas and other militant groups embedded in residential areas fired more than 4,000 rockets at Israeli cities. Hundreds fell short, and most others were intercepted or landed in open areas.

As of Friday morning, at least 230 Palestinians had been killed, including 65 children and 39 women, and 1,710 people were wounded, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians. About 58,000 Palestinians fled their homes, The Associated Press reported. At least 13 Israelis were killed, Reuters reported.

Celebrities are increasingly outspoken about Palestinian support

Last weekend, thousands demonstrated from Boston to Los Angeles in support of Palestinians in dozens of rallies and marches marking the 73rd anniversary of the uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in 1948 after the creation of the state of Israel and the initial Arab-Israeli war. The event is referred to as Nakba, or catastrophe.

A demonstrator performs a backflip outside the Consulate of Israel during a pro-Palestinian demonstration May 15 in Los Angeles.

Among those marching in New York City's Brooklyn borough was supermodel Bella Hadid, numerous outlets reported, one of a growing number of celebrities adding their voices to the protest on social media and beyond. Hadids father is Palestinian.

I have been told my entire life that who I am, a Palestinian woman  is not real, Hadid wrote Sunday on Instagram. Ive been told my father does not have a birth place if he is from Palestine. And I am here to say. Palestine is very much real and the Palestinian people are here to stay and coexist.

Entertainers Rihanna, Zayn Malik and Rage Against the Machine also posted Palestinian support on Instagram, and actors Mark Ruffalo, Susan Sarandon and Viola Davis took to Twitter to condemn Israeli aggression.

Last year, actor Seth Rogen made waves in a podcast interview in which he said he was fed a huge amount of lies about Israel growing up as a Jewish boy, and his elders omitted information about Palestinian displacement.

The violence has raised tensions within the USA as well: In Los Angeles, a brawl broke out outside a sushi restaurant Tuesday between sidewalk diners and a group of men passing by in cars waving Palestinian flags. In Michigan, where President Joe Bidens visit this week to a Ford plant in heavily Arab American Dearborn was met with protest over U.S. support of Israel, organizers of an annual Muslim-Jewish dialogue event in Detroit chose to postpone it to ride out the friction.

Things are too heated up, said Wayne State University history professor Howard Lupovitz, among the dialogues scheduled participants. Its a civil discourse thats not appropriate at a time when emotions are running this high.

A supporter holds up a flag during a rally and march in support of Palestinians in Chicago, May 16, 2021.

Americans' sympathy for Palestinians, he said, is more about the civilians caught in the conflict than about the Palestinian Authority.

You have to feel bad for Palestinians in Gaza, he said, citing Hamas militants who embed themselves among the population, effectively using civilians as shields. Theyre trapped, theyre frightened of the Israelis and theyre also frightened of their own leaders.

Elgindy said theres a growing belief that Palestinian leaders are increasingly irrelevant and unable to respond to the crisis.

At least part of the sympathy comes not just from the human rights abuses but a sense that they have incompetent leadership, Elgindy said. Thats part of what makes their story compelling; Palestinians have it pretty hard in facing an oppressive occupation, but theyre also kind of political orphans."

Louise Cainkar, a social welfare and justice professor at Marquette University in Milwaukee who has studied Palestinians, Arabs and Muslim-Americans in the USA after 9/11, said the Israeli governments actions in Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank have produced increasing dissent among American Jews. The dissent has spawned efforts such as Jewish Voice for Peace, which opposes oppression and supports self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians.

While many of these Jews support the state of Israel created in 1948, they oppose the territorial expansions, land confiscations and human rights violations, Cainkar said.

Cainkar said Black and indigenous people in the USA see similarities between their experience and that of Palestinians under occupation.

Some see similarities between struggles of Palestinians and Black community in US

When the most recent conflict began, the Black Lives Matter chapter in Paterson, New Jersey, issued a statement expressing Palestinian solidarity.

Our deep roots of solidarity are part of a rich tradition of mutual support and exchange between Palestine and U.S.-based liberation movements the statement read.

Baddar said the link between the struggles of Palestinians and Black Americans  a concept scholars call Black-Palestinian transnational solidarity  dates to the 1980s, when Jesse Jackson ran for president on a platform that included demands for Palestinian human rights. The years since have produced many other comparisons in terms of discriminations and militarized police response, he said.

In 2015, Baddar noted, a group of Black activists traveled to Palestine with a program called Dream Defenders to better understand the Palestinian struggle and its similarities, and that has caused the solidarity to really blossom."

"A huge reason we have rising social consciousness in America is driven by the Black Lives Matter movement, and that leads to similar demands for foreign policy as well, Baddar said.

Experts attribute Americans rising support of Palestinians to social media and an increasingly diverse Congress  including U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., its first Palestinian American member.

Lupovitz, who directs Wayne States Cohn-Haddow Center for Judaic Studies, said an uncompromisingly supportive Congress that has regularly approved U.S. aid to Israel faces more voices of dissent, prompting growing concerns within the American Jewish community.

Lupovitz said Palestinian support is on an upward arc, no question. Palestinian Americans have been organizing and mobilizing, and I think theyre also torn between their national aspirations and what Hamas does. But its not something thats going away; they will have more influential people in Washington, and if nothing else, its a cautionary note to those on the pro-Israel side that its going to be difficult to sustain this conflict.

I definitely think it reflects something more long-lasting, Baddar said. The public is more educated, and thats why celebrities are more supportive and why more members of Congress are demanding more accountability.  The Israeli government is moving farther to the right, and as the disregard for human rights is becoming more overt, it gets harder and harder to defend.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: More Americans back Palestinians against conflict with Israel
It was not the intent to be a capital infusion to the largest and most financially stable providers to allow them to simply grow their slice of market share, said Rep. Katie Porter, D-Calif. She is calling for hearings and for the Federal Trade Commission to review whether the funds were properly used for patient care and operations.
Market forces rained on the parade of accesso Technology Group plc (LON:ACSO) shareholders today, when the analysts downgraded their forecasts for this year. There was a fairly draconian cut to their revenue estimates, perhaps an implicit admission that previous forecasts were much too optimistic.

Following the downgrade, the current consensus from accesso Technology Group's two analysts is for revenues of US$73m in 2021 which - if met - would reflect a substantial 30% increase on its sales over the past 12 months. Before the latest update, the analysts were foreseeing US$85m of revenue in 2021. It looks like forecasts have become a fair bit less optimistic on accesso Technology Group, given the substantial drop in revenue estimates.

See our latest analysis for accesso Technology Group

There was no particular change to the consensus price target of UK7.26, with accesso Technology Group's latest outlook seemingly not enough to result in a change of valuation. The consensus price target is just an average of individual analyst targets, so - it could be handy to see how wide the range of underlying estimates is. There are some variant perceptions on accesso Technology Group, with the most bullish analyst valuing it at UK8.00 and the most bearish at UK6.78 per share. Still, with such a tight range of estimates, it suggests the analysts have a pretty good idea of what they think the company is worth.

Of course, another way to look at these forecasts is to place them into context against the industry itself. One thing stands out from these estimates, which is that accesso Technology Group is forecast to grow faster in the future than it has in the past, with revenues expected to display 30% annualised growth until the end of 2021. If achieved, this would be a much better result than the 2.5% annual decline over the past five years. By contrast, our data suggests that other companies (with analyst coverage) in the industry are forecast to see their revenue grow 13% per year. Not only are accesso Technology Group's revenues expected to improve, it seems that the analysts are also expecting it to grow faster than the wider industry.

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The Bottom Line

The clear low-light was that analysts slashing their revenue forecasts for accesso Technology Group this year. They're also forecasting more rapid revenue growth than the wider market. Often, one downgrade can set off a daisy-chain of cuts, especially if an industry is in decline. So we wouldn't be surprised if the market became a lot more cautious on accesso Technology Group after today.

That said, the analysts might have good reason to be negative on accesso Technology Group, given dilutive stock issuance over the past year. For more information, you can click here to discover this and the 2 other concerns we've identified.

Another way to search for interesting companies that could be reaching an inflection point is to track whether management are buying or selling, with our free list of growing companies that insiders are buying.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.



Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.
An Asian American city councilwoman in California says shes struggling to deal with cancel culturists whove called her racist and hounded her for months following a dispute with a local Black activist.

Lynette Lee Eng, a nonpartisan city councilwoman in Los Altos, was in the middle of an official Zoom meeting on Nov. 24 when she received a text message from a 22-year-old local activist named Kenan Moos complaining about the way she'd voted. She said something about it, and then things went woke.

She said the case illustrates how cancel culture and organized shaming and intimidation can interfere with officials routine duties as well as keep them fearful of speaking their minds honestly and getting meaningful work done. Moos and his supporters have repeatedly returned to subsequent city council meetings to re-air their grievances.

CHRIS ROCK SPEAKS OUT AGAINST CANCEL CULTURE, SAYS IT CREATES UNFUNNY AND BORING COMEDY

"It makes it hard to clearly state your position, because you have to constantly rethink it," she told Fox News on Friday. "You want to make sure it's stated correctly so no one takes offense, because if not, this is what's going to happen to you."

Lee Eng, who speaks slowly and deliberately, said that she has survived a stroke and already goes to great lengths to articulate her thoughts. The drama just makes her job harder, she said.

"If you're in the more popular view, of course, it's easy for you to do your job," she said.

But sometimes constituents have concerns that may align with unpopular positions.

CALIFORNIA CYPRESS COLLEGE PROFESSOR ON LEAVE OF ABSENCE AFTER CLAIMING POLICE AREN'T HEROES

"We have to be considerate that there are concerns that need to be raised, to make sure that we can have a dialogue," she said. "And maybe we could try to work out compromises."

Additionally, anti-Asian American hate crimes are on the rise. Destructive woke mobs vandalizing peoples houses are on the rise. And the idea that free speech should be protected has somehow become controversial.

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Not to mention, a fellow Los Altos councilwoman recently pressured into apologizing by the same group of activists just a few months ago after she used the phrase "youre out of your cotton-picking mind" when speaking in opposition to an outdoor mask mandate.

And Lee Eng said all that combined had her worried about herself, her family and her home when Moos text message popped up.

"We all want to make sure that people are respected not just for the color of their skinnot just the race, but the cultures, the diversity of thought," she said. "People need to feel safe to be able to express themselves, and if I don't feel safe, that should tell you my constituents don't feel safe."

The proposal in question would have created third-party control over complaints against the Los Altos Police Department, which has only received a single use-of-force complaint in the past six years, out of 15 total reports. Lee Eng said she wanted to know more about the programs cost to taxpayers before voting.

In the middle of the official meeting, the activist sent her a direct text to her phone.

"Your name will be all over the papers," he warned, according to Lee Eng.

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"We know there are racists that supported you," he continued. "You are trying to delay this. It has nothing to do with budget."

She spoke out and said she had received a text from an activist and had concerns for her safety.

Then the blowback began. Moos and his supporters demanded her resignation, started showing up regularly at city council meetings to repeat their concerns and pressured other council members to censure Lee Eng.

Moos said during one meeting that "Lynette, your false accusations have increased the odds that I could be killed by the police," according to the San Jose-based Mercury News.

He likened himself to Emmett Till, the 14-year-old Black Chicago boy lynched and mutilated by a Mississippi mob in 1955 after a White woman falsely accused him of a minor offense.

But according to Freddie Wheeler, a city resident who has defended Lee Eng from Moos supporters, Moos is the son of a doctor and a tech CEO, living in Silicon Valley and in his senior year at the University of Oregon. He founded a Black Lives Matter-aligned group called Justice Vanguard to advocate for social justice in his community.

"The idea that [Los Altos] police are gonna shoot him is so ludicrous that its actually outrageous," Wheeler said.

Los Altos is an affluent community in California's Santa Clara County, part of Silicon Valley. Notable residents include the late Apple founder, Steve Jobs, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai.

Moos has maintained that his texts were not threats, and even wrote as much in one of them, explicitly stating that they were "in no way a threat of any kind."

And his repeated insistence on that point attracted local media outlets and some residents to begin claiming she had falsely accused him of making a direct threat to her and her family.

But considered in the greater context, Lee Eng said its easy to feel unsafe when going against the grain.

She points to a national rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans as well as mob gatherings at other Bay Area officials homes that included vandalism, graffiti and flag burning.

She said that the texts didnt have to include a direct threat of physical violence from Moos to make her fear for her safety.

She also said the concerted effort to shame and intimidate her makes it difficult to do her job and could likely discourage "good people to step up to run for office in the future."

"I support social justice issues, social justice matters," she said. "I pushed for implicit bias training within the city. I am not a racist."

At least two residents spoke up in support of the councilwoman at a recent meeting, according to the Los Altos Town Crier. They noted the rise in hate crimes targeting Asian Americans across the US as well as mob bullying focused directly on Lee Eng. They also noted that her campaign signs had been defaced last year with the word "racist."

Wheeler was one of those residents.

"Are you showing her the same lack of respect you accuse others of showing you by not believing her?" she asked Moos supporters.
Chinese-born Australian academic and author Yang Jun will go on trial in China on espionage charges next week, after spending more than two years in detention, Canberra's foreign minister has confirmed.

Yang is one of two high-profile Australians detained in China on spying allegations amid escalating tensions between Canberra and Beijing.

The trial for Yang, who also goes by his pen name Yang Hengjun, will begin on Thursday, Australia's Foreign Minister Marise Payne said in a statement late Friday.

"Despite repeated requests by Australian officials, Chinese authorities have not provided any explanation or evidence for the charges facing Dr Yang," Payne said.

"We have conveyed to Chinese authorities, in clear terms, the concerns we have about Dr Yang's treatment and the lack of procedural fairness in how his case has been managed."

Payne also called for Australian officials to be granted access to the trial, criticising a process that she said had so far been "closed and opaque".

But the Chinese embassy in Canberra labelled Payne's comments "deplorable" and said Yang's rights were being respected.

"The Australian side should respect China's judicial sovereignty and refrain from interfering in any form in Chinese judicial authorities' lawful handling of the case," an embassy spokesperson said in a statement.

Yang, who denies the charges, was arrested on a rare return to China from his home in the United States in January 2019.

Another Australian, TV anchor Cheng Lei has been held since August accused of "supplying state secrets overseas".

Diplomatic relations between the two countries have plummeted since Canberra called for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic and banned telecoms giant Huawei from building Australia's 5G network.

China has already imposed tariffs or disrupted more than a dozen key industries, including wine, barley and coal, decimating exports.

In September, two Australian journalists were rushed out of China after police sought to question them. Beijing has accused Canberra of raiding the homes of Chinese state media journalists as Australia investigates an alleged campaign of covert influence.

al/mtp
Data: Axios/Ipsos Poll; Note: 2.8% margin of error; Chart: Axios Visuals

Solid majorities of Americans across all racial groups do not believe either the police or the criminal justice courts treat all people equally, according to a new Axios-Ipsos poll.

The big picture: The poll shows a resounding lack of confidence in the basic principle of equal justice under the law  a sign that systemic racism throughout the criminal justice system is still a widely acknowledged crisis a year after George Floyd was killed by police, sparking nationwide protests.

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By the numbers: Nearly six out of 10 respondents  59%  disagreed with the statement "police treat all Americans equally," while 58% said the same about criminal justice courts and lawyers.

Black Americans gave the system an especially strong vote of no confidence, with 84% disagreeing that police treat people equally and 76% saying the same about the courts.

But 53% of white Americans, 62% of Hispanic Americans and 67% of Asian Americans also disagreed that police treat everyone equally, while 55% of white Americans and Asian Americans and 56% of Hispanic Americans voiced a lack of confidence in the courts.

That lack of faith extended across virtually all other groups, including by gender, age, region, urban/suburban/rural residency, and education and income levels.

The only hint of confidence in the police came from Republicans, with 51% saying police treat everyone equally (only 7% of Democrats and 18% of independents agreed). Just 42% of Republicans said the courts treat everyone equally.

Between the lines: Most Americans still have a positive view of the police, regardless of how they feel about equal justice. But that's not true of Black Americans  nearly six out of 10 (57%) said they have unfavorable views of the police and law enforcement.

And Black Americans are the one group that doesn't believe the police are looking out for them. When asked how well the police look out for "people like you," just 29% of Black Americans said the police look out for them well, while 68% said not well.

That's the reverse of every other group: 71% overall, including 83% of white respondents, 60% of Hispanic respondents and 61% of Asian respondents, said the police look out for them well.

The poll found that no majority of any group supported the "defund the police" movement, but 57% overall supported diverting some police funding to community policing and social services  which is what most supporters of the movement actually mean.

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And solid majorities of all groups support increasing independent oversight over police, like requiring shootings by police officers to be investigated by an independent authority and creating civilian oversight boards.

When Americans face the courts, the poll found a large gap in their experiences, with Black and Hispanic Americans more likely to depend on court-ordered attorneys than other groups.

43% of white Americans and 52% of Asian Americans said they've had their own attorneys when they or a family member has had to appear in court.

By contrast, just 29% of Black Americans and 39% of Hispanic Americans had their own lawyers, while 49% of Black Americans and 43% of Hispanic Americans had court-ordered attorneys.

That's important because public defenders are widely considered to be overworked and underfunded, and because researchers have become concerned in recent years that some public defenders might have their own forms of implicit bias.

There's also a deep divide between white and Black Americans on whether a wealthy Black person would get better treatment from the criminal justice system than a poor white person.

White Americans were more likely to say a wealthy Black person would get better treatment, 40% to 23%, while Black respondents disagreed, 52% to 20%. Hispanic and Asian respondents were more evenly divided.

Methodology: This Axios/Ipsos poll was conducted April 28-May 4 by Ipsos' KnowledgePanel. This poll is based on a nationally representative probability sample of 1,875 general population adults age 18 or older.

The margin of sampling error is 2.8 percentage points at the 95% confidence level, for results based on the entire sample of adults.

Go deeper: Axios-Ipsos poll: Black Americans' police experiences are getting worse

 Coming up on "Axios on HBO" this Sunday at 6pm ET/PT: Axios race and justice reporter Russell Contreras and managing editor for politics Margaret Talev dig deeper into exclusive poll results. Tune in on HBO Max.

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Global banks in Hong Kong are taking a cautious approach and continuing to limit the number of people coming into their offices, even as their counterparts in the US and other "high risk" countries prepare to invite more employees back to their desks as soon as next month.

Unlike financial hubs from New York to Singapore, many workplaces in Hong Kong never fully shut down as the coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on regional economies.

Several banks in the city, including HSBC, JPMorgan Chase and UBS, remain at or just above 50 per cent capacity in terms of their in-office staffing, with many employees having not seen some colleagues in person for more than a year. Some lenders split teams into weekly or bimonthly rotations to avoid a single infection shutting down the entire workplace.

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"We continue to monitor the situation closely and all our decisions are focused on the safety of our employees within the workspace and are in line with health authorities and government guidelines," a JPMorgan spokeswoman in Hong Kong said.

The measured approach in Hong Kong comes as many bankers in the US and Europe prepare to return to the office for the first time en masse since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic in March of last year.

Goldman Sachs told its employees in the US and the UK to be prepared to report to the office in June, while JPMorgan informed all of its US employees last month that they would need to return to the office on a "consistent rotational schedule" from July.

Both banking groups are at about 50 per cent capacity in their Hong Kong offices and have been rotating teams for more than a year in the city.

By comparison, only about 17 per cent of office workers returned to their desks in the New York metro area and 15.6 per cent in the San Francisco Bay area as of May 12, according to data compiled by Kastle Systems, a Virginia security systems provider.

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JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has expressed concern that remote work eliminates "spontaneous learning and creativity" by limiting interaction. Photo: AFP

Top banking executives are keen to fully return to the office when it is safe to do so, concerned that a lack of in-person contact is preventing culture-building with younger employees and potentially costing them business.

Speaking at a Credit Suisse virtual forum in February, Goldman CEO David Solomon called working-from-home "an aberration that we are going to correct as quickly as possible."

Jamie Dimon, the chief executive officer of JPMorgan, said most employees will ultimately return to the office, with some still working from home part-time and only about 10 per cent working from home full time.

"Remote work virtually eliminates spontaneous learning and creativity because you don't run into people at the coffee machine, talk with clients in unplanned scenarios, or travel to meet with customers and employees for feedback on your products and services," Dimon said in his annual letter to shareholders in April.

Speaking at The Wall Street Journal CEO Council summit this month, Dimon said he expects the number of people in the office "will look just like it did before" by September or October. The biggest US bank by assets lost business to rivals in some cases because of remote work, he added.

"Bankers from the other guys visited, and ours didn't," Dimon said at the forum. "Well, that's a lesson."

One reason for a delayed full return to the office in Hong Kong: strict quarantine procedures that can send an entire building into quarantine for up to three weeks if two or more variant Covid-19 cases are detected, bank executives said.

HSBC, for example, was forced to close its main office in Hong Kong for several days in March after three employees tested positive for Covid-19 and a cluster at a gym frequented by bankers and other professionals forced hundreds of close-contacts into quarantine.

Business leaders also have criticised the lengthy mandatory quarantines for returnees to Hong Kong even if they are fully vaccinated. For example, fully vaccinated persons have to spend a minimum of two weeks in a quarantine hotel upon returning from the US, which is still deemed "high risk" by the government.

Four out of 10 respondents to a poll by the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Hong Kong this month said they were considering quitting the city, citing Beijing's passage of a controversial national security law for Hong Kong last year and the strict quarantine rules for overseas travel.

"We believe many businesses will have strong opportunities to thrive in the future," AmCham President Tara Joseph said in a statement. "Right now though, it's easy to worry about a brain drain of top talent and skills in a gateway city that is fuelled by trade, international capital flows and global connectivity."

Eddie Yue Wai-man, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, said the city's competitiveness could be affected if its vaccination rate does not increase. Photo: Winson Wong

At the same time, Hong Kong is lagging other financial hubs in terms of vaccinations for the general public. At a quarterly meeting with lawmakers on May 3, Eddie Yue Wai-man, the Hong Kong Monetary Authority's CEO, said he was worried that "our competitiveness will be affected" if the city's vaccination rate does not increase.

The number of employees who have been vaccinated is one factor being considered by banks in Hong Kong as they evaluate the risks of a fully reopening local offices.

Another factor complicating the office return: several banks have embraced more flexible working policies as a way to reduce costs - and their real estate footprint - after seeing large swathes of staff forced to work from home for months on end.

About 75 per cent of Citigroup's Hong Kong staff have been working on-site since mid-April, but the American bank is among a cadre of lenders, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, adopting hybrid work arrangements where employees will only work part of their week in the office.

HSBC CEO Noel Quinn said the company's executive offices in its London headquarters would move to an open plan office with no designated desks as it embraces a flexible working model, including at the highest levels.

"I think it would be a missed opportunity if, having gone through so much change over the last 15 months, we just drift back to our old ways of working," Quinn said in a LinkedIn post in April.

Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters turned his London office into a meeting room as the bank converts executive offices into spaces for client meetings and team gatherings. The bank expects to reduce its office space globally by about one-third in the next five years as part of its embrace of flexible working.

"Around two-thirds of our staff are back to the office while we remain flexible in terms of work arrangement, subject to individuals' needs and job nature," a Standard Chartered spokeswoman said. "We remain vigilant and continue to monitor the pandemic situations closely. Precautionary controls are still in place to ensure the health and safety of our clients and staff."

This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright  2021 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.

Copyright (c) 2021. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
May 22BEREA  Last weekend, the Berea Police Department was busy cleaning up the streets  literally.

More than 60 volunteers, including several BPD officers, participated in the department's first annual Berea Spring Clean.

According to BPD Chief Eric Scott, the volunteers were able to pick up more than 500 pounds of trash from the city's parks, roadways, and creeks.

On Saturday, the volunteers broke into groups  with each group accompanied by a Berea police officer  and cleaned up trash from Haiti Road, to the downtown area, and walking trails.

Scott said he was pleased by the number of volunteers who participated in the department's first trash pick-up event.

"I'm so thankful to everyone who came out to the event and to the officers in our department who volunteered their time on a Saturday," Scott said.

Volunteers for Saturday's clean up effort included members of the local Girls and Boy Scout troops, Get Outside KY kayak rental team, and the Madison Southern Basketball team.

Scott said he is determined to continue to do more community service projects in the community this year.

"As a police department we are community servants and I tell my officers all the time that everything we do matters and that policing is much more than just law enforcement  yes, we need to enforce laws, but we are also public servants in our community," Scott said.

Scott said the community service projects also allow officers a chance to engage with the community on a different level.

"We have an opportunity to serve others and it is an excellence chance to be community leaders and mentors to our youth. Not many may have positive interactions with law enforcement, so projects like this is a good way to foster relationships and build up those positive memories and trust of police officers," Scott said.

The police chief said he feels it is important to have officers seen as servant-leaders in the community and to provide opportunities for citizens to meet and talk with law enforcement.

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"It's really great for everyone involved  officers and citizens. For example, on Saturday one of my officers was in the group with the nutritionists from Wright Nutrition and they got to talking and he came back inspired to really change his diet and try and eat healthier," Scott said. "It's all about being a part of a community."

The police chief said he has already received a lot of positive feedback from the citizens of Berea.

"We have had a lot of comments and emails, especially from people in the Haiti area, who have thanked us for picking up trash," Scott said. "I'm so grateful for those."

Scott said the department has other service projects in mind throughout the summer and fall.

"We hope to do more events like this one and perhaps partner with other organizations on a day of service," Scott said.
The approved release of three detainees locked up in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for nearly two decades has raised expectations that President Joe Biden might try to close the notorious US military prison.

A high-level review board on May 17 signed off on the release of the oldest of the 40 so-called detainees still at Guantanamo, 73-year-old Pakistani businessman Saifullah Paracha, as well as two others.

Despite being arrested and secretly rendered to the US military prison on the Caribbean island between 2001 and 2003, the three were never charged -- like most of the others still there.

Tarred by accusations of extra-legal imprisonment, denial of rights and torture, Guantanamo has been a human rights shame for Washington since it was opened in January 2002 as a "War on Terror" prison for people suspected of connections to the September 11, 2001 attacks by Al-Qaeda.

Within a few years the United States had seized around 780 people, most on slim evidence of Al-Qaeda ties, and taken them to Guantanamo as war prisoners. Many underwent torture in secret CIA locations before their transfer to the prison.

Only a dozen have been shown to have strong connections to 9/11 or other attacks.

- Political liability -

Biden was vice president when then president Barack Obama ordered the prison closed two days after taking office in 2009, with the idea that those tied to 9/11 would be tried in US civilian courts.

But the idea was deeply unpopular and Congress blocked it.

Instead Obama over eight years quietly freed hundreds of prisoners after the Guantanamo Periodic Review Board (PRB) cleared them.

That process ground to a halt when Donald Trump took office in 2017.

Now, President Biden has inherited an expensive, legally dubious and, for many, embarrassing camp still holding 40 men that could outlast the two-decade war in Afghanistan sparked by 9/11.

Asked in April if Biden will close the base, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki replied that he "remains committed" to doing so.

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"I feel confident that the Biden administration is going forward to clear out Guantanamo to the extent that is possible," said Shelby Sullivan-Bennis, attorney for Paracha after he was cleared for release.

- Stuck in limbo -

Rights groups say Biden needs to act firmly.

"President Biden cannot have true credibility advocating for other countries to respect human rights if he does not prioritize closing Guantanamo," said Daphne Eviatar of Amnesty International.

Of the 40 men still there, nine have been cleared for release. Six cleared under Obama saw their transfers frozen by Trump.

Twelve, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, called the architect of the 9/11 attacks, are in the slow-moving military tribunal system. Just two have been convicted over nearly two decades.

The other 19 are in limbo: they haven't been charged, or granted release by the PRB.

Shayana Kadidal of the Center for Constitutional Rights, which has represented several detainees, says Biden will not likely make Obama's political mistake of going public with his intention to clear out the prison.

Instead, he can just let the PRB do its work. Kadidal said the recent transfer approvals suggest the board is now prone to approving the last, most difficult cases, many with psychiatric disorders and having experienced abuse in the hands of the CIA.

"To me, that says that there's been a little bit of an attitude shift, and a very laudable one, on the part of the PRB," he said.

But other barriers to closure remain. Biden has yet to restaff the State Department's special envoy office handling repatriations, closed by Trump.

More challenging is what to do with the 12 in the military tribunals system. Six, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, face charges that carry the death penalty.

- Better than federal prisons -

Their cases have moved exceedingly slowly, stalled by procedural challenges often relating to their mistreatment and denial of US constitutional rights, and by changes of judges and lawyers on both sides.

Biden could seek to have them moved to the US mainland and put in federal criminal courts, but Kadidal said that remains fraught with political dangers.

Civilian courts could expose more torture and denial of fundamental rights that judges and jurors might sympathize with.

Some in the Pentagon bureaucracy also want to keep Guantanamo open for future conflicts, too, Kadidal said.

And lawyers for the detainees themselves possibly see that stalling the military tribunals and lodging appeals is preferable to reaching verdicts that could mean execution.

"These guys could die natural deaths down there. They're in better conditions than what you would get in a federal terrorism facility," said Kadidal.

"The status quo of no trial happening, and being at Gitmo, is in some ways preferable to what you might experience otherwise."

pmh/dw
President Joe Biden on Friday delivered a thinly veiled swipe at former President Donald Trump for giving Kim Jong Un all that hes looking for in the previous administration's dealings with North Korea.

Speaking at a White House press conference alongside South Korean President Moon Jae-in, Biden said any meeting with the reclusive North Korean leader would come with preconditions, including setting parameters for further discussions on North Koreas nuclear arsenal and deescalation.

What I would not do is  do what had been done in the recent past, Biden said. I would not give him all that he's looking for, international recognition as legitimate and ... give them what allowed him to move in a direction of appearing to be more ... serious about what he wasn't at all serious about.

Biden said that for a meeting to occur, his administration would have to know exactly what would be discussed, drawing a contrast with Trump's free-wheeling approach to international relations with both America's allies and enemies. In March, Biden said North Korea was the top foreign policy issue facing the United States.

Biden also announced Friday that he was appointing Sung Kim to be a special envoy to North Korea, saying that the U.S. was willing to engage diplomatically. Kim previously served as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea in the Obama administration.

In the press conference, Biden also pledged some 550,000 South Korean soldiers who are in close contact with American military members would get Covid-19 vaccinations.

"Both for their sake as well as the sake of the American forces, Biden added. We, with advanced capabilities, have an obligation to do everything we can to provide for protection of the entire world.

Trump has previously defended his actions with North Korea, claiming former President Barack Obama was "so close to starting a big war with North Korea." Obama had told Trump that North Korea should be his top national security priority.



Trump met with Kim three times in person during his presidency, including a 2019 trip to North Korea when he became the first sitting U.S. president to make such a trip. Trumps efforts with Kim, which included touting what he called a beautiful letter from the leader, ultimately failed in pushing the country to denuclearization.

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In a 2018 meeting, Trump signed a murky declaration to try to move toward denuclearization. In a February 2019 meeting, Trump called off the summit early after he said he couldnt get on board with Kims proposition of lifting sanctions for moderate limitations on the countrys nuclear program.

Tensions between the two countries flared in 2017, with Trump threatening fire and fury in a tweet over North Koreas nuclear program.

Critics of Trump among current and former U.S. officials previously told POLITICO that Trumps approach to North Korea should have focused more on lower-level officials, not just Kim.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nicole and Josh Peacock who have had to postpone their wedding celebrations, pictured on their Civil wedding day - Gareth Bull

The Prime Minister is poised to announce that big weddings will be allowed to take place from June 21, The Telegraph has learned, despite it emerging that scientists urged the Government to overreact to the Indian variant.

Boris Johnson vowed on Friday to give the public an update by the end of the month on the results of the review into relaxing social distancing rules, including the one metre plus and face mask regulations.

He gave a strong hint that the fourth and final step in his roadmap out of restrictions, which is due to scrap the cap on attendees at weddings and other large-scale events, will go ahead as planned on June 21.

I am still seeing nothing in the data that leads me to think that were going to have to deviate from the roadmap, he said, signalling his confidence that the Indian variant will not derail his blueprint.

It came after he told Tory MPs privately on Wednesday that he was hopeful of abolishing the one metre plus rule next month too.

Government sources told The Telegraph on Friday night they were confident large-scale weddings would be allowed from June 21, as long as the emerging data on the Indian variant did not take a stark turn for the worse.

They said confidence about the safety of big weddings had grown in the wake of positive results from the Governments large-scale events pilots  which saw just 15 people test positive for Covid-19 among 58,000 attendees. There is currently a limit of 30 attendees at weddings under government rules.

A Whitehall source said: Theres increasing confidence that vaccines are working against all variants and the data doesnt seem to be changing too drastically in terms of case numbers and hospitalisations. As long as there are no significant changes over the next few days, there is cautious optimism.

Next week the Government is set to give a formal update on the Indian variant, including an analysis of infection and hospitalisation numbers, as well as the emerging evidence about the effectiveness of vaccines against it.

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The results of two reviews will then follow: one into the future of social distancing, the other about the viability of a Covid certification scheme.

On Friday, Mr Johnson played down the prospect of vaccine or negative test certificates being widely used, telling reporters in Plymouth: I dont see any prospect of certificates to go into pubs or anything else.

Pressed on the outcome of the social distancing review, he said: We will let people know as much as we possibly can by the end of the month about weddings, for instance.

It marked a striking change of tone a week after Mr Johnson warned the Indian variant could seriously disrupt plans to lift the final Covid restrictions next month.

Latest surveillance data from Public Health England (PHE) showed that 71.8 per cent of people in England now carry antibodies to coronavirus.

From Saturday, 32- and 33-year-olds will be able to book their vaccines.

On Friday it also emerged that scientists told the Government that the Indian variant may not be more transmissible, but warned it was better to overreact than risk a third wave.

In documents published by the Scientific Advisory Group for the Emergencies (Sage) on Friday, experts from a consortium of seven universities said the mutated virus appeared to be spreading 40 per cent more quickly than the Kent variant.

But they said that they could not conclude with any certainty that it was because the variant was biologically more transmissible, rather than being caused by mixing patterns in certain areas or super spreader events.

The Joint Universities Pandemic and Epidemiological Research Group (Juniper) also said the extra infections could be driven by increased case finding activity by PHE.

However the group, which includes modellers from the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Exeter, Lancaster, Manchester, Bristol and Warwick, concluded that: The risk of overreacting is small compared to the potential benefit of delaying the third wave.

Despite the doubt expressed by scientists, Professor Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, told the country at the same press conference that there was now confidence from modelling groups that the Indian variant was more transmissible.

A second paper published on Friday by Sage from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine suggested that the Indian variant was raising the R number to 1.64 in some areas, but cautioned that it could not be generalised to the whole of the UK.

The team warned there may be specific risk factors for increased transmission in some areas.

Health officials are now investigating a new so-called triple mutant after 49 cases were discovered in Yorkshire and the Humber region.

However, PHE said there is no evidence to suggest it is any more transmissible than other variants, or that vaccines would be less effective.

Downing Street said the variant is being monitored and stressed we won't hesitate to put in measures that we think are necessary to try and tackle the transmission of any variants.

Meanwhile, a school in Bedford will return to remote learning after Indian variant cases led to more than 300 pupils having to isolate.

Bedford Academy, part of the Heart Academies Trust, said the decision to close the school followed a significant number of cases of Covid-19 in Bedford and across our wider school community.

Around 350 pupils from the school are currently self-isolating. Remote learning will run for a week beginning on Monday May 24.

David Morris, chief executive of the Trust, said: Despite continuing with stringent cleaning procedures, the extended use of facemasks for both students and staff, regardless of national guidance, and ongoing education regarding hygiene, we have been unable to control the rapid spread of the virus.

The school said it took the decision to close its buildings to most pupils  excluding keyworker and vulnerable children  after discussions with the Government, PHE, and Bedford Borough Council.
May 21The Montana Department of Commerce has awarded $5 million in grant funding to 23 communities for historic preservation projects across the state.

The grants will be used to improve historical sites, historical societies and history museums. Those eligible to apply for the grants included nonprofits, incorporated cities and towns, associations, counties and tribal governments.

"These grants will help communities share stories of the past, giving visitors and residents a true glimpse of Montana's fascinating, deep-rooted history," Commerce Director Scott Osterman said in a news release Friday. "Projects like these can really help rejuvenate Montana communities with increased economic development, statewide tourism and job creation."

The grants will pay for infrastructure repairs, building renovations, maintenance, remediating building code issues and improvements to security and fire protection.

Grants awarded in northwestern Montana include $72,200 for the Spotted Bear Ranger Station in Hungry Horse; $58,385 for the Central School building in Kalispell; $229,690 for the Heritage Museum in Libby; $50,600 for the People's Center in Pablo; $123,220 for the Paradise Center in Paradise; $15,000 for the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitors Center; and $4,904 for the Troy Museum and Visitors Center.

Reporter Bret Anne Serbin may be reached at 406-758-4459 or bserbin@dailyinterlake.com.
The city was very quiet, most of SoHo was completely boarded up, said Hamamoto, who uses plywood material in his own art. It just sort of clicked that all of these businesses were paying so much money to protect their windows, to protect the property inside, but what was going to happen to this material when they reopened? Where does this material go? (During the peak protest months, a single board of plywood in New York cost more than $90, up from about $25 a board.) Hamamoto saw some wood on the street ready for disposal and decided to grab it, out of which grew the Plywood Protection Project.
By Ryan Woo and Yilei Sun

BEIJING (Reuters) - A remote-controlled Chinese motorised rover drove down the ramp of its landing capsule on Saturday and onto the surface of Mars, making China the first nation to orbit, land and deploy a land vehicle on its inaugural mission to the Red Planet.

Zhurong, named after a mythical Chinese god of fire, drove down to the surface of Mars at 10:40 a.m. Beijing time (0240 GMT), according to the rover's official Chinese social media account.

China this month joined the United States as the only nations to deploy land vehicles on Mars. The former Soviet Union landed a craft in 1971, but it lost communication seconds later.

The 240-kg (530-pound) Zhurong, which has six scientific instruments including a high-resolution topography camera, will study the planet's surface soil and atmosphere.

Powered by solar energy, Zhurong will also look for signs of ancient life, including any subsurface water and ice, using a ground-penetrating radar during its 90-day exploration of the Martian surface.

Zhurong will move and stop in slow intervals, with each interval estimated to be just 10 metres (33 feet) over three days, according to the official China Space News.

"The slow progress of the rover was due to the limited understanding of the Martian environment, so a relatively conservative working mode was specially designed," Jia Yang, an engineer involved in the mission, told China Space News.

Jia said he would not rule out a faster pace in the later stage of the rover's mission, depending on its operational state at the time.

Jia said the rover was designed to be highly autonomous because the distance to Mars, at 320 million km (200 million miles), means a signal takes 40 minutes to travel both ways, posing a hurdle for real-time control of the rover.

Martian temperatures are also a problem, he said: a nighttime drop to minus 130 degrees Celsius (minus 200 degrees Fahrenheit) freezes carbon dioxide, covering the uneven ground with a layer of dry ice - a terrain risk for the rover.

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Zhurong has an automated suspension system that can lift and lower its chassis by 60 centimetres (2 feet), the only rover with such a capability, according to China Space News.

The rover is covered by nano-aerogel plates to protect its body from the cold.

Dust storms could also affect the rover's ability to generate power through its solar panels, Jia said. To overcome this, the panel surface is made with a material that cannot be easily stained by dust and can easily shake dust off by vibration, he said.

ANCIENT OCEAN

China's uncrewed Tianwen-1 spacecraft blasted off from the southern Chinese island of Hainan in July last year. After more than six months in transit, Tianwen-1 reached the Red Planet in February where it had been in orbit since.

On May 15, the landing capsule carrying the rover separated from Tianwen-1 and touched down on a vast plain known as Utopia Planitia, believed to be the site of an ancient ocean.

The first images taken by the rover were released by the Chinese space agency on Wednesday.

The coordinates of the landing site are 109.9 degrees east and 25.1 degrees north, China Space News said.

Tianwen-1 was one of three probes that reached Mars in February.

U.S. rover Perseverance touched down on Feb. 18 in a huge depression called Jezero Crater, more than 2,000 km (1,240 miles) from Utopia Planitia.

Hope - the third spacecraft to arrive in February - is not designed to land. Launched by the United Arab Emirates, it is orbiting above Mars, gathering data on its weather and atmosphere.

Perseverance and Zhurong are among three robotic rovers operating on Mars. The third is NASA's Curiosity, which landed in 2012.

NASA's InSight, which arrived on the surface of the planet in 2018 to study its interior, is a stationary module.

(Reporting by Ryan Woo and Yilei Sun; Editing by William Mallard)
The Independent

Following a wave of Republican-backed restrictions on ballot access and GOP obstruction against voting rights protections, US Attorney General Merrick Garland will double the number of attorneys in his Civil Rights Division and scrutinize new laws that make it more difficult to vote. In remarks recommitting the agency to protecting the Voting Rights Act and other measures to combat discrimination, the attorney general criticised the false narrative fuelling partisan audits of 2020 election results and the dozens of bills filed in its wake, as Republican lawmakers validate Donald Trumps stolen election myth with legislation aimed at limiting access to the ballot, and disproportionately targeting voters of colour. Justifications proffered in support of post-election audits and restrictions on voting have relied on allegations of voting fraud in the 2020 election that have been refuted by  every court, federal and state, that has considered them, Garland said on Friday.
Once upon a time, the Citizen app was known as Vigilante, a title so provocative that Apple banned it from the App Store and initiated a rebranding. So in 2017 it relaunched as an app built on warning people about nearby emergencies and documenting incidents in the name of transparency.

A report by Motherboard reveals it's not sticking to just transparency, as leaked documents and sightings of security vehicles in Los Angeles show Citizen plans to offer some kind of on-demand private security force service. The company's $20 per month Protect service already promises "live monitoring" and a "digital bodyguard" who can be summoned with a safe word to direct emergency services to your location.

According to a former employee cited by Motherboard, the next step is "to create a privatized secondary emergency response network" that connects users to private security firms directly. A spokesperson referred to the security vehicles as part of a "personal rapid response service" it's testing as a pilot project.

As if a look at your local Nextdoor posts couldn't reveal the potential problems with that setup, just last Saturday the Citizen app targeted a homeless man by posting his picture during a live broadcast, painting him as an arsonist suspected of causing wildfires and promising a $30,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. Police announced on Monday that they had arrested someone else for the alleged arson.
May 21Astoria and Warrenton political and business leaders are calling on the state to eliminate the warning week for counties moving into lower risk levels for the coronavirus.

Gov. Kate Brown canceled the warning week in April as the state experienced a surge of virus cases that pushed 15 counties into extreme risk. The policy change was an effort to speed up the return to normal business operations by announcing risk level changes weekly instead of every two weeks.

In mid-May, when the state no longer met the hospitalization metrics for extreme risk, the governor announced a return to a two-week cycle for risk level changes.

Had the state continued the one-week cycle, Clatsop County would have qualified to move from high risk to moderate risk on Friday. Risk level updates will instead be announced by the state on Tuesday and take effect on May 28.

"The warning week has been an excellent tool to give businesses time to prepare for complying with the requirements of a higher risk level," Astoria Mayor Bruce Jones said in a letter to the governor on Thursday. "At this stage in the pandemic recovery it is eminently reasonable and prudent to eliminate the warning week for counties meeting the criteria for moving to a lower risk level. Warning weeks should only apply for counties moving to a higher risk level.

"I can find no risk-based rationale for keeping Clatsop County at high risk for this additional length of time. It is an unnecessary burden on our community and businesses."

The Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce and Warrenton Mayor Henry Balensifer shared their support of the letter with the governor's office.

Meanwhile, the state on Friday announced it is on track to vaccinate 70% of adult Oregonians before the end of June and lift most virus restrictions. The governor said vaccination rates continue to rise and that hospitalizations for the virus are at their lowest since April.

"Every single day, we are getting closer to ending this chapter of the pandemic," Brown said in a press conference. "With summer just around the corner and life starting to return to normal, I think we're all feeling excited and hopeful that good days lie ahead. But we aren't there just yet. In this final push to reach every Oregonian with a vaccine and to meet our goal of at least 70% of adults vaccinated so we can fully reopen our economy, we will need to pull on every lever we have."

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As an additional incentive for people who have not yet received their first dose of a vaccine, the governor announced the "Take Your Shot Oregon" campaign, an opportunity for one person to win a $1 million grand prize, and one person in each of Oregon's 36 counties to win $10,000.

All people 18 years and older who have had at least one dose will be eligible for the prizes funded through federal relief money. The state will draw the winners on June 28.

Students will also be eligible for five $100,000 scholarships through the Oregon College Savings Plan.

As of Friday, 34,213 doses have been administered in Clatsop County and 15,953 people were fully vaccinated. The county's goal to reach herd immunity against the virus is vaccinating 27,533 people, or 70% of the population.

Counties where 65% of people 16 and older have received at least one dose were given the option to move into lower risk on Friday. The 65% mark is a way for counties to return to more normal operations ahead of the state's herd immunity goal.

As of Thursday, 59% of county residents 16 and older had received at least one dose. The county said it needs about 1,900 more first doses to reach the 65% threshold and move into lower risk for the virus.
A technical fault on Saturday left frustrated fans unable to access Glastonbury Festival's livestream concert at the famous farm site in southwest England, after the coronavirus pandemic led to the blockbuster event's cancellation.

The five-hour virtual show kicked off with a performance by British rockers Wolf Alice, but many ticket-holders, who had paid 20 ($28, 23 euros) to access a stream of the event, complained on Twitter that they missed it as their access codes were invalid.

"You've got thousands and thousands of us tweeting you saying we can't get in due to invalid codes. Almost 10 minutes in and we've all missed the start," wrote Twitter user Aimee Young.

Event producers Driift Live tweeted: "Hello! We're looking into the issues of invalid codes urgently."

Organisers later sent out a free link in time for an atmospheric sunset performance by US pop rock trio Haim in Worthy Farm's stone circle.

They were followed by Glastonbury veterans Coldplay, who performed in front of the skeleton of the Pyramid stage, where the headline acts usually perform.

Frontman Chris Martin joked that he had "never played in front of thousands of cows before" as he and his band braved the rain to perform classic hits such as "The Scientist", "Clocks" and "Fix You".

Other performers include Blur's Damon Albarn and Michael Kiwanuka.

- 'An adventure' -

Organiser Emily Eavis, who announced in January that the annual event was cancelled for a second year, said had hoped the event would be "like the festival but without people".

"We're very excited to be able to show the farm in a way that people have never really seen it, with these incredible artists," she told BBC radio.

The event will also be played on delay across four international time zones, with Eavis adding there will be "a number of unannounced surprise performances".

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Paul Dugdale, the event's director, said he hoped to recreate the event's sense of adventure.

"The overarching vision of it was to... just try and take people on a bit of a journey.

"Glastonbury is an adventure, and you never quite know what's around the corner and often the best parts of the festival are the parts you weren't expecting, and that's really fun," he said.

Britain is gradually opening up after its latest Covid-19 lockdown, and the timing of the Glastonbury event, when many smaller venues will be hoping to reopen, drew some criticism.

"I think what the live industry really needs right now is some collective, collaborative, joined-up thinking," Mark Davyd, founder and chief executive of the Music Venue Trust, wrote on Twitter.

The virtual Glastonbury event also clashed with the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Rotterdam.

Glastonbury, held on a dairy farm in Somerset, southwest England, was forced to cancel in 2020 -- the year of the event's 50th anniversary -- because of coronavirus restrictions after some 135,000 people had already bought tickets.

Headliners were meant to include pop superstar Taylor Swift and Beatles icon Paul McCartney.

Organisers had hoped to stage the event in 2021, but reversed course after England entered a third lockdown at the start of the year following a surge in coronavirus infections, hospitalisations and deaths.

jwp/ach
A few dozen current, and former students led a protest at Mead High School Friday, demanding action after a controversial photo spread Thursday.

Video Transcript

EVAN KRUEGEL: Yeah, Jeremy, it was a small gathering, but certainly a powerful one. Those students, saying racism has been a problem here at Mead High School for quite some time. They say the district is doing little to stop it.

On one of the final days of this school year, a few dozen students at Mead High School put down their books and walked out, calling on the district to take action after a disturbing photo went viral on Thursday. That photo shows three students appearing to recreate the death of George Floyd.

- I think the whole incident that happened is extremely disturbing.

- Simone Underwood is a senior and says racism is a frequent problem inside the building.

- I feel like they understand what they're doing is wrong, but they think they can get away with it. And that's what the administrators are missing is that they don't talk about racism enough in our school to be able to handle a situation like that.

- You know, it's really not surprising to see a photo like that come from Mead High School. It's more surprising that it hasn't happened sooner.

- [? Emea ?] Martinez graduated four years ago and believes the five day suspension is too light.

- And I think that is completely inappropriate when something like this happens to only suspend the kids for five days. They need to be expelled. They need to be kept from the school.

- Others feel like the photo is being taken out of context and say rallying against the students involved and the district's response is the wrong solution.

- Should we have a rally at the school? No, I don't believe that this rises to the level that we need to start protesting. No, these kids made a mistake.

- And Jeremy [? Arista, ?] some students here who walked out today told me, they did receive threats from their peers in connection to this protest. Mead Police, confirming there were some threats made regarding the school yesterday. However, they say they have identified the people behind those. They say there is no ongoing threat to this school or to this community. Reporting live tonight in Mead, Evan Kruegel, Fox 31.
President Joe Biden urged Congress to pass a police reform bill in the name of George Floyd  murdered under the knee of a convicted former police officer  by the anniversary of his death on May 25. But lawmakers now appear certain to miss that deadline.

In his first joint address to Congress, in April, Biden said there was urgency behind what he said the legislation represented: restoring trust between communities and law enforcement, addressing systemic racism in the criminal justice system and giving meaning to the words of Floyd's daughter, who Biden said told him, "Daddy changed the world."

Police reform advocates and activists who spoke to NBC News said a missed deadline was less important than the end result, as talks are ongoing between members of Congress and the administration. Floyd's brother Philonise Floyd and other relatives of individuals who died from police violence have also been involved.

A deadline is important for Congress to get something done, said Arthur Ago, the director of the Criminal Justice Project at the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. What is more important is that there is a robust and sweeping bill that comes out of Congress that changes the way that policing is done in this country so that the changes that people have been advocating for during the last year are achieved.

Asked about the timing Thursday, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters that the White House would "certainly defer to the expectations of the key negotiators here."

The current bill named for Floyd was approved by the Democratic-led House in March but has yet to receive a vote in the Senate, where at least 10 Republicans are needed for passage because of the chamber's 60-vote filibuster rule.

The bill aims to end certain police techniques, including chokeholds and carotid holds, two forms of potentially deadly force. Such practices would be banned at the federal level, and funding for local and state police agencies would be conditioned on those agencies outlawing them. The bill also seeks to improve police training and invest in community programs designed to improve policing and promote equitable new policies.

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The legislation would create a national police misconduct registry to prevent police officers who are fired or pushed out for bad performance from being hired by other agencies and limit how much military-grade equipment is awarded to state and local law enforcement agencies.

The sticking point in negotiations is a legal doctrine called qualified immunity, which makes it difficult to sue individual officers. However, bipartisan, bicameral negotiators  Sens. Cory Booker, D-N.J., and Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif.  have signaled that ending qualified immunity entirely is unlikely. Talks continue about modifications to qualified immunity, including allowing lawsuits against police departments, but it remains unclear if that would imperil liberal support.

Marc Levin, the head of policy at the Council on Criminal Justice, said if a bipartisan bill passes, it could send a signal to a number of states and localities to follow suit. He compared its potential impact to the 1994 crime bill that Biden helped write, which pressured states to increase penalties on crimes by providing $12.5 billion in grants to expand their prison capacity.

"States went above and beyond what the 1994 crime bill, I think very unwisely, required as a condition of receiving federal funds to build more prisons," Levin said, "so these federal laws  particularly when there's money  affect the broader environment in which state and local decisions are made."

He added, I do think this will have a similar impact as the 1994 crime bill in terms of the breadth and scope of the impact but hopefully a more positive one, obviously, in terms of the trajectory of justice.

Some activists think the bill still does not go far enough, most notably because it is focused on federal law enforcement and only pressures local governments. The vast majority of the roughly 18,000 police departments in the U.S. are controlled at the local level, experts note, which is where organizers are more focused.

Maritza Perez, director of the Office of National Affairs for the Drug Policy Alliance, said her organization does not support the current bill because it disagrees with some of the language around drug raids and with provisions that direct more funds to police departments rather than social services.

Perez said it's possible for stronger language to be adopted given the delay. Her group would like to see a ban on quick-knock raids and on transferring military surplus equipment to police departments, plus funds shifted from police training to social services like education and housing. Still, she said her group's primary focus will remain grassroots organizing around reform.

"You're going to impact the budget at the local level more so than you can at the federal level," she said.

New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Baltimore and a dozen other cities have all committed to reducing police budgets or spending after widespread racial justice protests.

Last June, Colorado became the first  and only  state to strip police of qualified immunity.

Maurice Mitchell, a lead organizer with the Movement for Black Lives, a network of 150 Black-led organizations, agreed that work at the federal level was just one piece of the puzzle, adding that the proposed "reforms would not create the conditions where George Floyd would not have died."

"We want substance," Mitchell, who is also the national director of the Working Families Party, said. "We want real justice."

Earlier this month, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed one of the nations most ambitious packages of police accountability legislation, which include bans on police use of chokeholds, neck restraints and no-knock warrants such as the one that led to Breonna Taylor's killing in Louisville, Kentucky, in March 2020.

In April, the Maryland Legislature voted to override Republican Gov. Larry Hogan's vetoes of several pieces of police reform legislation.

Illinois passed a bill this past February that made a significant overhaul of its criminal justice system, which not only instituted major police reforms but also made the state the first in the nation to completely abolish cash bail.

We're going to continue to do our job and make sure that all of the folks who have passed, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, that their memories aren't forgotten ... and that our standards arent diluted based on what we think we could get politically versus what we know we deserve, Mitchell said.
A well-known street vendor in the Rogers Park neighborhood died Friday after being hospitalized with COVID-19 for several weeks.

Felipe Vallarta, who was 61, contracted the virus days away from getting his first dose of a vaccine in early April, his daughter said.

As much as doctors tried, they said there was nothing left to do to save him; he needed to rest, his niece said.

On Saturday, Illinois public health officials reported 1,108 new probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 43 deaths.

An additional 76,652 coronavirus vaccine doses were administered in the state Friday, and the seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 74,487.

Heres whats happening this weekend with COVID-19 in the Chicago area:

Saturday

76,652 administered vaccine doses, 1,108 new cases and 43 deaths reported Saturday

Illinois public health officials on Saturday reported 1,108 new probable and confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 43 deaths. That brings the states totals to 1,374,565 cases and 22,599 deaths.

There were 59,314 tests reported in the previous 24 hours, and the seven-day statewide positivity rate as a percent of total test is 2.3%.

There were 76,652 doses of the vaccine administered Friday, and the seven-day rolling average of daily doses is 74,487.

Chicago Tribune staff

Esteemed Chicago street vendor who got COVID-19 days before he was to be vaccinated has died

Felipe Vallarta, a well-known street vendor in the Rogers Park neighborhood, died Friday after being hospitalized with COVID-19 for several weeks.

Vallarta, who was 61, contracted the virus days away from getting his first dose of a vaccine in early April, his daughter Elizabeth Jimenez said.

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On Friday morning at 10 a.m., the family gathered to pay him one last visit before he was disconnected from the ventilator, said his niece Mercedes Vallarta. The Cook County medical examiner confirmed Vallartas death.

His granddaughter, Jany Andrade, 21, played his favorite songs from Vicente Fernandez right before he was disconnected.

As much as doctors tried, they said there was nothing left to do to save him; he needed to rest, said Mercedes Vallarta. She added that his wife, daughter and granddaughter are inconsolable.

He and his wife, Zenaida Castillo, 74, had been selling elotes  corn  and other Mexican snacks on the corner of Rogers Avenue and Clark Street since 2015, when Castillo lost her job as a babysitter.

The couple became one of Chicagos favorite street vendors after Vallarta shared his love for his labor as a street vendor for a video for the Chicago Sun-Times.

The two immigrated from Puebla, Mexico, and lived for more than 20 years in Rogers Park, where they had many friends and neighbors who appreciated him, said his wife during an interview in early May.

Hundreds of people donated money to a GoFundMe page that Andrade opened in April to help the family pay for medical expenses.

Now the money will be used to cover funeral expenses, including burial in his native town in Mexico, said Mercedes Vallarta.

Read more here. Laura Rodriguez Presa

Graduation parties at Chicago restaurants proving next to impossible, with COVID-19 limits and minimum spends of up to $2,500

When it came time to plan for her 18-year-old twins high school graduation in June, Judy Sutton Taylor knew shed need an early start to snag a dinner reservation for her family and three out-of-town guests.

She didnt expect six weeks to not be enough.

Some restaurants will do it outside, but are telling me if it rains and they need to move us inside, that well have to be split up among two tables, which isnt really great, she said. Some of the restaurants only have availability at 5 p.m. or 9 p.m. This is trying six weeks out from the date.

Finding a table for seven has been next to impossible, Sutton Taylor said, as COVID-19 restrictions are limiting group sizes in many Chicago restaurants, even as the state loosens its measures to prevent infection as vaccination rates increase.

Sutton Taylor isnt alone in being frustrated. With Illinois and Chicago currently in the bridge phase ahead of a full reopening targeted for July 4, restaurants can book tables of up to 10 people, although some venues are sticking to the previous limit of six per table. In Chicago, indoor dining capacity is still capped at 75%.

Some available reservations also have hefty price tags attached, with minimum spends in the thousands leaving some families with sticker shock.

Read more here. Samantha Nelson

Europe is reopening and Americans are busy planning trips. But theyll need to read the fine print on COVID-19 testing.

Theres good news for travelers eager to dust off their passports after spending 2020 stuck at home: The list of countries lowering COVID-19 travel restrictions is growing.

After being largely closed to American tourists for more than a year, the European Union recently recommended expanding the list of EU countries considered safe enough to allow tourists and opening the doors to vaccinated travelers from other countries.

Individual countries are just starting to announce reopening plans, but anticipation of Europes reopening has sparked a flurry of interest in destinations that have been off limits to Americans for months, including London, Paris, Barcelona, Frankfurt and Amsterdam, according to travel search company Hopper.

Even with loosening restrictions, overseas trips still require navigating COVID-19 testing and vaccination requirements, forcing travelers to plan ahead and potentially budget a little extra, since tests may not be covered by insurance.

Read more here. Lauren Zumbach

When shots were scarce, 60% of Chicagos vaccine supply went to suburbanites and low-risk neighborhoods, Tribune analysis shows

In the early weeks of the COVID-19 vaccines release, a joke made the rounds among people hunting for appointments in Chicago:

Whats the best way to find a shot in the city?

Live in Glencoe.

While the punchline was meant to be facetious, it wasnt far off the mark. A Tribune analysis of federal vaccination data shows that in Glencoes predominant ZIP code, roughly 1 in every 6 residents was given their first dose from Chicagos vaccine supply during the rollouts earliest phases.

Residents of other affluent suburbs also had luck finding shots in the city between December 2020 and mid-April, a period when eligibility rules were still in play, people were desperate to find appointments and city officials were promising to steer doses to the hardest-hit neighborhoods. At least 1 in 8 of all residents in ZIP codes covering Oak Park, Kenilworth, Wilmette, Winnetka and River Forest received their first dose in Chicago, the data shows. When looking only at those residents who got vaccinated, the numbers are even more stark: At least 1 in 4 found shots in the city.

Read more here.  Stacy St. Clair, Joe Mahr and Lisa Schencker
Were tracking the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus and COVID-19 vaccines in South Carolina. Check back for updates.

Nearly 300 new cases reported

At least 489,948 people have tested positive for the coronavirus in South Carolina and 8,513 have died since March 2020, according to state health officials.

The S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control reported 281 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, up from 184 reported the day before.

Two coronavirus-related deaths were also reported.

At least 316 people were reported hospitalized with COVID-19 on Friday, with 92 patients in intensive care units.

As of Friday, 3.7% of COVID-19 tests were reported positive. Health officials say 5% or lower indicates a low risk of community spread.

More than 1.5 million South Carolina residents, or 35%, have completed vaccination against COVID-19, and more than 1.8 million, or 43%, have received at least one dose, as of Tuesday.

Why are some SC residents refusing vaccination?

A little over one-third of South Carolinians 12 older have completed COVID-19 vaccination, but many residents are choosing to pass, The State reported.

Health officials say vaccine hesitancy is becoming a bigger problem in the effort to end the pandemic, so understanding the reasons why people are opting not to do so may be critical moving forward.

But experts say vaccine hesitant Americans are not a monolith  their reasons for avoiding vaccination often differ, and they are people from a wider variety of demographic groups than many might assume.

I very seldom get sick on anything, so why do I want to take a chance on it? 64-year-old Marcus Polk told The State.

The construction site safety engineer, who lives in Winnsboro, said he doesnt trust the vaccines because he believes they were too rushed. And in rare instances, vaccinated individuals still catch the coronavirus, so it doesnt seem worth it to him.

Even now with (case) numbers going down, I still dont plan on getting it, Polk said.
Boyd-Peoples said 2020 was horrible. She lost her brother and aunt due to health reasons unrelated to the coronavirus, and she also had back surgery, which was difficult because she couldnt have anyone at the hospital with her due to the coronavirus-related restrictions. She is on disability leave from her job at Walmart but is looking forward to going back. She received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine Monday, and now, Im feeling fantastic, and Im just glad to be back out in society again.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump address guests at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland on January 20, 2021. ALEX EDELMAN / AFP) (Photo by ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images

Trump's blog posts aren't being widely shared on social networks, The Washington Post reported.

His blog posts were reportedly shared less than 2,000 times each day on Facebook last week.

Engagement on Trump-related posts on social networks reportedly fell by about 95% since January.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Former President Donald Trump's blog posts aren't being widely shared on other social networks, according to an analysis published by The Washington Post.

After Facebook and Twitter removed Trump, the former president launched "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump" in early May. Last week, posts from the blog were shared on Facebook only about 2,000 times each day, according to BuzzSumo, which shared the data with the Post.

Trump's team is reportedly working on its own social network, with plans to launch it this summer, a Trump advisor told the Post. The report said Trump was often briefed on the project, which was internally called "Trump Media Group."

Before he was banned from Twitter, many of Trump's tweets regularly saw hundreds of thousands or millions of interactions. When he announced he'd tested positive for the coronavirus in October 2020, for example, the tweet was liked more than 1.6 million times within a few hours.

On the biggest social media networks, engagement on posts about Trump fell by about 95% in the last few months, the Post reported.

It was previously reported that Trump's blog had about 212,000 engagements in its first week online. Peter Loge, an associate professor at George Washington University, told Insider's Thomas Colson that "Trump is just shouting into the void."

Trump's blog crashed last Saturday after he posted unverified statements about election fraud in Arizona. The blog has freed him from the character limits of Twitter. One of the 11 statements he posted in the last week ran to more than 900 words.

Read the original article on Business Insider
WASHINGTON  Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, no longer have to dream about the moonlight on the Wabash.

They are Back Home Again in Indiana.

The Pences, who had been renting a house in suburban Virginia after leaving office in January, purchased a home north of Indianapolis, a spokeswoman told USA TODAY.

They are moving in this weekend, providing the native Hoosier a chance to launch a potential bid for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination from his home state.

Theres no place like home and Indiana is home, Karen Pence said in a statement provided exclusively to USA TODAY.

The Pences were not made available for an interview.

In her statement, Karen Pence said the longtime Indy500 fans are especially excited to have made the move before race weekend, which traditionally includes a performance of (Back Home Again in) Indiana during the pre-race ceremonies.

When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash, then I long for my Indiana home, race fans sing about the state river.

Former Vice President Mike Pence kisses his wife, Karen Pence, as he gives a speech to a small crowd on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 at Columbus Municipal Airport in Columbus, Ind.

Her spokeswoman declined to identify the exact location of the home but said it comes with some land and a pond.

It is not in Mike Pences former congressional district, which is now represented by his brother, Greg Pence.

The two-story house has plenty of room for visits from their three adult children, their spouses, and the first grand baby, who arrived in March. Avery Grace Pence is the daughter of the Pences' oldest child, Michael, a Marine Corps officer.

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Military mom, teacher, pet lover: What to know about Second lady Karen Pence

The Pences kept a house in Columbus, Indiana, when he moved his family to Virginia after being elected to Congress in 2000. After Pence was elected governor in 2012, they sold that house and moved into the governors mansion in Indianapolis.

For the last four years, the Pences lived in the vice presidential residence on the grounds of the Naval Observatory.

Karen Pence said she and her husband are looking forward to spending more time with our large extended family and reconnecting with friends we have known all our lives.

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Mike Pence will have offices in Indianapolis and Washington, D.C., for Advancing American Freedom, an advocacy organization he recently launched to build on the success of the last four years by promoting traditional conservative values and the policies of the Trump administration. The group has run web ads featuring Pence on issues such as border security.

The former vice president is also expected to be active in the 2022 midterm elections, though hasnt said whether he will run for president in 2024.

He made public and private political appearances in South Carolina and Texas this month, even as former President Donald Trump continues to trash talk Pence for not blocking Congress from accepting the 2020 election results.

2024?: Mike Pence looks at the 2024 presidential race but sees Donald Trump everywhere

Upcoming memoir: Former Vice President Mike Pence signs double book deal

Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks to a crowd during an event sponsored by the Palmetto Family organization on April 29, 2021 in Columbia, South Carolina. The address was his first since the end of his vice presidency.

The first of two books hes contracted to write for Simon & Schuster is tentatively scheduled for publication in 2023.

Pence is also a distinguished visiting fellow at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington.

In April, Pence underwent surgery to implant a pacemaker after experiencing symptoms associated with a slow heart rate.

Both Pences have signed on with Worldwide Speakers Group.

Karen Pence, who just completed a 30-year career as an art teacher, is not currently teaching. She hopes to do some writing, along with the speaking engagements, according to a spokeswoman.

Former Vice President Mike Pence and his family join him as he gives remarks to a small crowd on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021 at Columbus Municipal Airport in Columbus, Ind.

When the couple flew to Columbus shortly after attending President Joe Bidens inauguration, Mike Pence appeared to hold back tears and his voice cracked as he thanked supporters and the audio system played (Back Home Again) in Indiana. He said hed promised Karen they would move back to Indiana come this summer.

Now that the promise has been kept, Karen Pence said it truly is great to be `back home again in Indiana.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Former Vice President Mike Pence and his wife, Karen, move back to Indiana
Dartavius Barnes is suing the city of Springfield and the Springfield Police Department for what he says is the desecration of his 2-year-old daughters cremated ashes during a warrantless search.

A man is suing the city of Springfield, Illinois and the Springfield Police Department for what he says was the desecration of his childs ashes.

In April 2020, Dartavius Barnes was pulled over by Springfield police for speeding and was placed in a squad car while officers commenced to searching his vehicle for drugs.

Officers told Barnes they found a small metal container that tested positive for what they believed to be either ecstasy or meth. Bodycam footage captures the horrifying moment when Barnes tells police that the contents of that container were not any illegal drugs, but the ashes of his 2-year-old daughter, TaNaja Barnes.

Dartavius Barnes seated in police car. Screenshot. (WICS)

No, no, no, bro, thats my daughter. What yall doing, bro? Thats my daughter!, Barnes said. He is seen seated and handcuffed in the video published by WICS. Give me that, bro. Thats my daughter. Please give me my daughter, bro. Put her in my hand, bro. Yall are disrespectful, bro.

Read More: Black Army officer held at gunpoint, pepper sprayed by police, lawsuit alleges

In his lawsuit against the city of Springfield, Barnes says that police searched his vehicle without his consent or a warrant and that officers opened the urn without consent and spilled some of the ashes. Barnes is pursuing compensatory and punitive damages and a trial by jury, WICS reports.

The officers identified in the suit are Colton Redding, Brian Riebling, Adam Westlake, Juan Resendez, Nicholas Renfro, and Regan Molohon. They have denied unlawfully obtaining the urn and spilling the ashes, and claim they are entitled to qualified immunity as their conduct was justified by an objectively reasonable belief that it was lawful.

Barnes daughter, two-year-old TaNaja Barnes, was tragically murdered by neglect in 2019. Her mother, Twanka Davis and her mothers boyfriend, Anthony Myers were both convicted for murder charges in 2020. Davis was sentenced to 20 years in prison and Myers was sentenced to 30.

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Read More: Kenneth Walker, Breonna Taylors boyfriend, files federal lawsuit against Louisville police

In the bodycam footage, officers can be seen debating whether to re-test the contents of the urn after Barnes tells them what it is. The agonizing pleas from Barnes and his father, who was also on the scene, are heard from the squad car.

Please bro. That is something that is very important to me, Barnes continued.

The officers decided not to re-test the urn. Toward the end of the video, officers are seen talking to each other about the test results.

That guy knew it wasnt weed. He immediately got out and said it was the ashes of his granddaughter, one officer said, referring to Barnes father. The same officer tells another to ask [Barnes] if he wants it or if he wants his dad to have it.

An exhausted Barnes is seen telling police to return the urn to his father. His lawsuit against the city is set to go to trial in August 22, according to the Washington Post.

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The post Father sues after Illinois police mistake his daughters ashes for drugs appeared first on TheGrio.
After months of investigating campaign spending by former Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen on trips to Disney World and other destinations, the Justice Department has decided not to file any charges against the Miami Republican, her defense attorney said Friday.

Miami attorney Jeff Weiner said the Justice Departments probe of Ros-Lehtinens spending of thousands of dollars from her political action committee on trips with family members before her retirement in 2018 showed she did nothing wrong.

Weiner said he learned from the Justice Departments Public Integrity Section on Thursday that it was closing the case after concluding there was actual political activity going on during these trips involving other politicians and their families. As a result, Ros-Lehtinen did not violate federal election laws that prohibit personal spending of campaign funds, he said.

They kept an open mind and listened to everything I said and everything I gave them, Weiner told the Miami Herald, citing credit card receipts and other financial records. I was able to show them that each event was proper and legitimate.

Before her retirement in early 2018, Ros-Lehtinen was a prominent political figure who served in Congress for 30 years. Her congressional seat was held by Democrat Donna Shalala for two years before she was upset in November by Republican Maria Elvira Salazar.

Ros-Lehtinen and her husband, former U.S. Attorney Dexter Lehtinen, declined to comment Friday when reached by a Miami Herald reporter.

In a statement issued through her attorney, Ros-Lehtinen said she was very pleased ... there was no basis found for charges against me. She thanked her attorney and expressed gratitude to family, friends and supporters who never lost their faith in me.

Asked about the status of the Ros-Lehtinen probe, the Justice Department declined to comment.

The Federal Election Commission also opened a case, but Weiner said he is confident it will be resolved, possibly with no fine. He said that all of the spending in question was reported properly to the FEC.

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News of the Justice Departments closing of the Ros-Lehtinen probe was first reported by CBS4 investigative reporter Jim DeFede in a series of Twitter posts Friday.

After announcing on April 30, 2017, that she would not seek reelection in 2018, Ros-Lehtinen transferred more than $177,000 from her reelection campaign account to IRL PAC, a political action committee that she controlled, according to CBS4. That is a common practice when politicians announce their retirement. Under federal law, none of the campaign funds can be spent on personal use.

The IRL PAC expense reports showed a series of suspicious expenditures, including about $4,000 on the family trip to Disney World in December 2017; more than $10,000 on rooms at the Lotte New York Palace in New York; about $6,000 on rooms and meals at the Ritz-Carlton resort on Amelia Island in northern Florida; and another $28,000 at the W Hotel on South Beach.

Before leaving office, she spent $3,100 at MesaMar, a high-end seafood restaurant in Coral Gables, on New Years Eve in 2018, according to the PACs expense reports.

Ros-Lehtinens campaign spending was first reported by Noah Pransky on the Florida Politics website in June 2019. In turn, the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan watchdog group, filed a complaint in October 2019 against Ros-Lehtinen with the Federal Election Commission.
Getty Images

An ex-Googler said her complaints of harassment were dismissed because it happened out of the office.

Lockdown has blurred the boundaries between the workplace and the home.

Industry experts told Insider businesses must re-examine their policies in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

A female engineer's complaint that Google failed to address her allegations of harassment while working remotely highlights the new challenges posed by boundaries blurring between home and work.

Remote work has become the norm for many white-collar workers since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold last spring.

For all the benefits this may bring, one unforeseen corollary of lockdown has been rising harassment and violence against women, something the United Nations describes as a "shadow pandemic."

One former engineer who worked at Google's Japanese headquarters in Tokyo told Insider that she had complained multiples times of alleged sexual harassment by a male colleague through 2020. The response from the company, she recalled, was to brush off her complaints because the incidents had taken place away from the office, and were therefore a "private matter" - despite company orders to work from home.

Google said it took all allegations of harassment seriously and that its policies prohibit harassment in the workplace. It declined to comment on the specifics of this case.

You can read the woman's full account here.

The woman's testimony highlights a broader issue for employers - ensuring that harassment policies are sufficiently clear in light of COVID-19, and employees stay professional even outside a physical office.

Laura Trendall Morrison, founder of consultancy firm Gamechanger, told Insider the switch to remote work had made "the nature of sexual harassment more insidious."

"With the blurring of the boundary between work and home, it's become more likely that situations may arise where unwanted contact and harassment happens to the victim in their home, via a computer screen or phone - leaving them without any place to feel psychologically safe or have respite from abuse," she said.

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She added: "This can have long term and traumatic impacts psychologically, and I would recommend any allegations of sexual harassment be supported by occupational health services, and victims helped to regain control and restore a sense of safety."

Are you a current or former Googler with more to share? You can contact this reporter securely using the encrypted messaging app Signal (+447801985586) or email (mcoulter@businessinsider.com). Reach out using a nonwork device.

According to a recent report by Open Democracy, stay-at-home orders have "given sexual predators new tools with which to threaten, intimidate, and abuse women."

"While remote working may reduce the numbers of reported cases of physical sexual harassment, sadly, we have seen a rise in reports of sexual harassment in the form of comments or suggestions," said Hannah Strawbridge, founder of HanLaw, an HR and employment law firm.

"We have heard from women who have been asked to dress in a certain way for a Zoom call, for example, or comments made about clothes or physical appearance."

She added: "It seems as though working from home allows some employees to be over-friendly, perhaps feeling relaxed in their own environment, which in itself can cause issues."

Jeanette Wheeler, partner and head of employment at London law firm Birketts LLP, told Insider that "prevention is always better than a cure" when tackling workplace culture issues.

"Employers need to have a policy on harassment in the workplace and on social media and encourage victims to use the grievance procedure to raise concerns or complaints," she said. "When these are received take them seriously, investigate promptly and take any necessary disciplinary action and other appropriate steps to prevent a recurrence.

"Most importantly, foster and encourage a culture of respect and inclusivity from the top."

Read the original article on Business Insider
NEW YORK (AP)  Monifa Bandele became a community organizer in the late 1990s, after New York City police fatally shot a young, unarmed Black immigrant named Amadou Diallo in the Bronx.

In the two decades since, she repeatedly witnessed police reforms that failed to stop Black people from dying at the hands of officers. Some of those reforms are now part of federal legislation being negotiated in the name of George Floyd, the Black man whose murder under the knee of a white Minneapolis officer last year sparked worldwide protests.

For instance, the legislation calls for banning chokeholds, a step already taken by New York City prior to the 2014 death of Eric Garner, who in an encounter with the NYPD uttered the same last words as Floyd: I cant breathe.

As the anniversary of Floyds death approaches, some reform supporters say the best way to honor him would be for Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act. But many activists warn that some of the proposed reforms have not been enough to stop past police abuses, reflecting a divide within the movement over what would constitute real progress.

What weve come to realize over the past decades is that police departments, with their oversized budgets and their outsized political power, are able to rise above reformist policies, said Bandele, an organizer with the Movement for Black Lives, a coalition of over 150 Black-led advocacy organizations that opposes the Floyd legislation because it does not hit hard enough at systemic racism.

The bill also includes prohibitions on no-knock police raids like the one in Louisville, Kentucky, that killed Breonna Taylor, a young Black front-line worker. It would create a national registry for officers who are disciplined for serious misconduct, among other proposals.

Although Bandele thinks the bill is well-meaning, now is not the time to settle for the same old ideas, she said.

Our duty is that we have to make a bigger demand, she said.

Story continues

In Congress, hopes of passing a package by the May 25 anniversary have faded as negotiations between the House and Senate grind on. But top negotiator Rep. Karen Bass, a California Democrat, said she remains hopeful of an eventual compromise.

The House approved the sweeping police overhaul earlier this year, but it faces stiff resistance from Republicans in the closely divided Senate. Republican Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina has a more modest alternative, and the parties have been engaged in long, private negotiations over a potential compromise.

It is more important that we get it right, and that we have a substantive bill, versus do something ceremonial because of the date, Bass told reporters Wednesday on Capitol Hill.

One key debate has been whether to allow individual police officers to be sued over their actions, changing the so-called qualified immunity protections for law enforcement. Republicans largely object to that approach and prefer to hold the officers employers responsible.

One top Democrat, Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina, the highest-ranking Black lawmaker in Congress, has suggested he would be open to a compromise, and Bass said she agreed with his broader point that its not worth walking away from a deal if Democrats cannot include every priority.

I also agree that the day that President Biden signs this bill, the next day, we keep working, Bass said. Because this bill, I think, will be significant. But in no way, shape or form do I think its going to be enough.

Police have killed roughly 1,000 people in the U.S. each year since 2015, and a disproportionate number of the victims have been Black. Studies of criminal justice data show Black Americans are far more likely than white Americans to be pulled over by police and are as much as three times more likely to be searched.

Black men were about 2.5 times more likely than white men to be killed by police between 2013 and 2018, according to a 2019 study published by the National Academy of Sciences. Black women were 1.4 more times likely than white women to be killed by police, according to the same study.

A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows most Americans think big changes are necessary to reform the criminal justice system. Overall, 25% think it needs a complete overhaul, while another 43% think it needs major changes. Twenty-seven percent think it needs minor changes, while just 4% think no changes are needed.

The poll finds a majority of Americans support specific reforms such as requiring officers to wear body cameras, establishing clear standards for use of force, mandating that officers report misconduct, penalizing officers who engage in racially biased policing and requiring that law enforcement agencies have independent review boards.

A majority  58%  say they also oppose reducing funding for law enforcement agencies.

The level of support for reform varies along racial and party lines. The poll shows majorities of Black, white, Hispanic and Asian Americans think major changes or an overhaul are needed, though Black Americans are especially likely to call for the most drastic changes, with 48% saying a complete overhaul is needed and another 36% saying the justice system needs major changes.

By comparison, among white Americans, 20% think the system needs a complete overhaul, 44% think it needs major changes and 32% think it needs minor changes, with 3% saying no changes are needed.

Close to 9 in 10 Democrats think the justice system needs either major changes or a complete overhaul. Republicans are more likely to say only modest reform is necessary, with 13% saying an overhaul is needed and 32% wanting major changes, but 47% saying only minor changes are needed and 7% saying none are.

Jim Burch, president of the nonpartisan National Police Foundation, which supports the advancement and reform of policing through science and innovation, said he is encouraged by the focus on policing reforms at the federal level.

The legislation named after Floyd offers many worthy proposals, as well as some requiring further analysis and clarity in order to make a positive impact in the manner intended, Burch said in an email.

Last July, the Movement for Black Lives sought support in Congress for its BREATHE Act, which would, among other proposals, eliminate the Drug Enforcement Administration and ban the use of surveillance technology on communities that activists say are over-policed.

Its not that we want less safety. We are often criticized when we say defund (the police) or when we promote the BREATHE Act. We actually want more safety than the police can deliver, Bandele said.

Selwyn Jones, an uncle of George Floyd on his mother's side of the family, told the AP that he was disappointed that Congress would not pass the Floyd legislation next week.

We don't live in a perfect world, he said Friday. We, as Black people, have been fighting a battle for 400 years."

___

Swanson reported from Washington. Associated Press Writer Lisa Mascaro in Washington also contributed to this report.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,842 adults was conducted April 29-May 3 using a sample drawn from NORCs probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

___

Morrison is a member of the APs Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi and Dan Williams

GAZA/JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Egyptian mediators sought to reinforce a day-old ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants on Saturday, and aid officials appealed for a period of calm to start tackling a humanitarian crisis in Gaza after 11 days of fighting.

The ceasefire, which began before dawn on Friday, was still holding on Saturday evening, enabling officials to start assessing the scale of the damage.

Despite confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters at a Jerusalem holy site on Friday, there were no reports of Hamas rocket launches from Gaza or Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave overnight or on Saturday.

Rockets fired by Hamas and other Islamist militant groups paralysed towns in southern Israel during the hostilities, and caused widespread panic, but did much less damage than the bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian officials put reconstruction costs at tens of millions of dollars in Gaza, where medical officials said 248 people were killed in the fighting.

A senior U.N. official who toured the densely populated coastal enclave on Saturday warned of increased health risks and widespread despair after homes, roads and other vital infrastructure including hospitals were damaged or destroyed.

"Everybody just needs to stand down and not to engage in any provocative moves," Lynn Hastings, U.N. Humanitarian Coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said in a rubble-strewn area of Gaza City where she spoke to survivors.

Economists said Israel's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic could be curbed by the hostilities and medics said rocket attacks had killed 13 people in Israel before the ceasefire.

After mediating the ceasefire with U.S. support, Egypt sent a delegation to Israel on Friday to discuss ways of firming up the truce, including with aid for Palestinians in Gaza, Hamas officials told Reuters.

The delegates have since been shuttling between Israel and Gaza, and on Saturday met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, an aide to the Palestinian leader said.

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A source familiar with planning said U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken would visit Israel and the West Bank on Wednesday and Thursday, hoping to build on the ceasefire. Mahmoud, however, has little influence in Gaza, which is ruled by Hamas.

U.S. President Joe Biden said on Thursday that Washington would work with the United Nations on bringing humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to Gaza, with safeguards against funds being used to arm Hamas, which the West deems a terrorist group.

The United Nations Security Council on Saturday called for "the full adherence" to the ceasefire and stressed the immediate need for humanitarian aid for Palestinian civilians.

The 15-member council issued a statement, which had to be agreed by consensus, after being unable to speak during the 11-day conflict due to opposition by the United States.

Israel's foreign ministry said in response it was "very unfortunate" that the Security Council "ignored the launching of over 4,000 rockets at Israeli civilians from populated areas in Gaza".

Seeking to build on the truce, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Saturday urged Israel and the Palestinians to return to meaningful negotiations towards a two-state solution, which have been deadlocked for years.

"The EU cannot be expected to finance yet again the re-building of Gaza without a meaningful prospect of actually solving the underlying conflict," Borrell wrote in a blog post.

HUMANITARIAN CONCERN

After her tour in Gaza, the U.N.'s Hastings voiced confidence that existing aid mechanisms in Gaza would "make sure that assistance does not fall into the hands that is not intended to be directed towards".

Gaza has for years been subjected to an Israeli blockade that restricts the passage of people and goods, as well as restrictions by Egypt.

Both countries cite concerns about weapons reaching Hamas. Palestinians say the restrictions amount to collective punishment of Gaza's 2 million population.

Hastings said she was worried by people being crammed together into crowded accommodation more than ever following the destruction of many residential buildings.

"During COVID it was bad enough here, there was a massive spike in cases right before the escalation. Now people are sheltering together," she said.

Israel says its air strikes were a response to Hamas firing rockets at Israeli cities on May 10, following Israeli police raids on a holy compound in East Jerusalem and clashes with Palestinians during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

"If we come out of this operation with an extended period of peace and quiet, that's good for Israel's civilians and that's good for Palestinians in Gaza too," said Mark Regev, a senior adviser to Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gabi Ashkenazi said later on Saturday he would meet soon with his Egyptian counterpart, Sameh Shoukry, after they spoke on Friday.

"I emphasized to him that any future arrangement would have to include guarantees regarding security issues and policy principles," Ashkenazi said on his Twitter page, adding that these included "stopping Hamas' armament".

(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols in New York, Sabine Siebold in Berlin and Jonathan Saul in Jerusalem, Writing by Dan Williams; Editing by Timothy Heritage and Nick Macfie)
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp listens to a question during a news conference at the State Capitol on Saturday, April 3, 2021, in Atlanta, about Major League Baseball's decision to pull the 2021 All-Star Game from Atlanta over the league's objection to a new Georgia voting law. AP Photo/Brynn Anderson

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp wants schools to stop teaching critical race theory in classrooms.

"This divisive, anti-American agenda has no place in Georgia classrooms," Kemp said.

His remarks are the latest in a push by Republican lawmakers to curtail the teaching of critical race theory.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Thursday called for all public schools in the state to stop teaching critical race theory.

In a letter dated May 20, Kemp urged the Georgia State Board of Education "to take immediate steps to ensure that Critical Race Theory and its dangerous ideology do not take root in our state standards or curriculum."

"This divisive, anti-American agenda has no place in Georgia classrooms," Kemp tweeted.

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He said in his letter that he wants Georgia schools to "focus on our goal of providing the highest quality education to every child in Georgia, without partisan bias or political influence."

"Education in Georgia should reflect our fundamental values as a state and nation - freedom, equality, and the God-given potential of each individual," he continued in his letter.

Kemp's letter marks the latest push by Republican lawmakers to limit the study of critical race theory in the country.

Last month, Sen. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell urged Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to encourage public schools to strip from their curricula projects that he claims promote "revisionism" of US history.

In a letter dated April 29, McConnell and 38 other Senate Republicans specifically referenced the New York Times' 1619 Project, created to mark the date enslaved Africans were forcibly brought to American soil. The project's goal to is place "the consequences of slavery and the contributions of black Americans at the very center of our national narrative."

McConnell said the 1619 Project and other programs strive to "reorient" US history "away from their intended purposes toward a politicized and divisive agenda."

Story continues

"Actual, trained, credentialed historians with diverse political views have debunked the project's many factual and historical errors, such as the bizarre and inaccurate notion that preserving slavery was a primary driver of the American Revolution," the letter says.

Some states have begun to implement the project in their curriculum. But the Education Department has not directly told public schools to use or incorporate it. Usually, school curriculum falls at the discretion of state governments rather than any federal agency.

But under President Joe Biden, the Education Department has floated the possibility of offering grants to schools that include the 1619 Project and similar materials in their learning plans.

Read the original article on Business Insider
About 2 a.m. Saturday, two men were standing outside in the 4000 block of West Wilcox Street when someone approached on foot and opened fire. A 24-year-old man was shot in the head, neck, chest and leg, and was taken to Loretto Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The other man, 28, suffered wounds to the chest, torso and arm, and was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he also was pronounced dead, police said.
Maybe we can help with that.

Those six words uttered by president-elect Mary Briggs at a meeting last week of the Rotary Club of Hilton Head Island might have been easy to overlook. They certainly were for high school senior Lupita Gomez, who was attending the meeting as the recipient of a college scholarship.

Unbeknownst to the 18-year-old, a flurry of texts was bouncing among the members in the room and those following along on Zoom.

Gomez had attended the meeting to talk about her plans to attend the University of South Carolina Honors College in Columbia with a major in international business and a minor in French. She told them she dreams of working at the United Nations.

The group awarded her a $16,000 college scholarship  $4,000 each year for four years as long as she keeps up her grades. Academics werent the only consideration. The teen is involved in NJROTC and the schools crew team. She volunteers at The Literacy Center and works 25-30 hours a week at Starbucks to help her family financially.

Behind the scenes

It was Gomezs mention of playing viola in Hilton Head Island Highs Honors Orchestra that started Rotary members texting. The teen, who began playing the instrument in sixth grade, said she would not be able to continue in college. She rents a viola from the school and would be giving it back when she graduates.

How much would a viola cost? one member texted another. More than one person could afford, they decided. But more texts went out, and the donations started rolling in.

Before the lunchtime meeting was over, Briggs had $750 in cash and pledges.

Next was a call to Lizhou Liu, principal viola with the Hilton Head Symphony Orchestra and the Savannah Philharmonic. He also owns BWL Music String Instruments in Savannah.

Gomez needed a small instrument; a 15-inch viola is a rare size to have on hand, Liu said. But he happened to have one in his shop and would sell it for $950, case and bow included.

A few hours later, a few more calls made, and the rest of the money was raised. The deal was done.

Story continues

Surprise gift

More than a dozen Rotary members gathered outside Starbucks in Sea Turtle Marketplace on Friday morning to surprise Gomez with the viola.

Employees at the coffee shop saw the group gathering and thought they were about to have a rush of customers. Then Gomez noticed familiar faces, ones shed seen at the Rotary meeting.

Starbucks manager Jennifer Fraley was in on the surprise. Shes just so even-keel, Fraley said, very humble. ... a very nice young woman.

The teens parents, Lupe and Cenon Gomez, were there, too. Their daughter will be the first in the family to go to college.

Im so excited, Lupita Gomez said after she was presented the viola. I cant believe it. Im sure Ill go home, and Ill be like, What just happened? ... Ill keep this throughout my whole life.
Hungary's Roma community has been largely left out of the country's aggressive Covid-19 immunisation rollout and has been forced to fend for itself, leaders of the poverty-stricken minority say.

"No one else is looking after us, so we have to do it ourselves," said Jozsef Radics, 53, one of the organisers of the "Vaccines for Life!" campaign that aims to sign up Roma living in isolated communities for jabs.

Greeting local residents as they enter a ramshackle yard on the edge of Kistarcsa, a small town east of Budapest, Radics explains the registration process, sets up email addresses if needed and inputs their data into an official database.

"These people are disadvantaged in many ways, including lacking information and access to the internet, which makes them particularly vulnerable to the virus," the Roma activist told AFP.

- Anti-vaccine sentiment -

Often blamed for petty crime, the Roma -- who make up around seven percent of Hungary's population of 9.8 million -- face widespread poverty and exclusion from mainstream Hungarian society and sometimes racially-motivated violence.

Many live in one of around 1,300 mostly-Roma settlements on the edge of villages and towns like Kistarcsa that house approximately 200,000 people, according to official data.

Radics told AFP that some 13,500 settlement dwellers have registered for the jab so far thanks to the campaign.

"There's a long way to go. We look for local leaders in each community to continue the project once we leave to go to another settlement," he said.

The campaign also produced videos made for sharing on social media that feature Roma celebrities like rappers to appeal to younger age-groups, as well as singers who are trusted by older people.

"The government's vaccination promotion billboards only feature white faces, so the videos provide strong Roma voices to counter the anti-vaccination voices that are common in places like this," Radics said.

Story continues

Trained by health workers, the activists are armed with answers to typical questions about the side-effects and effectiveness of jabs, as well as how to deal with aggressive anti-vaccine sentiment.

"We don't try to convince anyone, just to give them information," said Radics's activist colleague Fruzsina Balogh, adding that conspiracy theories around vaccines have deterred many Roma.

A Covid-19-themed Egyptian hieroglyphic-style meme that "went viral" and was also widely shared in Roma communities claimed that the jab brainwashed people into becoming "slaves".

Another widely-circulated rumour claimed that vaccines are a plot by US tech billionaire Bill Gates to implant chips in brains, according to Balogh.

"Willingness to get vaccinated is much higher in settlements where the death rate was higher," she said.

- 'We exist' -

Although statistics on Covid-19-related deaths in the settlements are not available, a virus outbreak in a Roma area can spread quickly, Balogh said.

"In many houses there are no public utilities, even water, so people are forced to share a communal facility," she said, pointing to a blue pump at the end of a dusty unpaved street in Kistarcsa.

"Many families with three or four children also live in cramped houses. If someone gets infected it is impossible to separate them, so everyone gets sick," said Balogh, 27, who lost her 28-year-old ex-partner to Covid-19 last year.

With more than 4.8 million Hungarians already having received a first vaccine dose, Prime Minister Viktor Orban's government began relaxing restrictions last month.

But access to many businesses and workplaces now hinges on showing proof of vaccination.

Hungarian officials did not respond to an AFP request on whether the government had any plans to encourage Roma to get vaccinated, or state support specifically aimed at helping the Roma community during the pandemic.

"I want to get the vaccine to find a job more easily and to get back my freedom, for example to take my children to an ice cream shop," Adrienn Tejfel, a 36-year-old mother, told AFP after registering in Kistarcsa.

While packing up on a recent day before moving on to another town, Radics told AFP that his team would help non-Roma register too if needed, but that the campaign at least aims to show "the rest of society that we exist".

pmu/jza/jz
Bipartisan negotiations on infrastructure hit a new snag Friday after Republicans flatly rejected a counterproposal on the multi-trillion dollar bill advanced by the White House.

The White House's $1.7 trillion dollar offer on Friday was a pared down version of President Joe Bidens American Jobs Plan, initially valued at $2.2 trillion.

Within moments of receiving the deal, Republican aides rejected it, telling ABC News that the price tag is too high for the GOP to stomach.

A spokesperson for West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, who is leading the Republican effort to strike a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure, said in a statement Friday that the Biden package is  well above the range of what can pass Congress with bipartisan support.

PHOTO: Sen. Shelley Moore Capito asks questions during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee hearing to examine the FY 2022 budget request for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Washington, D.C. May 19, 2021. (Greg Nash/Pool via Reuters)

There continue to be vast differences between the White House and Senate Republicans when it comes to the definition of infrastructure, the magnitude of proposed spending and how to pay for it, said Kelley Moore, a spokesperson for Capito.

MORE: Republicans optimistic they can strike a deal on infrastructure

In a press briefing Friday, White House press secretary Jen Psaki touted the new White House figure as a solid compromise on the part of the administration.

"This is the act, the art I should say, of seeking common ground," Psaki told ABC News Senior White House Correspondent Mary Bruce. "This proposal exhibits a willingness to come down in size, giving on some areas that are important to the president."

PHOTO:White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki speaks during a daily press briefing at the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, May 21, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates put out a statement Saturday echoing that sentiment.

"The President put forward a reasonable offer in the interest of finding bipartisan common ground that includes critical investments in our infrastructure to create middle-class jobs and strengthen our competitiveness in the world, as well as cuts to his original proposal and a way to pay for it. The ball is now in their court to respond with a good faith counter-offer," the statement said.

Story continues

According to a copy of the White House proposal obtained by ABC News Friday, the White House shaved $550 billion off its initial proposal by dropping funds for manufacturing, research and development, and also cutting spending for broadband expansion and roads, bridges and traditional infrastructure.

But its hardly enough to satiate Republicans, who hoped Biden would adopt a more narrow view of what defines infrastructure in this new offer. Bidens counterproposal insists on keeping funds for items the White House refers to as human infrastructure, like funding for home care and child care, which Republicans have always rejected.

The White House argues in the offer letter that because they are willing to drop research and innovation funding, Republicans ought to let them keep care initiatives.

"Because the president is taking off the table for purposes of these negotiations a significant category of investment that you have argued is not infrastructure, he believes fairness dictates that you consider investments in areas that he believes are vital but are not currently included in your roadmap," the proposal says.

Negotiations over how to fund the massive package also remain stuck.

Biden proposed funding his robust infrastructure plan by hiking the corporate tax rate, a non-starter for Republicans who see this as a referendum on the 2017 Trump tax bill, which some consider the most significant legislative achievement of the former president's tenure.

"We're not interested in reopening the 2017 tax bill. We both made that clear to the president," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said following a meeting at the White House between Biden and the four Congressional leaders last week. "That is a red line."

In an offer to the White House presented earlier this week, Republicans proposed funding the bill in part with user fees, like tolls, that ask those utilizing new infrastructure projects to help foot the bill.

The White House offer on Friday rejected that idea, claiming such taxes would increase the burden on working Americans.

MORE: Republicans unveil $568 billion counteroffer to Biden's infrastructure plan

"Our approach should ensure that corporations are paying their fair share," the White House offer says.

However, it did not specify whether Biden is open to a 25% corporate tax rate, as he has suggested in the past, or whether he is still pulling for his original offer of 28%.

Republicans were optimistic after a meeting with Biden last week, but with a Memorial Day deadline set by Biden, they'll advance into their final week of the legislative session on seemingly more uneven ground than ever before.

Based on todays meeting, the groups seem further apart after two meetings with White House staff than they were after one meeting with President Biden, Capitos spokesperson said.

With optimism waning after Fridays White House offer, Democrats could soon attempt efforts to go it alone, using a procedural tool called reconciliation that would allow them to bypass the 60-vote threshold normally needed to pass legislation in the Senate.

But moving legislation this way requires unanimous support of all 50 Democratic Senators in the evenly divided Senate, and its not clear at this point that Biden would have that on a package that includes human infrastructure.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin has said he supports a smaller, more narrowly tailored package, not unlike the one that Republicans initially proposed. McConnell has predicted that a large package wouldnt see a single Republican vote.

For Biden, who often touted his ability to bring Republicans and Democrats together on the campaign trail, going forward without Republican support could cost him political capital.

At an ABC News town hall in October, Biden said, Theres going to be, I promise you, between four and eight Republican senators who are going to be willing to move on things where theres bipartisan consensus."

ABC News' Molly Nagle contributed to this report.

Infrastructure negotiations snagged again as Republicans reject Biden's counterproposal originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Israel's Iron Dome missile defence system intercepts rockets fired by Hamas on May 16, 2012, in Gaza.

Our puppy ran in circles, barking and shaking, my teenagers woke suddenly, calling us in frantic voices to the shelter, my husband ensured we're all inside, bolting and sealing our heavy bomb-proof door. Hamas was back on the rampage, indiscriminately blasting rockets and missiles aimed at Israeli civilians in the middle of the night.

Thankfully, Israel and Hamas agreed on a cease fire Thursday. But its scary, and heartbreaking to see my kids going through these last several days as if its normal. But its also heartbreaking for me to watch misinformation spread on social media, and entertainers promoting anti-Semitism.

I'm not ashamed to say how proud I am of Israel, which is about 21% Arab, according to the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics. The diverse Jewish state has mosques, churches, temples, shrines and other safe religious places of worship. The Israel citizenry I know and love is a colorful mosaic of Druze, Bedouin, Christian, Muslim, Jewish and many other religions. Neither race, religion, sexuality, gender, nor skin color disqualifies you from being a Knesset member, prime minister, Supreme Court justice, Olympic athlete, tech founder, or anything else.

USA TODAY Our View: Israel-Gaza violence again shows Middle East conflict not just a real-estate dispute

In 135 A.D., after crushing the Jewish Bar Kokhba revolt, the Romans sought to punish the Jews and strip us of our heritage and revived the name "Palaestina" to describe Judea. Theft of this name is a grave cultural appropriation and historical manipulation that we continue to see today as the terrorist group in charge in Gaza attempts to erase and bury the indigenous Jewish connection to the land of Israel, and our rich and ancient history here.

Israelis want to live without fear

Today, many people are not only afraid to openly support Israel, but also to admit they are Jewish. Physical attacks and anti-Semitic acts by pro-Palestine supporters on Jews across Europe and the United States this past week are ignored.

Story continues

Miriam Lottner with her puppy Caramel in the family bomb shelter in the south of Israel in May 2021.

In 2021, even Jews and Israelis should have the right to live without persecution. This persecution is clearly stated in Hamas's charter, which calls explicitly for the eradication of the state of Israel and the murder of all Jews. Hamas proudly chants their genocidal views from the rooftops.

It may seem innocuous when Palestine supporters chant "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free, if you dont understand Israels geography. In fact, "from the river to the sea" encompasses the entire geographical area of modern Israel and would wipe the country from the map.

Let me be clear, there is suffering in Gaza, especially under the brutal dictatorship of Hamas. No doubt, there is suffering from Israeli retaliation, too. For this, no Israeli rejoices.

But faced with Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip with an iron fist, killing political opponents, persecuting and torturing gay men and women, repressing womens rights, enslaving children with forced labor, and stealing humanitarian aid, Israel is blackmailed into self-defense. Annihilated if we don't defend ourselves, and damned by the world when we do.

Hamas endangers lives in Gaza

Israel takes extraordinary efforts to minimize civilian casualties including by warning targets. But there will be casualties whenever Hamas attacks and forces their own people to serve as human shields.

Sitting in the shelter, I wait for the explosions that follow the firing of each missile directed at our homes. I look at my girls and know that for their sake, I'll remain an ally and advocate for freedom, women's rights, gay rights, religious freedoms, and cultural, and racial understanding for everyone  no matter what religion and where they dwell.

Torah and cheesecake: Why Israelis can still celebrate even as missiles rain down

But mostly for my girls, Ill speak up for the truth, for their right to live as Jews. When others plan and promote our annihilation, refusing our rights to self-defense, denying our culture, stealing our heritage, and our history, we cant be silent. Please, find another solution where the annihilation of Israel isn't the only way to help people in Gaza get out from under the terrorism inflicted by Hamas.

Miriam Lottner's puppy, Caramel, inside the family bomb shelter in the south of Israel in May 2021.

That steady booms and drum of war tells me the Iron Dome has miraculously worked again. Each night we trudge back to our beds from the bomb shelter, hopeful that when we wake up tomorrow, the world will awaken with the conviction that Jews not only have a right to exist, but to defend ourselves, and continue to thrive and innovate on this tiny slice of land we've always called home.

Miriam Lottner grew up in Southern California and is a 25 year veteran of the Israeli technology scene. She lives in the south of Israel.

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion 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: Israel-Hamas conflict: Jews have a right to exist, defend ourselves
Israeli Prime Minister BenjaminA Netanyahu arrives at the Likud party headquarters in Tel Aviv - AMMAR AWAD /REUTERS

Israel's prime minister is heading for a fifth election with a significant boost to his credibility in the wake of the Gaza conflict, even as his rivals plot behind the scenes to remove him from power.

Benjamin Netanyahu, who just a fortnight ago was set to be dethroned by a former right-wing protege, has stepped back into his "Mr Security" persona after 11 days of intense fighting with Hamas.

Meanwhile, his rivals' hopes of cobbling together enough support for a wafer-thin majority of 61 seats in the Knesset, the Israeli parliament, have crumbled.

Naftali Bennett, a former Likud minister who has long sought to step out of Mr Netanyahu's shadow, abruptly scrapped plans to become the head of a new "change" government last week.

Palestinians at Bait Hanoun city northern the Gaza Strip checking their destroyed house - Mahmoud Khattab /Zuma Press / eyevine

A boy plays with toy gun in Gaza - MEGA/MEGA

Other senior members of the so-called "anti-Netanyahu" coalition, such as Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid, have vowed to continue talks on forming a government despite the loss of Mr Bennett.

Mr Lapid has even suggested that Mr Netanyahu may have engineered the Gaza conflict in a desperate bid to keep himself in power.

"If we had a government, security considerations would not be mixed with political considerations," he claimed in a post on Facebook. "No one would ask themselves why the fire always breaks out just when it's most convenient for the prime minister."

With coalition talks in turmoil, and few indications that the anti-Netanyahu faction can survive without Mr Bennett, Israel is now facing yet another election, the fifth in just two and a half years.

The timing of the conflict could not have been more auspicious for Mr Netanyahu, who is also facing an ongoing trial on corruption charges that he strongly denies.

Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and Naftali Bennett - ATEF SAFADI/REX

A former special forces commando, the 71-year-old has spent decades cultivating an image of himself as the only leader capable of defending Israel from its arch-enemies.

They include, in addition to Hamas in Gaza, the Islamic Republic which has faced accusations of funding the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

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And in the north, Israel has come under attack three times in the past week from Palestinian militants in southern Lebanon who have fired rockets at Israeli towns.

Israel is also facing severe security issues within its own borders, after Jewish and Arab mobs torched each other's schools, cars businesses across Israeli cities last week.

Some of the worst violence occurred in the central city of Lod, where a Jewish man was killed after a group of Arabs hurled a brick at his head. An Arab man was also shot dead by a Jewish assailant.
Supporters of Israel protest in New York City's Times Square - Spencer Platt /Getty Images North America

Joe Biden's hopes of reviving the Iran nuclear deal face mounting opposition in the wake of violence in Gaza as Republicans demanded no relaxation of sanctions on Tehran due to its support for Hamas.

Indirect negotiations between the US and Iran have been going on in Vienna since early April with European diplomats acting as intermediaries.

One US official said the latest round of talks were "positive and we saw meaningful progress" although "important differences remain which still need to be addressed."

A senior European diplomat added: "We have made tangible progress. Both on the nuclear side and on the sanctions side, we are now beginning to see the contours of what the final deal could look like. However, success is not guaranteed."

Vienna - Anadolu

Sanctions on Iran

Republicans in Washington turned up the heat on Mr Biden, particularly pressuring him not to ease sanctions on the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) and the National Iranian Oil Company.

Tom Cotton, a Republican senator, said: "Will Joe Biden pressure Iran to stop funding the terrorists attacking Israel?"

Amid the growing calls from Republicans in the last week senator Ted Cruz said: "Irans tyrannical and evil regime continues to finance and export terror, endangering our national security and the security of our allies.

"The United States and our allies cannot afford another catastrophic Obama-Biden Iran nuclear deal."

In a recent letter to Mr Biden more than 40 Republican senators, led by Marco Rubio, called on him to immediately end the negotiations in Vienna and make clear that sanctions would not be lifted.

They wrote it was "troubling" that a US delegation was in Vienna for the talks involving the "world's leading state sponsor of terrorism."

Rubio - Reuters

New Iranian drone

Meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corp (IRGC) unveiled a new combat drone dubbed "Gaza" capable of carrying 13 bombs while flying at over 35,000ft for 20 hours.

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The force's official website reported the move hours after a ceasefire took effect.

Tehran said Palestinians had won a "historic victory" and Israel could expect "deadly blows" after the 11-day Gaza conflict.

Drone - Shutterstock

Republican pressure

The 2015 Iran nuclear deal - known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action [JCPOA] and intended to keep Tehran from developing an atomic bomb - imploded after Donald Trump pulled the US out.

Under Mr Trump's subsequent "maximum pressure" campaign sanctions were imposed on hundreds of entities and people, crippling Iran's economy.

Dropping sanctions would leave Mr Biden open to accusations of being soft on terrorism.

Mike Pompeo, Mr Trump's former secretary of state, has called dropping sanctions "immoral".

Elliott Abrams, who served as Mr Trump' special representative for Iran, said: "What I would find particularly objectionable is any move that would change the sanctioning of the IRGC for terrorist activities. Because the IRGC engages in terrorist activities. It is a clear case.

"Those were legally and morally sufficient and justifiable designations. They were not pulled out of thin air."

Trump - AP

National security

A senior official in the Biden administration said it does not plan to suggest that those sanctioned by his predecessor were not supporting terrorism.

Instead, a case will be made that restarting the nuclear deal is a national security priority which overrides the sanctions.

Henry Rome, an analyst at Eurasia Group, said that would be a "tough needle to thread".

He said: "The political heat [on Mr Biden] is going to be quite intense."
May 22A lawsuit involving the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department reached a turning point Friday when a judge agreed to release records the defendant argues are essential to her case.

The lawsuit is tied to a case involving four children who became the subject of a nationwide search after the state returned them to their allegedly abusive parents, Andrei Ducila and Luiza Badea.

The family disappeared last spring, and the Hobbs couple were suspected of leaving one of their children  a girl around 2 years old  at a hospital in North Carolina with head injuries that left her permanently blind. The U.S. Marshals Office located the couple and three of their children in Houston in the fall.

In October 2020, CYFD sued Jill Jones, who was the foster parent of two of the children, after she posted a censored photo of her and the youngest child on her Facebook page and criticized CYFD for its handling of the case.

The agency argued Jones released confidential information in her Facebook posts and violated her memorandum of agreement. It also revoked her foster parent license.

Jones, who fostered 10 children over 11 years, filed a countersuit arguing CYFD violated her First Amendment rights and the Whistleblower Protection Act by retaliating against her.

The countersuit, which was made public after a judge denied CYFD's request to keep it sealed, asked the court to release nearly 500 pages of records related to the state's involvement in the children's disappearance. CYFD argued such a move would violate its confidentiality rules.

In a hearing Friday morning before state District Judge Kathleen McGarry, Jones' attorneys argued releasing the records is vital to moving the case forward. Not all of the records need to be made public, but they should be shared with the defendant, they argued.

McGarry said she would examine the documents and decide which should remain sealed and which could be released to Jones under a confidentiality order.

"As a broader viewpoint, this is a very important case for the public because the way that the court comes down on CYFD's claim will have important implications for what information the public is allowed to see with them," said Matt Beck, one of Jones' attorneys.

CYFD spokesman Charlie Moore-Pabst said: "Our primary objective or goal is to adjudicate this properly. Whatever the judge decides to do, we'll go along with."
Jabari Johnson, of the 2100 block of South Michigan Avenue, was charged with murder for the deadly shooting of a man his same age in the 600 block of West 31st Street in the Bridgeport neighborhood on May 7, police said.
LOS ANGELES -- Health officials say the most common COVID-19 variant of concern circulating in Los Angeles County is now a variant discovered in the U.K.

Previously, two California variants were dominant, but in the past week 53% of 40 specimens analyzed by a public health laboratory were the U.K. variant and none were California variants, the county Department of Public Health said Saturday. Variants discovered in Brazil and South Africa also were detected.

The department says the findings highlight the need for continuing precautions, especially by those who are not vaccinated against COVID-19. It says research shows that the available vaccines are highly effective against the variants circulating in the county.

Once staggering under COVID-19, the county of 10 million residents on Saturday reported 14 new deaths and 265 new cases. There were 330 people hospitalized and 24% were in intensive care units. Statewide, more than 36 million doses of vaccine have been administered and 16.5 million people are fully vaccinated.

California is planning to reopen on June 15, no longer requiring social distancing and allowing full capacity for businesses.

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MORE ON THE VIRUS OUTBREAK:

 Climbing guide says at least 100 virus cases on Everest

 New vibe at White House: Hugs are in; masks are (mostly) out

 EXPLAINER: Why worlds pharmacy India is short on shots

 Alabama city throws Tardy Gras parade as virus cases ebb

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Follow more of APs pandemic coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-pandemic and https://apnews.com/hub/coronavirus-vaccine

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HERE'S WHAT ELSE IS HAPPENING:

NEW YORK  New coronavirus cases in the U.S. have decreased to rates not seen since June.

Its sparking optimism that vaccination campaigns are stemming both severe COVID-19 cases and the spread of the virus.

The seven-day average for new cases dropped below 30,000 per day this week. CDC director Rochelle Walensky says cases havent been this low since June 18.

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The average number of deaths over the last seven days also dropped to 552, a rate not seen since July.

Health experts credit the rollout of vaccines to a dramatic turnaround since January. But they also caution that not enough Americans have been vaccinated to completely extinguish the virus. President Joe Biden is trying to convince people to sign up for shots by reminding them that vaccines offer a return to normal life.

More than 60% of people over 18 have received at least one shot, and almost half are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Alabamas vaccination rate  34% of people have received at least one dose  is one of the lowest in the country. Health experts are concerned some areas with low vaccination rates, such as a swath of Southern states, could give rise to new virus variants that may be more resistant to vaccinations.

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WASHINGTON  Standardized tests are returning to the nations schools, but with lower stakes and an option to opt out for many families.

States are adopting a patchwork of testing plans after the Biden administration offered new flexibility during the pandemic. Some are shortening tests or delaying them, and many are lowering the stakes.

Officials in some states say tests are the last thing students need right now, but the Biden administration ordered tests to resume to assess the impact of the pandemic.

Some testing supporters are frustrated by the scattered approach, saying it will make it difficult to get a clear national picture of learning setbacks.

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THE HAGUE, Netherlands  Dutch high schools will be allowed to fully reopen starting May 31 as coronavirus infections decline in the Netherlands.

After months of closure, students started going to class for one day a week from March 1. The government on Saturday announced a full return to school with infection rates and hospitalizations dropping sharply over the last two weeks.

Students wont have to observe social distancing but must administer self-tests twice a week and keep a safe distance from school staff.

Education Minister Aire Slob paid tribute to schools for setting up remote learning but added, nothing beats lessons at school.

With the countrys vaccination campaign gathering pace, the seven-day rolling average of daily cases in Netherlands decreased in the past two weeks from 41 to 25 per 100,000 people.

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BUDAPEST  People in Hungary are no longer required to wear masks in public areas after 5 million people received at least a first dose of vaccine.

Prime Minister Viktor Orban announced Saturday the latest round of lifted restrictions includes the end of mask requirements in public areas and on the street. Masks in shops and on public transportation are still required.

Orban says overnight curfews in place since November will end, along with restricted opening hours of shops and limits on some gatherings.

Hungary has vaccinated more than 55% of its population, the second-highest rate in the European Union, using vaccines from Russia, China and the European Union. A nation of less than 10 million people, Hungary has registered 29,475 confirmed deaths.

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WASHINGTON  Theres a new vibe at the White House of late  hugs are in. Masks are mostly out.

The recent relaxation in federal guidance about wearing masks and distancing comes after more people have been vaccinated.

The White House is taking on the look and feel of pre-pandemic days. More West Wing staffers have been turning up for work there and, soon, so will more reporters. The administration is sending a message that a return to normal is possible with vaccinations.

Were back, White House press secretary Jen Psaki declared at Fridays daily briefing. I can confirm were a warm and fuzzy crew and we like to hug around here.

The president seemed happy to announce the relaxed mask guidance when he appeared in the Rose Garden on May 13 without a mask, just hours after the CDC said those who are fully vaccinated dont need to wear masks or stand 6 feet apart in most settings.

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ISLAMABAD  Pakistan is offering free vaccinations, but so far people have not showed an overwhelming response to government appeals for shots.

Vaccinations are open for people age 30 and above. So far Pakistan has vaccinated about 4.9 million in a country with 220 million people.

Pakistans federal authorities on Saturday reported more than 4,000 new coronavirus cases and 88 confirmed deaths.

A lockdown was lifted last week. But in southern Sindh province, authorities decided Saturday to continue with restrictions for another two weeks because of surge in virus cases in commercial hub Karachi and the second-largest city, Hyderabad.

Pakistan has registered nearly 900,000 cases and 20,177 confirmed deaths.

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KATHMANDU, Nepal  An expert climbing guide says a coronavirus outbreak on Mount Everest has infected at least 100 climbers and support staff.

Thats the first comprehensive estimate amid official Nepalese denials of a COVID-19 cluster on the worlds highest peak. Lukas Furtenbach of Austria says his estimate is based on confirmations from rescue pilots, insurance providers, doctors and expedition leaders, among others.

He spoke with The Associated Press in Kathmandu on Saturday, a week after halting his Everest expedition due to virus fears. He says one of his foreign guides and six Nepali Sherpa guides have tested positive. He saw people sick at base camp and heard people coughing in their tents.

A total of 408 foreign climbers were issued permits to climb Everest this season, aided by several hundred Sherpa guides and support staff whove been stationed at base camp since April. In late April, a Norwegian climber became the first to test positive at the Everest base camp. The climbing season closes at the end of the month.

Nepal reported 8,607 new infections and 177 deaths on Friday, bringing the totals since the pandemic began to more than 497,000 confirmed infections and 6,024 confirmed deaths.

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KATHMANDU, Nepal  The Swiss government has flown $8 million in equipment and medical supplies to combat COVID-19 to help Nepal, which is struggling with a failing health system and acute shortages of hospital beds, medication and oxygen for patients.

The aid was handed over to Nepals Health Minister Hridayesh Tripathi at Kathmandu airport on Saturday. The Swiss embassy in Nepal says the shipment contained 40 ventilators, oxygen concentrators, 1.1 million coronavirus test kits, face masks, gloves and protective suits.

Nepal has been appealing for help from the international community since the COVID-19 situation worsened sharply this month. A lockdown has been imposed in most parts of the country since last month to curb the spiking cases.

Nepal has recorded nearly 500,000 COVID-19 confirmed cases and 6,024 people have died.

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COLOMBO, Sri Lanka  Sri Lanka halted passenger trains and buses for four days as authorities imposed a fresh travel ban across the country, in its latest efforts to curb the escalating number of COVID-19 infections and deaths.

The ban is effective from Friday night until Tuesday morning. However, it will not apply to those engaged in essential services such as the health, food and power sectors, and those seeking medical treatment.

The move comes as the islands key medical associations demand the government lockdown the country for two weeks. The associations say the actual number of coronavirus infections is more than three times the number detected.

Sri Lanka has already banned public gatherings, parties, weddings and closed schools and universities.

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MOBILE, Ala. -- Alabamas port city of Mobile has put on a Mardi Gras-style parade, what seemed at least a little like the Carnival celebrations canceled earlier this year because of the pandemic.

Plastic beads and other trinkets flew as nearly 30 floats from Mardi Gras groups snaked through downtown Mobile on Friday night.

Thousands of people turned out in a county and state where only about a quarter of the population is fully vaccinated. Many went without masks, though health officials had urged personal responsibility.

The parade marks the commissioning of the Navys new ship USS Mobile, a shallow-water combat vessel manufactured in Mobile.

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BATON ROUGE, La.  A medical center in Louisiana says it has identified the states first two cases of a COVID-19 variant first identified in India.

Britain and the World Health Organization consider it a variant of concern because experts think it may spread more easily than the original virus, LSU Health Shreveport said Friday.

The health system says the two samples were among more than 2,600 for which its Center for Emerging Viral Threats has decoded the genome. That represents 56% of all viral genomic surveillance data from Louisiana, the news release said.

At least two other variants have shown up in Louisiana  the one first identified in the United Kingdom and the one first found in Brazil.

LSU Health Shreveport said its lab found that the one first found in England remains dominant in North Louisiana, as in the rest of the United States.

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PHOENIX  Health officials say children in Arizona as young as 12 can get a COVID-19 vaccine when receiving other immunizations.

State Department of Health Services director Dr. Cara Christ says pediatricians, per CDC guidance, can administer the Pfizer vaccine alongside other childhood vaccines. Previously, the CDC had recommended children wait two weeks in between vaccinations. Vaccine demand has been low statewide.

The hours and days of operations at some state vaccine pods will be modified. More than 5.6 million vaccine doses have been given out in Arizona.

The state on Friday reported 577 new cases and 22 more deaths.

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SALEM, Ore.  Oregon officials are betting that the desire to win $1 million in a lottery will boost the percentage of Oregonians who are vaccinated against the coronavirus.

With only half of the people living in Oregon either fully or partly vaccinated, Oregon Lottery officials approved a plan Friday to hold a lottery. Those who have been vaccinated by June 27 will be eligible.

Its never been easier to get a vaccine, so dont miss your shot to enter, Gov. Kate Brown said.

She says its an effort to raise the percentage of adult Oregonians who get vaccinated to 70% in order to fully reopen the state. The Oregon Health Authority says 50% of Oregonians are vaccinated, with 39% having completed the series and 11% in progress.

If Oregonians have received at least a first dose of Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, they are automatically entered to win through the states vaccine database. Other states trying this tactic include New York, Maryland and Ohio.

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BERLIN  Germany will require people arriving from the U.K. to go into quarantine for 14 days, starting on Sunday. The decision is a response to the spread of a coronavirus variant first detected in India.

The announcement by the Robert Koch Institute, Germanys national disease control center, that Britain is being classified as a virus variant area comes a week after it went back on a list of risk areas, which has few consequences under current rules. Starting Sunday, airlines and others will only be able to transport German citizens and residents from Britain.

Under current German rules, all people arriving from virus variant areas  which also include India itself and Brazil  must spend 14 days in quarantine at home after their arrival. They cannot cut that period short by testing negative.

People arriving from risk areas can avoid a 10-day quarantine by showing a negative test result, and fully vaccinated people arriving from those countries dont need either to test or quarantine.

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Gazans tried to piece back their lives Saturday after a devastating 11-day conflict with Israel that killed more than 200 people and made thousands homeless in the impoverished Palestinian enclave.

Authorities started distributing tents and mattresses in the Gaza Strip, an AFP reporter said, a day after an Egypt-brokered ceasefire ended deadly Israeli air strikes on the besieged enclave and rocket fire out of it towards Israel.

Attention turned to rebuilding the coastal territory controlled by the Islamist group Hamas as rescue workers searched for bodies or survivors in mounds of rubble, while residents tried to assess what was left of their lives.

The latest round of bombardment killed 248 people in Gaza, including 66 children, and wounded over 1,900 since May 10, the Hamas-run health ministry says.

The United Nations says more than half of those killed, the overwhelming majority in Israeli air strikes, were civilians.

Israel claims it has killed "more than 200 terrorists", including 25 commanders.

Rockets fired by Palestinian armed groups killed 12 people in Israel including a child, an Israeli soldier, an Indian citizen and two Thai nationals, the police say, and wounded around 357 people.

- Thousands homeless -

In front of a flattened tower block where she used to rent out apartments, Aisha Mousallem was wearing black.

"Even if I lost no one in my family, I'm in mourning," she said.

Sarah Muscroft, the head of the UN humanitarian agency (OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the intensity of the bombardment had led to "extensive damage" across Gaza.

"Over 6,000 people have been rendered homeless as a result of the hostilities," she said.

More than 1,042 housing or commercial units were estimated to have been completely destroyed, and 800,000 people have no regular access to water.

"The building effort is going to be really quite profound," she told AFP.

Earlier on Saturday, shopkeepers assessed the damage, finding many supplies coated in thick layers of dust.

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Wael Amin al-Sharafa said he had stocked up his shop with new clothes to sell during the usually busy period of Eid al-Fitr, at the end of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan.

"But now it's all lost," he said. "Who will pay for all this? I have no idea."

- 'Two-state solution' -

Convoys of lorries bringing much-needed medicine, food and fuel entered Gaza Friday through the Kerem Shalom crossing after Israel reopened it.

The UN's Central Emergency Response Fund said it had released $18.5 million for humanitarian efforts.

The latest round of Israeli bombardment forced 91,000 people to flee their homes in Gaza, according to OCHA.

An Egyptian security delegation monitoring the ceasefire deal met Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Saturday, Palestinian news agency WAFA said.

Both Israel and Hamas were fast to claim victory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel's bombing campaign had been an "exceptional success".

Hamas' political chief Ismail Haniyeh said the group had "dealt a painful and severe blow that will leave its deep marks" on Israel, and thanked Iran for "providing funds and weapons".

An AFP photographer on Saturday saw fighters of Hamas' armed wing parading in the streets of Gaza city.

The Hamas authorities said government offices would re-open on Sunday.

The international community welcomed the ceasefire and the UN Security Council on Saturday called for "full adherence" to it.

US President Joe Biden on Friday pledged to help organise efforts to rebuild Gaza and said creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel is the "only answer" to the conflict.

"We still need a two-state solution," he said.

Peace talks have stalled since 2014, including over the key issues of the status of occupied east Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

- Al-Aqsa clashes -

Israeli police on Friday fired stun grenades at worshippers in Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa mosque compound, and Israeli forces beat an AFP photographer who was covering the unrest.

The incident was reminiscent of the tensions in Jerusalem that sparked the latest round of conflict.

Israeli security forces had cracked down on protests against the expulsion of Palestinians from their homes to make way for Jewish settlers in the annexed east Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

They had also moved in on worshippers at Al-Aqsa, Islam's third holiest site, which is revered by Jews as the Temple Mount.

Hamas on May 10 launched rockets from Gaza towards Israel, in "solidarity" with Palestinians in Jerusalem.

The conflict sparked mob violence in Israel, and clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinian protesters in the West Bank.

Israeli forces have killed 25 Palestinians, including four under the age of 18, in the West Bank since May 10, authorities in the territory say. Israel claims five tried to attack Israeli forces.

vid-sa-gl-ah/lg
Marjorie Taylor Greene has compared being required to wear a mask as the injustice faced by Jewish people during the Holocaust (Getty Images)

Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has said that being requested to wear masks on the floor of the House to restrictions placed on Jewish people in Nazi Germany.

The politician, who has been linked to the conspiracy theory group QAnon, made these remarks on the conservative podcast The Water Cooler.

You know, we can look back at a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second class citizens, so much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany, Greene said. And this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about, she told host David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network.

Ms Taylor Greene has joined forces with other GOP colleagues to flaunt the rules imposed by congressional medical professionals who insist on maintaining all those working on Capitol grounds to wear face coverings despite the CDCs guidance, who ruled that all people who are fully jabbed against COVID-19 can forgo masks inside.

During the week, she was spotted taking a group selfie with Republican colleagues next to the ballot box. Afterwards, Rep. Brad Mast tweeted that the fine he received was the best $500 I ever spent.

Jewish groups have condemned these comments and asked for the representative for Georgias 14th congressional district to apologise and take back her words.

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On the podcast, she also claimed that the Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is not interested in stopping the spread, but wielding power.

"This is a woman that doesnt care about peoples safety," Greene said."This is a woman that is hyper-focused on her own power and control."

Ms Taylor Greene has refused to disclose whether she has been vaccinated against covid or not, as did 100 of her colleagues. According to a survey by CNN, all Democratic representatives have been completely vaccinated against the coronavirus but the unknown levels within GOP ranks caused Rep. Pelosi to keep the rules in place.

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She is no stranger to inflammatory behaviour and comments before and after being elected to her current position. Her behaviour such as peddling unverified claims about the 2020 election being illegitimate, harassing school shooting survivors and connection to Qanon has led her to be removed from her House committee duties.

Additionally, video footage of her recently emerged of her harassing her Democratic colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in 2019 before she was elected, causing Rep. Ocasio-Cortez to call for the Republican party to suspend her.

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A massive dead fin whale washed up on a Southern California beach this week.

The adult female fin whale was found Wednesday evening washed up on Bolsa Chica State Beach in Orange County and will be taken to a landfill, California State Parks representative Kevin Pearsall told McClatchy News.

We are going to remove it, said Pearsall told the Los Angeles Times. Were not even going to bury it because its so big. It will be removed by a designated removal company that takes it to a landfill.

The whale measures around 68 feet, public affairs officer Michael Milstein for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told McClatchy News.

Pearsall told McClatchy that the whale will be removed Friday morning and is the largest hes seen this year and probably the second-largest of his career.

The fin whale is the second-largest whale after the blue whale species and can grow up to 75 to 85 feet long, according to the NOAA.

The fin whale is endangered and vessel strikes are one of the biggest threats to the animals, according to the NOAA. There are around 3,200 fin whales off the coast of California, Oregon and Washington.

Krysta Higuchi, public relations manager of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center, said the whale is believed to be the adult female whale that was killed along with her calf by an Australian Royal Navy vessel off the San Diego coast and were found earlier in May, the Los Angeles Times reported.

But were trying to take this sad incident and gather as much research and knowledge as we can, trying to get more metrics and life history of this animal. We dont normally get this opportunity to get these types of samples from these animals, Higuchi said.

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Mountain lion seen on video prowling California neighborhood has been caught
McDonalds has been hit with a $10 billion racial discrimination lawsuit from media companies owned by Byron Allen.

The lawsuit alleges the burger chain pays higher prices to advertise with general market media companies than it does Black-owned companies, which submit pitches through a separate tier for content targeting African American audiences.

The suit was filed Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court by Entertainment Studios Networks, which owns a series of lifestyle television networks, and Weather Group, which runs The Weather Channel. Allen, a comedian, actor and media mogul, started Entertainment Studios in 1993 and purchased the Weather Group in 2018 for $300 million, according to the complaint.

In addition to calling out McDonalds two-tier advertising structure, the suit alleges the company has falsely labeled Entertainment Studios as an African American media company even though its content is directed to a general audience with networks like Pets.TV and Comedy.TV.

McDonalds assumes that because Allen is African American, his content must target that audience, the complaint alleges. That is a false assumption and is blatant racism.

The company has refused to advertise on ESN Lifestyle Networks, which reach more than 180 million subscribers across the U.S., or The Weather Channel despite taking out ads with similar white-owned networks such as Animal Planet, Food Network or Travel Channel, the complaint alleges.

Being excluded from McDonalds general market budget has caused Allens companies to lose out on critical advertising dollars, the suit alleges. In 2019, McDonalds spent $1.6 billion on television advertising in the U.S., with $5 million, or less than 1%, going toward Black-owned media, according to the lawsuit.

This is about economic inclusion of African American-owned businesses in the U.S. economy, Allen, CEO of Allen Media Group, said in a statement Thursday announcing the lawsuit. McDonalds takes billions from African American consumers and gives almost nothing back.

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The same day the lawsuit was filed, McDonalds announced an initiative pledging to increase its advertising spending over the next four years with companies owned by people from diverse backgrounds, a group that includes Blacks, Hispanics, Asian Americans, Pacific Islanders, women and LGTBQ individuals.

The company pointed to that initiative when asked to comment on the lawsuit Friday, saying it has doubled down on those relationships.

This includes increasing our spend with diverse-owned media from 4% to 10% and with Black-owned media from 2% to 5% of total national advertising over the next four years, the company said in a statement. We will review the complaint and respond accordingly.

The suit alleges McDonalds has violated federal and California state law prohibiting racial discrimination in contracting and seeks actual and triple damages, along with attorneys fees and costs, with the total estimated at more than $10 billion.
Melinda French Gates. John Lamparski/Getty Images

Melinda Gates' divorce attorney Robert Cohen has joined a new legal battle.

The case involves a divorce between a Connecticut senator and her Morgan Stanley executive husband.

Cohen has previously represented the first two wives of former President Donald Trump.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

A divorce attorney hired by Melinda French Gates has also been snapped up by Connecticut's state Sen. Alex Kasser, according to CNBC. It follows Kasser's separation from Seth Bergstein, a Morgan Stanley executive.

Robert Cohen, the divorce attorney, previously represented ex-President Donald Trump's first two wives, Ivana Trump and Marla Maples. He works as a founding partner at the New York City firm Cohen Clair Lans Greifer Thorpe & Rottenstreich LLP, as Insider reported.

Morgan Stanley employees are likely to be drawn into the saga, following a ruling that allowed Kasser's lawyers to interrogate three staffers under oath.

The decision relates to what they see as the bank's illegitimate efforts to get personal financial information from Kasser even as Bergstein continues to work there, as CNBC reported.

Many accusations in that row have sprung from a bitter case that was filed more than two years ago when Kasser split from Bergstein, per CNBC.

Commenting on Cohen's expertise, Marilyn Chinitz, whose own matrimonial clientele included actors like Tom Cruise and Michael Douglas, told CNBC: "He's a fantastic lawyer." She also described him as "talented and aggressive."

French Gates, meanwhile, is apparently winning the public opinion battle, as Insider reported.

Following the announcement that the couple were ending their 27-year marriage "after a great deal of thought," many media reports have raised questions about Bill Gates' workplace conduct.

In one case, several unnamed Microsoft employees told The New York Times Gates' behavior made them feel uncomfortable at work.

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Insider reported that Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella has addressed the issue, by saying that the "Microsoft of 2021 is very different from the Microsoft of 2000."

In the same report, a spokesperson for Bill Gates said in a statement that allegations the billionaire mistreated employees were false, and that he had an affair 20 years ago that ended amicably. The spokesperson did not say whether the affair was with a Microsoft employee.

Read the original article on Business Insider
MIAMI  Tommy Hunter may have overdone it in his last game, though its likely he doesnt regret it.

The right-handed relief pitcher was placed on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to May 19, with lower back pain, the Mets announced on Friday. He also received an MRI, the results of which were unknown before the Mets first pitch against the Marlins.

Hunter joined an overflowing group of 16 wounded Mets on the IL.

He showed up today with some back pain, Luis Rojas said. Hes getting checked by our medical group here. But with his back history, we just put him on the IL.

Hunter, 34, pitched two scoreless innings earlier this week against the Braves, but the highlight for him were his antics on the bases. The 14-year major league veteran waited his entire career for his first big-league hit, until his third-inning single on May 18. Hunter was ecstatic about his base hit to left.

He hop-skipped to first base, did a celebration dance, and moments later scored on Jonathan Villars two-run home run. Hunter said his first career MLB hit was the highlight of his career.

That was the most Ive run in probably like four years, the 250-pound Hunter said, somewhat jokingly, after his career game. I dont like running, so its a challenge. But Ill tell you what: Thats a long way around the bases.

DAILY DEGROM DATA

In the latest Jacob deGrom update, following the aces eight-strikeout rehab outing for Low-A St Lucie, the righty is scheduled to throw a touch-and-feel on Saturday followed by a full bullpen session on Sunday. The Mets plan for deGrom, who is pitching like the worst of his right side tightness is behind him, is for him to start on Tuesday. Whether that start will be in the big leagues or in another rehab assignment is still undecided.

He was great in his outing, said Rojas. He said his mechanics felt good throughout. He didnt feel anything body-wise.

DeGrom remains day-to-day with his pesky right side discomfort, an injury hes battled since he was scratched from his May 4 start in St. Louis.

Story continues

WHOS ON FIRST? J.D. DAVIS!

J.D. Davis (left hand sprain) is still completing rehab assignments for Triple-A Syracuse, but his position shifted across the diamond on Friday. Davis played first base for Syracuse in the wake of Pete Alonsos departure to the injured list with a right hand sprain.

The Mets are still monitoring Davis swings in every at-bat, with his hand mostly bothering him while hes at the plate. Davis fielding at first base is not holding him back from coming off the IL, per Rojas. The club wants Davis to be ready to play first when he is activated, which could be potentially next week, according to the skipper.

Hes played there before so it wont be a new position for him, said Rojas. We have people working with him just on the ground ball and the position, working around the bag and different things, and were going to get feedback on how he feels.

Davis has played 12 career games at first base, all in his 2017 rookie season with the Astros.
Mindy Kaling clarified engagement rumors after she was photographed wearing a ring. (Photo: REUTERS/Lucas Jackson)

Mindy Kaling is putting engagement rumors to rest, after she was photographed wearing a huge sparkler on her left ring finger.

"Normalize unmarried women wearing rings on their ring finger without a hubbub," the 41-year-old actress tweeted on Friday. This week, the internet went into detective mode when Kaling was spotted leaving a Santa Monica, Calif. restaurant wearing a ring on that finger.

Kaling is famously private about her love life and has not publicly shared the identity of who fathered her children, 2-year-old daughter Katherine, a.k.a., "Kit" and newborn son Spencer, whose birth she announced in October on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. "I'm telling this for the first time, it feels so strange," she said on the show. "I gave birth to a baby boy on September 3." The Office star had also kept her second pregnancy concealed during quarantine.

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In 2019, Kaling told the New York Times why she has not revealed the name of her daughter's father. "My feeling is that until I speak to my daughter about that, Im not going to talk to anyone else about it," she said.

Kaling's tweet agreed with many on the platform. "I've been wearing a ring on my ring finger since I was like 13 and when i was in high school people in public would ask if I'm engaged" someone wrote. "Lets just normalize unmarried women!!!" another suggested.

"My wife wears her ring sometimes, doesnt wear it other times," a user wrote. "Lets normalize all women doing what they want when they want with their own bodies, and everybody else staying the fuck out of it."

While Kaling may keep the topic of love and marriage close to her heart, she has opened up about motherhood and feeling "pandemic fabulous," as she explained in December of her appearance in Vogue India.

Kaling was "so excited" for the opportunity, she wrote on Instagram, "But seriously nervous because I would have to shoot it six weeks after giving birth to my son Spencer. I was not feeling body confident, and even considered saying no." However, Kaling was thrilled she went through with the shoot. "'Postpartum pandemic fabulous' is what I like to call it."

Read more from Yahoo Entertainment:
Photo and art exhibition on Tibet opens in Beijing

Xinhua) 10:18, May 22, 2021

Guests attend the opening ceremony of an exhibition celebrating the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation at the Yanhuang Art Museum in Beijing, capital of China, May 21, 2021. An exhibition of art works and photographs opened in Beijing on Friday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation. The show at the Yanhuang Art Museum consists of 86 fine images created in the 21st century, portraying Tibet's scenery, people and culture. (Xinhua/Jin Liwang)

BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- An exhibition of art works and photographs opened in Beijing on Friday to celebrate the 70th anniversary of Tibet's peaceful liberation.

The show at the Yanhuang Art Museum consists of 86 fine images created in the 21st century, portraying Tibet's scenery, people and culture.

The exhibition is sponsored by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, and will be free to the public until May 27.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
Around 12:30 p.m. Friday, Southwest Flight 654 was preparing to depart to Birmingham, Alabama, when the planes wingtip hit the horizontal stabilizer on the tail of another Southwest plane at a neighboring gate, according to the airline.
A Mississippi judge dropped second-degree murder charges against two police officers Thursday who were accused of beating and body-slamming George Robinson, a 62-year-old Black man, in 2019, resulting in his death.

Hinds County Judge Faye Peterson dropped the charges against Desmond Barney and Lincoln Lampley, saying that the state failed to prove the two officers acted criminally, the Clarion Ledger reported.

"There was nothing on its face that was illegal," Peterson said in court, according to the newspaper. "The detention of a suspect is not a criminal act and there was no proof presented that they were conspiring."

A third officer, Anthony Fox, has not yet gone to trial. All three officers are Black.

KANSAS MAN NABBED IN COLD CASE MURDER OF TEXAS WOMAN WHOSE BODY WAS FOUND BURNING IN THE WOODS

The indictment last August accused the trio of taking Robinson from his car, slamming him to the ground and striking him in the head.

Bettersten Wade, Robinson's brother, said her brother had just had a stroke before the incident, which was why he was moving slowly when officers asked him to get out of a car, WLBT reported.

"They drove up, pulled him out of the car. He did not have a bandage on his head. There were no abrasions on his head. He just had a stroke, but he was going to get better," Wade said, according to the news station.

"He might have been moving slowly to get out of the car," Wade added. "They over-excessively pulled him out."

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

Jody E. Owens II, the district attorney in Hinds County, Clarion Ledger that he was disappointed in Judge Peterson's decision.

"I thought the evidence on the record was sufficient," Owens told the newspaper "For those of you who watched the trial, there was tons of evidence in this case...I'm surprised and disappointed."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
By Maria Ponnezhath and Sangmi Cha

SEOUL (Reuters) -Moderna Inc and Novavax Inc entered into a deal with the South Korean government to manufacture their COVID-19 vaccines, as the country has been under pressure to secure more and faster deliveries of U.S.-made vaccines.

Saturday's agreements with the U.S. drugmakers came a day after U.S. President Joe Biden said that he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in had agreed on a comprehensive partnership on COVID-19 vaccines and that the United States would provide vaccinations for 550,000 South Korean soldiers.

Moon, under pressure over the COVID-19 pandemic, said a vaccine partnership would combine U.S. expertise and Korean production capacity.

Moderna, whose shot was granted approval in South Korea on Friday, said on Saturday its vaccine will be manufactured by Samsung Biologics Co and that it intends to supply these vaccines to markets outside the United States starting in the third quarter.

South Korea has emerged as a global vaccine production base with its fourth COVID-19 vaccine contract manufacturing deal, Vice Health Minister Kang Do-tae told a briefing on Sunday.

"The establishment of the South Korea-U.S. vaccine partnership is to build the basis for mass production of vaccines domestically by combining the advanced technology of the U.S. with production capabilities of South Korea," said Kang.

South Korea has deals to locally produce coronavirus vaccines developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Novavax, and Russia's Sputnik V. The country has secured access to 40 million doses of Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine, the authorities had said.

"We will continue to explore options for establishing potential local manufacturing opportunities in South Korea," Moderna Chief Executive Stephane Bancel said in a press release.

Novavax also on Saturday reaffirmed its partnership with South Korean firm SK bioscience Co Ltd to expand its production of vaccines, including the U.S. drug developer's protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

Story continues

In February, Novavax had entered into a license agreement with the South Korea manufacturer to produce 40 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine for the country.

South Korea, which has vaccinated fewer than 10% of its 52 million people, aims to inoculate at least 70% by September. It has ordered up to 192 million doses of those made by AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Novavax, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 585 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus on Saturday, bringing the total tally to 135,929 infections, with 1,931 deaths.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru and Sangmi Cha in Seoul; Editing by Nick Zieminski, Andrea Ricci and William Mallard)
Monica Lewinsky responded Friday to a tweet asking "what's the most high-risk, low-reward thing you've ever done?"

The former White House intern under President Bill Clinton replied simply with an eyeball emoji.

LINDA TRIPP REVEALS HOW SHE LEARNED OF LEWINSKY-CLINTON AFFAIR IN POSTHUMOUS MEMOIR

Several social media users signaled appreciation for Lewinsky's sense of humor.

"Kinda perfect tweet," creator of the popular "Dilbert" comic strip Scott Adams wrote.

"This wins the day," another replied.

"I laughed out loud and thank you for it," another person replied.

KAMALA HARRIS TO HOLD DISCUSSION WITH BILL CLINTON ON 'EMPOWERING WOMEN AND GIRLS,' IGNITING CRITICISM

A number of other users declared that Lewinsky had "won Twitter" for the day.

Others posted memes of Clinton, who was impeached for lying about his affair with Lewinsky, who was then a White House intern.
RABAT (Reuters) - Morocco on Saturday urged Spain to open an investigation into the circumstances of a Western Sahara independence leader's arrival in the country for medical treatment and explain its findings to Rabat.

Madrid should explain "the conditions, circumstances and connivances that led to the fraudulent entry of this person using false documents and a usurped identity," said Foreign Ministry Director General Fouad Yazourh.

Spain's decision to host Polisario Front leader Brahim Ghali without telling Rabat while using what Morocco says are travel documents provided by Algeria and a false name, has angered Rabat, which regards Western Sahara as part of Morocco.

The Algeria-backed Polisario seeks the region's independence and last year said it was resuming an armed struggle that was put on hold by a U.N.-brokered ceasefire in 1991, though there has been little evidence of fighting.

In December, the United States recognised Morocco's claim to Western Sahara in a deal that also included Rabat strengthening its ties with Israel.

On Monday, Morocco appeared to relax border controls with the Spanish North African enclave of Ceuta, leading to thousands of people to cross illegally.

Rabat later blamed the crossings on the weather and tired border guards though analysts said it appeared to be linked to the diplomatic dispute with Madrid.

Ghali faces a court summons in Spain in a war crimes case against him. However, Spain's High Court has rejected a request by plaintiffs in the case to arrest him.

Morocco recalled its ambassador to Spain for consultations this week and on Friday she said that relations between the two countries would worsen if Ghali left Spain without a trial.

(Reporting by Ahmed Eljechtimi, editing by Angus McDowall and Ros Russell)
A power outage that affected thousands in Munich this weekend is under investigation after authorities blamed it on left-wing extremists.

An arson investigation is underway following the outage, which left about 20,000 households dark overnight following a fire early Friday, authorities told dpa International Saturday.

A unit with a focus on crimes linked to politics is handling the investigation.

Political motives could be in play when youre dealing with burning supply lines, a police spokesman told the outlet, adding that since the investigation is still in the early stages, neither arson nor a potential motive can be declared yet.

The fire started at a construction site where roughly 50 power cables run and subsequently knocked out 150 relay stations.

Arson is suspected because of the fire pattern in the 3-foot pit where the cables ran, the spokesman told the outlet.

At this stage, we can not say whether there are connections with other crimes, he said.

Power had been restored to all affected homes by Saturday afternoon.

If authorities gut that the fire was the result of arson is correct, the incident would be the most recent attack on Munich infrastructure, which, since late 2019, has been damaged by unidentified culprits, according to the outlet.

The damage preceding the fire has totaled the equivalent of $4.4 million.
Myanmar's junta chief has said deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health and will appear in court within days during the general's first television interview since the coup.

Min Aung Hlaing, who toppled Suu Kyi in a February 1 putsch, gave a two-hour interview to Hong Kong's Phoenix Television on Thursday, with the full programme yet to air.

"Aung San Suu Kyi is in good health. She's been staying at home and will appear in court in a few days," he said in an excerpt released on social media Saturday.

The general was speaking in Burmese and his comments were translated into Chinese by the network.

Asked about Suu Kyi's political achievements, the military leader said: "In short, she has done everything she can."

Suu Kyi has not been seen in public since she was placed under house arrest.

She has been hit with a string of criminal charges including flouting coronavirus restrictions during last year's election campaign and possessing unlicensed walkie-talkies.

The most serious charge alleges that she violated the country's colonial-era Official Secrets Act.

Suu Kyi is expected to appear in person in court on Monday for the first time, after weeks of delays to her legal case.

Her legal team have faced an uphill battle to meet with their client in private.

- 'Traitors of the nation' -

The junta on Friday threatened to dissolve Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party over alleged voter fraud in the 2020 election.

Union Election Commission chair Thein Soe said an investigation into November's election result was almost complete.

"What shall we do with the (NLD) party that (acted) illegally? Should we dissolve the party or charge those who committed this (illegal activity) as traitors of the nation? We will analyse and consider taking this action," he said, in a video posted to a local media outlet's Facebook page.

The election commission met with political parties on Friday to discuss potential changes to the system but NLD representatives did not attend.

Story continues

Min Aung Hlaing has justified his power grab by citing alleged electoral fraud in the November poll, which was won by the NLD in a landslide.

But the Asian Network for Free Elections monitoring group has said "the results of the 2020 general elections were, by and large, representative of the will of the people".

Upon seizing power, the military announced a one-year state of emergency and said it would be followed by fresh multi-party elections.

"What we want to achieve is a federal state based on multi-party democracy and confederation. If the situation permits, we hope to achieve this within a year, and if not, we will postpone it for six months," he told Phoenix TV.

On Thursday local media reported the junta had removed a mandatory retirement age for generals, which would allow Min Aung Hlaing to continue serving once he turns 65 this July.

The junta leader said he had "no idea" when asked about his future plans.

Myanmar has been in chaos and its economy paralysed since the coup and according to a local monitoring group more than 800 people have died as the military moved to crack down on dissent.

Min Aung Hlaing disputed the death toll during his television appearance, estimating the number of deaths at 300 and saying 47 police had been killed and 200 injured.

A group of ousted lawmakers -- many of them previously part of the NLD -- have formed a shadow "National Unity Government" in an attempt to undermine the junta.

The military later declared the group would be classified as "terrorists".

In late April Min Aung Hlaing met with leaders from the 10-country Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The bloc issued a "five-point consensus" statement that called for the "immediate cessation of violence" and a visit to Myanmar by a regional special envoy.

The junta leader said in the television interview that Myanmar was not ready to adopt the plan.

bur-lpm/axn
The Navajo Nation surpassed the Cherokee Nation as the largest tribe in the United States from an enrollment surge during the coronavirus pandemic, growing to 399,494 members, according to the New York Times.

Why it matters: The uptick in enrollments was likely from a need to secure federal pandemic relief funds as the virus tore through the largest Indian reservation in the country.

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The big picture: Nearly 90% of those in the Navajo Nation who are eligible have received at least one shot  a vaccination rate higher than much of the rest of the U.S., according to the Times.

The enrollment numbers of several tribes increased during the pandemic, but the Navajo Nation's spiked by 30%.

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This image from video from Louisiana state police state trooper Dakota DeMoss' body-worn camera, shows troopers holding up Ronald Greene before paramedics arrived on May 10, 2019, outside of Monroe, Louisiana. Louisiana State Police via AP

Louisiana State Police released all of the video footage of Robert Greene's arrest and death in 2019.

Greene's in-custody death is the subject of a federal civil-rights investigation.

Troopers previously said Greene died in a car crash, but later acknowledged that he struggled with officers and died on his way to the hospital.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

Louisiana State Police released all video footage related to the controversial arrest and subsequent death of Ronald Greene, a Black man who died in police custody in 2019.

On May 10, 2019, Greene did not pull over for a traffic violation, prompting officers to chase Greene on rural highways at speeds exceeding 115 mph.

The new videos come after the Associated Press on Thursday obtained 46 minutes of footage from police body cameras, showing officers stunning, hitting, and dragging Greene as he repeatedly yells "I'm sorry" for leading authorities on a car chase and saying he was scared.

There are nine videos in total, ranging from just over 30 seconds long to more than 46 minutes long.

State officials dismissed calls to release the footage for two years following the incident, and state police didn't open an investigation into Greene's in-custody death until 474 days after he died. The case is currently the subject of a federal civil-rights investigation.

"State troopers previously blamed injuries that led to Greene's May 2019 death on a car crash at the end of the chase in Monroe, Louisiana," Insider's Kelly McLaughlin and Erin Snodgrass reported. "Later, state police acknowledged that Greene had struggled with officers and said he died on his way to the hospital in a one-page statement that provided no additional details."

Superintendent Col. Lamar Davis announced Friday that the department would be releasing the footage, saying "it's unfortunate that the path to get here has taken this long."

Story continues

"Louisiana State Police had every intention, as we do for all public records request to release all required evidence and information, as appropriate, at the right time," Davis said. "And any suggestion otherwise is categorically false."

Gov. John Bel Edwards of Louisiana said in a statement that he "strongly supported" the release of all of the footage, adding that he found the footage "disturbing" and "difficult to watch."

Edwards reviewed the footage with Greene's family to view the body camera footage in October of last year, he said in the statement, saying he knows "it was difficult and heartbreaking for them to watch the last moments of Mr. Greene's life."

His family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, claiming police "brutalized" Greene and accused them of covering up his cause of death.

"They murdered him. It was set out, it was planned," Greene's mother, Mona Hardin, told the Associated Press. "He didn't have a chance. Ronnie didn't have a chance. He wasn't going to live to tell about it."

Read the original article on Insider
PepsiCo issued a lengthy new statement on the Flamin Hot Cheetos controversy on Friday, in which the company expressed support for Richard Montanez, the former Frito-Lay executive whose claims to have invented the snack were debunked by the Los Angeles Times.

The new statement comes as Eva Longoria is preparing to direct Flamin Hot, a biopic based on Montanezs life, which is set to go into production this summer. The movie tells the inspiring story of a Frito-Lay janitor whose bold idea for a spicy snack took the world by storm.

The Times report concluded that Montanez worked on other products in the Flamin Hot line, but that Flamin Hot Cheetos were actually invented years before by a separate team. The screenwriter of Flamin Hot, Lewis Colick, argued earlier in the week that enough of Montanezs story was true, though he acknowledged that it might not be entirely faithful to the facts.

Were not in the documentary business, Colick told Variety.

For PepsiCo, the controversy complicates a feel-good story that highlighted the companys outreach to the Latino market. In the new statement, the company said that the issue has caused a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montanez and the Latino community.

The new statement did not challenge any of the facts unearthed in the Times investigation, but it did argue that some of the companys earlier comments on the issue had been misconstrued.

The company had told the Times that Montanezs claim to have invented the snack was an urban legend. The company also said that it did not credit the creation of Flamin Hot Cheetos or any Flamin Hot products to him.

In the new statement, the company said it attributes the launch and success of Flamin Hot Cheetos and other products to several people, including Montanez.

To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand, and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders, the company said.

Story continues

Jeff Bercovici, deputy business editor at the Times, said on Twitter that the new statement affirms our reporting.

PepsiCos new statement heralds Montanez for taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand,' Bercovici wrote. Our story reported on his product ideas, including Flamin Hot Popcorn and the Sabrositas line, both pitched after Flamin Hot Cheetos were trademarked.

The Times has been in contact with Frito-Lay since the articles publication, Bercovici continued. Frito-Lay has not raised any issues with our reporting or sought a correction or clarification.

The new PepsiCo statement also indicated that the company cant draw a clear link between Montanezs team and the separate group that was responsible for introducing Flamin Hot Cheetos.

The statement appears largely aimed at patching up the relationship with Montanez, who has served as a valuable brand ambassador in books and motivational speeches.

In an interview with Variety on Sunday, Montanez expressed chagrin at the way he was treated by the company in the Times story.

I was their greatest ambassador, he said. But I will say this, youre going to love your company more than they will ever love you, keep that in perspective.

Read PepsiCos new statement below.

A great deal has been recently discussed about the origin of Flamin Hot Cheetos. The information we shared with the media has been misconstrued by some, which resulted in confusion around where we stand, a range of emotions among our employees and consumers and a strain on our valued friendship with Richard Montanez and the Latino community.

The sincere truth is, at PepsiCo, we believe in the strength and power of teams, and we attribute the launch and success of Flamin Hot Cheetos and other products to several people who worked at PepsiCo, including Richard Montanez.

Far from being an urban legend, Richard had a remarkable 40-plus-year career at PepsiCo and made an incredible impact on our business and employees and continues to serve as an inspiration today. His insights and ideas on how to better serve Hispanic consumers were invaluable and directly resulted in the success of Flamin Hot Cheetos. To be clear, we have no reason to doubt the stories he shares about taking the initiative to create new product ideas for the Cheetos brand, and pitching them to past PepsiCo leaders.

We also know there was a separate division team developing a spicy product offering for Cheetos and other snack brands that were tested in market and found their way into permanent products on store shelves, including Flamin Hot Cheetos.

Different work streams tackling the same product without interacting occasionally occurred in the past when divisions operated independently and were not the best at communicating. However, just because we cant draw a clear link between them, doesnt mean we dont embrace all of their contributions and ingenuity, including Richards.

Richard is an important part of PepsiCos history and the success of the company. He is an inspiration and his story cannot be belittled. We regret the confusion that has come from the recent speculation, but most importantly want Richard to know he is valued and cared for among PepsiCos employees and we only wish him happiness and success.
The Chicago Fire Department responded to a call of a person shot about 5:15 p.m., Chicago Fire Department Chief Juan Hernandez said. A 35-year-old man was taken from the Pulaski exit ramp to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition.
A third of large-circulation newspapers had to cut staff in 2020, according to a new study from the Pew Research Center.

Why it matters: The Pew study findings show how the coronavirus pandemic heavily impacted the media industry over the past year. The number of layoffs exceed those from 2019, when one quarter of large newspapers experienced layoffs.

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"In the first 6 months of 2020, more than 11,000 newsroom jobs have been lost. That's nearly as many as were lost in all of 2009," Axios' Sara Fischer wrote last July.

Details: The study looked at 86 newspapers that had an average Sunday circulation of 50,000 or more, including The New York Times and The Washington Post. The Wall Street Journal was also examined since it is one of the largest newspapers in the U.S. despite not reporting its Sunday circulation.

In 2019 staff cuts were similar across newspapers of different sizes.

Pew found that in 2020 papers with a Sunday circulation of 250,000 or more were more likely to experience layoffs.

Pew suggested this difference could have been caused by federal pandemic aid relief:

"During the coronavirus pandemic, many small and medium-sized newspaper companies were able to apply for federal aid through the CARES Act, a federal coronavirus aid package designed to help small businesses pay employees and other expenses. However, due to rules surrounding this loan program, many local newspapers owned by larger companies such as Gannett or McClatchy were not eligible to apply."

1 in 10 newspapers publicly announced multiple layoffs for the year. Nearly half of the newspapers that reported staff cuts in 2020 reported others the year prior, "indicating that many of the same papers have been forced to implement layoffs multiple times in recent years," Pew writes.

The big picture: More than half of all media jobs lost in 2020 were in digital, print and broadcast newsrooms, per Fischer.

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LOS ANGELES (AP)  Los Angeles police on Saturday announced the arrest of a suspect in an alleged attack by a pro-Palestinian group on Jewish men outside a restaurant earlier in the week.

A police statement, which did not identify the man, said he was arrested on suspicion of assault with a deadly weapon late Friday at a residence outside the city of Los Angeles with assistance from a U.S. Marshals Service task force.

Increased bail was requested due to the crime being motivated by hatred, the statement said.

The male is one of the primary suspects in the assault and beating of several men who were outside of a restaurant in the evening hours in the Mid-City area of Los Angeles on Tuesday May 18, 2021, it said.

The violence, recorded on video, occurred when a car caravan flying Palestinian flags stopped near a restaurant where diners were eating at outdoor tables.

Witnesses told news media that people in the caravan threw bottles and chanted death to Jews and free Palestine, and men got out of the vehicles and began asking who was Jewish. A brawl erupted when two diners said they were Jewish.

Civic and faith leaders have condemned the incident.
Tova Noel (L) and Michael Thomas (R) - separated by a lawyer - have pleaded not guilty

Two prison guards have admitted falsifying records on the night disgraced US financier Jeffrey Epstein killed himself in August 2019.

But in a plea deal with federal prosecutors, Tova Noel and Michael Thomas would be spared jail time.

The pair fabricated log entries to make it seem like they had conducted required half-hourly checks on Epstein.

But the court heard they were actually snoozing or surfing the web instead of making their rounds.

Epstein, a convicted sex offender, hanged himself in jail while awaiting trial on federal sex-trafficking charges.

He had pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing dozens of girls, some as young as 14.

On the night Epstein took his life, he was alone in his cell, say authorities

Noel and Thomas' plea deal will need to be approved by a judge. Instead of spending time behind bars, the pair would be required to complete 100 hours of community service under supervised release.

They would also have to co-operate with an ongoing investigation by the justice department's inspector general.

On the night Epstein took his life, he was alone in his cell at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York, say authorities.

He had been taken off suicide watch after a previous suspected attempt to take his own life.

Surveillance footage showed that no other people had entered the area where Epstein was held that evening, said officials at the time.

Epstein's ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is accused of helping Epstein abuse girls

For substantial portions of their shifts, Noel and Thomas sat at their desk, browsed the internet, and moved around the common area, just 15ft (4.5m) from Epstein's cell, the court heard.

The facility is one of the most secure in America, but the US Bureau of Prisons has been plagued by staffing shortages.

One of the guards was working a second mandatory eight-hour shift of the day, while the other was on a fifth consecutive day of overtime.

Epstein's ex-girlfriend, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, is behind bars in New York since awaiting her trial on charges that she helped Epstein recruit and sexually abuse girls.

You might also be interested in:
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP)  Texas right-hander Kohei Arihara needs shoulder surgery and is expected to miss at least 12 weeks.

Rangers general manager Chris Young said Saturday that Arihara has an aneurysm in his pitching shoulder. Dr. Gregory Pearl, a vascular surgeon, is to repair the posterior circumflex humeral artery on Thursday in Dallas.

Dr. Pearl is one of the two best in the country for this procedure, Young said, so were very confident he will have a full recovery.

Arihara has been on the 10-day injured list since May 9. and left-hander Hyeon-Jong Yang has taken his place in the Texas rotation. Arihara threw a bullpen on May 17 but felt discomfort in the middle finger of his right hand.

The diagnosis was made after an examination this week.

Texas signed Arihara to a $6.2 million, two-year contract as a free agent after six seasons with the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japans Pacific League. He is 2-3 with a 6.59 ERA in seven starts for the Rangers.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
MESA, Ariz.  On Friday, Reps. Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene brought their America First road show to Maricopa County, the place that has become ground zero in the Republican effort to keep alive former President Donald Trumps false claims about his 2020 election loss.

So, let me just check and make sure with all of you: Who do you think won in Arizona on Nov. 3? Greene, R-Ga., asked a crowd of roughly 800 people gathered at a hotel ballroom in Mesa.

The question prompted loud cheers and chants of Trump, Trump, Trump!

You know thats how we feel in Georgia too, Greene, who wore a blue dress, said of another formerly red state turned blue in last years presidential election. As a matter of fact, thats how Michigan feels, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin. I think thats how at least 74-plus million people feel.

Honoring how people feel, it turned out, was the theme of the night. And no ones feelings factored more importantly than those of the former president.

We are here in solidarity with the Arizona election audit, Gaetz, R-Fla., said of the latest review of the ballots ordered by Arizona Senate Republicans, ignoring the fact that two previous recounts concluded that Trump lost to President Biden in Maricopa County fair and square. Whipping up hopes among audience members that the election still may not have been correctly decided  a perpetuation of Trump's false claims about election fraud his foes have dubbed the big lie  Gaetz also promised that Arizona will be the launchpad for other election audits.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, left, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene at a rally on May 7 in the Villages, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

The attire of many of those in attendance attested to why such meritless suggestions could prove dangerous. As at the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, a not-insignificant portion of the audience sported T-shirts prominently featuring the letter Q, menacing swords, as well as references to 1776  all symbols prominent among those who believe that a violent revolution will soon be at hand to reinstall Trump in the White House.

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In another nod to Trump, Gaetz, wearing his own sharp blue suit, assured the crowd that the movement started by the best president in my lifetime was still strong and would take down all Republicans who did not fully embrace it.

Thousands of miles away, in the swamp of Washington, they kind of hoped that this was all over, that our populist little revolt would run away and no longer be a part of our national identity, Gaetz said, adding, Oh, we are just starting.

Yet the spectacle of Gaetz and Greene taking on the de facto role of color guard for the America First banner was, depending on ones political persuasion, either cause for celebration or proof that Trumps GOP is bent on self-destruction.

I follow them because theyre trying to help us after this administration is just totally destroying our country right now, Nancy Winters, 50, of Gilbert, Ariz., told Yahoo News. I dont think anything is going right. Im not happy with them ending all these peoples jobs in the [Keystone XL] pipeline. I dont believe that this hack of the recent [Colonial] pipeline thats causing the higher taxes and running out of gas on the East Coast would have happened under Trump. All this going on in Israel, but he [Trump] doesnt have any control.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene with Rep. Dan Bishop, R-N.C., back left, and former OMB Director and President of Citizens for Renewing America Russ Vought at a news conference on Capitol Hill on May 12. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

One of the first protesters to show up at the venue, Brad, a 50-year-old who declined to provide his last name, took the dimmer view. Theyre the rightest of the right, he said of Gaetz and Greene. The Republican Party is allowing itself to be defined by that the same way that the Republicans have attempted to define the Democrats by AOC, the Squad, etc. I think the Republicans are walking themselves into it by defining themselves by the furthest of the right.

On a night when Gaetz and Greene exalted in the adoration of their out-of-state supporters, both politicians find themselves under investigation. Gaetz is the subject of a Justice Department inquiry into whether he had sex with a 17-year-old girl, transported her across state lines in violation of sex trafficking laws and other possible crimes.

Thank you for having my back, Gaetz told the Arizona crowd, without referencing his mounting legal troubles.

While his associate Joel Greenberg reached a plea deal last week with federal prosecutors, the Florida congressman kept his remarks about the Justice Department limited to its recent statements that the Arizona recount may not comply with federal law.

One group that Im inclined to stand up to, one group that I wouldnt mind having a little oversight over, is the Biden Justice Department, Gaetz said.

Rep. Matt Gaetz at the Capitol on May 14. (Andrew Harnik/AP)

Meanwhile, the Georgia congresswoman who was stripped of her committee assignments in February for her violent rhetoric against Democrats and her promotion of QAnon conspiracy theories, has her own potential legal troubles. She has drawn the attention of Georgia officials amid allegations that she broke the law by claiming homestead tax exemptions on two properties. In the House, calls for her resignation have grown with the discovery of videos showing her accosting Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who Greene repeatedly hammered throughout her remarks Friday.

She talks like a 14-year-old, Greene said of her interactions with Ocasio-Cortez. She says, Like whatever.

Accusing Ocasio-Cortez of lending support to terrorists in Gaza as well as those Greene says participate in Black Lives Matter protests in the U.S., she reveled in portraying her as not smart or patriotic enough to hold elected office, and her audience ate it up.

You shouldnt be a member of Congress if youre going to support terrorists abroad and at home, Greene said in one of her biggest applause lines of the night.

The bombast from Gaetz and Greene was matched in speeches by Arizona Reps. Paul Gosar and Andy Biggs and Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward, all of whom lent credence to the idea that the Maricopa County audit was warranted. That group seemed far removed from the Beltway Republicans who fear that drawing out challenges to the election will come back to haunt the party in the midterms. But judging from Fridays rally, the second stop so far on what promises to be a growing national tour, the never-say-die strategy has also resonated with some voters.

Between the two politicians at the top of the bill, Greene seemed to generate more excitement from the crowd, perhaps because Gaetz may yet be indicted for crimes that seem a lot more off-brand than allegedly cheating the government out of tax income.

I love Marjorie, a woman wearing an American flag hat told me, before checking herself. Wait, youre with the media? When I showed her my press badge, she turned and walked off.

Rep. Matt Gaetz, left, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene address attendees during a rally on May 7 in the Villages, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)

In short, Fridays event was a Trump rally sans Trump, including Trump-esque swipes at the media covering it. The question remains, however, whether the former president will seek the 2024 nomination or be content to let the next generation of firebrands like Greene and Gaetz step into his shoes.

The media like to act as though theres this big civil war brewing in the Republican Party. Is it going to be the establishment or is it going to be the Trump populists, Gaetz said. Well, you know what? The civil war is over. Weve won. This is Donald Trumps Republican Party.

Never mind the warnings from Republicans on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, who warned this week that the ongoing audit taking place at Phoenixs Veterans Memorial Coliseum  with its search for nonexistent watermarks and bamboo fibers that yet might suggest Chinese interference in the election  was turning the state into a laughingstock. Cast aside the polls that show that even a relatively minor dissolution from the America First platform could spell another defeat for Republicans in 2024. On Friday, Greene was all in, making clear she didnt care about unifying her party, let alone the nation.

You know youre a Democrat if your name is Liz Cheney, she said. You know you might be a Democrat if your name is Adam Kinzinger. You know you might be a Democrat and have a serious problem in your primary election if youre one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump.

I think they might be here to figure out how much support Trump will get and theyll tell Trump about it, Jim Sharvat, 71, of Gilbert, Ariz., told Yahoo News. I think hes searching out to see how many people are interested in voting for him.

Protesters begin gathering at Fridays America First rally in Mesa, Ariz. (David Knowles/Yahoo News)

Its also possible that Gaetz and Greene were scouting on their own behalf.

This is a crowd that I dont think anyone not named Donald Trump running for president in 2024 could get, Gaetz boasted at one point.

Either way, the impressive showing made clear that theres a hunger among many Republicans for the agenda Trump popularized. Reading their audience, the two headliners drilled down and vented over illegal immigration at the southern border, the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, COVID restrictions and Dr. Anthony Fauci, and RINO members of their own party.

Only occasionally did it slip that the highly partisan Maricopa County audit would not swiftly usher Trump back behind the Resolute desk to restore everything Biden has spent the past four months overturning.

Whats it going to take to make Arizona a red state again? Gaetz asked Rep. Gosar during a roundtable following his speech.

Its placing America first, Gosar responded. And thats whats going to get it done.

For most Democrats, and a notable minority of Republicans, Gaetz and Greene are simply perpetuating an insurrection that wont quite die, pushing discredited conspiracy theories about voter fraud, defending those who violently attacked the Capitol and exalting in the glory of the man behind it all.

We really feel strongly that we will not forget Jan. 6, Heather, a 46-year-old protester from Mesa told Yahoo News. Greene was there. Gaetz was there. They were laughing, they were having a good time ... thats not all right.

On Wednesday, before the House voted to establish a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol by Trumps supporters, Greene portrayed the insurrectionists as the victims, saying the people who breached the Capitol on Jan. 6 are being abused.

An audience member at Fridays America First rally in Mesa, Ariz., shows off a T-shirt. (David Knowles/Yahoo News)

When will the witch hunt of Donald J. Trump come to an end and all of those who support him, Greene added before joining the majority of her Republican colleagues in voting against creating the commission.

And when 35 House Republicans voted in favor of establishing the commission, Trump made sure to attack them. See, 35 wayward Republicansthey just cant help themselves, Trump said in a statement, adding, Democrats stick together, the Republicans dont. They dont have the Romneys, Little Ben Sasses, and Cheneys of the world. Unfortunately, we do. Sometimes there are consequences to being ineffective and weak. The voters understand!

Indeed, Greene and Gaetz may not be the outliers in the Republican Party that Democrats imagine them to be. A Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that both were more popular among GOP voters than Rep. Liz Cheney, who was ousted from her leadership role over her continued criticism of Trump and his effort to spread lies about the 2020 presidential election. Just 15 percent of GOP voters surveyed said they had a favorable view of Cheney, while 23 percent said the same for Gaetz and 27 percent for Greene.

If they can continue to ride the America First tour to even higher favorable ratings with members of their party, Gaetz and Greene may be poised to seek higher office, even the presidency itself. On the other hand, should the rallies continue to lay the groundwork for Trumps return to the campaign trail and victory in 2024, the two Republicans will no doubt have positioned themselves well, and all but guaranteed the prospect of a federal pardon or two.

____

Read more from Yahoo News:
Peregrine Falcon - Getty Images

Pigeon racers have been accused of poisoning two peregrine falcons after police officers launched a probe into an inexcusable attack.

The body of a female nesting peregrine was found last week at a quarry in Clee Hill in Shropshire, and a male peregrine is also believed to have been killed.

It is the latest of several poisoning incidents at the quarry in recent years, which also saw peregrines killed on separate occasions in 2010, 2011, 2015 and 2017.

The 2017 incident is thought to have been near-identical to the most recent attack. A dead pigeon was also discovered lying on its back, just above where the body of a female peregrine was found.

The pigeons are being used as bait and their feathers are daubed with poison in order to lure in peregrine falcons, which then die as soon as they eat the pigeon, according to the Shropshire Peregrine Group.

Members of the public have now been urged to avoid touching any dead animals that they see while walking on Clee Hill Common and to report any suspicious activity, as police say that poison bait may still be around.

There have been a number of examples in recent years, including at this location, of peregrines being illegally poisoned at quarries where they have been nesting, a spokesman for the RSPB told The Telegraph.

Typically when a peregrine is poisoned in a quarry there is a link to the pigeon racing community.

Poisoned baits left in the open, in public spaces, are not only lethal for wildlife but could have serious consequences for any person or pet that comes into contact with them.

All wild birds are protected by law under the Wildlife Offences Act, and the maximum sentence for the killing of the birds is a six-month jail term and a fine.

Jonathan Hipkiss, the local warden for the Shropshire Peregrine Group, said that the ongoing attacks on the animals since he took on his role six years ago had been awful.

The birds are very much appreciated by the majority of the community, who enjoy seeing them around and I have people asking how they are, he said.

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Theyre beautiful birds which have a role in the environment and theyre just beautiful to watch when theyre flying around, as any bird is if youre a birdwatcher.

Theres no game shooting around here - were not that sort of region. Whoever it is needs to stop it, because theres just no excuse.

The poisoning of peregrines at Clee Hill has been going on for a good decade, Mr Hipkiss said.

At the time of a peregrine poisoning in 2017 at Glendinning Quarry in Devon, police said the offender could have been somewhere within a rogue minority of the racing pigeon community.

Peregrines catching and eating pigeons has sparked tension between different animal campaigning groups in recent years. In 2015, The Raptor Alliance called for an evidence-based cull of birds including peregrines in order to protect pigeon numbers.

A study by the Governments UK Raptor Working Group published in 2015 found that 14 per cent of racing pigeons fail to return to their lofts because of predation by birds, including peregrines and sparrowhawks.

This compared to 36 per cent of pigeons who did not return because of exhaustion, while 34 per cent had collided with buildings, windows or wires.

Englands peregrine population has increased significantly in recent decades, rising from just 47 breeding pairs in the 1970s to at least 800.

West Mercia Police has urged anyone with any information to contact them on 101, or make an anonymous report through Crimestoppers.
May 21Yuba County Superior Court Judge Benjamin Wirtschafter found a Sacramento man fit to stand trial after a court-appointed psychologist gave his opinion that the defendant was mentally competent.

The criminal proceedings in the case against Dominik O. Cash, 28, had been suspended since March when his attorney declared a doubt as to Cash's mental health. The DA's office charged Cash with murder, evading a peace officer causing death, DUI causing injury, hit-and-run, being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition, and two misdemeanor counts of obstructing an officer and driving on a suspended license.

It is alleged that on Jan. 16, Cash was traveling south on Highway 70 at speeds of over 100 miles per hour and passing over double yellow lines. He entered Marysville and despite a successful spike strip deployment, continued at high speeds into the intersection of B Street and Ninth Street. Cash allegedly ran a red light and broadsided a vehicle, which was heading east on Ninth Street. Dawn Ritter, 55, of Marysville, was killed in the collision.

After the competency doubt was declared, a psychologist gave the opinion that Cash was not competent to stand trial. The Yuba County District Attorney's Office disagreed and requested a second psychologist be appointed to evaluate Cash.

On Friday, Deputy District Attorney Monique McDevitt said Dr. Don Stembridge opined that Cash was competent to stand trial and the court agreed. Cash will next appear in court on June 9 at 9 a.m. for a prehearing conference. Cash remains in custody and is ineligible for bail.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed Americas return to the world stage and said both leaders pledged in their meeting to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Biden told a joint news conference with Moon that he was dispatching career diplomat Sung Kim, who previously served as ambassador to South Korea, to serve as the special envoy to the region. Moon said the move by Biden reflects the firm commitment of the U.S. for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea.

Biden also announced that the U.S. would vaccinate 550,000 South Korean servicemembers who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula.

This marks the first commitment by the Biden administration for what it plans to do with the 80 million vaccine doses it aims to distribute globally in the next six weeks. Biden has said he hopes to use domestically produced vaccines as a modern-day arsenal of democracy, a reference to the U.S. effort to arm allies in World War II. At the same time, the White House has pledged not to attach policy conditions to countries receiving the doses as global vaccine diplomacy heats up.

Moon came to Washington seeking renewed diplomatic urgency by the U.S. on curbing North Koreas nuclear program, even as the White House signaled that it is taking a longer view on the issue. Biden also wanted to discuss coordination in vaccine distribution, climate change and regional security concerns spurred by China.

Their meeting was only Biden's second in-person session with a foreign leader because of the coronavirus pandemic. His first was with Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

Moon said afterward he and Biden spoke "like old friends and emphasized the need for cooperation on security issues in the region.

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The most urgent common task that our two countries must undertake is achieving complete denuclearization and permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Biden did not rule out meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un Kim. But in a veiled reference to former President Donald Trumps charm offensive with Kim, Biden said he would not replicate the efforts of the recent past.

Trump met face-to-face with the dictator on three occasions and exchanged what he called love letters with the leader.

I would not give him all that hes looking for," Biden said of Kim, namely international recognition.

Biden paid tribute to the long history of shared sacrifice by the two allies. His formal talks with Moon in the afternoon ran long, Biden said in earlier remarks, because I enjoyed the meeting so much that it caused us to move everything back. He said his staff interrupted repeatedly to warn they were over time.

Moon said, The world is welcoming Americas return, an oblique reference to Trump's attempts to disengage on some aspects of American diplomacy.

The White House announced last month that it had completed a review of North Korea policy and Biden would veer from the strategies of his two most recent predecessors, rejecting both Trumps deeply personal effort to win over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and Barack Obamas more hands-off approach.

But the administration has yet to detail what its third-way effort to try to prod the North to abandon its nuclear program will look like.

Moon started his day at the White House complex by meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris and top Biden advisers. Moon also participated in a Medal of Honor ceremony for Ralph Puckett, a 94-year-old Army veteran who was celebrated for his gallantry during the Korean War more than 70 years ago.

Without the sacrifice of veterans including Colonel Puckett ... freedom and democracy we enjoy today couldnt have blossomed in Korea, said Moon.

Moon, who will leave office next May, is eager to resume stalled talks between Washington and Pyongyang and between Seoul and Pyongyang. But the Biden administration, which confirmed in March that it had made outreach efforts to the North without success, has been less enthusiastic about the idea of direct negotiations in the near term.

Still, Moon made clear before the meeting that he would nudge Biden to renew diplomatic efforts with the North.

Biden also used the meeting to press South Korea to adopt a more ambitious 2030 target for curbing carbon emissions and to urge Seoul to do more to counter Chinas growing influence in the Indo-Pacific region.

Biden also wants Moon to take a strong stance on China's activity toward Taiwan and other provocative moves Beijing has made in the region. Biden has sought to rally Pacific allies to coordinate on China, which Biden sees as the United States' fiercest economic competitor.

South Korea could be reluctant to speak out about China, an important trading partner that it also sees as key in dealing with the North Korean government. Moon told the press conference there was no pressure on the issue from by Biden in their meeting.

___

Associated Press writer Alexandra Jaffe contributed reporting.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk gives a presentation on his Starship rocket at their Boca Chica spaceport launch facility. Jonathan Newton / The Washington Post via Getty Images

Brownsville residents are divided as SpaceX sets up its main launch facilities close to the area.

Some locals are excited for Elon Musk to create job opportunities and pump money into the city.

Others are concerned SpaceX will displace locals, hike prices, and destroy the nature reserves.

See more stories on Insider's business page.

Residents of Brownsville, a small city in Texas, are divided. Their town is now home to SpaceX's rocket-production facilities, which only promises to grow bigger.

Some locals told Insider they're at their wits' end with SpaceX as the aerospace company sets off explosions and pushes locals out of the area. But others see it as a positive impact on the economy and residents' wellbeing.

Brownsville, which lies 20 miles west of SpaceX's launch facilities on the Gulf Coast, is known for being one of the poorest areas in the US. The 300,000-person city also has a very high unemployment rate.

When SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted at the end of March that he was donating $30 million to Brownsville - $20 million to schools and $10 million for revitalization - it split the city.

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Musk also announced that he was building a new city called Starbase at SpaceX's launch facilities which would be "much larger" than Boca Chica Village, where the company is developing its Starship rocket.

Brownsville's mayor Trey Mendez was surprised at Musk's announcement and said in an interview with KSAT 12 it was "exciting" that the community could have the chance to become the face of "space exploration and innovation."

Mendez said he hoped Musk's capital would help "accelerate the progress [in Brownsville] even more."

But there is division between those living in the south Texas city. Some are concerned that SpaceX's developments will be devastating for the people, nature, and ecosystems there. Others welcome the job opportunities, economic prosperity, and modernization that Musk's company could bring to the town.

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SpaceX didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Dangerous explosions

Every time a rocket blows up on the launchpad, it hurls debris into the nearby nature sanctuaries in the area. SpaceX has witnessed four out of five of its Starship prototypes explode, meaning that metals and pieces of machinery are lying in areas that have never been disturbed before.

"These ecosystems are our community's lifeblood," said Bekah Hinojosa, resident of Brownsville and member of Another Gulf is Possible, an organization working on environmental issues along the southern Gulf Coast.

"SpaceX explosions are littering our ecosystems, home to the endangered ocelot, aplomado falcon, and numerous migratory birds," she said.

Pieces of debris are scattered near Boca Chica, Texas, after the explosion of an uncrewed prototype of SpaceX's Starship rocket, March 31, 2021. Gene Blevins/Reuters

Xandra Trevino is a member of the art collective Las Imaginistas. It's an initiative that aims to connect with officials and lower-income residents in the Rio Grande Valley, where Brownsville is situated, to improve quality of life. As a resident, she told Insider that she's already seeing the negative effects of SpaceX in the area.

"Any SpaceX expansion would be occupying more land considered sacred to the local indigenous Carrizo Comecrudo tribe," Trevino said, who lives in the area.

Residents face disruption every time they're told to leave their homes before a SpaceX launch, she added.

SpaceX jobs aren't for the locals

In March, Musk encouraged people to move to the Brownsville area, saying that SpaceX needs specific jobs in engineering, tech, and other sectors.

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Residents felt that Musk's Twitter callout, however, wasn't directed at them, but instead anyone in the US who wanted a career at SpaceX.

Claudia Michelle Serrano, a digital content coordinator for Las Imaginistas, who lives in Brownsville told Insider that Musk's job proposals via Twitter were offered on a national level to those interested in working for the space company.

"The jobs being created aren't for us," she said. "There is zero transparency on the jobs SpaceX created locally."

Jobs in Brownsville are low-wage, meaning that residents on those salaries won't be able to keep up with increasing costs in the city, according to Serrano.

Spectators gather to watch SpaceX roll out the SN11 prototype. SPadre.com

Christine Leal, a 17-year-old high school student living in the Rio Grande Valley, told Insider that although her dream is to work for SpaceX after studying engineering at university, she's worried about "the immense danger," which the company will bring to the area.

Pulling in engineers from outside of the valley will lead residents to be financially disadvantaged and pushed out of their homes, she said. "There's a large probability that [Musk] will further develop Brownsville, but neglect the locals who were already here."

Leal said although the company's project will be amazing for the local economy, "Elon and SpaceX need to make sure that locals have a role in that development and don't push us aside. If he doesn't, then we risk losing our culture, land, customs, and traditions."

SpaceX could drive residents out of Brownsville

Low-income residents could be forced to leave their homes due to spiking prices caused by SpaceX's presence in the area, locals told Insider.

Musk announced the construction of SpaceX's facilities in 2014. Since then, the cost of living in the area has gradually increased as more people from across the US flock to Brownsville to work for the billionaire.

If the city of Starbase goes ahead, the small village and its leaders would have access to eminent domain, which could let them legally force holdouts to sell their homes, Insider reported May 8.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk visited Boca Chica Beach in South Texas to break ground on a new spaceport and launch site on September 22, 2014. Robert Daemmrich Photography Inc/Corbis via Getty Images

"The biggest concern is displacement," said Serrano. "Our home could be lost with rapidly increasing taxes or others who rent will be priced out."

Investors have been rushing to Brownsville to buy homes, sending house prices rocketing, Insider reported in April. But many residents aren't able to afford these prices, leaving them with a tough decision of whether to stay in the area or not.

Serrano said this could have a huge impact on the Buena Vida area of downtown Brownsville, a historically immigrant and Spanish speaking area.

Many of the locals who spoke to Insider believe the local leaders have a lot to answer for. Freddy Jimenez, editor of media platform Trucha, told us the leaders of Cameron County and City of Brownsville don't represent the everyday people living in the area as they look to profit from the space company's developments. Conversations between the representatives and SpaceX have been kept under the wraps, he added.

"Working people, community members, indigenous people, and the beautiful ecology of the region is being put at risk and exploited," Jimenez said. "Shame on our local leaders and shame on the interests they serve."

SpaceX controls beach access and fishing

Robert Avitia, who was born and raised in Brownsville, still lives in the city where he runs his business. He thinks that SpaceX has done wonders by pumping more money into the area.

Although Avitia believes there are more positives than negatives with Musk coming to Brownsville, he agrees that rocket debris in the wildlife sanctuaries and the closing off of Boca Chica beach are serious issues in the community.

Boca Chica beach was a place where people could hang out whenever they wanted, Avitia told Insider.

The SN10 lands in one piece on SpaceX's Boca Chica landing pad, in this screengrab from the test flight livestream. SpaceX

"Now it's controlled. You can't get in and out whenever you want to. It's only when they allow it, based on what's happening at SpaceX," he said.

The beach was a big part of the culture in the area. Avitia recalled the fond memories he had with his father of coming down to the beach to fish. Now, SpaceX sometimes doesn't allow people to fish as it's too close to the facilities.

Hinojosa, who raised concerns about rocket litter earlier in this report, also said SpaceX closing off the beach access for locals threatens people's livelihoods by preventing people from fishing and feeding their families, and enjoying the beach.

Some residents see the positive side

But Avitia is one of the many people who welcome SpaceX's expansion in Brownsville. Beforehand, the city was a "ghost town" with little to offer, he said. Now, it's become more modern as new restaurants and businesses pop up on the streets, the tourism sector grows, and highways are updated he added.

"There is division here," he said. "You have people that are just comfortable and don't want to change... I hate to say this but the ones that want to stay comfortable are going to lose, they're going to miss out."

Restricting access to the beach and fishing comes with change, said Avitia.

"[Musk] donating money was like him saying, "Hey, I'm here to help. I'm not here to take away. I'm here to help." And I truly believe he's here to help," he added.

Four other people who spoke to Insider said they were also excited about Brownsville being the home of SpaceX.

One of them, Rudy Guzman, a lifelong resident of Brownsville, told Insider that SpaceX is exactly what the city needs "to attract outside investors and grow our local economy." Others said it would motivate children and make a huge improvement to education.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez speaks during the presentation of the Green Digital Certificate (a certificate that records that a person has been vaccinated or has passed COVID-19 or has a negative PCR test) during the International Tourism Fair Fitur 2021 held at Ifema pavillion in Madrid, Spain, 21 May 2021. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez attends to the International Tourism Fair Fitur 2021, Madrid, Spain - 21 May 2021 - Shutterstock //EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Spains Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Friday his country would be delighted to welcome back British tourists from Monday without a Covid test or proof of vaccination.

Speaking at a tourism conference in Madrid, Mr Sanchez said that Spain was lifting restrictions as the rate of new Covid infections had dropped significantly in the UK while vaccinations were progressing well. They are welcome without restrictions or health requirements, he said.

Tourism, he added, will be the lever to end the economic crisis, adding that thousands of families have seen their way of life jeopardised in the last year, in reference to the 2.7 million Spaniards directly employed by tourism before the pandemic, representing 12.4 per cent of GDP.

Prior to coronavirus, British tourists were the largest group of nationals who visited Spain, with 18 million trips to the Mediterranean country registered in 2019. Mr Sanchez also announced citizens from nine other countries including Australia, China and Japan will also be able to visit Spain from Monday without a Covid test or proof of vaccination.

However, the announcement was tempered by the UK governments attitude towards British tourists travelling there. Spain is desperate to be placed on the UKs travel green list like its neighbour Portugal.

For now, Spain remains on the Governments amber list, meaning Madrids lifting of restrictions does not exempt British travellers from having to pay for three Covid tests, one prior to and two after travelling home, and a 10-day quarantine at home upon arrival back in Britain.

Spains 14-day incidence rate is now at 139.89 per 100,000 people, far higher than Portugals 47.82 cases per 100,000 people.

Looking ahead, Mr Sanchez said that tourists from other non-EU countries would also be welcome to visit Spain from June 7, but only with a vaccination certificate. Spain is pushing the European Commission to extend the European Union Covid-19 certificate outside the bloc, Spains Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Friday.

Mr Sanchez praised the use of the EU digital certificate as a timesaver in airports that are already struggling with long waiting times for travellers. "It avoids having to make such complex checks on arrival as travelers have had to suffer during these months of the pandemic, he said. The certificate is a very simple document and is implemented by means of a QR code.

Spains lifting of restrictions for all tourists comes ahead of the full EU-wide digital certificate rollout on July 1.
Spoiler alert! The follow post discusses important plot points and the ending of "Army of the Dead." So be warned if you haven't seen it yet.

Zombie kings and queens and tigers, oh my! But who saw that zombie newborn coming?

Director Zack Snyder fills out his undead bingo card with gusto  and sets up a future franchise expansion  in the heist film Army of the Dead (streaming now on Netflix), which centers on a quarantined Las Vegas thats become ground zero for a zombie apocalypse after one escapes from a truck outbound from Area 51 and heads straight for Sin City.

Army picks some years after the outbreak, when burger-flipping widower Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), a hero in the zombie wars, is recruited to form a team, break into the Strip and steal $200 million from a high-tech casino vault hours before a nuclear missile is supposed to strike. Their mission into Vegas involves creating a truce with the zombie horde, which is ruled by an alpha named Zeus (Rich Cetrone), but that peace is disrupted when a member of Scotts crew hacks off the head of the queen zombie (Athena Perample). Zeus becomes exceedingly ticked off (for reasons well get to in a minute) and the humans have to race to the top of a hotel for a chopper ride to safety.

What to stream this weekend: Netflix's 'Army of the Dead,' Amazon Prime's Pink documentary

Head zombie Zeus (Centrone) has reason to be irked when humans invade his Vegas kingdom in Zack Snyder's "Army of the Dead."

Rich does a great job. He's my longtime friend and he's a great actor and a great stunt person and really physical guy, Snyder says. Five hours a day in that chair doing that makeup is ridiculous for anybody, but he just really goes for it, and same with Athena (as) the queen.

Theres a reason why Zeus (aka the zombie who escaped from Area 51) is so mad: The film reveals that the queen is pregnant (!) with his baby, and after Scotts crew takes her head, Zeus has his minions bring the body back to zombie headquarters at the Olympus hotel. (Fun fact: A visual guide to Zeus backstory is shown on the side of the building.) That's there where Zeus recovers the zombie baby out of the Queens body, but Snyder confirms that it does not survive. Not this one, he teases.

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'Like Braveheart but flipped': Zack Snyder evolves zombies in a big way for 'Army of the Dead'

The zombie Queen (Athena Perample) is pregnant with a zombie baby when she runs afoul of some human thieves in "Army of the Dead."

The idea behind including a zombie baby in Army of the Dead was that with zombies, basically, (humans) are the fuel that creates the population as they get infected, Snyder explains. (The movies main rule of zombification: Humans bitten by Zeus become alphas, and they become shamblers if anyone else chomps on them.) I thought it would be cool if zombies really no longer needed us in any way. Like they can procreate, they can create, and who knows what that next generation of alphas would be like... one more step" of evolution.

Unfortunately, Zeus doesnt make it out of the movie alive: He tracks Scott down to his departing helicopter before taking off, they fight, and Zeus dies on their hellacious ride out of Vegas that ends in a nasty crash. He bit Scott, though, necessitating his daughter Kate Ward (Ella Purnell) to shoot her dad in the head once he goes full zombie.

But the seed is planted for another alpha.

'Army of the Dead': Dave Bautista talks Netflix film, collecting his action figures and 'awful' Drax makeup

During the main heist, Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick), another member of Scotts team, is locked in the vault with all the cash after a tussle with Zeus and left for dead. And at the end of the film, though, hes seen escaping the rubble of the nuked hotel with bags of cash. He rents a private plane, tired and definitely needing the drink the flight attendants give him.

The ending of "Army of the Dead" set up an interesting conundrum for Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick).

Suddenly, Vanderohe doesnt feel well and goes to the bathroom, where he sees that hes been bitten by Zeus and hears that theyre headed for Mexico City, causing him to drop an F-bomb when he realizes hes the new patient zero.

Does that mean Army of the Dead 2 is going south of the border? It feels like that would be cool, says Snyder, who also has the prequel movie Army of Thieves and a spinoff Lost Vegas anime series coming to expand his Netflix Dead-verse. We just wanted to to have that kind of an ending, like is there more Army? Maybe.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Army of the Dead': Zack Snyder talks big spoilers in his zombie film
May 22JUNEAU  The Alaska Senate unanimously agreed late Wednesday night to spend $10 million on a program that would offer unemployed Alaskans $1,200 if they find full-time work and $600 if they find part-time work.

The program found bipartisan agreement in the Senate, but it won't happen unless it survives the state budget process and Gov. Mike Dunleavy's veto pen. A spokesman for the governor said he will review it if it's in the final version of the budget.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, proposed the program with the support of Republican Sens. Click Bishop of Fairbanks and Bert Stedman of Sitka. Wielechowski thinks it has a chance.

"There's a lot of people out there, a lot of businesses struggling to get employees. With the money, maybe this is sort of a minor way we can get them some help," he said.

As of Friday, four states had enacted similar return-to-work bonuses using federal aid from the American Rescue Plan earlier this year. Alaska is receiving about $1 billion that it can spend flexibly, and about half of that can be spent this year.

Arizona's plan is paying $2,000 to unemployed people who find full-time work in that state. Montana and Oklahoma are offering the same amount that Alaska would, and New Hampshire is offering $1,000 for full-time work.

Wielechowski said the idea for Alaska's plan came after the Dunleavy administration cut a $300 per-week federal unemployment boost. Without that boost, Alaska's maximum unemployment payment will drop from $670 per week to $370 per week. Unemployed Alaskans with children may receive extra money.

Commissioner Tamika Ledbetter of the Department of Labor said the cut is intended to push unemployed Alaskans into the workforce, but Wielechowski was not satisfied with that approach.

"I'd been talking to Bert and Click to see what we can do to help out our unemployed and were brainstorming and came up with this," he said.

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Other senators were brainstorming as well. Sen. Elvi Gray-Jackson, D-Anchorage, said she was considering a $500 stimulus payment, but that idea never made it to the Senate floor. A proposal to restore the federal unemployment boost failed by one vote.

Wielechowski convinced Republican lawmakers on the bonus idea with a speech pointing out that Republicans in other states had taken similar actions. He believes the bonus could help both the unemployed and employers who said they have struggled to find workers.

According to his estimates, the state could pay 8,300 full-time bonuses with the amount of money earmarked for the project.

Only state residents receiving unemployment are eligible for the program, and a person could receive a bonus only once, after their fourth full week of unemployment.

"It's pretty significant and could have a pretty good impact for people," Wielechowski said.
The long-term economic cost of school closures could reach into the trillions, according to a paper released this week.

Why it matters: Beyond the direct health damage caused by COVID-19, no other area will have as far-reaching impact as pandemic-driven school closures.

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By the numbers: Researchers at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania calculated that learning loss from school closures will reduce U.S. GDP by 3.6% and hourly wages by 3.5% by 2050.

That's a result of lowered labor productivity in the workers of tomorrow due both to disrupted education and the generally inferior substitution of remote learning, especially as it was practiced during the pandemic.

Between the lines: There's no easy way to get back the lost time for America's students, but the authors recommend extending the 202122 school year by an additional month.

They estimate that would cost about $75 billion, but would cut the GDP reduction to 3.1%.

That would provide a net gain of $1.2 trillion, about a $16 gain for every $1 invested in extending the school year.

Even with vaccine rates rising and businesses reopening around the country, more than 30% of America's K-12 students still aren't attending in-person school every day, according to the Burbio School Opening Tracker.

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The footage emerged as part of a civil rights case filed against the officers

A US jail inmate died gasping for breath minutes after police officers held him face down, with one taunting: "You shouldn't be able to breathe."

New footage from the Tennessee facility shows how William Jennette, 48, was pinned down and tied a year ago.

"Help me," he pleaded with other staff at Marshall County Jail in Lewisburg, "they're going to kill me."

Asphyxia was listed as "a contributory cause of death" due to officers' use of the prone restraint.

Mr Jennette's official post-mortem examination was ruled a homicide, with "acute combined drug intoxication" also listed by the medical examiner as a cause of death.

The prone restraint was most recently under scrutiny in the police murder of George Floyd, a black man in Minneapolis, Minnesota, last year, 19 days after the death of Mr Jennette.

The daughter of Mr Jennette, who was white, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit over law enforcement practices in the father-of-five's death on 6 May 2020.

In their lawsuit, which names seven officers as defendants, the Jennette family alleges excessive force was used at the jailhouse, located 70 miles (110km) south of Nashville.

"All he wanted was help and all he got was hate," his daughter Cali Jennette told local CBS affiliate WTVF-TV.

Mr Jennette was pinned down with an officer's weight on his back for a total of four minutes, according to the lawsuit.

Officials have defended their handling of the incident, saying Mr Jennette was "extremely unruly".

Police say the inmate became "unruly"

State prosecutors closed an inquiry into the death several months ago. A grand jury reviewed the case, but decided not to bring criminal charges against the officers.

Mr Jennette, a cement truck driver, had been arrested on charges of public intoxication, indecent exposure and resisting arrest. Methamphetamine was detected in his body and jail logs say he had been "hallucinating" and "detoxing".

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The day before his death, Mr Jennette had repeatedly banged his head into the cell wall, say officials, prompting officers to place him in a restraint chair.

On the day of his death, officials say he began to bang his fists on the door, and when officers tried to get him into a restraint chair again he refused to comply.

Mr Jennette is heard on video, pleading: "Help me, they're going to kill me." During the ensuing struggle, Marshall County deputies handcuffed Mr Jennette and wrestled him to the ground.

Officers placed their weight on his back, staying on him even as he warned three times that he could not breathe.

One deputy replied: "You shouldn't be able to breathe, you stupid little [expletive]."

According to the lawsuit, she then mocked Mr Jennette by saying: "I can't breathe." Another officer allegedly laughed.

At one point in the footage an officer reminds his colleagues of the dangers of "positional asphyxiation", and urges them to let Mr Jennette breathe.

The legal action alleges that by the time Mr Jennette was turned over, his body was "purple and lifeless".

Law enforcement use-of-force expert Seth Stoughton, who testified at the George Floyd trial, told CBS News that the way officers treated Mr Jennette was "the exact opposite of what generally accepted training has taught officers for the last 25 years".

"When the handcuffs came on, they should have rotated the guy to his side," he said.

In a statement, Lewisburg Mayor Jim Bingham called the death "unfortunate", but said Mr Jennette had been "both verbally and physically abusive" towards his jailers.

Mr Bingham did not comment on the litigation, which also names the city and county.
Lawmakers in Washington finally seem to be serious about connecting every American to high-speed broadband. After years of getting it wrong with false starts and broken promises, its vital they get this one right.

There are two paths Congress can take: a relatively simple, direct approach that builds on the strengths of our current broadband ecosystem and closes the digital divide in rural and urban areas with targeted, laser focused subsidies.

Then there is the speculative, over-regulatory approach pushed by some beltway zealots and special interests  unnecessarily overcomplicating this challenge with far-left shibboleths that have failed miserably in the past.

Build on America's broadband networks

This isnt that complicated; the shortest distance between two points is a direct line. To get the job done, we should focus on the most direct path and be willing to take yes for an answer.

Unlike much of our physical infrastructure, Americas broadband networks are top-shelf and should be built upon. In our recent report on investor heroes, broadband providers represent three of the top ten investors in the U.S. economy.

Vice President Kamala Harris at the New Hampshire Electric Co-Op, on April 23, 2021, in Plymouth, New Hampshire.

U.S. broadband is significantly faster and more widely available in rural areas than those in Europe, and our broadband adoption rates are higher. The emergence of 5G fixed wireless options and low-earth-orbit satellites is giving consumers more broadband choices than ever before. Like most broadband tiers, a 100 Mbps home broadband plan costs significantly less today than it did 5 years ago.

Gaps remain, to be sure. Thats why Congress must fund targeted subsidies to build networks where they dont yet exist in rural America and targeted subsidies to help struggling families with monthly subscription fees.

We know which communities dont have broadband wires, and theres general agreement it will cost $60 to $80 billion to get them connected. And we know  from years of data from broadband providers low-cost programs and pandemic-era initiatives launched by progressive mayors in places like Chicago and Philadelphia  that subsidy programs for low-income groups move huge numbers to adopt.

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But every crisis breeds cottage industries armed with pseudo-academic studies and legions of lobbyists who would commandeer the golden opportunity to instead build pet projects and bridges to nowhere. And if past is prologue, they tend to screw things up.

For example, some activists are now evangelizing the idea that we can future proof new network builds by requiring providers to offer 25 times more upstream capacity than Zoom recommends for HD video calls. Nearly 60% of the country would be considered without broadband service under such a high threshold  so wealthy, already-wired communities like Santa Barbara and Palm Beach would be eligible to apply for federal buildout funds. Repeating the well-documented mistakes of the 2009 stimulus broadband programs by overbuilding duplicative networks would waste resources much more urgently needed in rural communities.

America Talks: Toxic polarization threatens our nation's future. Here's how we can save it.

Similarly, some activists want to get local municipal governments into the business of building and operating complex broadband facilities  even in places that already have high-speed networks. The remaining true believers of this idea love to point to rare examples where government-owned networks are popular  Chattanooga is a favored poster child  but tend to ignore the much larger set of failed efforts that have drowned local taxpayers in a sea of debt and produced sub-par networks.

These ideas of course are great cocktail conversation and good fodder for conferences and building twitter followers. But if unleashed, they could radically undermine the simple approach that can succeed and instead leave millions stuck without 21st century broadband connectivity they sorely need.

Simpler alternatives that work

Simpler alternatives are readily available  and have bipartisan support.

For example, Senators Joe Manchin (D-WV) and John Cornyn (R-TX) recently introduced legislation that would target limited federal rural buildout funds to unconnected rural communities where theyre truly needed.

Their framework calls for a truly competitive process that allows every technology and provider to compete against one another on equal footing so that we get the best bang for the buck. And it demands that any providers awarded funds complete their buildout within three years.

In parallel, we can match this elegant, targeted rural buildout approach with targeted help for low-income families struggling to stay connected. Broadband providers discounted offerings, available for $10 to $20 a month, have already connected 14 million. The Manchin-Cornyn bill would require funding recipients to offer similar low-cost options in newly wired rural communities.

Bipartisanship and Biden: Why it's bad for America if President Biden gives up on bipartisanship

And to the extent that some struggling families cant afford even $10 a month, Congress should make permanent the Emergency Broadband Benefit  passed last December  to fully underwrite broadband for the neediest among us. Dozens of civil rights groups have urged lawmakers to embrace a Permanent Broadband Benefit as a cornerstone of digital inclusion.

We can get everyone connected  both rural and urban  if we take the most direct path and dont waste time, money, and focus on ethereal fantasies and ideological dead-ends.

Lindsay Lewis is executive director of the Progressive Policy Institute.

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: The importance of building on American's broadband network
Donald Trump is still a big name in Republican politics (AP)

Former President Donald Trump has labelled Republicans who do not want to discuss Arizona vote recount as weak and stupid in an interview.

Speaking on One America News Network, Mr Trump said to anchor Chanel Rion about the vote recount in the state the GOP lost for the first time in 20 years in 2020.

It is a significant event in the Stop the Steal, a campaign based on the unverified claims that the last election contained widespread voter fraud has led to a high profile vote audit in Maricopa County.

Thats all people ask me. They say whats going on in Arizona? They want to talk about the election fraud. The weak Republicans dont want to talk about it, He continued, The weak Republican dont want to talk about it. The weak or stupid or RINOs call them whatever you want, and yet the Republican voter thats what they want to hear.

RINO is an acronym, standing for Republican in name only, and is applied to figures like Rep. Liz Cheney who is vocal with her criticism that Mr Trump has too strong a hold on the party. She was recently ousted from her position of the chair of the Republican conference and was replaced with Rep. Elise Stefanik, who has been outspoken about the importance of the Maricopa County recount.

The Republican voter wants the story. The weak Republican politician doesnt want to talk about this story, he said.

Despite leaving office in relative disgrace after becoming the only person to be impeached twice for his role in inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol Building on 6 January, interrupting the confirmation of President Joe Bidens 2020 election victory, Mr Trump is a loud voice in congressional GOP politics.

After being banned from popular mainstream social media sites, he created his new blog From the Desk of Donald Trump, a website he used to comment on ongoings within US politics, where he announced his support for Ms Stefanik.

According to a poll by CNBC published in February, the former commander-in-chiefs approval rating remains high at 75 per cent but has dropped from 90 per cent. The most recent display of his grip on the party is Republicans in Congress voting to block a commission into the January riots, which will move on to a divided Senate.

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Officials in Arizona have spoken out about the chaos caused by the recount. Arizonas Secretary of State Katie Hobbs issued a letter, which was shared with NBC News, where she explained that the machines are no longer able to be used following the investigation.

"Unfortunately, after a loss of physical custody and control, no comprehensive methods exist to fully rehabilitate the compromised equipment or provide adequate assurance that they remain safe to use," she wrote.

Read More

UK Covid-19 vaccinations: Latest figures

Biden betting on wage growth, while GOP warns of inflation

New voter ID rules raise concerns of fraud, ballot rejection
LONDON (Reuters) - A double dose of COVID-19 vaccines is almost as effective against the fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus first identified in India as it is against Britain's dominant strain, English health officials said on Saturday.

Britain's health minister said the data was groundbreaking and he was increasingly hopeful that the government would be able to lift more COVID restrictions next month.

A study by Public Health England found the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine was 88% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant two weeks after the second dose.

That compared with 93% effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 "Kent" strain which is Britain's dominant COVID variant.

Two doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the Indian variant compared with 66% effectiveness against the Kent variant, PHE said.

"I'm increasingly confident that we're on track for the roadmap, because this data shows that the vaccine, after two doses, works just as effectively (against the Indian variant)," Health Secretary Matt Hancock told broadcasters.

Under the government's plans, a lifting of remaining coronavirus restrictions is due to take place from June 21.

Britain has rushed out Europe's fastest vaccination programme so far but it has faced a new challenge from the spread of the variant first found in India.

Data published on Saturday showed new COVID cases reported in Britain rose by 10.5% in the seven days to May 22 although it remained a fraction of levels seen earlier this year.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson this month ordered an acceleration of remaining second doses to the over 50s and people who are clinically vulnerable.

PHE said a first dose of both vaccines was 33% effective against symptomatic disease from B.1.617.2 after three weeks, lower than its 50% effectiveness against B.1.1.7.

Hancock said that showed that getting both doses of the vaccine was "absolutely vital."

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Concern about rising cases in Britain of the variant first found in India prompted Germany to say on Friday that anyone entering the country from the United Kingdom would have to quarantine for two weeks on arrival.

Also on Friday, the head of Germany's public health institute said existing COVID-19 vaccines might be less effective against the B.1.617.2 variant.

(Writing by William Schomberg; Editing by Christina Fincher)
Deanna Apps, a physical scientist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Detroit District, told the Tribune that most of the Great Lakes region saw drier conditions toward the end of 2020 through this year leaving lake levels in between. Were kind of in the middle there, Apps said. Were about a foot and a half above average, and a foot and a half below record highs, roughly.
Former Bank of England advisor Huw van Steenis has stated that central banks are not running scared of cryptocurrencies. He believes retaining control of money forms the crux of their move towards central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).

In a recent interview, Van Steenis, currently senior advisor to Ralph Hamers, CEO of the Swiss private bank UBS, called CBDCs a solution in search of a problem. He asserted that the crypto space is still rather small compared to the amount of money accrued in bank deposits.

As such, he opined that the central banks do not consider crypto to be a threat. But rather, they consider where they can adapt and innovate.

The interview comes a week after an article by Van Steenis was published on Bloomberg. The former top advisor at the Bank of England said in the opinion piece that innovation in central banking often starts in small markets. He alluded to the Bahamas and Cambodia leading Chinas position on electronic central bank monies.

Alongside the article, published on May 13, he emphasized certain points on Twitter, saying Finland pioneered the worlds first central bank digital currency, one tweet said. The experiment has some important lessons for those feverishly trying to figure out how revolutionary CBDCs will be.

Worlds stance on CBDCs

Within his article, he referred to the UK making its move towards a CBDC. Back in April, the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the launch of an exploratory task force to oversee the creation of a digital pound.

The task force comprises a collaboration between Van Steenis former stomping ground, the Bank of England, and HM Treasury. The former has also set up a unit especially dedicated to a CBDC, with the Banks deputy governor John Cunliffe at the head.

Van Steenis quoted the opening paragraph of his Bloomberg article in a tweet, reiterating that Digital pounds, dollars and euros are years away, but radical changes in wholesale banking and settlement are coming sooner than you think.

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Meanwhile, Chinas stance on cryptocurrencies caused a stir in the last week, as its bank imposed a ban on bitcoin (BTC) transactions and services. Prohibiting financial institutions from offering any services involving cryptocurrency to their clients.

This decision is a radical pivot from the countrys attitude of a month earlier. In April, the Peoples Bank of China (PBoC) announced it considered bitcoin an investment alternative.

The move comes amid tests of the countrys own CBDC  the digital yuan. Furthermore, reports consider the ban a potential contributing factor to the cryptocurrency price collapse on May 19.
Elizabeth Lopez was hardly aware she still had on her Chicago flag-themed mask as she waited with friends Saturday afternoon outside a parking lot in the Hyde Park neighborhood.

But an hour later, the fully COVID-19-vaccinated 59-year-old from Jefferson Park was barefaced and merrily strolling through the crowd of about 70 other fully inoculated people as her favorite music genre  house  blared from the speakers. Hardly a mask was in sight among the audience, which was mostly seated or waiting for beverages. Some, though, got up and shuffled side-to-side in front of the white stage.

Fall in love with the city again: Thats what I want people to do, Lopez said about her hopes for the afternoon. I kind of lost it awhile with all the craziness that was going on.

Lopez was the first in line for the kickoff concert with the citys Protect Chicago Music Series, billed as a monthly music event that is exclusive to people who are two weeks past their final coronavirus vaccine dose. Featuring DJs Ron Trent and Duane Powell, the event required attendees to bring their official vaccination card and an ID during will call to get a ticket.

When they put this together for everyone thats vaccinated, we rushed to get our tickets, said Lopezs friend Dean Bowie, a 57-year-old man from Chatham. It eases the stress and burden of knowing or mitigating the risks. We understand whos around you and what their status is.

Usage of what some see as a vaccine passport for entry into events could be the norm this summer in Chicago and beyond. At least two long-awaited Chicago events  the Windy City Smokeout street festival and Lollapalooza  will require attendees to show proof of being vaccinated or a negative COVID-19 test. And earlier this month, the city began allowing late-night bars to operate past the 1 a.m. curfew if they only let in vaccinated patrons.

However, questions on the verification process remain as city health officials say they are still hammering out details for blockbuster events like Lollapalooza, including how to make sure forged cards dont fool bouncers.

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For Saturdays event, there was plenty of room for a larger crowd, but attendees didnt seem to mind. Some said they were simply drawn to the headliners and wanted a more laid-back experience for their first concert since the pandemics start.

The subdued but attentive audience was a sort of tease to the larger rock band performances Dustin Smallheer hopes to attend later this summer, he said. It also didnt stop him from getting up from time to time to sway to one of his favorite artists, DJ Ron Trent.

I needed to dance, Smallheer, a 40-year-old from Lakeview, said. I like being around people and feeling the energy you get from music and joy, and we havent had a lot of that in the last year and a half.

Leah Castleberry, a 28-year-old from South Shore, said Saturday wasnt quite what she expected for her first concert in more than a year. Shes an avid enjoyer of live house music, and there seemed to be something missing in the atmosphere.

But Chicago will get there, she said.

I think its going to take some time because were all just readjusting, getting back into the swing of things, Castleberry said. Summertime Chi is finally here.

ayin@chicagotribune.com
By Djafar Al Katanty and Hereward Holland

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Lava from a volcanic eruption approached the airport of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's main city of Goma late on Saturday, and the government urged residents to evacuate.

As the red glow of Mount Nyiragongo tinged the night sky above the lakeside city of about 2 million, thousands of Goma residents carrying mattresses and other belongings fled the city on foot - many toward the frontier with Rwanda.

Nyiragongo's last eruption in 2002 killed 250 people and left 120,000 homeless. It is one of the world's most active volcanoes and is considered among the most dangerous.

Rwanda's Ministry in Charge of Emergency Management said more than 3,500 Congolese have crossed the border. Rwandan state media said they would be lodged in schools and places of worship.

New fractures were opening in the volcano, letting lava flow south toward the city after initially flowing east toward Rwanda, said Dario Tedesco, a volcanologist based in Goma.

"Now Goma is the target," Tedesco told Reuters. "It's similar to 2002. I think that the lava is going towards the city centre."

"It might stop before or go on. It's difficult to forecast," he said.

Emmanuel De Merode, head of Virunga National Park, asked park employees in parts of Goma to evacuate, according a note seen by Reuters. He said lava had reached the international airport on the eastern edge of the city but that it was not likely to reach other parts of Goma.

Celestin Kasereka, head of scientific research at the Goma Volcano Observatory (OVG), told reporters he did not think the lava was flowing fast enough to reach Goma.

A United Nations source said all U.N. aircraft had been evacuated to the city of Bukavu to the south and Entebbe in neighbouring Uganda. The power was also out across much of Goma.

Prime Minister Jean-Michel Sama Lukonde convened an emergency meeting in the capital, Kinshasa, where the government activated an evacuation plan for Goma.

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"We hope that the measures that have been taken this evening will allow the population to reach the points that were indicated to them in this plan," government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said in comments broadcast on national television.

President Felix Tshisekedi will cut short a trip to Europe to return to Congo on Sunday, the presidency said on Twitter.

On the streets of Goma, panic spread quickly.

"We are panicked because we have just seen the entire city covered by a light that is not electricity or lamps," said John Kilosho. "We don't know what to do. We don't even know how to behave. There is no information."

Others fled to the city centre from villages and neighbourhoods threatened by lava on the northern outskirts.

"We looked at the sky and saw the red colour of the volcano," said Richard Hazika Diouf from the Majengo neighbourhood. "We have fled to seek shelter in town."

Volcano watchers have been worried that the volcanic activity observed in the last five years at Nyiragongo mirrors that in the years preceding eruptions in 1977 and 2002.

Volcanologists at the OVG, which monitors Nyiragongo, have struggled to make basic checks on a regular basis since the World Bank cut funding amid embezzlement allegations.

(Reporting by Djafar Al Katanty in Goma and Hereward Holland in Kinshasa; Additional reporting by Olivia Acland in Goma and Fiston Mahamba in Gisenyi, Rwanda; Writing by Aaron Ross; Editing by Leslie Adler, Andrea Ricci and Daniel Wallis)
BOSTON  Marty Walsh appointed a new police commissioner in one of his final acts as mayor, hoping to put Bostons political woes behind him. But the local drama followed Walsh to Washington, where that last-minute promotion has the new Labor secretary embroiled in a hometown scandal and scrambling to contain the fallout.

A leadership transition gone awry inside the Boston Police Department devolved into finger-pointing between Walsh and the citys former police commissioner this week, and now Walshs biggest labor backers in Washington have gone silent.

Walsh is accused of turning a blind eye to allegations of domestic abuse against the man he appointed as police commissioner before he left for Washington. Walsh strenuously denies that accusation, but its given the White House one of its first brushes with scandal.

Walsh and his allies were prepared to tackle questions over former Police Commissioner Dennis Whites history at his confirmation hearing in February, two sources said. But they never came up.

The still-unfolding episode could test Walshs standing in the distraction-averse Biden administration, especially as Walsh is tasked with selling the White Houses massive infrastructure package.

Back home, the scandal has the Massachusetts political class divided and largely holding its breath. Even Walshs allies are reluctant to go on record for a story involving two radioactive topics: police accountability and domestic violence.

Walsh has been in direct contact with operatives in Boston over the past several days, who described him as calm and focused on labor issues. Those inside Massachusetts political circles say theyve been fielding frantic calls and texts from each other at all hours of the day.

The situation is fluid, and it could be a passing wrinkle for Walsh, a Democrat who served seven years as mayor after working his way up through state politics. But a protracted dispute over what Walsh knew or didnt know could prove to be a distraction from his duties as labor secretary  or worse.

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It all began when Bostons police commissioner at the time, William Gross, abruptly retired at the end of January, just weeks after soon-to-be-President Joe Biden announced Walsh as his pick for Labor secretary. Walsh hastily replaced Gross with White, the ex-commissioners deputy.

Barely two days after White was sworn in  and the night before Walsh was due in D.C. for his Senate confirmation hearing  decades-old allegations of domestic abuse, including a 1999 restraining order against White, surfaced in a Boston Globe story.

Walsh placed his brand new commissioner on leave and said the city would launch an investigation. The next day his office admitted the vetting process should have been more thorough. The administration vetted White by conducting a Google search and reading old press releases, according to a Boston Globe report.

But Gross swore in an affidavit this week there is no way Walsh didnt know about Whites background when he was chosen as the citys top cop.

An independent report released by the city earlier this month expanded on the allegations from 1999, with claims that White abused his then-estranged wife and told his daughter he was sleeping with a gun under his pillow. It also unearthed a second incident, this one from 1993, involving an altercation with a 19-year-old woman living in his home.

The reports release set off a chain of events that led to Gross affidavit, which surfaced ahead of a court hearing Thursday in which White sought an injunction to stop the city, now helmed by acting Mayor Kim Janey, from moving ahead with firing him. Janey herself is running for a full term as mayor of Boston. A judge had not ruled on the injunction as of Friday.

Adding fuel to the fire, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.) said Thursday that Walsh should resign if Gross is telling the truth.

We obviously need to know all the facts about his vetting. If it turns out Secretary Walsh is lying, he should resign as well, Moulton told the Boston Globe on Thursday.

Others in the Massachusetts congressional delegation have been more diplomatic in their reactions.

Walsh insists he did not know about Whites internal affairs report, going back to 2014, when White was up for a command staff post. The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

"As I said on February 3, I was not aware of these serious allegations until after I appointed White as police commissioner, Walsh said in a statement to POLITICO. Neither the allegations nor the internal affairs files were shared with me in 2014, or during any other consideration of Dennis White. Had I known, I would not have chosen him for police commissioner or any other role."

Former Police Commissioner William Evans, who served under Walsh for four years, stepped in to corroborate the former mayors claim. But Ed Davis, who served as commissioner under Walshs predecessor, Mayor Thomas Menino, told the Globe that he would brief the mayor on command staff appointments. Davis declined further comment on Friday.

During the hearing, an outside attorney hired by the city said, Its not whether they know something, quote-unquote, its whether you remember to remember it at the right time.

Walsh called Moulton on Thursday about the lawmakers attention-grabbing quote, according to four sources who declined to share the contents of the call. While Walsh told reporters Moulton misspoke, Moulton is sticking by his statement. A source familiar with Moultons thinking said Friday that the lawmaker was responding to a question on what should happen if Walsh is found to be lying, and that he just wants the full story like anyone else.

Moultons comment left some Massachusetts sources seething. They said the move was typical of the lawmaker and pushed news coverage of the controversy into another day. Moulton, who ran for president in 2020, called for the ouster of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) several years ago.

Suffolk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins, a progressive prosecutor in Boston, has also waded into the controversy. Rollins told radio station GBH that Gross account should trump Walshs statement, a stunning comment as Rollins is being considered to serve as the U.S. attorney for Massachusetts.

Somebody signed something under the pains and penalties of perjury, for me that has to trump  I love using that word  that has to trump somebody just saying, Yeah, that never happened, Rollins said.

Others have been more tight-lipped. National labor union presidents, once among Walshs most vocal advocates, have been noticeably silent on the news, declining or ignoring requests for comment Friday on what one official called a Boston issue.

In the days following the affidavit, Walsh went under the radar. The labor secretary canceled a media interview planned for the end of next week and skipped a trip to New Hampshire on Friday. At a virtual press briefing Thursday with congressional Democrats on child care, he logged off abruptly when House Education and Labor Chair Bobby Scott (D-Va.) opened it up for questions.

I have to jump off right now, but any questions directed toward the Department of Labor, we will be sure to get an answer back, he said. I have a meeting in about one minute.

He also didnt take questions during a Thursday press call with other senior Biden administration officials on climate change.

I know he feels some regrets over just the process and would have done things different in retrospect, a source familiar with Walshs thinking said. But hes very insistent he did not know anything about Denniss IA record when he appointed him.

Unions, most of which backed Walsh for the Cabinet job, appear to be steering clear until more details emerge. Walsh, a former union president himself, has been a vocal advocate for Bidens pro-union agenda, pushing since his confirmation hearing for top union priorities like the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, which would make it easier for workers to form unions, and more.

Numerous unions contacted by POLITICO, including AFL-CIO, declined to comment or did not respond to a request for comment. The AFL-CIO Massachusetts chapter also declined to comment.

Back in Boston, Walsh allies say, perhaps wishfully, that the White story is not national news.

Many are furious with Gross, the former police commissioner who Walsh promoted in 2017, who they feel stabbed Walsh in the back. Gross had recommended White to replace him as commissioner.

Gross did not respond to a request for comment.

As the ripples of the controversy arrive in Washington, members of the all-Democratic Massachusetts congressional delegation, some of whom are closer to Walsh than others, are being put in an awkward position  but are toeing the line more than Moulton.

In the same Globe article, Sen. Elizabeth Warren said she wants to hear everybodys story. Rep. Richard Neal said Walsh was a very fine mayor. Rep. Ayanna Pressley, who was a Boston city councilor when Walsh was mayor, stuck with an earlier statement on the need for more police accountability.

Rep. Stephen Lynch, a Walsh ally, staunchly and publicly defended his friend during an unrelated press conference in Boston on Friday.

In a subsequent interview with POLITICO, Lynch called Moultons comments unfortunate and a bit much.

If there was any knowledge at all on the part of anybody in that position, he would never have gotten to the No. 2 spot, Lynch said. Those are pretty serious allegations that have been put out there.

Lynch insisted the police drama is a local issue and that Walsh is 100% focused on his job as secretary of Labor.

Sam Stein and Rebecca Rainey contributed to this report.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report incorrectly stated who the mayor of Boston was when domestic violence allegations against former Police Commissioner Randy White were resolved in the 1990s.
There's fine shell hunting on Ocracoke and Portsmouth Island, North Carolina.

Summer's almost here, and beachcombers are ready to hunt for treasures washed up on shore.

You never know what the sea is going to toss at your feet, says Anna Marlis Burgard, author of "The Beachcomber's Companion" (Chronicle, $16.95; islandsofamerica.com).

She shares some favorite island beaches to find treasures from the sea.

Portsmouth Island

North Carolina

This uninhabited island on the Outer Banks offers a treasure trove of seashells, Burgard says. The holy grail is the Scotch bonnet, which is North Carolinas state shell. You have to take boats to get there. Its a little easier to visit nearby Ocracoke and Cape Island National Seashore, where the shelling is impressive too.

More information: visitocracokenc.com

Silver Strand State Beach

Coronado, California

Silver Strand State Beach, located in Coronado, California, offers the Golden State's best seashell hunting ground.

Not far from the grand Hotel Del Coronado on the outer edge of San Diego Bay, this state park offers plenty of beachcombing options, including moon snail shells, pink acorn barnacles and intriguing cone-shaped limpets. You get a selection. This is one little spot where people go to find shells, Burgard says.

More information: parks.ca.gov/?page_id=654

Tybee Island

Georgia

Tybee Island is the go-to destination for seashell hunting on the Georgia coast.

Burgard is particularly devoted to this Atlantic coast beach, where she has lived for the past 10 years. Its my favorite island in the United States. Its funky and small, informal and old-fashioned. And the shelling is superb. Container ships heading to nearby Savannah stir up the water, making for great finds. More waves, more shells. Thats just my pet theory. Her favorite find is babys ear, a small, pearly-white shell. You get a nice variety of color. Theyre like worry beads. Theyre nice to touch.

More information: visittybee.com

Sanibel Island

Florida

The Gulf Coast island near Fort Myers benefits from its east-west orientation. People think it catches shells differently, Burgard says.

Shelling is so popular here that locals have coined a name for beachcombers posture while theyre on the hunt: "the Sanibel stoop." Some shellers even carry a special scoop to pick up their finds. The Gulf Coast island near Fort Myers benefits from its east-west orientation. People think it catches shells differently, Burgard says.

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More information: sanibel-captiva.org

Padre Island

Texas

Sometimes beachcombers on South Padre Island come across artistic creations by the sea.

For the best shelling in Texas, head north of South Padres hotels to find miles of undeveloped beachfront, Burgard says. Its possible to drive on the beach here, and to sign up for a shell tour. She suggests looking for sea beans (also called drift seeds), which come from tropical plants that float north from the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico.

More information: sopadre.co

Dauphin Island

Alabama

There's great shelling to be found along the Alabama shore, especially on Dauphin Island, near Gulf Shores.

For shellers, sundials are a tough find. But they regularly turn up on this barrier islands white sand beaches near the entrance to Mobile Bay, and not far from Fort Morgan and popular Gulf Shores. Its one of the few places I hear about people finding them, Burgard says. But the appeal is much more than the flat disc shells. Its a really relaxed island. Its the kind of place where people go back, their children go and their grandchildren.

More information: dauphinislandtourism.com

Lighthouse Beach

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts

Northern beaches, like those on Martha's Vineyard, tend to feature heavier shells such as the Northern Quahog.

On Marthas Vineyard, shellers seek the Northern Quahog, sometimes called chowder shells. They were also used to make decorative wampum beads. The northern beaches have these heavier shells. They dont have as many highly decorative shells, Burgard says.

More information: capecodchamber.org

Lummi Island

Washington

Beaded sea star, pebbles and oyster shell close up photo of the Lummi Island's Sunrise Beach.

Although Pacific Northwest beachcombers arent as likely to find shells, many treasures still turn up on its shores. A lot of these beaches are much more pebble-oriented. You can find beautiful ones, Burgard says. Beachcombers also find sea stars and mussels.

More information: lummi-island.com

Pawleys Island

South Carolina

Shelling is a popular pastime on South Carolina's Pawleys Island.

The shellings so popular here that many call the distinctive Imperial Venus clam the Pawleys Island shell. And Burgard loves the area too. Its much more a true old beach community where you go because you love being with your family and the pure experience. The waves are pretty gentle.

More information: pawleysisland.com

Assateague Island

Maryland and Virginia

While hunting for shells on Assateague Island, you may also spot its famed wild ponies.

Home to a Maryland state park and a national seashore, this Atlantic island has plenty of wide-open space to hunt for shells. Highlights include knobbed whelks, jingle shells, scallops and coquinas. Plus theres also a chance to catch sight of the ponies that live on the island. Theres just the wildness of it. These are great places to find shells, Burgard says.

More information: nps.gov/asis and dnr.maryland.gov/publiclands/pages/eastern/assateague.aspx

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Best beaches for finding seashells: Florida's Sanibel Island, more
Empty Classroom In Elementary School. Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A Wisconsin high school teacher was captured in a video scolding a maskless student.

The unidentified teacher could be heard calling the student a "jerk."

The teacher was placed on administrative leave amid an investigation.

Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.

A Poynette, Wisconsin high school teacher is facing disciplinary action after a verbal confrontation with a student, according to USA Today.

The Poynette High School teacher, who was captured in a viral Tik Tok video calling the student who wasn't wearing a face-covering a "jerk," was placed on administrative leave.

"I don't care if you're vaccinated, you little dink. I don't want to get sick and die. There are other people you can infect just because you're vaccinated. You know what you're not a special person around here," the teacher said." You should hear about how everyone talks about you. You're a jerk."

During the exchange, the student is sitting on the ground, listening and responding to the teacher's remarks.

"You're not a big man on campus," she continued. "Quit walking around here like you have a stick up your butt."

In another Tik Tok video per USA Today, the teacher continues to scold the student and told the high schooler: "You're one of the most disrespectful kids I've seen grace the halls of this high school and I've been here 27 years."

"Grow up. Have a little compassion for other people in the world," the teacher said.

"I do," the student responded.

"You do not. Show it then. Prove me wrong," she said.

Face masks remain a requirement for schools in Poynette, according to USA Today. The teacher has not been identified but the school district is currently investigating the incident.

"The School District of Poynette is aware of an incident that occurred today, May 11th, involving a teacher and student at the Poynette High School," the district administrator, Matthew Shappell, said in a May 11 statement.

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Shappell continued: "The District is initiating an investigation and the teacher involved has been put on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. The District contacted the parents and we are taking steps to provide the appropriate support for the student involved."

Recently the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, eased up mask guidelines, stating that fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a face mask in most places. However, according to NBC News, some teachers across the country are concerned about the new guidance.

Read the original article on Insider
A young woman and a toddler were found with gunshot wounds on the 1800 block of Marietta Drive in Lexington Friday evening.

The shooting was reported just before 6 p.m.

Both victims were taken to the hospital with injuries were not thought to be life-threatening, Lexington police said.

They both have very minor injuries, said Lexington Police Lt. Samantha Moore.

Police did not immediately release information about a possible suspect.

We do believe this to just be an isolated incident, Moore said.
May 21It was recently announced that Yuba College is receiving more than $13 million under the American Rescue Plan.

According to Congressman John Garamendi, the funding will help local institutions cope with the financial fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic and continue serving their students safely. At least half of the funding each university receives will be distributed in the form of emergency cash assistance to students who are facing hunger, homelessness and other hardships.

The American Rescue Plan is providing $36 billion for nearly 3,500 public and private, nonprofit colleges and universities nationwide.

Yuba College President Tawny Dotson said Yuba College's allocation was $13,399,000 and final decisions on how the recently awarded funds will be used have not yet been made for the college.

"This round of funding allows us to take time to ensure we are meeting the full needs of students as we recover from the pandemic and we expect to take time to ensure we have a solid foundation for how those decisions are made," Dotson said.

She said, generally, they expect to identify ways to support those students who had to stop out or drop out due to the pandemic to return to Yuba College and finish a credential, continue to support students financially as outlined in the act and to partner with the community to recover from the pandemic.

With previous stimulus funds, Dotson said they have been able to provide funding directly to students for enrollment fees and books, provide emergency assistance for those students who needed additional support and to provide resources for food, housing and mental health support.

"Now is a great time for anyone considering upskilling or reskilling to attend Yuba College," Dotson said. "We are creating stronger partnerships with our K-12 leaders in Yuba and Sutter and many of our career and technical education programs are seeing growing requests from industry for their graduates."

She said while they await final guidance from the California Department of Public Health, they are implementing a phased return of employees by making collaborative decisions based on safety and student needs.

"As we now move toward more face-to-face services and classes starting in June, we will ensure our facilities are safe to return for employees and students as well," Dotson said.
Liggon said in email to the News & Advance that as the school board's chairperson she is not aware of any equity lessons in the schools about critical race theory.

"I was saddened that the school budget was not passed as anticipated and that our dedicated employees are awaiting a contract for the next school year," Liggon wrote. "With all that has happened with the COVID pandemic and all that our employees endured during this time, the delay has troubled me but we hope to resolve and move forward as quickly as possible after the June joint board meeting."
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Yes, those charged with crimes have the right to the presumption of innocence. But the charges leveled against them are determined by police who do the arresting, and by prosecutors in States Attorney Kim Foxxs own office who are looking at the gathered evidence. It defies logic to say they pose no real risk to public and should be allowed to return to their communities in such large numbers, with little supervision.
Damiano, known as Swifty in those circles, had buried and scattered the objects with a few friends the night before and coordinated the event  his first one. Having known David Parr, Nelson Countys West District Supervisor and fire department president, Damiano contacted Parr a couple of months ago with the prospect of a fundraising hunt.

Parr said the hunt was a far cry from the usual cookout-style fundraisers the fire department usually sees, but its a welcome change that introduces the firefighters to new people. And since the coronavirus pandemic has stood in the way of some of its other fundraisers, he said every little bit helps.

Early in the event, Damiano said hed raised a bit over $2,000 already.

With a close, niche metal detecting network online, the event drew people from all over the country who contributed a $100 buy-in to help pay for the tokens and benefit the fire department.

Kaye Matteson came out from eastern Texas for the hunt and travels all over to hunt with friends. Though the prospect of finding coins and interesting historical tokens is fun, she said her main purpose in driving to Piney River was the camaraderie and to support the fire department.

If I dont find anything significant, Im fine, she said.
Japan's Prime Minister has confirmed the southern prefecture of Okinawa will be added to the coronavirus state of emergency.

The popular tourist destination is fighting its worst surge in cases since the pandemic began.

Suga Yoshihide said, "We decided to add Okinawa to the state of emergency as the number of new coronavirus cases, mainly among young people, has surged, and the occupancy rate of hospital beds remains high."

The move comes as Okinawa's daily case tally reached 207 on Friday, another record high.

The stricter measures will begin on Sunday, and last until June 20.

Local officials plan to ask bars and restaurants that serve alcohol to close in the hopes of limiting outings. They will also call on shopping malls and sport clubs to close at 8 p.m.

Tokyo, Osaka and seven other prefectures are already under a state of emergency. It is set to go until the end of May.

In another development, Japan's health minister has officially approved two more coronavirus vaccines, Moderna and AstraZeneca.

The Moderna shot would be administered at large-scale vaccination sites due to open in Tokyo and Osaka on Monday.

But the AstraZeneca one won't be used in public inoculation programs for the time being because of the risk of rare blood clots.

Health officials plan to carefully decide what age groups can be given the British-developed vaccine.

Only the Pfizer vaccine is currently being used in Japan as the law requires in-country clinical trials before approval.
Japan's Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu has indicated that his ministry may consider halting the country's current economic assistance to Myanmar, whose military has been oppressing protesters.

Japan's government has already decided not to provide new aid of its Official Development Assistance, or ODA, to Myanmar. But dozens of yen loans and grant aid programs that had been signed still continue.

Motegi told reporters on Friday that the people of Myanmar and the international community hope the situation in the country improves soon.

He said that if the situation continues as is, Japan will have to reconsider its assistance now underway.

Motegi added that the government will deal with the matter while watching efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

He also spoke about two Myanmar diplomats in Tokyo. Myanmar's embassy has told Japan's foreign ministry that it revoked their passports. The diplomats reportedly protested the military coup on social media.

Motegi said the ministry does not think the two acted inappropriately, and that their resident status has not been revoked.
Health officials in Japans Ibaraki Prefecture have retracted an advisory that encouraged people to avoid sharing meals with foreigners due to Covid-19 concerns, after it was blasted as discriminatory.

The guidance, which warned farmers against eating with foreigners, was circulated by the Itako Health Center earlier this week, NHK reported. The advisory was reportedly received by local agricultural cooperatives (JAs) as well as city authorities in Ibaraki Prefecture, which fall under the centers jurisdiction.

If you talk to a foreigner, wear a mask. As well, please do not eat with them, the document reportedly read. The center appeared to suggest that foreigners are one of the primary sources of coronavirus infections in the area.

There are many patients with the novel coronavirus suspected of being infected by foreigners, the document warned.

The peculiar advisory was short-lived, however. On Friday, it was pulled, with local health officials saying the contents were inappropriate. Apologizing for the blunder, the health center said it did not intend to discriminate against foreigners.

We are sorry if any of the expressions were misleading, the center said, as cited by Tokyo Reporter.
Mikiko Matsuyama, a renowned Japanese ballet dancer who had made great contribution to introducing the Chinese culture to Japan, died in Tokyo at the age of 98 on Saturday, Matsuyama Ballet said.

In 1955, Masao Shimizu, the founder of Matsuyama Ballet, and his wife Matsuyama adapted the Chinese film "The White-Haired Girl" into a ballet and staged it in Japan, where it was warmly welcomed by the Japanese people.

In 1958, the couple overcame many obstacles to perform in China and achieved great success.

Matsuyama Ballet has always been a witness and promoter of China-Japan friendship.

Matsuyama has devoted her life to ballet. In addition to "The White-Haired Girl", she also starred in "Swan Lake" and "Othello" among others.

Even during her illness, her recovery room was set upstairs from Matsuyama Ballet, where she spent her days surrounded by music and the dancing footsteps of the troupe.
Stock of Moline-based Deere & Co. rose Friday, up $4.53 to $359.75, following an encouraging second quarter earnings report.

The farm, construction, forestry, precision and small agriculture, and turf equipment maker posted a 34% increase in sales for the quarter that ended May 2.

Deere reported a net income of $1.79 billion for the second quarter, or $5.68 per share, compared with net income of $666 million, or $2.11 per share, for the same quarter last year, reflecting improving market conditions.

"We had a really strong second quarter, and it was driven kind of broadly across all of our businesses," said Josh Jepsen, director of investor relations at Deere & Company. "(It's) a recognition of the team really continuing to rise to the challenges we've been facing ... with COVID and some supply (chain) disruptions" and stepping up to respond to customers' needs.

For the first six months of the year, Deere reported more than $3 billion in net income, or $9.55 per share, compared with $1.182 billion, or $3.73 per share, for the same period last year.

Worldwide net sales and revenues increased 30%, to more than $12 billion, for the second quarter of 2021 and rose 25%, to $21.170 billion, during the last six months.
The destruction and death we saw on January 6th was unacceptable, and Im committed to seeing Congress do everything in its power to prevent another attack on the seat of our democracy. Today, I voted with a bipartisan majority to establish an independent commission to confirm the facts and investigate the disinformation that led to that dark day in our countrys history, Axne said through her office. Just as Congress created a commission after 9/11 to learn what went wrong and what warning signs should be seen to prevent attacks in the future  so too must we gain a thorough understanding of the facts and root causes of January 6th in a bipartisan fashion to protect our democracy and prevent further violence.
Vaccination efforts in Pottawattamie County continue on.

Public Health Director Matt Wyant said around 32% of the countys vaccine-eligible population have received a two-dose series or single-shot vaccine. There have been 29,017 two-shot series completed, according to Iowa Department of Public Health data, along with 1,877 single-shot vaccinations. Another 4,958 county residents have received their first shot.

The county has made a first pass through all schools in the county and are returning for booster  second  doses. Wyant said the county will also give prime  first  dose shots to students in the 12 to 15 age range at schools the county hit before the vaccine was opened up to that population, including Council Bluffs schools.

Wyant said theres been a lot of interest for the younger cohort.

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The county has administered vaccine to about 450 students. Additionally, rural schools opened up their clinics to the general public, to promising results, Wyant said.
With fewer than 10 days to go until the scheduled end of the spring legislative session, the release of the maps appears to run counter to Democratic commitments of full transparency and an effort to have the new boundary lines on display for public review for at least two weeks before a final vote. Instead, four legislative hearings are planned during the General Assemblys final week  two on Tuesday and two on Wednesday  before an expected vote is taken.
North Plattes Board of Adjustment and Planning Commission both will meet Tuesday, with public hearings on two recently proposed Viaero Wireless cell towers highlighting the latter session.

A third, unrelated item at the 5:30 p.m. Planning Commission meeting will first go before the adjustment board when it meets at 8:30 a.m.

Both meetings will be in the City Hall council chamber, 211 W. Third St., with the Planning Commission session also livestreamed on YouTube.

Viaero wants conditional use permits to build monopole cell towers at Wash Time Car Wash, near Walmart at 1302 S. Chestnut St., and behind Holiday Inn Express at 2720 S. Willow St.

The South Chestnut tower would be 80 feet tall and include aesthetic features similar to those the City Council approved Jan. 19 for a yet-to-be-constructed Viaero tower south of North Platte High School.

The South Willow tower, by contrast, would be 100 feet tall and wouldnt include such features. Both would be located in B-2 highway commercial districts, according to city documents.

Council members will hold their own hearings and make the final decision regardless of whether the Planning Commission endorses the towers.
In the Nebraska Legislature this week, the funding of services for children with developmental disabilities was up for debate. LB 376, a bill designed to provide basic supports and services to Nebraska families with a disabled child, was filibustered and failed.

The reasons LB 376 died are debatable, though in the days following it became clear that petty partisan politics played a large role, once again leaving Nebraskas citizens as the ones who pay the price. In this case, our most vulnerable citizens: disabled children.

LB 376 would have been a huge source of hope for families of disabled children like us. Like others, we spend an ungodly amount of time and money to keep our daughter healthy and thriving.

She attends therapy five days a week. The out-of-pocket cost after our good private insurance totals $30,000 a year. This doesnt include follow-ups with specialists, procedures, durable medical equipment and medications that are necessary to keep our daughter in good health.

If it werent for our access to Medicaid, we would be forced to leave this state we have called home for almost a decade. We simply could not afford to live here.
On Saturday, May 8, I stopped by the Evan Lurie Gallery in Carmel. The gallery has been a steady presence in the city since Nov. 2007, but now there was a Moving Sale sign on the gallery window.

Susan Brewer, a longtime Indianapolis artist based at the Stutz, where she has studio space, was seated behind the desk when I walked in. She told me that Lurie had just secured a new lease on a gallery space in Miami, Fla., where most of his client base is located.

Im gonna miss this, she said, referring to the gallery, where she has worked for three years, and her conversations with potential clients about art.

After the Carmel Main Street location closes for good, she plans to devote more time to painting her large abstract canvases. (Brewer says she managed to do well economically during the pandemic.)

Two of the questions Brewer receives when customers walk through the door are: Is this a museum? and Is it free? The answer to both is no. Maybe its the high ceilings and polished floor of the space  giving the gallery a slick big city ambiance  that makes visitors ask this. Or maybe its the high caliber of art hanging on the walls.

Lurie is drawn to painters like the California-based Jorge Santos, whose detailed figurative depictions often hint at something menacing beneath the surface, whose canvases have been a steady presence in the gallery. Several Santos paintings were hanging in the gallery on the day of my visit. There was an abundance of abstract work and pop art.

Also on display was work by artists who are difficult to categorize like painter Michael Gorman and British photographer Nick Veasey, who uses X-ray photography as part of his process. (His X-ray depiction of Trayvon Martins hoodie, which made the cover of Time Magazine, was on display for a time in 2020.) The gallery has also occasionally featured the work of local artists over the years, including Cagney King, Steve Paddack, Jason Myers, and Brewer herself among others.

Brewer said that the gallery received a decent amount of foot traffic during the pandemic, when the gallery was open, but it wasnt always consistent.

Last fall, I was opening on Sundays, she said. Sixty people in three or four hours wanted to walk, be somewhere, do something. But then the election happened. Once the election started, forget it; thats all people were thinking about.

Many who did visit came from outside Central Indiana. I saw people doing the day trips as well l from Cincinnati, Chicago, B&Bs  they just want to get out and travel three hours and go somewhere, she said.

But those people arent buying art like they are in Miami (and in Miami Beach, home of Art Basel.)

When Lurie first moved to Carmel from Los Angeles, CA.  secured by a public-private partnership with the city  he had high hopes that the expanding local economy would attract a steady customer base, noting the substantial and expanding presence of the healthcare industry in Carmel and Indy. "When you have hospitals, you have doctors," he told NUVOs David Hoppe in 2010. "I knew Indianapolis was becoming a really medically-oriented city. There was a good population of well-educated, high income, well-traveled and surprisingly international people."

One of those well-traveled people was Carmels mayor Jim Brainard, who visited Lurie in L.A., where he had a gallery. Lurie, in turn, educated the mayor on the synergy between the fine art market and the design industry in the L.A. economy. In the early 2000s, the mayor was making plans to turn Carmel into an arts district to attract business and tax revenue. Lurie convinced Brainard to add design to the mix.

"Executives are coming into town and building these homes and designers are looking for art," he told Hoppe. So it's important to have a center where the design industry can call home and piggyback on the art industry. I realized how important it was for the art and design to be together. And the mayor saw and understood that from the very beginning also."

Luries vision of a Midwestern fine arts center based in Carmel didnt turn out as expected, but his influence is all over Carmel. Thanks to Lurie, Carmel downtown is called the Arts & Design District  rather than just the arts district  where youll find the Indiana Design Center, with its 15 showrooms and featuring 21 different design firms. Youll also see Luries influence on the art selection on (at least) three of Carmels 139 roundabouts, another one of Mayor Brainards signature (and much written-about) achievements in the city. Three of those sculptures are by Brad Howe, a Lurie-represented artist.

The price tag of the Howe sculptures  the latest Morning Sun cost the city $209,200  has been an item of controversy. (In the opaque and convoluted matter of Carmel spending, controversy is par for the course.)

IUPUIs Jason Kelly and others, on the other hand, see the selection of public art in Carmel as a social justice issue. Focusing attention on the recent commission of a $70,000 sculpture by the atelier of deceased sculptor J. Seward Johnson of a Black girl at a stop sign called Waiting to Cross, Kelly recently wrote a blog post titled More Public Sculptures: Carmel misses the Point About Equity Altogether.

Also controversial is the fact that Howe is a California-based, rather than a Hoosier, artist. A large proportion of artists commissioned to make public art in the city come from elsewhere, but Carmel has granted some notable commissions to local artists. This includes Anderson-based Arlon Bayliss and his Homage to Hoagy at a roundabout adjacent to the Palladium and Sail, by the Indianapolis-based team of Quincy Owens and Luke Crawley, which rises above the Monon Trail in Midtown.

While artists will usually accept commissions from whomever, some see a reluctance of Carmel and Indy residents to check out each others art scenes. Actors Theatre of Indiana executive director Jim Reilly likens this to a wall of Plexiglas along 96th Street. In an interview with NUVO in 2018, he said he wanted to encourage people to cross that street (in both directions) to take in art events and performances on either side of the municipal boundary.

It's a good time to do so, if you're vaccinated. Like multiple venues in Indianapolis, the Center for Performing Arts in Carmel has restarted in-person events. The Evan Lurie Gallery is, for the moment, still open, and there are other galleries you can visit as well. And while the visual arts scene hasnt taken off in quite the way that Lurie envisioned, the city has managed to attract crowds in at least some of its public spaces. One of the citys newest completed projects, Midtown Plaza, has become a popular outdoor gathering place during the pandemic.

Brewer, who mentioned jokingly that one of her friends calls Carmel the gold ghetto, echoes Reillys sentiments.

It's walkable, she said. There's lots of things to do with the family.

You'll have a chance to check out the work of Susan Brewer and other Stutz studio artists at the Stutz Artists' Open Studios First Friday, June 4, from 5 p.m - 9 p.m.
Photo: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

As a hedonistic  or just mildly relaxing  summer beckons, every important indicator of COVID progress in the United States continues to tilt in the right direction.

Cases continue to plummet. Just one month ago, the seven-day moving average of cases stood at more than 62,000, per CDC data. That number now stands at 27,857, the lowest since June 2020, and it is dropping every day.

Graphic: CDC

Though cases are falling faster in some places than others, they are dropping in every state. Theyre at a low level almost everywhere, including in places like Texas, which dramatically loosened pandemic restrictions before a significant share of the population was vaccinated, and in states like Alabama and Wyoming, which lag well behind in vaccination rates.

Fewer than 30,000 are currently hospitalized with COVID, the lowest number in 11 months. Though hundreds of Americans are still dying of the virus every day, coronavirus deaths are at their lowest levels since the very beginning of the pandemic. The rolling seven-day average stands at 497, the best number since March 31, 2020.

60.5 percent of American adults have now received at least one dose of a COVID vaccine, with an additional 1.8 million or so being inoculated every day. Between the increasing immunity and warmer weather that makes it more difficult for the virus to thrive (except, possibly, when people are driven indoors by the heat), the possibility of a nationwide outbreak  the likes of which the U.S. saw multiple times in the last year  now seems remote. As the New York Times David Leonhardt put it, there is now an excellent chance that the retreat is permanent.

Enjoy that beach day  youve earned it.
Photo: Damon Winter/The New York Times/Redux

Washington Square Park was filled with sunlight, circus performers, brass bands, and NYU graduates in purple robes and matching mortarboards. It was a Saturday in May, and New York City had burst back into life after a year of lockdowns. And there, sitting quietly on a bench in one corner of the park, wearing a gleaming green dress, a black cardigan, and a Can you believe this is happening to me? expression, was Kathryn Garcia.

Next to her was Kim Hastreiter, the co-founder of Paper magazine and host of the meet and greet, and Julie Ragolia, a fashion stylist who recently received recognition for dressing LaKeith Stanfield for the Oscars; on the other side of the bench sat Garcias sister Molly McIver, who runs an event space in Bushwick, and next to her sat Joe Rodriguez, a city garbageman nearing retirement who counted Garcia as his ex-boss. Along the perimeter, volunteers handed out leaflets but declined to give their names, since many of them worked for the city government and didnt want to get in trouble.

Until eight months ago, Garcia was Bill de Blasios sanitation commissioner, and before that, she was the head of day-to-day operations at the Department of Environmental Protection under Mike Bloomberg; she is one of the few people to have worked continuously at a high level for the two mayors, who loathe each other. She was in the command center when Hurricane Sandy struck, keeping the citys water systems running. Despite her considerable experience, she has mostly muddled along in the mayoral races vast second tier. But earlier this month, her luck changed: The New York Times editorial board announced that Garcia, whom it called the most qualified in the field, had landed its endorsement. Suddenly, someone whom insiders and opponents had mostly dismissed as running to be the eventual winners first deputy mayor seemed to have a shot at the top job herself.

When I first heard about Kathryn, I thought about an emergency room, Hastreiter said when her turn came to hold the sparkly karaoke microphone she had brought for the event. I feel like New York City is in the emergency room, and if I were having a really bad heart attack, I dont want a doctor who is the best salesman or the cutest or the trendiest or the biggest talker. I want someone who activates expertly in triage situations.

Garcia told her story to the crowd of 30 or so writers and artists, how she is one of five siblings who grew up in Park Slope, three of whom, including herself, were adopted. Her sister Elizabeth, who was adopted after her, is Black, as is her brother. When the foster agency called Garcias mother about taking in a 7-year-old girl without a home, she agreed before even checking in with her husband. In a race that has occasionally asked the question What does it mean to be a real New Yorker?, Garcias bona fides are top-notch: stickball in the streets, Stuyvesant High School (class of 88), and wearing candy-apple-red high heels to sneak into Studio 54 as a 14-year-old.

Garcias father, Bruce McIver, was chief labor negotiator under Ed Koch. The McIver children used to play in a secret tree house in the backyard of Gracie Mansion. Her parents separated when Garcia was an adult, and McIver now lives in the same building as Andrew Yang. Garcia knew Yang had fled during the pandemic when her father asked her if it was a requirement that mayoral candidates actually reside in New York City. Yang, he said, did not. (Garcia has denied back-channeling this to a reporter: I dont back-channel.)

As sanitation chief, Garcia modernized the department, cracked down on private garbage haulers, and expanded the citys composting capabilities. (Garcia got divorced in 2016 and met her current boyfriend after noting that his dating profile mentioned his affinity for composting.) De Blasio was so impressed that he put Garcia in charge of reducing childhood lead exposure, then named her the interim chair of NYCHA, and when COVID hit, he tasked her with making sure New Yorkers werent left starving in the streets. Garcia put together a program that ended up distributing 1.5 million meals a day during the depths of the crisis.

Garcias base, and her most enthusiastic supporters, are people who have worked in city government and so have an understanding of the job she seeks. Even operatives for other candidates said that they would be pleased if Garcia ended up the winner. Young female staffers in the de Blasio administration started a group text they called #TeamGarcia, in which they shared news clips and gossip.

She is unapologetic about herself and getting her hands dirty cleaning up the city, said one former de Blasio official. When she was named sanitation chief in 2014 and given the bulky oversize mens jacket with her name on it that all chiefs are given, Garcia traded it in for a custom form-fitting one with a furry collar. When they gave it to me, I just said, No, Im not wearing that. They actually do make jackets for women, you know.

At the event in the park, the model Jessica Joffe said to Garcia that she was the very obvious choice but asked, What is your plan to amp up and make sure that everyone knows who you are, because you clearly arent driven by your ego and you are not a self-promoter.

Garcia mentioned something about everyone there signing up for canvassing shifts, but indeed, the fact that she is not a self-promoter, or even much of a politician, helps explain why she has failed to bust out.

Some of my competitors get fed on being noticed.

Her resume, like the gold Kathryn nameplate she always has hanging around her neck, is sparkling  her candidacy, not so much. Garcias biggest problems are these: She has a bare-bones campaign operation, she has struggled to raise money, and not many voters know who she is. She has received hardly any major union endorsements and has almost no prominent elected officials backing her. And she has been unwilling to play the political games often required to win. Some of the other candidates have said they would like Garcia to come to City Hall with them as their top deputy should they win. In interviews, Garcia has said such comments reek of sexism, but she hasnt capitalized on them by cutting an ad featuring all of her rivals extolling her knowledge and competence.

Her campaign is banking on the Times endorsement to vault her into the top tier, and a number of recent polls show her grouped behind Eric Adams and Yang. The Paper of Records record, though, is spotty. The Times tends to endorse good-government progressives who dont play well among the broader electorate, especially in major races, where voters tend to go into the booth with preconceived notions about whom they like.

Friends say this campaign hasnt introduced voters to the real Kathryn Garcia, the one bursting with take-no-shit Brooklyn attitude who likes nothing more than laughing over drinks about the rubes in city politics. After the event, Garcia and I grabbed lunch in Chinatown. She explained how odd running for office is for a private person who hates public speaking. Some of my competitors get fed on being noticed, she said. And for me, its never something where I feel like, Oh, I really need that today.

Its possible this anti-charisma could be an advantage. New York tends to elect disagreeable mayors  the awkward de Blasio, the peevish Bloomberg. In Garcias case, it has allowed people across the ideological spectrum to see her as one of their own. Hastreiter said she was a Bernie Sanders voter but supported Garcia as a progressive who could get things done. Kathy Wylde, the head of the Partnership for New York City, co-hosted a fund-raiser for Garcia and considers her pro-growth because she understands that business development and job creation are the keys to the recovery.

Garcia said she backed Joe Biden in the 2020 primaries, and his example is instructive. Her supporters mentioned the presidents campaign to me repeatedly, arguing that, in a post-Trump world, the media and Twitter chase after shiny objects and shinier primary candidates, but most voters just want someone who can quietly do the job.

By this point in the 2013 mayoral race, de Blasio had moved from fourth place into first, where he would remain for the rest of the campaign. For Garcia to pull off the same upset, her supporters say she needs to lock down moderate older white voters, hope her last name (by marriage) helps her with Hispanics, and become at least palatable enough to progressives and moderate Black voters that they will rank her in their top three. Its a narrow path to victory, but its there. After all, de Blasio burst into first place by polling in the low 30s. Besides a few outliers, Adams and Yang have had trouble breaking out of the low 20s. That this primary is in June for the first time, instead of September, adds another note of uncertainty, and of course so does the fact that the primary is taking place as the electorate emerges from the pandemic.

In the midst of our lunch, an aide summoned Garcia: Word was just received that the Daily News had endorsed her as well.

Garcia seemed blase. We cracked open our fortune cookies. Hers said, Forget those things that arent worth remembering. An experienced candidate would have been able to spin that little slip of papers message into a portent about the race, how it meant they were going to win and prove the doubters wrong. Garcia just shrugged. This morning, someone told me that I look much thinner in person than I do on Zoom, she said, then headed back out into the sunlight and into a city she hoped to lead.
Two weeks ago, Liza Backman packed her life into her Nissan Fit to drive from Brooklyn, her home of three years, to Auburn, her hometown. Today, the geochemist is teaching chemistry from Fairbanks, Alaska, before researching the Arctic tundra herself.

Born in snow-filled Buffalo, raised in the heat of Auburn, Ala., and then living amid the concrete of New York City, the cold parts of the world called out to Liza Backman as young as first grade, when Carol Smith, her teacher at the The Village School, now Auburn Montessori School, gave her an Atlas.

It meant a lot to have that Atlas, Backman said. Ive kept it with me as a reminder to always follow your passions.

She teaches earth science, chemistry and international baccalaureate chemistry at Brooklyn Emerging Leaders Academy (BELA), a public all-girls charter school in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y.

PolarTREC, a nationally funded organization connecting research experiments and STEM educators, has given Backman the opportunity to study climate change in the Arctic tundra, something shes wanted to do for a couple of years.
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

Cloudy skies early, followed by partial clearing. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

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A group of experts and scholars from around the world attended an online forum on Thursday, discussing the situation in China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

During the forum titled "Xinjiang in My Eyes," participants from 16 countries including Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Slovenia, the United States, Britain and Denmark exchanged views with their Chinese counterparts on Xinjiang's social stability, economic development, the improvement of people's livelihoods and their religious beliefs.

They agreed that profound development and changes have taken place in Xinjiang in recent years, with the basic rights of people of all ethnic groups effectively guaranteed, and that other countries should not make irresponsible remarks about Xinjiang, let alone interfere in China's internal affairs.

The forum was held by the China Public Diplomacy Association, which led a delegation of Chinese college professors, scholars and journalists on a tour around Xinjiang on May 17-20.

Wu Hailong, president of the association, said at the forum that the visit showed the social stability and peace that exists in Xinjiang, with the people living and working in contentment. He hopes that more people around the world will discover the real Xinjiang and dispel the fabricated stories about the region.

U.S. expert William Jones said that some Western media have slandered Xinjiang, but the forces behind them do not care about the real situation there.

Danilo Turk, former president of Slovenia, said that to discuss the human rights issue in Xinjiang, one must take into account the real facts, but many of the critics of Xinjiang do not know the facts and are politically biased.

Former Kyrgyz prime minister Djoomart Otorbaev said that the facts will triumph over the lies. He hopes more people will visit Xinjiang and the negative comments about Xinjiang will be gradually dispelled.
Washington, PA (15301)

Today

Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

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Cloudy early with some clearing expected late. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. Low 59F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.
It must be bad, since CBS supports sexually harassing women and framing them as liars.

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Of course it was renewed

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But Weatherly gets to keep his job? Fuck that.

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It seems like CBS shows have a lot of troubles. This fish stinks from the head.

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literally wes moonves got tossed for sexual misconduct, right?

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the fact that they cancelled all rise but renewed this

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And yet Weatherly remains employed. Just burn it all.

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I can only assume Micheal Weatherly witnessed a crime by the Redstone family and has blackmailed them which is why they refuse to fire him or cancel this damn train wreck of a show

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How the fuck is Michal Weatherly still employed. Cancel the whole damn thing.

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Freddy Rodriguez being involved is disappointing.



Also I just looked him up - he doesnt look like what he looked like the last time I saw him...which was probably as Carlas brother in scrubs.

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I need to know what happened there. There are so many possibilities.

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I wouldnt have recognized him. Idk if thats plastic, booze, or hes been sick and its steroids.



I almost lean towards steroids for the classic moon shape and swelling.

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Ugh that is disappointing. I was hoping the entire Six Feet Under crew was bullshit free as its one of my all time faves.

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I'm sad too. Maybe he's leaving because he didn't like how it was handled, or was involved but not in the perpetrator kind kf way?

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I mean, good, but, didn't Weatherley get outed as problematic well before he was on "Bull"? Back in his "NCIS" days?

It was like he left "NCIS" and got basically rewarded with "Bull" for being a good soldier all those years despite what was being said in the media?

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There were stories about him going back to the days of Dark Angel

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Side note; reboot Dark Angel. It deserved better.

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His relationship with Jessica Alba was pretty bad iirc and there have been rumors since even those days that he's horrid.

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Was Freddy Rodriguez a subject of the investigation, or someone who instigated it? Because this is vague, and theres a big difference.

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It doesnt even really say he left because of the investigation. Just that its happening at the same time.

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How does every major male on this show have drama but they refuse to cancel it? Weatherly cost the network close to $10mill due to being inappropriate towards Eliza.

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This show is still around?



Michael Weatherly somehow remains.

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Can the ratings on this show really be that good? Rampant, expensive, abusive and they just keep coasting on.

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So many big names have worked with this man, despite the fact that he was dating his wife when she was 15 (hed known her since she was 12) and he was in his 30s.



Theyre all apologists imo. Fuck all of them. It takes a few seconds to Google the director youre working with. They either didnt bother or they did and just didnt care about what they read.

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Exactly. From his wiki:



Besson's second wife was actress and director Maiwenn Le Besco, whom he started dating when he was 31 and she was 15.[26] They were married in late 1992 when Le Besco, 16, was pregnant with their daughter Shanna, who was born on 3 January 1993.[27] Le Besco later claimed that their relationship inspired Besson's film Leon (1994), where the plot involved the emotional relationship between an adult man and a 12-year-old girl.[26] Their marriage ended in 1997, when Besson became involved with actress Milla Jovovich during the filming of The Fifth Element (1997). He married the 21-year-old on 14 December 1997, at the age of 38, but they divorced in 1999.[28]



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This is awful. No journalist integrity whatsoever, and it must be terrifying for her.



I was just talking earlier to someone irl about the right of anonymity for victims of sexual assault and how the press often doesn't give a damn as long as they can get clicks. There's an ongoing case here where the son of a political figure was implied in a gang rape, and the father immediately took to social media to insult the woman to his huge following, slutshaming her and calling her a liar, and you can bet the media amplified all of it in the worst possible way. I can't imagine how horrifying it must be for women living with the consequences of sexual assault, and having to deal with public scrutiny and threats on top of that. People fucking suck.

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Situations like these are a double whammy of crap: journalist integrity who and installing even more fear in women for speaking up.

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This is so fucked up  fuck them. Unforgivable. I hope shes doing alright and keep slayin!

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Poor girl. Speaking up can damage can actor career.



I remember a prominent french casting agent(?) saying Adele Haenel would never work in this town again after walking off at the Cesar awards after Polanski won an award. Idk if this casting agent actually went through with it but you see how the threats of it are def made.

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Nuclear energy is all about control. The process by which we generate nuclear power, after all, is not so different from the mechanics that take place to trigger an atomic bomb. Its all about the way in which the process of nuclear fission is tightly controlled, scheduled, and slowed, which makes nuclear energy production possible and safe.

The amount of force that holds the nucleus of an atom together is monumental, and stores a massive amount of energy. When we split atoms into smaller atoms, or fission fragments, this energy is released, and in the case of nuclear energy, harvested. But every time an atom is split, it begins a chain reaction triggering more and more atoms to split. So why doesnt every nuclear fission process turn into a nuclear explosion? Because scientists have gotten very, very good at controlling and slowing down the chain reaction process.

Now, a fairly average-sized (1,000 megawatts) nuclear energy plant produces as much energy in a single day as was released by the atomic bomb that detonated over Nagasaki, a 21 kiloton weapon that leveled 90% of the city. And now, in this day and age, neither a 1,000mw nuclear plant nor a 20kt nuclear weapon are particularly big.

The largest nuclear power plant in the world, Japans Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station, located on the Sea of Japan around 135 miles northwest of Tokyo, has a staggering maximum capacity of approximately 8,000 megawatts. Chinas Taishan Nuclear Power Plant has two individual reactors that each have a production capacity of 1,750 megawatts--nearly twice the power of Nagasaki per day in just one reactor, much less an entire nuclear power plant. And that history-altering bomb itself now seems like childs play compared to the destructive potential of present-day nuclear warheads. The largest weapon that the United States ever made, the B41 nuclear bomb of 19601976 had the truly terrifying yield of 25 Megatons, more than 1,000 times more powerful than the bomb that leveled Nagasaki and killed between 39,000 and 80,000 people.

All of this, in combination with high-profile nuclear disasters over the last few decades, most notably in Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, and Fukushima, has led to a lingering fear and paranoia about the hazard of nuclear energy. Its easy to see why the perceived looming threat of nuclear meltdown has had serious staying power and continues to shape nuclear policy around the world today. After all, were still dealing with the aftereffects of these tragedies. Just last month Japan approved a plan to gradually dump 1.25 million tons of radioactive wastewater into the Pacific Ocean as they run out of storage space to hold the cooling water necessary to keep the Fukushima plant, damaged in a 2011 earthquake and ensuing tsunami, from melting down. At this very moment, Chernobyl is back in the news as the sites nuclear fuel is once again smoldering in an inaccessible basement, creating the possibility of another nuclear explosion at the site, 35 years later.

All of these stories are worrying--but they are not the full picture. But the reality is that nuclear energy is much, much safer than many of us are led to believe. In fact, a 2013 study published in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Science & Technology found that up to that point, nuclear energy had actually saved an estimated 2 million lives since 1971. By replacing coal-fired and other high-emissions energy generation, nuclear energy has prevented approximately 1.84 million air pollution-related deaths, as well as kept 64 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere. By contrast, the paper reads, we assess that large-scale expansion of unconstrained natural gas use would not mitigate the climate problem and would cause far more deaths than expansion of nuclear power.

Ultimately, nuclear energy is all about control. With proper training and security measures, nuclear could continue to be a very safe and extremely climate-friendly energy source for the foreseeable future, especially as technology advances and we understand the science and its limitations better than ever.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

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As Aramco, Siemens Energy and the World Economic Forum state they will be launching a joint report on cyber resilience, Siemens also announces its cybersecurity collaboration with ServiceNow to help energy companies track and respond to cyber threats.

After this months Colonial Pipeline cyber-attack, which held the energy firm at ransom, forcing it to suspend and reduce oil and gas activity for several weeks, cybersecurity has been the word on everyones lips.

As the U.S. responds to this threat with Bidens announcement of $20 billion in funding to modernize energy systems and tackle digital security breaches, other international companies and regions of the world are coming up with their own strategies to diminish this threat.

This week, Saudi oil giant Aramco, Siemens Energy and the World Economic Forum (WEF) announced they will launch a joint report on cyber resilience in the oil and gas industry. The report will establish a blueprint for the evaluation of how best to manage various risks and threats related to cyber-attacks.

The report combines the experience of 40 players across the energy sector who will offer their experience and expertise to outline some of the major cyber threats to the industry and how these may best be mitigated to improve energy security worldwide.

The report comes following years of digital security breaches not only in the U.S., which saw the Colonial Pipeline attack this month and a security breach in February 2020 on a gas compressor facility causing a two-day outage, but also in other parts of the world. In 2012, Saudi Arabia experienced a cyberattack where over 30,000 computers were hit, demonstrating the scale of the issue.

Related:

Basim Al-Ruwaii, Chief Information Security Officer at Aramco stated in a press statement, Establishing and aligning cybersecurity practices across the industry enhances our collective resilience efforts and allows us to present a united front against cybercrime and other critical security threats.

While Leo Simonovich, VP and Global Head Industrial Cyber at Siemens Energy said of the report, Digitization is empowering the oil and gas sector to become ever more efficient, resilient and reliable  but it also opened vast new vulnerabilities to cyberattack. More than ever, cybersecurity has to be at the core of companies business models and operations, especially in the oil and gas industry. Effective defense depends on robust monitoring and detection  which means companies cannot act alone. Coordination and alignment is crucial; this latest playbook, drawing on insights from leaders across the oil and gas sector, reflects these efforts.

In addition to the new report, Siemens has also announced a partnership with American software company ServiceNow to establish a unified software which aims to monitor, detect and respond to cyber threats targeting critical energy infrastructure.

Siemens Energys artificial intelligence (AI)-based software paired with ServiceNows Operational Technology Management systems will present cyber threats for analysts to assess and prioritize for early response.

Leo Simonovich, head of Industrial Cybersecurity at Siemens Energy stated of the partnership, Most energy companies struggle with the complex technological and economic challenges involved in monitoring, detecting and preventing cyberattacks on critical infrastructure. Our MDR, powered by Eos.ii, solution, is the first AI-based platform built to provide visibility and context across the energy industrys digital operating environment in time to stop attacks.

This is one of several ways in which the oil and gas industry is using AI and other innovative technologies to improve security as well as monitoring and evaluation practices across a multitude of areas.

As the U.S. steps up its game in the field of cybersecurity, the rest of the world has clearly taken note of this recent attack and is responding at the international level to ensure that energy security evolves in unison with the digitalisation of energy systems.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

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A Russian company called Rusinvest bought the Antipinsky Refinery and several oil fields in the Volga Urals region that came with it for 110.87 billion rubles (equivalent to 1.5 billion USD). Although at first glance the transaction might seem completely innocuous, there are many stumbling blocks upon closer inspection. One needs to keep in mind that Antipinsky is the first  and thus far only  refinery to be built from scratch in Russias post-Soviet history. And it is exactly this refinery that was bought by a one-person company with no previous exposure to oil markets and no evident understanding of what it should do with an indebted downstream asset. In short, another story a la russe when the more one knows about it, the less they understand what is going on and what good does it do. In 2004, the Russian Fund of Federal Property was soliciting buyers for a modular refinery set that Transneft, the state-owned pipeline transportation company, bought in the mid-1990s from the US firm Petrofac yet failed to utilize. Following a sweeping change in the Transnefts management ranks all refining projects were deemed to be out of scope and the refinery blocks got stuck in a customs-clearance limbo for more than 5 years. Dmitry Mazurov, having teamed with several regional heavyweights from the Tyumen Region, bought the entire lot for $10 million in a federal auction to which his company was the only participant. In terms of location, there was no need to reinvent the wheel  Transneft wanted to build the refinery in Antipino, right next to a trunk pipeline that would secure the potential export movements.

Following a swift ascent to the top echelons of Siberian refining, Antipinsky saw its throughput capacity rise to 7.5 million tons per annum, whilst its refining depth increased to 99%. Over the course of the refinerys 15-year existence, its Nelson complexity index grew from 1 to 5.75. The eventual downfall started off in 2018 when the refinery failed to settle one of its debt payments vis-a-vis Russias main state-owned bank, Sberbank. Sberbank happened to be Antipinskys largest creditor at that point  of the reported $5 billion that the refinery ran up in arrears, $3.2 billion was with Sberbank. By 2019, the refinery filed for bankruptcy, its erstwhile owners were charged with fraud and Antipinsky changed hands. The refinery was from then onwards managed by a JV that was majority-owned by Sberbank, with the Azerbaijani state oil company SOCAR taking a minority stake, too.

The Russian bank had no intention of venturing into the oil industry, moreover, it was cognizant of Antipinsky being chronically loss-making, thus necessary steps were taken to auction it off as soon as possible. In the meantime the refinery did not stop completely, it operated under a tolling scheme for Surgutneftegaz. Several months later SOCAR stated that it would not participate in the auction, leaving the JV altogether. Thus, when the auctioning was in effect launched on 18 May, there was no clear understanding of who would be the new owner. Even though many Russian oil and gas firms were rumoured to be interested  amongst others LUKOIL and Russneft - however none of them presented a bid. Bidding a little less than the starting price, the Antipinsky refinery (along with 3 oil fields in the Orenburg Region of Russia with aggregate reserves of 45 million tons) went to the only bidder, a company called RusInvest.

Related: North Dakota Supreme Court Decides In Favor Of Oil Firms In Royalties Case

The company garnered 244 USD in net profits last year, with aggregate proceeds of 222,626 USD in 2020. Although it is certainly true that RusInvest was adversely impacted by the economy shrinking in 2020 amidst all the COVID-19 restrictions and lockdowns yet it never even came close to netting 7-digit USD-denominated numbers with its annual revenues. A micro-sized business by the Russian nomenclature, it was established by a certain Anatoly Yablonskiy in 2014. There is very little information available on Mr. Yablonsky  some Russian online outlets seem to claim he is an erstwhile Ukrainian citizen who, upon fleeing Ukraine in the face of tax fraud charges, managed to make his mark in one of Russias regional banks, yet overall the lack of information is almost complete.

According to its own website, the RusInvest group specializes in maintenance of engineering systems and maintenance of public areas. As such, it was hardly considered to be a serious contender against the heavy-hitting big guns of Russias business during the Antipinsky auction. Interestingly, Sberbanks CEO German Gref stated that the bank would be ready to finance the restructuring efforts of the new owner, adding that his bank had discussed lending terms with the prospective proprietor. There are two main questions emerging from this unanticipated turn of events. Can the new owner, RusInvest, take proper hold of the refinery or is its participation a premeditated element of a longer chain of transactions? If it is the latter (as the sequence of events might suggest), who will be the final beneficiary? We shall know soon enough.

By Gerald Jansen for Oilprice.com

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China's Ministry of Education on Friday urged solid COVID-19 prevention and control measures to be taken during upcoming national exams and other school gatherings.

The ministry stressed the health monitoring of those to attend the upcoming college and high school entrance exams, school anniversary gatherings, graduation ceremonies, and tournaments.

The number of people attending major gatherings should be limited, especially events taking place in confined spaces, according to the ministry.

Education departments and universities should follow local vaccination policies and help teachers and students receive vaccines, the ministry said.
As the U.S. oil and gas industry slowly appears to be getting back on track, ramping up production in line with demand, the effects of the Texas storm earlier this year appear to have hit production levels harder than originally thought according to new figures.

Aging infrastructure is the reason for President Bidens new national infrastructure plan. However, this comes after years of neglect which has cost the oil and gas sector billions of dollars, as well as wreaking havoc on both the environment and communities relying on vital energy supplies.

Every year, extreme weather hinders energy distribution across the U.S. During Californias hot summers we see wildfires halting energy production from the states aging electrical infrastructure. This is largely because it is common practice to wait until a component fails within the system for it to be replaced, rather than preemptively investing in better structures.

This February, the electrical grid shut down and refineries halted production as Texas was hit hard by a winter storm which saw freezing pipes and no energy supply for heat and water to many houses across the state. Many were left to rely on generators to heat their houses to escape freezing temperatures for up to a week.

However, just last month the outlook appeared brighter with experts predicting a profit for several oil majors despite the disruptions earlier this year. Despite companies such as Exxon experiencing as much as $800 million in damages from the storm, Exxon and many other firms are expected to announce a profit in the first quarter of 2021.

But now it looks like the effects of the storm, and more generally of aging energy infrastructure across the U.S., may be worse than originally thought. Figures released last week suggest that the loss in production at the beginning of the year was worse than at first glance.

The industry was shocked when production dropped due to power outages and frozen oil and gas output. New figures suggest that production dropped by around 1.2 million bpd of oil due to the storm. This represents the biggest decline since May 2020, at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic which triggered a decrease in demand and severe drop in oil prices.

Texas contributed to the bulk of this production loss, around 70 percent of the monthly loss, with New Mexico accounting for approximately 9 percent of the loss.

In early April, production cuts from the storm were thought to average around 800,000 bpd. It is only with greater statistical evaluation from the Energy Information Administration that the picture looks bleaker.

However, many are still optimistic as investments in the Permian basin are showing promise for increased production levels through the rest of 2021, which companies hope will balance out the February loss.

In addition, President Biden has announced a $2 trillion plan for the improvement of national infrastructure over the next 8 years. This comes following the announcement of a C-rating score for U.S. infrastructure from the American Society of Civil Engineers.

Biden, who has titled the scheme the American Jobs Plan, hopes greater investment in infrastructure will not only help avoid future disasters, such as the effects of storms and heatwaves on energy delivery, but will also help the country recover from the Covid-19 pandemic by creating thousands of new job opportunities.

While news of the damaging effects of Februarys winter storm is just now becoming clear, greater investment in the Permian Basin and the national infrastructure plan give hope to an industry rallying from a difficult year.

By Felicity Bradstock for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The biggest oil-exporting region in the world, the Middle East, has set its sights on becoming a major clean energy exporter of green hydrogen. The largest oil producers in the Arab Gulf have jumped on the hydrogen bandwagon  especially its so-called green variety produced from water electrolysis using electricity from solar or wind  as it gains momentum with governments and the worlds largest international oil companies.

Hydrogen is expected to play a prominent role in lowering carbon emissions from energy-intensive industries. And the Middle East doesnt want to miss out on this opportunity.

On the one hand, it wants to show the world it can export clean energynot only crude oilas the global energy transition accelerates. On the other hand, the oil-dependent economies of some of OPECs largest producers are determined to diversify into green energy exports and away from oil.

This past week, two announcements of green hydrogen projects in the Middle East made headlines: Dubai launched the first industrial-scale green hydrogen project in the region, while Oman announced plans to build one of the largest green hydrogen plants in the world.

Dubai, one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is currently OPECs third-largest oil producer, launched the first industrial-scale, solar-powered green hydrogen facility in the Middle East and North Africa in collaboration with Siemens Energy, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA), and Expo 2020 Dubai.

Related: Gasoline Shortages Still Lingering Post-Colonial Pipeline Hack

During the day, the plant uses some of the photovoltaic electricity from the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park to produce green hydrogen via electrolysis. At night, the green hydrogen is converted into electricity to power the city with sustainable energy, Siemens Energy says.

The Solar Park is expected to generate as much as 5 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy by 2030 as the largest single-site solar park in the world.

Companies in the region, international technology partners, and analysts believe that Dubai and the whole of the Middle East have a bright future in solar power generation, considering the abundant sunshine in the region.

Against the background of low costs of electricity for solar PV and wind power in the region, hydrogen has the potential to be a key fuel in the energy mix of the future and could open up energy export opportunities for those areas with access to abundant renewable energies, Siemens Energy said.

The UAE could become an exporter of hydrogen, Siemens Energy CEO Christian Bruch told CNBCs Dan Murphy in an interview this week.

I do believe it must be, it will be, it should be, one of the key future commercial models in the UAE and the wider region, to be also, in future, an energy exporter for the world, Bruch told CNBC.

Another oil producer in the Middle East, Omannot an OPEC member but part of the OPEC+ alliancealso made a major announcement involving green hydrogen this week.

Related: UAE: Oil Demand Has Already Increased To 95 Million Bpd



Omans state-held energy company OQ, Hong-Kong-based green fuels developer InterContinental Energy, and Kuwaits government-backed clean energy investor and developer, EnerTech, announced a plan for one of the biggest facilities of green hydrogen in the world. The plant will be powered by 25 GW of renewable energy and could cost as much as US$30 billion.

Given the sites strategic location between Europe and Asia, as well as excellent solar irradiance and wind resource facing the Arabian Sea, the development is well-positioned to offer a secure and reliable supply of green fuels globally at a highly competitive price, InterContinental Energy said.

Alternative energy is a key driver for OQs long-term growth and a cornerstone of its strategy. It is also in line with the countrys ambitious Oman Vision 2040 that aims to diversify the nations resources and maximize the financial value derived, said Salim Al Huthaili, CEO Alternative Energy at OQ.

The regions top oil producer and the worlds largest oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, is also eyeing green hydrogen projects and a share of the emerging clean hydrogen market.

NEOM, the future sustainable city promoted by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, signed last year a deal with Air Products and Saudi ACWA Power for a $5 billion green hydrogen-based ammonia production project, which will export the product.

All these plans suggest that the oil powerhouse Middle East is not immune to the energy transition and growing global demand for clean energy products.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Omaha police on Friday released the names of five officers who fatally shot a man who, police say, repeatedly threatened to kill himself and fired a gun several times, eventually pointing it toward law enforcement.

Deven Telford, 34, was pronounced dead about 6 p.m. Sunday outside a home near 41st Avenue and F Street.

Telford fired a 9 mm firearm 13 times inside his home, shooting himself once in the lower right leg and foot just before exiting the house and firing one more shot, according to a press release from the Omaha Police Department. He then raised the gun in a potentially threatening manner toward officers.

Five officers  Kyle Graber, Emilio Luna, Nicola Bay, Nicholas Molek and Mark Pruett  discharged their firearms, one handgun and four AR-15 rifles, striking Telford multiple times. The five officers have served a combined 28 years with the department. An autopsy showed that Telford died as a result of gunshot wounds to his upper body, police said.
As the DHMs evolve in light of scientific data and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, we suspect schools will respond with sensible rules where a persons vaccination status may be a threshold question for loosened restrictions, he said.

Despite the success of the vaccine rollout so far, and assurances from pediatricians and government officials that vaccines are safe, a recent national survey indicates that some parents are reluctant to get their children immunized.

The survey released last week found that 61% of all parents planned to vaccinate all of their children.

The survey, from the COVID Collaborative, the Ad Council and the Council of the Great City Schools, found that 27% of parents would not vaccinate any of their children and 12% remain mixed or undecided.

While at least 65% of parents of children ages 6 to 17 indicated that they plan to vaccinate their children, only 56% of parents of children under age 6 will vaccinate their children, the survey found.

While the Pfizer vaccine has received approval for emergency use for people 12 and older, it has not received full formal approval by the Food and Drug Administration, though Pfizer has applied for that status.
Law enforcement and search and rescue teams on Friday continued their search for an 11-year-old La Vista boy.

Dive teams from the Omaha Fire Department spent the day searching the water in the Walnut Creek Recreation Area for Ryan Larsen, who has been missing since Monday.

La Vista Police Chief Bob Lausten said Friday afternoon that Ryan, who has run away from home several other times, had been found in the recreation area before.

Its painstaking in that water, he said. Theres a lot of debris, vegetation, and you get caught up from there.

Officials cant say for sure that anyone is in the water, Lausten said, and the search is being conducted in part because of a possible lead found by a civilian search party on Thursday.

Lausten declined to share details on the possible lead.

Ryan, who has autism, was seen about noon Monday walking out of La Vista West Elementary School near 78th Street and Terry Drive. A business between Ryans school and his home recorded the boy on a security camera about 1:30 p.m. Monday.
Under the deal, about 3,000 restaurants will be able to get permits to sell cocktails to go, Weninger said. They will be charged an administrative fee by state liquor regulators and for five years have to pay another fee that will go into a fund to compensate bar and grocery store owners.

Not all of those outlets will get the money. It will be dispersed through a lottery system.

Restaurants will also be able to lease a license allowing them to deliver beer and wine.

But the bottom line is that consumers will be able to have a martini delivered with their steak or a margarita with their enchilada dinner.

This is one of the things that I've heard over and over from constituents that they thought was pretty cool, Weninger said in an interview. Secondly, my other constituents, which are bars and restaurants, want to do it and believe that they can derive revenue from it.

And, he added, the state gets some revenue too.

The deal shows that there are some good things, like the move to telemedicine, that have come from the pandemic, Weninger said.
The shooting comes amid a national reckoning over police use of force.

In the Honolulu teen's death, police have refused to release body camera footage because there were other minors in the car.

City Council Chairperson Tommy Waters told Hawaii News Now this week that he plans to discuss introducing legislation or a resolution that would push police to release the video.

He said his review of statements on the Police Department's website regarding body cameras show there is no reason police should not release all video from body cameras after redacting personal information.

If you want the public trust, then thats what you should do, Waters said.

State Sen. Karl Rhoads told the TV station that he was concerned police released body camera footage from other high-profile events last month but not Sykap's fatal shooting.

If the stance is going to be, were going to release what makes us look good and not release what doesnt make us look good, in the long run, thats very dangerous. Theyre going to lose credibility every time that happens, Rhoads said.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
The statement said Abbas appreciated U.S. efforts to provide humanitarian aid and mobilize the international support necessary for the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, in coordination with the Palestinian Authority.

The U.S. State Department has said that Blinken would visit the region next week to discuss recovery efforts and working together to build better futures for Israelis and Palestinians in the wake of the truce. Blinken and Abbas are to meet during the visit.

The cease-fire was brokered by neighboring Egypt after the U.S. pressed Israel to wind down its campaign on Gaza.



UNITED NATIONS  The United Nations has allocated $18.6 million to Gaza for emergency humanitarian needs and plans to launch a flash appeal next week for funds to cover needs over the next three months.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said humanitarian chief Mark Lowcock allocated $4.5 million from the U.N.s emergency relief fund for Gaza on Friday, following the cease-fire between Israel and Hamas militants who control the Gaza Strip. Earlier in the week, Lowcock released $14.1 million from the fund.
A lot of people that wouldnt ordinarily do it, a lot of guys, they said, they came here because its Hustler, his wife Harper said. To take away the stodginess of it, to make it Hustler, its very clever.

Nothing says vaccinations like a stripper pole, said the couples friend George Stoecklin, who joined them to get his shot.

Myers, 70, said he was reluctant to get the shot and worried about how fast it had been available. But he noted his age and said he was concerned about his ability to spread the virus and infect others, including his wife.

Myers said he was disappointed there were no dancers on the stage while he got his shot but said, at least I got the scope of it.

More than 46% of the states population age 12 and over has received at least one shot of the vaccine, but Nevada health officials said this week that a steep drop-off in demand for shots may make it impossible for the state to reach a goal of vaccinating 75% of the eligible population.

Nevada officials have been increasingly turning to pop-up clinics in places like churches, schools and senior centers -- and now strip clubs -- to try to get more shots in arms.
Gov. Pete Ricketts, who appoints the nine citizen members of the Trust Board and is a staunch supporter of ethanol, defended the switch, saying that increasing use of the corn-based fuel benefits the environment. But conservationists decried the swap, calling it politically motivated and contrary to the past practice of following the recommendations of the boards grant committee. A lawsuit has been filed against the board over the funding switch.

The decision prompted the formation of the Friends of the Environmental Trust, a group of former board members and people involved in the creation of the trust three decades ago. They maintain that current board members have strayed from the original intent of the trust, which uses about half of the proceeds from the state lottery.
The Mount Nyiragongo volcano outside Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has started to erupt, according to the DRC government and the Goma Volcano Observatory.

The Mount Nyiragongo volcano outside Goma in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo started to erupt on Saturday, according to the DRC government and the Goma Volcano Observatory.

The volcano's last major eruption in 2002 killed 250 people in Goma. There's no indication yet of the scale of this eruption and no one has been asked to evacuate. The government has called for calm.

The volcano, one of the most active in the world, erupted late Saturday local time, DRC government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya told CNN.

Muyaya tweeted, "The Government is closely monitoring the situation in Goma, particularly the activity of the Nyirangongo volcano.

"Local authorities are currently assessing the situation with the volcanological observatory in Goma. A detailed communication will follow. The population is urged to remain calm."

Dr. Charles Balagizi from the Goma Volcano Observatory filmed a short video of the eruption, showing red lava against a dark night sky.
What if, rather than grasping at certainty, we cultivate the capacity to see and know more  to deepen, widen and lengthen our perspectives? According to Tony Schwartz, author of The Way Were Working Isnt Working, Deepening depends on a willingness to challenge a blind spot, deeply held assumption, and fixed belief. Widening means taking into account more perspectives  and stakeholders  in order to address any given problem from multiple vantage points. Lengthening requires focusing on not just the immediate consequences of a decision but also its likely impact over time. What if we sought this path together?

Schwartz suggests teams and individuals can think deeply about complex problems by cultivating a new practice, including these three techniques:

1. Begin by asking: What am I not seeing here? and What else might be true?

2. Pay close attention to how youre feeling. Embracing complexity is not just a cognitive challenge, but also an emotional one. In part, its about learning to manage negative emotions  anger and fear above all.

3. Managing complexity requires courage  the willingness to name privilege and power, sit in the discomfort of uncertainty in an effort to experiment with new ways to hear and understand the other side.
Hamas has launched thousands of rockets into civilian-targeted populations into Israel. The loss of all human life is always heartbreaking; however, the number of Palestinian casualties is to blame on the perpetrators of terrorism, Hamas, which is guilty of committing double war crimes and is hiding behind civilians while firing on civilians.

Israel is going to unprecedented lengths to prevent civilian casualties and collateral damage by targeting terrorist sites with the greatest possible precision.

Israel is exercising its right for self-defense and working to degrade Hamas terrorist capabilities and deter its will to fight.

Criticizing Israel is therefore hugely damaging to all democracies fighting against similar radical forces, because it implies that democracies cannot protect themselves. It serves to encourage and support the terrorists, which is detrimental to all those who want peace and a better future.

No one is opposed to the Palestinian people living in peace and dignity. As long as Hamas reigns, the Palestinians will continue to be utilized as human shields, receive inadequate educational institutions, and experience inhumane living conditions. The knee of the oppression lies with Hamas who willingly choose to exploit their own people in order to advance their political aim  the destruction of the Jewish people.

Aviv Ezra is the consul general of Israel to the Midwest.
The Octagon House at Land's End

by John Martini

September 2009

Nearly engulfed by trees above the Land's End parking lot is an overlooked piece of San Francisco's maritime history, the octagonal-shaped Point Lobos Marine Exchange Lookout Station. Completed in early 1927, it was the last of a series of stations that stretched back to the Gold Rush whose function was to watch for approaching ships and announce their arrival. Once a ship was spotted, the lookout relayed the information (especially the ship's name or company insignia) to the Embarcadero where a small army of stevedores, tugs boats, taxis and drayage companies waited to unload the vessel's cargo and transport her passengers.

The easiest way to alert everyone simultaneously to the pending arrival was to establish to a notification network through which information could be quickly exchanged between interested commercial groups, hence the station's original name of "Merchant's Exchange Lookout."

During the Gold Rush, information about a ship's pending arrival was relayed to downtown by a series of semaphore towers equipped with signal vanes. Upon spotting a ship, the Point Lobos lookout at Land's End would adjust the signal arms atop his station to represent the type of ship approaching the Golden Gate. (For example, arms outstretched at the 3 o'clock and 9 o'clock positions meant "sidewheel steamer.") An observer at a similar station atop Robb Hill in the Presidio watched the Land's End station through a telescope, and relayed the signal settings. Overlooking the crowded harbor was the final semaphore station, located atop the hill called Loma Alta and visible to all downtown businesses. Locals quickly nicknamed the prominence Telegraph Hill.

The construction of telegraph lines in 1853 made the semaphore system obsolete, but the need to determine the identity of arriving ships and announce their arrival remained. At one point in the early 1900s there were actually two stations on the hillside above Land's End, one owned by the Merchant's Exchange and the other by William Randolph Hearst, who operated a competing Exchange service to his subscribers.

It should be remembered that all this occurred in the era before radios and ship-to-shore telephones allowed captains to simply call ahead and announce their arrival. And even when wireless transmission began to come into use, they weren't foolproof. (Think of the frequent drop-offs of cellphone service we currently endure.) Hence the need for visual confirmation of a ship's arrival continued for decades. In addition to sending out notifications about arriving ships, the Point Lobos lookout also provided a valuable safety service in the pre-radar era by watching for vessels in distress in the crowded Golden Gate.

The Merchant's Exchange station was relocated three times over the years, and even received a new name in 1911 when it became part of the city's Chamber of Commerce. When the present building was dedicated the Chronicle gave its full title as the "Point Lobos observation station of the marine department of the Chamber of Commerce." (Whew.)

The name Marine Exchange shortly came into use.

The reason for constructing the new lookout station appears to have been civic improvement. A previous Merchants Exchange station had stood since 1889 at the site of the present USS San Francisco Memorial, but the shingled structure was smack-dab in the middle of a planned scenic overlook being developed as part of El Camino Del Mar -- the ill-fated boulevard that once connected Sea Cliff with the Cliff House. The existing lookout station was still serviceable but it was simply in the way. In 1926 the city decided to demolish the old building and construct a new one on the hillside partway between El Camino Del Mar and the Fort Miley military reservation. The present station was dedicated in February 1927.

Originally, the lookout and his family lived in a residence on the first floor of the station while the watch room upstairs contained a huge telescope (reportedly with a 30 mile range) along with telephone and radio equipment. A garage occupied the lowest level. The building's eight-sided design resulted in a rather unique interior floorplan with several pie-slice shaped rooms. In 1940, a WPA-commisioned history of San Francisco described the station's purpose as "to report vessels entering the harbor to their owners, the Immigration Department, the Customhouse, the press, supply houses, taxi companies and hotels. Craft are identified after they pass the light-ship near the Farallones."

A family member who grew up at the station posted this information to the Outside Lands message board: "There were two lookouts assigned to the Point. Julius Larsen with his family lived there first. He had been with the Marine Exchange for some time already and had moved up from the older station ... which the new station replaced. He was followed by his night relief lookout, William Sloan Morrissey. William married Mr. Larsen's daughter Anne and together they lived there raising four children until Anne took ill in 2002. William had passed away in 1975 but the family had been allowed to retain the house [by the City] in lieu of a pension. The National Park Service honored that contract until Anne was no longer able to live in the house."

The Marine Lookout Station is now owned by the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and plans are being developed for the unique building's preservation and future reuse.

Read memories and more about the Marine Station building on our message board.

Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places!
Streetwise - #100

by Frank Dunnigan

June 2017

In the fall of 2008, WNP founders Woody LaBounty and David Gallagher asked if I would be interested in writing a series of articles on local history/folkloreand thus, "Streetwise" was born, making its debut as a monthly column in January of 2009. Im grateful to have been given this opportunity, and also happy that Woody agreed to loan me the columns nameone that he had been using for many of his own WNP articles dating back to the late 1990s.

Now, after 8+ years, the calendar tells me that Streetwise is reaching its 100th columna good time to take a look back to see where we have been.

That first column recalled a bit of Western Neighborhoods history that was almost forgottenthe never-built Western Freewaydesigned in the 1940s to run in a virtual straight line from San Mateo County to the Golden Gate Bridge. Thankfully, many residents, including my own father and our long-time neighbor and friend Bill Kays, made their opinions known as early members of the Freeway Revolt."

Many stories involved what our lives were like growing up in the Western Neighborhoods during simpler timesusually in homes with just one bathroom, a single telephone in the hallway, a Formica-topped kitchen table, Moms set of yellow/green/red/blue Pyrex mixing bowls, the basement rumpus room, a single family car (parked in the garage at nightcars were rarely parked on neighborhood streets after dark until the 1960s), amidst a well-known group of neighbors and pets.

Readers have strolled along with me through the small business districts that used to line local streets: California, Clement, Geary, Balboa, Irving, Noriega, Taraval, plus West Portal, Ocean, and 19th Avenues. Weve walked through fond memories of the often foggy outdoor Stonestown Mall that existed from 1952 to 1986, and also recalled the discount shopping center best known as GETs (Government Employees Together) that operated in 1950s/1960s at 34th Avenue and Sloat Boulevard.

Memories of long-gone retail stores have also sparked keen interest among readers. Most of us have fond memories of places such as Joseph Magnin, Bruce Bary, Roos-Atkins, Emporium, Livingstons, Sears-Roebuck, and the White House, along with neighborhood pharmacies such as Wakelees on Clement Street, Reis at 18th and Taraval, and Bowermans in Lakeside Village. Other well-remembered stores included Franciscan Hobbies on Ocean Avenue, King Normans on Clement, and Bills Terminal on Market Street. Many readers also shared incredibly accurate memories of long-gone gas stations on specific corners throughout the Richmond and Sunset Districts.

Weve discussed well-remembered teachers and administrators (both beloved and otherwise) at elementary schools: Parkside, West Portal, Commodore Sloat, Lafayette, Alamo, St. Cecilia, St. Gabriel, and others; middle schools including Hoover, Giannini, Aptos, Presidio, Roosevelt; and high schools such as Lowell, Lincoln, Washington, St. Ignatius, Sacred Heart-Cathedral, and Riordanplus many long-gone institutions, including Polytechnic, McAteer, Commerce, St. Rose, Star of the Sea, Presentation, and others. Many people responded with memories of their own school years, and several readers scanned vintage class pictures, submitting them for posting, triggering even more reader recollections.

Some of these school stories led to reminiscences of recreational activitiesafternoons at Playland, swimming/skating at Sutros, and birthday parties at the Zoo. Readers recalled annual safety patrol reviews at the Polo Field, plus Scouts, Camp Fire Girls, the snowstorm of 1962, teen club dances, garage bands, and car clubs. One topic led to another, as youthful adventures were recalled at Sigmund Stern Grove, Pine Lake Park, Strawberry Hill, The Circle at Sunset and Lake Merced Boulevards, plus the parking lot at the Palace of the Legion of Honor. Many now-mature baby boomers (often grandparents themselves) expressed relief that the statute of limitations had expired on a few of their own youthful evening misadventures at some of these locales.

Weve talked about religious/social events at various houses of worship, including Temple Beth Israel Judea and the nearby Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church on Brotherhood Way, Holy Virgin Russian Orthodox Cathedral on Geary, Holy Name Church at 40th and Lawton (fondly dubbed the Circus Tent), and the annual novena at St. Annes. Readers responded with their own recollections of fund-raisers and community gatherings, church-sponsored living Nativity scenes in Golden Gate Park, funeral practices, decades-long Bingo evenings, and various games of chance at annual festivalsincluding stories about how some of us had only a single peta festival-won goldfish brought home in a plastic bag.

Together, weve recalled the vacation adventures at Marin Town & Country Club in Fairfax, Agua Caliente Resort and Mortons Warm Springs in Sonoma County, Blackberry Farm in Cupertino, plus lazy summer afternoons in Russian River towns like Guerneville, Rio Nido, and Cazadero.

When I mentioned watching Citizen Kane for the first time in the 1970s at the old Surf Theater at 46th and Irving, readers chimed in with their own movie-going memories: Saturday afternoon cartoons at the Irving Theater prior to its 1962 demolition, summer matinee programs at the Parkside, foreign films at the Bridge on Geary, and standing in line for blockbusters such as Oklahoma! and Star Wars at the Coronet. Still others recalled getting dressed up to see a movie at one of the many Market Street theaters, particularly the Fox, prior to its 1963 demolition. Still others had fond memories of double-feature re-runs at the Coliseum on Clement or the somewhat rowdy atmosphere that prevailed on Friday/Saturday nights at the Mission and the Geneva drive-ins, just over the county line in Daly City. Sadly, all of these places now exist only in our collective memories.

After one column about life in the working world, many readers chimed in with personal remembrances about their own first jobsbaby-sitting, delivering the Shopping News, selling in the Emporiums old bargain basement, dipping frozen bananas into chocolate sauce at Playland, running rides at the adjacent Fun-Tier Town amusement park, waiting tables/washing dishes, or providing clerical and telephone support for one of the many downtown banks and insurance companies. It was clear that most of us began our careers at the very lowest rungs of the corporate ladder.

Those work stories led to reminiscences about first apartmentseverything from basement in-law units to the high-rise towers of Parkmerced. People recalled portable hi-fis, 12-inch black-and-white TVs, plywood/concrete block bookcases, parental hand-me-down furniture, plus the inevitable gallon jug of Carlo Rossi red wine that was usually kept under the sink and then served in Cost Plus wineglasses. For those lucky enough to have owned a car, it was often a VW Bug. Most readers recalled quite clearly what their housing/utility costs were at the time, noting that acquiring a first job and a first apartment were both much simpler tasks back then vs. today.

Holiday celebrations have been a perennial favorite subject, with many readers sharing their own traditions. From Thanksgiving to Christmas/Hanukkah, Chinese New Year, Valentines/St. Patricks Days, Easter/Passover, and Pride Parade celebrations, San Franciscans have historically blurred the lines of religious/social demarcation, celebrating many events with their family, friends, and neighbors.

City-wide outdoor lighting contests, roof rides at the Emporium (both downtown and Stonestown) after seeing Santa, plus a walk through the Podesta-Baldocchi floral shop, and a visit to the City of Paris tree under the dome were annual December rituals for thousands of San Franciscans. Memories of the lighted trees at McLaren Lodge in Golden Gate Park and at the old Shriners Hospital on 19th Avenue, the fireplace-decorated facade of the West Portal entrance to the Twin Peaks tunnel in the late 1950s, and the merchant-sponsored holiday decor strung from overhead MUNI wires throughout most city neighborhoods have all triggered warm memories for many readers.

And FOODhow we have discussed food! Everyone maintains a personal favoriteranging from enchiladas at The Hot House to pizza puppies sold at the old Stonestown Market, potato salad at Hermans Delicatessen on Geary near 7th Avenue, and Thursdays hot meatball sandwiches at Herbs Deli on Taraval. Readers have drooled over descriptions of the original Its-It from Playland, French onion soup at The Plum restaurant in Liberty House, and creamed spinach at Townsends on Geary. Any discussion of the best pizza has always included spirited comments involving the merits Pasquales on Irving vs. Pirros on Taraval vs. Totos in Daly City.

Bakeries seem to hold a special significance in the hearts of locals, with Blums Coffee Crunch cake being a repeatedly-named favorite. Other popular places from the past include Baronial on Taraval, Adeline and Fantasia on West Portal (plus other locations), the well-remembered Fosters chain, Sugar Bowl on Balboa, both Golden Brown and Roberts on Irving, Ukraine Bakery (and their marvelous challah bread) on McAllister, focaccia at Liguria, cakes at Wirth Brothers on Geary, and Danish pastries at Epplers.

Eating out has long been important to San Franciscans, and there are still fond memories of many once-popular places that succumbed to rising rents, changing tastes, and/or owner retirements, including El Sombrero on Geary, Grisons and the nearby Hippopotamus, both on Van Ness Avenue, Bernsteins on Powell, Caesars on Bay Street, Cafe for All Seasons on West Portal, Red Chimney in Stonestown, Ernies Neptune Fish Grotto and Villa Romana on Irving, the dozens of Zims locations (particularly 19th and Taraval), Woolworth at Powell and Market, the hof brau-style restaurants that used to dot the downtown area, and many others. At least the Doggie Diner is commemorated by the iconic polystyrene head with a bowtie and chefs cap, mounted on a pole in the center island of Sloat Boulevard near 45th Avenue.

Over the years, one of the columns most faithful and eagle-eyed readers has been Paul Rosenberg, life-long Richmond District resident, Lowell and Cal-Berkeley grad, and long-time observer of City Hall politics. With an encyclopedic memory (and some pretty extensive paper files, too), he has provided clarification and correction on a wide variety of topics, including schools, candidates for elective office, ballot measures, and more local political trivia than most of us could even imagine. An early member of the Irish-Israeli-Italian Society, he has given many luncheon talks over the years"A Madcap Romp Through San Francisco Politics"offering history, scandal, and witty remarks that evoke laughter, nostalgia, and humorously wry comments among audience members every single time Paul stands at a podium.

Many Streetwise followers, including John Freeman, Monsignor Michael Harriman, Christine Meagher Keller, John Martini, Jack Tillmany, and Grant Ute, have provided WNP with numerous scanned photos from their own family, school, and parish collectionsimages that have immeasurably enhanced the stories being told in each months column, while often leading to many brand-new topics. Also, the anonymous donor who contributed tens of thousands of vintage San Francisco images which are now being scanned by WNP volunteers under the name OpenSFHistory, has been another significant contributor. To all of you, many thanks!

Countless other individuals have commented on stories, adding their own personal memories to our collective history: Cathy Barry, Rex Bell, John Byrne, Patrick Cuneen, Tim Dineen, Emiliano Echevarria, Jim Gallagher, Leif Hatlen, Judy Hitzeman, Ann Jennings, Paul Judge, Karen Katenbrink-Poret, Shirley Krohn, Angus Macfarlane, Will McCullar, Christine Miller, Dennis ORorke, Mary-Ann Orr, Jo Anne Quinn, Rosalie Savano, Pat French Swendsen, Lorri Ungaretti, and many others.

Sadly, many readers/friends have left us over the years, including Will Connolly, Frank Grant, Rosemarie (Rosie) Marshall Green, Annabelle Marsh Piercy, Karyn Ann Salisbury-Bosso, and others. Their shared memories are still part of our collective history of message boards and articles.

Finally, a big thank you to Woody for encouraging me to develop three books of local history that have been published by The History Press, based, in part, on some of these Streetwise columnsand yet another word of thanks to both Woody and David for stocking autographed copies of these books in the WNP store, along with many other great gift items that recall our treasured memories of growing up in San Francisco.

Please chime in, dear readers, on what has been overlooked thus far, now that we are moving onward to the next 100 columns!

Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places!
The Ghana Book Development Council (GBDC) has expressed the conviction that Accra will be named the World Book Capital in 2023.



Executive Director of the Ghana Book Development Council (GBDC), Ernesticia Lartey Asuinura, says this conviction stems from the fact that there have been significant improvements in the local publishing of books.



Speaking at the Happy Development Dialogue hosted under the theme Positioning Ghanas Education for Sustained Development, Ernesticia intimated: UNESCO has a competition known as the World Book Capital to select a capital where countries are invited to put in the bid to be named the worlds book capital in a year. The title is conferred two years in advance and in 2023 they have asked countries to send in their bid. Ghana has sent its bid and we believe Accra will be the World Book Capital in 2023.



Meanwhile, Ernesticia has encouraged Ghanaians to nurture the love for reading. She reasoned that the more people read, the more books will be patronized and that will consequently motivate local publishers to produce more books.



UNESCO World Book Capital



The concept of the UNESCO World Book Capital was conceived by the International Publishers Association (IPA), six years after the launch of the World Book and Copyright Day, which is celebrated on 23rd April every year, by UNESCO. The title was first awarded in 2001 to Madrid (Spain) and has since been awarded every year to a different city. Upon designation, the winner city is to promote books and reading among all the various age groups in the city in particular, and internationally in general. The designated city holds the title from April 23 of that year to April 22 of the following year. During that period, the city organizes a number of live events around books, literature and reading. In addition to being prestigious, the title is used to promote books, libraries, a reading culture, literacy, and vibrant book trade.

Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









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About 656 children in the Gomoa West district of the central region of Ghana have completed all four doses of the malaria vaccine since the implementation of the malaria vaccination in 2019.



Gomoa west district is one of the 42 selected areas with the pilot implementation exercise in the central region amidst of the Covid-19 pandemic.



Dr Denis Na-Ebong Soorimwin, Gomoa west district director of Ghana health service in an interview disclosed that the malaria vaccine in the district is so far not up to their expectation, because they want all eligible children in district to be vaccinated,, so the children will be protected against malaria.



He explained, at the beginning mothers were very hesitant and reluctant about taking the malaria vaccine which resulted in low rate of coverage during the implementation stage, adding "but we continued to educate them on the need for the child to be vaccinated and this as a result improved the coverage as time went by.



Dr Soorimwin emphasized that they're using all the available means to get all those children to be vaccinated.



Regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Soorimwin indicates so far there hasn't been any challenge due to the Covid-19, saying mothers bring their children to be vaccinated with the malaria vaccine amid the covid-19 pandemic.



He therefore indicated that the overall uptake of vaccination in the facilities in 2020 last year, the first dose of the vaccine was around 77%, second dose 66.8%, and the third dose was about 65.6%.



He said, as at 2021, this year, the first dose of the vaccination so far is around 15.9%, second dose 15.8% and the third dose is 17%.



"In Gomoa West the malaria vaccine implementation is going on as expected, so far so good in terms of its implementation", Dr Soorimwin assured.



The implementation of the malaria vaccine is currently underway in three selected countries that's Ghana, Kenya and Malawi and is expected to cover at least 600,000 children who would have received the first dose of the malaria vaccine by the World Malaria Day, which coincides with the African vaccination week.



In Ghana, the vaccination is being provided through the routine system in some 42 districts in seven region, given some eligible children in Ghana have begun receiving their fourth and final dose of the vaccine.

Source: Sally Ngissah/Peace News









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The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Sarah Adwoa Safo, has reversed the decision to sack the National Coordinator of the Ghana School Feeding Programme, Mrs Gertrude Quashigah.

Mrs Quashigah's appointment was terminated on Tuesday, May 18, 2021.



No reason was however assigned for her removal.



She was subsequently directed to hand over to the Chief Director of the Gender Ministry.



But a letter dated, May 20, 2021, signed and issued by the sector Minister, Sarah Adwoa Safo, said she had reversed her earlier decision to terminate Mrs Quashigahs appointment.



According to her, the earlier letter was as a result of an administrative error.



Mrs Quashigah is the widow of Major Courage Emmanuel Kobla Quashigah, a Minister of State for Agriculture and later Health in the NPP government of John Kufuor between 2001 and 2009.



She was officially named National Coordinator of the programme in March 2020 after serving as Acting Coordinator for about a year.



Mrs Quashigah is the Chief Executive Officer of Ambar Quality Foods Limited.



Read the letter below







Source: graphiconline.com









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Management of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH) is engaging the services of private medical laboratories to provide clinical services for Ghanas second-largest health referral facility.



The decision had been necessitated by a sit-down strike by the Hospitals Chapter of the Ghana Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists (GAMLS).



Mr. Kwame Frimpong, Head of the Public Affairs Unit of KATH, in an interview with the Ghana News Agency (GNA), Kumasi, said the move was a stop-gap measure to ensure innocent patients do not suffer the consequences of the strike action.



The Management, he said, was currently in talks with the striking medical laboratory scientists for an amicable resolution of the impasse.



Even though the Laboratory Services Directorate (LSD) is on strike, it is the duty of Management to ensure uninterrupted services to patients, some of whom travel from afar to access healthcare, he said.



Medical laboratory scientists of the Hospital on Thursday, May 20, commenced an indefinite sit-down strike to register their protest against what they described as wrongful postings of two Medical Officers, Lesley Osei and Eunice Agyemang Ahmed, to the LSD as "Clinical" Haematologists.



According to the Association, various protest letters had been written to the Hospitals Management expressing the Associations displeasure of the development, describing the presence of the two medical officers as an imposition.



The entire Membership of the GAMLS-KATH Chapter would continue with the sit-down strike until the Associations demands are met, Mr. Ernest Badu-Boateng, the Chairman told the GNA in an interview.



The Association would resist any attempt on the part of the Hospitals Management or the Board to create a new unit within the current LSD structure called "Clinical Haematology Unit for these Medical Officers, he stated.



Medical laboratory scientists play a critical role in the healthcare delivery system, including examining and analyzing blood, body fluids, tissues and cells.



They are also charged with the responsibility of relaying test results to physicians and cross-matching blood for transfusion.



The medical laboratory scientists are qualified enough to work on their own and man the LSD without the medical officers, Mr. Badu-Boateng insisted.



The industrial action by the medical laboratory scientists has created a lot of inconveniences for many patients at KATH, who had no option than to seek private professional care in the heat of the impasse.



In an interview with the GNA, some of the patients entreated the Management of the Hospital and Ministry of Health (MoH) to resolve the differences as soon as possible.



Meanwhile, the Ministry, in a statement issued on Thursday, appealed to the striking medical laboratory scientists to rescind their decision, while negotiations are held to address their grievances.

Source: GNA









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A Ho Circuit Court has remanded 21 persons, including 16 females and five males suspected to be lesbians, gays, bisexuals, transgender, queer and intersex.



They were remanded into Police custody by the Court over unlawful assembly at the Nurses and Midwives Hostel, in Ho.



Sergeant Prince Dogbatse, Volta Regional Public Affairs Officer of the Ghana Police Service, in a media release, said the 21 were arrested at their supposed conference at the Hotel, on Thursday.



He said the suspects were from the Greater Accra, Ashanti, Upper East, Upper West, Western, Eastern, Northern and the Volta regions and were advocating LGBTQI activities.



The Public Affairs Officer noted that preliminary investigation uncovered materials such as books and flyers.



He said the materials were titled: "Hate Crime, The LGBTQI+ Muslim, Gender Acronyms, Coming Out, My Child; My Love Always, All About Trans, All About Intersex, Key Watch and One Love Sisters Ghana.



Sgt Dogbatse said the accused persons would reappear on Friday, June 4.



He said the Command assured the public of its resolve to get to the bottom of the issue whilst also cautioning the public, particularly parents, to be wary of activities of persons involved in such activities and report them to the Police.



During the court session, Police Inspector Agnes Ahiable, prosecuting, prayed to remand the suspects to enable the Police to carry out further investigations into their conduct.



The Court presided over by Mr Felix Datsomor granted the plea of the prosecution and remanded them to Police custody for them to reappear on June 4.



The facts of the case were, however not read, while their pleas were not taken.

Source: GNA









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Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday pledged to provide more COVID-19 vaccines to the best of China's ability to the world, calling for rejection of vaccine nationalism to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries.





Xi made the remarks via video at the Global Health Summit, which was co-hosted by Italy, which currently holds the G20 presidency, and the European Commission.





REJECTING VACCINE NATIONALISM





"It is imperative for us to reject vaccine nationalism and find solutions to issues concerning the production capacity and distribution of vaccines, in order to make vaccines more accessible and affordable in developing countries," Xi said, calling for upholding fairness and equity to close the immunization gap.





Having already supplied 300 million doses of vaccines to the world, China will provide still more vaccines to the best of its ability, he said.





The Chinese president also pledged to support its vaccine companies in transferring technologies to other developing countries and carrying out joint production with them.





"Having announced support for waiving intellectual property rights on COVID-19 vaccines, China also supports the World Trade Organization and other international institutions in making an early decision on this matter," he said.





Xi proposed setting up an international forum on vaccine cooperation for vaccine-developing and producing countries, companies and other stakeholders to explore ways of promoting fair and equitable distribution of vaccines around the world.





"Vaccines are powerful tools in the fight against the pandemic. Yet, the problem of uneven vaccination has become more acute, as some developed Western countries are hoarding vaccines while offering nothing but superficial lip service to countries in urgent need," said Su Xiaohui, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.





Notwithstanding the limited production capacity and enormous demand at home, China has honored its commitment by providing free vaccines to more than 80 developing countries in urgent need and exporting vaccines to 43 countries.





MAKING EXTRAORDINARY RESPONSE





In the face of continuing ravages of the pandemic, with repeated resurgence and frequent mutations of the coronavirus, Xi called for putting people's lives and health front and center, demonstrating a great sense of political responsibility and courage, and making extraordinary responses to an extraordinary challenge.





He called on G20 members to adopt responsible macro-economic policies and step up coordination to keep the global industrial and supply chains safe and smooth.





"It is essential to give continued support by such means as debt suspension and development aid to developing countries, especially vulnerable countries facing exceptional difficulties," Xi said.





China is fully implementing the G20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative for Poorest Countries and has so far put off debt repayment exceeding 1.3 billion U.S. dollars, the highest deferral amount among G20 members. China has also provided 2 billion U.S. dollars in assistance for the COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in developing countries hit by the pandemic.





At the summit, Xi announced that China will provide an additional 3 billion U.S. dollars in international aid over the next three years to support COVID-19 response and economic and social recovery in other developing countries.





In addition to financial aid, China has sent medical supplies to more than 150 countries and 13 international organizations, providing more than 280 billion masks, 3.4 billion protective suits and 4 billion testing kits to the world.





"China has indeed walked the talk, demonstrating its undertaking as a major responsible country," Su said.





BUILDING A COMMUNITY OF HEALTH FOR ALL





"The pandemic is yet another reminder that we humanity rise and fall together with a shared future," Xi stressed.





The Chinese president called for championing the vision of building a global community of health for all and firmly rejecting any attempt to politicize, label or stigmatize the virus.





Political manipulation would not serve COVID-19 response on the domestic front. It would only disrupt international cooperation against the virus and bring greater harm to people around the world, he said.





Xi said G20 members need to shoulder responsibilities in global cooperation against the virus, and lose no time in remedying deficiencies, closing loopholes and strengthening weak links in a bid to enhance preparedness and capacity for coping with major public health emergencies.





Stressing the need to address both the symptoms and root causes, Xi suggested strengthening and leveraging the role of the UN and the WHO and improving the global disease prevention and control system to better prevent and respond to future pandemics.





"It is also important that we enhance our capacity of monitoring, early-warning and emergency response, our capacity of treatment of major pandemics, of contingency reserve and logistics, of fighting disinformation, and of providing support to developing countries," Xi said.





"The virus respects no borders or races, and COVID-19 serves as a stark reminder that countries must rise above differences in geography, race, history, culture and social system and work together for a community with a shared future," said Feng Zhongping, director of the Institute of European Studies of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.




The Accra Regional Police Command has rounded up 33 sex workers, mostly foreigners, during a dawn operation at Pokuase in Accra.



Head of the Public Affairs Unit of the Command, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Effia Tenge told the Ghana News Agency that the five-hour operation took place at Pokuase Timber Market on May 20, 2021.



She said the operation was done in collaboration with the Ga North and West Immigration officers, NADMO personnel and task force from the Ga North Municipal Assembly, assisted by police personnel from the Amasaman Divisional Headquarters and Adjen Kotoku District.



The exercise was based on intelligence to arrest commercial sex workers and destroy their unauthorized habitats, which mostly accommodated drug dealers, robbers and minors used in sexual exploitation.



The operation also saw the demolishing of several unauthorized wooden structures inhabited by commercial sex workers mostly Nigerian nationals and a few Ghanaians.



DSP Tenge said the suspects would be screened and the foreigners handed to the Immigration Service for deportation, while the others would be investigated and put before the law courts if found culpable.

Source: GNA









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Tema West constituency chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Boakye has descended on the Ashanti Regional Security Coordinator DCOP Opare Addo describing him as 'deceitful'.



A group of persons alleged to be part of the supposed disbanded pro-NPP vigilante group, the Delta Force, were arrested for allegedly attempting to forcibly remove DCOP Opare Addo from his office.



Expired Tenure



The acting National Security Coordinator, Major General Francis Adu Amanfo (rtd) in defending the act said the tenure of DCOP Opare Addo had expired.



He had no locus to be in the office because a new officer had been appointed, and he should have handed over to the officer, and he says he wont hand over. So that is why a team was sent from Accra to go and mitigate and facilitate the handing and taking over the process. The bottom line of all of this is that Opare Addo had a contract with National Security and for four years he was the regional liaison for the National Security. His term of the contract has expired. It was not renewed because of non-performance and his own criminal activities



Meanwhile, DCOP Opare Addo has denied ever engaging in any criminal activity.



Speaking to this on Me Man Nti programme on Neat FM, Nana Boakye said the Regional Security Coordinator wants to elicit sympathy and that was why he mentioned the name of 'Delta Force'.



"...but he's being deceitful. The personnel were from the National Security. He is just playing on the emotions of Ghanaians. When the officials came; were they wearing Delta Force shirts? He is a liar" he fired.



Listen to him in the video below





Source: Peacefmonline.com









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The Chairman of the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said this is the last time that we are going to court to settle an election dispute, warning: Well settle matters of the election at the polling stations and the collation centres.



The party challenged the results of the 2020 presidential poll at the Supreme Court but President Nana Akufo-Addo's victory was upheld.



At a press conference on Thursday, 20 May 2021, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said: We, NDC, are taking [the] 2024 [elections] very seriously and well not leave any stone unturned in ensuring that a level-playing field is provided to ensure that we have free [and] fair elections which outcome would be accepted by everybody.



The press conference, which tackled the EC and its Chairperson, Mrs Jean Mensas claim that they organised a well-conducted 2020 election, accused her of unjustifiably using state security to intimidate opposing voices.



Ive participated in elections since 1992 to 2020. It is only in the 2020 elections that military people invaded collation centres, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo said. Again, he said it is only in the 2020 elections that you have military people  whether they are military or vigilantes, nobody can say but today. Im beginning to believe that they are not regular military people because even DCOP Opare-Addo has stated that the people that he was dealing with were vigilante groups.



Meanwhile, he noted, the national security says they are national security people. In Mr Ofosu-Ampofos view, national security people have no business in our elections.



It is the police which has the responsibility, he noted. But whom do you blame? he asked, indicating: The EC [Chair] herself has militarised the EC headquarters. Today, it is like a war zone. Now when you are going for IPAC meetings, military people fully armed with AK-47s are all over the place, he observed.



You turn round to say that the security of the election is not in your hands, meanwhile, you have mlitarised your own office, Mr Ofosu-Ampofo complained.

Source: classfmonline.com









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A dog trainer watches Bobby, a Labrador Retriever, sniffs samples of human sweat through containers to detect the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Veterinary Faculty at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, May 21, 2021. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Thailand has started deploying a canine virus-detecting squad in hopes of quickly identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters at construction sites, crowded slum communities and large markets.

Angel, Bobby and Bravo are among six Labrador retrievers that have been trained by researchers at the Faculty of Veterinary Science at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University to sniff out a unique odor that people with COVID-19 produce in their sweat, the researchers say.

Since May 10, the three have tested more than 1,000 samples from college staff, students and people outside the university.

The results so far are impressive with a success rate of nearly 95%.

After a few seconds of sniffing sweat samples placed in metal containers, the dogs can tell which people have COVID-19. If there's no trace of infection, the dog will walk pass the sample. If it is positive, it will sit in front of it.

Prof. Kaywalee Chatdarong, head of the research team, said she was aware that other countries have been using dogs to identify the coronavirus, including Finland, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and India, but that she had no idea if it would work in Thailand because of the country's spicy and flavorful cuisine.

Suwanna Thanaboonsombat, a volunteer who collects samples to bring to the lab, said the canine testers add a big element of convenience because they can check samples from people who can't go out to be tested.

A Labrador Retriever named Bobby sniffs sample of human sweat through containers to detect COVID-19 coronavirus at Veterinary Faculty, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

"People can simply put cotton balls underneath their armpits to collect sweat samples and send them to the lab. And the result is quite accurate," Suwanna said.

The researchers plan to send the canine team out to communities suspected of being new COVID-19 hotspots. The dogs will work inside a mobile unit, while the collecting team can comb through the community collecting samples.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, dogs are among a small number of pets that can become infected with the coronavirus, mostly after close contact with people with COVID-19. It says the risk of animals spreading the virus to people is considered low.

The Thai researchers said that as a safety precaution, they designed the sample containers so that the dogs' noses do not contact the samples. They also believe the receptors on cells in dogs' respiratory tracts are not a welcoming environment for the coronavirus to attack.

Bobby, a Labrador Retriever in training, sits front of a human sweat sample after detecting the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Veterinary Faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

A researcher prepares a sample of human sweat for Bobby, a Labrador Retriever, to detect the COVID-19 virus at the Veterinary Faculty at the Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

A dog trainer plays with left to right Angel, Bravo and Bobby, Labrador Retrievers, during a break in their training at the Veterinary Faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand, Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Bobby, a Labrador Retriever, finishes sniffing samples of human sweat through containers to detect COVID-19 coronavirus at Veterinary Faculty, Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Researchers prepare samples of human sweat for Bobby, a Labrador Retriever, to detect the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Veterinary Faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Bobby, a Labrador Retriever in training, sits in front of a sample of human sweat after detecting the COVID-19 coronavirus at the Veterinary Faculty of Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand Friday, May 21, 2021. Thailand has deployed a canine virus detection squad to help provide a fast and effective way of identifying people with COVID-19 as the country faces a surge in cases, with clusters found in several crowded slum communities and large markets. Credit: AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit

Kaywalee said that while dogs can provide a fast and cheap testing alternative, they do have limitations.

"5 p.m. is their dinner time. When it's around 4:50, they will start to be distracted. So, you can't really have them work anymore. And we can't have them working after dinner either because they need a nap. They are living animals and we do have to take their needs and emotions into consideration," she said.

"But for me, they are heroes and heroines."

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
When they augment you, youre not doing your job that youre hired for, said Jonathan Zumkehr, the union president at the federal penitentiary in Thomson. If youre a counselor, youre not able to counsel the inmates. If youre a case manager, youre not able to do the First Step Act. Those are two days that youre not going to get back.

The issue came up when wealth financier Jeffrey Epstein took his own life while in one of the most secure jails in the country, the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York. One of the two prison workers assigned to guard Epstein the night he killed himself was a warehouse worker who was augmented to work as a correctional officer. Both were working overtime because of staffing shortages.

Union officials have raised the alarm about staffing problems, even holding a rally this week outside a medium-security prison in Mendota, California. But federal efforts to attract more workers with 25% recruitment bonuses have, so far, barely made a dent. Starting salary is just under $43,500, with some promises of making up to $62,615. But thats much less than what even some other federal agencies are offering, not to mention competition from police departments, state prisons, oil refineries, factories and warehouses.
LAKE PLACID  A man was found dead in Mirror Lake Thursday night.

Eduardo Agundis, 32, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, had apparently been swimming in the lake, people at the scene told the Lake Placid Police Department.

Village police first arrived at the municipal beach off of Parkside Drive at 9:27 p.m. Thursday after they received a call about a commotion at the lake. New York State Police also responded to assist. Shortly after the officers arrived, they alerted the Lake Placid Fire Department to a possible drowning. Twenty-six firefighters arrived on scene with two trucks.

The police department investigated, and at this time the death appears to be accidental, according to Assistant Chief Chuck Dobson.

The fire department said the man drowned. Essex County Coroner Jay Heald, who responded to the scene and pronounced Agundis dead, could not immediately be reached on Friday to confirm the cause of death.
They were using their fists. They were kicking me, punching me, kicking me all over my body. I have bruises on my ribs, my back, all over," said Borgen, 29, who appeared with visible bruising on his face.

What happened yesterday, is not the answer to anyones problems. Regardless of what skin color you are, what race you are, what ethnicity, what religion. Its just wrong on so many levels, he said.

Police on Friday afternoon announced on Twitter that Waseem Awawdeh, 23, was arrested for using a crutch to assault a man in that area. He was charged with hate crime assault and other charges. It could not immediately be determined if he had a lawyer.

Police did not provide further details.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Friday condemned the attack and said the state police Hate Crimes Task Force would offer assistance.

New York is the vibrant and dynamic home for people from around the world. This tapestry makes New York the extraordinary place that it is. Those of all faiths, backgrounds and ethnicities must be able to walk the streets safely and free from harassment and violence, Cuomo said in a prepared release.
On May 1, Medina Spirit, a horse trained by Bob Baffert, one of the stars of thoroughbred racing, somewhat unexpectedly won the Kentucky Derby.

About a week later, it emerged that the horse had tested positive for an anti-inflammatory pain-masking drug, throwing his victory into question. Baffert has been suspended by Churchill Downs, and the horse will most likely lose his win if a second sample confirms the first finding.

That wasnt enough, however, to keep Medina Spirit from running in the next race of the Triple Crown Saturday, the Preakness Stakes, where he finished third. In the Balkanized world of horse racing, there is no central commission to rule on such matters, as there is in most professional sports. Owners of the Pimlico Race Course in Maryland, where the second race is held, declared that fundamental fairness compelled them to let Medina Spirit and a second horse trained by Baffert enter the race, after Baffert consented to blood testing, monitoring and medical review of his horses by Maryland authorities.

Medina Spirit has now been banned by New York Racing Association from running in the Belmont Stakes in New York on June 5, the third race of the Triple Crown.
UPDATE: Heather Kaczynski has been found, Galloway police said Saturday afternoon.

A township resident saw Kaczynski walking out of the woods on Vienna Avenue in the Germania section of the township, shortly before 1 p.m. Saturday, police said in a news release.

The township Ambulance Squad transported Kaczynski to AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.

Police said "many members of the public" phoned in tips since Kaczynski was reported missing.

The original story is below.

GALLOWAY TOWNSHIP  Police are looking for a missing township woman who recently suffered a head injury and has been dealing with post-concussion related symptoms, police said Friday.

Heather Kaczynski, 46, was last seen at her home on Liebig Avenue about 5 p.m. Thursday, police said in a news release. She is described as a white woman with blondish brown hair and brown eyes, 5-foot-1 and 121 pounds.

When family members arrived home at 11 p.m. Thursday, Kaczynski was missing but her phone, watch, purse and identification were left behind.
China announces to donate 2nd batch of COVID-19 vaccines to Bangladesh

Xinhua) 10:53, May 22, 2021

DHAKA, May 21 (Xinhua) -- Bangladesh will receive the second batch of China-donated Sinopharm vaccines to help the country combat COVID-19.

According to a statement of the Chinese Embassy in Dhaka, the donation was made after Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi had a phone conversation with Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.K. Abdul Momen on the evening of May 21.

"At the critical time point in Bangladesh's fight against the epidemic, China is concerned about the urgent need for vaccine of Bangladeshi friends," said the statement.

The announcement came just nine days after China's first donation of vaccines arrived in Bangladesh. The Chinese embassy here expressed hope that the arrival of the second batch of Chinese vaccines will help the Bangladeshi government and people build a strong line of defense against the epidemic.

China is willing to provide necessary support for Bangladesh and other South Asian countries to fight the epidemic in the future, the statement added.

(Web editor: Sheng Chuyi, Bianji)
 Flash

The 2021 China-Africa Video and Photo Competition was launched in Beijing on May 21. Themed Friendship in Focus, Together for Future, the competition aims to provide a platform for Chinese and African people to communicate through videos and photos.

The competition is co-sponsored by the Secretariat of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and China International Publishing Group (CIPG) and co-hosted by BEIJING REVIEW, Yangshipin, CGTN French, and TRASSION's HippoAD and Vskit, in partnership with Seneweb in Senegal and South African Independent Media Group.

The launch ceremony was attended by Lu Cairong, Vice President of CIPG, Wu Peng, Secretary General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of FOCAC and Director General of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, Martin Mpana, Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Cameroon to China, Daniel Owassa, Ambassador of the Republic of Congo to China, Charles E. Namondwe, Ambassador of Malawi to China, Tania S. Y. Romualdo, Ambassador of Cabo Verde to China, Dhia Khaled, Ambassador of Tunisia to China, Maria Gustava, Ambassador of Mozambique to China, Li Yafang, President of BEIJING REVIEW, Piet Rampedi, Editor of Pretoria News of Independent Media Group of South Africa, and Daniel Oloo, a Kenyan student at Communication University of China.

"In the history of traditional friendship between China and Africa, stories of mutual understanding can always touch people's hearts regardless of time and distance," Lu Cairong, Vice President of CIPG, said in his speech at the ceremony.

Lu said he hopes that the competition would see extensive participation and unveil moving stories about China-Africa friendship and collaboration from various perspectives. He stressed the value of creativity and originality in video and photo works and that of a down-to-earth manner in telling appealing stories.

"I hope that more people from Africa and China will participate in this competition to capture the vivid images of China-Africa practical cooperation and friendly exchanges," he said.

In his speech, Martin Mpana, Dean of the African Diplomatic Corps and Ambassador of Cameroon to China, recognized the inestimable value of photos and videos as a powerful means of communication and in preserving sound and verifiable information for the public, and expressed his support for the competition considering its role in reflecting the joint efforts of Chinese and African governments.

He also encouraged the launch of similar initiatives in Africa to create the conditions for an environment conducive to the development of the image industry and promotion of artistic creation.

"This is one of the ways in which we will be able to show the true face of China-Africa relations, which bears the encouraging mark of an ambitious, fruitful and win-win partnership," he said.

Wu Peng, Secretary General of the Chinese Follow-up Committee of FOCAC and Director General of the Department of African Affairs of the Foreign Ministry, said in his speech that the competition will enhance understanding on the friendship and win-win cooperation between China and Africa, as well as on the vision of a China-Africa community with a shared future, by allowing individuals in China and Africa to share their own stories.

Wu applauded China-Africa solidarity in fighting the pandemic, adding that cooperation between China and Africa has kept progressing despite the pandemic. Citing Chinese President Xi Jinping's comment on the key role of youth in China-Africa relations, he called on Chinese and African young people to carry forward the great cause of China-Africa friendship.

Li Yafang, President of BEIJING REVIEW, a media outlet under CIPG and one of the organizers of the competition, said in her speech that the media agency's intensive participation in promoting China-Africa ties has led to the understanding that media-led exhange activities are crucial for enhancing people-to-people bonds between China and Africa. The organization is the publisher of the ChinAfrica monthly magazine dedicated to African readers, and held the first and second editions of the competition.

Li said that holding the competition has allowed the agency to be connected to more individuals interested in promoting China-Africa friendship. She pledged that the agency will continue to help strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges between China and Africa, deepen media cooperation and consolidate the traditional China-Africa friendship.

Piet Rampedi, Editor of Pretoria News of Independent Media Group in South Africa, said in his speech that the competition is important in that it helps counter Western media propaganda that doesn't reflect the truth about China and China-Africa relations. He added that China and Africa have been enjoying solidarity, which has been further enhanced by their joint fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Highlighting the role of the media in combating COVID-19, he called for strengthened solidarity across the international community to fight the pandemic.

Danial Oloo, a Kenyan student at Communication University of China, speaks at the ceremony (WEI YAO)

Danial Oloo, a Kenyan student at Communication University of China, spoke at the ceremony on behalf of contestants of the competition. An active participant of the previous short video competitions held by BEIJING REVIEW, he shared his views on the role of such a competition in promoting understanding between Chinese and African people. "Undoubtedly, there is still a lack of proper understanding about China in foreign countries, and the short video competitions offer Chinese and African people a valuable platform to tell their stories directly," he said.

Li Jianguo, Associate Editor in Chief of BEIJING REVIEW, hosted the ceremony and explained the details of the competition. He said that the competition aims to enhance China-Africa friendship by letting Chinese and African people tell their stories themselves, and learn more about each other through first-hand accounts of China-Africa friendship.








MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  The township has two new police officers, hired and sworn in at the same meeting at which the township recognized National Police Week.

The Township Committee plans to return to in-person meetings soon, but for the past year, the only time the three members of the governing body have gathered for meetings inside Township Hall in Cape May Court House has been to swear in new officers, following a township tradition of having family members on hand for the ceremony.

That was the case Monday when the committee approved the hiring of two new officers, Timothy Urquhart and Christopher Baczek.

In each case, the vote was unanimous, as was another vote recognizing National Police Week, which ran from May 9 to 15. That resolution honored National Peace Officers Memorial Day on May 15 as well. The resolution states that police officers play an essential role in safeguarding rights and freedoms.

It is important that all citizens know and understand the problems, duties, and responsibilities of their police department, and that members of our police department recognize their duty to serve the people by safeguarding life and property, by protecting against violence or disorder, and by protecting the innocent against deception and the weak against oppression or intimidation, reads the resolution.

+6 Middle Township seeks to crack down on wayward shopping carts MIDDLE TOWNSHIP  A pair of abandoned shopping carts can be seen in the thick tangle of grow
The large theater has stadium seating with slightly reclining seats and holds about 280 people. It will act as both a movie theater and a stage that hosts live music as well as comedians.

The two smaller theaters can each hold about 35 people and will have full recliners. Second-floor balconies will have built-in tray tables for food and beverages.

Pieces of the original facade are still visible on the front of the building. The large theater has some original lighting, and everything about the stairs  the railings, wood and glass partitions  is original.

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Atlantic City supermarket remains in predevelopment stage ATLANTIC CITY  More than two years after the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority bega

Denafo said the response has been overwhelming.

We have reached almost 200,000 people in the last two days (over social media), he said.

It hits home for Denafo, who grew up in Ventnor and watched movies at the former Ventnor Twin as a kid.

(People) have been out of control since the day they found out somebody bought it and was going to reopen it, said Mayor Beth Holtzman. Ive been constantly getting texts about it. The excitement for it to open has gone on since the day theyve bought it.

It was an eyesore to the city, she said. And I dare to say it is the jewel of Ventnor.
Among them was Fran West, who has a summer home in Ocean City and recently acquired a 1949 Ford pickup.

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I thought it was a wonderful way to honor a World War II veteran, West said. He and many other participants learned about the event on social media, where Jacobs invited everyone who was interested to participate in the parade.

Thats quite a tribute to me, McCormac said. With signs plastered along the fence announcing his 100th birthday, passersby all knew the cause of the celebration. He said he received waves and congratulations throughout the day from people hed never met before.

+5 CRDA funds boost Atlantic City 9/11 ceremony ATLANTIC CITY  For the past 10 years, the Saracini-ONeill AC911 Memorial organization has 

Its nice of them to stop by, he said.

McCormac has spoken to local high school students and organizations about his experiences in Europe during the war. He said he landed at Omaha Beach during the invasion of Normandy and served as a communications officer.

He faced some of the toughest moments of that terrible time, including the freezing and hard-fought Battle of the Bulge and the liberation of the Nazi death camp at Dachau. But the story he told Saturday was instead about learning to drive. He had never driven a car growing up in Philadelphia. But when his driver went back home, he needed to learn on an Army Jeep in the middle of a war.
Good for them! But the pandemic also created lots of financial losers, and these are the folks we ought to be worried about.

In fact, the three relief bills had lots of provisions aimed directly at the people who were most in danger of financial ruin. Pandemic unemployment benefits went to people who lost jobs or income. The Paycheck Protection Program gave a lifeline to businesses that were hurt by the pandemic, and provided an incentive to retain workers. Eviction moratoriums prevented landlords from turning out tenants who couldnt make rent, and so on. These bills werent designed as fiscal stimulus, but as disaster relief  a form of retroactive social insurance aimed at making Americans whole.

The problem is, all that social insurance wasnt perfect, and lots of Americans are in danger of falling through the cracks. The most obvious endangered group are those who failed to get the pandemic unemployment insurance benefits despite losing jobs or income. Pandemic UI was implemented by state agencies, which had limited capacity and little preparation. As a result, significant numbers of people who deserved to get the benefits were denied.

The U.S. government should try to patch this hole. People who deserved the special benefits but didnt receive them should be able to petition the government for back payments (a new law could specify how much).
DEPPEN VS. DONST, LAWLESS, BOAR, VEDA SCOTT & MORE: COMPLETE 5/21 LVAC REEL RUMBLE NIGHT ONE COVERAGE FROM LEHIGHTON, PA

LVAC Wrestling held a "bonus" event at the Mahoning Drive-In in Lehighton, PA for those attending the second annual "Reel Rumble" weekend featuring pro wrestling themed movies. They had a ring set up in front of the drive-in screen with fans invited to bring chairs or blankets to sit around ringside in a festival atmosphere.

They announced that due to an injury, A Very Good Professional Wrestler would be replaced by Tim Donst against Tony Deppen in the main event.

*First Friends, The Boar (formerly of Moldova) & Erica Leigh defeated The Lone Rangers, Jeff Cannonball and Mitch Vallen. An entertaining tag with some fun comedy,

*Masha Slamowich, billed from Russia vs. Veda Scott, who has been seen in Ring of Honor and on AEW Women's Tag Team Tournament commentary. Scott played the babyface in peril, being worked over by the larger Masha early on. She cut off Masha with a clothesline and a slam. Scott scored several near falls. Scott finally scored a submission victory. Fun.

*Tim Donst vs. Tony Deppen. Deppen is the current ROH TV Champion. Donst played full heel, complaining about Deppen pulling hair and tights. He took control kicking Deppen in the guts and playing up to the crowd. Deppen came back with a dropkick that sent Donst to the floor outside. Deppen teased a dive but Donst dove back into the ring, where he was dropkicked out again. Donst regained control, working over Deppen's back. Donst distracted the referee, allowing his seconds, Sidney Bakabella and Dan the Champ to work over Deppen. He missed a charge into the corner and Deppen cleaned house until missing a Bronco Buster in the corner. Donst suplexed him off the buckles but missed a follow-up. Donst nailed a leaping DDT and scored a near fall. Fun back and forth match. Donst cut him off on the top and went for a superplex but was blocked. Deppen knocked him into the ring but missed a double stomp. Donst covered him for a two count and argued with the referee over whether it was a 2 or 3 count. Deppen beat down Donst with a series of forearms and a big leaping knee for another two count. Deppen nailed a big basement dropkick. They went to the ground, where Deppen escaped a powerbomb attempt. Deppen hit a tope con hilo to the floor, which is basically all rocks and dirt, so he's pretty fearless. Donst cut him off and scored several two counts, again arguing with the referee. He shoved the referee. Deppen rolled him up and scored the pin. Good stuff.

*The Batiri & Ziggy Haim & Haunted Francis vs. Rex Lawless & CC Boost & King Crab & Merlok. One of the Batiri battled Merlok, who missed a splash in the corner. One of the Batiri hit a dive to the outside. Haim tagged in and hit a running knee. CC Boost, dressed in stripes and a mask because he's a robber. Haim was elevated and tossed to the outside onto everyone. Lawless tagged in and did some power spots. Haim broke away from Francis and made the hot tag. Lots of back and forth action. Team Boost regained control. One of the Batiri cut off Boost and went for a superplex, executing the move. Everyone battled and built to a Tower of Doom spot. The crowd rallied everyone to continue. Haim took out Boost with a tiltowhirl into a DDT. Everyone hit big moves. Lawless hit a package piledriver on Francis and scored the pin. The crowd really enjoyed this one and it went for quite awhile.

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Croken and his attorney interpreted "we" to mean Beck, Knobbe and fellow Republican Supervisor John Maxwell had reached a consensus in private, in violation of state law, on extending an offer to their preferred appointee.

Both Beck and Knobbe said they have not discussed the appointment with Maxwell, who said he has been "left in the dark," and that "we" only refers to Beck and Knobbe.

"They have not told me, and I will find out when everybody else does on Tuesday morning," Maxwell. "And I don't know (how) I'm voting for sure."

Walton, in an email, said had there been a meeting of three supervisors  constituting a majority of the board  either in private, by phone, text message or other electronic means, to discuss the appointment, it would have violated the state's open meetings law. However, because discussions occurred between Beck and Knobbe, "that would not be a majority of the board, and therefore not a violation of the open meetings law."

Croken and his attorney, Jim Larew of Iowa City, contend the private discussions constitute a "walking quorum"  serial communication among individual members of a government body, either in person or electronically, with the intent to skirt the open meetings law.
While it is possible to refuse a BAC test, those who do so typically are subject to a one-year revocation of their driver's license. Court records show no such action has been taken against Thiel.

The DNR report shows that Thiel's triple-motor 35-foot Triton was occupied by 13 people, including four adults and nine children. Manufacturing specifications for the Triton indicate a maximum capacity of 12.

Thiel's boat was traveling "over 40 mph" at the time of the collision, and the other boat was traveling "over 20 mph." There are no speed limits on the Mississippi River at the Quad-Cities, except for in no-wake zones.

The DNR report contains yes/no boxes for the question of whether each passenger was wearing a life vest, but none of the boxes were checked for the nine children. The conservation officer indicated that Thiel, Verbeke and Pinc were not wearing personal-flotation devices, but he did not indicate whether any of the children were wearing them.

Iowa law requires children 13 and under to wear life jackets while onboard any vessel. It appears from the report that four of the children were under 10 years of age.
We were basically told, Its too important. Get it done,  Mullins said.

Design and architecture work was done through the summer and fall of 2020, she said. Construction on the project began in January.

Christina Kastell, the museums curator of history and anthropology, said 300 cultures were represented in the exhibit, and the museum would love for other cultures in the Quad-Cities to make a contribution to the collection.

In this exhibit, people will learn about the symbolism of color in adornment, home and celebration. The exhibit is in partnership with World Relief Quad Cities and includes artifacts loaned by families in the organization's refugee resettlement program.

"In some cultures, the color white is used for mourning," Kastell said. Colors can mean many different things in other cultures.

Former Davenport Mayor Frank Klipsch, a member of the Putnams board of trustees, said the Putnam experience on the west side of town is an anchor thats very important.

The thing thats great now is that everybody in the community can see themselves here, Klipsch said.
Laches refers to the defense used against a party who has knowingly slept upon his rights and acquiesced for a great length of time, the opinion states. The second element of laches is whether the party being sued would suffer prejudice as a result of the delay in filing the action.

The court found both elements were met to satisfy the laches doctrine in this case.

(Tillman) offers no excuse for why he waited 2 years (in the case of the 2017 bonds) and 16 years (in the case of the 2003 bonds) to file his action challenging the constitutionality of the bonds, the court wrote in its opinion.

The justices also decided that it is patently obvious that the State will suffer some prejudice if relief is granted at this extremely late stage.

Enjoining the State from meeting its obligation to make payments on general obligation bonds will, at the very least, have a detrimental effect on the States credit rating, the opinion states.

In a written statement, Tillman said he is disappointed in the Illinois Supreme Courts ruling and is evaluating his options as to how to proceed from here.
This is a developing story and will be updated.

SPRINGFIELD  Senate and House Redistricting Committees on Friday released a proposed map of new legislative boundaries.

Democrats, which control the mapmaking process, in a statement said the map incorporates suggestions from more than 45 public hearings.

Redistricting is about making sure all voices are heard, and thats exactly what this map accomplishes. This is a fair map that reflects the great diversity of our state and ensures every person receives equal representation in the General Assembly, said Sen. Omar Aquino, D-Chicago, chairman of the Senate Redistricting Committee, in a statement.

Republicans have said the process is partisan and unfair.

"Nothing says transparency like releasing new state legislative maps on a Friday night," said U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Taylorville, in a tweet.

Said Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy: "For months now, Democrat politicians have shown they would be willing to subvert the will of the people, go back on their word, and rig the system to their benefit by drawing partisan gerrymandered maps."
 Flash

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Friday met with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin via video link, and both sides expressed willingness to deepen bilateral mutually beneficial cooperation.

Li said that China and Malaysia have maintained long-term friendly relations and made positive contributions to promoting regional peace, stability and development.

He said the pandemic still wreaks havoc worldwide and no country can avoid it, adding that the international community should strengthen anti-pandemic cooperation and jointly build a global community of health for all.

Malaysia is the first country to sign an intergovernmental cooperation agreement on COVID-19 vaccines and make a reciprocal arrangement for vaccination with China, Li said.

China supports Malaysia in improving its vaccine production capacity, supports health departments and epidemic prevention experts of the two countries in enhancing exchanges and experience sharing, Li said, adding that he hopes Malaysia will ensure that Chinese citizens in Malaysia are vaccinated soon.

Despite the impact of the pandemic, China-Malaysia trade has grown, a fact that demonstrates the close ties of interests and complementarity of cooperation between the two sides, Li said.

Li said that China is willing to enhance cooperation with Malaysia in the fields of trade and investment, digital economy, manufacturing, agriculture and construction of maritime transportation infrastructure.

China encourages its companies to invest in Malaysia in accordance with market rules and commercial principles, so as to better achieve mutual benefits and win-win results.

Muhyiddin Yassin said that Malaysia highly values its relations with China and stands ready to enhance cooperation with China in the fields of trade and investment, digital economy, high technology, industrial parks, and agriculture, and welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and develop in Malaysia.

Muhyiddin Yassin expressed Malaysia's hope to continue cooperation with China in combating the pandemic, and that Malaysia will provide convenience for Chinese citizens there to get inoculated.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concern.
Parker received backlash from the public, the police department, and the Fraternal Order of Police for his comments, with demands for a retraction and an apology. Parker stood behind his statement.

More than 50 uniformed Rock Island police officers showed up to silently protest Parker at the May 10 city council meeting, even though Parker was absent.

In a statement from the city Friday, the point of Thursday's meeting was to discuss the issue of data collection and research into a police foot pursuit policy and to open dialogue among city staff. The group agreed that more data and information is needed, but at this time it would be difficult and time consuming to gather the data manually.

The city will research software programs that could help gather foot pursuit data, which will help determine if a policy is needed.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, meanwhile, welcomed Americas return to the world stage and said both leaders pledged in their meeting to work closely toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Biden told a joint news conference with Moon that he was dispatching career diplomat Sung Kim, who previously served as ambassador to South Korea, to serve as the special envoy to the region. Moon said the move by Biden reflects the firm commitment of the U.S. for exploring diplomacy and its readiness for dialogue with North Korea.

Biden also announced that the U.S. would vaccinate 550,000 South Korean servicemembers who serve alongside U.S. forces on the peninsula.
This year, the Childrens Bureaus National Foster Care Month initiative is focused on bringing to light ways that organizations can authentically engage youth in decision-making about their own future. When I first founded the Senate Caucus on Foster Youth in 2009 with then-Senator Landrieu, one of the primary goals was to hear directly from kids in foster care. Nearly half of kids in foster care are under the age of five, and must rely on adults who are charged with their care to advocate for them and speak to their best interest. However, there are also thousands of youth in the foster care system who are teenagers and young adults. While they still need caring adults to guide them and advocate for them, their voices are important and should never be ignored.

If you talk to 20 kids who were in foster care, youll hear 20 different stories and perspectives. Sweeping generalizations about the child welfare system or the kids who are entrusted to its care leave many youth unrepresented. The Senate Caucus on Foster Youth once held a roundtable discussion with young adults who had experienced years of foster care. One youth reported that the experience of being removed from his home was the most traumatic thing he had ever been through. He reported that if only someone had helped his mother with her addictions, he could have stayed with her instead of bouncing from foster home to group homes, and back. Its stories like this one that helped inform the creation of the Family First Prevention Services Act, which is based on the idea that our child welfare system should prioritize keeping families together whenever possible, and preventing entries into foster care in the first place. I supported the passage of this law, and hope that as its implemented, well see fewer children who need to be removed from their homes in order to be safe.
A frequent thought among those who can be skeptical about the true intentions of politicians is that the only political party that truly cares about government spending, debts and deficits is the party that is out of power.

Given the Iowa Legislatures recent history, it appears local control suffers from a similar ideological malleability. In other words: Iowa state lawmakers think local control is great  until they are in control and another government body is doing something they dont like.

For recent evidence, look no further than the 2021 session of the Iowa Legislature. With Republicans in complete command of the state-lawmaking process, local control was an oak leaf in a tornado as state lawmakers enacted new mandates that limited the governing options of local school boards, elections officials, county supervisors and city councils and mayors.

A bill that was passed in the 11th hour (and signed into law in the 12th) prohibits local governments from enacting public face mask requirements that exceed the states requirement, if any. So if the COVID-19 pandemic flares up again in any corner of the state, those communities will not be allowed to enact face mask requirements unless the state has one.
May is historic preservation month, the perfect time to encourage readers to contact the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency (a division of the Illinois Department of Natural Resources) to ask them to provide funds for our historic landmarks, specifically the Colony Church in Bishop Hill. I contacted them myself a couple of days ago at www2.Illinois.gov.

My wife and I took out-of-state guests to Bishop Hill last week, and we were all disappointed in the condition of the exterior of the Colony Church and other state-supported buildings, including the iconic fence at the Bishop Hill park. The buildings and fence have deteriorated significantly since our last visit. The exterior of the church is in need of painting, (which hasnt been painted since 2009), as well as other repairs.

Inside the church sanctuary, we found that a section of plaster had fallen, presumably from a leaking ceiling roof, and a plastic tarp was covering church pews to prevent further damage. In the foyer of the sanctuary, birds were living under the floorboards due to missing siding on the outside of the church.
More letters to the editor, May 22, 2021

For Natalie Slack

I am writing to express my support for Natalie Slack for Area 1 School Board. I have known Natalie for several years and have worked with her on committees. I have seen her dedication and passion for the community first hand. From her work to fundraise for a new mural at one of our local schools, to countless hours volunteering in our local community, Natalie is a tireless advocate. I often wonder where she finds the time, and amazed at her dedication and organization to make things happen.

This past year has been many things, but normal is not one of them. When we were about to welcome our students back into the classroom there was concern about finding substitutes if large numbers of teachers were required to quarantine. We didn't know what would happen, but we knew we wanted our kids in school. Natalie, seeing a need in the community, she stepped forward and signed up to be a substitute teacher. Natalie put our students first with action, not a keyboard and an ugly yellow sign. I have seen her parenting and leadership first hand. Natalie is reasonable, fully equipped, and dedicated to do what's best for our students

Glen Meyer, Rapid City

Educate, don't indoctrinate
Im rereading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer. Its a definitive account of the rise of Nazi Germany written by someone who witnessed it. The book describes the lie that Hitler promoted to galvanize his followers, how he incited and led a failed attack/overthrow of a legitimately elected government, the destruction of the German Parliament building, and how Hitler claimed he was the only one who could solve Germanys problems.

The author describes how Hitler and his enablers sought revenge on those who opposed them, even those in their own party, and how they scorned the free press. Shirer discusses the significance of rallies, the importance his followers placed on flags, and how Hitler sought to restore Germany to greatness.

The book outlines relationships between the Nazis and right-wing para-military groups and the right-wing church. Science was altered and only German science was promoted. Shirer writes of Hitlers denigration of foreigners and how he blamed the other for Germanys economic and social woes. The author describes how the Nazis went to great lengths to suppress votes of certain groups and Hitlers strong emphasis on nationalism. He also describes how the Nazis had their own media outlet and placed party loyalty over truth.
The governor has not rescinded his executive order issued last year extending the state of emergency, which is a prerequisite to the board meeting to amend or remove the standards.

Courtney Malveaux, a principal in the Richmond office of the Jackson Lewis law firm who also sits on the states Safety and Health Codes Board, said he voted against the standards for this very reason.

He said that the science was rapidly changing and the vaccinations had already started when the board adopted the workplace safety standards in January. The Safety and Health Codes Board has 14 members appointed by the governor.

The board intentionally dodged the issue of different rules between vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals, even though the vaccine was becoming available, he said.

The state now has a standard based on the science of January in May. From the beginning, VOSH [Virginia Occupational Safety and Health] should have embraced the science and should have required employers to follow the CDC guidance in real time. It still has an opportunity to do so now, Malveaux said.

He recalled that an earlier draft of the standards contained a safe harbor provision providing that if the employer was complying with the CDC that the employer was in compliance with the standards.
On Thursday, Smith called Nielson, but Nielson said the conversation focused on his request for a ride-along, not Smiths attendance at the next meeting.

Nielson said that for more than a month, he had been pinging two phone numbers that a City Council member gave him for the chief.

In response to questions from the Richmond Times-Dispatch, the department said it has made itself available to the board in the past and continues to do so.

The departments statement references an April 8 email from Deputy Chief Victoria Pearson, which was sent to the councils chief of staff, not task force members, whose email addresses are readily available, according to co-chair Eli Coston, a Virginia Commonwealth University professor. Neither Coston nor Nielson had heard of Pearson.

Coston had emailed Smith, and his assistant, on May 6 requesting a meeting with Smith. The email got no response, Coston said.

In its response to The Times-Dispatchs inquiry, the department also cited a letter sent to the council on April 14. The department said the letter was from Mayor Levar Stoney and Smith expressing their interest in working collaboratively with the board. Stoney and Smith have voiced support for a CRB in the past.
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China cannot agree with Taiwan region's participation in the World Health Assembly (WHA) this year, in order to safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and to safeguard the sanctity and authority of relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly and the WHA, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said on Friday.

Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the remarks in response to a media query on the issue at a daily press briefing.

It is learned that the Taiwan authority did not receive an invitation letter to the WHA this year, and that many countries sent letters to the World Health Organization (WHO) in support of China's decision of not agreeing to Taiwan region's participation, urging that the Taiwan-related topics not be discussed.

Zhao said such events show that the one-China principle is an international norm and the common consensus of the global community. He said the international community recognizes that there is but one China in the world, that the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China, and that the Taiwan region is an inalienable part of Chinese territory.

"Taiwan's participation in the activities of international organizations including the WHO must be dealt with in accordance with the one-China principle," he said.

Zhao pointed out that before 2016, the Taiwan region was able to participate in the WHA under a special arrangement made through cross-Strait consultations on the basis of the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle upheld by both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

He said that the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) has placed its political intentions above the well-being of the people of Taiwan, adding that, since it came to power in 2016, the DPP has obstinately adhered to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" and refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, thus unilaterally undermining the political foundation for Taiwan's participation in the WHA.

Noting that the Chinese central government attaches great importance to the health and well-being of Taiwan compatriots, Zhao pointed out that the central government has notified Taiwan 260 times about the epidemic and approved the participation of Taiwan health experts in WHO technical activities 16 times since the outbreak of COVID-19.

Ignoring the general desire of the international community to focus on anti-epidemic cooperation and the lives of Taiwan compatriots, the DPP authority has used the pandemic as an excuse for political manipulation, and violated the United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 and WHA Resolution 25.1, Zhao said.

He said that in interfering with the conference process and undermining international cooperation in the fight against the epidemic, the real aim of the DPP authority in making Taiwan-related proposals at the WHA is to create "two Chinas" or "one China, one Taiwan".

By Thursday, more than 150 countries had expressed their support for China's decision through diplomatic channels, while the representatives of nearly 80 member states had sent letters to the WHO to express their adherence to the one-China principle and their opposition to Taiwan's participation in the WHA, Zhao said.

"This has once again proved that the one-China principle is the aspiration of the international community and the overriding trend," he said, adding that it reflects the just and correct position of the vast majority of countries on Taiwan-related issues.

Noting that the United States and a few other countries were backing the DPP authority and hyping up Taiwan-related issues at the WHA, Zhao said their conspiracy is doomed to fail.




On April 12, the board voted with a slender majority to take back its authority to oversee school construction, and the vote passed well into the night with no first reading.

In an interview, Jones said that while there has been contention among board members, she sees the panel as publicly going through growing pains as a new board tasked with reviving an already challenged school district from a pandemic that brought on even more challenges.

You bring on four new people, and youre being integrated into a group of people who were already there, so its finding your niche and understanding each others roles, she said. I dont think its bad governance. ... I think to say bad governance means youre not doing a good job, and I wouldnt want to imply that. In fact, I do believe were all there for the same reason.

Kim Bridges, a former board member who is also a professor in Virginia Commonwealth Universitys School of Education, said dissent is a natural part of governance. But when dissent becomes unproductive, thats a sign of governance that should be improved.

Dissent is not a bad thing, Bridges said. But its about how do you manage that so that its productive dissent, and a lot of that comes back to that relationship and trust-building.
While Hilton allowed the lawsuit to move forward to the next stage, he denied a request for an injunction that would have barred the school system from using the new policy for the incoming class of freshmen. He said it would be too disruptive to order a change at such a late date  Raphael said the school system is nearly completed with its review of applications for the upcoming fall semester, and that students will find out in June whether they have been admitted under the new process.
Likewise, Roosevelt watched war break out in Europe in 1939, convinced that the U.S. eventually would be drawn into the conflict. Knowing that public opinion overwhelmingly was against involvement in the war, he used executive authority to quietly arm the nation in case it did.

Like Wilson in 1916, FDR ran for re-election in 1940 under a promise to keep the U.S. neutral, saying: Ive said it once and I shall say it again, and again, and again. Your boys are not going to be sent to any foreign wars.

He won re-election, but by the end of the next year, after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, American boys would be in combat in almost every corner of the globe for the next four years.

In the cases both of Wilson and of Roosevelt, we can speculate that their less-than-truthful promises to the public were what they genuinely believed at the time and that we can be thankful that the country was better prepared to fight had the two presidents not done otherwise.

No better example of the big lie can be found than with U.S. Sen. Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin. In 1950, this little-known, first-time senator jumped onto the national stage by accusing his colleagues of ignoring the large number of communists who had infiltrated various federal departments and who sought to undermine the government.
.@OneCasinoResort will create jobs, generate new revenue for the city, and establish an additional economic engine in South Richmond, Mayor Levar Stoney added in a Thursday tweet. Im thankful to the Evaluation Panel for vetting the proposals and finding the best opportunity for Richmond.

ONE might be the best proposal but City Council  and city voters  have a different question to consider: Is a casino the best decision for Richmond? Our message to Liggins and Stoney is: Not so fast. Trust has yet to be earned  among council members and residents.

Some Richmonders who have seen the billboards along Interstates 64 and 95, and the advertisements in newspapers and on television stations, might be wondering: How is the city even under consideration for a casino in the first place?
Boucher, Terry endorse

Rasoul for lt. governor

Editor, Times-Dispatch:

In less than 20 days, Virginias Democratic voters will select a candidate for lieutenant governor in the June 8 primary.

Having contributed more than 40 collective years of public service, we see this race as a rare opportunity for voters to elect someone with experience unifying people across diverse backgrounds and geographies, a person who can meaningfully contribute to restoring trust in government.

Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, has represented Roanoke in the General Assembly for the past eight years and he is our choice for lieutenant governor. His record is dominated by a fierce dedication to putting people above special interests  and not just those who live in his district.

We live west of the Blue Ridge and have a natural interest in having our region represented in the highest councils of state government. If elected, Rasoul would be the only official elected statewide who lives west of Richmond, giving voice to a rural culture that sometimes is overlooked.
A new low-cost airline from the founder of JetBlue is setting up operations in Virginia and will offer nonstop flights from Richmond International Airport to three Southern destinations, including New Orleans, as well as open an operations center in Norfolk that is expected to employ more than 100 people.

Breeze Airways, which was founded recently by airline entrepreneur David Neeleman, is planning to start flights from Richmond International Airport on July 8. Neeleman previously founded JetBlue, as well as Brazils Azul, Canadas WestJet and Utah-based Morris Air, which was later purchased by Southwest Airlines.

Salt Lake City-based Breeze is expecting to start in the Richmond area with service between Richmond and Charleston, S.C., offering flights four days a week  Thursday, Friday, Sunday and Monday.

Flights between Richmond and New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport are expected to start July 15, followed by flights between Richmond and Tampa International Airport in Florida on July 22.

Breeze, which is the second new U.S carrier announced in a month as airlines try to profit from an anticipated rebound in air travel, started selling tickets Friday.
If youre the sort of person who sees no difference between the Israeli military defending its citizens and Hamas terrorizing civilians, you might want to pass on this column.

This column is for the sort of person who realizes that violence is horrible, that killing civilians is horrific, that politics is dirty and that the world is not designed for the peacemakers. This column is also for those who will disagree on how we get to a point where warring tribes can come to some middle ground of safety and understanding. It is a column that recognizes the profound policy clashes between Netanyahu and Abbas, and its directed at those who might even differ on the role that the United States should be playing as mediator.

What it is not is a press release written by Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib that focuses on the humanity of Palestinian children while ignoring that Israeli children, who have a right not to have their schools, homes and highways destroyed by rockets.

I have many Jewish friends with family in Israel whove spent the last week on the phone, on the internet, and on their knees praying. I also have many Arab friends, some Muslim, some Christian, who are horrified at this renewed Intifadah that threatens the welfare of their own loved ones. Not one of those friends, regardless of how they pray, supports Hamas. Not a one.
Under Ronald Reagan, the refugee ceiling was once as high as 217,000 per year.

Biden says he plans to raise the ceiling to 125,000 in 2022. Even then, it will be lower than it was for much of the time when Reagan and George H.W. Bush were president.

Indeed, those two Republican presidents had higher refugee caps than any of the Democratic presidents weve had after them  Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and now Biden.

More context: Of all the modern presidents, one of the most enthusiastic pro-refugee resettlement presidents was a Republican  the aforementioned Eisenhower.

When todays Republicans criticize Bidens move, they are well within their rights, but outside their partys historic traditions. Be careful who you call a RINO  Republican In Name Only. That R in Republican used to stand for refugees.

All this is of special interest to us for three reasons.

First, Roanoke has historically been a magnet for immigrants of all types  either unwilling refugees or willing migrants  dating back to the late 1800s and early 1900s when it attracted lots of Greeks and Lebanese, two groups whose imprint is still visible on the valley.
You are here: World

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A Nigerian air force aircraft crashed on Friday evening near an international airport in Kaduna state, northwest of Nigeria, killing several people on board, including Chief of Army Staff Ibrahim Attahiru.

Edward Gabkwet, air force spokesperson, said in a statement on Friday an air crash involving a Nigerian air force aircraft occurred on Friday evening near the Kaduna International Airport.

"The immediate cause of the crash is still being ascertained, more details to follow soon," said Gabkwet.

A press release from the state house later on Friday confirmed Chief of Army Staff Ibrahim Attahiru and other military officers were killed in the crash.

"President Muhammadu Buhari is deeply saddened over the air crash that claimed the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, and other military officers," said the statement.

Buhari described the crash as "one mortal blow to our underbelly, at a time our armed forces are poised to end the security challenges facing the country," according to the statement.

At least eight people including Attahiru were aboard the aircraft when the crash happened, military sources quoted by local media said.

The incident on Friday was the third air crash involving Nigerian military jets this year.

On Feb. 21, seven Nigerian air force officers died when a military jet reported engine failure and crashed near the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport in Abuja.

Another military jet involved in the anti-terror war against Boko Haram in the country's northeastern state of Borno had reportedly lost contact with the radar on March 31.
A federal judge has ruled that a parents group can move forward with a lawsuit alleging that new admissions policies at an elite public high school in Virginia discriminate against Asian Americans
Marce Gutierrez-Graudins is an environmental justice advocate and the founder and director of Azul, a Bay Area-based NGO that works with the Latinx community to protect coasts and the ocean, media@azul.org.
Despite how badly he needs money for equipment to revive his farming operation, he said, he wont be turning to the USDA for help, and others echoed the sentiment.

If you go stick your hand in a hole and a rattlesnake bites it the first time, and you go back the second time, and stick your hand and he bites you again, said Lucious Abrams, a Waynesboro farmer, what do you think hell do the third time?

Warnock clinched the influential position as chair of the Senate subcommittee that oversees agriculture during his first term in office, adding the weight of responsibility to oversee change to fairer treatment of Black farmers in Georgia and nationwide  including cultivating a relationship of trust.

This is something that goes back from generations, for generations, people have experienced discrimination, often at the hands of their own government  at the hands of the USDA, he said. And what I hear and feel as I move around in communities like this is the longevity and the depth of that pain and disappointments.

Warnock said he expects the coronavirus relief he spearheaded to come to farmers of color in a matter of weeks.

That deep distrust was built over years. It didnt happen overnight, he said. But the best thing we can do right now is to deliver this. I think if we deliver on this commitment, that will go a long way in beginning to rebuild trust.
Nothing good can come from continuing to do nothing to reform a system that allows these kinds of tragedies to happen in the Palmetto State. Continued failure to do nothing will only provide opportunities for the system to continue to fail and more people to die.

Lawmakers must find ways when returning for special sessions this year to get serious and make our state safer, particularly for Black men in the sights of law enforcement authorities.

Some ideas:

More training. Did Sutherland really need to be tased up to eight times? Do officers know what each zap does to a body? Better training for authorities surely could have helped in this instance  and scores of others we dont know about.
FILE PHOTO: Migrants from Haiti walk near the Zaragoza-Ysleta international border bridge after being deported from the United States, in Ciudad Juarez

By Ted Hesson and Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The United States will expand Haitian eligibility for a humanitarian program that grants deportation relief and work permits to immigrants who cannot safely return to their home countries, the Department of Homeland Security said on Saturday.

A new designation of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) will cover an estimated 150,000 Haitians already living in the United States, Democratic Senator Bob Menendez said in a statement praising the decision.

"After careful consideration, we determined that we must do what we can to support Haitian nationals in the United States until conditions in Haiti improve so they may safely return home," DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement, citing security concerns, increased human rights abuses, "crippling poverty and lack of basic resources."

Democrats, a few Republicans and pro-immigrant advocates had pressed President Joe Biden administration's to make more Haitians who are in the country illegally eligible for deportation relief. Republican former President Donald Trump had sought to end most TPS enrollment, including that of Haitians, but was stymied by federal courts.

The program allows people already in the United States to stay and work legally if their home countries have been affected by natural disasters, armed conflicts or other events that prevent their safe return. The designations last six to 18 months and can be renewed.

Haitians were granted the protected status following a devastating 2010 earthquake in the Caribbean island nation. The program currently covers about 54,000 Haitians residing in the United States since January 2011, a DHS spokeswoman said.

The new move would extend the program for 18 months for those already in it and expand eligibility to Haitians in the United States as of May 21. That would make roughly 100,000 more people eligible, the spokeswoman said.

Mayorkas stressed that Haitians who arrive in the United States after May 21 will not be eligible and could be deported.

Story continues

Menendez applauded the move, saying in a statement that it "will avoid destabilizing the islands fragile recovery efforts."

The Biden administration opened the TPS program to an estimated 320,000 Venezuelans https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-usa/biden-grants-temporary-protected-status-to-venezuelans-in-u-s-who-fled-countrys-turmoil-idUSKBN2B02H9 living in the United States in March and for several thousand Syrians https://www.reuters.com/article/usa-biden-immigration-syria-int/biden-renews-deportation-relief-for-syrians-in-the-united-states-idUSKBN29Y28W in January.

Roughly half of the Haitian and Venezuelan immigrants in the United States live in Florida, according to the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute.

In the coming months, the Biden administration will also face decisions over whether to renew or expand TPS eligibility for immigrants from El Salvador, Honduras and five other countries covered by the program.

(Reporting by Ted Hesson and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Daniel Wallis and Leslie Adler)
People gather in support of Palestine, in Tehran

DUBAI (Reuters) -Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Friday called on Muslim states to support Palestinians militarily and financially and help rebuild Gaza after an 11-day conflict with Israel, Iranian media reported.

Iran, which does not recognise Israel, supports the Islamist militants of Hamas, who rule the Gaza Strip while President Mahmoud Abbas's Palestinian Authority controls Palestinian-populated areas of the occupied West Bank.

Hamas and the Islamic Jihad group fired hundreds of rockets into Israel before Friday's truce, although Israel said its "Iron Dome" defence system had shot down the majority of them.

"Muslim states must sincerely support the Palestinian people, through military...or financial support ...or in rebuilding Gaza's infrastructure," Khamenei said in a statement.

He urged Muslims to demand that their governments back Palestinians.

"All influential elements of (Israel's) regime and the criminal (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu must be prosecuted by international and independent courts," Khamenei said.

Iran's Foreign Ministry earlier said Palestinians had won a "historic victory" over Israel.

"Congratulations to our Palestinian sisters & brothers for the historic victory. Your resistance forced the aggressor to retreat," ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh tweeted.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards said in a statement: "The intifada (Palestinian uprising) has gone from using stones to powerful, precise missiles ... and in the future the Zionists (Israel) can expect to endure deadly blows from within the occupied territories."

Leaders of Hamas and Islamic Jihad have praised Irans financial and military support, but Tehran has rarely confirmed its weapons supply. But Khamenei last year hailed Tehran's supply of arms, saying Iran had transformed the military balance of power between Israel and the Palestinians.

Iran on Friday displayed an Iranian-made combat drone that it said had a range of 2,000 km (1,250 miles), naming it "Gaza" in honour of the Palestinians' struggle against Israel, state media reported. [nL2N2N8163]

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan)
I hadnt heard of the grandparent scam when my father called me a few years ago to report that my son was in jail, out of state. My dad had been asked to wire bail money and not tell me. Dad was all but unshakable in his belief that he had actually talked to my son. Alarmed, I called my son, who was safe at his home.

What happened to my father is not uncommon. Fortunately, he did not wire any money.

The grandparent scam exploits loving concern and uses a sense of urgency to get a victim to pay, thinking he or she is helping in an emergency. In a twist, now a courier will come and pick up your cash, due to COVID-19 concerns.

There are a million variations, says Susan Grant, director of consumer protection and privacy for the nonprofit Consumer Federation of America, but the common thread is that someone you know has an urgent problem and needs your financial help.

How it works

Youre contacted by someone posing as a panicked family member or friend  or perhaps a lawyer or law enforcement officer calling on their behalf. The claim involves an emergency such as a car accident, arrest or car breakdown. But they need money, quickly. They may beg that the incident be kept secret or claim that there is a gag order.
"We got rained on, we had a lot of wind in places, there was different things going on," said Harrison, who served in the Air Force in 1973 and 1974. "But, it really didn't feel that as much, because of the fact that we had all these people coming out of their communities, waving their flags -- if you go look in Jackson, they had flags from one end of town to the other, and there were people there to greet us. When we went into Laurel, there was like half the town was on the sides of the streets, greeting us.
Were especially grateful and thankful that the church was able to provide that one-year extension for us. It definitely makes it more of a possible goal, she said.

The Villages GoFundMe page had raised more than $100,000 as of Friday and the Great Land Trust of Southeastern Alaska has pledged about $600,000 to purchase a portion of the property to put in a conservation easement.

We have a long way to go, said Kristin Carpenter, an outside consultant hired by the village to assist in fundraising. But were optimistic.

And hopeful.

We really appreciate the Catholic church working with us and we really hope to be able to secure this for future generations for our tribal members and community members alike, said Simeon.

Villagers are also driven to reclaim the land as the salmon runs appear to be dwindling.
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United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday urged the Group of 20 (G20) countries to take the leading role in ending the COVID-19 pandemic by partnering with the United Nations.

"I urge G20 countries, in collaboration with the United Nations, to assume a strong leadership role in ending this devastating global pandemic," the UN chief told the Global Health Summit, a virtual daylong conference aimed at coordinating worldwide efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking about the global effort to contain the virus, the top UN official said that grossly unequal access to vaccines, tests, medicines and supplies, including oxygen, have left poorer countries at the mercy of the virus.

"Recent surges of COVID-19 in India, South America and other regions have left people literally gasping for breath before our eyes," he said.

"The pandemic is still very much with us, thriving and mutating," he warned.

Guterres said that vaccinating quickly and thoroughly around the world, together with continued public health measures, are the only way to end the pandemic and prevent more dangerous variants from gaining a foothold.

"But so far, more than 82 percent of the world's vaccine doses have gone to affluent countries. Just 0.3 percent have gone to low-income countries," he said.

"The G20's Rome Declaration is a significant step to provide equal access to vaccines. But we need a follow-up mechanism, backed by the political will to translate the declaration into a global vaccination plan," said the secretary-general.

"We have many initiatives. But we must make sure that they add instead of subtract. We must make sure that there is a coordination at those different initiatives, some of them just announced today," he added.

"I repeat my call for the G20 to set up a Task Force that brings together all countries with vaccine production capacities, the World Health Organization, the ACT-Accelerator partners and international financial institutions, able to deal with the pharmaceutical companies and other key stakeholders," he continued.

The Task Force should address equitable global distribution by using the COVAX facility, said the secretary-general. "It should aim to at least double manufacturing capacity by exploring all options, from voluntary licenses and technology transfers to patent pooling and flexibility on intellectual property rights."

"The G20 Task Force should be co-convened at the highest levels by the major powers who hold most of the global supply and production capacity, together with the multilateral system," said Guterres.

"We are at war with the virus. And if you are at war with the virus, we need to deal with our weapons with rules of a war economy, and we are not yet there. And this is true for vaccines, and it is true for other components in the fight against the virus," he added.

According to the UN chief, by now, COVAX should have delivered 170 million doses around the world. But due to vaccine nationalism, limited production capacity and lack of funding, that figure is just 65 million.

"I call on G20 countries to lead by example and contribute their full share of funding," he said.

"A global coordinated effort on vaccines can end this pandemic," said the secretary-general. "The world needs political commitment at the highest level to take internationally coordinated, cross-cutting measures and transform global pandemic preparedness."

"Together, we can, and we must build a healthier, safer, fairer and more sustainable world," the UN chief stressed.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden on Friday said he and South Korean President Moon Jae-in remain deeply concerned about the situation with North Korea, and announced he will deploy a new special envoy to the region to help refocus efforts on pressing Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear weapons program.
WASHINGTON (AP)  President Joe Biden will host George Floyds family at the White House Tuesday to mark the first anniversary of his death at the hands of a white Minneapolis police officer.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Friday the president would mark the anniversary of Floyds death, but offered no further details on his plans.

Floyd died on May 25, 2020 after former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on his neck for more than nine minutes, while Floyd repeatedly said he couldn't breathe. His death sparked months of nationwide protests focused on systemic racism and a renewed debate over police reform in the U.S. Chauvin was convicted last month on multiple charges stemming from Floyd's death.

Biden's plans to host Floyd's family come, however, as talks focused on the police reform bill named after Floyd  the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act  have stalled on Capitol Hill. Biden had previously set the anniversary of Floyds death as the deadline for the bills passage, and left much of the negotiations up to lawmakers on Capitol Hill, but theres been little movement on the legislation in recent weeks.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP)  As the United States scales back its military presence across the Middle East to focus on great power competition with China and Russia, it risks giving those two countries a chance to fill the gap and expand their influence around the Gulf, the top U.S. commander for the region said Sunday.
UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. Security Council is welcoming the cease-fire between Israel and Gazas Hamas rulers and calls for full adherence to the cessation of hostilities.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP)  Hundreds of masked Hamas fighters brandishing assault rifles paraded in Gaza City and the groups top leader made his first public appearance on Saturday, in a defiant show of strength after the militants' 11-day war with Israel.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York Attorney General Letitia James said Friday that an ongoing investigation surrounding Gov. Andrew Cuomo will conclude when it concludes, and said she has ignored criticism from his top aide that the probe is politically motivated.

James told reporters the ongoing investigation into whether the governor sexually harassed women, including female employees, is very thorough and comprehensive. Her office is also probing whether Cuomo illegally used state resources to write and promote his COVID-19 leadership book, for which the Democrat is set to earn over $5 million.

Im not going to respond to any personal attacks on me and/or my office," James said at her New York City office Friday. I deal with over 1,800 employees who are professional. We come to work each and every day focusing on the law and the facts, and politics stops at the door. Anything other than that, obviously I ignore.

Cuomo is facing allegations that he abused his power by inappropriately touching and sexually harassing women who worked with him or met him elsewhere. Accusations range from groping under a womans shirt and planting unwanted kisses, to asking unwelcome personal questions about sex and dating  including whether an employee would have sex with an older man.
Another member of the family, Ala Abu Al-Aouf, was in his nearby shop when the Israeli bombs struck.

"I ran out and saw dust and rubble and heard screams and shouts," he says.

Eventually rescue workers pulled the bodies of his two daughters, 21-year-old Shaima and 19-year-old Ruwan, out of the ruins.

Ala, 48 years old, says the Israeli military gave no warning. "Our souls to them [the Israelis] are cheaper than a phone call. They could have called and said 'Evacuate the building!' You want to hit tunnels? Hit them!" he says. "But you have to warn us. We're civilians. We have nothing to do with that."

Israel says it was targeting tunnels in the neighborhood. When one of them collapsed, so did nearby buildings. The Israeli military said earlier this week that an investigation was underway into the ordnance used.

Clutching her baby son Kareem, a teacher who declined to give her name, came to survey what was once Ala's home.

Her home down the street shook as if an earthquake had struck, she remembers. "I grabbed my children and held them tight," she says. "I thought that's it. I'm going to die. It felt like Judgement Day had come."
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Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan on Friday said that China is willing to work together with Pakistan to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to push the China-Pakistan friendship to a higher level.



Wang made the remarks during a reception marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Pakistan, where he met with Pakistani Ambassador to China Moin ul Haque.

The friendship between the two nations goes back to ancient times, Wang said, adding that, since the establishment of diplomatic ties 70 years ago, no matter how the international situation has changed, China and Pakistan have always stood firmly together.

In 2015, the leaders of the two countries jointly upgraded China-Pakistan relations to an all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, opening a new chapter in the development of bilateral relations, Wang noted.

Inheriting and carrying forward the all-weather friendship between China and Pakistan and conducting strategic cooperation at a higher level, with a wider scope and at a deeper level are not only in the common interests of the two countries and their peoples, but are also conducive to lasting stability and common prosperity in the region, he said.

"China is willing to work with Pakistan to take the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations as an opportunity to build a closer community of destiny between China and Pakistan in the new era and push the China-Pakistan friendship to a higher level," Wang said.

Noting that the 70th anniversary of Pakistan-China diplomatic relations is an important milestone, Haque said the friendship with China is a matter of national consensus within Pakistan. He said his country is ready to continue to firmly support each other with China, and join hands to usher in the next brand new 70 years.
At a time when most K-12 students were in bed, Gov. Kim Reynolds passed a mask order late Thursday that said schools couldnt require students or staff to wear them.

Never mind that it was far too late for parents to prep or even know the shift had occurred. Reynolds wanted to make a point  why, we dont know  and did it at the worst possible time.

With just days left in most school years and the start of vaccinations for teenagers, it seems like nothing more than a grab for attention designed to land time on the morning cable news shows.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention already recommended that schools use masks for the rest of the year and has urged those who arent vaccinated to continue to wear them. So why was Reynolds so eager to take a midnight run at something that didnt need last-minute fixing?

The state of Iowa is putting parents back in control of their childs education and taking greater steps to protect the rights of all Iowans to make their own health care decision, she said.

Support Local Journalism Your membership makes our reporting possible. {{featured_button_text}}

But is it?
President Joe Biden said he wont allow the Justice Department under his watch to seize phone or email records of journalists. Absolutely, positively, its wrong, he told CNNs Kaitlan Collins after a joint news conference with Korean President Moon Jae-in. Its simply, simply wrong. When asked specifically whether he would let the Justice Department seize journalists records, Biden was categorical: I will not let that happen.

Its simply, simply wrong. I will not let that happen, President Biden tells me about the Justice Department seizing the records of reporters. pic.twitter.com/bRL88NssMr  Kaitlan Collins (@kaitlancollins) May 21, 2021

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The presidents comments came a day after CNN reported that the Justice Department told its Pentagon correspondent Barbara Starr that former President Donald Trumps administration secretly sought and obtained her phone and email records covering two months in 2017. CNN President Jeff Zucker said the network strongly condemns the secret collection of any aspect of a journalists correspondence, which is clearly protected by the First Amendment. The revelation came shortly after the Washington Post reported earlier this month that three of its reporters were notified that the Justice Department under Trump secretly obtained their phone records last year.

CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer immediately celebrated Bidens comments and qualified them as really encouraging news. But, as the Associated Press points out, not everyone in the White House seems to have the exact same view as Biden. Earlier in the day, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said the Justice Department would use the Holder model when it came to seizing reporters records, in reference to former attorney general Eric Holder who served under President Barack Obama. Although Holder tightened up guidelines to make it more difficult for the Justice Department to seize records from reporters, he didnt outright end the practice. Holder has been criticized for approving the seizure of phone records from reporters working with AP and Fox News.

Psaki said the Justice Department will be meeting with reporters to hear their concerns about recent notices and insisted Biden is committed strongly to the rights of freedom of the press  and for standing up for the rights of journalists but what ultimately happens would be up to the Justice Department.
CNN has dropped former Sen. Rick Santorum as one of its political analysts following controversy over racist remarks he made about Native Americans. A CNN spokesperson confirmed the network has parted ways with Santorum but didnt go into details. The move comes after there was an uproar over a speech that the former Pennsylvania senator and presidential hopeful gave in April to a conservative youth group. We birthed a nation from nothing, Santorum told the Young Americas Foundation. I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes, we have Native Americans, but candidly there isnt much Native American culture in American culture.

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CNN's Rick Santorum: "We birthed a nation from nothing. I mean, there was nothing here. I mean, yes we have Native Americans but candidly there isn't much Native American culture in American culture" pic.twitter.com/EMxOEYDbg7  Jason Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) April 26, 2021

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Santorum, who joined CNN as a senior political commentator in 2017, was roundly criticized for the remarks. The National Congress of American Indians called Santorum an unhinged and embarrassing racist and called for CNN to oust him. Any mainstream media organization should fire him or face a boycott from more than 500 Tribal Nations and our allies, the group said. The Native American Journalists Association also called for Santorum to be fired and added that it cautions Native American and Alaska Native reporters from working with, or applying to jobs at, CNN in the wake of continued racist comments and insensitive reporting directed at Indigenous people.

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"I wanted to give you a chance to explain yourself, because that's what this show is about."



Tonight @ChrisCuomo asked Rick Santorum about Santorum's widely-condemned comments on Native American culture  here's the entire clip pic.twitter.com/yXZeIsGnpd  Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) May 4, 2021

A CNN senior executive told HuffPost, which was first to report the news, that the network ended the contract with Santorum this week but the decision had been made weeks ago. He wrote his own firing papers after he appeared on Chris Cuomos prime-time show on May 3 and was given an opportunity to apologize and explain himself. Leadership wasnt particularly satisfied with that appearance. None of the anchors wanted to book him, said the executive. So he was essentially benched anyway. Many were expecting Santorum to strongly apologize but instead he said he misspoke and that his comments were taken out of context so it only angered many at CNN more. I think after that appearance, it was pretty clear we couldnt use him again, the executive said. The Washington Post also spoke to a CNN source who said Santorums non-apology ended up marking the end for Santorum at the network. I dont think that people thought his clarification was satisfactory, the source said. That didnt help his case, that appearance.

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The erasure of Native people and histories  which existed before and survived in spite of a white supremacist empire  is a foundational sin of a make-believe nation. https://t.co/jfoxoVSVSz  Nick Estes (@nickwestes) April 26, 2021

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Some on CNN were not shy about publicly saying what they thought about Santorums appearance. I cannot believe the first words out of his mouth werent: Im sorry, I said something ignorant, CNN host Don Lemon said. Did he actually think it was a good idea for him to come on television and try to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed? I mean, It was horrible.

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Don Lemon tears into Rick Santorum for not apologizing for his Native American remarks on CNN tonight.



"Did he actually think it is a good idea for him to come on television to whitewash the whitewash that he whitewashed? It was horrible! It was horrible and insulting!" pic.twitter.com/vLndQKE66A  Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) May 4, 2021
When Ronald Greene, a 49-year-old Black man, died in May 2019, police told his family that it happened after his car crashed into a tree during a chase with officers. The bodycam footage finally released this week by Louisiana State Police shows that wasnt even close to the whole story. The police released the footage, which came from nine body camera and dash camera videos, on Friday shortly after the Associated Press obtained and published portions of the footage. The shocking videos showed how police stunned, punched, and dragged Greene as he repeatedly yells Im sorry after he led them on a high-speed chase when he didnt pull over.

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Police had been resisting releasing the video of the encounter and only did so after the AP published the leaked footage. Ron Haley, an attorney for Greenes family, called the video release two years too late, but better late than never. Police are now insisting that an investigation was launched right after Greenes death, but the familys lawyers say all law enforcement did was try to cover up what happened. Two things can be true, Haley said. There could have been an investigation that was immediately opened. But the family was also lied to that he died in a car crash. If youre going to investigate yourself and give the family a BS reason for his death, hoping they dont look into it, its never going to come out.

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Police had initially said Greene was taken into custody after resisting arrest and a struggle with Troopers and died on his way to the hospital. The videos released this week show just how little that description squared with what actually happened, particularly the four minutes between the time officers open Greenes car and when hes in handcuffs. The videos show that police were quick to fire their Tasers even while Greene is still in the car and apologizing. OK, OK. Im sorry. Im scared. Officer, Im scared, Im your brother, Im scared, Greene said as officers tried to drag him from his car. Then when officers try to handcuff Greene, video shows how an officer continues to tase Greene even when hes already restrained. Greene then screams out as hes pushed face down to the ground and an officer punches him in the face while the one who is trying to put handcuffs on him punches his lower back.

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Instead of immediately helping him after he was handcuffed, Greene was left unattended for more than nine minutes as officers clean up blood off their hands and faces. At one point an officer drags Greene from his shackled ankles while hes face down on the ground. Audio from one of the bodycams shows an officer talking about what happened. And I beat the ever-living fuck out of him, choked him and everything else trying to get him under control, one of the officers said. All of a sudden he just went limp.  I thought he was dead. When the other officer asks about the bodycam over the phone, the officer switches the camera off. It literally was torture, David Thomas, a professor of forensic studies at Florida Gulf Coast University tells NBC News. There was no regard for humanity.

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I haven't even grieved.  I haven't cried for my son, because this has been a living nightmare, says Mona Hardin, mother of Ronald Greene, as new footage shows Greenes fatal 2019 encounter with police.



Warning: This video contains graphic images. https://t.co/Qyshbj2ccS pic.twitter.com/VyGD7eevo9  CNN (@CNN) May 22, 2021

Greenes family says they expect new developments soon. We have been in close contact with FBI and we expect federal indictments to happen soon, an attorney for Greenes family, said. The Greene family has waited long enough for justice. Greenes mother, Mona Hardin, said the whole thing was a coverup and amounted to organized crime within the state of Louisiana. In an interview with CNN, Hardin likened what happened to her son to a lynching. The video is horrific, and now these still images of Greenes face, his head, after his death, she said. I mean, it reminds me of Emmett Till. His mother wanted the world to see what hate did to her son.

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Lets stop talking about the murder of #RonaldGreene like some historic injustice we all can learn from.



Cory York & other troopers seen brutalizing Mr. Greene are still on the job.



Greenes family is not looking for the nations sympathy we want consequences. Immediately! pic.twitter.com/rS4kBAlbiI  S. Lee Merritt, Esq. (@MeritLaw) May 21, 2021
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was under fire Saturday after she compared the continuing coronavirus restrictions in the House of Representatives to the Holocaust. In an appearance on the Real Americas Voice show The Water Cooler With David Brody, Greene complained about House Speaker Nancy Pelosis decision to keep the mask mandate in place amid concerns that some Republican lawmakers may not be vaccinated. This woman is mentally ill, Greene said in reference to Pelosi. You know, we can look back in a time in history where people were told to wear a gold star, and they were definitely treated like second-class citizensso much so that they were put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany and this is exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about.

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MTG says Speaker Pelosi wanting Members of Congress to get vaccinated and if not to wear masks is exactly the type of abuse as murdering Jews in gas chambers during the Holocaust and David Brody nods along. No follow up. pic.twitter.com/inXfD8UBiG  Jake Tapper (@jaketapper) May 22, 2021

Even though the Georgia lawmaker said gold star, it was clear she was referring to the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear under the Nazis. Brody nodded along as she spoke.

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Comparing wearing masks to the abuse of the Holocaust is a not so subtle diminution of the horrors experienced by millions. Its a grotesque idiocy mixed with a neurotic lack of self awareness.



What do you expect from a truther, Q believer, and gaslighting conspiracy theorist? https://t.co/tkH1vIOAfb  Denver Riggleman (@RepRiggleman) May 22, 2021

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The clip of Greenes comparison to the Holocaust went viral on social media, and many were quick to criticize the lawmaker, including some fellow Republicans. Evil lunacy, tweeted Rep. Liz Cheney alongside a clip of Greenes remarks. Its a grotesque idiocy mixed with a neurotic lack of self awareness, tweeted former Rep. Denver Riggleman, a Republican from Virginia. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a Republican from Illinois, summarized his feelings in two words: Absolute sickness. Democrats also joined in on the criticism, and several were quick to point out that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has not said anything about Greenes words. Rep. Jim McGovern, a Democrat from Massachusetts, called Greene a deeply troubled person and said she should apologize & resign.

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Rep. Greenes anti-Semitic language comparing the systematic murder of 6 million Jews during the Holocaust to wearing a mask is beyond disturbing. She is a deeply troubled person who needs to apologize & resign. @GOPLeader needs to address her antisemitism.https://t.co/gAqrlL3bmL  Rep. Jim McGovern (@RepMcGovern) May 22, 2021

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The American Jewish Congress also criticized Greene for her comments and called on her to apologize. You can never compare health-related restrictions with yellow stars, gas chambers & other Nazi atrocities, the group said. Such comparisons demean the Holocaust & contaminate American political speech.

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You can never compare health-related restrictions with yellow stars, gas chambers & other Nazi atrocities.



Such comparisons demean the Holocaust & contaminate American political speech.



Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene must immediately retract and apologize.https://t.co/pdU8H8h2tO  American Jewish Congress (@AJCongress) May 21, 2021

Greene hasnt directly addressed her remarks but she retweeted a conservative activist who said she was right.

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Rep. @mtgreenee is right! During the Holocaust the Nazis had forced medical experiments. The Nuremberg trails led to a vow by the world to never allow forced medication. Forcing the Covid vax is against the Nuremberg Code  Melissa Tate (@TheRightMelissa) May 22, 2021
The two jail guards who were tasked with watching over Jeffrey Epstein the night he killed himself admitted they falsified records but will likely avoid spending time behind bars after they reached an agreement with prosecutors. The two Bureau of Prisons employees, Michael Thomas and Tova Noel, had been charged with ignoring their duties and lying about it. Specifically, prosecutors accused them of napping and browsing the internet rather than checking on Epstein every 30 minutes like they were supposed to on the night he was found dead in his Manhattan jail cell. Epstein, who was going to face a trial on sex trafficking charges, hanged himself in August 2019. He faced up to 45 years in prison.

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The two guards had been charged with lying on prison records to make it seem as though they had made the necessary checks on Epstein before he was found dead. They had pleaded not guilty to making false records and conspiracy to defraud the United States. But now they admitted to having willfully and knowingly completed materially false records regarding their rounds. If approved by the judge, the deal would allow Noel and Thomas to avoid jail time as part of a supervised release program that, among other things, would require them to complete 100 hours of community service and cooperate with an ongoing investigation by the Justice Departments inspector general.

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The deal immediately led to criticism. Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican who is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and has been critical of the way the Justice Department has handled the Epstein case, blasted the deal as unacceptable, saying that a fuller accounting is needed of what the prison did wrong. One hundred hours of community service is a jokethis isnt traffic court, Sasse said in a statement. The leader of an international child sex trafficking ring escaped justice, his co-conspirators had their secrets go to the grave with him, and these guards are going to be picking up trash on the side of the road.

Lawyers for the guards have said their clients were victims of larger problems in the federal prison system. They had both been working overtime due to staffing shortages. One was working a fifth straight day of overtime while the other was working a second eight-hour shift in one day. Plus, the focus on the guards ignores the fact that Epstein was left without a cellmate even though he had made a suicide attempt three weeks earlier. Thomas lawyer, Montell Figgins, said that Epstein had died because of a system that failed completely.
I once discovered aliens! I was really excited for about two days.

Turned out my aliens were actually a subtle glitch in the camera and telescope we were using that took a while to hunt down. I was privately embarrassed, but fortunately I hadnt told anyone outside my team about it until we had figured it all out. That caution came about because as a SETI (or search for extraterrestrial intelligence) scientist, Im a professional skeptic. I always treat my resultsespecially my huge if true resultswith the most skepticism I can muster.

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Im often asked what I think about UFOs. In fact, Im often told by UFO enthusiasts that I should be studying them, because they might be alien, and its silly for us to use telescopes to find aliens when they might be right here in the atmosphere! Shouldnt my professional curiosity as a SETI scientist drive me to learn much more about them? Ive also been accused of being hubristic, closed-minded, and incurious because I wont study them or admit that they could be alien.

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But I actually have thought hard about it, and Ive decided: Ill pass, for a few reasons. You see, there are a few big differences between SETI and the study of UFOs as potential alien spacecraft. (By the way, some of the people who work on UFOs call them unidentified aerial phenomena, or UAPs, and many say they are interested in them regardless of what they turn out to bealien, experimental U.S. military aircraft, foreign surveillance drones, or something else entirely. And, of course, there are likely various different explanations for the many mysterious lights in the sky.)

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First of all, SETI is based on the premise that any alien technology out there follows the laws of physics as we know them. We use those laws to deduce ways we might detect that technology.

People who argue UFOs might be alien spacecraft usually do so because the videos and sightings seem to show aircraft making maneuvers that no human-made aircraft couldthings like accelerating to supersonic speeds in the blink of an eye yet producing no shocks, signs of propulsion, or sonic booms which, as far as we know, is impossible. So in that sense, its the opposite of SETI. Its not what I do.

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Second, SETI proceeds with extreme skepticism. Things like my alien sighting happen all the time in astronomy: We see an anomaly, get excited, track it down, and find out its nothing. Sometimes we never figure out what it was or follow it up, but if it could reasonably have been something mundane like a miscalibrated detector, then we just shrug and move on, calling it one of those things. As a result, the field has very few signals or objects that we think have a good reason to think could actually be alienin fact Id say we have basically none.

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UFO studies, on the other hand, are awash in candidates, and those candidates linger around long after we can no longer do anything to collect more data on them. A particularly persuasive photograph or video or fighter pilot testimonial will get repeated and discussed over and over again, even after a debunker offers a plausible explanation. Its a different standard of evidence for what counts as a good candidate for an alien technology, and one Im not comfortable with.

Third, SETI is based in astronomy and related fields. We astronomers have very few skills that translate into the fields needed to study UFO sightingsmilitary aircraft camera design and operation, meteorology, advanced aeronautics, human perception and psychology, and so on. Im no better qualified than any other scientist to study those videos and weigh in on them, so I dont really have much to offer the effort.

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Fourth, it seems to me much more likely that aliens, if theyre out there, will be in space than in our atmosphere. Right now, we dont have a great handle on things in space because theyre so very far away. Space could be filled with alien civilizations and signals, but its such a big haystack wed have to get very lucky to have found a needle yet (unless its a really obvious one!).

The atmosphere, by contrast, is something we know enormously better. Weve studied it for millennia, and theres just not a lot of room for alien spacecraft to mostly hide from meteorologists, air traffic controllers, and everybody on Earth with a cellphone and still be sort of barely detected the way they are.

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You see, if I find something that looks like it could be aliens, I ask: How many weird things would have to be true for it to be aliens, and how many weird things would have to be true for it not to be aliens? For UFOs to be aliens, its a pretty tall order: First they have to be visiting at all, of course, which would be pretty amazing. But also its a weird pattern that they are always just at the edge of detection, even as our cameras get better and more ubiquitous every year. Its also weird that its mostly a very recent and very American phenomenon. Its not just aliens are visiting, but that they are visiting in a very specific way.

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Its also strange that they would be able to apparently break the laws of physics just like alien spacecraft from science fiction do. Of course, there are laws of physics we dont know yet, and I dont pretend we have them all figured out. But it would turn out to be an awfully big coincidence if the way we have gotten physics wrong up until now just happened to match the way it needs to be wrong to make the technology invoked in science fiction a reality. After all, ships like that in science fiction exist as a plot contrivance so the story can move quickly among the starshow lucky of those writers to have guessed right!

So what is on the other side of my probability ledger? What do I think they could be?

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Well, I have seen the videos, Ive seen the arguments they show advanced craft, and Ive seen the debunking videos. And, as I wrote, Im not really qualified to sayIm not an expert in these things. But when people ask, I tell them Ive never seen anything that made me think these are alien. If I had to guess, Id say that some are just instrument blips or malfunctions, others are real objects whose actual motions and shapes are being misinterpreted because the camera is moving, or because these highly specialized detectors can do weird things, or because distance is very hard to gauge, even for an expert pilot with the best equipment.

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In principle, one can study all sorts of UAPs scientifically regardless of whether they are alien, and I would have no problem with such research at all! But in that case I dont need to get involved because it has nothing to do with SETI. In fact, I would be surprised if there werent more study of these things by the government and aerospace companies than we have heard of.

I also appreciate how persuasive those videos can be, especially when packaged up professionally by people who want to make the strongest case for aliens that they can. Its not surprising or revealing at all to hear about senators or former presidents or generals who think theres something very strange going on. I expect there to be lots of revelations about these studies in the months and years ahead, and lots more pilots and government officials talking about spooky and hard to understand UAPsespecially after the upcoming release of a Pentagon report.

But those things coming to light will not change anything about my stance that its not part of SETI, or the credence I give that they are alien spacecraft, or that they seemingly violate the laws of physics. Only real data vetted by independent, skeptical experts will do that.

Future Tense is a partnership of Slate, New America, and Arizona State University that examines emerging technologies, public policy, and society.
Wine producers open their cellars for wine lovers, central bank marks three anniversaries with illuminated facade.

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This is the Friday, May 21, 2021 edition of Today in Slovakia.

Today in Slovakia news digest is a free-of-charge service for our readers. If you want to support us, become a subscriber and get access to more detailed news and interesting feature stories from Slovakia.

In today's digest:

Check out the Spectacular Slovakia roundup for weekend reading tips

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Related article How a Slovak travelled to the Moon and got forgotten Read more

Police wanted to detain former criminal agency head. He is abroad

The police attempted to detain Branislav Zurian, who, until recently, served as director of the National Criminal Agency (NAKA), on the morning of Friday, May 21 on charges that the police did not specify to the media. When the police turned up at his home in Poprad, they did not find him there, the Dennik N daily informed. Zurian is currently abroad, but he is in contact with the investigator.

I am not aware of having committed any crime, Zurian told Dennik N. He plans to take a Covid test and report to the police once he is back in Slovakia, he said.

Police wanted to detain former criminal agency head. He is abroad Read more

Third Covid wave will come, but it will be milder

Restrictions are gradually being lifted in almost all parts of Slovakia as the pandemic eases after the second wave of infections. At one point during the second wave, the country found itself at the top of the global Covid-19 mortality charts.

But scientists have been at pains in recent weeks to point out that the improved epidemiological situation is unlikely to last indefinitely.

Epidemiologists and disease modelling experts say a further wave of infections is likely at some point in the autumn but add that the protection from vaccinations among the population means it should not be as deadly as the recent wave which claimed more than 12,000 lives.

And they said that while infection, hospitalisation, and death rates across the country are falling, people should not think that the disease is about to disappear.

More Covid news

Experts have proposed a traffic light system for travelling during the summer of 2021, Foreign Ministrys State Secretary Martin Klus said. It will divide countries into groups based on the situation with the virus, with rules for travelling to these groups of countries. The system should apply as of Thursday, May 27 but has yet to be okayed by the cabinet and announced in the Public Health Office ordinance. For current Covid travel rules in Slovakia, check our guide.

during the summer of 2021, Foreign Ministrys State Secretary Martin Klus said. It will divide countries into groups based on the situation with the virus, with rules for travelling to these groups of countries. The system should apply as of Thursday, May 27 but has yet to be okayed by the cabinet and announced in the Public Health Office ordinance. For current Covid travel rules in Slovakia, check our guide. European vaccination certificates or so-called green passes will be freely available through Slovakias National Health Information Centre (NCZI) as of June 26. They will feature a QR code, Health Minister Vladimir Lengvarsky reported on Friday, May 21.

Wine cellars in Bratislava and its vicinity open for wine lovers

Wine tastes the best in the place where it's produced, wine producers often say. To give wine lovers the best possible experience, wine producers of the Small Carpathian Wine Route will open their cellars to celebrate St Urban, the patron saint of wine growers, this Friday and Saturday, May 21 and 22.

In total, 112 historical and modern cellars will be open during the 14th edition of the Open Cellars on St Urban Day in Bratislavas boroughs of Devin, Raca and Vajnory as well as in traditional the wine-making towns and villages of Svaty Jur, Pezinok, Modra, Senkvice or Dolany. The wine producers will offer wines from last years harvest as well as their vintage wines at this wine tasting event.

Wine cellars in Bratislava and its vicinity open for wine lovers Read more

Feature story for today

Bratislava is the centre of the world for Mihaly Brogyanyi even though its location makes it more of a crossroads. Here, the lowlands meet the mountains, the Danube with a castle, the north with the south, the East with the West, the Hungarian, German and Slovak languages, culture, religions and worldviews that enrich the people.

The story of Brogyanyis family is one of nine presented at the We Are Old Pressbugers exhibition, marking the tenth anniversary of the Bratislavske Rozky civic association, devoted to promoting Bratislavas history. The word Pressburgers refers to families that used to live in what was once called Pressburg, today's Bratislava, when it used to be a trilingual city.

Historical family photos allow a peek into the lives of Pressburgers Read more

Picture for today

The Slovak arm of the German carmaker Volkswagen Slovakia exhibits in the Slovak Technical Museum - Museum of Transport close to the main station in Bratislava all the models it has produced in Bratislava since the launch of the plant 30 years ago. They include models of Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Skoda, Seat as well as the functioning study of a four-wheel, Hacik, the only car of its kind in the world.

Video for today

The National Bank of Slovakia, the countrys central bank, is marking three anniversaries by issuing collector coins, but also by artistically illuminating the facade of its headquarters in Bratislava from May 20 until May 22. The 200th anniversary of Janko Matuska, poet and author of the lyrics of the Slovak anthem; the 100th anniversary of the launch of the underground hydroelectric power plant in Kremnica; and the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Slovak Teachers Choir will be celebrated.

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FNarodnabankaSlovenska%2Fvideos%2F3793391584104580%2F&show_text=false&width=560

OTHER

Bratislava has taken action against mosquitoes by applying the biological larvicide BTI in several localities of the city to destroy insect larvae. The first treated localities are in the boroughs of Devin, Devinska Nova Ves, Rusovce and Raca.

Do not miss on Spectator.sk today

Slovakia getting ready for ice hockey championships Read more

For a brighter future, Presov firm aims to build multicopters fuelled by hydrogen Read more

Slovak MPs object to EP report on sexual health Read more

New and reconstructed castles Sasov and Reviste draws in new visitors Read more

Matovic sees decarbonisation as the only way to secure the future of Kosice steelmaker Read more

If you have suggestions on how this news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

21. May 2021 at 17:01 | Jana Liptakova
In his appeal, Munoz also alleged trial counsel had failed to depose or interview potential witnesses that he said could have given him an alibi. Munoz had also traveled to Illinois after the womans death and in his appeal, he claims one of the witnesses could have provided testimony that would have given more knowledge about his desire to travel, devoid of covering up, or having a scapegoat, according to the ruling. The district court denied his claims regarding the two witnesses, as he had failed to assert any specifics regarding the testimony the witnesses could have given that would have been exculpatory evidence in his case. The court found there were no facts that showed that Munoz had an alibi, or what the alibi evidence would have been produced.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP)  A Billings, Montana, woman pleaded not guilty Friday to deliberate homicide in the shooting death of a Wyoming man who refused to give her and her male companion cigarettes and a ride.

Kristy Lynn Chavez, 31, could face between 10 and 100 years in prison if convicted in the death of Dennis Gresham, 33, of Sheridan, Wyoming, The Billings Gazette reported.

Prosecutors said Chavez and Michael Lee McClure, both armed with handguns, approached Gresham as he was parked in a van at a Yellowstone River campground.

Chavez later told investigators she asked Gresham for cigarettes and a ride, and he said no. Prosecutors said the men then got into an altercation and at some point Chavez got in the driver's seat and began driving away before hearing five gunshots.

Chavez and McClure were pursued by law enforcement before the van crashed and Chavez was arrested, authorities said. McClure broke into a home and got into a standoff with authorities.
A Stinner amendment adopted by the Legislature and attached to the bill (LB64) introduced by Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha provides for a future Legislature to reconsider the reductions at the halfway mark.

Total elimination of the state income tax on Social Security benefits in Nebraska would result in a projected $168 million loss in annual state revenue when fully implemented.

Linehan said she "thought I was working in good faith with everyone" in developing this year's package of tax bills.

"The tax code is a mess," she said. "We are not competitive."

During the interim before the 2022 Legislature convenes next January, the Revenue Committee "will look at all our taxes" with an eye to developing proposals for tax reform, Linehan said.

Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha told senators during the debate that he plans next year to raise the issue of what he called "the Black tax" that African Americans pay because they are Black, costs that are measured in terms of economic gaps that impact health care costs, insurance premium rates and opportunity.
Hayes has been teaching community college for 20 years, and said shes seen so many students get defeated, internalize their failure and not come back. But George never gave up.

In addition to finding his stride academically, Jankowski put a lot of energy into making the campus community a place where everyone can thrive. He was a member of the academic honor society Phi Theta Kappa, the student veterans group and Safe Zone, which is a campus program designed to foster inclusivity for the LGBTQIA community.

He identifies as a straight male, but said one of his personal mantras is to spread the love and stop the hate.

LCCCs campus and the larger community need more people with that mindset, said Hayes, who co-founded Safe Zone.

One of the hardest things has been getting over the perception of Safe as the gay club, Hayes said. Having a straight dude come be the president of the club and not be afraid to say Yeah, Im an ally, makes a huge difference. It definitely helped get more people involved in it.

Hayes, who has gotten to know Jankowski very well over the past four years, added that hes generous with his time  hes organized multiple fundraisers for various causes  and never expects anything in return.
Three other gun bills had already been amended into LB 236, transforming it into an omnibus bill or what we commonly like to call a Christmas tree bill. LB 85, LB 173, and LB 244 were the three gun bills amended into LB236. If LB 236 is dead upon arrival, what happens to these three other gun bills that have been amended into it?

One of those three bills that was amended into the Christmas tree bill was LB 173, which is a very important bill because it allows a new gun owner to take a handgun home from the store after purchasing it. Current state law forbids anyone without a Conceal and Carry permit to ever purchase a gun at a sporting goods store and transport that gun home in the manufacturers original packaging. It also forbids anyone to transport a handgun in a case without a Conceal and Carry permit to the shooting range in order to qualify for a Conceal and Carry permit. LB 173 adds the necessary language to our state statutes to correct these problems; but, if LB 236 never advances, then neither does this necessary language which was amended into the bill.
Realme X7 Max 5G smartphone is confirmed to launch in India soon. The company has been teasing the upcoming phone as the first in India with MediaTeks Dimensity 1200 processor. A new leak now suggests the possible pricing and launch date of Realme X7 Max 5G in India.

Realme is yet to announce the launch date of its upcoming phone but the company is said to host an event in the first week of June, according to a report by My Smart Price. This would be the cancelled event that was supposed to take place on May 4 as part of Realmes third-anniversary celebration in India. As for the Realme X7 Max 5Gs India pricing, it will start at 27,999 for the base model with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Realme X7 Max 5G will also launch with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage, and this variant is said to cost 30,999.

Realme X7 Max 5G is so far confirmed to launch with MediaTeks Dimensity 1200 processor, and have dual 5G SIM support. Realme has also revealed its partnering with Asphalt 9 Legends for the launch of the smartphone. The phones design was also teased showing a small glimpse of the phones rear panel which looks quite similar to the Realme GT Neo.

Going by this speculation, we can expect Realme X7 Max 5G will feature a 6.43-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, up to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. It will also feature a triple rear camera setup with a 64-megapixel primary sensor, an 8-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens, and a 2-megapixel macro sensor. For selfies, Realme X7 Max 5G will house a 16-megapixel front camera. It will also pack a 4,500mAh battery with 50W fast charging support.
In this April 25, 2021 file photograph, the blue oval logo of Ford Motor Company is shown in east Denver. Ford plans to open a battery development center near Detroit by the end of next year. The company said the 200,000-square-foot facility will have equipment to design, test and even do small-scale manufacturing of battery cells and packs. Credit: AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File

The CEO of America's second-largest auto company is calling for the federal government to set standards for fully or partially automated vehicles to tighten the safety of electronic driving systems.

In urging federal regulation, Ford CEO Jim Farley becomes the highest-profile auto executive to publicly recognize a need to more closely monitor the emerging technology, which is becoming more prevalent on America's roadways just as questions are being raised about the potential risks to motorists. In limited areas, companies are beginning to deploy fully autonomous ride-hailing services.

Farley's statements, in an interview with The Associated Press, follow increased scrutiny by regulators of Tesla's partially automated "Autopilot" driver-assist system, which has been involved in a series of high-profile crashes. Tesla also is using selected owners to test its "Full Self-Driving" software on public roads.

"Absolutely," Farley said when asked whether federal regulations are needed. "Today, the regulations are state-by-state," he said of fully autonomous vehicles. "They're really oriented toward the development of the technology, not large-scale deployment of the technology."

He suggested that legislators and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration were moving too slowly.

"Time is of the essence," Farley said, explaining that Argo AI, an autonomous vehicle company in which Ford is a major investor, is moving ahead quickly with technology that will let Ford start an autonomous ride-hailing service.

Argo, which is testing autonomous vehicles with human backup drivers in six U.S. cities, expects to be ready for Ford to offer ride-hailing without human drivers sometime next year. In the Phoenix area, Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo is already offering a limited fully autonomous ride service.

And later this year, Ford will offer "Blue Cruise," its own partially automated highway driving system that, like Tesla's Autopilot, keeps cars centered in their lane and a safe distance behind traffic in front of them. With Blue Cruise, drivers can take their hands off the steering wheel. But unlike Autopilot, they will be monitored by a camera to make sure they are paying attention.

"We've done the testing to feel comfortable with this system and how it's implemented," Farley said.

The CEO took an implicit jab at Tesla, saying that Ford does its own testing before rolling out the technology.

Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer, stands next to the company's new Ford F-150 Lightning, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Dearborn, Mich. On the outside, the electric version of Ford's F-150 pickup looks about the same as the wildly popular gas-powered truck. The new truck called the F-150 Lightning can go up to 300 miles per charge, with a starting price of just under $40,000. Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

"We don't want our customers to have to do any testing," he said.

Drivers often have thwarted Tesla's efforts to monitor them by detecting hands on the steering wheel. Earlier this month, a man was arrested in California after an officer spotted his Tesla on a freeway with the man riding in the back seat and no one behind the wheel. The man told the AP that his car was fully autonomous and designed so that he could ride in the back seat.

That's not true. Tesla has explicitly told California regulators that both "Autopilot" and "Full Self-Driving" are assist systems and that drivers must be ready to intervene.

A message was left Friday seeking comment from Tesla, which has disbanded its media relations department.

Farley's stance on regulation is unique in the auto industry, which has generally has favored voluntary guidelines over regulations. No federal regulations specifically govern electronic driving systems, although they do fall under safety standards that cover all vehicles.

The industry's biggest trade association, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, last month proposed voluntary guidelines for partially automated systems. The government's National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has relied on voluntary cooperation, taking a hands-off approach so as not to discourage life-saving innovations.

But a few in the business have asked for regulation. In April, Dan Ammann, CEO of GM's autonomous vehicle subsidiary Cruise, told Bloomberg Television that it was important for the United States and other countries to chart a "clear regulatory pathway." Regulations, Ammann said, are necessary for the U.S. to keep its leadership position.

In 2015, Volvo Cars CEO Hakan Samuelsson asserted that a patchwork of state rules and the absence of U.S. federal oversight could slow the development and introduction of autonomous vehicles.

Since President Joe Biden's inauguration, though, NHTSA has said it is taking a new look at the automated systems. The agency has since sent investigators to review at least four crashes involving Teslas in which Autopilot is at least suspected of being involved, and it is seeking public comment on developing safety principles for autonomous vehicles. In the past few years, NHTSA has sent teams to 29 Tesla incidents.

Farley says he's pleased by a renewed interest in regulations.

"We're very encouraged that the new leaders in the administration want to take on large-scale deployment" of autonomous vehicles, he said.

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer, stands next to the company's new Ford F-150 Lightning, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Dearborn, Mich. On the outside, the electric version of Ford's F-150 pickup looks about the same as the wildly popular gas-powered truck. The new truck called the F-150 Lightning can go up to 300 miles per charge, with a starting price of just under $40,000. Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

A new electric version of Ford's immensely popular F-150 pickup truck might just be the catalyst that hastens America's transition from gasoline to battery-powered vehicles.

Jim Farley, the company's new CEO, calls the introduction of an electric version of the nation's top-selling vehicle a watershed moment for Ford as well as for the auto industry. The new truck, called the F-150 Lightning and due in showrooms by next spring, will be able to travel up to 300 miles (480 kilometers) per battery charge and tow up to 10,000 pounds (4,500 kilograms) .

Yet Ford's commitment to the EV F-150 is hardly without risk. The company spent millions to develop the truck at a time when sales of electric vehicles remain minusculejust 2% of the U.S. auto market. Many truck owners will be reluctant to switch from gasoline engines. And there's the distinct possibility that at least in the early months and perhaps years of production, automakers could run short of EV batteries and the scarce precious metals needed to make them.

The Associated Press spoke recently with Farley about electric vehicle sales and a global chip shortage that has hindered auto production. The interview was edited for clarity and length.

___

Q: Why is the Lightning so important to Ford, and why are you offering an electric version before other models?

A: We're starting with our icons because we know the customers the best and we can surprise them with the best execution. But the real key is the scale. We sell 1.1 million (F-Series) units a year. So these customers really trust us. If there's a company who's going to take them into an electric future, it's Ford.

___

Q: You're at a base price of roughly $40,000. With a $7,500 federal tax credit, will you be even cheaper than a gas-powered F-150?

A: It's going to be pretty close. It depends on the specifications. The vehicle is faster than a Raptor (F-150 high performance gas version.) It'll power your house for three days or a heck of tailgate. We have the latest interior technology, over-the-air updates. You could argue it's going to give the internal combustion product a heck of a run.

___

Q: How long do you think it will be until the majority of vehicles you sell are battery electric?

A: A lot of it will depend on government support, the infrastructure (charging stations) build-out, as well as a support for the purchase. We have a $7,500 benefit still at Ford. So it depends on what happens with government policy, and whether that tips the scale for a lot of customers. It has in Europe. China is moving fast. We're totally sold out with the Mach E (Electric SUV). On the West Coast, it's already changed quickly. It'll be a matter of time before that sweeps across the country.

___

Q: You have said the global semiconductor shortage will halve your normal production in the second quarter. Do you see that shortage ending this year?

A: These components are a high percentage of our build-of-material these days, and we can't really continue to run just-in-time inventory on components like this. It's a real game changer in how we look at our supply chain. We are seeing some positive indications from chip producers. The big change is the Renesas facility (a chip factory in Japan that was damaged by fire) coming back online. As that facility ramps up to 100%, we'll feel a lot more confident. So we're not through this. I'm not going to give any predictions about what the second half looks like.

___

Jim Farley, Ford Motor Company's chief executive officer, stands next to the company's new Ford F-150 Lightning, Wednesday, May 19, 2021, in Dearborn, Mich. On the outside, the electric version of Ford's F-150 pickup looks about the same as the wildly popular gas-powered truck. The new truck called the F-150 Lightning can go up to 300 miles per charge, with a starting price of just under $40,000. Credit: AP Photo/Carlos Osorio

Q: Does that 50% production loss figure for the second quarter change?

A: Certainly in the second half we see much less impact. We had about 200,000 units of lost production in the first quarter. The second quarter is going to be the most difficult. We see, conservatively, a couple of hundred thousand units of risk in the second half.

___

Q: You've mentioned that you may buy chips directly from the factories and stockpile them. Is this going to change the way Ford buys critical parts?

A: I really do think so. This is a really significant event. It's not really black swan events, Renesas is, but it's really more kind of dealing with the realities of a different supply chain focused on electronic components. Silicon is a big part of every vehicle. I do think that everything's on the table. We've also learned that you have to engineer flexibly for these components. You may have to have a design on the shelf in case something runs lean.

___

Q: You have said you may move from having huge inventories on dealer lots to an order-from-the factory business model?

A: Most of our customers do their shopping online now. We just are expanding our e-commerce platform. There are a couple of pieces that are now starting to come together. The first is a reservation system, so that people are more likely to order what they want versus going into the dealership and ordering off the inventory. We have to make it easier. We've done that. The next thing is, our order-to-delivery has to improve. The next thing is very large-scale remote pick-up and delivery.

___

Q: Dealers say that people would embrace four weeks from order to delivery. Is that realistic?

A: That's about what we see in Europe. About 50% of our retail customers in Europe order their car. It's somewhere between four and six weeks. It all depends on how popular the model is. There's a big benefit for us on the cost side and marketing. But on the F-150, with millions and millions of combinations, we have to do a lot of complexity reduction to pull that off.

___

Q: Would I have to pay more for my F-150 because of this?

A: The whole system will be a lot leaner, and the company doesn't have to do the public advertising. There's a lot of efficiency gains that customers really don't benefit from today. There will be lower costs, which we'll pass on to the customers. It generally will not be a big change for customers. I just think they'll save a lot of time.

___

Q: Ford has plans to build its own electric vehicle batteries. Do you see these as being union plants, and will they pay as much as jobs now do at Ford powertrain plants?

A: Michigan is a good example, where we make the F-150. That's a UAW plant. VanDyke (in Sterling Heights, Michigan) is another one. They're making motors for the F-150 electric. The jobs are changing. We think that by working with the government and our UAW partners, we can secure American jobs as we move to e-mobility. It's critical for our country. It's critical for Ford. One of the real game-changers in this area is (battery) cell production. By in-sourcing cells, not just motors, power electronics, things like that, we have the opportunity to create more jobs. And although the vehicles are 30%-plus more efficient to make, by in-sourcing batteries, we can offset that risk.

Explore further Ford, SK Innovation announce US electric battery venture

 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Tesla boss Elon Musk's tweets have sent the values of cryptocurrencies rising and falling.

First he loved them, then he doubted them, but is he manipulating them? Tesla boss Elon Musk's tweets about cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are annoying their devotees and raising eyebrows among market watchers.

The saga started in February when Musk's company Tesla announced it would buy $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and later said it would accept the virtual currency as payment for its electric cars.

But in mid-May, he broke hearts with tweets questioning the digital asset, particularly its vast consumption of electricity produced from polluting substances like coal.

That sent bitcoin on a downward spiral causing it to plunge to $30,000 from nearly double that 10 days earlier. It later regained some strength, climbing to about $37,000 as of Friday.

"The fact that more people aren't outraged at #ElonMusk for purposefully crashing the cryptos is astonishing. Stop worshipping him," one Twitter user said.

The post, typical of the backlash the flamboyant executive has caused, included a hashtag combining an unprintable insult with his surnameand another Musk detractor went as far as to start a cryptocurrency using the hashtag.

Musk, who is most vocal on Twitter, continues to support dogecoin, another virtual currency that was created as a joke but has grown in popularity.

However, his tweets and their influence on prices are drawing increasing attention from analysts.

"You have to prove that his tweets has actually moved the market and it certainly seems that way. It does raise a host of issues," Todd Cipperman of Cipperman Compliance Services told AFP.

Trouble abroad

Days after his online missives caused trouble for bitcoin, Musk on Thursday made the value of dogecoin jump by tweeting "how much is that Doge in the window ?"

"I lost everything because of your crypto tweets and today I live under a bridge," on Twitter user replied. "I hope you are proud."

Kristin Boggiano, president of digital asset investment firm CrossTower, said the problems facing cryptocurrency are bigger than just tweets of one electric car executive.

But she said "there is clearly a conflict of interest" regarding Musk's role the market.

"He's been advising dogecoin, and clearly has an interest in dogecoin and he is making comments about bitcoin," she said.

Still, though Musk "may influence retail, I don't think he has the ability to influence institutional clients," she said.

The risk to bitcoin, the most popular digital asset, is from overseas, Boggiano said.

This week, around $8.5 billion in bitcoin was liquidated in 24 hours on Wednesday after several Chinese banking federations warned against cryptocurrency speculation.

"A lot of volatility in bitcoin is coming from offshore," Boggiano said, adding that to Chinese business leaders, the digital assets "are not supported by real value."

Cipperman described the regulatory climate in the United States as "the wild west."

The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the country's stock market regulator, thus far has shrugged off the crypto turbulence, and Cipperman calls that "a mistake."

"The crypto market would benefit substantially if it was more regulated," he said. "It would give people a lot of comfort that this is not a dangerous manipulation, it's a financial asset like others."

More regulation?

It remains to be seen if the SEC or the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which oversees derivatives, will take a more active role in regulating digital money.

The Internal Revenue Service tax authority has started asking taxpayers to declare their holdings of these assets, and President Joe Biden's government has proposed expanding tax reporting of digital asset transfers between businesses.

Another bill in Congress would have the SEC and CFTC create a group with industry professionals to look at regulation of the sector.

Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve this week said it is exploring its options when it comes to digital payments and even issuing an official, central bank-backed virtual currency.

Aaron Klein, an expert in financial technology at the Brookings Institution, cautioned that "It's not the place for the government to regulate the value of bitcoin anymore that it should regulate the value of an Amazon stock or the price of gold."

Instead, "The goal is to make the market transparent and honest and protect the investors, not to focus on the price of the asset."

Explore further Not a joke anymore: Dogecoin surges above 30 cents

 2021 AFP
The two biggest Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce fundraisers of the year, Chamber Experience and Business & Bites, have been combined into one event for the first time. And it wont be the last.
This week's recipe roundup features tips on grilling the best burgers for Memorial Day as well as easy meals to make for the rest of the week.
U.S. regulators havent approved any major railroad mergers since the 1990s, and officials have said that any deal involving one of the handful of Class 1 railroads, a group that includes Kansas City Southern, must enhance competition and serve the public interest.

This week, a major Canadian National shareholder urged the railroad to abandon its bid for Kansas City because of regulatory issues, including a procedural setback this week.

On Monday, The Surface Transportation Board rejected Canadian Nationals plan to set up a voting trust that would acquire Kansas City Southern and own the railroad while regulators review the deal. The STB said it couldnt review Canadian Nationals plan because it didnt include a detailed merger agreement. Canadian National said Tuesday that it would resubmit the voting trust plan this week.

It was unclear Friday if the company had resubmitted its plan with the details sought by the STB.

London-based investment firm TCI Fund, which owns nearly 3% of Canadian National, cited uncertainty early this week about whether U.S. regulators would approve the acquisition under rigid rules for railroad mergers that havent been tested since they were written 20 years ago.
He is also accused of shooting at an officer when police attempted to give him a phone with which to speak to police.

Bridges was indicted on two charges of aggravated assault against a public servant, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison; burglary of a habitation, a second-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison; and tampering with evidence and possession of a firearm by a felon, both third-degree felonies punishable by up to 10 years in prison. He remains in the Brazos County Jail on $540,000 bond.

 Andres Eugene Anderson, 54, of Caldwell is accused of sexually abusing a child on several occasions from 2017 through 2019, a police report states. According to College Station police, the victims mother told police in January that Anderson had inappropriately touched the child. He was indicted on a charge of continuous sex abuse of a child under 14, a first-degree felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison. He remains in the Brazos County Jail on $100,000 bond.


WHAT ABOUT DIPLOMACY?

The administration says it will retain a U.S. Embassy presence, but that will become more difficult if the military's departure leads to a collapse of Afghan governance.

Gen. Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters this past week that securing access to the Kabul international airport will be key to enabling the United States and other nations to maintain embassies. He said the U.S. and NATO allies are considering an international effort to secure that airport.

A related problem is the fate of Afghan civilians who might be targeted by the Taliban or other groups for aiding the U.S. war effort. Interpreters and others who worked for the U.S. government or NATO can get what is known as a special immigrant visa, or SIV, but the application process can take years.

Washingtons special envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, has told Congress the administration wants to protect those civilians, but that it is trying to avoid the panic that might erupt if it appeared the United States was encouraging the departure of all educated Afghans in a way that undermined the morale of Afghan security forces.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
House Bill 9, which now heads to Gov. Greg Abbott, would make it a state jail felony for people who knowingly obstruct an emergency vehicle that has its lights flashing and sirens turned on. People could also face felony charges for obstructing the entrance of a licensed hospital. The Texas House passed the bill, 90-55, a few weeks ago.

Floyds murder, coupled with last years protests against police brutality, sparked waves of legislative attempts to reform policing in America, but the events also sparked GOP-led legislation that aims to crack down on protesters who demonstrate on highways in several states. In Iowa and Oklahoma, Republican lawmakers passed bills that would grant immunity to drivers who strike and injure protesters on public streets.
Because some of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Harvey included lower income residents, Hidalgo said the property values in those areas skewed the criteria. Secondly, the vast population of Harris County drove down the percentage of how many people would be helped  but the raw numbers of affected people are still higher than other areas, she said.

The fact that the criteria was designed to favor small areas at the expense of large urban areas is bewildering, not just because our area was the most impacted by far, but also because these are funds that come from Housing and Urban Development, which is supposed to prioritize low-income communities, Hidalgo said.

U.S. Rep. Lizzie Pannill Fletcher, D-Houston, said in a statement that it was outrageous that Houston and Harris were snubbed from federal funds.

This decision is an affront to our entire community, which has been working tirelessly to recover and rebuild after Harvey. It also raises serious questions about the GLOs entire process, she said. I will work with my colleagues and our community leaders now to fight for Houston and Harris County to get our fair share of the funds.
Dont go into ranching, McPherson County folks told a young Rusty Kemp in the 1980s. Theres no future here.

Nobody told Treyton Trey Wasserburger that a decade ago. He knew there wasnt room on his familys Wyoming spreads.

Kemp, 49, got his degree in agribusiness. Wasserburger, 33, has a teaching degree. But both fell in love as boys with cows, bulls, horses, rodeo. And ranching.

They both bucked conventional wisdom out of the saddle.

Both own their own cattle outfits, with Kemps in his home county  after all  and Wasserburgers not far south of North Platte.

Its tough, both say, but theyve had good moments with the bad. They want their kids to have the chance to carry on.

But Kemp and Wasserburger say they and other western and central Nebraska cattle growers need something more to get there.

Something like a Nebraska-born packing plant, for Nebraska cattle, at the gateway to Gods Cow Country.

Thats why both are among the organizers of Sustainable Beef LLC, which wants to build an 875-employee processing plant near North Plattes east Interstate 80 exit.
Boys Town wants to help young people and families before those kids have to be removed from their homes, she said.

We work really hard to wrap that whole family up and make sure we are helping at every level of their mental health challenges, Starling said.

Young people have struggled through the pandemic just like everybody else did, she said.

Starling feels Boys Town did a great job during the pandemic. We moved everything to telehealth and we kept seeing kids. We were doing it virtually, and we were grateful that the state allowed us to do that for Medicaid kids as well as (those with) commercial insurance.

Boys Town is reimbursed for behavioral health treatment for families with Medicaid.

By continuing to see kids and families during the pandemic, Starling believes Boys Town made a real impact on the young people because it helped keep their symptoms lower.

The Pony Express riders have visited the Boys Town facility on Highway 281 before, when it was the Boys Town shelter. Its now a behavioral health clinic.

We are really excited that come August we will have seven doctoral-level providers in our communities, Starling said.
But the report raises red flags, too, Two Rivers said:

- Fewer first doses of vaccine were given in the first two weeks of May since vaccinations became available in Nebraska in December, in spite of expanded age availability and wider vaccine availability.

- Only 33% of the Two Rivers population (Buffalo, Dawson, Franklin, Gosper, Harlan, Kearney and Phelps counties) is fully vaccinated when infants, toddlers and adolescents are included. Vaccines are available for ages 12-15, but not for individuals younger than 12.

- The decline in persons getting first doses in Buffalo County is a concern, especially among those aged 16-29 years. The vaccination rate of Buffalo County greatly influences overall rates because it accounts for 45% of the Two Rivers population.

- Fewer than 20% of people aged 16-29 years are fully vaccinated.

- The rate of first doses in ages 16-29 slowed dramatically in May. With vaccines now available for children as young as 12, that will reduce overall vaccination rates.

Two Rivers offers free vaccines at the following sites next week:

- Amherst: 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday at the fire hall
The first thing I noticed when I began covering the Trump campaign as a reporter in 2015 was that members of his staff lied about almost everything, even about things that were totally unnecessary.

Late in 2015, the campaign announced that a group of 100 Black preachers would endorse Trump at a Monday press conference. When I contacted the ministers, the first question was, What press conference?

Eventually, nothing the campaign said could be taken as fact. And that was before he was elected.

Over time the small lies became big lies. And the big lies became dangerous. Theres no need to rewrite the last six months of history here, but suffice it to say Donald Trump did not win the Georgia election in 2020, even if he says he did.

That cost his fellow Republicans two Senate seats and control of the U.S. Senate. But it has not cost Trump the loyalty of the voters here who still believe in him, nor of the politicians who need those voters to stay in power, too.

Rep. Clyde is only the latest Trump-supporting member of Congress to say something false about what we all know to be true.
Three men have been charged following Tuesday's shooting in Mound City.

Pulaski County States Attorney Lisa Casper has charged Kendall L.D. Mcelmurry, 24, of Mound City, with aggravated battery of a peace officer, a Class 2 felony; aggravated assault of a peace officer, a Class 4 felony; obstructing justice, a Class 4 felony; and resisting a peace officer, a Class A misdemeanor, the Illinois State Police announced Friday.

Casper's office also charged Demarko K. Ransom, 26, of Mound City, with obstructing justice in furtherance of gang activity, a Class 3 felony; obstructing justice, a Class 4 felony; obstructing a peace officer, a Class A misdemeanor; and resisting a peace officer, a Class A misdemeanor.

Casper charged Andre L. Mcelmurry, 21, of Mound City, with aggravated battery of a peace officer, a Class 2 felony; and aggravated assault of a peace officer, a Class 4 felony.

Bond for Kendall Mcelmurry was set at $100,000, according to state police.

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Ransoms bond was set at $50,000. Andre Mcelmurrys bond was set at $100,000. All three have posted bond and been released, according to the ISP.

The shooting occurred in the 700 block of Pearl Street in Mound City.
The running total of last years and this years distributions, which have occurred periodically in each of the towns in western Orangeburg County, is valued at almost $165,000, with over 7,000 boxes of food being given out. Food distributions have happened in Neeses, Springfield, North, Woodford and now Norway. Mayors and council members from all the towns and citizen volunteers have helped with the distributions. Mayor United members and mayors Tracie Clemons of Norway, Julius Jones of North, Kenneth Gleaton of Neeses, Bobby Gordon of Livingston, Kenneth Gleaton of Neeses, Edward Furtick of Springfield, and Sam Anthony of Woodford have helped at various distributions as have members of their councils and citizens in their towns.
COLUMBIA  A South Carolina Army trainee charged with hijacking a school bus full of children is likely to face new charges after failed escape attempts, according to authorities.

Earlier this month, Jovan Collazo, 23, assaulted a guard at the Richland County jail and tried to escape, Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott told The State newspaper. Collazo broke his ankle during that incident and was taken to a hospital, from which he also tried to escape, Lott said.

We have additional charges that well eventually be placing on him, Lott told the newspaper.

According to an incident report Lott read to the paper, Collazo was being moved to a restraint chair when he pushed a guard away, ran for a door, then up stairs to a higher floor. From a railing, Collazo jumped to the floor below, landing on his feet and then his side, the report said.

Fielding Pringle, Collazos defense attorney, told the paper Thursday her client was not trying to escape during the incident, which happened while he was handcuffed, on suicide watch and unclothed.
The university will pay Caslen for seven more weeks to act as a consultant to help with transition matters like how the school is fighting COVID-19, trustees announced, They did not give the financial terms of the deal. Caslen's salary as president was $650,000 a year.

Trustees also Friday created a presidential search committee of eight board members, five faulty members and the student body president, which Vice Chairman Thad Westbrook said was a "diverse set of people and a diverse set of viewpoints. The committee will also have additional advisors with close ties to the school who won't have a vote.

Westbrook also promised the committee would follow guidelines approved in 2020 to try to prevent allegations of political influence from McMaster and other powerful Republicans that led to protests before and during Caslen's hiring.

Pastides said he expects the next school year to be full of fun and purpose after dealing with more than a year of disruption from COVID-19 and the uncertainty of the past few weeks.

"We are resilient in times of adversity," Pastides said of the university he first came to in 1998 as a dean in the public health school.



Follow Jeffrey Collins on Twitter at https://twitter.com/JSCollinsAP.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Howe, of the Chamber, said the rental car shortage has his employer encouraging visitors meeting other families or friends in Jackson Hole to go in on rental cars together. Thats something it was doing before the pandemic began, and the rental car shortage started to hit companies across the United States.

But the chamber has also started referring Jacksonites to a car-sharing app called Turo, which is sort of like an AirBnB for car rentals. Thats new, something Howe said started after the Chamber started hearing that neighboring communities like Salt Lake City were also seeing high rental car costs.

The platform allows people to put their personal cars up for rent, while the company takes part of the daily fee and has its own insurance.

Vadim Bulibas owns Teton Limousine with Alexandru Lupanciuc and was on dispatch at Broncs Taxi Tuesday while Lupanciuc, who owns the taxi firm, was off.

Bulibas said that the two firms combined have fewer than 10 vehicles and that Broncs would be renting one of its cars on Turo this summer.

The reason was in part what the company could get for it.

A Suburban is $350 a day, and Ive seen some people charge $500, $1,500, he said. Its insane.
Govt-and-politics

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US House candidate Bouchard says he impregnated 14-year-old when he was 18

Michael Cummo, Wyoming Tribune Eagle Sen. Anthony Bouchard, R-Cheyenne, stands and speaks on a bill March 1 during the first day of the 66th Wyoming Legislature inside the state Capitol. The U.S. House candidate said he had a relationship with and impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18.

U.S. House candidate Anthony Bouchard had a relationship with and impregnated a 14-year-old girl when he was 18, he told the Star-Tribune late Thursday, hours after he disclosed the relationship in a Facebook Live video to his supporters.

Bouchard, who did not specify the girls age in the video, said he went public with the information to get ahead of the story after learning that people were investigating it in opposition to his candidacy. A Wyoming state senator since 2017, Bouchard has risen in prominence since announcing he would challenge Rep. Liz Cheney following her vote to impeach then-President Donald Trump.

So, bottom line, its a story when I was young, two teenagers, girl gets pregnant, he said in the Facebook Live video. Youve heard those stories before. She was a little younger than me, so its like the Romeo and Juliet story.

Bouchard told the Star-Tribune he married the girl when she was 15 and he was 19. At the time, they were both living in Florida.

The two were legally able to get married at the time because Florida law stated that people could marry at any age with a judges approval if a pregnancy was involved and a parent consented, according to the lawmaker.

Details surrounding age of consent laws in Florida in the early 1980s are unclear, but the states current age of consent is 18. The Star-Tribune reached out to the Florida State Bar, Florida State University College of Law, the Florida attorney general, public defenders, current and former prosecutors, and multiple law firms, and none of them were able to offer substantial answers on Floridas laws concerning age of consent at the time.

Bouchard said he was never charged with a crime in connection with the relationship. The lawmaker said he was pressured to abort the baby. I wasnt going to do it, and neither was she, he said. And there was pressure to have her banished from their family. Just pressure. Pressure to go hide somewhere. And the only thing I could see as the right thing to do was to get married and take care of him.

They got divorced approximately three years later. Bouchards ex-wife killed herself when she was 20, he said. Online records list a woman with her name as dying in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1990 and being buried in Georgia. The Star-Tribune is choosing not to identify her.

She had problems in another relationship. Her dad had committed suicide, Bouchard said in the video.

After his ex-wife died, Bouchard said he continued to raise the couples son, Tony Raymond Bouchard, whom he briefly references in the video.

Sadly, hes made some wrong choices in his life, Anthony Bouchard said. Hes almost become my estranged son. Some of the things that hes got going on his life, I certainly dont approve of them. But Im not going to abandon him. I still love him. Just like when he was born.

Going public

In the 13-minute video, Bouchard looks straight ahead as he rails against dirty politics, the media and the establishment swamp. He encouraged his supporters to share the video, saying he wanted everyone to know.

I dont want to hide anything, he told the Star-Tribune in a nearly hour-long phone call after the video was published. I dont want people drug into this. This is just crazy over politics.Bouchard said he decided to post a video to get ahead of a story about his previous marriage that he anticipated would be published in the near future. In the video, Bouchard claims that an unnamed reporter and a political opposition research company were driving the effort together.

We know the company that started this investigation. Its a political opposition research company. We know who they are and then it turned into a U.K. media reporter, is whos called me, he said.

Bouchard said he did not respond to the media outlet.

This is really a message about how dirty politics is, said Bouchard, one of Wyomings most prominent gun rights advocates. Theyll stop at nothing, man, when you get in the lead and when youre somebody that cant be controlled, youre somebody who works for the people. Theyll come after you. Thats why good people dont run for office.

Around 11 a.m. Mountain Time Friday, U.K. newspaper the Daily Mail published its story about the pregnancy. It cited an unnamed Republican operative who is in the Donald Trump faction of the party.

We want this to be known about him because we need to clean the field, the operative is quoted as saying. Five other candidates in the primary are going to split the vote in a small place like Wyoming, and Cheney is going to waltz in again.

The article also detailed an unrelated criminal case against Bouchards son. Tony Bouchard was arrested in December 2018 and is being held in a central California detention center on $500,000 bond. He faces multiple sexual offense charges.

National PAC interviewed potential Wyoming candidates to primary Cheney Club For Growth confirmed that it was shopping around Wyoming the last week of March for a challenger to face Rep. Liz Cheney in her 2022 House primary.

House run

Anthony Bouchard announced that he would challenge Cheney in the 2022 Republican primary in January, one week after the congresswoman voted to impeach Trump on charges he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Bouchard was the first person to announce a run against Cheney but has since been joined by seven others.

His name recognition quickly grew, buoyed in part by conservative vitriol against Cheney, who was viewed by many in Wyoming as betraying Trump and the voters who supported him. Bouchard began appearing on conservative television news programs, and his campaign raised $334,000 by the end of March, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Trump said he would soon endorse a candidate to run against Cheney but has yet to do so.

Speaking by phone at a January rally held by Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz at the Wyoming Capitol, Donald Trump Jr. told Cheney opponents: Dont just back the first person that comes along.

Liz Cheney lost her post and is at risk of losing her job. Can she win back support from an angry base? The 2022 primary is now 15 months away. Is that enough time for Cheney to win back the support of Wyoming Republicans  who dominate the states politics? Is it even possible?

Thursday night, in Bouchards Twitter post linking to the video, he concluded: I wont back down, Swamp! @RepLizCheney Bring it! And in the Facebook video, he said the people digging up the information only care about ... helping people like Liz Cheney win. But in his conversation with the Star-Tribune, Bouchard said he believes Cheney was not involved in the attempts to publicize the story, which a Cheney spokesperson echoed early Friday.

The Cheney campaign had no involvement in this at all, Jeremy Adler said.

Bouchard said the disclosure about his past relationship and the pregnancy wouldnt stop him from seeking office.

Bring it on. Im going to stay in this race, he said. Were going to continue to raise money because my record stands on its own.

Candidates respond

In response to the disclosures, the Star-Tribune reached out to other challengers in the 2022 GOP House of Representatives race. All but state Rep. Chuck Gray responded. They said they did not have any inkling that their pasts were being examined by political opposition firms in a way similar to Bouchards.

While we dont condone any of the actions, we always try to keep things positive and above board, Cheyenne businessman Darin Smith said. Its unfortunate to see this kind of (dirty) mud-slinging starting this early. The Smith campaign will always try to keep things positive, above board, and we hope that other candidates will do the same.

Former U.S. Senate candidate Bryan Miller, one of the most recent candidates to officially announce his candidacy, replied in a text statement to the Star-Tribune.

There is nothing I could say that would alter the tragic events described in your story, he wrote. My focus is on addressing the critical issues that are facing Wyoming and our great Nation today.

Robyn Belinskey, a Sheridan businesswoman who confirmed earlier this week she was running, said: Well, as a woman, I found it very disrespectful and a lack of leadership.

Former Pavillion Mayor Marissa Joy Selvig had a different response.

Whats in his past is in his past and thats for him to sort out, she said.

None of the candidates offered strong opinions about whether the disclosure would affect Bouchards candidacy. He has been the top fundraiser of any Republican challenger.

It was unfortunate, retired Army Col. Denton Knapp said. Im not sure how its going to affect him in this race.

Photos: Anti-Cheney protest at Wyoming Capitol
I left her house knowing that I would go.

The drive was easy and without problems. In the canyon, I saw two U-Haul trailers headed east, with vehicles from North Dakota and Wyoming. I imagined parents and brand new graduates heading back home after the experience of their lives.

I remembered the day in May 1978 when my parents helped unload all of my junk out of the Pi Phi house and into a tiny little U-Haul. We took the U-Haul to Casper to an already rented one-bedroom apartment on the ground floor overlooking the alley. In very complex travel arrangements, we then drove my brand-new graduation present car without the U-Haul to the Denver airport. All three of us then flew back to Michigan, where they were living at the time.

Two weeks later, I would fly back by myself to Denver, manage to find my car, attend the wildest wedding Id ever been to in Cheyenne and come up to Casper to start my brand new life.

But I digress. I pulled up to the site of the party, brown and gold streamers wrapped around the mailbox and streamers on the garage door and front door. The graduates two soon-to-be stepdaughters made posters congratulating him that were hung by the door.

And when I rang the doorbell, the graduate answered.